I'm back :)
To Sandy-wmd your welcome and thanks for continuing to read

To , it might take an eternity but I'm definitely going to finish it… as for re-reading I've done so at least 40 times just trying to keep track and I still love it… But as for killing off Eliot, you'll just have to read and find out ;p

Y para la anonimo persona, me encanta que tu estas gustando a mi historia. Gracias por leer y por favor continuara haciendolo (Perdon si mi espanol no es tan Buena pero es mi Segundo idioma) Read, Review, and most importantly ENJOY!

Chapter Fifty-Seven

"That's it. You've officially lost your mind!" It was safe to say that nearly
forty hours of chasing Torlyn about the hospital had made him more than a little irritable.

"And how's that?" Jordan was barely acknowledged as he carefully studied his x-ray.

"You faked the guy having a seizure just so you could obtain that Sean! Hell, they actually notified his family!"
The man didn't seem even a bit fazed. "Please tell me that you can see you crossed the line?"

"Perhaps my actions may have been a bit questionable." Torlyn shrugged off the comment. His motives certainly weren't.

"Were they worth it?" Jordan found himself asking despite his previous reprimanding.
There was just something in the way that Sean was staring at that image that nearly excused everything else.

"Do you see that density?" It was so minute that he wasn't completely sure if he was actually seeing it or just wanting to.

Maybe it was because he was more secure of himself but he didn't need
to mimic Sean's squinting to catch sight of what was being pointed out. "Is that?"

"Where are his lab results?" That catch in Jordan's eye let him know they were on the same track.

"I thought you had 'em." Surely he wasn't expected to have gotten them.

"No, I went to cover Michael's break… you went to get the results." There'd been no assuming, that's what they had agreed on.

"Of course I did." Jordan assured as he flimsily excused himself from the room.
Torlyn was hot on his heels with a string of insults.

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"Sophie wasn't home."

The fact that he had just moments ago been alone didn't faze him.
This was something he was finally coming to expect from Parker. "And?"

"And I want you to look her up so I can go talk to her."

Oh how tempted he was to make a quip about the yellow pages, but it was just too easy.
Instead he asked, "Why?"

"Because" She didn't feel like she needed to explain herself to him but the question in his eyes was just too persistent.
After a while it had her squirming with an, "I just need to alright."

Suddenly he could see an overwhelming anxiety clouding her features and it
brought a soft hurt to his own. "Parker, you know you can talk to me right?"

"Ye- I- I'm jus" She sat in frustration.
Seconds ago she had had all these words she'd been dying to share and now she couldn't even complete one.

"Having a hard time?" He ignored the glare she sent him for even suggesting such a thing.
"I know I am. One day everything's good and then the next day is like 'Holy hell! Where have I been!'
Sophie's been betrayed, Nate's heartbroken, Eliot's missing, and you're just left standing there like WTF?"

"No" Parker disagreed. "They fixed all that."

"Did they?" Hardison interrupted. "Next thing you know Eliot's back and everything's good again but…
Nope wait a minute there he goes again, he ends up run over and we end up here."

"Then Sophie leaves." Parker added, having apparently changed her mind.

"And the other two are back to their on and off sometimes nonexistent gas and matches deal."
He had finally decided he'd stay out of it other than being a side support, that dance was too complicated, hell too crazy for his simple mind to follow.

"Then Eliot had that huge freak out." She wasn't so certain it hadn't taken a part in his failing health.

"Yeah," Hardison remembered.
It seemed like the whole world's attitude had changed after that.
"And then Sophie came back and it wasn't long before her and Nate were stirring up more trouble."

"Do you think that's what happened this time?" The thought hadn't even crossed her mind until now.

"What?" He'd fallen so far into his rant that he hadn't caught the question.

"Do you think that something happened between Nate and Sophie while we were gone?"

Immediately his mind went back to the waiting room he'd been lurking outside of. "Hell I hope not!"
Parker clearly hadn't caught his meaning which he was currently thankful for.
It wasn't like he wanted to think such things about them but their combined history sure wasn't the greatest.
"She's probably just trying to find her own way to deal with all this Parker."

For a moment she simply sat there absorbing his words; and he let her too busy being worried by his own thoughts.

"I think…" And it was clear that she had indeed been giving it some thought. "That it's Nate that needs to deal."
She was so precise in her words that he didn't dare interrupt them. "He's always after a plan but hurting and healing is a process."
That she knew from experience. Just like she knew his sometimes acceptance wasn't even partially genuine.
He switched thoughts and emotions so much that he couldn't possibly have time to sort through them.
Everyone but him was seeing the entangled contradiction he'd all but become. "He's crossing wires like a faulty bomb and…"

The only thought he had was 'God forbid' as he finished a sentence she couldn't. "If something bad happens he's gonna explode."

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"You see that man over there." Nate nodded in the general direction he was speaking of as he took a seat on one
of the bar stools. "Send him a club soda on me." The look the bartender gave him was a mix of confused and assessing but he moved to do
so nonetheless. He didn't have to wait long before the drink was being questioned and the bartender was selling him out like jello shots on spring break.

"You're a hard man to find." Was spoken as the seat beside him got claimed.

Nate shook his head with a sly, "That depends on who's looking?"

"Are you insulting my skills now?" That fake hint of malice was as familiar as the man's voice.

"Nope, I got your message." He wouldn't quite say things were at ease but there was a calm in knowing a potential threat had vanished.

"I thought you'd like that. You always were a momma's boy."

He couldn't deny that the line had made him think of his mother; she had used it often enough. "What did you want?"

"When a man's son goes missing is he not supposed to go out and look for him? I wanted to make sure you were still among the living."

"You went through all that hassle just to make sure I was still walking this earth?"

There was a slight nod but he wasn't sure if it was meant for him or the bartender who was soon sliding a glass in their general direction.

"You know you could have just asked around."

"Is minic a bhris béal duine a shrón."

With a slight laugh Nate translated, "Many a time a man's mouth broke his nose."

"It's good to know you remembered something I taught ya."

Nate rolled his eyes at that.
The phrase had pretty much been his father's motto.
In other words he learned quickly that snitching was frowned upon.

"So where do you have that rag tag team of yours held up at?"

"Down south" Nate offered as he watched his father toss back his drink.

"You want one?" Jimmy didn't wait for a response before he was placing an order for two more.

"I don't drink." The anymore wasn't added because it wasn't needed.
Maybe he had yesterday, maybe he would tomorrow, but for today, for right now he just didn't.

Shrugging off the statement simply Jimmy continued, "Whatcha doin' down south?"

"Laying low" The wonder in his father's eyes had him adding, "Eliot got hurt."

"That's the nerd right?" He wasn't trying to be rude but their description was about as close as he'd get to names.

"No that would be Hardison, Eliot's the other one." He couldn't ever imagine getting those two confused.

"Your muscle?" That didn't sound good. "How bad was it?"

He found himself fiddling with the peanut dish as he spoke. "He's in a coma."

Words were hard to find after a revelation like that. "So what now? Are you looking for a replacement or…?"

Nate shook his head fiercely which was answer enough.

"So you're just not gonna work?" That was something he'd never heard of.

"We've done a few side jobs."

"Well tell me you plan on doing more than holding the man's hand 'til he gets all better?"
He was met with an all too familiar expression, a gaze that couldn't be mistaken. "Aw hell!"
He took a huge swig of his whiskey seeing clearly for the first time what had to have been there the entire while. "My son's a pansy."

His father was staring at him and he couldn't help but do the same.
He wasn't feeling as if he needed to defend or explain himself, as if he had been caught doing wrong or had just been reprimanded.
No, for the first time in his life he was feeling understood by this man.
It was near foreign and so was the companionable silence that had come with it.
He just had to break it and with a coy smirk he did. "Aithnionn ciaróg ciaróg eile."

In seconds Jimmy's laughter filled the air and he was soon clapping a hand against his son's back.
Perhaps he'd take some time to finally get to know this man because maybe, just maybe, it did take one to know one.

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"How is he?" It was the first thing he thought to ask as he stepped out into his sister's backyard.

"I don't know." Sarah spoke softly as she looked out to where her kids were playing.
They were completely care free. "I haven't made it out that way yet."

"I can't imagine it bein' much worse than how I left him last night."

"You were with him yesterday?" That was news to her.

"I had the time." Aaron shrugged off ignoring the little fact that he had called off an entire shift to make it. She didn't need to know that.

"Pete and I have been trying to decide if we should tell the kids." Just by the way she was staring he could tell his opinion was wanted.

"I don't think El would want ya'll doing that. Hell Sarah, they're too young to understand anyway."

"But I feel like they at least deserve me trying to explain so that if bad news does come
it's not completely out of the blue for them." She was just full of fear as a sister and mother.

"Sarah we'll wait for the good not plan for the bad. Just let the kids be kids for now, they don't need to be thinking about nothing else."

Sarah nodded as she listened to Rebecca's laughter fill the yard. She hoped nothing ever dimmed it.
"I hope Nate's with him." She let out as almost an afterthought. "I'd hate for him to be alone."

Aaron stayed silent as he let her voice her thoughts but on his part he knew his brother was never truly alone.

"You know I've been thinking," She turned on the bench they were sharing not quite sure if she should continue with the thought. "We should tell ma."

"We should what?" He turned his sight away from his nephew and to the crazy coming from his sister.

"Aaron I think we should let her know what's been going on." They hadn't spoken since that heated evening and it seemed past time to do so.

"Why? She hasn't made the effort to check up on any of us!" He hadn't intended to get so loud but the suggestion absolutely floored him.

"Well neither have we." May she remind him that there was a second side.

"I doubt they care one way or the other." He knew he tried his best not to.
It saved them all a case of blame and anger.

"Aaron he's their son." She tried pleading as he crossed his arms; apparently he was going to attempt blocking her out.

"I know as a mother," Yep she pulled the parent card. "that I'd want to know the second something happened to my son."

"Are you forgetting about the little fact that Dad hates him and Ma thinks he was corrupted somewhere along the way?"
Surely she hadn't forgotten the way they had spoken of Eliot after he'd left their home.

"No I'm remembering how I felt when that little boy was born." She assured as she glanced at her son.
"I guarantee under all that dust and dirt she's been collecting she still feels the same, she'll still want to protect her baby boy."

He sat there stubbornly without comment and it had her losing her cool. "Hell Aaron, you don't get angry about something you don't care about!
Who knows what the hell their reasoning is for why they act the way they do around him but there's got to be one! You know how dad is, if he didn't
care about El he would have just cut him out of the picture, that name would have never again left his mouth. Instead he barks and bitches about the
poor guy, however messed up it is he's still been keepin' some kind of connection."

Aaron shook his head somberly at the warped thought. "It ain't right."

"Are any of us?" She knew he didn't like thinking of it, as a matter of fact
neither did she; but if that's what it took to finally find a decent medium then so be it.

"I don't think you should… but I won't stop you if you do." Maybe it was cowardly to leave such a decision up to her
but he hadn't wanted to make it. "You just remember if a storm comes I ain't gettin' all wet to bring you an umbrella."

She tossed her head back in an unamused huff, slapping his thigh as she did so. "Gee thanks".

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"I'll have you know never have I had as much trouble with a man as I have with yours." Sophie spoke factually as she crossed her ankles
in her newly taken seat. "It's like talking to a mule for Pete's sake. If it isn't one of his thoughts it can't possibly be considered." It always seemed
like he was trying to attack before he could possibly be attacked. "With the way you two bumped heads I know you know this, but tell me." She leaned
in close as if a great secret was about to be shared. "How did you get him to come around? What does it take for him to look at things from your perspective?"

She admired that in Eliot.
He could get Nate to see things through a different light, to view them other than 'his way'.
It was something she had never quite managed.

"How do I get him to look at things through mine?" She had changed many a mind in her time but had never managed more than to persuade his.
"Hmm?" She wondered faintly as she leaned back. "Perhaps it's a tale you cannot tell. Do you know?"

She heard the slightest of a mumble and it made her smile.
Even in a position where he positively couldn't speak he was still trying to get through to her.
Still trying to help a friend.

"You know you're lucky… there aren't many hospitals that have private rooms within the intensive care ward."
There were only four and she had been pleased to find Eliot had received one of them. "Though I've heard they soon plan to move you."

Apparently the rooms were for patients that needed to be close at hand but not quite an arms length away, and apparently
Eliot was coming to a point where he no longer needed that closeness which she supposed was a good thing.

"I'm sure Hardison and Parker will love that." ICU restricted access to all but a few members of
the immediate family and the sooner he left the sooner they could get back to that 24hr policy.

"Jeffrey's is something wrong?" A shrill voice from outside the door had her standing hastily as she straightened pastel scrubs.

"No, not at all!" Clearly it was time to get back to 'work'. "I'll be back after I finish my rounds."
She patted his leg as she turned to leave. This would surely be an interesting shift.

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"What do you got?" Sean asked as he turned from his report and to where Jordan was reading another.

"Low iron levels." He spoke distantly as he continued to study his information.

"Anemia?" Torlyn added that to his growing mental list.

"You know other than being in a coma the guys fairing pretty well. All his organs are up and running, nobody's worried about his liver all that much anymore, and his breathing levels haven't dropped since his arrival." Jordan tucked his glasses away as he continued. "He's improving. The only thing even remotely close to trauma in his CT's is some swelling, it's like his brain just called it. Like it got too stressed and put up a 'See you sometime' sign."

Sean nodded his agreement.
He knew how overwhelmed Spencer had become and it didn't surprise him that his body had claimed this incident as last straw.
"I think we should take a look at that shrapnel."

"They already did, it was too degraded to get anything off of it. The pure acid from the digesti-"
Suddenly Jordan stopped as he realized what he was saying. "The digestive juices."

Torlyn nodded having gotten the same idea mere seconds ago. "While they're outside searching for a car why don't we take a look inside."

"Let's go"

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"You know," Sarah interrupted Aaron's thoughts of getting a house for Ashlee as one of her own appeared. "Eliot said he already had one."

"Wha'?" Aaron turned from his spot on the front porch swing to get a better look at his sister.

"When we were arguing I was telling him I wanted him to have the wife, the home, and babies.
He said he's already had all of that." She stopped to question. "Do you think he was talking literally?"

"Sarah I think he would have let us known if he had a wife and kids. He was probably talking about having had the chance at one point."

"I don't know. You didn't see how serious, how angry he was about it."

"An Ex wife? Maybe…" Aaron relented as he admitted that they all had some secrets.
"But I can tell you right now he doesn't have any kids. Not with how protective he used to be of us.
No way would he have spent this much time away from them willingly if he did."

"I wonder what happened to her?" Per his words she was positive there was a her.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Aaron shrugged.

"God I hope he's not divorced." She didn't like the tainted feeling the word pushed on a person.

"Maybe that's what he and Nate have in common."

Sarah's loud; "Nate's divorced!" had him cringing at the slip. "Yeah, has been for a few years now I guess."

It sounded so familiar that Sarah took a minute to place it. "That's probably what he was talking about when I asked if he had any family or kids or anything."

"What did he say?" It didn't surprise him that she had been nosey enough to ask.

"Nothing really just no; that he didn't anymore."

"You think he's got kids?" Aaron asked before he could stop himself.
He didn't like digging in other people's dirt but he was genuinely curious.

"Like you said," She shrugged off the question. "Your guess…"

"Are you going over that way tomorrow?" Aaron switched topic as he itched an annoying mosquito bite; they were the worst.

"I figured we would after we dropped the kids off."

"Once we…" but he cut himself off with a, "rrgghhh" as he stood, still scratching viciously at the bite.

She just nodded to his, "Be back" as he disappeared through the screen door.
Sighing contently, or at least as much as she could presently be, she kicked her feet off to start a movement.

Within seconds there was a good loud clank and it had her lifting her head to investigate what had happened.
Her house phone lay there on the porch (the back a few inches away) it was pretty obvious that it must have fallen from the swing.

She barely allowed herself to be annoyed with Aaron for leaving it in such a place as she lifted the pieces to reassemble it.
He had called Ashlee so she wouldn't be left to worry though she was pretty sure it had made her worry all the more.
The not knowing could really get to you after a while; she knew it did to her.

People deserved to be told about things that could possibly change their lives.
Ashlee deserved to know what was going on within her family because after all they were quickly becoming just that.
She was family and you kept family informed.

The thought had her glancing at the phone, than the door, and back.

You kept family informed.

With only the slightest hesitance she was dialing a number that had become quite dusty to her and though it took
another minute to pass she eventually pressed that green button and lifted the device to her ear. It took forever
yet no time at all to be answered and in a possibly shaky, slightly nervous voice she greeted, "Hey Ma."