A/N: Thanks again for reading this story. Sorry for the delay...I hope the chapter is worth it. Let me know.

Thanks to jonsmom14 my wonderful beta.( great job as always)

The stalker

by elessar73

Chapter 7: The Aftermath

Charlie laid motionless in the bed. His brown eyes were closed, and he seemed to be fast asleep. The scene seemed almost peacefull, but that impression faded with a closer look. An IV pole stood beside his bed providing him with a transparent fluid holding the painkiller and antibiotics.

Charlie looked vulnerable and fragile. The countless cuts on his face formed a surrealistic pattern, but the skin outside the red marks was pale. Don and Alan stood at the door soaking in the sight of Charlie; yes he was hurt, but he was still alive. Suddenly they both dashed towards the bed.

Don grabbed his brother´s hand and caressed it softly. "Hey buddy, we´re here. Please open your eyes. You´re safe now."

Don was longing for a movement from his brother. He needed the confirmation that everything was going to be fine. Just a small nod of the head; that would be enough for now, but his brother wasn´t able to reassure him.

Alan reached the other side of Charlie´s bed. He looked down on his son and silently thanked God. He knew the outcome could have been completely diffrent. They could be alone- NO! Alan banished the thought out of his head. Charlie was right here before their eyes; still breathing, still alive. Alan touched Charlie´s forehead slightly. The older man was cautious not to touch the gauze covering a deep cut. He stroked some stray curls out of his son´s eyes.

Charlie stirred. He sensed someone watching him. He tried to open his eyes and although the lids were heavy, he managed to open them to small slits. Even the dim light from the ceiling pricked his eyes. Stabs of pain swept through his head. No, not just his head- his whole body was hurting. The young man wondered what had happened.

Charlie forced his eyes to open. Through weary brown pools he scanned his surroundings. He stared at the high white ceiling. He couldn´t remember a room with such a ceiling. Charlie tried to turn his head around to see more details from the room he was in. His head felt heavy and it took every bit of his strength to move it. After what felt like an eternity, he stared at a black window. The shades were open, but no light was coming into the room so it must be night.

`That´s why I am so tired.´ Charlie thought to himself.

There was something else in the room. A shadow stood at his side. He squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment to clear his blurry vision. When Charlie opened them again he realized it was his brother standing there.

" Don?" Charlie´s voice was hoarse and low, but to his family it sounded like the voice of an angel. It was the best thing Don had ever heard.

A smile spread across Don´s face. "Hey, Charlie, it´s good to see you."

Charlie winced at the volume of his brother´s voice. His head was really killing him.

"You okay?" Don frowned in concern.

" It´s just my head...hurts like hell." Charlie raised one hand to his forehead and rubbed it slowly. He winced in pain when his hand touched the cut. Tears shot into his eyes and his arm fell limp onto the bed. He closed his eyes and waited for the tears and pain to subside.

"Easy son," Alan´s soft voice reached Charlie in his misery. "You´re hurt; you need to take it easy and just rest."

Alan felt helpless. There wasn´t much he could do for his son. His fingers brushed against Charlie´s cheek, wiping away the tears. "Don´t worry kiddo, everything will be okay."

Alan felt the threat of his own tears, but he pushed them down. He needed to be strong for his son.

His comforting words worked. Charlie relaxed and opened his eyes again. "What happened?" He looked from his brother to his father waiting for an answer.

Don and Alan shared a glance. Wordlessly they came to an agreement. "You know what buddy," Don whispered in Charlie´s ear, " first you rest and get better. Tomorrow will be time enough to talk."

" Kay," The answer was just a sigh, and in the next moment Charlie was asleep again.

Don grinned and kissed his brother slightly on the forehead. "Get better Buddy." He then smiled encouragingly at his father. " He´ll be alright."

" Yeah," Alan reached over and touched Don´s shoulder, still taken aback from the scene he had just witnessed.

A knock on the door destroyed the moment. The door opened and Colby, Megan and David stepped in; eager to see how Charlie was doing. Colby shook his head when he locked eyes with Don. There wasn´t any news. Don nodded that he understood before turning to face Charlie again.

The agents assembled around the bed and stared down worriedly at Charlie. His face looked battered and swollen. The visible part of his upper body showed parts of a figure eight dressing supporting his broken collar bone.

Reluctantly, Don turned away from Charlie. " Don´t worry guys; it looks worse than it is. The doctor says he´s going to be alright. He got lucky."

Megan grinned. "Charlie doesn´t believe in luck, but at least that´s good news. Considering the state his car is in, he really was lucky."

Alan´s eyes grew wide with horror." What do you mean, Megan?"

Megan nibbled on her lip. `Great job Reeves.´ The last thing Alan needed right now was a report of the accident, but the words had already been said.

Megan swallowed hard. " I´m sorry Alan, I shouldn´t have mentioned it. This isn´t the time or the place." She bowed her head. " I´m sorry."

A supporting hand on her shoulder made her look around. She turned to see David. His dark eyes promised to help her out of this situation. David ignored Alan´s question completely and instead made an offer. " I think it would be best if we talked about all of this tomorrow. We all need a little time to come to grips with what has happened."

Alan nodded in agreement. When he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he didn´t want to know what had happened yet. He was just grateful to have both of his sons still by his side.

Don didn´t react at all. His eyes were fixed once again on Charlie. The uneasy feeling he had felt at the crime scene and on the way to the hospital haunted him. He needed to be vigilant...

Don arrived at the hospital at 6.30 the next morning. There was just a hint of light from the rising sun. A haze lay over the city giving it a dreamlike appearance and the promise of a fair day, but Don didn´t notice the beauty around him. He slumped back in the seat of his SUV. The agent thought about the last several hours.

He had talked his father into leaving Charlie at around midnight. They were both tired, but Alan wasn´t ready to leave. During his last visit of the day Dr. Osbourne assured them that Charlie would be sleeping for the next several hours and the hospital staff would keep an eye on him. In the end Alan agreed, but insisted that Don needed to go and rest too.

The protector in Don wasn´t ready to leave either. He felt the need to watch over Charlie and protect him from all evil. However he was a good and obedient son, and they drove home together.

Flashback

Don ran across the CalSci-campus, calling out Charlie´s name, but he didn´t answer... when he reached his brother´s office, he found it abandoned. There was a trail of rose petals. He followed the trail and it led him back outside the building and towards the parking lot where he found Charlie sitting in his car. Charlie´s face was covered with blood, he wasn´t breathing.... he wasn´t breathing! Don tried to open the door, but it was locked. He stared inside; helpless.... thousands of roses filled the inside of the car. He could smell their scent through the closed door. He rammed his fists against the window, screaming Charlie´s name....and suddenly Charlie was gone...Don squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, he was in a hospital, or more precisely in the morgue of a hospital. He looked around, but nobody was there. "Hello!" his voice sounded strange in his own ears. He walked down the hall, attracted to a door on the far end. When he reached it, he risked a glance through a small window in the middle of the door...what he saw made his legs collapse. He crashed to the ground, tears streamed down his face, his breathing came in gaps....´Charlie, no, I was supposed to keep you safe, that couldn´t be true,...Charlie...!´

He tried to get a hold of the door knop, but he couldn´t reach it. It was too high above, he failed...Charlie! Charlie!

Don woke from the sound of his own scream. He was sweating and felt tears running down his face. His breath was quick. He needed a few minutes to realize where he was and to calm down.

He listened into the darkness, but he couldn´t hear anything. Thank God he didn´t wake up his father. Don got off the sofa, where he had collapsed after making a sandwich for dinner and then straightening up the kitchen. He felt the unbearable need to check up on Charlie. The dream had convinced him even more. Charlie wasn´t at all safe.

He took a quick shower and was soon on his way to the hospital. He didn´t bother to wake Alan. The older man needed to sleep and he didn´t want to worry him even more. So he wrote a note and left.

End Flashback

Don walked through the halls of the hospital. Everything was still quiet and somehow peaceful. Due to the early hour, most patients were still asleep and the night shift waited for their replacements.

He entered Charlie´s room without knocking. He didn´t want to wake Charlie up. Don just needed to see him.

He was surprised to find Charlie awake. A nurse was taking his vitals. "Sorry..." he mumbeled, turning to leave the room so Charlie would have some privacy.

Charlie called him back." It´s alright Don, come on in."

Don´s face lightened. Charlie´s voice was much stronger and his face had regained some of his natural color, though he still looked exhausted and beaten up.

The brothers waited until the nurse had left the room before they spoke.

"What brings you by so early?" Charlie finally broke the silence.

Don came closer and sat down on Charlie´s bed. He grabbed his brother´s hand. "I just wanted to see you,Buddy."

"Oh." Charlie sighed and closed his eyes.

Don watched him. "You´re okay?"

Charlie noticed the worry in Don´s voice and opened his eyes again. "I´m fine, just still tired. Someone stepped in every two hours or so, woke me up and asked stupid question. I´ll be glad when I can go home today."

Don frowned. "You really think you´re up to it, Buddy?"

"Absolutely," Charlie sounded convinced, but Don wasn´t. Yesterday he had thought that he had lost his brother and today he would walk out of this room? It seemed unbelievable.

Don tightened the grip around Charlie´s hand. He´d like to avoid the next questions, but he had to find out what had happened. Sinces his brother was awake and alert, he could ask him now. The FBI agent was back in charge.

Charlie recognized the change in Don´s behavior and looked at him curiously.

Don cleared his throat." Charlie, can you remember anything? Do you know what had happened?"

" It was so surreal...." Charlie stuttered still shaken by the events . "Everything was normal...I had just turned onto the 10 when I felt the steering wheel jerk and the next moment I saw my front wheel roll away...". Charlie swallowed as tears filled his eyes. His voice was hoarse when he continued."...then I saw a post and felt pain all over my body...and then everything turned black."

Don had listened wordlessly, his heart pounding. He had come so close to losing his brother,but that wouldn´t happened again.

Suddenly the door was opened and Alan rushed into the room. He glared at Don." Why didn´t you wake me up?"

Charlie watched his family and smiled wearily at his dad. Now it was his turn to be his brother´s protector.

"Hey Dad." Two small words were all it took to save Don.

Instantly Alan´s attention was drawn from Don to Charlie. Don sighed and shot his brother a grateful look. He really didn´t want to argue.

Alan stared down at his youngest. "Hey Kiddo, how are you doing?"

"Much better, Dad, I´ll even be released this afternoon."

" Yes I know. The doctor mentioned something like that yesterday, but are you really well enough?" Alan was struggling for words. A frown appeared on his face.

Both of his sons watched in amusement as Alan changed into mother hen.

At CalSci the rumour was out that Professor Eppes was in a terrible car accident, but there wasn´t much more information. Mary was anxious to know what was going on. She slunk through the corridors of the math department hoping to catch the latest news about her Charlie.

She tried her best to maintain her composure, but she became nervous within a minute. She needed information.´I can´t lose him!´

Finally she got lucky. She overheard a conversation outside a lecture hall. A few students were talking about sending Professor Eppes some flowers and cards.

That was a good idea. She would send him a gift too.

A very, very special gift...

TBC