Eliza slowly came back to consciousness with a loud groan. Even with her eyes still closed she could tell something was badly wrong; there was a terrible, throbbing pain in her side; it was taking over all of her senses and she could think about very little else.
It took several minutes before Eliza had the energy to even just open her eyes. She slowly rolled her head to the side so she could take a look around and take in her environment. It very quickly became apparent to Eliza that she was lying on a cot in the medical tent. It was only then that what had happened came flooding back to her. She'd been shot. While saving Alex.
Eliza let out a gasp in pain as she sat up. She looked down at herself to see that somebody, presumably Doctor Hall, had placed a blanket over her. She mustered all the energy she could to slowly reach out and pull the blanket back. Her hip was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages, but that was not what worried Eliza. No, what worried her was the fact that he legs were bare. Eliza closed her eyes and let her head fall in defeat. In order to get to the bullet wound the doctor would have had to removed her breeches. He knew. Her secret was out!
Before the panic could fully set in, Eliza heard voices outside the medical tent. She glanced back down at herself and pulled the blanket back over her as quickly as she could. She laid back down, just as Washington and Hall walked in.
"You're awake!" Hall cried, hurrying over to her side, "It was a bit touch and go for a while but you aren't showing any signs of infection so, with a bit of care you should be fine, other than a nasty scar," he explained, as he fussed with her blankets,
Washington coughed slightly, startling Eliza, "Doctor Hall, could you give us a moment please?"
"Certainly, sir,"
Hall gave a quick salute to Washington before he fled out of the tent, leaving just Eliza and the General alone.
Washington came to stand at the foot of Eliza's bed. Eliza tried to sit up, refusing to cower under Washington's presence, but Washington raised his hand to stop her, "Miss Schuyler-"
"I'm sorry," Eliza blurted out, unable to take the disappointment in Washington's voice, "I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry I came at all, I'm sorry, but it was the only way to save my family,"
Washington sighed, "Miss Schuyler, I should have you arrested for your crimes,"
Eliza looked down at her hands, she couldn't quite face looking at Washington right now, as she felt tears creep into her eyes,
"However,"
Eliza looked up quickly, suddenly feeling a small glimmer of hope,
"Hamilton reports that you saved his life and I cannot punish you for that,"
"Sir?"
Washington straightened, "You will be allowed to stay here until Doctor Hall deems you fit enough to go home," Washington turned to leave the tent,
"That's it?"
Washington looked back at her over his shoulder, "That's it," he confirmed, "Go home Miss Schuyler, be with your family," with that Washington walked out of the tent leaving Eliza alone.
-x-
It took another two weeks for Hall to deem Eliza well enough to leave the medical tent and make the journey home. She was accompanied on the journey by two escorts, and she spent the entire journey expecting them to arrest her, however, they left her at the entrance to the Schuyler house.
Eliza took a deep breath and slowly made her way up the steps to the front door. She knocked on it and a moment later it was flung open by Peggy. Elize opened her mouth to try and explain but before she could say anything Peggy leapt forward and flung her arms around Eliza's neck. After a moment Eliza wrapped her arms around Peggy in return and buried her face in her sisters shoulder. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes as the weight of the past few months finally came crashing down.
Peggy pulled away from Eliza, she too had tears falling down her cheeks, "I have a surprise for you," she said. Before Eliza could respond Peggy grabbed her hand and lead her inside. And there, standing at the bottom of the stairs was Angelica.
Eliza froze and eyes widened in surprise. Angelica stepped forward and hugged Eliza tightly,
"What are you doing here?" Eliza gasped, finally finding her voice,
"Somebody shot my sister," Angelica replied, as if that explained everything,
"But what about London?"
Angelica took hold of Eliza's hand and lead her to the front room.
"I might be married now but you are still my family, and I will always be here when my family needs me," Angelica sat down and Eliza gingerly sat down next to her, she could feel herself starting to cry again,
"I tried," she sniffed, "I tried to do what you would do and protect our family, but I failed!"
"You didn't fail!" Angelica cried, "You saved our father! If it wasn't for you, he would have been shipped off to the army and we both know he wouldn't have survived,"
"But I got caught!"
"And Daddy is still here and alive. And so are you," Angelica said, "You succeeded. You did exactly what you set out to do and I am so proud of you,"
Eliza wiped her eyes on her sleeve, "Really?"
"Really. You are so brave. I don't know if I could have done what you did,"
Eliza pulled Angelica back into another hug, "I'm glad you're here,"
Angelica looked over at the door to see Peggy standing there. She held her arm out, inviting Peggy to join the hug, "Come here,"
Peggy walked over and wrapped her arms around her two sisters.
"The Schuyler sister reunited," Peggy said as the three of them parted.
Eliza laughed wetly,
"Come on," Angelica said, standing up, "Let's run you a bath and find you clean clothes. You'll feel much better once you're clean."
Eliza followed her sisters out of the room and up the stairs. She still didn't know how she felt about being home, but it was nice to be back with her sisters.