Forever

Sly

Henry's eyes fluttered open and he woke up in a cold sweat, screaming as searing pain twisted up his arm and through his body. Fire inched from his hands to his neck, and a cold sweat ran down his cheeks. Instantly he felt hands grip his shoulder and a firm voice telling him to calm down. Who was it? He screamed until his throat was raw, and then he resorted to moans and grunts. Abraham would have said he sounde like an angry gorilla. Through the pain, he realized it wasn't fire; He'd been poisoned. A face entered his field of vision, and another hand wrapped around his own, squeezing tightly.

"You'll be fine, Henry. They gave you the antidote in time."

This, for some reason, worried him more and he kicked as hard as he could, at the bedpost..... Bedpost? Every nueron in his brain fired, reminding him where he was.

War?

No. Too white. Too clean. Too quiet.

The lab?

Possibly. There were no bodies and no people rushing about, though.

The hospital?

Definitely.

"Hey! Is he supposed to be frothing like that?"

He moaned and squeeze his eyes shut as tight as he could. Surely this was the 1st worst way to die. Wait, he hadn't died yet. Another voice spoke up. Higher; A nurse or an orderly.

"Yes. The antidote's kicking in."

"Then why's he still screaming like a goddamn animal? And he just kicked me, you call that helping him?"

Annoyed, the voice rose a little, "Well, what do you expect it to do? Hold his hand like a mother and tell him he'll be okay? How'd this happen, anyway?"

"Does that matter?"

"The poor guy's been poisoned, we have a right to know."

Henry opened his eyes again, remembering the day's events. He saw Jo in a chair next to the hospital bed- So that was where he had been taken- Looking at an exasperated nurse in green scrubs. His throat was sore and he felt weak and tired. His arm ached and his wrist felt swollen and hot to the touch.

At least he wasn't dead. Jo noticed him and tried to smile through her irritation.

"What made you scream like that?"

He ran his tongue over his lips, trying to wet them and remove the white spittle he'd somehow gotten on them. "What?"

"Have some water." She gave him a bottle and he sat up, draining it in a matter of seconds. It was half full anyway.

"Nothing. Bad dreams." He glanced away, not willing to admit he'd been screaming from the sheer pain of it. What had poisoned him, anyway? And......

A note on the side of the bed caught his attention, and when he tried to get it, his wrist flared in an ecssesive amount of pain. Huffing, he sat back and simply glared at it, like that would bring it to him. Jo nodded and stared out the window.

"Jeez, you been through a lot of shit lately."

"I'd prefer the word chaos, if you would." He smiled as best he could and lay back, trying to fall asleep and retain some scrap of dignity.

"Okay. Chaos. Lots of chaos."

"Things will get better." Henry answered plainly. Despite the water, he already felt thirst tug at him and spotted a glass on a nightstand only a couple feet away. He glanced at his hand and felt like a rock held him in place. Jo caught him looking at the water and chuckled.

"Uh-uh. Doctor's orders. You were only allowed the one water bottle."

"Why?" He uttered, watching the water glisten tauntingly.

"The antidote's pretty potent. Water apparently cleanses it from your system." She rolled her eyes. "Do you even know what affected you that badly? You were fine an hour ago, and here you are, convulsing and screaming at the top of your lungs. You kept yelling 'Adam' and Abigail' and even cried when we said Abraham couldn't come."

Henry felt embarrassment rise in his cheeks and looked away. Jo had just unwittingly burned the dignity he had left.

"Hey, chill. Don't worry about it. You were walking straight through Hell when that happened. Doubt you remember it." She said. Henry nodded absently, working up the strength to grab the note. Drawing in a sharp breath, he reached over and grasped the paper, sitting back in a couple seconds. Jo saw this and raised her eyebrows.

"What's that?"

"Detective, can you check on Abraham?" He cut in, crumbling the note in his hand.

"Sure, but-"

"Please."

"Ooookay. Give me a couple minutes." She left, hesitating in the doorway. "No getting up. You're on 24 hour bed rest."

Henry didn't respond, opening the paper. He supressed a primal growl when he read the handwriting.

Henry,

That's what happens when you mess with a relative. One more time, and I swear, you'll never see the light of day again. You have lots to learn. Abraham is fine, just wanted you to know. Better keep better control of your emotions. Screaming like that in front of Jo. Ruins your chances with her. And to think......

Henry crumbled the paper up and slid it under his pillow, adamant to read it later. Right now he was too angry to think. Jo came back in, smiling.

"He's fine. The gunshots only need monitering for a month or two. Then he's free to go, although no hard work for him." She saw Henry's tired expression and her eyes softened.

"Look, I'll go home. The Lieutinent'll know what happened, so don't worry about your...... Oh... Goodnight." Jo shrugged as she saw his eyes were closed and his breathing easy and slow. She slipped out, closing the door softly behind her.

3 HOURS BEFORE

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adam scanned the room. He had to act quickly. Henry was wrestling with Jo, and she slammed him into a wall. Snarling, he grasped her arm and pushed her back, so she was in the same position he was. Good, they were both too caught up in rage to notice him. He gripped the vial of poison tightly, pulling his leather jacket up higher around his chin. No one could see him...... This would teach Henry to mess with his remaining family again, it would. Cursing at his wasting of time, Adam took the blue vial- Carefully selected, derived from the blue poison dart frog of the jungle- And slipped it into a surgical needle and inserted the poison, grinning maniacally. Oh yes, he'd suffer dearly for what-

Henry slammed into the table, and Adam felt rage well inside of him. Ignoring his vow not to be seen, he grabbed the needle and dug it into Henry's wrist, smiling with satisfaction as the man cringed. Adam released the syringe and turned, walking briskly through the gathering crowd. He was confident Henry would pay the price.

He always did.