A/N: This chapter is a little shorter than the previous two, but I decided to split the next part into a separate chapter.
Sarah squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She had begun imagining things. Chuck didn't really say her name. Her mind was just playing tricks on her, very cruel, very wicked tricks.
"Sarah," the hallucination spoke again.
Sarah wanted to run from the room with her hands over her ears, but was it really possible to outrun a delusion? Taking a deep breath and halting the beat of her heart, Sarah forced herself to open her eyes. When she did Chuck still sat on the bed just as he was before.
The hallucination spoke a third time and this time Sarah did run, straight to the bed.
"Chuck?!" Sarah said placing her hands on his face as she sat on the bed's edge. "Did you say something?! Do you know who I am?! Do you know where you are?!"
The response was the same as it had been, "Sarah." Only now she knew that it wasn't her imagination. Chuck really was speaking. Okay, maybe speaking wasn't exactly the right word since all he had said so far was he name. But he had said something.
What Sarah didn't know was if he was aware of what he was saying or if he knew what the word meant. It was possible that this was just another manifestation of his catatonic state, repeating the same word over and over again, as a parrot might do.
As she searched for an answer Sarah noticed a small change in Chuck. His eyes were clear and no longer glassed over. Testing her discovery out Sarah learned that Chuck could follow movement with his eyes. He could see her and his surroundings.
What she still didn't know however was whether or not he was consciously aware of anything. Sarah searched for an answer as she tried to continue talking to Chuck and to engage him in some way. No matter what she said or did any time he responded all he would say was her name, and she soon realized that 'Sarah' was the only word that he was capable of saying.
She watched as he struggled to say something, but it always came out as 'Sarah' and not whatever he really wished to say. She watched as he teared up in his struggle to speak, which only served to make her tear up as well.
Sarah continued to sit with Chuck on the bed for a long while and when the sun began streaming in through the window and falling on her face she realized that at some point she must have fallen asleep. When the sun forced her eyes open Sarah found herself lying sideways across the middle of the bed with her head resting atop Chuck's legs.
Sitting up Sarah looked to her catatonic husband and saw that he hadn't moved any part of his body other than his head, which had fallen back against the wall and his eyes had closed. Despite seeing Chuck's head flung so far back she didn't worry that he had passed away or anything like that as she slept because she could clearly see the rise and fall of his chest. He was still breathing and had seemingly fallen asleep himself, albeit in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position.
Suddenly another thought flashed into Sarah's mind. Gabriel! She hadn't heard him cry last night. Sarah immediately jumped off the bed and ran as quickly as she could to the nursery, praying that her son was alright and that nothing tragic had happened during the night.
Holding her breath and with her heart frozen in fear Sarah peered into the crib. Inside her precious baby slept peacefully. Sarah threw her hand over her heart and let the breath she had been holding out. Her baby was fine. For the first time ever he had slept through the night.
Sarah stood over the crib watching her beautiful little baby sleep. She knew he would wake soon and she just wanted to enjoy the quiet slumber while she could. Gabriel was growing up. Soon he wouldn't need to be fed in the middle of the night anymore.
Almost as if sensing his mother's presence Gabriel woke up and immediately started crying about his empty tummy. Sarah let out an amused chuckle at his timing. Then scooping up her growing boy she sat with him in the rocker and started feeding him his breakfast.
It wasn't long before Abigail and Felicity had gotten out of bed and started asking about breakfast themselves. Sarah finished taking care of her son and put him in his bounce seat then turned her attention to her daughters. She picked Felicity up and took Abigail's hand as they headed into the kitchen.
After Sarah got them set up at the table with bowls of cereal Sarah headed back to the bedroom to check on Chuck. He was holding his head up again, but he was still sitting in the exact same position he had been ever since she put him in the bed last night. He hadn't moved, couldn't seem to do anything other than say her name at times.
Chuck's body was still locked in a catatonic state. The small change in him was just that, a minor change in his condition. He could occasionally say her name and his eyes seemed to be beginning to focus again. But other than those slight differences nothing else had changed. Her husband was still lost.
Pulling Chuck to his feet Sarah walked him out of the bedroom just as she did every morning. Once she got him settled on the couch Sarah returned to the kitchen to join her girls for breakfast. While she ate the quick bowl of cereal she had prepared for herself Sarah found her thoughts wandering to Chuck and whatever her girls were talking about faded into the background.
Following breakfast Sarah got her girls ready for school and waited for Mary to arrive. As she waited for her children's grandmother to arrive Sarah kept thinking about Chuck and the change she had seen in him. Glancing over at him on the couch, Sarah knew. She knew that she wouldn't be able to go to work today. So when Mary showed up a short time later Sarah told her to take the girls to school and that she would be staying home with Gabriel and Chuck.
Sarah called into work and was able to get the day and Friday off, as well as next week using some vacation time. Now that Sarah didn't have work to worry about for a while she could concentrate on Chuck and try to help him recover as much as possible. Right now that job was more important than the one she was paid for.
Gabriel was content at the moment, so Sarah turned her attention to Chuck. Sitting next to him on the couch she laid her hand against his cheek and turned his face toward hers. Sarah spent several moments silently looking into Chuck's eyes before she leaned in and lightly kissed the corner of his mouth.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Chuck."
For a few seconds there was silence and then Chuck tried to respond by saying the one word in his vocabulary.
Sarah considered that response as Chuck wishing her a 'Happy Valentine's Day' in return.
Shortly after their exchange Gabriel began fussing, tired of his bounce seat, or possibly just jealous that Mommy was paying attention to someone else. Reluctantly Sarah left Chuck's side to go free her son from his bounce seat and quieten his fussing. As she unfastened Gabriel so that she could pick him up Sarah talked to him.
"Is someone trying to get Mommy's attention?"
Gabriel kicked his little legs, flapped his little arms and gave his biggest smile as his mother knelt in front of him, talking to him. Picking up her excited, wiggly, little boy Sarah carried him back over to the couch and sat down.
As she sat next to Chuck with Gabriel Sarah decided it was time to introduce them to each other.
"Chuck, I would like you to meet your son, Gabriel. He was born around the time of your birthday, on September 26 at 8:05 P.M. He was seven pounds, eight ounces and absolutely perfect."
At her words a tear fell from Chuck's eyes and created a watery track on his face. He understood. He knew what Sarah was saying and understood that Gabriel was his child. He knew that he had missed his birth and all the months after that.
Sarah saw how much it hurt Chuck to have missed out on so much and now to finally meet his son and not be able to hold or talk to him. She watched as Chuck tried his hardest to move, to try to reach his son, but fail. The most he was able to manage was a twitch of his fingers.
Sarah didn't know if this change in Chuck could be considered better than when he sat lifeless and checked out of the world. Chuck was still in a catatonic-like state, only now he was aware of that fact. Chuck had gained enough awareness to know what was happening to him, but was unable to do anything about it. She knew that he had to be experiencing a cruel torture inside.
There was nothing that she could do to help her husband and that killed Sarah. He had been rescued from one prison only to fall into another and this new prison was one that no one could free him from. There was no breaking him out because he was the prison, his body, his mind.
Chuck continued to stare at Gabriel, not daring to take his eyes off of him even for a second. His fingers twitched a second time and another tear fell from his glistening eyes. Even though he couldn't move he refused to give up trying.
With her eyes clouded by a fog of tears Sarah reached out and took Chuck's hand. She held it in her own for a moment before guiding his hand into a gentle stoke across the palm of Gabriel's tiny hand. This caused Gabriel's palmer grasp reflex to kick in and the infant gripped onto Chuck's finger.
Sarah didn't know if Chuck could feel his touch, but she did know that he could see it. Chuck's eyes filled with tears again, but this time Sarah knew that there was some happiness behind those tears. Chuck had gotten what he wanted, at least to some degree, to touch his son. Maybe one day he would even hold him.
The moment didn't last long and soon Gabriel's grip and Chuck's hand fell away from each other. Though brief, Sarah hoped that moment of connection had helped ease some of Chuck's pain.
Lunchtime approached and after taking care of Gabriel Sarah set about making something for herself and Chuck. Because it was Valentine's Day Sarah tried to make it a little special, spreading a delicate, lace tablecloth over the table, using the fancy china dishes, even lighting some candles and playing soft music.
Sitting around the flickering candlelight Sarah fed Chuck, while also intermittently taking bites of her own food. Because Chuck's eyes were now able to focus she no longer needed to ask him to open his mouth. Now he could see when food was being offered to him and only needed help to actually get the food to his mouth since he was still unable to move on his own.
After lunch Chuck and Sarah were back on the couch where Sarah sat just talking to Chuck, telling him stories. Now that she knew he could hear her and understand Sarah repeated many of the things she had told him when he was in the CIA hospital.
Their time together came to an end when Gabriel woke and the girls returned home from school. Now it was time for Sarah to listen to stories Abigail and Felicity told her about their days. Chuck, who sat nearby listened to the stories as well, but was unable to participate in the conversation.
When the subject of the conversation turned to today's holiday the girls slid off the couch and ran off, only to return moments later carrying handmade Valentine's cards. Climbing back onto the couch, Abigail held out her hands and said, "Mommy we made Valentine cards today at school. I made one for you."
Sarah took the card made of red and pink construction paper, cut into the shape of a heart and opened it. Inside, written in crayon were the words, I luv you mommy and signed Abigail. Written neatly in pen at the bottom the teacher had added the date, so that in the future parents would be able to remember when their child made the card.
Felicity handed her card over next. Hers too was made of construction paper, but rather than being cut into the shape of a heart it was just a folded piece of paper with a very lopsided heart drawn on the front. Inside there were no words as the three-year-old was still learning about letters, but Felicity had drawn a picture inside, consisting mostly of more lopsided hearts and squiggly lines.
As Sarah was busy looking at the cards her daughters gave her Felicity laid something on Chuck's lap. "This is for you Daddy."
Hearing what her daughter said Sarah looked up and saw the red paper card sitting on Chuck's leg. Before she had the time to pick it up Abigail was also laying a Valentine card on her father's lap. "I made you a card too Daddy."
Sarah picked up the cards and held them in front of Chuck as she opened them for him to see. The cards were basically the same as the ones Abigail and Felicity made for her, with only slight differences. Abigail had exchanged 'Mommy' for 'I love you Daddy' on his card and Felicity had used a blue crayon to draw her pictures rather than the pink one she had used on the card for her.
Chuck and Sarah were both deeply moved by the cards the girls made for their father. That they thought about him even though he was essentially unavailable was really touching. Abigail and Felicity really loved their daddy.
Hugging her girls Sarah said, "Thank you for the cards. I love them. Daddy says thank you too."
Abigail and Felicity sat with their parents for a while until other needs called for Sarah's attention. When Sarah's attention was pulled away to take care of her son and make dinner Abigail and Felicity spent a little time alone with their father talking to him. Then the call of their toys became too great and they ran off to their room to go play, but not before they made sure to tell their daddy that they loved him very much.
The rest of the evening was pretty much like any typical evening. Sarah cut up food for her girls and fed Chuck, all while trying to find the time to eat herself. Shortly after dinner came bath time where while Sarah gave her daughters their baths they played with tub toys, Felicity's toy of choice being her rubber ducky. Then while they were brushing their teeth Sarah washed Gabriel in his baby bath. Story time came next and finally everyone was tucked in for the night.
Once all the children were in bed and dreaming their sweet dreams Sarah turned her attention back to her husband. Like other evenings Sarah put a movie on that she and Chuck could watch together. Tonight however unlike those other evenings Chuck would actually be able to register the pictures on the screen.
As the romantic movie played on the screen Sarah's head drifted down and settled on Chuck's shoulder. Sometime later Chuck's head came to rest against Sarah's and they spent the remainder of the movie sitting in the cozy position. By the time the credits began to roll both Chuck's and Sarah's eyes had grown heavy and they fell asleep.
For about half-an-hour Chuck and Sarah slept together on the couch without moving. Sarah was the first to wake and as she lifted her head she realized that Chuck's head was resting atop hers. Earlier she was too in the moment to realize the significance of what it meant. If Chuck's head was lying against hers that meant he had to move it into that position. This morning she had awoken to find Chuck's head back against the wall, slowly he was learning how to control the movement of his head.
Over the next couple of days there were small changes in Chuck, which the girls noticed, especially once the weekend hit and they spent more time with him. That observation is what led Abigail and Felicity to pull out one of their board games on Sunday afternoon.
So that was how the Bartowski family, sans baby Gabriel, ended up around the kitchen table playing a game of Sorry!
It was Felicity's turn and she drew a card with the number three printed on its face. Looking at the card Felicity smiled and said, "That's how many I am!" She then proceeded to count out loud, "One, two, three," moving one of her yellow pawns across the board as she counted.
Abigail was next, drawing an eight. Picking up her green pawn that had traveled the furthest around the board she counted out eight spaces.
Sarah's turn came after that and her card said five, so she moved a red pawn the indicated number of spaces.
Finally Chuck's turn came and Felicity excitedly drew a card for him. The card read twelve. The highest number in the game.
Inwardly, Chuck was bemoaning the card that was turned up for him. He would have much preferred a one or a two, not a twelve. Twelve was far too large a number. Sure it would get him around the board further, but he still hated the number.
Eyeing the blue pawn that had barely made it passed the starting point on the board, Chuck slowly and stiffly lifted his arm toward the game piece. It took quite some time to do, but no one was rushing him. Finally after nearly a minute Chuck had moved his arm enough to reach his chosen solely for convenience, rather than game strategy, pawn.
As his arm shook Chuck worked his hardest to grasp the little game piece. Eventually he was able to pinch the top of the blue pawn between his thumb and forefinger and slowly began to count out the spaces, while his arm continued to quiver.
When he had only counted out four spaces Chuck lost his unsteady grasp on the pawn and it clattered onto the board, rolling back and forth on its side. Frustrated, Chuck awkwardly slung the fallen pawn off the table, sending it bouncing and clattering to the floor before finally rolling away.
Throwing the small pawn to the floor didn't do much to ebb Chuck's aggravation and Sarah saw the pent up frustration in Chuck that was bubbling to the surface and jumped in to try to diffuse the situation before he lost control. Picking the discarded pawn up off the floor Sarah returned it to the board, moving it to the square eights spaces ahead of where Chuck had lost his grip on it, just before he slung it off the table.
"Chuck, it's okay," Sarah said as soothingly as she could, laying her hands on his arms and gently pushing them back down onto the table.
Chuck had been growing increasingly frustrated ever since he first became conscious of what was happening to him a few days ago. In his head he knew what he wanted to do, but he couldn't make his body do what he was telling it to do. It was as though the file containing the message he tried to send was corrupted and couldn't be delivered from his brain to whichever part of his body he was asking to move. Like the computer in his head he was malfunctioning.
Overworking the Intersect had likely led to a meltdown, resulting in Chuck's cationic state. Overworking it and treating him as though he were no more than a machine to be used without consideration. He had been able to break through some of his catatonia, but not enough to control his movements or his voice. Of course all of this was just a guess on Sarah's part based on what she had observed.
Instead of sitting back in her original seat Sarah moved to sit right next to Chuck to help him and to try to keep an eruption of anger from occurring. If he kept throwing things or worse he was going to scare the kids, and that wasn't something she was going to let happen. She needed to find a way to help Chuck with his frustrations, because if it came down to a choice she would pick her babies. As hard as it would be she would have to send Chuck away to a full-time treatment facility if her babies were in any kind of danger.
The game continued on as if nothing had happened and when Chuck's turn came back around Sarah assisted him. She helped him move his arm and held his hand as he tried to move his pawn. Because she was helping Chuck grip the game piece he didn't drop it and through shaky movements he was able to move the number of spaces indicated on the card. Sarah continued to aid Chuck with all of his movements until the game came to an end and a winner was declared.
When the game was over Sarah sent her girls to their room to go play. Chuck needed time to decompress and deal with the lack of control he had over his own body out of the sight of any children.
Sarah could see that Chuck wanted to scream, wanted to hit something, throw something, wanted to do anything. He wanted to be free of the internal prison he was trapped in. The life he was living now was no life at all and he wanted out.
Sarah just hoped he would find a way into a life that he could accept, and soon. She didn't know how much longer he could go on like this. She didn't know how much longer she could hold on either. So Chuck needed to find his way back as best he could, even if he couldn't make it all the way back.
A/N: Chuck has now shown some signs of improvement. Can he continue to recover further? Keep reading to find out and I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.