A/N - The reviews that I have gotten really make a huge difference. Anonymous-unknown thanks again. This chapter was going to be a little longer but when you read the last sentenceyou'll see why I ended it where I did. I'm working two stories right now and will do my best to keep pace with both.
Yours respectfully,
Alice I

Chapter Thirty-Five

During the night Don had awakened and asked Colby to untie him so that he could use the bathroom. As he was helping Don into a sitting position the night nurse entered the room to check on her patient's vitals and immediately tried to get Don to lie back down explaining that he should use the urinal instead of getting up to use the bathroom.

This seemingly simple instruction set off a reaction that neither the nurse nor Colby had expected from Don. He flatly refused to lie down and when the nurse approached him with the plastic container he became angry and hit it out of her hands.

"Get the hell away from me with that thing!"

The nurse clearly upset by this reaction, backed away quickly as Colby tried grabbed Don's arm to keep him from swinging at her again.

"Don, she's just doing her job! What's the big deal?"

"NO! Damn it, you people have taken everything away from me including my freedom, you won't take my last shred of dignity too. No one is touching me do you hear me Granger? No one gets to touch me!"

Don was panting and his heart rate had shot up alarmingly. He had a pained look on his face and he spoke again through clenched teeth.

"Look miss, I'm sorry, but I really need to use the bathroom. I will not use that thing and there is no way in hell that I will let anyone try to assist me in that manner. As long as I use the chest pillow to support my wound and have help taking the three or four steps required to make it from the here to the bathroom I will take care of my own personal needs. Am I clear on this?"

The nurse relented but not before writing furiously in Don's chart. He didn't care what she wrote. Colby helped him to stand and with the help of the nurse they got him and the VAC pump into the bathroom. Colby stared at the closed door for a few minutes frowning at Don's reaction.

When Megan arrived at the hospital just before six in the morning Colby looked almost as bad as Don. He felt terrible for what he witnessed Don going through and regretted having to report the altercation between the agent and the nurse. He knew that the post traumatic stress was getting to Don and he couldn't even imagine what it must have been like to have that crazy woman cut him open like that.

Colby couldn't define what was really bothering him, but his gut was telling him that there was more to Don's reaction than there appeared to be. During the course of the night Don had two serious nightmares. During the first one he yelled 'Don't touch me!' which would seem reasonable enough considering what had happened, but Colby got a different sense from those words.

Once Colby had woken Don up after each nightmare he wanted to use the bathroom and had to be helped up. By then they had worked out a way to move the VAC pump without calling for the nurse which Colby was thankful for when he heard the water turn on and almost mask the sounds of Don's sobs.

Colby tried to reason with himself that Don had been through so much trauma, and now that he was being watched constantly and restrained while he slept he had every right to need to express some grief.

He had done his share of crying in Afghanistan but no one ever knew about it. A man needs to have some things kept private. It was bad enough that he had no choice but to eavesdrop on Don's most private moments he certainly had no interest in sharing them with Megan or anyone else for that matter.

Megan entered the room quietly and motioned for Colby to come out. He handed her his report without saying a word and just watched her face as she read about the incident last night. She already knew about it because that same nurse had seen her in the hallway and stopped her to discuss it.

"Colby, tell me what happened. Not what this says…" she said holding up the pages he had given her "…but what really happened. I have already gotten Miss Haverly's version."

"He woke up and wanted to use the bathroom. Everything was fine until nurse Haverly came in and tried to get him to stay in bed and use a urinal. When she brought it over to him he…"

"What?"

"He kind of freaked out a little. He swung at it knocking it out of her hand and said to get the hell away from him. Then he said that you people have taken everything away from him but he wouldn't let them take his last shred of dignity. I mean I can understand why he felt that way really."

Megan studied Colby's features for a moment. He was nervous and kept looking just past her shoulder or just past the side of her face, anywhere but directly into her eyes.

"What aren't you telling me Colby?"

"Nothing, that's what happened… it's just that…"

Megan waited. Colby looked down at his feet for a moment then glanced back toward the door to Don's room.

"Look I'm no psychologist but I got a sense from him last night. When she came at him with that urinal he was almost acting like an animal backed into a corner."

Megan frowned because she wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"When he first got here after Charlie and David found him, they took care of his injuries, but he was never examined for any other kind of assault."

"What are you talking about? What other kind of assault?"

"When he was freaking out he said; and I quote 'No one is touching me do you hear me Granger? No one gets to touch me!' Then when he had one of the nightmares he said it again 'Don't touch me.'"

"Oh God, are you suggesting that she sexually assaulted him?"

Colby held his hands up in the air and backed up a bit.

"I'm not suggesting anything, Megan. I just got a hinky feeling about his reaction. This could still all be explained by the fact that the bitch tried to carve him up like a Sunday roast. That is plenty traumatic enough, hell that's more trauma than any of us ever saw in Afghanistan."

"Ok, Colby. Thanks for your honesty. Look, go home and get some sleep. I'm going to need you later this afternoon. Do you think you might be up for another night shift with Don?"

"Hey no problem, I'll do what ever I need to for him, you know that."

"Thanks Colby. I just thought that after everything that has been happening to him, a little continuity might just go a long way. I also don't want to have lots of other agents putting him into restraints. He trusts you and that helps with this situation."

Colby stepped back into the room to grab his jacket and Don opened his eyes.

"Hey man, you bailin' on me?"

Colby stepped over to Don and smiled.

"Nah, just going home for a couple winks, then I'll be back." He bent over and started to undo the restraints. "Here let me take these off for you. Megan brought Nut House Mocha just like you asked."

Don used the bed controls to sit the head of the bed up and rubbed his wrists absentmindedly as Colby stepped outside and held the door for Megan. She immediately noticed that he was rubbing his wrists and sat down next to the bed looking concerned.

"Were those too tight?"

"Only when I pulled on them." Don answered dryly.

She handed him the coffee she had brought and he accepted it but didn't take a sip. He just held it in his hands as if warming them on the sides of the cup. Megan looked closely at Don trying to decide what she should say. She had decided to have the psych. evaluation done later this morning if she could arrange it. Colby's impressions had seriously bothered her. He was no slouch and had shown quite a bit of perceptiveness over the past year that she had been working with him.

"So you had a rough night huh?"

"I've had better."

"I heard that you got up a couple of times."

"Kinda' had to. The bathrooms over there."

Don was avoiding looking at her. He was give simple answers and was basically being non cooperative so she decided that the direct approach would work better. After all Don was a no-nonsense guy and usually responded to a direct question.

"Would you like to tell me about the altercation that you had with the nurse last night?"

"No."

"You really upset her you know."

Don looked at Megan this time. 'That did it.'

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten her."

"I didn't say that she was frightened."

"Oh." 'Great back to monosyllabic answers.'

"Don, why were you so upset about using the bathroom?"

Don looked at Megan with fury behind his eyes. His jaw tensed up and she noticed that his heart rate began to rise.

"First I am kidnapped, taped down to a piece of ply wood and cut open like some piece of meat, I am brought to the hospital, I am told that the mob is going to try and kill me, my family is taken away from me, my dreams are invaded by horrible memories that cause me to have a nightmare that I over react to and now I'm being tied down at night when I sleep. I constantly watched, I have no privacy and now some young little girl is going to tell me that I can't even urinate in peace; that I have to do even that for a captive audience! What the fuc…
What do you want from me? What other basic human dignity do you want to strip from me now?"

Megan sighed. "Don no one is trying to dehumanize you."

"That's the way it feels."

Maybe Colby was right, maybe this is all explained by the stress. He has been through a more horrific experience than any other person that she has ever known, but she had to know for herself.

"When you gave me your deposition about what happened in that storeroom, was it complete?"

Don just stared at her without answering. He had a guarded look in his eyes.

"Did you tell me everything that Shelly Arbury did to you, Don?"

Megan watched as Don shut down. It was like pulling a switch. A veil of dead space descended over his eyes and his face became blank; his voice monotonous and he didn't look directly into her eyes as he answered.

"Yes."

'He's lying. Christ what did that sick bitch do to him?'

"Are you sure?"

Don set the coffee down on the tray table and lay back on the bed as he used the control to lower it.

"Go ahead and tie me up I'm tired and I'm going to take a nap."

With that he turned his head away from Megan and closed his eyes. She stood up and squeezed his shoulder.

"The restrains aren't necessary right now. Mark Hawkins will be here in a few minutes."

Don didn't answer her. He had closed down and that worried her more than anything else. Megan was very concerned that Don might be slipping into depression. That would slow his healing process and extend his hospital stay, something that would only exacerbate his problems. He needed to be with his father and brother. When they were an ever present source of support for him he had done well. If not for the infection that caused that first high fever he would have been out of here by now. She was pulled from her musings when the door opened and Mark Hawkins entered the room.

After giving Mark a run down on the new procedure she left for the safe house. Megan thought about what she was going to tell Charlie and Alan as she made her way down to the parking garage. She had to tell them what had happened. She found herself struggling with this issue.

Telling them about Don's current condition would do far more than worry them and there was absolutely nothing that they could do about it, but if she were in their position she wouldn't be able to forgive the person who withheld that information. The question was; how much information should she give?

The ride to the safe house was long with the morning commuters. When she arrived she was not surprised to find that Charlie had indeed been working. According to Dan Hodges who was looking over the evening and night reports he had been at it a good chunk of the night. He had actually stopped for a four hour nap but by five in the morning he was up and at the white boards again. He had filled nearly half of one of the spiral notebooks already from data that he took from his laptop.

"Well, Charlie what has you so engrossed?" Megan called as she sat down at the dinette table.

Charlie looked up from his notebook with a startled and almost guilty expression on his face. Megan wasn't sure what to make of that but filed her impression away to be studied later. Right now she had the unpleasant task of telling Don's family about his set back.

Alan came out of the left hand bedroom at the sound of Megan's voice and smiled brightly before he glanced over at Charlie's work area and his smile faltered somewhat.

"Charlie, you promised me that you would sleep!"

"I did, Dad, I just got up a little early that's all."

Charlie wanted to avoid a confrontation with his father and walked over to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"So is Don all settled at Huntington Memorial?"

Megan didn't answer right away. Charlie came and sat down at the table along with Alan and they exchanged worried frowns. Alan saw the hesitation in Megan's body language and spoke first.

"What happened, Megan; is Don all right?"

"We couldn't move him last night. There was an incident."

Both Alan and Charlie took in sharp breaths at this and Megan continued before either one of them could start asking questions.

"He had a nightmare about his abduction and when he woke up he tore away the VAC bandaging causing some more damage to his wound. Dr. Hammell fixed him up and re-applied the bandage but it has been a rough road for him. He will have to stay where he is for a while until his wounds can begin some substantial healing."

Megan paused for a moment and both Charlie and Alan could see that she had something more to say but was reluctant to. Alan reached out and took her hand in his.

"What is it Megan?"

"Dr. Hammell had no choice…
…He ordered the use of wrist restraints when Don is sleeping."

"What!"

Charlie stood up so quickly that he nearly knocked over his coffee. The anger in his face was palpable and Megan winced slightly.

"That can't do that to him! Megan after what he went through… God Damn it!"

"Charlie!"

Alan was also on his feet placing a calming hand on his younger son's shoulder which Charlie brushed off roughly.

"You don't understand! Neither of you do! You can't know what it's like to be tied down to a board and know that you are going to be butchered. To know that there is nothing you can do to stop it! You can't begin to imagine how it feels to have your ability to fight back, to protect yourself systematically stripped away from you. Tying him down will only serve to make those feelings of helplessness worse for Don."

Charlie was panting and had broken out in a cold sweat but he didn't seem to notice. He began pacing back and forth as he ranted on about this situation.

"What about this threat of an assassin? How is he supposed to protect himself if someone tries to kill him? How sure are you that a plausible threat even exists?"

Charlie was having difficulty breathing at the moment as a full out anxiety attack descended on him like a suffocating blanket. His knees buckled and he dropped to the floor gasping. Alan was at his side in an instant telling him to concentrate on his breathing. It took a few minutes for Charlie to remember his breathing techniques and calm down but once he had control again he gently pushed his father's hands away saying that he was all right. Alan allowed him to get up under his own power and take a seat at the table although he hovered closely for a few minutes to reassure himself that his youngest was past the attack.

"Charlie, I understand how difficult this is for both of you, it's difficult for Don too. We believe that there is a real threat however. Shelly Arbury had a visitor yesterday. A man named Tommy Torpe who works for Anthony Saborgia came to see her late yesterday morning, then again in the afternoon. On the second visit he had a woman with him. We now know that it was Rebecca Cantor."

Both Alan and Charlie looked up quickly at that news.

"So you have her? You have Shelly's accomplice?"

Megan sighed in frustration; this is the part she really hated to admit.

"I'm sorry Charlie. We have viewed the surveillance video and have determined that Rebecca Cantor was at the prison but she did not use the alias Shirley Poulton. She was logged into the visiting register as Stella Tandy. Charlie, if Rebecca is here and using different aliases and is meeting with Saborgia's people then there is no other assumption that we can make. We are positive that a hit has been ordered and probably paid for."

Charlie slumped in his chair. It was Alan's turn to be angry.

"You mean to tell me that this accomplice in the murders of seven FBI agents walked right into a federal prison and then walked right back out again? How in God's name does that happen?"

Megan was not happy about this either and had planned on a visit to the prison to give the duty officers a serious dressing down. They may not have had the name Stella Tandy but they had pictures of Rebecca Canter. Someone fell down on the job and it looked very bad for the FBI.

"I can not explain that Mr. Eppes. It was a mistake on the part of the prison duty officer and I can only apologize. I can assure you that this will not go uninvestigated. Some heads will roll when Director Donaldson gets my report this morning."

"Rolling heads doesn't help Don. It doesn't help me. Why is Shelly Arbury being allowed visitors anyway? She is accused of a capitol crime. Can't she be put in isolation or something?"

Charlie wasn't getting worked up again but there was a note of desperation in his voice.

"Shelly's lawyer has been making lots of waves. He is advocating for her rights in all of the places that he can. She is innocent until proven guilty and all of that. Marco Benadero is an expert in these matters. Mob lawyers are very good at getting visitation rights for their clients for obvious reasons."

'So this is really happening. There is no doubt anymore.'

"I want to see Don. I want to go to the hospital."

"Charlie, there is no way that is going to happen. We can not risk it. It's too dangerous for you and for Don."

Charlie didn't look up at Megan as he spoke his next words. He stared down at the table watching as the grain of the wood blurred as tears began to form in his eyes.

"He needs me, he needs his family. If we were there with him we could prevent him from hurting himself."

Charlie did look up then and stared Megan in the eyes. He didn't care that he had tears running down his face. He didn't care that he seemed weak to any of them as he pleaded.

"Please, Megan, you can't let them tie him down. I understand what he is feeling right now. I can help him. I want to go back to the hospital."

This was more difficult than she had expected and her heart went out to the young man. She understood how desperately Charlie wanted to see Don, but having both of them in one place that is as unsecured as a public hospital was exactly the target that Saborgia's man would be looking for. She wasn't fooled that Saborgia's hit man would automatically believe the report of Don's death. This was the hardest thing she had ever had to do but she took Charlie's hand in her own.

"No Charlie. You are staying right here."

Charlie pulled his hands away from Megan and got up from the table turning his back on her. The only way that this was going to end was if he ended it. He ignored both his father and Megan when they called to him. He went directly to his notebooks and white boards. He would find the path of the money flow for this mob family and use that information to blackmail Alto DiBenedetto for his family's freedom.