Her against the team

Chapter 3

Isobel groaned as she turned, her stomach hurt, like something inside was burning. Focusing a little more, the brunette realized that her whole body was doing this to her, her hands were shaking.

"Hey, you're awake, welcome back Mrs Castille!" said a nurse entering her room.

"It burns me..." Isobel growled with a dry throat.

"You've been drugged, that's one of the effects of withdrawal. I'll give you something for it. Does it hurt anywhere else?"

"My head is horrible."

"You've been through hell, I'll give you something for the pain. Try to get some rest. I'll let the doctor know that you wake ." The nurse smiled, resting the cup she had handed to Isobel so that she could drink a little.

Isobel observed around her, the sounds of the corridor seeming distant, her left arm had been brought back against her chest. She couldn't even remember if or how she hurt it. The nurse went to the waiting room where the doctor informed a family about their grandmother's condition. The FBI team was still there, waiting to hear from Isobel in a dead silence. No one was talking, only Kristin with some of the agents who had gone where Elise and Ian had indicated they had traced part of Isobel's route before Jess found her. Maggie, Oa and the others not wanting to go back into the field until they know more about Isobel.

"Doctor Halstead, patient box 3 is awake. She seems rather consistent but complains of severe headache, burning sensation from the drug." the nurse said.

"I'm going to see her."

"Wait, is Isobel awake?" asked Jubal when he got up.

"Yes, a few minutes ago."

"I need to see her. I need to ask her questions so we can catch whoever did this to her."

"A part is there right in front" grumbled Jess referring to Jubal and his team.

"I'm afraid it's too soon. She's been beaten for a year and her body has been put to the test. I wouldn't want her to be rushed when she wakes up." 

"It's really important, the longer we wait, the more time these bats have to escape." insisted Jubal.

"Yet you didn't rush the first few days of her disappearance," Jess said.

"It's okay, Jess, we're not going to bring this up again. What's done is done."

"Sure, it wasn't you who comforted her when an investigation was a little too hard, or who invited her out after work just to break her loneliness." Jess, who had never stopped watching over her friend, brought her to his home on the weekends when they weren't working so she could escape for a while. 

"I understand you have to question her, my brother is in the police too, but I have to think about my patient's well-being. And then, in view of the tension, I don't think it's a good idea." continued Dr. Halstead.

"Kristin might be able to go, she's figured out how to do it..." Maggie said knowing about her friend's undercover operation in Miami.

The doctor accepted skeptical, accompanying the agent.

"Why you more than another agent?" he asked curious.

"I was in a similar situation to Agent Castille, except that I was most fortunate to be found and released after three days. As Mrs Castille is our superior, she knows this, which will make it less embarrassing if I go in the place of a member of my team. My boss is too involved, and the other team...I'm not sure she wants to see them right away." explained Kristin.

"Don't push her too much, her condition is still fragile."

Isobel reached out when she heard the door open, she was bound to be questioned about what happened to her, and being a federal agent it would be a member of her team who would do it. But she did not want to see them, she had spent so much time replaying the scene before her abduction, she did not see what she had done wrong to deserve this relentlessness on the part of Jubal and the team that followed. Isobel prayed that at least in this misfortune it would be Maggie who came, the only one she could potentially accept without feeling too bad. But it was a relief for the SAC to see Agent Gaines enter after the doctor. The brunette asked her vague questions at first, how she was feeling, if she wanted something to eat or drink, or something from home that Kristin could bring back to her. Isobel tried to make fun of the fact that her green plants had to be dried up by now. Kristin laughed and said that Jess had maintained them. Kristin was gentle, compassionate, benevolent which put Isobel in trust. And then, she knew very well that the woman had been there, and that it was hard to talk about it, how we felt afterwards...

"That's enough, you should rest, that's important," Kristin smiled gently, putting one hand on Isobel's hand.

The dark-haired raven pressed her hand, enjoying the gesture.

"Why... they wouldn't come?"

"Jubal wanted but Jess flatly refused. The doctor supporting the decision, Maggie suggested I come."

"Because you've been through this before..." Isobel blew tears in her eyes.

"Yes. Maggie thought I was the one with the best approach. Get some rest. I put the best agents in front of your door." reassured Kristin before going out.