Thanks for the reviews. I am going to be trying for a chapter a day for the next few days. Thanks to tshadow for the Beta.
Chapter 6
Casey left another NSA agent in charge of the clean-up, and headed towards Sarah and the rest of the Bartowski bunch. He did not get close enough for anyone other than Sarah to see him.
"Guys I think I am going to walk up the beach to make sure Chuck has not been scooped up by another woman," smiling as she said so. Ellie had offered to come along, but Sarah declined telling her to stay there in case Morgan and Devon burn themselves, even though Sarah knew that Ellie was becoming concerned about Chuck as well.
Sarah met Casey just out of sight of the rest of the group. "Okay, he has to be somewhere between here and where we were with Billy." Sarah was putting on a brave face in front of Casey who didn't seem to be that upset.
"Are you sure that the kid is not off pouting somewhere?"
"I don't think so. Something has been off about Chuck today. He's not acting like himself. I think something is wrong. Either way, we just need to find him." She was both concerned and unwilling to give on this topic.
"Fine you take the area by the water and I will walk up the back of the beach. You didn't see anything when you came back after the fight."
"No, but my eyes were still bothering me. I could have missed something pretty easily."
Casey knew that she was starting to blame herself for a whole lot right now. In order to keep her from getting any more emotional than she already was, he decided to get things going, "Well we don't have much light left so we better get going."
They had walked about half-way to where the fight had taken place. Sarah had been keeping an eye on the waterfront and out in the water. She would occasionally wave to Casey who would do so in return. While she was walking she was contemplating what she was going to say or do to Chuck when they found him. Was she going to apologize or was she going to punch him in the throat. She really wasn't sure, in some ways he deserved both. She had just begun to look for Casey to wave again, when she saw him running towards a pile of sand. The anger she had been feeling had vanished instantly as the worst possible thoughts ran through her mind. She was in a dead sprint before she even knew she was moving, reaching Casey before either had reached the pile of sand. Casey was smiling when she caught him. "It looks like our boy-genius was not paying attention and fell into a hole that someone had dug." Sarah breathed a huge sigh of relief.
They continued towards Chuck. Despite her anger Sarah could not help but think of how cute he looked lying at the bottom of the hole. Chuck looked as if he were fast asleep, though as they got closer she was a little unsettled by the amount of sweat that was covering Chuck's shirt. Sarah leaned down into the hole and tried to wake Chuck by shaking his arm and saying his name. She decided that she had not forgiven him yet, and was not too worried about politely waking him up. He was covered in sweat and was burning up. When Sarah was unable to wake him she turned to Casey. "Something isn't right."
Casey quickly bent down and pulled Chuck out of the hole. "Come on we need to get him out of here." Casey picked Chuck up and carried him towards the rest of the Bartowski group. Sarah ran ahead to get Ellie and Devon. They, along with Anna and Morgan who were concerned as well, all returned towards Casey who had made it surprisingly far despite carrying Chuck.
"What's wrong with Chuck?" Ellie asked.
"We need you to tell us that," answered Sarah in as calm a voice as she could.
Anna and Morgan stood there dumbfounded. Morgan whimpered something about Chuck looking like a dead fish. Sarah was going to yell at him until she saw the horror in his face. She along with Casey, Morgan, and Anna all stood and watched as Ellie went from distraught sister to top notch doctor in mere seconds. She was checking his vitals and speaking so quickly to Devon in medical terms that no one else could understand. "He is burning up; he is at risk of slipping into a coma. If we don't get his temperature down he could suffer brain damage. We need to get him to the hospital, NOW!" Devon taking over for a tired Casey carried Chuck to the car, putting him in the back seat. Sarah jumped in the back next to him to hold his head. Ellie who had been planning on doing the same thing paused for a split second and decided not to fight it. Instead she rode shotgun while Devon drove. Ellie continued to hand Sarah their beach towels that she was rotating into the ice water that had accumulated at the bottom of the cooler. Sarah placed some of the towels on Chuck's chest and wrists and then lightly rubbed his forehead with another. Ellie could see the concern and love in Sarah's face as she watched her hold Chuck. It was a strange feeling to see another woman caring for her brother in his time of need. Though a large part of her wanted to be the one holding him, she liked seeing this side of Sarah, and loved knowing that Chuck had someone like her.
They pulled into the hospital and came to a screeching stop. Casey with Anna and Morgan were right behind them. Devon carried Chuck through the doors and met a nurse that had brought out a gurney. The next few minutes were a blur to everyone except Sarah. Everyone was doing something. Ellie and Devon were working with the on duty medical staff. Morgan was freaking out, while Anna was consoling him. Casey was on the phone with the General informing her of the situation. Everyone was doing something except her. She was just standing there unable to move. Her thoughts were consumed with their last few interactions.
Ellie finally came back out to the waiting room, where everyone else was seated. She had walked right over to Sarah, who didn't even notice her presence.
"Sarah…Sarah…Are you ok?" Ellie was speaking very gently to her. At first Sarah did not hear her question, and when she did, she did not. Her only thought came rushing out, "How is Chuck? Is he going to be okay?"
He is stable for now but his internal temperature continues to rise. "Is there anything that Chuck could have been exposed to or taken today? Did he eat anything unusual or was he acting abnormally? Is there anything you can remember, anything at all?"
"We did have a fight because he was acting strangely. He said some things that were not like him, he didn't seem to care what he said or did." Sarah realized what she was saying. Chuck had told her about the effects of the drug that Billy had most recently created. "I know what it is, or at least what it could be. Is there anyway a drug could do this?"
Ellie was looking at Sarah with concern yet skepticism. "If he were having a bad reaction to a drug, or had taken too much of a drug then it is very possible. Your not saying that Chuck is on drugs, are you?" The concern was overtaking the skepticism in Ellie's voice.
"What? Oh…no, I think someone could have slipped him something at the beach today. I saw some people taking something. That was when Chuck and I decided to leave and come back to you guys. They gave him a soda though, while we were there. They could have put something in it."
Ellie was back to being a doctor. "Do you know what it was or what it looked like?"
"I heard someone say something like wild something, or wild side. It was a little bright yellow pill."
The color drained from Ellie's face. "Ok, now that we know what it is, that might help." Her voice was very monotone as she was saying this. Ellie turned and picked up a hospital phone, dialed an extension, and passed along the information. "You call me as soon as you know anything, is that clear?"
"Ellie, tell me what is wrong. Tell me what is going on with Chuck." Sarah had inadvertently raised her voice just enough that the others in the room were now listening as well.
"Well, we have seen an increasing number of patients as the result of that drug. Most of the time they are people that are not afraid to do something stupid and they hurt themselves. But we also get a lot of people that either have a bad reaction or take too much. They have an uncontrollable fever and slip into a coma just like Chuck did." Ellie stopped and looked at the floor.
"What is it Ellie? What happens to them after that?" Sarah knew the answer but needed to hear Ellie say it.
"Most are unable to wake up from the coma and many that do have some sort of brain damage." Ellie, who was beginning to break up as she spoke, looked at Sarah who looked as if she were going to pass out. "Sarah, there have been some that have come through unharmed. You need, no we need to stay positive. You know that if anyone can come back it is Chuck." Ellie was trying to convince, not just Sarah but herself as well, as she put her hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Besides, he has a lot to come back to now." Though Sarah nodded to Ellie, she was unsure that Chuck would feel the same way.