Chapter Fifty-Six
"I can't believe you didn't tell us." Hardison shook his head as he turned his attention
away from his computer and to Nate who had just walked through the kitchen's entryway.
"What's there to tell Hardison?" Nate spoke nonchalantly as he pulled a beer from the fridge.
"Yeah you're right," He started sarcastically. "a COMA is no big deal; not at all!"
"Hardison, there's nothing we can do about it." The quicker they all accepted that the better off they'd be.
"Is anyone gonna do anything about it?" He wouldn't accept that there was nothing he could do; he'd find someone who could.
"They're working on it." Nate sighed as he sat.
"And what does that mean?" Though he couldn't see it he knew that somewhere in Nate's demeanor sat agitation.
"It means that they haven't found the damn answer yet!" He didn't need the disappointment of another negative round of testing being renewed.
"Did they find anything?" He would easily push the annoyed tone to the side, he knew it wasn't meant for him.
"The pieces they pulled from him were too degraded for testing so now they're trying to get a location on the piece of shit that hit him for a fresh sample."
"You think they're gonna find it anywhere outside of the junkyard?" Alec questioned as he watched Nate fiddle with more than drink from his bottle.
It was a bit eerie.
"The accident was months ago." Nate shook his head. "We both know it was already ripped apart for scrap."
"So what are you gonna do?" He couldn't imagine what Nate had to be feeling, his own emotions were a mess.
"Pray that his brain doesn't become irreparably damaged, that his organs don't start
failing him, that he makes it through one more round." If only there was more he could do.
"I wonder if he knew the fight of his life would be the fight for it." No doubt this had to be Eliot's most challenging opponent to date.
"Good night Hardison."
Nate leaving with something close to pain in his eyes had him believing that maybe he shouldn't have said that.
With a sigh he pulled the nearly full beer toward himself.
There was no use wasting it, or at least that's what he rationalized as he put that bottle to his lips.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Are you trying to lose your license?" Jordan whispered harshly.
"For?" Torlyn questioned just as quietly as he shook a vial of blood slightly.
"Impersonating a fellow physician! Forging his signature!"
"Shhh!" Torlyn urged as he clamped a hand over the other mans mouth. "No one will find out if you keep your mouth shut."
Jordan pushed the hand away with an, "And if they do?"
"Than what do I need a license for?" Torlyn shrugged as he continued his walk to the lab. "It's not like they'll let me practice in prison."
"Oh God" Jordan breathed as he reluctantly followed.
He hadn't even thought about a possible prison sentence.
"Hurry it up!" Sean called as the other was quickly falling behind. "We've still got an x-ray to do."
"How the hell are we doing that?" ICU wasn't the easiest of places to get things done even when you had access.
The blood sample they had gotten had taken a good twenty minutes to retrieve with him all but jumping through hoops to do so.
"I'll think of something." His mind was already racing for an idea. The distraction would have to be pretty big.
It wasn't long before Jordan was pulling the lab door closed behind them with a mumbled, "That's what I'm scared of."
THE NEXT MORNING
"Brian come on!" Sarah called up the stairs.
"I can't find my other shoe!" Came a muffled voice from up above.
"So put on a different pair!" She rolled her eyes at this near constant dilemma.
"I looked! I didn't find any!"
"Pete!" She yelled in frustration.
"Yeah?" He answered as he came from the kitchen with two lunchboxes.
"Can you please go help the boy find some dang shoes?" She'd been running around in a frenzy all
morning trying to make sure all the school supplies had made it in the book bags and that they were on track.
"Got it" He moved back toward the kitchen but before she could question it he returned with sneakers in hand. "He took them off there last night."
With a nod she yelled, "Brian, get your butt down here now!"
"Rebecca" Pete spoke to grab the girl's attention.
"Yes?" She barely acknowledged him; her attention fully focused on the television.
"Cartoons off, Sandals on." That got her to look at him for a good moment before she glanced back at the TV.
"Now" A raised brow was more than enough to have her off the couch, crouching to fix the velcro's on her flowery sandals.
With a shake of his head he hit the switch on the television as Sarah called, "Brian!"
By the time he made it down the stairs Becca was saddled with a backpack, Sarah readjusting the bows in her hair.
"What do you have to say for yourself young man?" Pete questioned as he passed over the shoes the boy had barely looked for.
"Sorry?" Brian half guessed as he sat on the last step to slide his shoes on.
"You need to start keeping better track of your things." Pete continued.
"Yes sir" Brian quickly tried to amend as he finished tying his shoe.
Getting in trouble wasn't the best way to start the day.
"And you need to start better minding your manners. Your mother shouldn't have to call or tell you more than once."
With that the boys gaze turned to Sarah who simply nodded. "Sorry Ma"
Knowing his son was feeling more than a bit reprimanded Pete ruffled his hair with a slight smile. "You ready?"
"Yup" Brian assured as he tried to flatten hair that wasn't even standing up.
"Alright then," Sarah spoke as she went over her mental checklist. "We've got lunches packed, book bags stuffed, we've
had breakfast, potty breaks," They all glanced at Becca for that one. "The teeth were brushed, the clothes are clean…"
Her pause to think gave Pete the time to say, "You did it all… now all we gotta do is get 'em there."
The last thing they needed was to be late on their first day.
"Alright let's go." She made it to the porch before it dawned on her, "The camera!"
"Sarah"
"Pete it's her first first day we've got to have at least one picture."
"Alright, I'll get it." He relented.
"No… I've got it. Just get them in the car." He moved to do just that as she ran back into the house and up the stairs.
She was halfway back down them with the electronic in hand when the phone began to ring. She had every intention of
ignoring it until she reached the door and heard the beginnings of the message being left.
That woman's words had her all but tripping over her feet as she tried to reach the device in time.
"Hello?" She breathed out a sigh when she got an actual response from the other side. "This is she."
Any hope of good news drained as she continued to listen carefully. "How bad was it?"
A glance at the clock told her she needed to get going but the words she was hearing had her glued to the spot.
"Do you know if Nathan was informed?" She wasn't even grasping why they would have called her instead of him.
"Alright, thank you…" With some last words she barely cared to hear she offered a, "Bye" before hanging up.
She couldn't believe her ears or perhaps she didn't want to.
"Sarah!" Pete called as he entered the house.
"Sarah?" One look at the way she was staring at the telephone that was loosely held in her grasp had him wary. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head as she placed the phone back on the hook, soon moving toward the door.
"Sar…" He pulled her arm until she was turning to face him. "What was that about?"
"Eliot" she barely offered as she turned back toward the door.
"Sarah!" Sometimes she was just beyond frustrating.
"He had another seizure." She wouldn't dwell on it because there was nothing she could do about it.
What she could do was get her kids to school; that's what she would do.
"Sarah" He didn't like how quickly she was pushing this news to the side.
"They're gonna be late Pete." With that she was out the door knowing she couldn't currently handle what he wanted to say.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"You're still up?" Parker questioned as she pulled some orange juice from the fridge.
It didn't look like he had moved even a fraction from where she'd left him last night.
"Yeah" Hardison answered as he rubbed an eye. "I cracked through a couple encryptions last night and figured why not test my luck and try a few more."
"Did you get anywhere?" Parker asked through a yawn.
She hadn't slept much herself having spent the night trying to contact Sophie.
"A webpage about nature preserves in Ireland?" It hadn't made much sense to him.
"Who runs it?" The sight sounded like a dead end but maybe the person behind it would lead them somewhere.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. It doesn't look like anyone's been in a while. The links are outdated, the pictures
haven't been renewed, and the most recent commenting goes back a couple years." It was looking to be a waste.
"What about frequent visitors?" Surely it had fallen in the radar for a reason.
"I'm compiling that list for reference now." Hardison let out a yawn himself as he stood with coffee in mind.
"What are we referencing?" Nate questioned the bit he had heard as he came into the kitchen.
He was glad to see someone having the decency to start a pot of Joe.
"URL's, IP addresses, hell might as well do routing numbers of those that frequented too." He pointed to the computer screen that Nate soon sat in front of.
"This is all you found?" Slowly he scrolled down the page not really impressed.
"My baby's been at it a week…" Hardison stressed. "Trust me when I tell you I said the same."
"What's this here?" Nate's question had them both looking to the screen.
"It's the sights motto, an old Irish proverb. It means…"
"Is fheárr teine beag a gharas na teine môr a loisgeas: The little fire that warms is better than the big fire that burns."
"I take it that isn't the first time you've heard that." Parker could tell from the perfect pronunciation.
"Does it mean something to you?" He himself had thought it fit in just fine for a group of tree huggers but maybe Nate saw different.
"You guys keep in contact with Sarah for news on Eliot; she's next in line to get it." Nate spoke as he stood.
"I've got some things to check out, I'll be back in a few."
"Hours?" Hardison questioned as the man walked out of the room. "Days!?"
Parker simply shrugged as they heard the front door close.
It wasn't the first time he'd left them in the dark and she wasn't foolish enough to really start believing that it would be the last.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Aaron" Ashlee called as she walked through their bedroom door.
"Aaron" She knew he was still sleeping somewhere under that bundle of blankets
though she couldn't quite make out top from bottom. "Babe you've got a phone call."
She moved to the top of the bed to pull the comforter down, unsurprisingly finding a pair of big funky feet.
"Nghhh" was all she managed to hear through the material she was soon pulling away. She felt bad for waking him seeing as he'd left first
thing the previous morning and hadn't returned until well into the night. She herself had been sleeping for a few hours before he'd finally joined her.
"Tell 'm call back." He mumbled as he turned his face into the mattress and away from the assaulting sun.
"It's Sarah," Ashlee explained. "She says it's important." No other words were needed; those quickly chased away any sleepiness leaving him fully awake.
"Did she say what it was about?" It wasn't long before he was sitting up in anticipation. Or was it agitation?
Swiftly she shook her head, "She just said that she needed to talk to you."
Without comment he was leaving the room but she wisely decided to stay behind.
Perhaps she'd make the bed.
"Yeah Sarah" He didn't bother with a greeting as he quickly spoke into the corded telephone he'd lifted from the kitchen table.
"Hey Aaron" Just those words were enough for him to identify fear, sadness, and dare he say dread.
"What happened?"
"He seized."
No thought was needed as he assured, "I'm on my way."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Anger, Fear, Exhaustion…
Those were the usual companions.
Silence, Grief, Heartache…
Normally they weren't far behind.
This time though none were present.
As he entered Eliot's room it was with a newly found and not too unwelcome acceptance.
"Hey Babe," The sight was all but the same, much like the chair he staked claim in. "I've been…"
It was funny how he'd forgotten what he'd intended to say. Instead his mind supplied, 'I've been missing me some you.'
He shook his head at the thought as he slid his hand over Eliot's clearing his throat as he did so.
"But… yeah, I just wanted to let you know I'm going away for a few days." He was absently running his fingers over Eliot's hand and forearm.
"I've got to deal with something that's been long coming." In a sense he was grateful it couldn't be questioned, he sure hadn't any answers.
"You just…" Hang in there? Be strong? Keep fighting? Hold your head up? Come back to me?
What could he possibly say to him that he hadn't already?
"You just…" There was another but it brought a whole other side of things with.
It suggested something no one wanted to consider. "You do what you got to do."
It'd be a lot easier to tell him to keep fighting -heck he almost had- but with what right?
Perhaps Eliot no longer wanted to and was that not a right of his own?
For the first time he was realizing that he always asked of and told Eliot what he thought should be done.
He hadn't let him make his own choice without comment or argument for some time now and it seemed quite selfish.
Whether he like it or not maybe it was time to do something he never fully had.
"Whatever it is," It was more of a promise to himself than anyone else. "no matter what…"
Sarah had said it herself. Eliot was in control. What they wanted didn't matter in the least because
at the end of the day Eliot would have last say. "I'll support you all the way."
He needed to be on his way but he felt like something was missing, perhaps he had overlooked it. "I'm done asking so it's up to you now, just…"
Eliot had never done him terribly wrong before and he was hoping that wouldn't soon change. "Do me one small favor."
With a chaste kiss he stood with a few words and left with a slight prayer.
There was no reason to bother in looking back. "Keep me in mind."
E/N: Two Easter's strong? Anyone?
I know… but RL sucks :(
Leave lots of love cuz I swear there'll be more! :)
(And let me know whatcha think)