The Broken Hearts Club

Fifteen. Homecoming

Daughtler woke up abruptly, in a cold sweat and sighed, as he wiped the sweat off his brow and glanced at his clock.

    "Huh. 2am. New sleep record," he said, under his breath.

And it was. He had never slept this long since... He didn't even like to say her name anymore. It was like acid- it seemed to burn his tongue and make his throat ache as it threatened to travel down his esophagus and to the rest of his body. He had been having nightmares the past week about her- showing up at the capitol, finding out there was a body- it was the same cycle but every time, the dream got warped and took horrific turns that were worse than the last. Daughtler threw back the covers and started the shower- as long as he was up, he might as well get ready early and head in. He took his time in the shower, massaging the shampoo into his head to try to ward off the tension headache developing at the base of his neck, threatening to spill into his temples. He wrapped a towel around his waist and went into the bedroom to get dressed. His phone was buzzing on his nightstand but he ignored it for now- he knew Duncan and the crew were in Denver. It was probably an update. He straightened his tie and folded his jacket over his arm as he headed downstairs and started the Keurig. He flipped through his phone and stared at the messages he had been left.

Hope you're doing okay- Dad.

    "Definitely ignoring that one," Daughtler said, scoffing under his breath.

I love you, no matter what you think- Nico

    "That one too," he murmured as he continued scrolling past the countless emails and other messages until he saw ones that caught his eye.

911 page. Call me immediately- Tiffany Windsor

Please call Windsor, Director. It's urgent- Roman Bass

Something happened. Please call Tiffany. Director?- Sarah Mercia

Duncan's in trouble. Call Windsor ASAP- Angel Roberts

I don't know what's going on but I need you to call Tiff- Conrad Guerrero

    "Shit," Daughtler cursed as he grabbed his jacket and ran out the door, coffee forgotten.

Duncan awoke in his bed with a wince- his side, back, and body ached. He pulled the sheets down a little and his gown up to reveal the huge white bandage and gauze surrounding the wound. He pulled up a little on the bandage but immediately put it down when it caused his whole abdomen to burn. Despite all that, he was feeling better. It was an improvement, believe it or not. In the middle of the second night, he spiked a fever alerting the doctors to a piece of the arrow that they had missed. Tiff probably had a field day with those surgeons when she found out, Jack thought laughing, but stopped when it caused him to wince again.

    "Hey, you're up," Tiffany said, announcing her presence as she smiled at him. "How are you feeling?"

    "Insanely restless and ready to get out of here," Duncan said, grinning at her as she bent down to give him a kiss.    

"Well, good that they're trying to get you out today then," Tiff said with a smile. "So... we need to talk," She said, as she sat down, making Jack nervous.

"Why?" He asked, cautiously.

Tiffany noticed his reaction and grabbed his hand.

    "No, no, no, it's not about anything like that. Um, the team knows about... us... so I just wanted to talk about what you want to do."

    "What do you mean?"

    "Well, obviously it's going to affect our work, Jack. We need to learn how to navigate this."