Sorry this update took awhile to get out. Not quite so dramatic as the last but I hope you approve. Please give me any reviewage or feedback you have. More to come soon! :)
"Farrah.. she...she has another..brother, Brody.", Carrie repeated, her eyes half shut.
"We...we need to find him. We have to."
"Find who, love? Do you know his name? Carrie?"
Brody went to touch her shoulder, shake her awake but stopped himself. She needed to rest, he just wished she could've told him more before she'd drifted off.
Covering her up with the blanket he kissed her cheek before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
"There's another brother!", he announced, getting looks from everyone in the living room.
"The duck flies at midnight!", Quinn declared, getting a snicker from Virgil and Danny sitting next to Maggie on the sofa.
"What the fuck are you talking about?", Saul frowned as Brody approached him.
"Farrah's got another brother. Carrie just told me."
"Brody, I just gave her that sedative.", Maggie sighed. "She was probably out of it, not making sense. It's normal."
"I don't see how looking into it would hurt us any!", Brody exclaimed as Quinn stood up.
"Hey, who the fuck died and put you in charge?"
"Who the fuck left me alone with Carrie to help her through her flashback?", he asked getting a glare.
Grabbing his laptop from his briefcase, Danny started doing some research. Meanwhile Saul stood up and made his way towards the hallway, catching Brody's eye.
"Where the hell are you going?"
Angry enough to spit, Saul turned around, stormed over to him.
"I'm going to see Carrie. Not that I need to run a goddamn thing past you. You're damn lucky I haven't called in a SWAT team for backup yet."
"Who needs backup?", Quinn spat as Danny nodded, went to stand but Maggie shot him a look, indicating he keep researching.
"Look we all know the only reason you haven't, is in that room right now trying to get some needed sleep. Leave her be!"
"Don't fucking tell me what to do.", Saul growled as Maggie stood up, got between them.
"Hey, he may not be able to but I sure as hell will!", she hissed.
"Both of you need to calm down! Like it or not, Carrie and Farrah both need you to come to some kind of truce. Brody you're already on thin ice being on this continent, so don't you even start making demands!
And Saul, if you turn Brody in you will decimate Carrie. As much as we don't like it, you and I both know it. Same as we know my sister's suffered enough at the hands of her superiors. Don't be the boss to break her most by taking away the man she loves. In spite of everything the two of you have one thing in common. You both deeply care for my sister, so prove it. Find the little girl she's lost and stop with this goddamn pissing contest!", Maggie ordered as Virgil started clapping.
"Finally, thank you!"
"I'm starting to see the family resemblance.", Quinn laughed nudging Danny, but he was too busy staring, smiling in Maggie's direction.
Shit. Here we go.
"Danny? Hey, earth to Galvez!"
"Huh..what?"
"What have you come up with so far?", he asked, nodding to the laptop.
"Oh, yeah. Right."
Looking back at the screen he started scrolling again then stopped, pointed.
"Hey guys check this out."
After everyone stood around he highlighted the text on the page.
"I think I found him. Samir Hadad. Holy shit. Says he converted to Catholicism in September of 2001."
"After 9-11.", Brody noted.
"Fed up with the extremism, the violence plaguing his own religion. He wouldn't have been the first.", Saul said, getting a nod from Virgil.
"And he probably wanted his kid sister to embrace his change of faith."
"I'll get a hold of the cops.", Quinn said as he stood up, took out his phone.
"Tell them to investigate all the Catholic churches within a ten mile radius. Good place as any to start. We'll go too."
Saul said, putting his cap back on as Brody approached him.
"I'll deal with this, with you, once Farrah's found. That girl is worth ten of you."
"On that we actually agree.", Brody said as Saul, Quinn and Virgil stepped out while Maggie went to check in on Carrie. Danny meanwhile was trying to get everything in his briefcase and catch up to them.
"Here let me help.", Brody offered, helping to get the rest of his things together.
"Thanks."
"Look I have Carrie's phone so call if there's any-"
"Yeah, I'll call. Tell Maggie I'll keep her in the loop too", he said, shaking his head guiltily.
"If I hadn't gone so nuts after seeing you here I could've found this SOB an hour ago. All it took was a little googling."
"Hey, it's alright. You find him now and you'll be the hero.", Brody encouraged.
"Brody?"
"Yeah?"
"Take care of Carrie. Don't you dare fuck around with her. Not again."
"I won't, Danny. I swear.", he assured.
Nodding Danny stepped out right as Maggie left the bedroom.
"Did Danny, er, did everyone leave?"
"Yeah, they did. Danny said though to tell you he'd keep you in the loop."
"Good, that's..that's good.", she smiled softly.
"How's Carrie?"
"The sedative's not gonna wear off for a few hours. Once it does though.."
Reaching into her purse she handed Brody a zipped bag.
"Her meds are in here. There's instructions in there too about her lithium. It'll have to be upped. But keep up what you've been doing, make sure she's sleeping, eating. Really watch her though. Especially once-"
"Once what?"
"The mania's followed by depression, Brody. It's always more difficult to treat, and I feel like until Farrah's found it'll be even more difficult."
"How bad does it get?", Brody asked, trying not to look as fearful as he felt.
"Well, her last major episode..",
Seeing the look on his face, Maggie opted not to remind him how responsible he'd been for it.
"She holed up in her room, didn't eat for three days. She also went to your house.."
"And was arrested.", Brody finished. "With the psych ward as the grand finale."
"Hopefully this time things will conclude on a more positive note.", Maggie sighed.
"What if they find Farrah tonight? Will that snap her out of this?"
"It's too tough to say. But like I've told Saul it takes time. As much as I hate admitting it though, as strange as it is admitting it, I think your being with her is helping. You seem to be able to ground her, help her through when she's-"
"Yeah. It's not easy, but I'm not about to leave or give up. It's not like I can leave here exactly, but..even if I could..I wouldn't. Not without her."
"Yeah well, you're proving better than most when it comes to dealing with this. Better than one person anyway.", Maggie said bitterly.
"Are you talking about your mom?", Brody asked as she looked on surprised.
"You know about-"
"Yeah, Carrie told me."
"I never thought she'd tell anyone."
"I didn't press her for it or anything, she just..told me."
Sitting on the end of the couch, Maggie fiddled with a coaster on the coffee table. Spinning it.
"Carrie doesn't hate her for it. Leaving. She should but she doesn't. I think there's a part of her that still hopes she'll come back. Say it was all some misunderstanding."
"Were she and your mom close?", Brody asked sitting beside her.
"They worked in the garden together. That was their thing. And every spring Carrie's in my dad's backyard weeding and planting. Even still."
"I didn't know that.", he smiled, having a little trouble picturing Carrie content doing something so calm and simple.
"But Carrie always tried to make her proud, get her attention. Even as a kid. She'd come home with straight A's on every report card, taught herself to play trumpet because Mom loved Louis Armstrong. But it felt like nothing she did, nothing any of us did was good enough. And even before Mom left it was like, she was already gone. Like we weren't enough to keep her. Obviously we weren't."
"Well at least the two of you had each other. And your dad."
"Yeah.", Maggie smiled softly. "You know he has what Carrie.."
"Yeah. She's mentioned that to me too. I imagine that has them pretty linked."
"It does. And growing up Carrie was always more game for his 'adventures' than I was."
"She said something about you all renting a camper, taking a trip to the Great Lakes?"
"Yeah. One summer when we were kids. Dad was unbelievably passionate about it. I think he had Carrie convinced when the stars came out mermaids would jump out of the water."
Maggie chuckled, getting a laugh out of Brody before their faces went solemn again.
"I give you a lot of credit, Maggie. Doing what you do for them."
"Well Mom didn't leave me much choice. I put my residency on hold for a year after she left to pick up the pieces and be there for my dad. Carrie doesn't know that."
"Hey, your secret's safe with me."
"When I got the call from Princeton about her first...a part of me kind of expected it."
"She was in college when she...?"
"Yeah. She wrote a thesis about reinventing music when her major was Arabic. Gave it to some professor who brought her to Student Health."
"Holy shit.", Brody sighed.
"Yeah, it was rough. Still is. But at least now I know how to handle it with the meds. I have to admit, it was nice having a little help this time."
"Hey whatever it takes, right.", he shrugged as he stood up and ran a hand through his hair, paced slightly.
"Brody?"
"I can't believe I caused this for her."
"Brody you didn't-"
"I did before! She didn't eat for three days and fucking committed herself because of me. And somehow she still.."
"Loves you?", Maggie asked as she got up, moved to stand in front of him.
"If it makes you feel better I don't understand it either."
"Oh, great.", Brody laughed weakly, shaking his head.
"But, she does. She does. And so long as you love her back, I..I'm not going to get in the way. I'd be an idiot to get in her way."
Maggie said, getting an agreeing nod before they heard noise coming from the bedroom. Without a second thought Brody ran back and saw Carrie kicking her blanket off, muttering and crying out in the thick of what he could only assume was a nightmare.
"Hey! Carrie..Carrie it's okay, it's okay I'm here. I'm right here love..", he soothed, stroking her hair, holding her face. She didn't wake but she seemed to settle down. Getting Maggie breathing a sigh of relief, watching from the door as Brody curled up beside Carrie in bed.
Mouthing for him to call her, getting a nod in return, she gave him a soft smile before turning to leave, shutting the door behind her.