Disclaimer – I own nothing.
AN – Thought I'd post this chapter a little earlier. Warning, chapters are going to start getting a lot longer. Hope you enjoy! Reviews are most welcome!
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"TOM!" Tom turned around to see Weaver running through the crowd over to him.
"What is it Weaver? I got to head to board room to discuss our next attack." Tom said.
"We've spotted a Volm ship heading this way. And it's moving fast." Weaver informed the President.
"But we're not expecting to meet up with Cochise for another week." Tom reminded his friend.
"I know." Weaver acknowledged. Something was wrong. Tom and Weaver ran through the building towards the door.
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Tom tried to make his way through the crowd that had formed outside in the makeshift courtyard. Matt was already out there, hanging out there with a few friends when he had seen the Volm ship heading their way.
"Dad! What's going on?" Matt asked, following in his father's footsteps.
"I have no clue." Tom answered. The ship landed in the center of the courtyard as people scrambled to get out of the way, yet stay close enough to see what was going on. The door to the ship open and Cochise came out.
"Good to see you my friend," Tom said as Cochise approached him, "but we were not expecting you for another week."
"I apologize for coming early, but I felt you would want to know. My comrades and I had destroyed another Espheni base earlier this morning, and we found him." Cochise explained.
"Him?" Tom questioned. He felt his hopes begin to rise, is he talking about who I think he's talking about?
Tom got his answer when Cochise's second, the Volm they called Shak, came out of the ship, carrying a human in his arms. Even though Tom could only see part of the person's face, he knew who it was.
"Hal!" Tom yelled, and ran towards his son, unaware of Matt right on his heels.
As Tom reached his eldest, he saw the blood that covered Hal practically from head to toe. The President shook his boy's shoulder, but Hal didn't stir at all.
"He is breathing, but he has not regained consciousness." Shak informed Tom.
"Somebody get a stretcher!" Tom ordered to no one in particular. He didn't even pay attention to the soldiers who obeyed the command. Once he saw that someone brought one over, he helped Shak lower Hal onto it.
Tom helped the soldiers carry his son into the building and towards the infirmary without saying anything to anyone, all of his thoughts on his boy lying unconscious on the stretcher. Matt also came around to Hal's side, and grabbed his big brother's hand, despite the fact that it was covered in blood.
Weaver was about to follow when he noticed Cochise still standing there, watching the events unfold. The Colonel went over to the alien.
"Thank you for finding him, Cochise. I know Tom is grateful too. Sorry he just ran off like he did but he's-"
"Of course, his first priority is his son. As it should be in this case. My comrades and I shall head over to our base. As we were planning to convene in a week, I see no need to head out again just to come back. Contact us when you can." Weaver nodded, and the Volm climbed back onto their ship and headed to their bunker that had been fixed since the bomb Lourdes planted exploded.
Weaver waited until they were gone before he turned to the crowd that had formed.
"Show's over! Everybody back to work!" Weaver ordered, and he went inside the building after his friend.
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Maggie and Ben ran towards the infirmary. They were both in the cafeteria when they heard that a Volm ship was heading to Charleston. As they were on their way to investigate, they heard that Cochise had found Hal, and he was being taken to the infirmary.
They met up with Tom, Matt, and the soldiers who were carrying the stretcher Hal was lying on just before they reached the hospital.
"HAL!" Maggie cried out as she reached her boyfriend's side. Hal didn't stir at all, not even when Maggie grabbed his hand. Ben went around to the other side of his brother beside Matt.
"Is he okay?" Ben asked his father.
"I don't know." Tom replied and they entered the infirmary.
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As Anne finished wrapping the cut her patient had while smiling at Lexi, who was sitting on a chair while Lourdes entertained her with her stethoscope. Lexi had the buds in her ears while Lourdes was blowing in the chest piece.
Lexi giggled and said, "You're funny Lourdes."
The young doctor smiled at the little girl. When Anne and Lexi got to Charleston, after all the confusion and panic at realizing what happened with Karen and Hal, Lexi found her way to Lourdes's room.
Anne, Tom, and Weaver watched in shock and a little bit of horror as Lexi held out her hand and all the bugs crawled out Lourdes's head and onto the little girl's hand. She closed her fist and they all were crushed to dust. Every since then, Lourdes had formed a big sister bond with the child, which Anne was grateful for. While Ben and Matt were the perfect overprotective brothers, having a surrogate big sister made it easier for Anne, as with all of them being busy, with patients, and missions. It helped to have another person look out for the little girl.
The peaceful moment was interrupted when the doors burst open and Tom called her name. Anne looked up to see Tom, Matt, Ben, Maggie and two soldiers surrounding a stretcher. Anne handed the bandages over to a nurse and made her way over to her family with Lourdes who told Lexi to stay put.
"Oh my G*d!" Anne commented as she saw the figure on the stretcher. Hal, and he was covered in dried blood, bruises, and dirt.
"In here." Anne ordered, pointing to an empty room.
As soon as they moved Hal from the stretcher to the hospital bed, Anne ordered everyone out of the room expect for Lourdes and the two nurses, Teresa and Lisa, she called in to help.
"But Anne," Tom started to protest, but stopped at the look on Anne's face.
"I know you all want to stay, but we need space. You guys can wait outside." Anne told them. The family, very reluctantly, left the room, leaving her, Lourdes, and the two nurses with Hal.
Anne grabbed a pair of scissors and started to cut Hal's bloody and torn shirt off. She pulled off the fabric, she found many cuts and bruises covering his torso. Anne had Lourdes wipe off the blood so they could get a good look at how bad the injuries were, Teresa got rid of the shirt and Lisa started prepping an IV.
Grabbing her penlight, Anne turned it on, and opened Hal eyes with her fingers. His brown irises had almost no pupils, just like Ben's was when they rescued him from the skitters, maybe even worse. And the whites were so bloodshot that they were practically pure red. Suddenly, Hal jerked his head away.
"Hal?" Anne called out. She wondered if he was actually conscious. Hal started moving his head around, his eyes wide open. Then, he started pulling his arms away from Lourdes who was still cleaning off all the dirt and blood he was covered in, and Lisa who was getting ready to inject the needle for the IV.
"Hal, Hal I need you to listen to me. You're in Charleston, you're safe. I need you to stay calm, alright?" Unfortunately, Anne's words seemed to have the exact opposite effect. Hal started tossing around on the bed, and pushed Lourdes's arm away from him.
"Hal, I know you're scared, but we're trying to help you. You need to calm down." Anne tried to tell him, but it still didn't work. If anything, Hal got more aggressive.
"Should we sedate him?" Lourdes asked, trying to get a hold of one of Hal's flailing arms.
"We don't know what's in his system. We have no idea how it could react." The older doctor explained.
"Then should we restrain him?" One of the nurses, Lisa, asked. Anne looked at Hal's bloody wrists.
"Try to get some gauze and wrap his wrists, then get the soft restraints. I don't want to hurt him, or let him hurt himself." Anne told Lisa.
Everything went worse from there. Lisa and Teresa, managed to grabbed his arms, but holding them down was hard. Once Hal saw Lourdes bring in the restraints, he broke his one arm free, and actually landed a punch on Teresa's jaw. She instinctively let go of Hal's other arm and he pushed himself off the bed.
"Are you okay Teresa?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." The nurse responded, and Anne turned her attention to her patient.
Hal had moved to the corner of the room, one arm around his knees, the other outstretched, as though he was trying to put a barrier between them. Anne slowly made her way over to him.
When she got within a few feet, Hal opened his mouth, "No, no, don't."
Anne felt a pang of guilt, pain, and sympathy rise up inside her. He was hurt, drugged and absolutely terrified. She could only imagine what he had been through, and she knew that if she hadn't tried to run from Charleston with Lexi in the first place, none of this would've happened.
"Lourdes, go get Tom."
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Tom was pacing up and down the small stretch of hallway outside Hal's room. Maggie was leaning against the wall, while Ben and Matt were sitting in the chairs by the door. Lexi soon came over and sat on Ben's lap.
"What's going on?" She asked, her voice quiet, and full of confusion.
"Cochise found Hal, but he's hurt. Now your Mommy and Lourdes are taking care of him." Ben explained as best he could. Lexi had heard a lot about her oldest brother over the last five months, so she knew who he was, and what had happened, but she had yet to actually meet him.
Suddenly, the door opened and Lourdes stuck her head out.
"Tom, we need you, now." The Mason father didn't ask any questions. He just followed the young doctor into Hal's room, leaving his sons, and Maggie left to wonder what was going on.
When Tom entered the room, he quickly saw what the problem was, at least, a part of it. One of the nurses, Teresa had a bruise forming on her jaw, and his son wasn't in the hospital bed. He was on the ground in the right-hand corner of the room, arm outstretched to stop anyone from coming close. Lisa and Lourdes were standing by the bed while Anne was on her knees a few feet away from the young man.
"What happened?" Tom asked, coming over to Anne.
"He woke up, and completely freaked out. I managed to get a look at his pupils, he's been drugged." Anne explained, "I was thinking that maybe he might let you get closer to him."
Tom looked over at his oldest son. Hal still had his arm out, but his head was down, not looking at any of them. He went over to Anne and got down on his knees beside her.
"Hal? It's me, it's Dad." Hal slowly looked up at Tom, allowing the father to see the drugged yet terrified look in his eyes. Guilt and pain seemed to stab Tom in the chest at the look in Hal's eyes.
"D-Dad?" Hal's voice, though quiet, was filled with fear, confusion, yet a little bit hopeful at the same time. Tom smiled.
"Yeah, it's me. You're okay." Tom replied, and he slowly moved closer. Hal lowered his arm, and let his Dad approach him. As soon as Tom was right in front of Hal, he reached out his own arm, and placed his hand on his shoulder.
Hal flinched when Tom touched him, but instead of pulling away, he leaned forward and let his head rest against his Dad's shoulder. Tom immediately wrapped his arms around Hal, and held him close.
"Let's get you back on the bed, okay?" Tom suggested, but Hal instantly shook his head, and started muttering, "No, no, no."
"Okay, okay, kiddo. It's alright. We'll just stay here then. It's alright." Tom whispered in Hal's ear. He looked up at Anne who was still on her knees a few feet away. They both looked at the broken man in his father's arms, both desperately wanting to help him, but neither knew what to do.
As soon as Hal fell asleep, Tom looked back at Anne.
"What do we do now?" Tom asked the doctor.
"From what I could tell, he isn't seriously injured, just heavily drugged. I think for now, it's best to just let him sleep it off. We can examine him better when he's coherent." Anne decided. Tom nodded, then turned his attention back to the boy in his arms.
"But, as long as he's still, we could at least try to clean him up a little. Lourdes?" The other doctor brought over the bowl with water and cloth that she was using before Hal woke up and laid it on the floor by Tom.
"I think we're all good guys. Teresa, why don't you get some ice for that bruise. Lourdes and Lisa, you guys can go back to work. I'll be out soon to update Ben, Matt, and Maggie." Anne told the other doctor and nurses. They left obediently, while Tom and Anne continued watching Hal.
Tom pulled the bowl closer, grabbed the wet cloth and started wiping off the dried blood on Hal's neck. It exposed a cut at the base of Hal's head by his left ear. He then moved to wash his son's bloody wrists, exposing multiple gashes and rope burns.
"Oh, Hal. What did they do to you?" Tom wondered. Anne squeezed his shoulder, then headed out of the room to update Hal's brothers and Maggie.
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Ben continued waiting with Maggie, and his brother and sister. His worry over Hal grew immensely after Lourdes called his Dad into the room. It wasn't long after that though, Lourdes and the other nurses came out. When Ben asked her what was going on, Lourdes told him that Anne would be out soon to explain everything, then she went back to work.
It was roughly half an hour all together since his Dad went into the room, when Anne finally come out to see them. Lexi immediately jumped off his lap and ran over to her mother. Anne bent down a little and wrapped her arm around the child's shoulders. Matt and Ben stood up and approached the doctor.
"How is he? What happened?" Maggie interrogated, also coming over to Anne.
"Well, it looks like he's going to be okay. No serious injury from what I could tell." Anne told them, much to their relief, but Maggie instantly found the flaws in her information.
"What do you mean 'looks like' and 'from what I could tell'?" Maggie pushed, desperate to know everything that was going on with her boyfriend.
"After you all left the room, I had cut off his shirt, had Lourdes start cleaning him up so I could get a look at his injuries, and had Lisa start an IV. Hal woke though, and started panicking. He punched Teresa in the face."
"What?" Matt commented, unable to comprehend that his brother would do something like that.
"Well, there is something else. I managed to look at his eyes before he started fighting. His pupils were smaller than pinpricks. He's been drugged. I doubt he was really aware of what was going on." The group fell silent at hearing that. Nobody really know what to think, or say. Finally, Maggie spoke again.
"Can we see him?" She asked.
"I think it's best if he has as few people as possible in the room right now. He's asleep, but I don't know how long it will be until the drugs where off. Too many people, could just agitate him more. But, he is going to be okay." Anne told them.
As much as they wanted to argue with her, they wanted Hal to get better more. If it was best to not see him just yet would help, then they would do it. That didn't mean they were going to leave though. Ben, Matt, and Maggie sat back down on the chairs, while Lexi followed her mother to the infirmary supply closet, where she was getting more medical supplies.
"Mommy?" Lexi called out as Anne started rummaging through the shelves.
"Yes sweetie." Anne replied.
"Do you think Hal will like me? He doesn't even know me, besides from when I was a baby, and that I'm part Espheni." Lexi asked. Anne stopped what she was doing, and crouched down so she was eye level with her daughter. She knew how hard it was for the little girl being part alien. She didn't have many friends as the parents and all the other adults were so wary of her. Besides her family, Jeanne, Lourdes, and Maggie were the only ones who would spend their time with her. Anne didn't even think about how Hal would react to his sister.
"I think Hal will love you. He already does, simply because you are his sister. He went with Karen to save you, and me. He might be a little different now, but I know he still loves you. It might not show at first, but it will. Don't worry." Anne explained to the child. Lexi nodded, then let her mother get back to work while she went back to her brothers.
AN - I know the ending part with Lexi is a little random, but I really wanted to put in how hard it would've been for Lexi and how much she would want to fit in and have people like her, especially her older brother. Hoped you all liked this chapter. My next update should be within a week at the latest.