Thanks very much for the reviews so far. They are very appreciated. Hope you enjoy this next installment. And as always, as much as I enjoy Without A Trace, I do not own any of their characters so please don't sue.
Chapter 3
"Jesus! Danny, what the hell happened to you?!" Jack exclaimed horrified at the sight before him.
Danny couldn't answer, however, as he continued vomiting violently. And as he vomit violently, the wound on his neck continued gushing as Martin applied pressure to it. Finally, after vomiting violently four times, Danny stopped as he fell to his knees and shook uncontrollably.
"Martin, get a medic in here now!" Jack said urgently and obviously fearful, but Danny shook his head as he quietly cried fearfully.
"No, Jack! Please don't call anyone!" Danny quietly cried terrified as he shook.
"Like hell I'm not calling anyone, Danny. I'm not going to stand by and do nothing. I'm not going to let you die." Jack said very sternly out of fear but his actions caused Danny to worsen, causing Martin to grab the dressings out of his pocket and bandage Danny's throat as much as possible without choking him.
"Jack, please don't call it in! Please!" Danny quietly cried horrified as he shook violently.
"Jack, what if we get him to your office and get Lisa to treat him there? Please?" Martin pled nervously as he continued applying pressure to Danny's throat.
"Jack, please, I'll do whatever you want! But listen to Martin! Please, Jack!" Danny cried fearfully, and in a moment of desperation and fear, he held Jack tightly, causing Jack to realize that there was something more to this entire situation, than Danny was telling.
Damn it. All right, all right, calm down and take some deep breaths for me right now." Jack sad sternly but caringly as fear was all too clearly evident in his voice, causing Danny to try to breathe as he shook violently and he looked at Jack with a fear so raw, that it caused Jack's heart to tighten in his chest.
"Martin, go get Lisa right now. I'm going to get him to my office. Go!" Jack said urgently and sternly as he took over for Martin and began applying pressure to Danny's wound, causing Martin to run out of the bathroom fearfully and to Lisa's office.
"Come on. I've got to get you out of here and to my office. Can you walk?"Jack said sternly as he tried to keep his composure.
"Yeah. Yeah, I can walk." Danny quietly cried shakily as Jack continued applying pressure to his throat as he led Danny out of the bathroom.
Just as they exited the bathroom, Martin and Dr. Lisa Harris appeared before them as she held some kind of medical bag.
"Jesus! Jack, we have to get him into your office now." Martin said calmly but obviously fearful as they led him to Jack's office and other agents in the bullpen looked on in horror at the blood that was staining Danny's throat and soaked Jack and Martin's hands.
Once in his office, Jack closed his door and blinds after they sat a badly shaken Danny on his office couch.
Lisa put on gloves and opened new dressings along with alcohol pads as they began to treat Danny's wounds, causing her to hiss when she saw the wound and wiped it as gently as possible with the alcohol pads.
"Danny, you need to go to a hospital. Thankfully, the injury didn't rupture your carotid, but it sure as hell came close. What happened to you, Danny? How did you get hurt?" Lisa asked seriously and concerned but compassionately, causing her to look at Danny suspiciously when he swallowed very hard.
"I'm fine, all right. I just cut myself shaving." Danny said shakily, causing everyone to look at him because they knew that he was lying.
Cut myself shaving? What the hell were you thinking, Danny? Couldn't you come up with a better excuse than that, Danny silently chastised himself.
"That's the biggest load of garbage that I've ever heard come out of your mouth, Danny. What really happened to you?" Jack said sternly out of fear.
"I don't give a damn if you don't believe me, Jack, but it's the truth." Danny said angrily as he breathed angrily but tears stained every crevice of his face, so no one took him or his words seriously.
I'm so sorry, Jack. I hope that you can for give me someday. But I can't live with myself if something happens to any of you.--Danny silently said to himself sadly as more tears escaped his eyes.
Lisa cleaned up Danny's wound and put on a clean dressing. Being that she was a psychiatrist, however, she could tell that Danny was terribly afraid of something. But she didn't say anything to him. Instead, she finished caring for Danny and took Jack to the lounge while Martin remained with Danny as he laid on Jack's couch.
"What is it, Lisa?" Jack asked terribly concerned but calmly.
"Jack, unless you want to lose an agent as fine as Danny, I suggest that you find out who did that to him. Because whoever did that to Danny was out to kill him." Lisa said seriously and compassionately but very concerned.
"What the hell are you saying?" Jack whispered angrily out of fear.
"Jack, you're a smart man. We both know that Danny didn't cut himself shaving. When I was cleaning him up, I clearly saw that what he has is a knife wound. Whoever did this, wanted to kill Danny but this time they only sent a warning. And I say that because he has hesitation marks. But they weren't hesitating because they weren't sure of what they were doing. No, they were only hesitating to show Danny that they could hurt or even kill him at any time." Lisa explained seriously but as gently as possible.
Lisa's words caused Jack to feel as if he'd been punched in the stomach and all the air had been sucked out of his lungs.
"But how can you be sure of that?" Jack said quietly but obviously shaken because he couldn't believe that someone could hurt Danny after everything that he'd been through, but Jack swore to himself that he'd find out who did this and they'd pay dearly for hurting his friend and agent, Danny Taylor.
"Jack, I know a knife wound when I see one. And that's not all I saw." Lisa explained gently but very concerned, both about Danny but also of Jack's reaction.
"What do you mean?" Jack said slightly fearful as he tried to regain his composure, but he had a sickening feeling that caused a hole to form in the pit of his stomach as if he'd been burned by acid--and the concerned look on Lisa's features didn't help matters at all.
"Jack, I can't be sure, but I'm almost positive that whoever did this was choking Danny while they cut him. Danny has an indentation on his throat that looks like a hand print." Lisa explained gently, causing Jack to run out of the lounge and into his office.
Jack was going to confront Danny and force him to tell him everything that had happened and what bastard had hurt him. But when he entered his office, Martin had placed a pillow under Danny's head and covered him with a blanket. So now, a very pale and frail-looking Danny lay there sleeping as sweat and tears stained every crevice of his face.
"You were with him first, Martin. What happened to him?" Jack whispered concerned and somewhat sternly out of fear but Martin could only sigh heavily and shake his head.
"I honestly don't know, Jack. A few minutes after he got back, I noticed the bleeding but it wasn't that bad." Martin whispered nervously.
"What do you mean, 'after he got back'? Where the hell did he go off to? Jack whispered sternly out of fear.
"Look, he…he's been agitated all morning and needed to cool off, so he left the office for a while. But I don't know where Danny went, Jack. I swear." Martin whispered nervously as he looked at Danny's shriveled body before him.
"Jack, what do you want me to do? By law, I am required to report all injuries." Lisa explained as gently as possible as she came into the office, but her words caused Danny to panic as he slept.
Danny may have been sleeping, but he still a keen sense of hearing and he'd heard everything they'd uttered, causing him to panic and thrash weakly as his breathing became erratic.
"Jack, no!" Danny cried weakly but panicked as his eyes remained closed and he breathed fast and heavily, causing Jack and Martin to snag his wavering hands in their own.
"Danny, Danny, calm down. You're okay. Come on. Come on, Danny-boy. Relax and slow down your breathing." Jack said sternly but compassionately as he tightened his grip on Danny's hand.
"Danny, I want you to calm down or I'm going to have you taken to the nearest emergency room." Lisa said sternly but caringly.
"No, please don't call anyone! Please!" Danny weakly cried completely panicked as he managed to open his eyes to a crack.
Danny was completely panicked but when he saw Lisa preparing a syringe, he completely lost it and struggled to get free as his eyes bugged out in sheer terror.
"No, leave me alone! Let me go!" Danny screamed barely audible as tears stained his face and Lisa wiped his arm with alcohol. "No, please don't hurt me anymore! I didn't tell anyone! Please!" He cried barely audible as he began to stop struggling.
It was clear to everyone that Danny was trapped in another reality. But his words caused everyone to confirm their suspicions that someone was hurting Danny. And when they found out who hurt their friend there would be hell to pay.
"Shhh. Danny, calm down. It's me, Lisa. You're safe at FBI Headquarters, Danny. Nobody's going to hurt you here and I promise that I won't tell anyone. Just get some rest for now, sweetie. You're safe here." Lisa said soothingly as she gently injected a medication into Danny's arm.
"Damn it! I told you that I didn't tell anyone!" Danny cried weakly until complete darkness took over.
"Lisa, what did you do to him?" Martin said fearfully as he took a tight grip of Danny's lifeless hand in his own.
"Calm down, Martin. I didn't have a choice. I had to give him a sedative to calm him down. With everything that he's been through, I couldn't let him panic anymore or his heart would've given out like before. Yeah, it's been six weeks, but he's still vulnerable." Lisa said sternly but compassionately.
Jack was going to say something but Viv and Sam entered the office, causing them to gasp in horror when they saw Danny's pale and lifeless body on Jack's couch.
"Jack, I promised him that I wouldn't tell anyone anything although I am required by law to report Danny's attack. But if I'm going to keep quiet, all of you are going to have to keep a close eye on Danny and not leave him alone at all. And you're going to have to find out who the hell did this to him before you lose Danny." Lisa said seriously but as gently as possible.
"But, Jack, what happened to Danny? They're saying in the bullpen that you came out of the bathroom covered in Danny's blood." Sam said calmly but obviously fearful as her voice shook.
"Jack, you have to go put and end to that right now. Go." Lisa said seriously, causing Jack to leave the office and go to the bullpen.
While Jack stepped out, Lisa explained to Martin, Sam and Viv the same thing that she'd said to Jack and it caused them to gasp horrified. But they all agreed that some somebody was going to pay hell and wish they'd never messed with Danny Taylor.
Jack on the other end was in the bullpen yelling at everyone and angrily warned them that what they saw was to remain in the office. Jack also warned that anyone who spoke of Danny's condition again, would be fired immediately, causing everyone to look at Jack fearfully when they all agreed and he returned to his office-Jack Malone was not a man to be messed with and they all knew it.
"They won't be talking about it again if they know what's good for them. Now, does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how to help him or what happened?" Jack said, still irate. "Martin, what about you? You said that he was agitated today and that's why he left to cool off. But I'm not stupid or blind, so don't lie to me. I saw you two arguing this morning. What was that all about?" Jack said sternly out of fear, causing Martin to sigh heavily.
"I promised him that I wouldn't say anything." Martin said nervously as he looked to the floor because he wouldn't dare look at Jack's angry stare--the look on Jack's face was so vicious that he felt as though Jack was burning a hole right through him.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Jack said calmly but angrily as he glared at Martin, causing Martin to swallow hard and fearfully when he looked at Jack's face. "I don't give a rat's ass what you promised Danny or not. So, tell me right now what the hell that was all about." Jack said calmly but fumingly.
"Okay, Jack. Look, he's just been a bit agitated today and we talked a bit but then someone called him on his cell phone. I went back to my desk to give Danny some privacy. So, I don't know who Danny was talking to, but Danny was talking low and then got mad and ended the call. Then, he slammed the cell phone down on his desk. I asked him about it and he told me that it had been a wrong number." Martin said nervously.
"And you believed him?" Jack said crossly as he scoffed irately.
"No, I didn't believe him and I told him so. I told Danny that we both knew it wasn't a wrong number. But he got pissed off and told me to stay the hell out of it. Then, he left the office and came back like that. But he was only bleeding a little." Martin explained nervously.
"What was his reaction when he saw you, Martin?" Lisa asked gently but concerned.
"He was acting strange--like he felt bad about our fight and didn't know how to talk to me again, so he stayed by the door. But I saw him and went up to him. I told him that he shouldn't worry because we were still friends and I sat him down at his desk. That's when I noticed the blood." Martin explained nervously as he shook a bit.
"Relax and take a few deep breaths, Martin." Lisa said gently, causing her to continue when Martin took several breaths and calmed down. "Martin, what was his reaction when you saw the blood?" She asked gently and Martin tightened his hold on Danny's lifeless hand.
"I told him that he was bleeding. But he started shaking a little and his breathing became erratic like if he was trying to stifle a cry. I told him to calm down, that no one could see it. I also told him to pretend like nothing was wrong and to head to the bathroom, that I'd go set some bandages for him without anyone noticing." Martin said softly as he swallowed hard and blinked away his tears.
"I saw you with the bandages, Martin. You hid them in your pockets. I just didn't know that something was wrong with you guys. Why didn't you tell me anything?" Jack said a bit sternly but compassionately.
"I told you that I'd promised Danny that I wouldn't say anything to anyone." Martin said softly as he swallowed hard.
"Jack, I know that you're worried about Danny, but that attitude isn't going to make matters better, okay?" Lisa said a bit sternly but compassionately.
"Do you have any idea who could've called Danny?" Jack asked Martin with a heavy sigh.
Martin was going to answer Jack's question, when Danny began thrashing weakly. Because although Danny was sedated, he could still hear some of what the others were saying.
"Leave…alone! No…un…hurt me! Shaving!" Danny cried very weakly but fearfully as he struggled to move and fresh tears stained his face, causing Martin to hold his hand tightly in a brotherhood grip.
"Shhh. Calm down, brother. I've got you. You're going to be okay, you're safe." Martin reassured caringly as Danny cried weakly but terrified.
"No…die…all…you!" Danny cried weakly but terrified as he began gasping desperately for air and coughing violently.
"Damn it! Danny, Danny, calm down. You're safe, damn it and nothing's going to happen to any of us. So, calm your ass down right now and breathe." Jack said sternly and horrified as he took a tight hold of Danny's hand, causing Lisa to immediately check his vitals and grow very concerned when the wound on Danny's throat began to ooze blood again.
"I'm really sorry, Jack, but Danny needs a hospital right now. I'm losing him." Lisa said urgently as she called for paramedics.
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Hope all of you enjoyed this installment. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated and utilized.