A/N: Hey! Terribly sorry about the really long wait for the new chapter. You can blame it on my senior design project and ROTC. Anyway, here it is. Don may be pretty OOC in this chapter, but here's my justification. Don was coping with the whole situation by doggedly pursuing the case (ie- Keith Emmett). Now that he's off the case, and pissed off at his boss, and seeing/making his friend go through a lot of pain, he's getting more desperate with his attempts at coping.
Hope you like it! No guarantees on when I'll be able to get the next chapter up. Working, sleeping, and eating come before writing (in that order).
Don smugly returned to Colby's room, satisfied that he'd managed to find everything he needed to execute his plan, even without the help of Dr. Collins. His smirk dropped from his face before he re-entered the room, though, remembering exactly what was waiting there for him.
Megan glanced up when Don walked in. A new sheen of sweat had covered Colby's forehead since Don had left. The senior agent returned to his post beside Colby's bed, and he sat down, snaking his left hand through the bedrails to grasp his colleague's hand again. Colby groaned at the touch, but he soon had a death-grip on Don's fingers.
"Tell me when the pain gets bad, okay, Buddy?" Don confirmed with Colby. Granger nodded his head once. "Just squeeze my hand to let me know when you don't think you can take anymore."
Colby's breathing was shallow, like every breath he took was causing him pain. But that wasn't the pain Don was waiting for. He knew Colby could push through the baseline pain. It was the breakthrough pain that was causing all the problems. Don only had to wait for about seven minutes before Colby's grip tightened on his hand. Despite being drugged, the veteran had a nearly bone-crushing grip.
As soon as he felt the change in pressure, Don reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette lighter. With his right hand, he flicked the wheel and lever to start the flame. His left hand was still holding onto Colby's, but his left arm was mostly out of the bedrails. Steeling his resolve, Don moved the flame until it was touching the skin of his forearm, about three inches from his elbow. It didn't hurt for the first few seconds, but then it started to burn. He only kept the flame lit for another four seconds after he could start to feel his skin burning. His instinctive response was to grip Colby's hand tighter and exhale sharply against the pain.
"You see, Colby," he whispered through shallow panting breaths, "Whenever you hurt, I'll hurt. We'll get through this together." Colby nodded weakly, his breath also coming out in pants.
When the episode of breakthrough pain was over, Megan nearly exploded on Don. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" she accused loudly.
Don just shrugged and returned his attention to Colby. "I'm helping Colby. If I can make it through the pain, so can he. He's not alone, and now he'll know it."
Megan was still stunned by the utter stupidity of Don's actions. "You are out of your mind, Don!" she exclaimed. Don didn't respond. "I'm calling Dr. Collins."
That got a response. "No!" Don spoke sharply. "Leave her out of this. And that's a direct order."
Megan glared. "You can't make any orders right now. You're on vacation. We all are. I'm calling the doctor." She stood up, but Don put the lighter back in his pocket and grabbed her wrist with his right hand.
"Don't. Colby needs this."
Megan shook off Don's hand and walked out the door. Don shook his head and returned his attention to the incapacitated agent.
Every painful sound that escaped Colby's lips was like torture to David. He hated Don for convincing the doctor and Colby to stop the morphine. He hated himself for getting Colby into this situation in the first place. Even if he hadn't been able to prevent his partner from getting shot, if David had just stayed at the hospital, Colby never would have thought that he was dead. If Colby didn't think he was dead, all this would be over, and Colby would be resting peacefully under sedation and morphine.
David just couldn't win. His presence brought complications to Colby's condition, but his absence had started a chain of events that had spiraled to this. And now Don was hurting himself, just to keep Colby company. Didn't he realize David already felt guilty enough for getting his partner into this mess; he didn't need to feel guiltier for forcing his boss to hurt, too! At the same time, David wished he could just jump out of his seat, knock Don away, and take his place. David would gladly hurt himself to make the situation bearable for his young partner. Yet, the roller coaster of caffeine was leaving him thinking pseudo-rationally for the moment, and he knew that since Colby thought he was dead, hurting himself would do no good. It would have to be Don.
David just couldn't do anything right.
By the time Megan returned with a nurse in tow, Colby had experience two more rounds of breakthrough pain. Consequently, Don was now sporting three angry burns on his lower left arm. With each episode, he was moving a couple inches from the previous weal.
"Oh my God," the nurse exclaimed when she walked into the room. Colby was gasping through clenched teeth, and Don was trembling from the pain of the lit flame touching his skin. Within seconds, the episode had passed, and Don let the flame die. Still tightly holding Colby's hand, Don glanced at Megan angrily.
"I told you," he hissed, but Megan cut him off.
"I didn't involve Dr. Collins. That's what you ordered me not to do, so I found a nurse instead." Don opened his mouth to retort, but Megan kept going. "I know you want to help Colby get through this, but what you're doing is insane. There has to be another way."
The nurse had regained her senses from the shock of what she had seen. "Sir, give me the lighter," she instructed, using her most authoritative voice. Don merely arched an eyebrow at her. It would take more than a bossy nurse to sway a federal agent. "Sir, I can't let you do that again. You need to get treatment."
Don snorted this time. "I don't really care what you can let me do. I'm going to keep doing this, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I'll get treatment when Colby can go back on the morphine. But not a moment sooner."
The nurse stepped forward, as if to try to forcibly take the lighter away from the senior agent, but Don's glare held her at bay. Soon enough, the glaring contest was broken by another bone-crushing squeeze on Don's hand. He whipped his head around to return his eyes to Colby, simultaneously reigniting the cigarette lighter. The next burn was almost half-way down his forearm. The closer he got to his wrist, the more it hurt. Which was perfect for Don's purposes.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, the nurse wheeled around on her heel and stormed out of the room. Don broke his eyes away from Colby for only a second so he could look at Megan. It was like he was daring her to try to stop him. Megan closed her eyes and shook her head. Colby was physically incapacitated, David emotionally and mentally, and it seemed that Don was following suit.
Colby had now made it through thirty minutes of pain with Don's new style of help. When Colby wasn't squeezing Don's hand, Don watched the seconds tick by on the analog clock above the door. Only about thirty more minutes until the doctor had estimated Colby would be coherent enough to understand the news about David. Don willed the clock to move faster, but it mockingly continued at its steady pace.
The female nurse returned, this time dragging in three other people. Dr. Collins, who looked irate, and two male orderlies filed in. The orderlies each looked like they could have played as professional linebackers. Don met the doctor's gaze, not even bothering to acknowledge the nurse or orderlies.
"Agent Eppes," Dr. Collins' voice was cold. "I knew you were stubborn; I just didn't realize that you were also inordinately stupid." Don simply stared back. "I thought you were crazy when you came to me with your hair-brained idea a few minutes ago, but I understood why you were trying to do it. But for the love of God, did you have to be stupid enough to do it in plain sight of hospital personnel, knowing that you would leave us with no choice but to stop you?" Dr. Collins' voice was no longer cold. It was furious. Yet Don still did nothing but stare back.
Colby let out a quiet groan as he clamped down on Don's hand again. Don tore his eyes away from Dr. Collins and returned them to his agent. Deliberately, he flicked the lighter on and started to burn the fifth mark on his arm.
Dr. Collins stepped forward to snatch the lighter, but Don's reflexes were faster. "Joe, Mike, restrain Mr. Eppes. He is obviously posing a danger to himself and others right now."
As a trained federal agent, Don could have easily defended himself against the two young men who were now approaching him smoothly. However, he was effectively tethered to where he sat by the hand that was snaked through the bed rails. Not only that, but he had no functional use of that hand or arm, since Colby had a vice-like grip on his hand. So, essentially immobilized and down one arm, Don didn't stand a chance against the orderlies. But that wouldn't stop him from trying.
David had been on constant alert since he had arrived at the hospital this time around. No-one had entered the room without David knowing about it. So when the nurse, doctor, and two huge guys came into the room with obviously hostile intent, David immediately sensed the threat. He decided that he would stay in his role as an observer until he was needed in another capacity. At the moment, it was all just words, something Don could and would take care of very easily. Yet the looming threat remained.
When Dr. Collins ordered the two men to restrain Don, David immediately leapt to his feet. Having been seated for hours on end with nothing to eat or drink except coffee, David's body wasn't quite prepared for the sudden flurry of activity. As he stood, the blood rushed out of his head, leaving him swaying on his feet for several seconds. Dizzy, the young agent stuck out a hand so he could find something steadier to hang onto. He couldn't play the role of protector if he couldn't stand up on his own.
The blood-rush ended nearly as quickly as it had begun, so David started to make his way across the room toward Colby's bed. There was no way he would let any harm come to Colby. Since Don was acting directly on behalf of Colby, David wasn't going to let any harm come to him, either. No-one else in the room noticed the unsteady agent crossing the room.
Megan watched the scene around her with uncertainty. She felt a certain loyalty to her boss, but at the same time, she agreed with Dr. Collins' conclusions about the situation. Don was more than happy to admit that the chain of events was having a significant impact on Colby and David, but the senior agent was refusing to concede that it was having a very negative impact on himself. Megan knew that this wasn't just a simple situation, and that there were many factors involved, but she wasn't sure what the right course of action would be. It definitely wasn't the way David had handled it, and it wasn't the way Don was handling it, but it also probably wasn't the way the doctor was handling it. There had to be some middle ground, some balanced solution that would help meet all of their needs.
When Dr. Collins gave the order to restrain Don, Megan partially agreed with her decision. Even if Megan understood that what Dr. Collins was doing might be best, Megan was unwilling to help deactivate her boss. She wasn't going to enable him to continue his self-destruction, but she also wasn't going to enable them to take him down.
So she watched the events unfold, seemingly neutral.
The first orderly, his name apparently Joe, posted himself behind and to the left of Don. The other orderly, Mike, took his position on the opposite side. Don still had a death grip on the cigarette lighter, understanding what was about to happen, but had let the flame flicker out. Joe reached down to take hold of Don's right arm, but Don quickly moved it. Seeing that Don was not going to cooperate, Mike managed to get Don into a position where he couldn't go any further. Don curled his right arm into his chest, hoping to keep it away from either orderly. Joe leaned in and took a firm hold on Don's right wrist, then slowly pulled it so Don's arm was behind his back. Don fought it the whole way, but with only one free arm, there wasn't much he could do. Joe soon had Don in a standard law enforcement submission hold, with the agent's arm twisted behind his back. The orderly could easily control the agent just by swiftly pulling up on Don's wrist.
Seeing that Joe was doing well enough on his own, Mike shifted his focus to Don's other arm. He attempted to pull Don's hand out of Colby's, but it wasn't budging. Even if Don had wanted to let go, there was no way they could pry open Colby's grip. It was like Colby was clinging onto life itself, and wasn't about to let go.
The youngest agent gasped again in pain, tightening his grip on Don's hand. Don tried to offer words of comfort, but without an active lighter, his mind raced to find something better to offer. He quickly came up with something and acted on it. Don twisted against the hold Joe had on his arm, initially causing brief pain, and then even more as the orderly applied more resistance. Don found himself gripping Colby's hand even harder. "Still here, Granger," he wheezed. It felt like his shoulder was going to rip out of its socket.
David was three-fourths of the way from his chair to the foot of Colby's bed. Progress had been slow but steady, enough so that still no-one had noticed his movement. He was on a mission: to help Don. Nothing was going to stop him; nothing could get in his way. He was only two feet from the bed when Colby's eyes cracked open and fell on him.
"David?" Colby whispered.