Caffrey Flashback

Chapter 29: Bodyguard

Jacobi Hospital. Saturday morning. February 28, 2004.

When Peter and Henry woke him in the chapel, Neal was disappointed to find he wasn't as sharp as he'd been earlier. But he'd known the focus brought by eluding Seamus Bickerton probably wouldn't last long. He yawned as they urged him into a wheelchair. "D'you get him?" he asked.

"He's under arrest," Peter said.

"Said he'd hurt them," Neal said. "Had to lead him away from my room so they could escape."

"Yeah," said Henry as he started to push the wheelchair. "You texted a warning to me and I told our grandparents to get out of there. You did good."

Neal turned to look at Henry. He'd taken the blue contacts out. "You aren't me anymore?"

"You're both yourselves now," said Peter.

They took Neal back to his room, where his grandparents waited. "We're going to sit with you while Henry and Peter get you checked out of here," Edmund said.

"I can go home?"

"One step at a time," said Henry. "We'll take you back to our hotel and make sure you're safe." He followed Peter out of the room.

"Safe from what?" Neal asked.

Sitting in a visitor's chair beside him, Irene took his hand. "They think that awful man wanted to kill you, or to take you to someone else who would have killed you."

Neal blinked. He knew that. His instinctive response was to say that he could take care of himself, that he had proven it by eluding Bickerton, but he realized it wouldn't sound convincing when he'd already forgotten about the danger. "I don't like being muddled."

"Dear boy," said Irene. "You're rather sweet when you're muddled, but I do look forward to having a conversation with you when you're thinking clearly."

He studied her, looking for similarities to his mother. Irene had the same oval shape to her face, the same green eyes. Her nose was familiar. "You're my grandmother. I wish I remembered you."

She squeezed his hand, and her eyes were bright with tears.

"I'm sorry! I didn't..." He looked at the Ambassador. "I'm already getting it wrong."

"We'll make new memories," Edmund promised.

"I wanted grandparents growing up. At Christmas I'd pretend we were going to visit them, and they would have a big tree decorated in red, with white and gold stockings hanging from a stone fireplace, and they would take me sledding down a snowy hill and give me hot chocolate. I used to tell Mom, but she told me to stop. I didn't tell anyone about it after that, but I still imagined it." He yawned, and then yawned again.

"Checking someone out of a hospital takes a while," Edmund said. "Maybe we should get you back in bed while we wait."

Neal nodded and leaned on his grandfather for balance as he moved to the bed. Almost as soon as he lay down, he started to drift back to sleep. But he thought he heard his grandmother sniff and say, "He does remember, Edmund. Why did Meredith tell him to stop?"

"I suppose the Marshals told them not to talk about where they came from. She probably did it to keep him safe."

###

The hospital wasn't happy about releasing Neal early, and managed to drag out the process for several hours. They even called Dr. Woodhouse, who returned to the hospital to speak to Henry. Upon seeing Peter's badge and hearing about the incident with Bickerton, she finally agreed that Neal might be safer elsewhere. "He'll stop feeling the physical effects of the drug soon. But the psychological effects aren't as easy to anticipate. If he has traumatic memories that he has repressed or simply tries to forget, they have moved to the forefront of his mind. Most people don't appreciate how important it is to get professional help for dealing with those kinds of memories. I understand your concerns about his safety, but I'm concerned about how he'll cope on his own."