…and a happy new year.
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"What?" It was a shock to hear this. It was almost like his head throbbed harder in sympathy.
"So you don't remember."
An image flashed into Don's mind, the explosion, fire and then…a feeling. Fear. He could remember feeling this gut-wrenching sickness at the thought of…
"Liz?"
"Once the medics arrived I never spoke to you again. I called. Sometimes I think your voicemail message is chattier than you. My first day back at work was the day you went missing. How do you think I felt?"
Don felt miserable, he'd caused so much pain, he couldn't explain himself and now he had gotten himself in to some kind of mess that meant Liz was worried about him. The last thing he wanted was to be a burden to someone. He didn't have the energy to defend himself nor the inclination to want to.
"I'm sorry. You deserve better than this."
"No. Don. Don't. I deserve what I want. I want you. I know it's hard for you, but…" Liz looked into Don's pale face and realized this wasn't the time or place. "…but you need to rest. I've…I'm just glad you're still here."
"Ditto. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."
"I do. Saw it first hand. You back off, retreat into your shell and then go missing for three days." Liz almost cracked a smile.
Three days? No one's mentioned that detail before.
Don winced as the wound on his head sent out a sharp stab of pain. There was a deep intake of breath as he tried to ride it out.
"You ok? Shall I get a nurse?"
Don took a couple of seconds but eventually found his breath. "Nah, it's…fine. Colby? How's he?"
Liz studied Don carefully, not believing that the pain he was in was exactly manageable. Without him noticing she pressed the nurses button as she answered his question. "He's outside. You can see him if you want. Back from medical leave just because of you."
Great. One more thing I've screwed up. Did I just say that aloud?
"Don, you didn't screw up." Ah yeah, damn. "At least not in terms of you going missing. Maybe not talking to me after Colby and I nearly got blown to pieces was a little screwy, but the missing bit I can't really blame you for…can I?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Liz didn't have a chance to answer as the nurse found her way to Don's room. "You ok Agent Eppes? What do you need?"
"What? Need?" Don tried to work out what the nurse was saying when Liz interjected.
"He's in a lot of pain from the bullet wound I think."
"Oh, we can fix that." The nurse took Don's chart from his bed and ticked a couple of things off. "You're due anyway."
The nurse walked across to his drip and administered a vial of pain relief. Liz was watching the nurse's actions but Don was staring at Liz.
"Bullet wound?"
Liz looked back at Don realizing that no one must have told him what his head injury was from. She wasn't sure she should have been the first. "Ah, yeah. Close range too. That make you remember anything?"
Don looked into Liz's eyes as the pain medication slowly numbed the senses in his body. Nice.
"Nice? Me or the drugs?"
Again? I thought out loud again. Better shut up Eppes.
"Yeah, shut up Eppes, you're so loquacious."
The edges of Liz's face began to blur as Don's eyelids became so heavy he couldn't keep them open anymore. Was that….am I humming?
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"You guys keep logs right?"
"Of course Charlie, the techs would have looked at that stuff, they'd be trying to do the same sort of thing."
"Sure Megan, only I can do it quicker, and better and not between all the other cases I have to do. It wasn't in the data you gave me anyway so I'm guessing they're still getting to it."
Megan smiled at Charlie and walked away to make a call. Charlie turned around to face Amita. She smiled back at him and pointed to Don's door as Liz came out.
"Can we see him now?" David asked as Liz came out, not wanting to pry her for any details of what may have gone on between the two of them. Don had acted poorly after Liz and Colby had been injured in the raid but only David knew why. Don had let one or two comments slip…and he knew his boss. Don blamed himself for what happened. There had been a communication error between the drug squad and their own. Marcus Field had ordered the execution before Don had given the all clear from the south side.
Don was mad as hell but it turned out to be an equipment failure. Don had said 'not clear' but the mic on his lapel had only picked up 'clear'. Marcus assaulted and Don was still round the side as Colby and Liz were checking the rear exits. The building was wired and it blew. Colby was thrown clear and ended up with a compound fracture to his leg. Liz had been forced into a wall damaging her shoulder and receiving a slight concussion. David had never seen Don like it before. His hand had actually trembled as it went to check for a pulse. The relief on his face was quickly replaced with anger as he realized that Field had ignored his order.
Don had rushed round to the front of the building where the drug squad were. All evidence had been blown sky high and he almost lost two of his agents – he'd almost lost Liz. He was ready to let fly when David held him back and pointed to a body off to the side. Agent Field was standing over it, staring. It was then that Don calmed a little. Agent Field had made a mistake but he had paid for it with one of his own agents. Don was the lead agent in charge of the raid. He ultimately took responsibility for the error. Heck he'd even said it was his fault to David because he shouldn't have said 'not clear' at all, only spoken when it was 'clear'. A day later the drug lord they were after turned up dead, apparently butchered by his own men.
"Sorry he's out for the count. But you can go in." Liz responded shaking David from his thoughts on Don.
"Hey maybe he's less taciturn in his sleep anyway." Colby offered.
David followed Colby in to Don's room, trying to keep the crutches from making too much noise. Liz sat down next to Alan who looked like he too was about to fall asleep. Megan finished her call on her cell and walked over to Charlie. "Half a tank."
Charlie immediately got out a notepad and scribbled some calculations as Megan joined David and Colby in Don's room.
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"Charlie whether you agree with them or not, they're there. Observe them."
"I'm trying, I need to get home before I lose this train of thought, you don't understand."
"Yes Charlie I do understand. I understand I should have gotten Amita to drive rather than my son the leadfoot."
Amita smiled from the back. She was tired. Alan was tired. Charlie was wired. He'd worked out some figures to ascertain where Don could have gone after he left the office. It was the first time in days that Charlie felt useful again. He would prove Don didn't shoot himself and he would find out the things his brother wasn't able to remember. He had to.
Alan closed his eyes again and sighed.
"What's wrong Alan?" Amita asked.
"Nothing. Nothing. Just tired is all."
"So Liz mentioning the bullet wound to Don has nothing to do with the sigh?" Charlie interjected.
"And here I was thinking you were absorbed in all your math to be hearing that conversation."
"I multi-task, I am a genius you know."
"Yes I know. Yet a genius who can't figure out how to keep a car to a speed limit."
"Hey I never said I was perfect. Quit changing the subject anyway. You're upset with Liz am I right?"
"No Charlie, you're not right. I'm upset but not with Liz. She wasn't to know. Don had to find out. I'm just tired. Tired of worrying about you both. Worrying about your lives and hoping that I might outlive you. Just tired Charlie."
Charlie dared to look across at his dad while stopped at a red light. The lines in his face seemed to have deepened over the last few days. Don certainly was responsible for some of those lines, but he hadn't really thought about how many he'd caused his father over the years.
"Well those lines give you character so Don and I give you character, stop you from being bland."
"If you say so." Alan closed his eyes and tried to sleep away the terror of the last few miles of Charlie driving was going to cause him.
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Amita yawned before she could get the first word out. "Come to bed. Finish this up in the morning."
Charlie whipped around quickly to see Amita dressed in a very sexy nightie. Tempted. "Sorry." A few scrapes of chalk, a couple of numbers and Charlie stood back and looked at his work.
Through sleep crusted eyes Amita couldn't miss the findings. "What?"
Charlie slunk down on to the couch in disbelief.
"But then…" Amita walked across to the chalkboard and Charlie watched her as she traced her finger around the key points marked out on the map. She turned around and looked at him. "You've taken into account any idling or traffic jams here, right?"
"Yeah I got some figures of the traffic density at that time. How many red lights he would have encountered." Charlie got up and pointed at one expression, "This takes into account any extra stops. But this location keeps coming up as the most likely, followed closely by this. I mean, of course, there's so much I don't know, so who knows but there are no coincidences in life. This has to be the key."
"There's nothing you can do about this now that can't wait till the morning. How 'bout I drive you in to the FBI first thing." Amita put her arm around Charlie's chalky neck and guided him towards the garage door, to bed.
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"Sleep well Agent Eppes?" That chirpy brunette nurse. Doesn't she ever go home?
"Not really." Then Don remembered something. "Hey, this wound. How bad is it?"
The nurse stared down at the patient, clearly in a little pain and trying his best to string his words together. "I'm not a doctor."
"Ah, we all know nurses are the real brains of the medical profession. Spit it out. Seems to me that this is something the doctor should tell me about – why I'm in here."
A smile flashed down at him before she replied. "Ok Mr Flatterer. Close range bullet seems to have bruised your skull. You're fine. It's not really the reason you're in here. You are dehydrated mainly, you lost a lot of fluids from the wound and well, whatever it is you got up to, you seem to have worn yourself out making it home to your dad's place – on foot."
Don pretended not to be surprised by any of this information but his mind was doing cartwheels. On foot. Shot at close range. "None of that sounds like me."
"Huh?"
"Walking. Being shot. Charlie's the walker, more of a sprint to the finish kind of guy me. And to be shot at close range. Doesn't make sense. I'm a trained agent."
"Yes but even Superman has kryptonite. What's your weakness Agent Eppes?"
"Pretty women." The nurse smiled back at Don's comment as he continued, "especially in nurses outfits."
"That's technically sexual harassment. I'll give you a freebie cos of the drugs and you've lost your mind for a bit but the next one will be taken down and used against you."
Don smiled back. He had so many questions and this nurse seemed to be the best way to get information without having to worry his family or team. He wanted to keep her on his good side. "So when do I get out then?"
"Well now that depends."
"On what."
"On how well you behave. Seems to me the notion that you shot yourself isn't really flying, you're a little too cheeky to be depressed Agent. I'd say in the next day or so."
Shot myself. Depressed? Don thought the nurses words over as she finished her duties and left the room. So that's why everyone's acting a little – off. Don mulled over everything he'd just learnt. He'd walked to his father's, they think he was depressed, they are skirting the issue of him maybe doing this to himself, and most of all, they're avoiding the subject of what happened.
There was no doubt about it in Don's mind. He had been a victim of crime. He shook his head, not wanting to think the next thought.
Maybe I did do this to myself. Anything to get a break from this merry-go-round of FBI life.