Abducting Avery ( completed )

Survivors

Charlotte opened her weary eyes. Her bloody and beaten body lay against the cold ground and everywhere she looked all she could see was black. Weak cries escaped her swollen lips and her arms, scraped up and down from her fall down the tree, pushed at the ground as she propelled herself forward against the floor. She'd just regained conciousness and although her thoughts were clouded, she knew that if she didn't get out of wherever she was now she wouldn't make it through the rest of that day. The danger was somewhat unknown to her, but every few seconds a picture or memory would flash into her mind and she would remember. First came Bruno. Then Avery. The very last thing she was able to remember was falling to the ground, then taking a few punches and finally passing out from all the pain. Her hand landed next to something soft and she clutched onto it, bringing it closer to her with an agonized groan.

That was when she heard them.

"In here!" Someone yelled from the outside. Charlotte tried to sit up but it was all in vain; her head fell back against the hard ground and she let out more painful cries.

Next thing she knew, a man with olive colored skin and brown eyes was looking down at her, holding her tightly and repeating over and over to her that everything would be alright. Would it?

- - - -

"Sir-"

"You planned for this to happen?!" Gregory shouted, cutting off Rourke. His nerves were on edge from what he'd witness only minutes before, and now they were telling him that Heather doing what she did was all planned out.

"No, sir. Let me explain, please. Neither you nor your wife were supposed to be out there in the first place." Strife began, tossing a glare Rourke's way. "We figured we could use her, though and she did fantastic. We had no idea Bruno was going to strike out like that, though it was a possibility. In all honesty, sir, he was one of the most unpredictable men we've ever dealt with. It was your wife or your daughter, and your wife decided in the end to do what she did to save Avery. I'm sorry. But there was nothing more we could do."

Gregory shook his head, turning away from the agents.

Avery stood next to her father, holding his hand and squeezing it gently as a man wearing a large, white coat  and a surgical mask around his neck approached them. Her father squeezed her hand back as they waited to hear the news.

Gregory watched the man eagerly, the tears stinging his eyes.

"Luckily, the knife didn't penetrate the spine. There was minimal blood spill. Unfortunately, it isn't all good news. The knife punctured her spleen. We've removed it but there's no telling what sort of pain she'll be in once the anesthesia wears off. Other than that, she's going to be just fine." The man explained, folding his arms over his chest.

Gregory let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and eventually nodded. "Th-thank you. When can we see her?"

The doctor looked down toward Avery, then back toward Gregory. "She should be up any second. You can wait for her, I'm sure she'll be happy to see both of you, given the conditions." He led them up to Heather's room, stepping aside once they reached the door.

"Mommy!" Avery yelled happily, racing over to Heather's bedside. Avery had just gotten out of her own hospital room and was cleared to go about three hours ago. She had some minor cuts and bruises that needed to be treated, along with some nutritional issues but after she'd been cleaned up and given a good meal, Gregory had convinced the doctors to let her go so she could be the first one her mother saw once she woke up.

Heather blinked open her eyes. She was in pain, but was stocked up with just enough pain medicine to keep the most of it at bay. The sight of her daughter, happy and smiling took the last of the pain away. She smiled back, stroking her daughter's hair gently. "Hey baby." She whispered, her smile faltering a bit.