12.
I had a lot of this written Friday night but not finished, then I got preoccupied with projects till now. Hope you enjoy – a little 'insight' before some more action.
Genevieve nervously glanced in the rear view mirror having caught a glance of Cam holding her hand up, both of them seeing the blood on her hands. Sweets merely groaned as Cam turned him to his side but was careful not to let him fall off the back seat. The automobile was not an ideal observation and medical assessment space but she would have to work with what they had.
"What is it?" Genevieve asked at the sight of the blood.
"I don't know for sure, I can't see much." Cam reached up to turn on the light but Genevieve stopped her.
"No no! Get down!" Genevieve shouted at seeing a car coming up behind them.
Cam lay against the seat, close to Sweets to avoid detection. She watched as the psychologist's eyes rolled around and wondered if the motion of the car was wreaking havoc with the drugs in his system. Her attention however was drawn back to the car following them.
The car was silent save for the sound of the engine, the rain against the exterior and the labored breathing from the young doctor. The headlight got bright as the car behind them came closer. The women felt their nerves shoot to high alert at the prospect of being caught when the car whirred around them and took off quickly having passed them.
Both breathed a sigh but being cautious Genevieve went ahead and turned down a different road. After she caught her breath she glanced back at Cam.
"What do we do? Do we take him to a hospital?" Genevieve asked.
"No, I want to stay off the grid for now." Cam responded. "It sounds strange but I don't trust hospitals, especially since they'll be looking for him."
"Well where can we go that you do trust?" Genevieve asked at the sight of the increasingly pale figure on the seat.
"Only one place I can think of."
Hodgins took to pacing in the same spot Cam had earlier and now Angela was the one biting her nails. Arastoo was busy triple checking the items he had rounded up after receiving Cam's phone call. She hadn't been specific much more than telling them she was bringing Sweets there, he was injured and they couldn't trust anyone for now. It was past nine and the Jeffersonian was empty save for them and some on site security.
"What's taking so long?" Hodgins asked angrily.
Angela sighed heavily, "I don't know but she'd better…"
"We're here." Cam announced coming in the door, Genevieve at her side, Sweets between them. The others rushed to help the pair nearly dragging the sickly figure between them.
"What the hell happened?" Hodgins asked his eyes wide for when Cam said injured he pictured a sprained ankle or something.
"Cam, my God are you okay?" Angela said rushing forward at the sight of blood on her dress. Arastoo was about to panic when Cam motioned to calm them.
"It's not mine its Sweets." Cam said now following Hodgins and Arastoo who took Sweets to one of their examination tables. It felt somewhat wrong, these tables were to examine the deceased, not put the living on but they were working with what they had available to them.
"Cam, he needs a hospital." Arastoo said now that Sweets lay on the table. Though the others noticed he called her Cam and not Dr. Soroyan they said little due to the fact that they were all much more worried about their ailing friend.
"I know." Cam said. "But we can't go there, trust me, I'll explain everything but let's get to work first."
"Hey where are you doing?" Angela shouted at Genevieve who was slowly backing out of the room.
"I'll cuff you to the railing if I have to." Cam warned. Genevieve nodded that she understood and that she would stay. She had only wished to get Sweets back to them and leave but she had to admit to herself that she did feel safe here and even more, she wanted to see if Sweets was going to be okay, he looked awful at the moment.
"What's the source of the bleeding?" Hodgins asked taking Sweets' temperature. Angela found a pillow from Brennan's couch and put it under Sweets head so he wasn't lying directly on the cold metal table.
"It's somewhere here." Arastoo said looking at Sweets side while trying not to move him much. He was still shivering so Angel set out to find a blanket, helping out where she could while the others did medical assistance. She tried to ignore the shaky worry in her hands as she searched.
"101.5" Hodgins said. "And he's shaking like he's freezing."
Sweets eyes would alternate from open to sliding shut and returning alert again - but overall he was still not able to speak clearly or have a hard grasp on reality. Something Hodgins noticed.
"Does he have a head injury?" Hodgins asked noticing the bruise on Sweets face and his delirious state.
"No, I'm pretty sure not. He was injected with some drugs, we need to find out what and how much. So we need to get a blood test to run a tox screen." Cam ordered and Arastoo reached for the syringe causing Sweets eyes to widen with fear and try to scoot off the table. Hodgins grabbed him to keep him from getting to the edge but Sweets reacted worse thinking someone was holding him down.
"What's going on?" Hodgins asked, surprised how hard it was to hold onto such a thin man who possessed far more strength than he had guessed.
"He thinks he's back at the asylum." Cam figured out.
"Asylum?!" Arastoo & Hodgins asked in near unison.
"Later." She said to them then turned to Sweets. "Dr. Sweets, please calm down."
It wasn't working and Cam grew concerned Sweets may put himself in cardiac arrest. Angela stepped in and grabbed Sweets hand.
"Sweetie it's me." She said in her calmest of voices. "It's Angela. This isn't a dream, you're at the lab. Cam got you out, you're here with us. We're going to help you okay?"
Sweets stopped squirming to get away but he wasn't relaxed just yet. He seemed to be deciding if this was real or his mind and the drugs playing tricks on him.
"You know it's me Sweets, you can feel this is real." Angela said squeezing his hand. Sweets finally relaxed some but seemed much calmer while still holding Angela's hand. She sat opposite his injured side to continue to talk and calm him but holding his hand but she couldn't cover the shivering figure with the blanket she found. Genevieve stepped forward to spread the blanket across him and then moved back out of the way. Sweets began to calm more under the warmth of the blanket and the calming sounds of Angela's voice. It was so much so that he hardly flinched when Arastoo drew a blood sample. Hodgins left temporarily to run the results the returned while they processed.
"Angela?" Sweets asked making her want to cry, she was overjoyed that he was speaking and knew who she was.
"Yes sweetie, I'm right here."
"Okay, good." Sweets said relaxing. That was until Cam pulled back the bandage on his side. Sweets face changed from a near calm to a pained grimace.
"What the hell?" Hodgins asked looking at the bandage.
"This has not been properly dressed at all." Arastoo said looking at the wound. "These stitches are not done properly, many of them are loose!"
"I see the cause." Cam said. "It's a gunshot!" She said surprised.
"Mahaffey and Wittner must have fired." Genevieve guessed out loud. "If they had wanted him dead he would be. It must have been some sort of mistake. I'm sure they asked the doctors to fix it, but at Davenport…."
"Why do you defend them so?" Arastoo asked when she spoke of the two men.
"Later, right now we have a bigger issue." Cam explained as she continued to examine the damage. "The bullet has not been removed."
"You've got to be kidding me." Hodgins said as his machine beeped with results of the tox screen.
"We need to get him medicated and get this out." Cam said while Arastoo turned to get some pain killers.
"Not a good idea." Hodgins warned. "Tox results back, these are some very strong drugs, if they are still in his system you don't want to give him pain killers."
Sweets twisted at the pain his side was causing him.
"Come on guys let's do something." Angela said impatiently as she watched Sweets face try and suppress the intense pain.
Cam sighed. "Not only is this severely infected but the bullet is still there."
"The bullet must be removed." Arastoo deduced.
"Do it." Sweets said.
Cam shook her head "Sweets we can't…"
"Just hurry dammit." He said still slurring slightly.
Cam hated it but she knew that he knew that she was right. With Hodgins and Arastoo holding him still on his side and Angela clutching his hand tight, her other hand on his cheek trying to say reassuring things, as Cam took a pair of long skinny tongs and began to dig as delicately and as quickly as possible to find the awry ammunition. Sweets tried not to move but the pain was severe and didn't stop when Cam removed the shell. He tried to control his breathing while Arastoo immediately began to dress the area and remove the infected area and treat it properly. Hodgins assisted with quick and nimble hands and the injury once so poorly treated was now properly remedied. The trio sighed a relief as they gently laid Sweets on his back, noticing the man's increasing exhaustion but a slight relief of the pain he had endured earlier.
"Better." Sweets said his voice now with less of lilt and slur.
Hodgins took his temp again, still at 101 he announced but technically slightly lower. Cam decided that a simple medicine like acetometaphin would be okay and suddenly the search for something so simple became a large task. Hodgins finally located some from the bathroom's handy dandy dispenser. Cam tucked the blanket closer and listened for Sweets pulse and breathing. Thought it took some time eventually he was able to fall into a slumber. It was then they were able to relax as his body rested thought it was still pale and emanated a sadness.
"We should have never let him go." Arastoo said angry with himself. "We should not have paid so much attention to work."
"You're right." Cam said not even denying it. "Sure Sweets should not have gone but we have to watch out for each other."
"It's late." Angela said standing up.
"Yes, you should go home." Cam said.
Angela gave a light laugh. "I don't think so Cam, see I was all on board with the speech we just had." Angela puled the phone from her pocket and then sat back down where she was before near Sweets. "I just want to let the sitter know it's an overnight thing for her."
Cam looked over to where Genevieve had been and saw she was gone.
"Minx." She said out loud and went back to monitoring Sweets pulse. But she got him back to us so I really don't care.
Cam woke up with a start, a dream that was none too pleasant in which her partner was killed at the asylum. She rubbed her eyes and sat up straight and reached out to reassure herself Sweets was fine by touching him arm. The only thing was the only thing she felt was the blanket, and no one under it.
"Sweets!?" She said jumping up and looking to the floor thinking he may have rolled off.
"Shh." Sweets said from a nearby chair. "You'll wake them."
Angela & Hodgins were sleeping on Angela's couch while Arastoo was snoozing on Dr. Brennan's couch. Cam had been on Sweets watch in the chair next to him.
"Arastoo's right." Sweets said flipping thru pages of files. "You do snore."
Cam tried not to smile. "So glad you're feeling better." She said stepping closer and looking at her watch, it was 4 a.m. "But really Sweets you should be resting."
"On that metal table?" He asked sarcastically. "Thanks I'd rather work."
Cam took the papers away from him and shined a light into his eyes. He flinched since the room was dark and traces of drugs were still in his system. She followed that with checking his pulse and to his dismay the wound on his side.
"You should eat something." Cam said.
"Sure, I think Taco Bell is open at this hour." Sweets offered sarcastically and tried to reach for the file.
"Sweets, stop joking." Cam said with worry in her voice and then heaved a sigh. She was having a hard time saying what she wanted to say. "A few hours ago I was pretty sure you could have been a goner."
"Not me." Sweets said with a big smile but saw her worry. "Thank you Cam, for everything you did for me."
Cam nodded. "Fine, but at least drink some water. Then in a couple of hours, food. You're still very pale and I can see still a little shaky."
"Why is that?" Sweets asked and Cam was glad to be honest with him.
"Blood loss and the drugs." She explained and assured him, "it will pass. One reason why I was so eager to get food in your system, to absorb it."
Sweets closed the file for a second and rubbed his head.
"Something's bothering you, besides what happened." Cam observed.
Sweets eyes met Cam's though his chin was still resting on his hands. He started to shake his head no but he knew he couldn't lie to her. He ran his hands thru his hair and looked to see if anyone was around just yet. Cam grew more worried what he was so reluctant at saying.
"I don't remember." Sweets said finally.
"You don't remember what?" Cam asked.
"Yesterday." He admitted. "I remember leaving and going to the shipyards. Then I remember something hurt probably that." Sweets said looking to his side. "Then some from that place, but even that is confusing. How long was I there?"
Cam felt guilty that he had been there at all and she struggled to say it. "About a day."
"I'm only asking because it felt like a week, the memories, I'm not even sure if they are memories or just my imagination. I recall these long conversations and I know they couldn't have taken place, not all of it if it was only a day."
Cam could see that Sweets was bothered about the lost time and the inability to decipher between reality and the drugs.
"I know something happened at the shipyard." Sweets said, visibly straining to remember.
"Yeah you got shot!" Cam said half angry.
Sweets shrugged, "I have no memory of it."
"The drugs you were given at the asylum were very strong. I think that will account for you're the muddled thoughts." Cam informed him.
"I feel like there was something very important in there, like I learned something." Sweets was still trying to track down the thoughts. "Will I remember them later, I know it's important – about the case, it's why I was looking thru the files, trying to remember."
Cam sighed. "I doubt you will remember." She said sadly. "The drugs…" Cam didn't continue as she could see how much it bothered Sweets, a psychologist to be confused between reality and fiction in his own mind. She tried to offer help. "You sent me a text from the shipyards, Lumiere."
Sweets looked up as though he had heard the word for the first time. He looked bewildered at what it meant. "If I texted it to you and then got shot, it must be important." Sweets was highly frustrated now.
"Okay, well you're a psychologist." Cam offered. "What if a patient came to you with this problem, what would you do to help?"
Sweets sat back to consider that approach. "Though it can be sketchy at times, some people do find break thru with hypnotherapy." He explained. "If it is in the mind, it's finding a way to retrieve it – if the drugs didn't destroy it."
"So should we try that?" Cam asked. "Or not?" Cam asked upon sensing Sweets was reluctant to say yes.
"Hypnotherapy can be hard to get the direct answers you want, you may dig for one but come up with other….other memories." Sweets explained and Cam guessed that there were many dark memories Sweets would rather forget, and more so, not share aloud. "But, if we are to solve this case, then we need to try."
Cam admired the fact that despite his discomfort with the approach he was willing to sacrifice to solve the case. For now that he was an escapee of the asylum, danger may come to them all, Sweets knew, if they came looking for him, to see what he knew – which at the moment, he was not even sure what he knew.
"So what do we do?" Cam asked trying to help.
"We find a psychologist I can trust who is versed at hypnotherapy who will also not divulge any aspects of the case to anyone." Sweets said voicing the monumental task.
"Do we know any besides yourself?" Cam asked sarcastically.
"That's part of the problem."
"I might have an idea." Cam said.
Even though Sweets missed his suit he was glad to be rid of the dried bloody scrubs he had been wearing in exchange for some borrowed items from Hodgins & Arastoo's gym bags. He was grateful to his friends and promised to buy them breakfast after his wallet turned up. Hodgins explained that Angela, who had left temporarily to take Michael Vincent to school would take care of breakfast but he could buy next time.
Sweets was about to sit down and go over the case again, try not to focus too heavily on the feeling he had forgotten an important break thru when the sound of someone clearing his voice made him raise his head to see a tweed dressed fellow toting a visitor badge.
"Lovely to see you again Dr. Sweets"
Sweets smiled at the idea Cam had gotten. "As it is to see you again, Chef Gordon."
I had wanted this chapter to include the hypnosis session but it's rather late so that will be tomorrow! I'll work on getting the rest of this updated very timely and even get baby daddy finished up because I'm getting ideas for other new ones! :)