Alright here's the latest. Thank you so much indigo and Bookworm86 for the reviews! Not much movement here but I'm setting up for a few things. Take as you will. :)
After calling in a few too many favors and pulling countless strings, Maggie arranged for Brody to be transported to the Naval Hospital. With the assistance of Ava who knew Brody and the general situation.
Quinn in the meantime spoke to the nurses (including the one had Carrie knocked unconscious) and the candy striper. Told them to remain quiet and forget about who they'd seen for the sake of national security.
Seeing Quinn was a trained black ops sniper they all agreed to back off.
While Brody was transferred, Carrie brought Farrah over to Maggie's house and ate dinner with her, Frank, Danny and the girls. Waiting until Farrah was full and fast asleep before going back to the hospital.
Quinn agreed to stay with Saul until Mira showed up, allowing Carrie to stay with Brody as long as she needed. He'd also spoken with Dana and assured her Brody was being properly cared for, that she could have the night off. She was crashing at the mosque apartment.
Walking in the hospital lobby Carrie paced around, anxiously keeping an eye out for Maggie. Refusing to sit and wait. If she did she'd risk falling asleep, though right now she was so exhausted she was restless, wired, basically buzzed.
"Carrie! C'mon this way.", Maggie said, walking her through a door leading to the side stairwell, then to a basement level wing that looked to be undergoing renovations.
"I had to pull a lot of strings. But his case was severe enough that the top brass on the board couldn't in good conscience look the other way."
Half listening, half sickened at the shady backroom quality of this wing, Carrie wished she'd just dragged Brody to her car and driven him to the cabin. Taken her chances and had Maggie treat him there.
"I know what you're thinking, Carrie.", Maggie sighed.
"No, you don't.", Carrie snapped, crossing her arms protectively over her chest.
"When we were at St. Mary's with Farrah Brody walked around like he owned the place. Now he's getting threats left and right from the people who were supposed to be treating him. I knew I had to get him out of there, I just don't understand why!"
"There's new ownership that just came in recently. Lots of turnover, new faces. I don't know a soul on the board anymore. I'm sure the imam lost a lot of whatever pull he had."
"I should've guessed. What about Ava? Was she.."
"Let go. Yeah. Luckily we had an opening at our front desk."
Relieved to hear that but still bitter about everything, Carrie's frown deepened as they continued down the dim, makeshift corridor.
"Where the fuck even is he?"
"Consider it a VIP suite.", Maggie snorted, getting a hurt filled glare.
"Carrie, it's better than the alternative. If I could treat him from home you know that I would. But I think his attempt at doing that did him more harm than good.", she spat.
The stitches had been done extremely quickly and had almost pulled out entirely when Brody collapsed. Maggie wanted to blame him but after seeing his injuries she didn't have the heart to.
Once reaching his room, Maggie went to enter but Carrie stopped her.
"Maggie, wait..."
"Sweetie, it's going to be alright."
"I need to know what's wrong with him. I want to know everything."
"His leg got the worst of it. It was chewed up in a steel trap from the looks of things. His leg was stitched by a professional but it was done very quickly. And from the looks of things Brody didn't take it easy after the procedure. He's got a serious infection. That explains the fever and why he passed out."
"Is he...he's not going to-"
"With infection anything's possible. But we've got him properly stitched up, have him on proper antibiotics. The only thing..."
"What? just tell me!"
"When Brody collapsed he sustained a concussion. Those nurses who helped you didn't seem to get there quickly enough to catch him."
"Fuck. FUCK! I should've guessed, fucking known.", Carrie spat, running a hand through her hair.
"He went down pretty hard and there was some swelling, so we've got him sedated."
"Great, as if I haven't seen enough of that."
"Carrie, he'll be fine. I'm monitoring him. I'm the only one handling his case. Trust me, I won't let anything happen to him. There's even a guard assigned to his room."
"To keep people out or keep him in?", she scoffed as Maggie sighed.
"Carrie..."
"I'm sorry, I am. I just..."
Shaking her head Maggie walked up, hugged her tightly.
"You've been through hell lately, I know. But Saul's condition is stable and that's the best we can expect. And Brody will make a full recovery. You're not alone in this, sweetie. I promise you're not."
Nodding, blinking back tears after a few moments Carrie pulled back.
"You want me to go in with you?"
"Do you need to give him an exam?"
"Let me just check his vitals, then he's yours for the night."
"What if something-"
"The call button's connected to my cell. And if I'm with a patient the call goes to my friend Nadine."
"Josie's godmother?"
"Yes. She knows the situation and is here to assist if I need her. You can trust her though."
"She's been the head nurse here since you were a resident."
"I know, she's basically a grandmother to the girls. She'll help us though if we need her to."
"Only her?"
"Only her."
Nodding again, Carrie entered Brody's room first. Instead of seeing the tubes and monitors and bandages, her eyes lasered in on the handcuffs shackling his right wrist to the bedpost behind him.
"It was one of the conditions of my treating him, Carrie."
"It's bullshit. Where the fuck is he going to go!", she hissed.
"I know, I know."
Maggie sighed sadly as Carrie grabbed a chair, pulled it up beside Brody's bed. Then reached up and slid her fingers between the cuff and his wrist to absorb the pressure, keep the metal from leaving a bruise.
"Carrie..."
"He's in this bed because of me, Maggie."
"That's not true..."
"If I'd listened to him instead of screaming at him he wouldn't have gotten worked up enough to pass out. He wouldn't have been seen. He wouldn't be fucking stuck here. We could've gone to the cabin, come up with a plan!"
"Okay..enough of this. Enough."
Maggie said firmly, turning Carrie's face towards her.
"You're not to blame for this, do you understand? Beating yourself up won't make him better and just make you worse. I brought you here so you could rest. I knew better than to send you home, but I will if you don't at least try and rel-"
"Okay, Maggie. Okay.", Carrie choked out.
"You're sure?"
"Yes. I want to stay, please."
"Alright."
Smiling sadly, Maggie grabbed a blanket, draped it over Carrie's shoulders before reaching into a cupboard, grabbing a speaker dock for her phone.
"I figured you could relax better with your music on. Though how I still don't understand.", Maggie said as Carrie laughed, hearing Thelonious blare over the speaker.
"Jazz is an acquired taste, Maggie."
"Well I still don't like it. Try and relax though, okay? The call button's right-"
"I see it. Big red dot in the corner, hard to miss.", Carrie sniffed, her fingers still in place by the cuff as she scooched the chair back.
Though her arm was suspended she could rest her head on Brody's chest. Hear his heartbeat in her ear as well as bleating over the monitor. That along with the jazz was slightly calming her down.
"You are going to be so stiff come morning.", Maggie sighed, only to see Carrie's eyes had slipped shut.
After putting a pillow in place to prop her extended arm, scribbling some notes on Brody's chart, Maggie quietly stepped out and Carrie's eyes opened as soon as she heard the door close.
"I just didn't feel like talking to her anymore.", she weakly laughed, embarrassed as she sat up slightly.
"I'll talk to you though, for a little while anyway."
Resting her chin near his sternum she looked at him sadly, watched him sleep.
"This is almost over, Brody. You have my word.I..I can't live like this anymore. I can't let you fucking live like this anymore.", she sniffed, rested her forehead against his.
"I'm so sorry. I promise I'll make this right.", she vowed before pulling back.
She was fast approaching exhausted but knew she had to take care of this now.
Grabbing her phone she started texting, but fumbling with the keyboard swore a few times before sending the message.
"Hey, how is the Bear?"
A few moments later.
"Still hibernating. How's Agent O?"
"Doing the same. I need to talk 2 you."
"Now?"
"Not over OL. Tomorrow AM. Waffles before work?"
"Cu at 8."
"K. Thx."
Setting her phone down on the nightstand, after checking her finger placement between Brody's wrist and the cuff, Carrie got as comfortable as she could in the chair then reached for his free hand. Twined it with her's over his chest before curling up near his shoulder. Falling asleep in minutes.