Disclaimer: Characters and past storylines are property of their original owners and creators. I own nothing, except in the case of the odd original character or two.
Author's Note: Okay, sorry about the cliffhanger! We've all had enough of those over the past week, I know. I need to correct what I said about this being my second Nip/Tuck piece. It is, in reality, my third piece in this fandom. That aside, I hope that you enjoy the second chapter!
He watched, as she opened her mouth to speak, and uttered the two words that made his entire body go completely numb.
"I'm sorry."
Sean stood by the desk, not moving an inch. Did he just hear her right? Did the attendant just say that she was sorry?
As if to have read Sean's mind, Julia spoke up.
"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice just as shakey as before.
Sean looked up at her, his face full of anguish. What had happened to Christian? Was he alright? What had he done?
The attendant cleared her throat, once, and rose from her seat. Sean felt his stomach flip itself around, and immediately wanted to follow the instinct to run to the bathroom, and lean over a toilet. He turned his attention to the attendant, as he heard her shuffling around behind the desk. He felt his heart begin to race faster, and began to find it hard to breathe. He thought that he was going to black out, for a minute, before the attendant spoke up, again.
"I'm sorry, but, you can't see him, now," she said, calmly.
Sean released a breath, well aware that he had been holding it in, and swallowed, hard. "Thank God," he thought to himself, silently.
"He's in surgery."
With the last three words, Sean jerked his head up, and felt his breath catch in his chest, again. He closed his eyes, tightly, as he felt the room begin to spin. He was getting dizzy, and began to grope for something to lean against; if he didn't, he would hit the floor, hard.
Without a moment's hesitation, Julia grabbed Sean's arm, and guided him by his elbow to a small chair, which sat in the waiting room.
"It's alright, Sean," she tried to comfort. "It's okay. You can sit, now."
Sean did as was suggested to him, and eased down, eyes still closed, trusting Julia's words the entire way down.
"That's it," Julia whispered. "There we go."
Once he was seated on the cold, hard, blue chair, Sean buried his hands in his face. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let Christian get hurt? What in the hell was Christian in surgery for?
He heard Julia sniffle, once, followed by the sounds of her shoes, as they shuffled across the white tiled floor. The feeling of a pressure on his should almost sent Sean flying across the room, screaming. After a minute, however, he realized that it was just Julia, pressing her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm going to go and find Matt and Annie," she informed him.
Sean lifted his head, for the first time wondering where his children were. "Where are they?"
Julia smiled. "If I knew that, I wouldn't be forced to go and find them, no, would I?" she teased. Seeing no change in Sean's features, Julia went back to being serious. "I left them at the front door; Annie needed a drink, and I told Matt to take her to the cafeteria."
Sean nodded, in understanding. As he thought about it, he had to laugh; every time that Annie visited a hospital, it seemed as though she needed a drink. "She just likes the cafeteria," Sean thought to himself, silently.
"What?" Julia asked, darting her head back toward Sean.
Sean looked up, realizing that he had subconsciously said the last part out loud. "Nothing," he replied, indifferently. "Nothing."
Julia stared back at him, eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She shook her head from side to side, dismissing the thought that he had said anything from her mind. Even though she knew that she had heard something, she was not about to debate Sean about it; now just was not the time.
"I thought that you were going to go find our kids?" Sean muttered, as he dropped his eyes to the stretch of floor that lay at his feet. Without moving his head, Sean angled his eyes upward, and looked at Julia. "They might be looking for you, too."
Julia was about to protest the idea of being dismissed, but, she said nothing. Instead, she nodded her head a bit, in agreement, turned, and walked away. As soon as Julia was out of sight, Sean dropped his head back in to his hands, and tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over.
"Oh, God," Sean thought to himself, silently, as he heard Julia's voice on the other end of the line. "What's the matter? Are you alright? What happened to the kids?"
"Sean, calm down," Julia urged. "Nothing is wrong with us. We're fine."
Letting a sigh escape his throat, Sean mentally kicked himself, for going off half cocked. The thoughts ws ironic, to him, as he was still clutching his gun.
"It's Christian."
Sean sat up, in the small hospital chair.
"Just a dream," he thought to himself, silently. "It was just a dream." Unfortunately, as he began to look around, Sean realized that it wasn't just a dream; reality had pulled a cruel joke on him, as he slept.
He was about to drop his head back in to his hands, when, without warning, something caught his eye. He looked down, to discover that his bright purple chair coordinated well with the pink on the walls. As he stared at the walls, he couldn't help but wonder something. When had the walls turned pink? A minute ago, they were white, pure, sanitary, unadulterated white. his chair had also been another color. It had been blue, if he remembered correctly. Had he moved? He didn't think so. In a moment of panic, Sean realized that he was alone in the cold room.
"What in the hell?" he thought to himself, silently, as he let his eyes frantically wander the room, looking for any signs of other people.
No sooner had Sean satisfied the thought that he was all alone, then did he hear the one voice that he had never wanted to hear, again.
"Hey, homes."
The words sent an ice cold shiver down his already numb spine. Sean looked up from the walls, and saw who he already knew was there.
"What in the hell are you doing here, Escobar?" Sean shouted, angrily, as he jumped up, out of his chair. He didn't want to see the man; he was pissed off enough as it was, without having to see this asshole ever again.
"We've been seein' a lot of each other lately, huh?" Escobar asked, plastering a huge grin on his face. "It's good for the generals to see their comrads, right before the big battle."
Sean twisted his face, in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He stared at Escobar, who smirked.
"You know what I'm talking about, Sean," Escobar commented, flatly. "It's time to kill the Carver."
A look of disgust covered Sean's features, and he felt his blood begin to stir. How could he even suggest such a thing? After this entire mess, how could the man have the balls to say something like that to him?
"What's the matter Sean?" Escobar continued, catching Sean's sudden change of facial expression. "You afraid, or somethin'?"
"I will not go after the Carver, again," Sean stated, his tone reaching a dangerous level. "I will not do again what I have been doing for the past few months."
"Then, what will dear Christian do about his face?"
Sean dropped his head, and closed his eyes. What would Christian do? If Sean refused to do what the Carver warned him against doing, how in the hell would be be able to help Christian out, when he needed it?
With a sigh of defeat, Sean raised his head, and opened his eyes. The sight before him made him jump back, as far as he could, before running in to the small chair that he was sitting in. He tried to scream, but, when he opened his mouth, he was only able to produce a muted sound. He could feel his throat contracting, getting tighter, and he found it hard to breathe, yet again. He closed his eyes, tightly, hoping that, when he opened his eyes, the image before him would be gone. However, when he opened his eyes, the bloodied face of his best friend was still still staring back at him.
"Kill the Carver," came Escobar's voice, through the image of Christian. "Kill the Carver, Sean. Kill the Carver."
"No," Sean murmured, shaking his head, from side to side. "No, this isn't happening."
"Kill the Carver!" came the final shout. This time, however, the voice belonged to Christian.
Out of nowhere, Sean heard the sound of what he recognized as a heart monitor, when the line goes flat. He turned around, to his right, and saw before him the same image of Christian, reaching out his right arm, and begging for help.
"Sean, help me," he whispered. "Help me, Sean. Sean..."
"No!" Sean screamed, as he felt his knees go weak, and buckle, from beneath him. "Christian!"
"Sean..." Christian whispered, again, as his image began to fade from Sean's view.
"Christian!" Sean screamed, again, as the final bits of Christian's image disappeared, completely.
"Sean?"
Sean jerked up, at hearing his name, and immediately looked around the room; the walls were white, his chair was blue, and people were moving, alive, and well, all around him. He was awake. He was alive.
"Chistian? Oh, God! Where's Christian?"
"Calm down, Sean," Came the same voice from before, causing Sean to look up, again. His fears eased; it was Julia. "you heard the woman earlier. Christian is in surgery."
Sean nodded, trying to catch his breath. He could feel that he was sweating, and he was panting. Looking back up at Julia, Sean tried to start a mild conversation. "Did you find the kids?"
Julia nodded. "I found them. They're fine." Sean breathed a sigh of relief. "How are you?"
Sean turned away, at hearing the question; he didn't want to answer it. He couldn't answer it, not now. Instead, he looked in to Julia's eye, briefly, before dropping his head, and letting it rest in his hands for the third time.
He wanted to see Christian.
Author's Note: There you have it! Chapter Two, completed! I hope that you enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it! I know, it was a little bit out there, but, after all that I have seen, I am convinced that Sean has some pretty vivid, wild dreams. I also believe that Escobar is going to be vital to the Season Three storyline. So, he will also be vital here, in this story. Thanks for reading! As always, I look forward to your knd words! Until the next chapter...