Finally! A new chapter! It's still short though...

The wheel of excuses says... I was researching WWII memorabilia.

I do not own Alex Rider. My cat's sister died. :'(

Also, I am not a pharmacist.

-RF

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Alex had a nurse interrogating him about what he and Lexi went though. He told the nurse about the chloroform, being tied down, and the Epicurus. The nurse examined his head where it had been slammed against the wall and took him to get a CAT scan as a precaution. When he finished, Alex asked the nurse if he could see Lexi.

"I'll look into it." Was all he said before disappearing. Alex waited impatiently, fretting about Lexi. The nurse returned a few minutes later. Before either could get a word out, Sabina pushed past the man and ran to the bedside.

"Alex! Thank God you're okay!" Sabina enveloped him in a hug. "We were so worried-"

The nurse cleared his throat as Mr. and Ms. Pleasure entered the room.

"Unfortunately, you cannot see Miss Lexington at this time. However, you may have visitors. Your CAT scan looks good, and if your tox screen comes out clean. You can be released." The nurse said before ducking out of the room.

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An hour passed, and by now Alex had been released and sat in the hospital waiting room. He and the Pleasures had been briefed on the official story. That Alex had been kidnaped because Mr. Carter had been investigating a story that someone didn't want looked into.

Lexi's Dad sat next to the group as he waited for news, rapidly tapping his foot on the ground in anxiety.

"Mr. Carter?" A doctor asked as she entered the room.

"Yes?" He said. Jumping to his feet as Alex did when he first caught sight of the doctor.

"Your daughter is in stable condition. You may see her now."

Alex and Mr. Carter started to follow the doctor out of the room.

The doctor frowned as she caught sight of Alex. "Family only at this time." She said.

"No, no. It's okay. He's her boyfriend." Mr. Carter assured the woman.

The doctor gave Alex a sceptical look, but stayed silent as she led the two from the room. Within minutes, they were at the ICU. Lexi was lying in the bed, oxygen mask over her face, unconscious. Alex went to the far side of the bed, Mr. Carter to the near.

Alex noticed a machine with spinning parts nad a thin tube full of blood hooked up to Lexi. Faintly, he wondered what it did as he took Lexi's hand.

Mr. Carter sat on a chair next to the bed as the doctor explained Lexi's condition.

"Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what she was injected with, so treatment can be difficult. Right now, we're trying to lessen the effects of the drug by filling her blood, and treating symptoms as they arise. But beyond that, there is very little we can do. We'll keep her under observation until we're sure the drug is out of her system."

"Any ideas as to what it was the ******** stuck her with?" Mr Carter asked.

"We aren't sure." The doctor said with a sigh. "But it behaves like a mixture of heroin, PCP, and concentrated potassium chloride."

"Damn." Mr. Carter said.

"When will she wake up?" It was Alex this time.

"We don't know. It could be months."

Alex was distressed by the news. By that time he'd be long gone, relocated by witness protection. He may not get to say goodbye. He'll probably never see Lexi again, never know what happened to her.

He needed a plan.

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