Disclaimer: I don't own anything Numb3rs, it's all property of CBS and whatnot, so don't sue.
Chapter 14:A Giant Helping of Guilt and a visitFrom the Shrink
A powerful black SUV swerved its way through early morning trafficm barely obeying the speed limit as it made it's way to the hospital. Behind the wheel was a tightly wound Don Eppes with Alan in the passenger seat . The SUV screeched to a stop and its occupants piled out, punning through the emergency room doors, in frantic search of Charlie. Don ran up to the front desk, not noticing a certain " Doctor" secretly waiting for him.
" Hey, I'm looking for my little brother Charlie, Charlie Eppes, your guys brought him here! Said Don, nearly yelling. It was than that " Dr. Steele" stepped in.
" Are you Don Eppes?" Asked Steele.
" Yes." Said Don anxiously as he turned to the" Doctor".
" I'm Dr. Coburn. Your brother is in one of the exam rooms. Follow me." Said Steele as he pointed down the hall. Thetwo men followed" Coburn" to the exam room.
Meanwhile in the exam room, Mikaila gently shook Charlie awake so she could inform him of the situation and check his dressings, mainly the one around his middle for the gash on his side.
" Your family's here and by the looks of it, your bro's terrified. Said Mikaila quietly. A look of sadness filled Charlie's deep brown eyes. This was the part he never liked, having to put up yet another fascade. Charlie lay back down on the gurney and feined sleep just as " Coburn" led his family into the room.
Don paused a moment to look at his baby brother's " sleeping" form. Though he was no longer the pale, bloody mess of a man he'd been that morning, he still looked like hell, bruises were already beginning to form, and thoughthe white bandages hid the gashes, the pink irritated skin around the wounds were somewhat visible. Don snapped out of his trance and made his way to Charlie's side. He reached out and gently buried his hand into the unruly mass of curls, stroking the curls softly before he turned to the " Doctor".
" How bad is it?" He asked quietly as Alan walked up to the other side of the gurney and hesitantly placed his hand on Charlie's chest,over his youngest son's heart, reassurance that his baby wasbreathing.
" Not as bad as it looks, all of the damage is superficial, mostly cuts and bruises, most of the blood we cleaned off of him wasn't his. He will be sore for the next couple of days, soI'll perscribe some mide pain meds." Said " Coburn" as he pulled out a perscription pad and pen, scribbling a few things down.
In reality, he didn't write anything, instead, he used slight of hand, a little trick of the trade, and switched what he'd written for thereal doctor Coburn's written perscrpition. He handed the paper to Don and then stepped back to watch the show begin as his operative "stirred from his slumber".
Deep brown eyes fluttered open and blinked slowly before they settled on theFBI Agent standing beside the bed.
" Don?" Croaked Charlie, oh yeah, he was laying it on thick.
" Hey Buddy, how you feeling?" Asked Don softly as he petted the top of his brother's head gently.
" Like crap." Answered Charlie flatly. Earning a small chuckle from Don.
Charlie felt a hand over his heart and brought up one of his own to cover it, taking in its warmth, he turned a gave his father a small smile.
" Hey Dad."
Alan instead remained silent, he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his son's brow.
" I am so sorry for lying to you bothagain". Thought Charlie as he felt the sting of tears behind his eyes. The tears he'd shed earlier were not Koyuki Jenshio, but for the daughter she abandoned for a killing spree, and now, these tears were the tears of self loathing and guilt.
" When can we take him home." Asked Alan as he watched his youngest blink furiously against the tears. Don squeezed Charlie's shoulder gently as he watched his brother try to reign in his emotions.
"Coburn" Heaved a small sigh before he spoke.
" Physically, he's going to be fine and can leave todaybut, after being informed of the circumstances to which these injuries were inflicted, I think it's best if he visits a psychologist. If you'd like, I could call the one we have on staff."
Don and Alan looked down at Charlie and in silence asked him what he wanted.
" Okay, sure, I'll take to the shrink, but after, can you just take me home." Asked Charlie, putting on his best puppydog eyed expression. It worked like a charm as Don and Alan both nodded to Coburn, who nodded and picked up the phone in the room and "dialedthe number for Psych consult".
A few minutes later another man walked into theroom, dressed casually in a grey button-up shirt and black suite pants, he had blond hair and blueeyes. He smiled at the other manm a smallassurance of sorts.
" Hello, I'm Dr. Ross,I'm herebecause somebody needs someone to talk to." He said.
" That would be me." said Charliequietly.
"Alright, would you like your family to be with you or would you like some privacy. Asked Dr. Ross quietly.
Charlie looked from Don to Alan and thensaid apologetically.
" Can I do this bymyself please?"
Don was about to protest when a warning look from Alan stopped him, the older Eppes brother sigh in defeat and with a final reassuring touch, the two of them left Charlie in the care of Dr. Ross.
Charlie heaved a small sigh as Ross took a seatbeside him.
" So how are you holding up?" Asked Ross.
" Well, I'm not feelin to gulity about what happened to Jenshio if that's what you mean Toby." Answered Charlie as he turned his gaze to the shrink, who so happened toactuallybe CIA Agent Tobias Finch, who, along with being the "Big Three's" chauffer of sorts, was also a liscenced Shrink.
" So Mr. Eppes, why don't you start from the beginning of what happened between you and Koyuki Jenshio. And I mean, the first time you ever laid eyes on this woman." Said Toby.
With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Charlie started recounting his encounter with Koyuki Jenshio...
Meanwhile, out in the hall, Don and Alan Eppes sat outside of the exam room, each lost in his own thoughts.
" I let you down Charlie,I should've protected you.What was in that coffee? Why didn't you drink any of it? Was it because you saw what happened to the rest of us? My God, where are all the answers to these questions? What aren't you telling me?" Were among the myriad of questions running through Don's mind.
" My God, I almost lost my boy to that psychopath. Oh my God, my baby boy, oh Margaret, I almost lost him likeI did you. Charlie, what happened?" Thought Alan as he stared through the window at his son laying on the gurney, talking or maybe mombling to the shrink.
If only they knew what was really going on, Charlie secretly wished he could ease their worry but thought better of it.
Inside the exam room, Charlie recounted his tale.
" I'll leave out the finer details,I first met Koyuki Jenshio while we wereon a job in Kyoto Japan. Wewere dispatched to make sure a U.S. Diplomat wasn't whacked. Jenshio was the assassin the mob had hired to take him out. The night she struck,I decided to take her on myself, no need to risk my two other fellow operatives and besides, I knewI was the better fighter. When she was about to dish out the killer blow, she met me, I was in thebed, not her target. Wefought and I came to within a centimeter of slicing her in half whenI remember what came up in her CIA file, she had a kid, a little girl, soI decided to show her mercy, sue me, I dohave a conscience. I let her walk away without her ever seeing my face. I had already seen her handy work through crimescene photos of unsolved homicidecases in the Japanese database, soI carved her signature into my own neck. I informed my Commander of my actions, and was repremanded andrelieved of duty until further notice. But,I was reactivated, one of the perks of being one of the best. Got called in for the jobs in New Zealand,Paris, and the last one, inDemascus.Now, i find myself here, taking to you."
Toby looked at him evenly before he spoke.
" So, you don't feel any guilt for Koyuki Jenshio, but you do feel guilty about her dautgher, and for those five people Jenshio killed before you stopped her."
" I didn't stop her, she stopped herself. That idiot thoughtthat byplunging her own sword into her gut, she'd redeemed herself. All she did was make a big mess in my backyard, andnowI gotta come up with something so that my cover isn't blown." Said Charlie crossly.
Toby gave a small chuckle before hescribbled somthing onto the clip board in his hands.
" AlrightMr. Eppes,I see nothing wrong, your stillthe guy we know and love." Smiled Toby
" Shut-up Cabby, and get the hell out of here beforeeverybody else get's here, Amita will recognize you if she sees you. Said Charlie with a small smile of his own.
" I'll see you later Ghost. Said Toby as he headed out of the room.
Steele walked in through the side door and stared down at his operative.
" Ghost, I will say this to you once and only once, you show mercy only when you are ordered to. If you everpull the same mistake you did with Jenshio, I won't just have you deactivated permanently, I'll have you erased off the face of the earth. Do you understand?" Asked Steele, in a voice as cold and comandeing as his namesake.
" Yes sir... I'm sorry sir,I already assured youit will not happen again." Said Charlie as he held his comanding officer's gaze.
With a nod,Steele went back out to deal with Don and Alan Eppes, who were toatlly oblivious to the real situation.
Charlie sighed and layed back down on the gurney andstared at the ceiling.
This wasn't over, not by a longshot.
" I have so much workto do." Thought Charlie