It was Hughes who finally broke Peter from his trance. The Assistant Director had been the first to receive the call telling them to turn on the news channel and as soon as it had switched to a commercial break he headed straight to Peter's office. Silently he picked up the remote, shut off the television and placed it on Peter's desk. As the screen turned black Peter blinked in surprise and realizing that Hughes was beside him, turned to him, grief-stricken. Hughes gently laid his hand on Peter's arm and started to speak, but although his lips were moving all Peter heard was an ever increasing thrumming sound. Blackness closed in from his peripheral vision until the tiny pinpoint of light in front of him went out also. Slowly, his legs buckled beneath him and his head hit the floor with a sickening thud.
Diana looked up when Hughes entered the room and although she had been watching the two men she was too slow to reach Peter before he collapsed. Even Hughes had been taken by surprise and in the few seconds it took him to register the fact that Peter was about to pass out, the agent was already on the floor. Neither Hughes nor Diana had ever seen Peter have such a dramatic reaction to any situation, even in the most dangerous or frightening of undercover operations. The agent was the rock of the White Collar team; always steady, always in control of himself and his agents.
"Oh my God!" gasped Diana as she knelt by Peter's side. Immediately, she rolled him over onto his back and checked his pulse, relieved to find it steady, if somewhat faint. His face has a sickly grey and there were tiny beads of sweat forming above his top lip. Quickly, Hughes removed Peter's tie and undid the top buttons of his shirt. "Get some water," he ordered and Diana rushed from the office to the break room. Behind her she could hear the Director, "Peter, come on, wake up!"
As Diana got to the break room she grabbed a glass from the counter, knocking the one next to it onto the floor. She jerked the faucet open and held the glass beneath the running water, aware that her hands were shaking violently. Water splashed off the rim of the glass, soaking the counter and spilling down to the floor, from where it pooled out around her shoes, taking shards of glass with it. She didn't even attempt to close off the faucet when she was done, just turned and started back to the office. By the time she got there she had to steady herself on the door frame as she passed through it, her breath had become so pinched and uneven. In a fleeting thought as she was getting the water, it had struck her that perhaps Peter had not fainted but was having a heart attack or stroke, and she too had succumbed to the panic around her as she hurried back to him. She was extremely relieved to find him with his eyes open and his head propped up on Hughes' lap. She brought the glass of water to his mouth but her hands, although calmed somewhat, were still shaking and her attempt to help him drink resulted in her clumsily splashing water down the front of his shirt. "I'm so sorry," she said breathlessly looking from Peter to Hughes. "It's okay," said Hughes, jerking his chin toward Peter's desk. "Let's get him fully sat up." Diana put the glass down beside her and together she and Hughes pulled Peter over to his desk and leaned him up against it.
Some color was now returning to his face, as Peter sipped the water. Diana knelt beside him, her composure back together as she watched him carefully. Hughes was squatting on Peter's other side, his hand squeezing Peter's right shoulder. "Shit," he thought, "this is going downhill fast."
TBC
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