Chapter 7

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"Two months?" Martin asked in disbelief.

Katherine held his hand tighter, as if he would disappear at any moment and answered, "Yes."

Martin looked out the window again, suddenly entranced by the view. "Oh."

"Son, I know this is a lot for us to throw at you at once," Victor commented softly. "But we knew that you would figure it out on your own and we wanted to be sure to be here to give you answers right away."

Martin continued to look out onto the skyline, "Am I in Washington?"

Once again it was Victor who replied, "Yes, we had you moved out here two days after the shooting."

Martin looked at his dad and quietly asked, "Why?"

Dr. McConnell interjected, "Georgetown University has one of the top Neurology units. We felt that it would be best to get you here as soon as possible to begin treatment."

"Oh." Martin felt like he was a needle stuck in a groove. He could hear their words but the meaning behind them was lost because his thoughts couldn't move forward - all he could think was two months, two months, two months.

"Agent Fitzgerald, I know this is a lot for you to process right now. It will take some time." Dr. McConnell commented. "We have a psychologist here who is available for you to talk to later today."

Martin looked at him blankly before nodding his head. He turned his gaze back to the window. They sat in silence for several minutes, giving Martin time to absorb all the information they gave him.

Katherine, in an attempt to offer up Martin some good news in light of all the negative spoke up, "Martin, I know Samantha and the rest of team are going to be thrilled to hear that you are awake."

Martin gave an ever so slight tilt of his head indicating he had heard her.

"Would you like to call them? I'm positive that Samantha would love to talk to you."

Martin shook his head no. He wasn't ready to talk to anyone yet. This was all too much. What would he say anyway? He was Rip Van Winkle waking up to a new world that he didn't recognize. An image of himself with a beard entered his mind and he unconsciously touched his chin.

He could feel all their eyes on him but he had no desire to acknowledge it. When it appeared that he would not be speaking again, it was Victor who broke the silence.

"Son, say something." Victor implored.

There was a long pause before Martin finally spoke up and replied, "Something."