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THE RECOVERY

Hannibal stood, his chest heaving his lungs still struggling to vent the fluid. Dizzy from hyperventilation and understanding the stresses his body was experiencing he leaned a hand of support on the table.

Logan turned to Barney. "Dude, I'm no Doctor but I think he's going down."

Endorphins and adrenalin beginning to bottom out, pain flooded Hannibal's system. Suddenly his eyes rolled back and his knees buckled.

Thankfully Clarice noticed his discomfort and had moved closer and put her arms around him. When he began to black out she was able to grab him and brace him up against the table. Hannibal was dead weight however and she could not hold him long.

"I need some help guys!" she held her husband very tightly and whispered in his ear, "I've got you H. I've got you."

Contact with the wounds on his side caused Hannibal to stir to consciousness. He groaned in pain.

Realizing she was gripping him where his injuries were most raw. Clarice leaned him over the table to take the pressure off his torso worried about the site where the skin had been removed from his side. She could see blood seeping through his shirt. The newly forming scabs had begun to separate as Hannibal's collapsing body hitting the table forced his flesh apart.

Barney rushed to Hannibal's side and lifted him to relieve Clarice. "Give me a hand Logan. Put those biceps to work."

Logan scooped Hannibal in his arms, easily lifted him and held him gently. He looked beside the table at the wet fabric and the empty water containers. Logan's time with the Marine Corp gave him an immediate understanding of what Hannibal endured.

"Look at all the empty containers. Do you see that wet cloth? I think they water boarded him Clarice."

Clarice looked around the room at the overwhelming evidence of her husband's torture. "Jesus what did they do to you H?"

Hannibal spoke between strained respirations. "Nothing… I couldn't… handle…my…Love."

"Bullshit. They hurt you." his wife fumed.

"I hurt…them…more." he commented through a weakened though still wicked grin.

Barney took a stethoscope out of his hip pocket listened to Hannibal's chest and evaluated the wounds quickly. "He definitely has a fever. It's probably an infection from the open wounds on his side. There's fluid in his lungs. Clarice he's going to need medical attention. He'll need antibiotics at the least."

Hannibal shook his head, "No…home…please, Clarice…home."

"You heard the man…c'mon Logan, let's get him in the car and take him home. Barney, do you know a Doctor that we can get to come out to the house? All we need are the antibiotics. I can take care of him."

Barney immediately had someone in mind. "Yeah, I can get someone to check him out and write a prescription without a problem."

Lloyd was up to his elbows in evidence. He was moving very slowly around the room documenting the scene, collecting evidence and bagging it. He looked up briefly, "I'm staying so can someone come back later, I'll need a ride."

Ardelia nodded, "I'll just go help with the transfer and come right back. While I'm gone you can call in the coroner and have him bag the bodies before they start to stink. We should get someone down here to photograph the scene as well."

Lloyd took out his cell phone. "I'm on it."

Logan carried Hannibal to the car, placed him gently on the front passenger seat. He then reached across his body and buckled the seat belt pausing for a moment with his hand on Hannibal's shoulder. He spoke very respectfully, "I'm proud to be your friend Hannibal…you're one tough son of a bitch."

A weakened smile crossed Hannibal's face. "Much… appreciated…Logan."

Logan and Barney rode with Ardelia. Clarice got behind the wheel to drive her husband back to their home. She glanced over at Hannibal, his blazing maroon eyes fixed on the trees passing overhead.

Clarice mused at how much had changed since he drove her from Muskrat Farm and tended to her wounds. She knew that Hannibal's brilliant mind had already made the connection. "Does this remind you of anything H?"

Hannibal turned his head and nodded with an amused glint flashing in his crimson eyes. "Roles…reversed…but I carried you…Clarice."

"Yeah…sorry I needed Logan. I'm already carrying Hannibal Junior…I couldn't handle Senior as well! I'll have you home in no time H…I'll take good care of you, just like you took care of me when I was hurt."

Hannibal closed his eyes finally feeling secure. "If I am…beside you… Clarice…I'll be… fine."

Clarice, Logan and Ardelia were able to settle Hannibal very quickly. Barney was on the phone arranging for a doctor to examine Hannibal. Within the hour Ardelia and Logan had returned to the crime scene and Barney was escorting the doctor up the stairs to see Hannibal.

When Doctor Woodhall entered Hannibal's bedroom, seeing Clarice resting on the bed beside Hannibal and remembering she was an ex-F.B.I. agent, he wasn't certain Doctor Lecter would acknowledge their prior association.

Hannibal recognized the scent of the man and opened his eyes. "It's good…to see you… again."

Clarice was initially confused about the association until Hannibal reached out to greet the Doctor using his left hand instead of his right.

The doctor smiled at the gesture. He grasped Hannibal's hand and was heartened to feel the strength of his grip. Doctor Woodhall turned the hand over and attempted to covertly examine the scar.

Clarice realized this must have been the surgeon who repaired Hannibal's hand. She wanted him to know how much she appreciated that effort on Hannibal's behalf.

"I want to thank you, Doctor Woodhall. You did one hell of a job. It seems my husband makes a habit of needing your services. It is so kind of you to come out here. My H draws far too much attention as it is. If we brought him to the hospital it would have been an absolute nightmare. He spent too many years on public display. I'm trying to spare him that when I can."

Doctor Woodhall was surprised Clarice would have mentioned the covert operation and her husband's years of incarceration. He moved to Hannibal's side and began to assess him, slipping a blood pressure cuff over Hannibal's right arm.

Woodhall was tentative. He desperately wanted the answer to a question that had formed in his mind and had stayed with him since that night on the Chesapeake. Curiosity overcame him. He approached the subject cautiously.

"You are a frank woman, Mrs. Lecter and being that you understand my previous relationship with your husband, would you do me the favor of answering a personal question?"

"After what you have done for my husband, I'll answer anything Doctor." Clarice stated confidently.

He paused to check the reading and being satisfied with the result slipped the cuff off Hannibal's arm, and used his stethoscope to listen to Hannibal's chest before he continued his line of questioning. The Doctor's tone was quiet and tinged with curiosity.

"I was working at a local hospital at the time of your husband's injury. I expected some kind of bulletin alerting us to keep an eye out for someone admitted with a severed limb. No such bulletin was received and I was wondering why the F.B.I. kept that information confidential? It would stand to reason that the injury would have made him quite easy to detect."

Clarice paused but realizing Woodhall could obviously be trusted with the information she chose to answer, "The F.B.I. didn't provide the information because they didn't have the information. I kept it out of my report."

"My wife is… an amazing…and surprising… woman…is she not?" Hannibal stated with pride. He reached for his wife's hand and held it.

"Now that I have been privileged to meet your wife and to know the answer to that question, yes Doctor Lecter I'd have to agree." Doctor Woodhall checked the wounds. He cleaned and trimmed the dead skin away from the burns, treated the area and dressed the wounds. He did the same for the area where the flesh had been removed. He then started an i.v. line.

When finished the doctor again shook Hannibal's hand.

"Try to stay out of harm's way, Doctor Lecter."

"I will…do my...utmost…Doctor Woodhall…thank you."

The doctor then handed Clarice a bag filled with supplies.

"Antibiotics and pain medication…the instructions are on the bottles. I've also included everything you will need to clean and dress the wounds. He'll have to do some breathing exercises to help out with the lungs. In the bag you'll find the standard 'raise the little balls' breathing contraption. Make sure he uses it."

"I will Doctor…and again, my thanks for taking care of my husband."

"It is and has been my pleasure, Mrs. Lecter."

Barney escorted the doctor out of the home, got in his car and very quietly left Clarice and Hannibal to begin the healing process.

Clarice undressed and got into bed though she stayed fairly far from her husband concerned about his wounds.

Hannibal gestured for her to take her usual place at his side.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, H…I don't want to disturb your injuries."

Hannibal continued to pat the bed beside him. "Please Clarice…I have…been without…you long…enough."

Clarice nodded and joined him. She placed a down pillow against her husband's side over the area where the burns were located to provide cushioning and separation. She then very carefully rested beside him.

"No…Clarice…I… need sleep…rest here."

Hannibal patted his hand on his chest where Clarice customarily placed her head as they slept.

"No H…that's too much," she worried.

He repeated the gesture. "Please…Clarice…I need you…to sleep."

Resigned to his request and more than relieved to have him back with her Clarice very carefully rested her head on her husband's chest.

"I love you H…I'm sorry it took me so long to find you. I'm so sorry they hurt you."

"I love…you…more, Clarice."

"I'll give you that this time, H…I won't even argue the point…you've earned it."

Hannibal smiled and encircled her body with his arms and closed his eyes. Within moments his breathing deepened and Clarice realized he was sleeping.

She listened to his breathing, so labored, so stressed and gently smoothed a hand across his chest.

Clarice realized that his psychological wounds would be deeper than those visible. She also understood that he would not acknowledge that injury to her…maybe not to himself either but the scars would appear nonetheless. It frightened Clarice to know that.

Clarice had seen that familiar look of something primal flash in his eyes as he tore the heart from Nico's chest. Then…within a split second, she saw the physical shock of his injuries begin to overwhelm him and she saw something very unfamiliar. Something she had never seen in Hannibal. There was almost a look of confusion that moved across his features… innocence as he offered the organ to her as a gift. It was as if he had picked a card from a shelf.

Clarice drifted to sleep with thoughts of Hannibal, cardiac muscle laced between his teeth, blood dripping from his mouth, his only thought…a gift for her.

This situation… two new killings and though completely justified and not anything Hannibal sought out it would set them on a new path. A setback…perhaps though that is not certain. He had to kill to survive.

His instincts had served him well. He had survived. He came back to her.

I promised you would never be scarred again…it was my fault…you went with them to save me…everything you've done has been to save me.

Clarice closed her eyes. She would finally sleep though she was still very worried about her husband.

Why couldn't we find you before you had to kill again and what's that going to do to you H?

It wouldn't be long before she would find out.

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Until the next chapter my friends,

LH