Chapter 19:

Samantha left Danny's hospital room in search for a doctor to tell him that he had woken up. But strangely she didn't feel happy about it. Something about his reaction – his complete inability to do anything on his own, being barely able to open his eyes, and his unawareness of his surrounding made her feel sad. It would take a long time for him to recover, if he ever would after all...

What troubled her even more was his reaction to her telling him about the doctors and his inability to breathe. She had somehow agitated him for he had tried to shift in bed, had tried to move away from her, escape her, although it definitely had been painful for him to do so. Sam had no idea what had caused this reaction and she feared it. She feared Danny would stay that way – afraid and sensitive to the slightest sign of discomfort.

She feared she had lost the man that she had been working with just days ago. His outer appearance due to the severe injuries – his lifeless, helpless form in that hospital bed – had already provided her with a change she had never wanted to see. But his reactions told her, that not only had his body, but also his psyche suffered. He wasn't the same self-conscious, enthusiastic character with his cocky behavior...

But maybe she was simply reading to much into things – he had been injured severly, had been tortured for heaven's sake and now she was worrying about his reactions. Of course his mental state wasn't alright and mixed with the pain medication and the unawareness caused by the coma, his behavior was completely understandable.

She didn't even realize Jack standing in front of her until she literally ran into him. He had most probably been on his way to Danny's hospital room, but as lost in thought as she was, she hadn't detected him. She winced as he addressed her, ripping her out of her thoughts and speculations.

„Are you alright?"

„What?"

„Samantha – are you okay?"

„Yes, uhm – I was on my way to the doctor's office. Danny just woke up a few moments ago."

She didn't know why, but she had expected him to be cheerful about that news. But his reaction didn't differ much from hers, actually he didn't seem too attached by it after all. She believed there was even some sort of sad expression appearing on his face, and although it confirmed her suspicions, she didn't like him reacting in that way.

„How is he?"

„He lost consciousness again after a few minutes, but he was barely aware of his surrounding anyway."

They were silent for a few moments and Samantha frantically thought of the right words to tell Jack what she had experienced also, in which way Danny had reacted. She still didn't know if she should bring it up anyway, but something about Jack's former reaction told her, that he wouldn't be all too surprised about what had just happened.

„Jack – there's somenthing else..."

„What is it?"

„When I told him about the doctors and that I knew about his condition he tried to move away from me, just like he was afraid or something."

She looked at him intensively, hoping for some sign of alarm on his face, something that would tell her he had already been aware that this would happen. She didn't know why, but she simply had that nagging feeling that he hadn't been completely honest with them, that he was hiding something from them, soemthing about Danny's condition.

„That's perfectly normal, Samantha – after the ordeal he has been put through, I wouldn't have expected any other reaction."

Something about the tone of his voice, left her with an uncomfortable feeling. He was surpressing an emotion and she wasn't able to detect what it was. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out. It was just that she couldn't keep herself from being curious.

„Jack, what are you hiding from me?"

She had expected him to feel attacked, to tell her that she was wrong and that there was nothing he wasn't telling her. She had been prepared from him to get angry and stop speculating, but none of it happened. He simply just looked at her in a very sad way for some moments without saying a single word.

„I can't tell you, I have no right to. It's not my decision to inform you about all the details of Danny's injuries, it's his and if he won't tell you - it's perfectly okay. I myself would be happier not to know about it. Just don't push it, Sam."

His answer had left her deeply concerned. Something horrible must have happened during these three days of torment Danny had been forced to go through, something even more cruel and painful than broken bones, cuts and bruises. She didn't even want to think about it for any longer, but still Jack's answer hadn't made her curiousity die down. However she was pretty sure that knowing about whatever had caused Danny's reaction would make it a lot more difficult for her to cope with his current state. Maybe she was lucky not to know.

„I'm gonna join you."

Once again, Jack had managed to rip her out of her thoughts. And she needed another few seconds to refocus on her superior agent and the surrounding around her. She had almost forgotten where she had been headed to.

„Where to?"

Jack smiled at her – a sympathetic, friendly smile, exactly the right thing to soothe her preoccupied mind right now.

„To the doctor's office, remember? You wanted to inform the doctor about Danny's condition."

„Yeah sure."

They walked down the corridor together, heading to Dr. Collins' office without saying another word. Anyway there wasn't much to say about this situation after all. So far they didn't know if their fallen co-worker would be okay. His waking had been a very good sign, but yet there was still a long and hard road in front of him – the road of recovery.