That night, Marissa slept better than she had since she had been taken to the hospital in Syracuse. Braxton credited the fact that she was now 1800 miles from the compound for that, but she knew that him being there with her had a lot to do with it as well. He had spoken to Gideon, who had in turn spoken to the ICU doctor about him being on the bed with her at night. Fortunately, the ICU physician gave his consent. He had seen on the chart from University Hospital that she'd had nightmares so bad that she woke up screaming and that they didn't happen when Braxton was with her on the bed. Besides it being good for Marissa, it was good for the other patients and their visiting family members to not be disturbed by her screams.

When Gael and Irene arrived in the morning, Braxton got the car keys from them and drove to Gideon's. The oncologist had left for the hospital, but his wife, Paula, welcomed him into their home. She poured him a cup of coffee and asked if he wanted breakfast. He was starving and gratefully accepted the offer. She made some eggs and toast for him.

Caitlin stopped in the kitchen to meet Braxton before Paula drove her to school. “How is Marissa?” she asked as she sat down at the table. She'd already had her breakfast.

“She had a good night. Better than the past couple nights had been”, he replied as Paula set his meal in front of him.

“I am glad. I hope she gets better soon. Marissa is a very nice lady. She was so kind to me when we were there for their Thanksgiving. My dad has been very worried about her.”

“We've all been worried about Marissa”, Paula said. “I know Gideon will be glad when he finally removes her kidney, but that's a few weeks off. He says she needs to heal from this ... this ... incident first. Caitlin and I wanted to visit but he says she can't have a lot of visitors in the ICU.”

“You can Skype with her if you want. Text me or one of her parents when you want to and we'll let you know if she is awake and up to it”, Braxton offered. “I'm sure she would love to chat with you for a few minutes. She sleeps a lot, though, and is very weak, so don't be offended if she says no. Try again the next day.”

When he finished his breakfast, Paula said “I'll show you your room, and then I have to take Caitlin to school. Make yourself at home, help yourself to whatever you want to eat or drink.” Braxton followed her upstairs. Paula took him to one of the guest bedrooms. “We have two guest rooms - we'd hoped for another child or two when we bought the house, but it didn't happen.”

“When Marissa is released from hospital, she's coming here, right?” Braxton asked.

“That is the plan, yes.”

“Where will she sleep? In my room?”

“If she's able to get up and down the stairs, and she wants to sleep with you, that is fine with us. However, we're making the tv room downstairs into a temporary bedroom. Gideon is going to get a hospital bed for Marissa, he thought it might be more comfortable since she will be able to raise her head and knees if she wants. He said you've been sleeping on the bed with her in the hospital - that it prevents her from having nightmares.”

“Yes, that is correct. For some reason, she doesn't have them if I'm on the bed with her.”

“She has been through so much. When she made contact with Gideon after she left the Cartel and went home, Marissa sent him an email telling him in detail what she'd been through. He let me read it. It sure explained her willingness to die from the cancer, but I'm glad she got out and went to her parents. And then she was kidnapped again last weekend. It's no wonder she has nightmares.” Paula cringed inwardly, remembering what she'd read in the email.

“She has and she has more to go through with the surgery and chemo and then testifying once they arrest cartel members.”

“Gideon feels a pull toward her. He worries about his patients, but he doesn't bring them home or take his family to their homes for a weekend. Marissa is special to him - and she's become special to Caitlin and I, too.”

“I understand that pull - I felt the same a year ago when I first met her. I'm really kicking myself in the butt for moving to LA without calling her father and letting him know where I was.”

“The important thing is that they did eventually find you and you are here for Marissa. I have to get going now or Caitlin will be late for school. I laid a towel and facecloth on the bathroom vanity for you if you want a shower. Sleep well.”

Braxton was surprised at how tired he was. He'd slept on Marissa's bed, though he'd woken up a couple times when her nurse came in to change her bag of fluids or take her vitals. He hadn't got a lot of sleep in her bed in Syracuse, though, so it must be catching up with him. He dozed off almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the hospital, Dr Hale was discussing Marissa's latest bloodwork with her and her parents. “It's a little better than it was when you came in late afternoon yesterday, so that is good.”

“So ... slow”, Marissa said.

“At least it is going in the right direction”, the doctor replied. “How is your pain?”

“Hurt...all ... over. Med-medication ... helps.”

“Let me take a look at your knee.” He pulled her bed covers down so he could see her leg. Her knee was still quite swollen. “I'm going to get an x-ray of this knee, just to make sure there's no more damage to it than the cracks that were discovered when you fell on it.”

“Do you ... have ... to?” she asked, not wanting to have to leave her room.

“I think it's a good idea, but don't worry”, he replied, seeming to read her mind. “A portable x-ray machine will come here to your room, you don't have to go anywhere.”

“Okay”, she relented with relief.

“Doctor, Marissa is worried about her speech. What do you think of that?” Irene asked.

“We've been hoping it is just from her being so tired and weak as well as having been so close to dying. It most likely will come back as she improves. It might be an idea to get an MRI and see if there's any brain damage, just to rule that out. Marissa, did they kick you in the head during the beating?”

“N-no ...I ....don't ... think so.”

“I know they didn't find any bruising or bleeding on your skull in Syracuse. Let's get the MRI anyway, just in case. You will have to go down to the lab, but they will take you on a stretcher. Someone can go with you, but they can't be in the room while the scan is being done. Do you feel like getting up and into a chair for a bit?”

“No ... sor-sorry.” Marissa had hoped to get up but she just didn't have the strength yet.

“That is okay. You rest as much as you can. Maybe tomorrow.”

The Brennans were surprised at how fast the MRI was arranged. Porters came to get Marissa just before noon. A technician had already been there with a portable x-ray machine. Irene went with her and Gael stayed behind in case Braxton came back while she was gone. When she was brought back to her room, Marissa was tired and fell asleep almost immediately. Gael and Irene went to the door to talk in low voices so there would be less chance of waking her.

“Gael, what if she has brain damage? What will we do?” Irene asked. She wouldn't love her daughter any less, but she was worried how they would cope.

“Then we will deal with it, Reenie. We've had handicapped foster children and Terry and Anne are special needs.”

“I know, I just hope Marissa will be okay. I think it will kill her if she can't get back to where she can be independent. And what if Braxton can't handle it and leaves? It would devastate her.”

“Then he wouldn't be the man I think he is. He won't leave her, Reenie. I think he's falling for her and hard.” Gael knew that Braxton didn't really know his daughter all that well, but he also knew that men tended to know a lot sooner than women when they'd met “the one”. He'd known as soon as he set eyes on his future wife that he would marry her some day. And he had been right.

“I hope you are right, sweetheart.”

“I am right. And look at it this way - if Rissa has any brain damage, it's only her speech that is affected. I don't see any signs of her mental faculties being diminished. She's tired, but that's because of the sepsis. Her speech can be worked on, but even if it never improves, things could be a lot worse. Now, we don't know if there's any damage to her mobility, but that can be dealt with, too. We'll pray for her - God has been good to us so far. I don't see him abandoning us now.”

“You are right”, Irene said as he took her into his arms and hugged her.

Braxton returned around 2:00pm. Marissa was still sleeping. Gael took him to the family room to give him an update. “Rissa had an x-ray on her knee this morning and an MRI to check for brain damage in case she got kicked in the head at the compound. She's very upset at not being able to talk normally.”

“It's probably too early for the results”, Braxton said, hoping that the MRI would be normal.

“We should hear soon. Look, I'm not saying you would do this, but if she has brain damage and you can't handle that, please go now. The longer you stick around, the worse it will be on her if you leave.”

Braxton looked insulted. “Gael, I have no intention of leaving, no matter what the situation is with Marissa. I care for her very deeply. And, quite frankly, I'm hurt that you'd think I would be so shallow.” He wondered why Gael would think such a thing of him. It seemed to have come from out of the blue.

“I didn't mean any offence, Braxton. You have to admit we don't know each other all that well. I'm just trying to protect my daughter.”

“I know, Gael. You are a good father. I think we are all stressed out right now.”

Dr Hale entered the room. “I have Marissa's test results. I've already talked to Irene, but I thought I would tell you myself in case you have any questions.” He sat down in a chair.

“What are they?” Gael asked, almost holding his breath. Please, God, he prayed, let Rissa be okay.

“The MRI is normal”, the doctor began, “so it looks like the speech difficulty should be temporary. I suggested a wipe off board to Irene, but she informed me that Marissa is left handed and she can't use that hand right now.”

“We can deal with the speech issues”, Gael said. “The fact that there's no brain damage is a relief.”

“If it goes another day or two with no improvement, I might suggest a speech therapist, though there could be a psychological component to it as well. Your daughter has been through great trauma. She's probably afraid of it happening again, even though she's been moved far away from where the latest incident happened. I think she could benefit from therapy.”

Braxton had a “doh!” moment and spoke up. “I'm a psychologist and I agree on everything you said. I'm wondering if bringing her here might not have been a good thing.”

“What do you mean, Braxton?”, Gael asked.

“It was my suggestion, as I thought this would be the last place the Cartel would look for her, given that she's been here before. However, she was beat up pretty bad here a little over a year ago and that might be resurfacing in her mind now that she's in the city again.” He would never forgive himself if his idea had caused Marissa more psychological distress.

“Let's talk to Marissa about it”, Dr Hale suggested. “I would also like to get someone from Psychiatry to see her and evaluate her.” Both Braxton and Gael agreed. “Now, about her knee. The x rays didn't show any breaks or new cracks but one of the two cracks she has looks bigger compared to the radiographs that were taken in Edson - I was able to get them sent to me. There isn't a lot we can do except ice it, which we've been doing, and keeping her off that leg. Unfortunately, since she has a broken hand, she will not be able to use crutches, so she'll have to be in a wheelchair.”

“She can get by with one crutch when she needs to”, Braxton said. “She did it at my place when she had a broken wrist.”

“Can she hop with just one crutch?” the doctor asked.

“She can't hop at all”, Gael spoke up. Seeing the doctor's puzzled expression, he added “The drug cartel cut her Achilles tendons and also cut a piece off each of them. A surgeon was able to re-attach them, but she can't walk without her crutches and her feet are too weak to do anything but walk.” Gael hated talking about it, it always brought back horrible memories of that time a few years prior.

“Oh, God. She's certainly had her share of troubles, hasn't she? Okay, she will need to use a wheelchair for at least a couple weeks, which shouldn't be a problem as she's likely going to be here longer than that.”

“In the ICU?” Braxton asked.

“With any type of luck, no. We're hoping to be able to move her to a regular bed within a week. That all depends on her lab results. They need to improve significantly.” Like Dr Maynard, he was worried that they were not coming up as fast as they had hoped.

“Doctor, is she going to make it?” On one hand, Gael didn't want to know, but on the other, if the answer was no, he wanted to be prepared for the inevitable.

Silas Hale chose his words carefully. He did not want to say yes for fear of the patient's family blaming him if she died. He didn't want to say no, which would dash their hopes - and besides, things were not that dire at this point. “We can never say for certain if a patient will go home or not, but Marissa has a really good chance. The fact that her labs are looking better is a very good sign. Barring something unexpected, I do expect to eventually release her to a regular bed. It's my understanding that when she arrived at University Hospital in Syracuse, she expressed a wish that they allow her to die.”

“That is correct”, Gael confirmed. “She was in pretty bad shape and I think she'd just had enough of that drug cartel.”

“I'm sure the doctors there told you how important attitude is.” Gael nodded. “It appears that she's regained the will to live, having her loved ones by her side. That may make all the difference.”

“You don't know how hard that was to hear - that your daughter has given up and wants to die”, Gael said with a tear in his eye.

“I'm a father, so I can imagine. Let's be glad she is doing better.”

Later, Rex Avery from the FBI called Gael to see if he could speak with Marissa. She was awake and gave consent, so he gave the agent her Skype info. “Hello, Marissa”, he said when she accepted the call. “How are you doing?”

“I am doing ...better”, she replied. Her speech had improved a little bit. “Very ... tired, though.”

“You have been through quite the ordeal, it is going to take a while to recover. Don't rush it. Is it okay if I ask you to tell me what happened? I can't do a lot for investigating without knowing exactly what happened.” Rex didn't like having to ask her to recount what she'd been through, but it was necessary in order for him to even think about making any arrests.

“It's okay ...Agent ...Avery”, she replied.

“Call me 'Rex', Marissa. I know you are having trouble with your speech, but take your time.”

With Braxton sitting beside her and holding her hand, Marissa told Rex what had happened to her that Saturday night and the subsequent days until she was taken to the hospital in Syracuse, including the Cartel killing the pilot that had flown them from Edmonton to the remote landing strip near the compound. She ended with “Please ... do ... not put... Dr .... Car-Car-Cardenas ...in jail. He ... saved my ... life.” Telling the FBI agent what had happened had really tired her out and it was showing in her speech.

“Dr Cardenas won't be charged. He has agreed to testify against the Cartel and we have him in a safe location.”

“I...am ...glad. Please ...please tell ...him...thank you....for...saving my ....life.” Marissa wished she could thank the doctor in person, but she knew that probably was not possible.

“I will.”

“Agent ...Rex, I would like to write him a thank you letter. If I do, could you please see that he gets it?” Irene asked. She, too, would prefer to convey her appreciation in person, but she understood the importance of her daughter's rescuer staying hidden.

“Absolutely. Let me know when you are ready to send it, and I will give you an address to mail it to, then we will see that he gets it.” They said their goodbyes with Rex promising to keep them updated on the case.

Marissa was spent, physically and emotionally. Her parents and Braxton were feeling emotional, too. This was the first they were hearing the details of what she had been through since being kidnapped from the farm. Gael was angry. He wanted to go find the compound and rip the head honcho to shreds with his bare hands. “You know you can't do that”, Braxton told him.

“I know, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to. Are you okay staying with Marissa while we get some supper?” he asked. He needed to get out of the hospital for a bit, though if Braxton hadn't been there, he'd have stayed so that his daughter would not be alone.

“Of course I am. You two go, take a break.” After they had left, he turned to Marissa. Her eyes were misty. “Come here, sweetie”, he said, taking her into a hug.

“I am ... so... so glad .... you are ...here...Br-Braxton.”

“I wouldn't be anywhere else, honey.”

“I ...love ... your hugs.” She looked up at him and gave a small smile - it was all she could manage.

“You can have one any time you want it”, he replied, holding her tight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nico closed his packed suitcase and took it out to his car, placing it in the trunk. It was after dark, so the chances of someone seeing him were lower than in the day. Getting into the car, he started it and drove away from his house at the compound for the last time.

At the gate, he told the guard he was going into town for a few drinks. “Have a good evening, sir”, the guard opened the gate and waved him through.

'Oh, I will', he thought.

Nico drove a few hundred yards down the road, turned around and pulled over onto the shoulder. He took the detonator out of his pocket and paused. Did he really want to do this? Once done, he could not take it back. Then he thought of all the blood he had cleaned up for the Cartel and of the woman they had tried to kill slowly and painfully. That clinched it. Looking toward the compound he said “Adios, assholes” and pressed the button. He heard the sound of a bomb going off. He pressed the button again and another one went off. He did it 48 more times and they went off in the order he'd placed them. While he wanted to sit and watch the aftermath, he needed to get out of there before the cops arrived, so he turned around again and drove off. He had saved enough money from his pay with the Cartel to open up his own appliance repair business and he was headed somewhere far away to do exactly that, using his real name.

A few towns away, Nico found a public garbage can. He wiped the fingerprints off the detonator, stepped on it to smash it, then picked it up with a tissue and threw it away.