I'm going to try and keep this up, I've had some ideas from what people have said (thanks again for reviews) and I hope I can keep the angst level as high as it has been. I'm a little worried it will wane and fade into nothing, so yell at me if you see that happening. Oh, and are you ever going to get the hint? NO ROMANCE. No relationships, hence no pairings. If anyone was wondering this chapter and the first chapter were written to the soundtrack of 'The Red Violin', my very very favourite soundtrack, and a great film, so very sad.
Emma opened her eyes to the darkness of her room. She ached tiredly all over and her head felt light, like she was still drifting slightly. She rolled onto her side, only to yelp in pain as she rolled onto a bruise. The sharp pain pushed away some of the clouds that had settled on her mind and threatened to drag her back into sleep and she rolled back over to sit up. She reached out for her bedside lamp, but found it missing. Frowning she tried to make out the table in the dark only to have everything swim out of focus, leaving her head splitting. Groaning she thought back to the night before and, realising she couldn't remember much of it, decided she'd had too much to drink.
"Emma?" Jesse's voice seemed to come from somewhere far off, like it was at the other end of a distant tunnel. She made some noise to confirm that she had heard him and went back to nursing her head. "Emma." His hand on her shoulder didn't fit with his voice, which still seemed miles away, making her jump. She looked up at him in the light filtering through the doorway from the hall. He looked tired, she decided through blurry eyes. Tired and worried and sad.
"Who died?" She managed through a fuzzy early-morning throat. His sharp and hoarse laugh, now sounding a little nearer, made her jump again.
"Emma, how much of last night do you remember?" He asked softly. She groaned again.
"Not a lot. What did I do? How much did I drink?" She looked around her in the newly shed light of the open door. "What am I doing in Shalimar's bedroom?"
"You didn't drink anything last night Emma, you were driving. You were drugged and three men abducted you and Shal." He watched the confusion on her face. "Does any of this ring a bell?"
"That isn't funny, Jess. That just isn't funny. Not at this time in the morning, after heavy drinking. Any mocking for drunken behaviour has to wait until after 12."
"I'm serious Emma. Completely serious. Adam said you wouldn't remember much. Whatever they gave you was designed to stop you remembering."
"Stop it Jesse. We're here, we're safe. Nothing happened last night."
"You didn't drink anything last night Em. Why can't you remember getting home?"
"How do you know I didn't drink anything?" Jesse could see the doubt beginning to form on Emma's face and softened his tone.
"You were designated driver, Emma. You're too responsible for that."
"What happened?" She asked quietly.
"I don't know much, Shal's in a bit of a state. It sounds like they slipped you something in the club. Shal was pretty drunk, she didn't notice at first. When she realised what was going on she tried to do something about it and one of them started waving a lighter about. I think it was probably meant to be an empty threat, but..." He flinched, not wanting to say more. "The lighter caught her clothes. She was burned quite badly. She... they..." He struggled to find the words he needed.
"What did they do Jesse?" Jesse stood, wanting to run from the situation, from the whole of the last day. Sighing he sat again, knowing he couldn't do that. His voice was quiet and choked as he continued.
"They raped you and Shalimar, Emma. Shal couldn't stop them and they'd drugged you to make sure you couldn't. She managed to get you both home somehow eventually."
"Where is she?"
"The medilab. Adam has her sedated while the machines work on her."
"Can I see her?" Jesse nodded. He offered her a hand as she went to stand, catching hold of her elbow as she swayed dangerously.
"Careful." He warned. "There's still some junk in your system that will take some time to clear out. You'll have to take it easy for a while."
She bit her lip as her knees threatened to give way and she tried desperately to sort out what Jesse had told her in her mind. The feeling of utter helplessness was overwhelming and Jesse's hand around her waist was the only thing that kept her standing. Lowering her gently back onto the bed, Jesse sighed again.
"OK, I think perhaps this plan needs rethinking." She laughed softly, nodding through impending tears. "I see two options here. Either you try and get some more sleep and see if you're up for it when you wake up again, or I carry you through. What do you think?" She smiled a little.
"I don't think I can sleep at the moment. Carry me?" Nodding, Jesse scooped her up in his arms and, checking she was still OK, he walked carefully out of the room and headed for the medilab.
Reaching the medilab they found Brennan dashing out, eyes wide.
"Jesse, where's Adam?"
"His lab, what's up?"
"Shal's shifting in the field, it's hurting her more." Having said this, Brennan disappeared around the corner towards Adam's lab. Heading into the lab, they found Shalimar, her lower half encased in a glowing orange field, curled up on the bed. Adam appeared as Jesse sat Emma on a nearby chair. He swore lightly and headed over to the controls. Deactivating the field immediately, a cloud of high density steam was released into the room, making them all cough slightly. He sighed and swore again, moving to try and relax Shalimar again and straighten her out to avoid more damage.
"Adam, what happened?" Emma asked.
"Emma. You're up." He exclaimed, seemingly only just noticing the empath. He frowned as he thought about her question. "Shalimar's metabolism means she metabolises the drugs I give her faster than normal. It's hard to keep her sedated. Unfortunately this is making it hard to treat her. I can't put her in a full-length field because the steam isn't good for her, her physiology means it's harder for her to breathe in high humidity and we need to keep her low stress for a while." He shook his head. "Are you OK? Headache? Dizziness? Nausea?"
"Check for all three."
"That's to be expected. Do you remember anything of last night?"
"No, I'm sorry. Jesse's explained all he can. It's a little hard to take in." He nodded quietly.
"I'd like to run a few tests, when you're ready. Just to make sure you're OK. And I can give you some painkillers for the headache."
"Yes please."
"How are you?" This time she knew the question wasn't about her physical condition.
"It hasn't sunk in yet, Adam. I'm not sure if I want it to. I'm thinking things over. Get back to me in a couple of hours and I'll probably need a shoulder to cry on." He nodded.
"Emma?" The voice was Shalimar's and they all turned to find her on her side smiling at them through half-closed eyes.
"Shal, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit." Shalimar gave a short laugh and then sucked in a quick breath and held it. "Oh, remind me not to do that again." She asked, curling up again.
"Will you lie straight!" Adam cried, regretting it immediately as Shalimar visibly flinched. "I'm sorry, Shalimar, but I can't help you if you curl up like that. You're only doing more damage to your muscles. If they tighten when you're in that position it's going to be hell for you later." Emma saw her retreat into herself as she pulled herself straight, the movement accompanied by an almost inaudible moan.
Standing, and hoping that she could hold her own weight or Jesse was ready to catch her, she moved over to Shalimar's side. Reaching the side of the bed without assistance she looked over her friend's wounds. She hissed at what she saw. Focusing on her face where a large bruise was turning a deep purple colour, Emma tried to smile.
"Doesn't look very nice, does it?" Shalimar whispered.
"It'll get better in time."
"Oh, doesn't everything." She responded sarcastically. Emma flinched.
"Jesse told me as much as he knows. I'm not sure what to think." Shalimar's eyes glassed over for a moment.
"Don't. It's better if you don't. If you can't remember you should try and forget."
"I'm scared of what I can't remember."
"I'm scared of what I can. Maybe together we can sort this out." And her eyes fluttered closed as pain took her into a quiet sleep.
