Thanks for all the support and the comments! Here's a new update, enjoy!
Thanks to Jammequin for proofreading! Love u my friend!
*** I do not own the Blacklist or any of its characters. ***
"She is stable now, but has a fairly bad concussion, a fractured wrist, a bad open wound on her head and several internal bleeds. Whoever did this to her really made sure she would be in pretty bad shape for a while," the doctor told Red.
He looked at the doctor and nodded, while he was on fire on the inside. He was going to make sure he found out who was responsible for the attack and, if his life depended on it, the asshole wasn't going to see the light of day again.
"I put an IV into her, and I have her on painkillers, antibiotics and a sedative for now so she won't be experiencing the pain. For her own comfort, I also gave her a bladder catheter so she can stay in bed for the time being. She may also have some panic attacks when she wakes up, I just want to warn you."
"Claire will stay by your side the whole time to take care of Elizabeth whenever she needs help, and will change her wound bandages when they need to be changed. She will also be here to assist her when she wakes up." Red looked at the nurse and smiled at her.
"Of course", he said, "I have one of the spare rooms all ready for you so you can stay there as long as necessary. I appreciate you all being here on such short notice, you will be compensated accordingly. Claire, feel free to use the kitchen and the living area as you wish whenever Elizabeth is resting."
"Well then", the doctor continued, "she is stable for now. I of course will be on call for you 24/7 should you require my assistance."
Red led the doctor towards the door and thanked him for his work. He walked to his office after the doctor left, where Dembe and Baz were already waiting for him.
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Reddington poured himself a scotch, walked towards his desk and sat down. Baz and Dembe were both sitting on the other side and remained quiet. Red coughed, took a sip of his drink and spoke "Tell me what happened, and don't leave anything out."
"Raymond," Dembe, usually the quiet one, started, "we had our eyes on her all night. She and her friend were just out having fun, no specifics, we didn't see anything or anyone out of the ordinary. She never knew we were there so she didn't act any differently. Just like you requested."
"When Elizabeth and Samar left the club, we were right behind them; that was until we got held back by a brawl near the exit doors. In case we caused a scene ourselves and blew our cover, we remained back and waited for them to let us out. By the time we were outside, Samar's limo was already gone and Elizabeth was out of our sight. It wasn't until we heard cries and screams that we caught up to her location. By the time we got there, she was already down and passed out."
"I still don't understand how you let her out of your sight," Raymond answered his associate. "For the last four years I have given you specific instructions. I know you have never failed to do your job, but today I am disappointed. Have you seen the shape she is in, Dembe? Can you understand how I feel right now?"
"I understand Raymond," Dembe answered.
"Find out who did this and bring him to me," Raymond said, as he emptied his glass when he got up. "Mr. Kaplan should have also arrived by now, so she can assist you with whatever needs to be done. If you will excuse me now, I am going to see how Elizabeth is doing". He sat his glass down on the desk and walked towards the door.
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Red went into the master bedroom where everything was set up for Elizabeth's recovery. Claire had retreated to the guest room as Lizzie was resting and was stable for now. He walked closer to the bed and inspected the girl.
Her hair was a mess and her face was covered in bruises. A large bandage covered the wound on her forehead where her head had hit the metal of the dumpster. He carefully pulled the sheet back and noticed she was wearing a hospital gown. He looked around the room and found her regular clothes in a pile in a corner, they were stained with blood. He inspected her further and noticed the doctor hadn't been exaggerating. She had black and blue bruises all over.
He felt his eyes twitch and felt a tear roll down his cheek. How could this have happened, he thought to himself. He dried his tear, covered Elizabeth with the sheet again, and walked towards the pile of clothes. He stuffed them in a bag and made a mental note to buy her any new clothes she wanted when she was fit again.
After getting rid of the clothes, Red pulled his leather chair next to the bed Elizabeth was lying in. He wasn't going to leave her tonight, so he grabbed a blanket for himself as well.
He pulled an iPod out of one of the drawers of the dresser and looked for the matching earphones. He never really used those things, but was happy Dembe had given him one last year for Christmas fully loaded with his favorite jazz albums. As it turns out, it had come in handy one day.
Carefully he put the earphones in her ears and turned on the iPod. He selected the album "Live at the Village Vanguard" by the Christian McBride Trio and turned the volume on low.
Red sat down in his chair and held her hand. He kissed her hand and whispered to her "I want you to know that everything's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. You have me. And I'm not going to let anything else happen to you."
TBC