Chapter Thirty-Nine - Shock
Alex gathered Liv up into her arms. Abbie stood amazed, not knowing what to do. Alex reached out and grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around Liv's hands. She reached back to grab another one and Abbie handed it to her. She took it and tore it into strips. Abbie just watched, still in shock.
"Get George," Alex said, sharply.
Abbie left the bathroom and found George not far away. He looked worried, but not as worried as Abbie was. She just stood in front of him. He watched her body language for a few moments before he said anything to her.
"What do I need to do?" he asked.
"She's hurt," Abbie stated.
"Hurt how, Abbie?" he questioned.
"She's bleeding."
"Okay, I have some supplies that I always travel with. Do I need to get those? Do we need to call an ambulance?"
"No, ambulance, but I think that Alex needs you," Abbie stated.
"Why don't you sit here on the bed, Abbie? I'll go get my kit and I'll be right back. I need you to calm down, okay. I am going to take care of her. Everything will be okay," he told her.
Abbie sat on the bed and tried to take deep breaths. She was trying to calm herself down. She knew that she needed to stay calm for Alex, for Liv and for herself. She watched George go into their hotel room and come back with a small bag. He smiled at her, trying to comfort her, as he walked passed and into the bathroom.
He found Alex holding Olivia leaning against the tub. He didn't say anything. He took stock of the situation quickly and then knelt down next to them. He saw that the mirror was broken. It looked like it had been punched repeatedly.
"Liv, can I see your hands?" he asked as Alex released her just a little.
"Yes," she whispered.
He held out his hand and waited for her to reciprocate. She slowly held out her hand. He saw that Alex has wrapped it with a towel. He pulled down the toilet seat lid and put his kit on top of it. He took out some gauze, tweezers, and a needle and thread.
He gently took Liv's hand and unwrapped it. He gingerly probed her fingers and palm. He saw the small pieces of glass. He gently placed her hand on the clean bits of towels that Alex still had near them. He stood up, got a wash cloth, wetted it and sat back down. He took Liv's hand and cleaned it up. He grabbed his tweezers and pulled the bits of glass out that he could see. Liv didn't even flinch. He made a pile of soiled towels, cloth bits, and bits of mirror.
Alex watched him as he methodically worked. She watched his gentle touch as he patched up Liv's hands. His bed side manor didn't extend to just the mentally ill and she was glad for it. He had a way about him when it came to Liv. Liv watched him, mesmerized by the confidence and gentleness that he possessed.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked her.
"Julie hurt Alex," Liv answered simply.
"Why did you hit the mirror?" he probed.
"She wouldn't shut up."
"So causing yourself physical pain, caused Julie to be quiet?"
"Yes," Liv answered.
"That isn't good, Liv."
"I know."
"Does this hurt?" he asked, as he started stitching up the deeper cuts.
"Not really," she replied.
"Are you in shock?"
"Possibly."
"Do you want to go to the hospital?"
"No."
"Liv, I think that you need to go to the hospital," he stated.
"No, I'll leave AMA. I won't stay. Just patch me up, George."
"Liv, we need to talk about this."
"Then talk," she demanded.
"Olivia…"
"What?"
"This isn't healthy behavior. We need to have a session. We need to figure out what triggered you to lose yourself to Julie, again. It was something to do with this case," he told her as he turned to her other hand.
"I guessed that much. I don't know what it could have been. I was with Alex the entire time. She was with me. I don't remember acting funny."
"You don't. You didn't except while we were at the FBI office, you just wanted to go. We left, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary until we got back here. There was really no warning," Alex stated.
"Great," Liv answered.
"It's okay, Liv. We'll figure this out. There is nothing to be afraid of. We are going to deal with this. Look at me, Liv. Look at me. I am not leaving," Alex told her.
"But, Alex…"
"No buts this time, Liv. It was a shock, but it isn't going to make me run. Something here triggered something in your memories or something in your thinking. It caused Julie to come out. It isn't the first time and I know that it won't be the last. I love you. I love you and all your personas. We just need to make sure that Julie doesn't interrupt us again," Alex stated.
Liv just stared at her. She melted into Alex and started crying again. George continued to patch Olivia up. Alex held her, willing her to understand how much she loved Liv.
"Liv, I have an idea."
"What?"
"I know that you aren't going to like it, but I want you to think about it."
"What?" Liv asked, getting worried.
"I want you to go back to Quantico with George."
"What?!"
"Calm down and let me explain," Alex stated, looking at George who nodded in assent.
"Fine."
"Go back with George. Explore what happened without being here and near your trigger. Abbie and I will finish the investigation. We'll send our conclusions to you so that you can have input on what is going on. I don't think that it is safe for you to be here anymore. I don't want anything to happen to you."
"But, Alex…"
"Tell me something, Olivia," George stated, joining the conversation.
"What?"
"You told me that you lost time today. You even figured out that Julie took over. You need to explore what happened in a more controlled environment. If we did it here, you could lapse and we don't know the consequences of that. We don't know how you'll react now."
"I understand that, but-"
"Liv, go back. Go back for me. I love you. I want to build a life with you."
"I want that, too," Liv stated.
"Then, go back. Get to the bottom of this. Find your way back to being you, the whole you. Become my Olivia again, scars and all. I am not the only one who needs you, Liv. Xander does, too. If you won't do it for me, do it for him," Alex told her.
"You promise to come back to me?" Liv asked worriedly.
"Yes, I will be back at Quantico before you have time to miss me."
"They are going to review what was on the USB key. They'll keep us in the loop. They'll finish the investigation and then they'll be back to Quantico," George told her.
"Don't go back to Rock," Liv stated.
"Why not?" Alex asked, realizing that Liv's voice changed slightly and her eyes were darkening.
"There is something wrong with him. I don't know what it is, but something weird. He is…don't trust him," Liv told them.
"I'll keep that in mind. We'll make our part of the investigation quiet and quick. We still need to go back to the FBI to see what they found out. I can tell you that I won't share anything that we've already found. We'll bring it back to Quantico so we can all review it," Alex said.
"Stay away from Rock," Liv said.
"We will."
"Then, I'll go back with George. Make sure that you get the warrants from Abbie. Be careful. I need you to come back to me. Xander needs you to come back to us," Liv told her.
"I will, Liv. I will. I promise."
"George, will you call Dana and get us a flight home?" Liv asked him.
"Yeah, I will. Until we leave, why don't you and Alex just be together and relax. Abbie and I will take the information that you two gathered at Mara's house in the suburbs and see what we can find. I don't want you to worry about the case. In fact, I am ordering you as your doctor to let the case go. And, to make sure that you do, I am taking all your notes, the binders, and these new pages and giving them to Abbie," George told her.
"If I must, then I must. I understand. Make sure to get my field notes, too."
"I will. Just rest for now, Liv. We'll take care of the rest," George replied, leaving them in the bathroom.
He cleaned up his medical case and the bloody towels mixed with glass. He threw the towels, bloody gauze and mirror glass bits in a dirty laundry bag and sealed it. He would take it to a doctor's office as hazmat as soon as he had talked to Abbie about the case.
He found Abbie still on the bed. The shock of the day's events was still frightening her. George touched her knee and motioned for her to follow him back into their room. She slowly stood and followed him back into the other room, shutting the door and bolting the deadbolt.
Abbie watched him as he return his kit to his things. She saw that dumped the binders, notes and other papers on their desk. He went to the bathroom washed his hands again and then joined her at the desk. He had poured her a scotch neat and himself a drink.
"What is going on?" Abbie asked, finally finding her voice.
"Liv and I are going back to Quantico."
"When?"
"As soon as Dana can arrange it," he told her.
"What about Alex and myself?" she asked.
"You are both going to remain here and continue to investigate. Something that Liv saw triggered the transformation. Somehow she felt that Alex was threatened. We need you to figure out what it was that cause that. It was something in Mara's notes," George told her.
"How can you know that if Liv doesn't know that?"
"Because of how quick her reaction was. There is something in these papers. Something in there could break this case wide open. She was very adamant that you both stay away from Rock. Did you get those warrants?"
"Yeah, I go pick them up from the judge in the morning."
"Good. Good. I know that Liv wanted to go back to the brothel and investigate more. When you all go back to the FBI office to check on the USB drive, don't let on what's going on with the investigation. It seems that Liv believes that Rock is involved somehow."
"Shouldn't we let Dana know this?" Abbie asked.
"Not yet, we need to finish the investigation. You and Alex do so from here. I'll take Liv back and we'll work on it from that end. It is best for her at this time not to be here," George stated.
"Are you worried about Rock?"
"I don't know. He is our liaison here. I don't want to believe that he was in on the gang. If he is, we need to find out and deal with it. We can't leave Liv here though. She'll revert back into Julie and I don't know if we'd get her back if she did. Rock is just another twist in this case. Don't do any direct investigation into him. Just go and get the information from the thumb drive. I'll clue Dana and the rest into Rock. We'll see if there is a connection on our end."
"Why from Quantico and not here?" Abbie asked.
"Because we both know that Liv isn't going to leave it alone, no matter where she is, she'll be investigating the case. I can't let her go here. But, before we go back, I want to review these papers. I want to try to figure out what was her trigger."
"Can I help?"
"Yeah, grab some and start reading. Liv is a good investigator, but something she saw became her trigger. I want to know what it was so we can learn to control it. Once we know what it is and she can control, the better she'll be at controlling her slips and lapses. She knows that Julie is part of her and she knows that she has to be able to control Julie."
"She needs to become one with Julie, again," Abbie stated.
"She needs to get everything out that happened while she was undercover so she won't need Julie anymore to hide behind. I plan on helping her find this. I am going to make Liv whole, again. She has more to live for now then before she went undercover."
"And, she knows that?" Abbie stated more as question.
"Yeah, she does. It is her motivation. She's found something to live for, again."
"Not something, someone…Alex and Xander," Abbie replied.