Something Thought
Ed had arrived at home, after three full days
at the hospital. He had lost most of the function in his right leg due to the
muscle having been damaged beyond repair and the bone being shattered. The
doctors had done what they could, but had only managed to save his leg, not get
it working again, some kind of spinal injury, according to Danny. Exactly how
long it would take to regain those functions – if ever – even she was unsure
of.
Then there was De
Beer, who was still in ICU, and Connor who would arrive any moment now together
with Safu. Laura had spent a lot more time around Connor and Ed, especially
with the whole hospitalisation story, but to Ed it seemed as if she had grown
up in the short while that had gone by – he had nothing better to do while in
his bed, so he went through her, and De Beer’s dossiers. Apparently, she had
never really been out in the field, except for a couple of fetch, and easy
abduction assignments.
He had no idea how
she and JR had been, but by the little she had told him in their private
discussions while Liz was away, he knew that JR was seriously messing himself
up due to his actions. That’s the only way he would learn, though, Ed had told
her, to which she only acknowledged.
Liz helped Ed out
of the car, and pushed his wheelchair up the ramp that CNet had created in the
few days while Ed was away. He had turned most of Prime’s flooring into a
wheelchair compatible area, much to Ed’s surprise. He had also offered Ed an
easy way out for his injuries – augmentation, however only on the smallest
scale. Ed had to seriously think about it before he would accept.
They went up to the
room without even going to greet Ian, who Ed knew to be in the study, and then
Ed had Liz lock their bedroom door. He had to catch up on some quality time
with Elizabeth. Time he had only now, known to be extremely valuable.
Dev was standing a few feet away from the EMT
van, staring at the CIA people trying to figure out how they would be getting
that monster of a thing out of the road and away from public eyes. It had been
a couple of years now since he had lit a cigarette, yet he wanted to scream at
someone to just pass him a loose draw. Even though he had killed that Council
member, he still felt that he had more to do. More to kill. But something
didn’t feel right.
They
were on their way to the airport before the Others had ambushed them. It made
him wonder why they were so hot on their trail to begin with. Had the Council
finally wormed their way into the Others high command? Was it a random attack
because of Dev’s allegiance? On the other hand, could it have been something
else entirely? One thing he knew for sure, though, was that the flight they had
missed cost them the lead on another target known to be in an unknown
organisation.
Evelyn had scolded
him about his actions, though insisted that he stay on the assignment when the
other agents butted in. In a way, he was glad that she had done that, but in
another, he wished that he could get back home, and do this on his own terms.
Nothing he could do about that, though. He had a lot to make up for, and the
CIA was fully aware of that,
They had spent most of the day in bed, not
worrying about having to get dinner since both of them had eaten enough of the
hospital food to put them off anything that closely resembled food for a good
few days. Both of them knew that they would need breakfast, though, at least. He
also had to fetch his cat from the house if he’d be spending more time at Prime
from then on.
Ed
stroked Liz’s arm as her breathing slowly evened out. She had never been one to
stay up too late, and neither to get up too late. It reminded him a lot of the
days before their lives were turned upside down in the Agency.
“Yet,
we’re starting a whole new group of our own…” Ed mumbled, causing Liz to stir
slightly before continuing her slumber. He smiled and continued to stroke her
arm before he slowly, and awkwardly got out of bed, walked up his bags and
retrieved his medication. He popped two pills into his mouth and grimaced as he
swallowed without drinking water with it.
Ed
then walked over to the door, and dimmed the bedroom light almost all the way
down before he slowly opened the door and exited into the quiet hallway.
“Commander,”
CNet said the moment Ed had closed the door and turned around fully. “How are
you feeling?”
“Like
shit,” Ed said and started skulking down the hallway. “Thanks for asking.”
It
was quiet then, giving Ed enough time to get to the balcony where the small
ladder (now integrated into the build of the manse) was that lead up to the
slightly slanted roof. CNet definitely moved fast to get the building
comfortable for everyone.
Ian
had come down, and softly pat Ed on the shoulder as he made his way past and
down the hall where he would enter his room. Ed nodded in return, too sore to
do the same to Ian. He knew that Ian knew, though, so no hard feelings.
Ed
merely stood at the balcony, too scared to attempt the climb. It was then that
he heard CNet’s physical platform make its way down the hall, possibly from one
of the empty rooms. He turned around and saw that CNet had no intention to
disturb him just yet, but called the AI anyway.
“Commander?”
CNet asked and came to a full stop right inside the hallway, careful not to
make Ed feel too uneasy. “Is something wrong?”
“No,
no,” Ed said and turned around again. It took Ed a few moments then. “I just
wanted to say thank you for the offer.”
“Never
a problem, Commander.”
“And
I’ll gladly accept it – I can do with a full set of fingers again.”
“I
can also help with your spinal injury, sir. Or perhaps only create a leg
support for time being.”
Ed
thought it over for quite a while. He had almost forgotten that he was holding
CNet up. In a way, he wanted to tell CNet that he was only taking advantage
now, and that he had no intention to be augmented even more. However, he had to
be ready for anything…
He nodded once.