Nixie

Disclaimer: Numb3rs characters are not mine.

A/N: OK, REALLY sorry for the delay. I feel so guilty when it takes me longer than a week to update—and its been over two weeks so I'm feeling double the guilt; I swear the world was conspiring against me, not to mention writer's block—I'm just having mungo trouble trying to decide how to wrap this up. I'm definitely running on the big E. I experimented with style a little on this chapter. I hope you like it. Anyway, all official business and medical stuff is all made up…. that's right I'm pulling it straight from thin air—Enjoy!

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Chapter Twenty: Now We Are Free (Enya (I think)/ Gladiator Theme)

Beep.

Don's brain faintly recognized the seemingly distant electronic pulse of the heart monitor.

Beep.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but he couldn't move his body much, if at all and his vision was in a drug-induced haze.

Beep.

He felt like his entire body was on fire and his right arm was beyond even fire.

Beep. Beep.

(Strange, the pain is beginning to fade…)

Beep. Beep. Beep.

(Mom? Is that you? What's happening?)

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

(It hurts so bad…is this…is this the end?)

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

(Mom, I tried, is she all right? Is my daughter all right? I need to know. I can't go yet…)

Beeeeeeeeep.

For one instant it seemed, Don was an ethereal being, corporally floating above his body looking down.

(I look terrible…)

He watched as the bodies below him seemed to move so sluggishly, just faces and masses, nothing important, there was something calling him…. something far away…He turned towards it but something stopped him….

Don!

(What?)

"Don!"

(Charlie?)

"Daddy!"

(Nixie!)

Suddenly he was back in his body, aflame with wracking pain; his consciousness still muddled he saw his brother and daughter through hazy eyes—he saw there relieved faces and their tears. He reached for them—brushed his hand against his daughter's nearby face.

"Don't worry, I wasn' goin' 'nywhere." He slurred before once more slipping into unconsciousness, lulled by the now steady pulse of the electronic device beside his bed.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

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The hospital was dark with only the faint artificial twilight of fluorescent lighting when Don woke for the second time. His mind was clearer and he vaguely recalled waking up before and in significantly more pain. He winced as his eyes adjusted to the light and began to look, slowly, observe his surroundings.

He tried not to start when he saw his father sleeping in a chair to the right of his hospital bed, but he jumped a little in surprise anyway and spent several minutes vainly attempting to not make any noise as various aches and pains coursed through his body.

How long have I been out? Don wondered. Last time he was conscious there was still a week before his father was due back home and even if Charlie called him it still would have taken at least a day or two for Alan to get back to L.A. So, he thought, I've been out of it for one day, maybe two, minimum.

Don regarded the slumbering figure of his father, with a critical eye; well as critical as possible with the amount of drugs in his system; his father's chin rested on his chest and his arms were folded tensely across his chest. To Don it appeared as if it had been several days since he'd had a decent night's sleep.

The agent heard a faint murmur to his left and carefully turned his attention in that direction; careful not to move any more than was necessary. He couldn't help but smile, as weary as he was, when he saw his younger brother sprawled back in a chair as far back as he possibly could without falling out of it, Nixie curled up in his lap. Looks like they've done some Uncle-niece bonding, Don thought with approval.

"Donnie!" A hushed exclamation from the agent's father caused him to jump a little, a whip his head around to his right, an action he immediately regretted as he grimaced in pain. He was greeted by his father's weary and concerned face as the older man anxiously pressed the call button. "You had me very worried young man." Alan chided his son in a serious whisper, grasping onto Don' hand.

"Well, I had me worried too." Don grunted through the pain as he attempted a half-hearted smile. Alan returned the smile with no small degree of wariness permeating from his countenancer as a nurse briskly entered the room.

"Well hello to you sunshine." The nurse spoke with a friendly southern lilt to her voice and began to check Don's vitals. "You're fever has broken—a good sign—you had a pretty nasty infection to that bullet wound you had, as well as quite a bit of bruising."

"How long was I out for?" the injured agent inquired.

"Four days."

"Damn." Don felt his eyebrows arch appreciatively. He hadn't thought he'd been under for that long.

"Like I said, you had us worried." Alan smiled at his son's surprise.

"Boy, those two are sleeping pretty soundly aren't they?" the nurse commented referring to the sleeping math professor and child.

At that moment, Nixie began to stir, wriggling around in her sleep as she slowly came to consciousness.

"Speak of the devil." Don murmured affectionately. The small girl awoke and sleepily rubbed the grit from her eyes until she, quite suddenly, noticed that her father was awake and bestowing a large grin in her direction.

"Daddy!" She shrieked in surprise and joy, leaping up and going to the side of the bed and carefully clambered up to wrap her skinny arms around his neck in a tremendously relieved hug. At the same time, Charlie woke at Nixie's screech and dramatically, as well as unceremoniously, crashed from the chair to the floor.

"Don!" He exclaimed, jumping up from the floor, "Oh, god we thought we'd lost you for awhile there…" He struggled for the words and came up short, running his hand through his hair. Don reached for his brother with his uninjured arm, Nixie still clutching onto him, her face buried in his neck. Charlie moved to the bedside and leaned in to give his brother a cautious hug.

The nurse watched with a certain bemusement and though she had briefly thought that maybe she should interfere and remove the child and professor from the patient, it seemed that Don Eppes needed the contact as much as his family did, and she decided to let it slide. For a while at least.

"Ok, I'm going to go get the doctor so he can make an assessment and I suggest that perhaps before he arrives that there is only one person on the bed." The nurse winked as Don grinned and Charlie stood up sheepishly, taking a step back from the bed. The nurse ambled out of the room, and Don ruffled his daughter's hair.

"C'mon, time to hop down." She shook her head ferociously and held on tighter.

"Yes. C'mon.' He nudged her but again she shook her head violently.

"I'm not going anywhere sweetheart. It's ok, really." She looked at him with large eyes, hesitating, and Don realized that besides calling for him when he woke, she had been suspiciously silent. He glanced inquisitively towards his father, and Alan anticipated what his son was asking with his eyes.

"Not a word Donnie—not a word." Don sighed and gave his daughter a beseeching look, 'puppy eyes look' Nixie called it. The small girl gave a small smile and a sigh before carefully climbing down from the bed. Charlie held out his arms to the child and she seemed to think for a moment before responding and reciprocating the gesture. The math professor scooped her up from the ground.

As the doctor walked in, and as he went through the list of Don's injuries and all the complications, the agent new that there was a long road up ahead of him; it was going to take time for him to recover from his physical injuries and it was going to take even more time for Nixie to recover from her emotional wounds. And yet, and yet, as Don looked at his father's face, his brother's and lastly his daughter's; he knew that they were truly a family know; forged and tested by adversity and that this would just be one more obstacle that they would overcome.

Together.

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A/N: Do you think I should add an epilogue or just leave it as it is…. I'm not sure what I would out in an epilogue so if I do write one it might take awhile before it's posted. Let me know what you think!