Ch. 17 Withdrawal

Savannah slept all the way home, once they got her in the truck. It was a team effort; she was so weak and tired Dani and Eliot had to help her.

He nudged her when they got home. "Hey. We're home."

It was always weird to call it home, but it was definitely more than headquarters. Their apartments always seemed like vacation homes; everyone spent most of the time at home/headquarters.

Savannah started to get out of the truck and Eliot realized he shouldn't have woken her up yet. "Hey, hang on, I'll be there in a second."

She waved him off. "I'm fine, Eliot." That was a lie. So they argued the entire way up to the bedroom.

"Let me help you."

"No."

"You have to take it easy."

"I'm not climbing a mountain."

"Dammit, Hardison, why haven't we put an elevator in this place?" he said more to himself.

"Exercise can only be good for me." She got shakier as she started climbing the stairs, but still some how made it up, losing her breath.

"Don't you go into the gym, Savannah," he called up the stairs after her. He was behind since he had to grab her bag and the case of sedatives. He wouldn't use them, but he couldn't leave them in the truck. He saw her stumble a couple times and fail to play it off.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I mean it, Savannah, I will drag you out of there myself." He picked up the pace. He was thankful when he watched her pass the gym and pool doors. He made it to the bedroom just in time to watch her drop to her knees, grab for the bedside trash can and throw up. No matter how many times he'd dealt with a withdrawal sufferer, it never got much easier. He dropped the bag and case with a sigh. "I would feel bad for you, but that's what you get. I told you to take it easy."

"Fuck off," she choked out between gags.

"Later," he quipped. She glanced back at him with a furrowed brow, but turned back to the trash can when she wretched again. "Okay, I feel bad. Come on, let's get you into the bed. Just keep your head near the trash can." He put his arms underneath hers and eased her to her feet, then lifted her onto the bed. As she settled down, he told her, "It's good to have you home."

"Don't try to butter me up. I blame you for the vomit."

"Yeah."

It took a while for Eliot to admit Dani might have been right...again. Savannah wasn't really getting any sleep. The night terrors evolved into full-blown violent hallucinations that could strike at any moment. Several times, he would have to hold her down to keep her from hurting herself as she screamed and thrashed. He would try and disconnect himself, to see her as a faceless soldier he dealt with in the past, so it wouldn't be so painful. She wouldn't even sleep, just lay there shaking, afraid to close her eyes, avoiding the horrific visions burned into her mind.

"You know what you have to do," Dani told him. It had been eight days, and he wanted any other answer.

"I can't do that to her. Just knock her out after she's had so many chemicals pumped into her?"

"It's not about pumping chemicals into her to make her do what you want, it's about helping her. She can't recover if she doesn't get any rest. Eliot, I gave them to her all throughout the treatments. She knew. She has no problem with them. She may fight you this far in, but it's only because she's not seeing you correctly. I'm sorry, I can't give you any other answers."

Eliot clenched his jaw so hard he thought his teeth might break. He had to dig the case out to get Dani's number. It felt like the syringes were staring at him with accusatory eyes. He looked at Savannah: pale, sweating, whimpering of an impending hallucination. He read the chart and labels on the syringes, picking up a syringe with yellow-green fluid.

The needle touched her arm, and she twitched. She grabbed his wrist weakly in a clammy hand. "No," she begged vaguely, not even looking at him.

"I'm sorry, Savannah," he whispered, sliding the needle in and pressing on the plunger. The vial wasn't even empty before she started to calm down. She was asleep seconds after the needle was pulled out.

"She's been asleep for eighteen hours," Eliot whispered into the phone.

"Did you give her the stabilizer after eight hours?" Dani asked.

"Of course I did."

"She is going to sleep for a while, especially after not getting rest for eight days."

"I'm sorry."

"I get it. I'm not upset with you, that's just going to alter the timeline a bit. Call me if she sleeps for more than 72 hours."

"That's a grand total of eleven days without anything but the water I've been forcing on her."

"She'll eat when she wakes up. A lot. Her body will reject anything you give it until then. She'll survive, I promise."