A/N: This is a little shorter, but I wanted to give you an update soon. Red and Lizzie have quite a journey to go on before they can be reunited…maybe. Thanks for sticking with me and being such awesome readers!

Disclaimed: I own nothing and make nothing off of this

Exactly two minutes after Lizzie and Dembe depart his hospital room, Red opens his eyes amid the chaos of Physicians and nurses scrambling to save him.

Meditating so that his heart slowed to a near stop was a trick he picked up from a brief stay at a monastery around a decade ago.

That, combined with him unplugging the leads to his monitors helped him fake cardiac arrest.

"Calm down, go about your business." He tried to tell them that he was fine, but they weren't listening.

"He. Said. Go." The words were quiet, but no less menacing than if shouted. Everyone in the room froze. The charge nurse at the door moved to the side and everyone, even the physicians took the hint and left.

"Ah, Wendy my dear, how I have longed for your firm, no-nonsense touch." He was grinning. Flirting with her was an old game. He only did so because he simply was not her type.

Her stern countenance transformed into a quick grin. "Raymond Reddington, you have been so well behaved, I'd hate to have to spank you. Your gorgeous Elizabeth might be slightly put out and I'd much rather have her smiles than frowns."

"I had to provide a distraction. Are you staying?"

She laughed. "I suppose 'dying' works just as well as the next method. I'll only be here until Kate gets here. When she finds out what happened, you may very well still get that spanking."

Wendy was a field medic and sniper for the marines, until discharged for sleeping with her Commanding Officer's wife to prove a point. She was beautiful and deadly. The very best of assets.

"It's unwise to speak of those not present." Mr. Kaplan swept into the room as if she owned the place.

For someone of such small stature, her presence was a commanding, domineering one. Wendy laughed, walked by with a small nod of her head to Kaplan, and left. From behind, Red spotted a gun tucked into the back of her scrubs. I do so love a deadly woman.

"Mr. Kaplan, how good of you to visit an old friend during his convalescence. I do believe that I need to find another, more hospitable location."

"Already done, dearie, we're moving you now." She didn't smile, but then again, she rarely ever did.

"I need to get to Ecuador. Arrange a chartered flight." Raymond was so used to getting his way, that he just rose his eyebrows when he heard her reply of "That's not going to happen for a few more weeks."

He laughed. "I don't think so. Arrange it now."

She laid her hand on his shoulder with a sigh. "Raymond, you were shot in the lung. If you enter a pressurized cabin this soon, your lung will collapse. Since it is not yet healed, the stitches could tear and you will bleed out internally before you ever reach her. Is that what you want? To ship your dead body to Elizabeth Keen?"

She certainly isn't pulling her punches. "Kate, we can travel by bus, by camper, I don't care how we get there, but we need to go. This is life or death."

"It most certainly is life or death. Yours. You cannot fly for at least another 2 weeks. We can't drive across the border, you will be caught. The backroads that the coyotes take are too bumpy and dangerous while you are still this fragile…glare at me all you want. That is what I am here for. To think for you when you aren't using the right brain."

Before he could reply, Mr. Kaplan's team leader came through the door. "Threat has been neutralized and we are ready to go."

Mr. Kaplan went to Red's side, took off the bandages and tape covering his IV line, placed gauze over the site, and pulled the line from his arm.

"We need you mobile. I have shots for the trip. Wheel him out." The last part was said to her team.

They rolled him out to a loading dock where a hearse was waiting for them.

Red laughed "I'm not quite to the point of needing one of those, yet."

The team transferred him from his bulky bed to a stretcher.

Mr. Kaplan squeezed his shoulder as she walked by him. "I think it fits our purpose just fine. If anyone is watching the roads, they will look for an ambulance, not a death cart."

It took them a couple of hours to reach the safe house Mr. Kaplan had arranged for.

They were just wheeling him into his designated bedroom when he heard Kate walking behind them. The click-clack of her heels unmistakable. She was on the phone, but was keeping her voice low.

Mr. Kaplan had just hung up her phone with a whispered "Oh, hell" when Red twisted around to see her. If Kaplan had a reason to swear, something was definitely wrong.

He grimaced with pain the movement caused.

"What's wrong? What's happened?"

She pulled out a syringe out of her infamous black bag, tapped the side, and stabbed him in the arm.

"Raymond, I'm only telling you this because you are about to be unconscious. I'm sorry, Raymond. Preliminary reports are coming in about a jet fitting the description of yours being shot down over the Gulf of Mexico. I hope to be wrong about this, but I will dig deeper into the matter and have answers for you when you wake up. It felt wrong to hide it, but you can't afford the setback right now."

In just an instant, his whole reason for living went down in flames and ashes.

As he closed his eyes, a tear rolled down his face.

Tbc…

A/N: I do so love cliffhangers! They make life interesting Let me know what you think. Thanks again for being so amazing!