Morning. Washington DC.
Jordan is at his father's. He goes downstairs and heads to the dining room where he sits at the table that is already settled for breakfast. He is using his cell phone.
Eloise gets in the room.
Eloise "Good morning Mr. Hobart" she greets him as she starts pouring some coffee into his cup.
Jordan "Good morning" he greets her back, still focused on his phone.
Eloise is about to go bring him the rest of his breakfast, but she stops in her tracks at remembering something, so she turns back around to look at Jordan again. "Excuse me, when is Hanna arriving? Should I prepare a room for her or-?"
Jordan "Sorry, what?" he takes his eyes off of his phone and looks at the woman right away. "Hanna?" he asks surprised, wondering where the woman got the idea of Hanna going there from.
Eloise "Yes, I saw the… Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't ha-… I'm sorry, forget what I just said" she turns back around to leave the room but Jordan stops her.
Jordan "Wait" He stands up from his chair and approaches her.
Eloise looks at him again.
Jordan "Have you heard from Hanna? Did she talk to you?" he asks, since just a few minutes ago, he listened to Emily's voice message, the one that she left in his voicemail some hours ago, where she asked him about Hanna and also let him know that she was missing. But since he knew nothing about Hanna, he was planning on calling Emily later and maybe offer his help.
Eloise "No, she didn't. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked"
Jordan can tell that there's something that the woman is not telling him, so he keeps pushing. "Eloise, please. Did you talk to her? This is important. Just tell me the truth" he speaks to her seriously.
Eloise notices his concern, so she decides to tell him what she saw. "I didn't talk to Hanna. George took her dog here last night. He locked it up in the greenhouse… I thought he was just hiding it there because of your father, since he is not a fan of dogs and I assumed that Hanna was coming here as well. I'm sorry, I thought you knew about it. I guess I just ruined a surprise. Please, if Hanna shows up, pretend to be surprised" she jokes and smiles, but Jordan remains serious. "I'm sorry. This is none of my business. I apologize again" she adds at seeing his face.
Jordan "No, it's okay. Are you sure it was Hanna's dog?"
Eloise nods. "Yes, she showed me some pictures of the dog a few months ago... Remember when you brought her here for the first time? One of those nights, when you were out on a meeting, she was feeling a little down and she told me that her dog was missing and that she missed him. She looked so sad that night… that's why I was so happy the other day when you told me that she had found the dog. Hanna seems-"
Jordan cuts her off. "So George brought Hanna's dog here?" he asks her again.
Eloise "Yes, I saw him myself. He got the dog into the greenhouse"
Jordan "Okay, thank you for telling me this. This is really important. Please, don't tell anyone else" he tells her while leaving the room to go out to the garden of the mansion.
Eloise goes after Jordan. "Is everything okay?" asks concerned at seeing Jordan's reaction.
Jordan "Yes. Just please, don't tell anyone" he repeats again.
Jordan makes his way out of the house and then walks toward the end of the large garden where the greenhouse is. As soon as he opens the door, Chocolate shows up and starts barking at him. There's no doubt that is Hanna's dog. He quickly pushes the door back closed and grabs his phone. He didn't get worried when he listened to Emily's voice message, he thought that Hanna must had gone somewhere and wasn't answering her phone. But now he is sure that something happened to her, and that his 'friend' is involved in that.
Jordan "Are you fucking insane, George? Where's Hanna? What did you do to her?"
/
It's been a few hours since Caleb spoke with Hanna's doctor. He is still in her room, sitting on a chair next to her bed, holding her hand, but he is asleep now. After texting the guys to let them know about the news about Hanna's health condition, he has been talking to her for a while, trying to get a reaction from her, or at least a sign of her being awake. But then he decided to leave her alone, since the doctor said that she needed to have some rest and also that it could take hours for her to start recovering, so he just fell asleep there, exhausted after the hectic night that he had and feeling better after learning that Hanna will be fine.
After a while, he receives a text on his phone and that wakes him up. But instead of grabbing his phone right away, the first thing he does after opening his eyes is checking on Hanna.
Caleb "Hi, baby… I'm sorry, I fell asleep" he places his free hand on her cheek. "Are you asleep? Or are you awake?" he asks her while caressing her cheek.
But Hanna remains exactly as before, so he grabs his phone now. It's a text from Emily.
Emily "We found Chocolate. He's alright. I'll talk to you later"
Caleb smiles at the good news. Thinking of Hanna waking up and asking him about Chocolate was freaking him out, since he wouldn't know what to tell her, but he doesn't have to worry about it anymore.
Caleb "That's great! Where was he? You sure he is okay?" he texts Emily back.
Emily "Yes, he is fine. Let's talk later. I'll take care of him, don't worry. Just focus on Han" she answers back. There's no way that she is telling Caleb that Chocolate is indeed with Jordan, that it was him the one who found him and then called her, and that he is bringing him back from Washington DC where the dog somehow ended up.
Caleb puts his phone away. Still sitting on the chair, he leans over Hanna's bed and pulls her closer to him. He rests his head on her body, his cheek pressed against her tummy, as if she were a pillow. He closes his eyes for a moment and starts to caress the palm her hand, the one that he promised her he wouldn't let go of until she got better.
Soon, he is falling asleep again, his tiredness winning him as he keeps stroking her soft hand. It takes him a while to realize that Hanna is moving her fingers as well, caressing him too.
Caleb lifts his head up from her body as soon as he becomes aware of her touch. He looks at her face but her eyes are still closed, so he looks at their joined hands to check if it's real or if he just imagined it. And yes, he gets to see that she is indeed caressing his hand, her touch is very soft, but she is moving.
A smile appears on his face right away.
Caleb "Han!" he tells her as he gets up from the chair and sits down on the edge of her bed. "Hi, baby" he leans forward and presses several kisses on her cheek. Then he pulls back to look at her again.
Hanna opens her eyes slowly, like if it took her a huge effort to lift her eyelids.
Caleb "Hi, beautiful" he greets her again and squeezes their joined hands, his smile wider than before as he stares into those beautiful blue eyes of hers that unlike some hours ago, when they were in Toby's car, they now seem to focus on him, getting to make eye contact.
Hanna's eyes get watery in no time and Caleb can see the fear in them. He also can see that she breaks the eye contact with him for a moment to look at her free hand and then she looks back at him.
Caleb "Hey, it's okay. Don't be scared" he tells her softly. "You may not be able to move just yet, okay?" he tells her, assuming that she tried to move that hand of hers that he isn't holding but couldn't do so. "But the doctor already knows that, she ran some tests on you and she told me that you will get better in a few hours, so don't freak out" he takes her other hand as well, holding both of her hands in his now.
Hanna opens her mouth like if she were about to say something, but no words come out and a few tears roll down on her cheeks.
Despite the happiness of seeing her awake and seeming more conscious, Caleb gets a lump in his throat now at seeing Hanna's desperation for not being able to move or speak.
Caleb "Han, you will be okay. Trust me" he takes one of his hands to her face, and cupping her cheek, he wipes one of her tears away with his thumb. "Just like you started to move your hand, you will be able to move the rest of your body soon, okay?" he keeps stroking her cheek. "Chill, babe. I'm here and I won't leave your side until you get back to normal, not even for a moment, okay?" he tells her, trying to calm her down and then he wraps his arms around her and lifts her torso up from the mattress. He pulls her into a hug, his palm on her nape to hold her head carefully. "I'm taking care of you" he presses a kiss on her cheek.
After a couple of minutes, he puts Hanna back on the mattress. She looks calmer after his comforting hug.
Caleb "I'll let the guys know that you are awake, okay?" he tells her while taking her hand again and he grabs his phone with his other hand. "Toby, Spencer and Aria are here… in the waiting room. I told them to go home, but they won't leave no matter what" he smiles at her. He is about to tell her that Emily is taking care of Chocolate, but he decides not to mention the dog just yet. He still doesn't know what happened to Hanna exactly and if she remembers it or not, so he just avoids mentioning it.
Caleb starts typing on his phone and can't help smiling widely at feeling how Hanna starts to stroke his hand again, still very softly, but that little gesture of hers means the world to him at that moment. He rushes to finish texting the guys to focus on Hanna again. He puts his phone down and looks back at her.
She's staring at him, but her eyes aren't wide open as before, she looks sleepy now.
Caleb "You are still tired?" he gives her another smile.
Hanna just keeps staring at him.
Caleb reaches out and caresses her hair. "It's okay, go to sleep. I'm right here"
Hanna gives him a very soft squeeze in his hand.
Caleb "I'm not sure if that means that you want me to stay or if you are telling me to leave you alone, but I'll go for the first option and I'll just stay here" he shoots her another smile and moves to sit by her side, leaning back on the half-raised head of the hospital bed. Then he wraps an arm around her and pulls her toward him, resting her head on his chest. "Try to get some sleep" he tells her softly.
Hanna closes her eyes right away, feeling completely relaxed for the first time in hours. It couldn't be otherwise, she is being held in his arms, and it makes her feel safe.
Caleb starts to rub her back gently as he takes his phone with his other hand and reads some texts from the guys, who are happy to know that Hanna is getting better.
After a while, he leaves his phone and looks at Hanna again. He stares at her for some seconds, but then he can't help disturbing her sleep at wondering if Hanna is still conscious.
Caleb "Han, babe" he whispers to her while caressing her hair.
Hanna takes a few seconds to open her eyes again, but when she does, her eyes focus on Caleb's right away.
Caleb "I'm sorry, I just wanted to check if you were fine. Go back to sleep"
But Hanna's eyes remain wide open as she stares at him. And Caleb takes the opportunity to contemplate those beautiful big blue orbs of her, those piercing eyes that seem so much more expressive now that they are one of the few parts of her body that she is able to control at the moment.
Caleb "Get some rest, baby" he tells her after a while and leans in to kiss her lips. He only opens his mouth enough to capture her lips, and after squeezing them between his a couple of times, he pulls back.
Hanna's eyes are back closed now and remain like that as she tries to go back to sleep.
/
Around an hour later, a nurse gets into Hanna's room.
Nurse "How is she?" the woman asks Caleb as she goes check the intravenous bag that she connected to Hanna's arm before, to prevent her from getting dehydrated.
Caleb "She's much better. She's been awake for a few minutes a while ago. Is Dr. Webber around? I think she should see her"
Nurse "Yes, I just ran into her. She said she would come in a few minutes. She has been really busy today"
Caleb nods.
Hanna opens her eyes, waking up at hearing the voices.
Nurse "Hi, Hanna" she greets her warmly and Hanna looks at her. "I'm glad you are doing better. I was just checking this" she points at the IV bag that is empty now. "I'm taking it off… You no longer need it"
Caleb puts her back on the mattress and then he sits up straight.
Nurse "The doctor is going to come to check on you soon, okay?" she tells her after finishing with the IV bag, but Hanna is no longer looking at her, she is looking at Caleb now.
Caleb immediately takes her hand again. "She hasn't spoken yet" he tells the nurse.
Nurse "Oh, okay" she answers Caleb and looks back at Hanna. "Don't worry, you will be able to speak soon" she gives her a smile and then leaves.
Caleb "How are you feeling?" he asks her while standing up, still holding her hand.
Hanna only stares at him.
Caleb "Come on, try to say something" he encourages her.
Hanna opens her mouth slightly but at that moment, two men get into the room, so she turns her gaze toward them.
Caleb turns around and looks at the men as well. One of them is intern Williams, the guy that was assisting Dr. Webber before. The other one, is a man in his sixties, another doctor, Caleb assumes.
Doctor "Morning" he only says and checks the medical chart at the end of Hanna's bed. "So this is the girl that was admitted for being sedated?" he asks the intern while reading the information.
Intern Williams "Yes, doctor"
Doctor "By an injection in her back?"
Intern Williams "Yes"
Caleb "Excuse me" he interrupts their conversation, making them turn to him.
He lets go of Hanna's hand for a moment to approach them.
Caleb "She is barely starting to recover, and she can't move or speak yet, so I haven't talked to her about what happened. Doctor Webber said that we should wait to do so until we can know how she is emotionally. So please, could you not talk about all that in front of her?" he asks politely, and in a low voice, trying not to be heard by Hanna.
Doctor "Yeah, but doctor Webber just finished her shift, so I am her doctor now. We are doing this my way"
Intern Williams "Excuse me, doctor, but I have to tell you that this man here is right. Hanna's tests have allowed us to know that she has responded very well to-"
Doctor "Yeah, I can see that here. Her senses work" he says while waving Hanna's medical record in the air. "But it doesn't mean anything, with this amount of sedative in her body, she must be just as confused as a junkie down a bridge. I'm sure she doesn't even know where she is right now" he says out loud, not caring to be heard by Hanna.
Caleb gets irritated now. "She does know. She knows very well what's going on, she just-"
Doctor "Who brought her here?" he asks intern Williams, ignoring Caleb.
Intern Williams "He did. He's her boyfriend. He found her unconscious"
Doctor "I assume that it wasn't a robbery. Did any specialist in sexual assault examine her?"
Intern Williams "No, Doctor Webber did a superficial examination but she seemed fine. There weren't signs of any-"
Doctor "Oh, please. A specialist in the matter should determine that, not Dr. Webber. Please, go get someone, anyone on duty, we must do it as soon as possible"
Caleb "Okay. No" he says, completely done with this new doctor's attitude. "No one else is touching her until she gets better. No more tests, no more exams. She needs to stay calm, she's already dealing with too much. And please, stop talking about all this in front of her because she is very conscious and listening to everything" he tells the doctor out loud this time, firmly, making sure he understands that he is very serious.
The doctor narrows his eyes. "First of all, I am the doctor here, so I decide when we are finished with exams. You don't get to tell me how to do my job. And secondly, do you have anything to hide? It is already too suspicious that you are the only person accompanying her here. You are not a relative of her, you are just her boyfriend, and she can't even confirm it in her condition. Anyway, someone is going to examine her, whether you agree or not, I don't care. And depending on the results of those exams, I will have to call the police or not, but if I do, I'm sure you will be the first person they will want to talk to"
Caleb "I am not the only one here. There are friends of her in the waiting room, and one of them is a police officer. I already made a report to the police myself when she was missing, so no, I have nothing to hide. Anyway, I won't keep arguing with you. I am not saying that you can't do those exams, I'm just asking you to wait until she gets back to normal. She can't move or speak, I won't let you make her go through that kind of exams when she's like this. Besides, for what Dr. Webber told me before, they may not be necessary, she's fine"
Doctor "Again, I am her doctor now and we are doing this my way" He arrogantly tells Caleb and then looks back at intern Williams. "Go get someone. And also bring a nurse, I want to repeat the blood test"
Caleb turns to look at Hanna now. Her face is a mess of tears. It's obvious that she is hearing and understanding everything they say. He quickly approaches her and takes her hand again.
Caleb "Look what you just did" he tells the doctor. "I told you she is listening to everything. No one is gonna touch her again. She needs to be calm, she needs to rest. Now please, leave us alone or I'm taking her home now"
Doctor "You can't just take her away. You can't refuse to-"
Doctor Webber "What's going on in here?" she says while coming into the room, after having overheard a bit of the argument from the hallway. She sees Caleb's annoyance and Hanna's upset. "What are you doing here? This is my patient" she tells the other doctor.
Doctor "Your shift finished a while ago, I was checking on her"
Doctor Webber "Well, I'm doing some extra hours today" she tells him and snatches the medical record of Hanna from his hands.
Intern Williams only stares at the doctors from the side, not wanting to get into any trouble.
Doctor "Good for you, because I think you haven't finished examining this patient yet" he says and leaves.
Caleb is grateful that Hanna's first doctor has showed up again. "It's okay, Han. You are fine, don't worry" he tells her softly as he wipes her tears away.
Doctor Webber "What happened? Why is she so upset? Did she wake up like this?"
Caleb "No, she was okay until that other doctor showed up. He talked shit in front of her" he says, pretty annoyed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude" he apologizes right away at realizing his poor choice of words.
Doctor Webber "No, please. I am the one who needs to apologize here. I got busy with another patient and I couldn't come to check on her before. It's been such a hectic night here… and I also want to apologize for my colleague. He is a good doctor, but his manners aren't the best. Besides, he watches too much medical drama on TV and then he likes playing the hero here" she tells Caleb and rolls her eyes.
Then, Dr. Webber looks at Hanna. Because of the way Hanna is staring at her expectantly and with her eyes still full of tears, she can tell that just like she thought before, her mind is way more awake than her body is, since she seems to be understanding everything that is going on.
Dr. Webber "Hi, Hanna" she greets her with a warm smile. "I don't know what you heard from the other doctor, but I am the one who has been taking care of you since you arrived here and I can assure you that you will get better soon. I know it doesn't seem like that right now, but trust me, we have run tests on you, you will be fine" she explains to Hanna, trying to calm her down a bit.
But Hanna doesn't look any calmer. Indeed, some more tears wet her face again.
Intern Williams "The doctor talked about the sedative. And also mentioned that she needed to be examined furtherer. I think she heard it too" he informs his boss, trying to be more subtle with his words than the other doctor was.
Doctor Webber nods at him and looks back at Hanna. "It is true that you were injected with a sedative, that's what is keeping you immobile for now. We also know that it wasn't yourself, since it was in your back. But although we don't know who did it or why, I can assure you that your body is perfectly well. That's why I didn't call anyone else to keep examining you. I don't think this was about something sexual, okay?"
Hanna remains just as upset as before.
Doctor Webber "Anyway, you are safe now. And you don't need to worry about anything. Just focus on getting better, fine? If you are tired, try to get some sleep. If you feel like trying to move, do it" she stares at Hanna, but her attempts to calm her down don't work, her words have no effect on her. "Maybe she is in shock, she doesn't seem to be paying attention to what I tell her" she tells intern Williams, wondering if she was wrong about Hanna being able to understand everything.
Caleb "No, she was alright just a while ago. She was starting to move, she was listening to me, she was even about to try to speak when the other doctor showed up over here. She is not in shock, she is worried about something or just upset after everything that she just heard, I think she-" he stops talking at feeling a squeeze in his hand. "She just squeezed my hand. She was also doing it earlier"
Doctor Webber "Okay, that's good" she tells Caleb. "So Hanna, let's do this: if you can comprehend everything we are talking about, squeeze his hand again"
Caleb smiles right away at feeling Hanna's response. "She did it again, she squeezed my hand"
Doctor Webber "Looks like you found a way to communicate" she gives Hanna a smile. "Can you squeeze my hand too? I want to check if you can do the same with this one as well" she explains to her as she takes her other hand.
Hanna manages to press the doctor's hand as well.
Doctor Webber shoots her another smile before letting go of her hand. "Great, Hanna! See? You are getting better!" she tells her and then turns to intern Williams. "Let's just let her settle down for now". Then she turns to Caleb. "She's evolving just like I thought she would. She will start regaining strength throughout her body just as it happened with her hands. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. She will also be able to speak then"
Caleb "Good" he says with a grin on his face and squeezes Hanna's hand.
Doctor Webber "I'll come back to check on you later, Hanna. You may be able to go back home today" she tells her while walking toward the door.
Caleb lets go of Hanna's hand for a moment and approaches the woman. "Excuse me doctor, there are some friends of hers in the waiting room. Can she have visitors?"
Doctor Webber "I'd rather she didn't. She's already too upset and we don't know why. Let's give her some time to calm down now. Once she can speak again, we will see" she tells him softly, trying not to be heard by Hanna.
Caleb nods. "Okay"
Doctor Webber and the intern leave the room. Caleb goes back to Hanna and takes her hand once again.
Caleb "Hey…" he tells her softly as he sits on the edge of her bed. "Don't be so sad. You are going home today" he reaches out with his free hand and wipes her tears away again, since she hasn't stopped crying. "I don't know if you can remember what happened, maybe that is what has you so upset, but try to focus on the good things, okay? Stay positive. You are okay, baby. I'm so glad to know that. And whatever has happened to you, we will figure it out later, together. I'm here for you. I'll keep you safe, I promise. Don't be scared"
He stares at her, and although she looks just a bit calmer, her tears keep rolling down on her cheeks. Caleb can tell that there is still something that worries her. So he decides to keep talking to her.
Caleb "I'll stay with you tonight… at your place or at mine, it doesn't matter… We can sleep all cuddled… with Chocolate"
Suddenly, Hanna's eyes open wide and Caleb notices it.
Caleb narrows his eyes. "Are you worried about Chocolate maybe?"
Hanna squeezes his hand right away.
Caleb "He is okay, baby" he tells her while caressing her hand. "What an idiot! I should have known better, it was obvious that you were worried about him" he smiles at her.
Hanna starts to caress his hand too.
Caleb "Look, I don't know what happened, but I do know that he was with you when it happened… but I have the feeling that you already know that… don't you?"
Hanna gives him another squeeze in his hand, letting him know that his guess is right. Caleb knows that this is not the right moment to talk about what happened to her, she can't even speak, so he simply keeps the conversation focused on the dog.
Caleb "Well, he is fine, Han. He is with Emily right now. She is taking care of him, so don't worry about it anymore" he presses a kiss on her forehead. "God, I miss your voice so much, I hope you talk to me soon" he gives her a tender smile.
Caleb stares at her for a few seconds, but then he can't help the need of having her closer, so he wraps his arms around her torso and lifts her up from the mattress carefully, to hug her. He gets surprised at feeling her arms enclosing him as well, very weakly, but she is hugging him back. A huge grin appears on his face.
Caleb "I'm so glad you are okay, babe" he tells her and smooches her neck.
After a while, Hanna's arms loosen their grip, so Caleb lays her back on the bed.
Caleb "Rest a bit" he tells her softly.
But Hanna stares at him with wide-open eyes.
Caleb "Not sleepy?"
Hanna reaches out and she is the one who takes Caleb's hand this time. She even manages to pull softly from his hand.
Caleb "You are starting to move your arms too, that's great!" he tells her as he gets closer to her, assuming that that is what she wants. He turns around and sitting by her side, he leans back to rest on the half-raised head of the hospital bed. Then, he turns to the side to look at her.
Caleb "Try to say something… I want to hear you" he tells her softly and pecks her lips.
But Hanna brings her hand to his face and very much softly, she pulls him back to her mouth.
Caleb smiles. "You want a kiss?" he says against her lips and waits for a moment, trying to encourage her to try to say a simple 'yes' at least.
But Hanna remains quiet. She stares at him for a bit before closing her eyes. And that's when Caleb can't help but fulfill her wish, he finally starts to kiss her. He kisses her very gently, since she barely manages to move her mouth to part her lips slightly, and the kiss depends entirely on him. He kisses her for a while, and when he is about to pull away, he starts to feel Hanna's lips pressing his lips too. He smiles in the kiss right away and keeps kissing her. With each move of her lips, Hanna gets to recover more strength and some minutes later, she manages to catch up with Caleb's pace, since he keeps the kiss slow. Caleb couldn't be happier to have Hanna like that. Just a couple of hours ago, he would never have imagined being sharing a kiss with her so soon. And Hanna gets to surprise him again when she turns her head to change sides, making the kiss even better. That only encourages Caleb to go for more and he gently involves his tongue in the kiss as well. Just like it happened with her lips, Hanna moves her tongue very slowly at first, but then she starts to pull it into his mouth too. The kiss that started a bit sloppy has grown strong and has become an intense kiss now, although it's still slow and gentle. But the important thing is that it's been a kiss full of feelings from the beginning and it has helped Hanna a lot to get her strength back.
After several minutes of kissing, it's Hanna who pulls away from Caleb's lips. When she opens her eyes, she finds him smiling. They stare into each other's eyes for a while.
Hanna "I love you too" she says very softly.
Caleb's smile grows wider. "What?"
Hanna "I love you too" she repeats, a bit louder this time.
Caleb "You heard me?"
Hanna nods. "I always hear you"
Caleb grins. "I love you so much" he tells her while taking his hands to her face, and then, cupping her cheeks, he starts another beyond romantic kiss.