Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible to get across the
country in less than eight hours. It took at least seven to fly and then
considering an hour for boarding, unloading and just plain checking in,
even eight hours was cutting it close. But for some reason, when they saw
Alicia and Zack walk into the waiting room barely seven and a half hours
after being called, nobody was surprised.
Xander was on his feet immediately. His sister was still in the workout clothes she had been wearing when she got the news, but that didn't lessen the command presence she always carried with her. It was both amusing and annoying that she was still their CO despite everything. "Cole's still in, Heather was taken up to room 728 a little bit ago," Xander said crisply. "Daniel and Cyra are with Heather right now."
Without a word, Alicia turned and headed to the nearest elevators. She was worried about Cole, yes, but her daughter came first. They got into the elevator, not saying a word. The grim set of their faces made another visitor decide to take the next elevator to his floor. He didn't want to be alone with those two for a second. The doors shut and the car started going up to the seventh floor.
Zack's arm slipped around his wife's waist and he pulled her small body against his. "Breathe," he ordered gruffly, feeling her start shaking against him. "Daniel said she was doing well. He wouldn't lie to us." It was the first moment since leaving Seattle that she had a second to panic and he knew Alicia needed that if she was to cope with the rest of the day. She would be in perfect control in front of her siblings but he knew she needed just a minute to get it out.
"My baby's hurt," Alicia sniffed, grateful for the strong arms wrapped tightly around her. She had seen her brothers and sisters injured before. They had been shot even. Knife wounds, gouges, broken bones, even a few animal bites. But this was her daughter. She had felt Heather grow inside of her body, fed her from her own breast, and watched her grow from a baby to a girl to a beautiful young woman. Heather being hurt was simply intolerable.
"She's enough like you," Zack said softly. "She'll heal good as new." He had to convince her of that in order to convince himself. When Alicia had called him and told him of Daniel's call, for one of the rare times in his life he had been totally paralyzed, unable to move. Not his daughter. All the people in his life that he had lost, and none of that prepared him in the slightest for what it felt like when he heard that Heather had been shot. At the time, he had no idea how badly she was hurt. Once he would have believed that the worst pain he had ever felt was when Alicia had stopped breathing on that cold concrete floor. That wasn't anything compared to knowing that his child had been injured.
By the time Alicia got home, Zack had an overnight bag and plane reservations made. She didn't even come to a complete stop as she approached the house, only slowing down enough so that he could get in as they then sped off to the airport to catch their flight. Zack wasn't sure how Alicia managed it, but she spent the entire wild ride (including using an emergency lane for three miles and a few blocks of a sidewalk at one point) on the phone with the airline manager and got the man to hold the plane for fifteen minutes so that they could make the flight.
They had been checking in with Daniel while on the flight and Zack had breathed a big sigh of relief when they got word that Heather was out of surgery and doing well. Alicia wasn't able to feel the same way. She still had a brother of status unknown and there was no way she was going to relax until she was with Heather and could see with her own eyes that she was going to be okay. When they got to New York, Zack had quite calmly shoved some businessman aside, taking his cab while Alicia coolly slid in and handed the cabbie a hundred dollar bill. She told him that no change would be required if he could get them to St. Luke's in fifteen minutes. He made it in fourteen and a half.
Alicia had control over herself when the elevator doors opened. Well, as close to in control as she was going to get. They marched down the hallway to room 728 where a young man in a dark suit was sitting beside the door. He looked at them coldly and then made the mistake of opening his mouth.
"Hospital personnel only are allowed in this room," he declared. "All visitors must be cleared through Agent Brick..." His words were cut off as Zack grabbed him by the neck and flicked him down the hall like an annoying bug. The young CIA agent was stunned and for a moment thought about going for his gun but then quickly reconsidered. He grabbed his communicator instead.
"Agent Brickman, this is Agent Walker," he said formally. "Two visitors are requesting entry to the contained area."
There was a snort of laughter at the other end. "You on the floor or hanging out a window?" came the response. Xander felt a little dumb that he forgot to call the agent he had ordered posted at Heather's room. But Alicia tended to make him forget that he was supposed to be the one giving orders, not sitting there waiting for the next one. "They're her parents," he added. "Stay out of their way." Like the kid was going to need to be told that.
Inside the room, Alicia had already forgotten about the guard outside Heather's room. She thought she was doing well in handling the situation. But that went out the window the moment she walked in the room and saw Heather. Alicia didn't notice the hot tears that slipped down her cheeks as she took in how pale and small Heather looked in that bed with the wires and tubes strapped to her. Monitors reflected Heather's vital statistics, all showing good, yes, but it was the fact that such things were needed that tore into Alicia.
Daniel and Cyra had been sitting beside Heather's bed when the parents entered. They stood, not sure what to do when Alicia went to the bed, taking her daughter's hand gently.
"Heather," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Mommy's here. It's okay, now, Mommy and Daddy are here."
Heather stirred slightly, her lips parting as she tried to say something, but fell back into unconsciousness. "She's still really out of it," Daniel said quietly. "The doctor said she would probably sleep the rest of the day and night because of the anesthesia and pain killers." He and Cyra came around the bed and then hugged both of his parents.
"Do you know what happened?" Zack asked his son.
"Lon's looking into it," Daniel replied. "All I know right now is that Justin called me while I was in my office and told me to be on the roof in two minutes. Xander and I had gotten breakfast that morning before he had his conference on that new software and he had gone up to the roof with me. When we got there, the helicopter was powered up and Justin told us that Jhondie had called and said that Heather and Cole had been shot and blood donors were needed. He was surprised to see Xander, but it was good thing he was there too. We took off and Heather had already been taken to surgery and Cole wasn't able to talk."
"Xander ordered the door guard?" Alicia asked, annoyed at the interference, but pleased that her brother had thought about the details in a crisis. Xander sometimes had a bad habit of forgetting the minor issues sometimes.
"Yeah," Daniel answered hesitantly. He didn't want to say it, but he knew it was best to get the rest out now. "There have already been some reporters lurking." His father's sharp look almost made him take a step back. Zack had not wanted the article published. He didn't care if it meant a new Manticore. His family's safety came first, and remaining in the shadows was the safest bet.
"There's only one in the hospital, and Justin and I picked him," Daniel said quickly. "Jhondie had to let her staff in the ER know and probably the surgical team as well and rumors are going to get around. Xander ordered the guard because he didn't want anyone to take advantage of the situation."
Zack went to say something, but Alicia touched his arm. "Please," she said softly, knowing where he was going. "Not right now." She needed her husband's strength right now and not a bunch of bickering. Heather didn't need that around her either.
"We'll talk later," he growled at Daniel.
"Are the kids okay?" Alicia asked, wanting to get the subject off of the ramifications of Daniel's article. That had been well debated already and she wasn't in the mood for it right now.
"Carmella has them," Cyra answered. "So they're in heaven right now. She's teaching Tanya a little Italian every time she sits for them." Alicia smiled a little. "And the twins called as well, both of them are on their way to New York and Daniel called Jon. He'll be here on the next flight."
Heather stirred again, breathing out something as she tried to speak. Alicia leaned closer. "What, honey? I couldn't hear you." Heather repeated it, her face taking on a distressed look.
Alicia straightened, smiling sadly. "Don't worry about your keys," she told her daughter gently. Zack squeezed her other hand and Alicia squeezed back, acknowledging the comfort he was providing her. Heather was forever running around her apartment, tearing it apart as she looked for her keys.
Zack brushed a red-gold curl off of his daughter's forehead. He hadn't seen her this still and helpless since she was an infant. "Just rest," he ordered gently. "We'll find your keys for you, I promise." Heather looked like she was going to say something else, but sleep claimed her once again.
Alicia wiped her cheeks, remembering whom she was and what else she needed to do. "I need to check on Cole," she said to Zack. He nodded and kissed her forehead.
"I can run down there," Daniel volunteered. He wasn't thrilled at the thought of being with his father right now.
"You need to stay close," Alicia replied. Her voice lowered. "I don't trust anyone with Heather right now except for family. You'll know if someone comes in here with bad intentions." Daniel nodded. He didn't normally pry into minds, but this was a special case. Nobody was going to touch his sister that wasn't thinking happy thoughts.
Alicia left the room and headed back to surgical waiting. Nobody would have thought a few minutes before she was a frightened parent. Her blue eyes were total ice in a face of stone; only a bit of redness admitted that she had been crying. She marched back into the waiting room like general about to get a briefing from her lieutenants.
"Have you heard from Lon?" she asked Xander sharply.
"Perp's dead, not much else known right now," Xander asked crisply, fighting back the urge to salute. "He had to check something else out and then is going to return for a full debriefing."
Alicia nodded and then it hit her what was missing from the gathered assembly. "Where's Tynell?"
"Situation unknown," Xander answered. "Finally spoke with Karen and she said he was on training maneuvers and she wasn't expecting to hear from him for another day or two. I've got a couple of men on it."
"How's Heather doing?" Justin asked. Mentioning her daughter broke through Alicia's cold façade.
"She keeps mumbling about her keys," Alicia said with a little smile, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. Justin smiled back at her. If Heather was back to her keys, then she couldn't be doing too badly.
"I can call you down here as soon as we hear something about Cole," he offered, understanding how torn she must be feeling right now. If this was his brother Bryan and daughter Taylor, or even one of the boys, Jamie or Hunter, for that matter, he knew he would be going nuts. "There's not much you can do here anyways except wait."
"Do they need more blood?" Alicia asked, remembering what Daniel had said about needing X-6 blood donors.
"Not now." Jhondie's voice was soft, but it carried through the room, claiming all of the attention immediately.
Xander was on his feet immediately. His sister was still in the workout clothes she had been wearing when she got the news, but that didn't lessen the command presence she always carried with her. It was both amusing and annoying that she was still their CO despite everything. "Cole's still in, Heather was taken up to room 728 a little bit ago," Xander said crisply. "Daniel and Cyra are with Heather right now."
Without a word, Alicia turned and headed to the nearest elevators. She was worried about Cole, yes, but her daughter came first. They got into the elevator, not saying a word. The grim set of their faces made another visitor decide to take the next elevator to his floor. He didn't want to be alone with those two for a second. The doors shut and the car started going up to the seventh floor.
Zack's arm slipped around his wife's waist and he pulled her small body against his. "Breathe," he ordered gruffly, feeling her start shaking against him. "Daniel said she was doing well. He wouldn't lie to us." It was the first moment since leaving Seattle that she had a second to panic and he knew Alicia needed that if she was to cope with the rest of the day. She would be in perfect control in front of her siblings but he knew she needed just a minute to get it out.
"My baby's hurt," Alicia sniffed, grateful for the strong arms wrapped tightly around her. She had seen her brothers and sisters injured before. They had been shot even. Knife wounds, gouges, broken bones, even a few animal bites. But this was her daughter. She had felt Heather grow inside of her body, fed her from her own breast, and watched her grow from a baby to a girl to a beautiful young woman. Heather being hurt was simply intolerable.
"She's enough like you," Zack said softly. "She'll heal good as new." He had to convince her of that in order to convince himself. When Alicia had called him and told him of Daniel's call, for one of the rare times in his life he had been totally paralyzed, unable to move. Not his daughter. All the people in his life that he had lost, and none of that prepared him in the slightest for what it felt like when he heard that Heather had been shot. At the time, he had no idea how badly she was hurt. Once he would have believed that the worst pain he had ever felt was when Alicia had stopped breathing on that cold concrete floor. That wasn't anything compared to knowing that his child had been injured.
By the time Alicia got home, Zack had an overnight bag and plane reservations made. She didn't even come to a complete stop as she approached the house, only slowing down enough so that he could get in as they then sped off to the airport to catch their flight. Zack wasn't sure how Alicia managed it, but she spent the entire wild ride (including using an emergency lane for three miles and a few blocks of a sidewalk at one point) on the phone with the airline manager and got the man to hold the plane for fifteen minutes so that they could make the flight.
They had been checking in with Daniel while on the flight and Zack had breathed a big sigh of relief when they got word that Heather was out of surgery and doing well. Alicia wasn't able to feel the same way. She still had a brother of status unknown and there was no way she was going to relax until she was with Heather and could see with her own eyes that she was going to be okay. When they got to New York, Zack had quite calmly shoved some businessman aside, taking his cab while Alicia coolly slid in and handed the cabbie a hundred dollar bill. She told him that no change would be required if he could get them to St. Luke's in fifteen minutes. He made it in fourteen and a half.
Alicia had control over herself when the elevator doors opened. Well, as close to in control as she was going to get. They marched down the hallway to room 728 where a young man in a dark suit was sitting beside the door. He looked at them coldly and then made the mistake of opening his mouth.
"Hospital personnel only are allowed in this room," he declared. "All visitors must be cleared through Agent Brick..." His words were cut off as Zack grabbed him by the neck and flicked him down the hall like an annoying bug. The young CIA agent was stunned and for a moment thought about going for his gun but then quickly reconsidered. He grabbed his communicator instead.
"Agent Brickman, this is Agent Walker," he said formally. "Two visitors are requesting entry to the contained area."
There was a snort of laughter at the other end. "You on the floor or hanging out a window?" came the response. Xander felt a little dumb that he forgot to call the agent he had ordered posted at Heather's room. But Alicia tended to make him forget that he was supposed to be the one giving orders, not sitting there waiting for the next one. "They're her parents," he added. "Stay out of their way." Like the kid was going to need to be told that.
Inside the room, Alicia had already forgotten about the guard outside Heather's room. She thought she was doing well in handling the situation. But that went out the window the moment she walked in the room and saw Heather. Alicia didn't notice the hot tears that slipped down her cheeks as she took in how pale and small Heather looked in that bed with the wires and tubes strapped to her. Monitors reflected Heather's vital statistics, all showing good, yes, but it was the fact that such things were needed that tore into Alicia.
Daniel and Cyra had been sitting beside Heather's bed when the parents entered. They stood, not sure what to do when Alicia went to the bed, taking her daughter's hand gently.
"Heather," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Mommy's here. It's okay, now, Mommy and Daddy are here."
Heather stirred slightly, her lips parting as she tried to say something, but fell back into unconsciousness. "She's still really out of it," Daniel said quietly. "The doctor said she would probably sleep the rest of the day and night because of the anesthesia and pain killers." He and Cyra came around the bed and then hugged both of his parents.
"Do you know what happened?" Zack asked his son.
"Lon's looking into it," Daniel replied. "All I know right now is that Justin called me while I was in my office and told me to be on the roof in two minutes. Xander and I had gotten breakfast that morning before he had his conference on that new software and he had gone up to the roof with me. When we got there, the helicopter was powered up and Justin told us that Jhondie had called and said that Heather and Cole had been shot and blood donors were needed. He was surprised to see Xander, but it was good thing he was there too. We took off and Heather had already been taken to surgery and Cole wasn't able to talk."
"Xander ordered the door guard?" Alicia asked, annoyed at the interference, but pleased that her brother had thought about the details in a crisis. Xander sometimes had a bad habit of forgetting the minor issues sometimes.
"Yeah," Daniel answered hesitantly. He didn't want to say it, but he knew it was best to get the rest out now. "There have already been some reporters lurking." His father's sharp look almost made him take a step back. Zack had not wanted the article published. He didn't care if it meant a new Manticore. His family's safety came first, and remaining in the shadows was the safest bet.
"There's only one in the hospital, and Justin and I picked him," Daniel said quickly. "Jhondie had to let her staff in the ER know and probably the surgical team as well and rumors are going to get around. Xander ordered the guard because he didn't want anyone to take advantage of the situation."
Zack went to say something, but Alicia touched his arm. "Please," she said softly, knowing where he was going. "Not right now." She needed her husband's strength right now and not a bunch of bickering. Heather didn't need that around her either.
"We'll talk later," he growled at Daniel.
"Are the kids okay?" Alicia asked, wanting to get the subject off of the ramifications of Daniel's article. That had been well debated already and she wasn't in the mood for it right now.
"Carmella has them," Cyra answered. "So they're in heaven right now. She's teaching Tanya a little Italian every time she sits for them." Alicia smiled a little. "And the twins called as well, both of them are on their way to New York and Daniel called Jon. He'll be here on the next flight."
Heather stirred again, breathing out something as she tried to speak. Alicia leaned closer. "What, honey? I couldn't hear you." Heather repeated it, her face taking on a distressed look.
Alicia straightened, smiling sadly. "Don't worry about your keys," she told her daughter gently. Zack squeezed her other hand and Alicia squeezed back, acknowledging the comfort he was providing her. Heather was forever running around her apartment, tearing it apart as she looked for her keys.
Zack brushed a red-gold curl off of his daughter's forehead. He hadn't seen her this still and helpless since she was an infant. "Just rest," he ordered gently. "We'll find your keys for you, I promise." Heather looked like she was going to say something else, but sleep claimed her once again.
Alicia wiped her cheeks, remembering whom she was and what else she needed to do. "I need to check on Cole," she said to Zack. He nodded and kissed her forehead.
"I can run down there," Daniel volunteered. He wasn't thrilled at the thought of being with his father right now.
"You need to stay close," Alicia replied. Her voice lowered. "I don't trust anyone with Heather right now except for family. You'll know if someone comes in here with bad intentions." Daniel nodded. He didn't normally pry into minds, but this was a special case. Nobody was going to touch his sister that wasn't thinking happy thoughts.
Alicia left the room and headed back to surgical waiting. Nobody would have thought a few minutes before she was a frightened parent. Her blue eyes were total ice in a face of stone; only a bit of redness admitted that she had been crying. She marched back into the waiting room like general about to get a briefing from her lieutenants.
"Have you heard from Lon?" she asked Xander sharply.
"Perp's dead, not much else known right now," Xander asked crisply, fighting back the urge to salute. "He had to check something else out and then is going to return for a full debriefing."
Alicia nodded and then it hit her what was missing from the gathered assembly. "Where's Tynell?"
"Situation unknown," Xander answered. "Finally spoke with Karen and she said he was on training maneuvers and she wasn't expecting to hear from him for another day or two. I've got a couple of men on it."
"How's Heather doing?" Justin asked. Mentioning her daughter broke through Alicia's cold façade.
"She keeps mumbling about her keys," Alicia said with a little smile, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. Justin smiled back at her. If Heather was back to her keys, then she couldn't be doing too badly.
"I can call you down here as soon as we hear something about Cole," he offered, understanding how torn she must be feeling right now. If this was his brother Bryan and daughter Taylor, or even one of the boys, Jamie or Hunter, for that matter, he knew he would be going nuts. "There's not much you can do here anyways except wait."
"Do they need more blood?" Alicia asked, remembering what Daniel had said about needing X-6 blood donors.
"Not now." Jhondie's voice was soft, but it carried through the room, claiming all of the attention immediately.