[ussbansheec] "Aftermath of Assault"

Aftermath of Assault


Patrick and Anna McEntire

The Doctor sighed as he left the private room where Dr McEntire was resting. She was well, awake and alert. Her body would need a lot of time to recover completely but then it wasn't her body that was the problem. The most recent brain scans were showing elevated levels of stress, most concentrated around the areas that held memories. He sighed again as he padded to where her husband was waiting.

"Captain McEntire?" he asked softly.

Mac raised his head and gently laid his children down on the seats. "Here," he called as he rose carefully on legs long since asleep. "Is she awake? How is she? Can I see her?"

"You can see her but I'd rather you left the children outside for the moment," he smiled sadly. "I don't think overwhelming her will help. One thing before you go in. You know the complication I mentioned to you? It has manifested itself as a problem with her memory. It appears her attacker was a telepath. Please, don't be surprised if she has a problem remembering you."

Mac looked stunned a moment, then nodded, stepping just inside the door. "Anna, honey?" he called carefully from there, hoping not to startle her.

Glancing over, Anna gave the man at the door a confused smile. "Um... hello?" she offered, her face pale and her eyes wide.

"Hi, sweetheart. How do you feel?" he asked as he stepped to her side and sat next to her, still mindful not to move suddenly or frighten her in any way.

"Um..." she gave him a very confused look. "I'm tired and I'm sore. Um..." Staring at him as if she wanted to say something, she changed her mind and said nothing at all.

"...and you don't remember who I am right now..." Mac sighed. "That's okay. It'll come back No rush, I guess. Do you know what happened to you?"

"The doctor said I was attacked. He said..." she frowned as she reached forward and brushed his cheek. "Patrick," she said softly. "Am I right?"

He nodded, choking back tears. "That's right, honey."

"You weren't there," Anna whispered. "When he came. You weren't at home."

He shook his head. "No." he managed at last, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I wasn't home. I was still at work. Just you and the kids were at home."

"I should say it's okay now. I should tell you it doesn't matter. That's what I normally do, isn't it?" she asked, her voice still full of confusion and not hurt or anger. Her questions were simply for questions' sake.

"It's what you normally do." Mac acknowledged. "but it's not okay...and it does matter." He cleared his throat as he blinked back the tears. "I'm sorry, Anna. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I should have been there."

"Yes, you should have," she nodded, still not even a note of condemnation in her voice. "You haven't been for a long time, have you?" Her head tilted to the side as she started to wipe away his tears with her fingers.

He shook his head. "I've taken extra shifts all month." He agreed. "Late nights..worked through the weekends." Swallowing hard, he admitted, "Joshie's last upgrade set us back a bit more than I expected."

A spark of something stabbed at her and she realised with a shock it was disbelief. "I don't believe you," she said in amazement. "Or I didn't. I was scared, petrified, you'd found someone else. Someone who wasn't old. Someone who wasn't tied down by five children. Someone who didn't just roll over and go to sleep because she's so tired she can barely think straight. It was making me sick with fear."

Mac flinched as though he'd been struck. "Anna..."he began, sounding hurt, then stopped. He shook his head slowly in disbelief. "There's nobody else..." he assured her softly, unable to fathom how she could even think that. He'd pledged himself to her always. She was his wife. The mother of his children. His heart, and soul. How could she even think that? "Nobody but you..."

"I know that, baby," she said softly as she leaned forward to touch her lips to his. "I know but she didn't. She knew how handsome you are. She'd seen younger women looking at you and you looked back. I know you look but don't touch. But she was tired and scared. She thought she'd lost you. She even understood if she had."

She? Mac wondered. "You could never lose me, Anna. I've never wanted...needed...absolutely loved anyone else the way I love you. I never could."

"There's love and then lust, Patrick," she sighed. "And that's what she feared. That she wasn't good enough anymore..." Something made her stop and she stared away from him. Know me, a voice said in the back of her mind. Remember what I am... Bastard son and forgotten brother... She shook her head, as if trying to shake away a bad thought. "N-no. No, this isn't right. I didn't... I didn't doubt... I knew... I know you love me...."

Mac listened carefully to his wife, both her words and her tone. Something was different. Wrong. What had that bastard done to her? "It's alright, sweetheart. It doesn't matter."

"It does," she insisted, her whole demeaner changing as she started to cry. "Mac, please believe me, I knew you were working late. I knew that. I swear."

Mac nodded, holding her close. "I believe you, sweetheart." he told her, trying hard to understand."I believe you."

"He said things," she choked as she laid her head against his chest. "He showed me you with another woman. You were..." she coughed, trying to breathe through the tears.

He held her tightly as he shook his head. "He was trying to hurt you with lies. I don't know why...I'm sorry...I should have been there...I should have protected you...I'm so sorry...."

"It's okay," she whispered earnestly. "You're here now, I need you so much. Oh god, Mac, I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, kissing her gently. "It's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay."

"Wh.... what happened to him?" she asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

"PJ injected him with the vial on your lab tray. He's alive...sort of."

"Sort of... No, I don't want to know." Hugging him as tightly as she could, she relaxed a little. "Come lie down? Let me sleep safe for a while?"

He stretched out beside her without hesitation, drawing her carefully to him and holding her safely there in his embrace. "I'm right here." he assured her softly. "I'm staying right here."

"Don't leave me," she whispered in a scared, tiny voice that drifted a little at the end. "Stay..."

"Always," he whispered as he watched her sleep.

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