Home Invasion 3/9
Title: Home Invasion (3/9)
Author: tay_21
Fandom: Primeval
Pairings: Connor/Abby
Rating: Pg-13
Genre: Angst, violence, romance... eventually
Warning/Advertisements: violence
Word Count: 16,256 (total)
Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Initially written for deinonychus_1's birthday, I hit a wall and couldn't finish until recently. FINALLY, I finished and I'm only about two to three years late at this time. Thanks to evenstar_estel, fredbassett, prehistoriccat, and sunspecops all of which helped to beta this monstrosity in part or in whole over the course of it's inception. I hope you enjoy it.
Summary: Webster's Online Dictionary: Home Invasion - Noun 1. home invasion - burglary of a dwelling while the residents are at home...There's been a series of armed robberies in and around the estate where Connor and Abby now live with their two children. Everyone in the area is on edge, Connor and Abby included. Many of the robberies have ended badly for the families involved.
(I know it's late, but...) HAPPY BIRTHDAY deinonychus_1!!!!!!!
Home Invasion (1/9)
Home Invasion (2/9)
PART III
Abby knelt in the cold, wet grass staring at the frozen headstone.
“We miss you, you know? Sometimes we seem so lost without you. I’m going to have another baby. I only just found out. After, well, after everything that’s happened these last couple of crazy weeks. I was at the hospital and they were explaining everything to me, and telling me what was going to happen. My whole family was spread out and being attended to by doctors. I didn’t know what to do and it was all too much. I passed out. When I came to, they asked if I could be pregnant. I told them I wasn’t sure, that it was possible, but it had been so long since I was pregnant. Can you believe it? After all this time, after all these horrible events, we’re going to have another kid. They gave me the test, and it came back positive. I wish you were here. I could really use your guidance right now. You always seemed so guided by your principles. I always respected that. I miss you.”
Abby wiped at her eyes, and stood up to leave.
“I have to get back to the hospital now, the kids will be coming home and Connor, well, he hasn’t woken up yet, but I’m hopeful. Put in a good word for us yeah? Tell Stephen and Sarah we said hello. I miss them too. You know you were the closest thing to a real dad I ever had. I don’t know if I ever told you that, so there you go. Thanks for that. I’ll try to bring Connor back when he gets better.”
Abby rested her hand on the cold granite of Nick Cutter’s gravestone. Then she turned and limped back to her car. She had to be at the hospital very soon. She had spent the better part of the last two weeks there. Both her children had sustained injuries that required extended stays in the hospital and Connor had nearly died, in fact, he still wasn’t out of the woods yet. He was in a medically induced coma.
She had come to the graveyard because she knew it always made Connor feel better when he could come here and talk things out with Nick. She thought she’d give it a try. She had felt silly at first, and then as she had spoken all of her fears to the empty, quiet space in front of her, it had helped. Things didn’t feel like they were pressing down on her so much now. She put the car in gear and drove to the hospital, it was barely past dawn and she didn’t want to be away any longer than necessary.
! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * !
TWO WEEKS EARLIER
! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * ! * !
Abby’s eyes fluttered open slowly. Her head was pounding. There was a flurry of activity and shouting all around her. The only voice she could for sure pick out was Becker.
“…not breathing, get the medic over here NOW! No, get them secured and move them to the side, we deal with the Temples first. They can wait.”
Becker’s face swam into Abby’s field of vision. Everything looked blurry.
“Connor?” she asked weakly.
Becker shook his head. “He’s having a rough go at the moment, we’re doing all we can, but you need to worry about you right now. Connor’s a fighter. He’ll make it.” Abby’s heart threatened to stop beating. She felt like she’d been punched in the stomach.
“Abby the medics are on their way, I’ve got one team already here, but they are dealing with Connor.”
“The kids, where are my kids? Where are Nick and Sarah?”
“They’re both stable for now, the ARC medics have stopped the bleeding and have them on oxygen, they’ll need some medical attention, but they’ll be fine, Abby.”
“Stopped the bleeding?” Abby was frantic. “Becker, what happened to my children? Where are they? Tell me the truth. I’m their mother. I have a right to know.”
Becker’s face became even grimmer. “Nicky had a really bad asthma attack and those… men tried to shoot them. Sarah leaned over in front of her brother and tried to block the shot, it went through her though and into Nick. Honestly, that’s sounds worse than it is. They’re going to be fine. I promise. Matt’s with them now whilst they wait for the ambulances to get here.”
Abby felt the world swimming around her again. She tried to sit up, but Becker pushed her back down.
“Becker, let me up; I need to see my family. Please.”
“No, Abby, you’ve been hit as well, and until I know the extent of the damage, you’re not going anywhere.”
“What do you mean I’ve been hit? I feel fine, OW!”
“I told you.”
Abby looked down at herself. There was blood all down her shirt and more blood coming out of a small hole in the lower half of her trouser leg. Her jeans were already soaked through with blood. She had cried out when Becker had resumed applying pressure to her leg.
“Where did the rest of this blood come from?”
“Your head. Took me a while to realize it wasn’t a bullet wound, but just a gash on your head from the table. I only worked that out after I got the bleeding to stop. Now be still so I can assess this wound.”
Tears ran down Abby’s cheeks, both from the pain and the stress of worrying that she was about to lose everything. A few minutes later and the paramedics arrived. Connor was in very bad shape. The medics attended to him first and got him into the first ambulance with out even talking to Abby. Becker kept her pinned to the ground the whole time.
In the end the medics had to sedate Abby. They didn’t knock her out completely; they just injected her with something that would calm her down. Abby’s wound was a through and through. No bullet was actually in her leg, and it didn’t appear to have hit the bone or anything. She would need stitches and antibiotics, and she’d be very sore, but the medics did not think her injuries were life threatening. Nevertheless, she was bundled into an ambulance herself under orders that she get an x-ray and a CAT scan for her head injury.
Her children had both been injured in the gunfire. Sarah had an abdominal wound where the bullet had gone through her and lodged in her brother. Nick had the bullet wound and complications with his asthma. They were both sent to the hospital via ambulance as well.
Upon arrival, Abby was assessed and it was determined that her injuries were non-life threatening, the worst being the bullet wound in her leg. Before she went in for the x-ray, they asked her if she could be pregnant, she told them no, and then when they asked how she could be certain, she didn’t have a good answer.
They erred on the side of caution and made her wear a large lead apron. After she was finished in both the x-ray department and with the CAT scan, she demanded to know what was happening to her family. Becker was a godsend and used his military dominance to get the ball rolling to find out what was going on with the rest of the Temples. Finally a doctor came in to talk to Abby.
“I’m Dr. Petros, Your family has been through quite an ordeal.”
Abby stared back at the older man as if he were a complete idiot. As if she needed to be reminded of how she and her entire family had ended up here. Sensing this, Dr. Petros wisely moved on.
“Just give it to me straight. I can handle it and I need to know exactly what has happened to my family. Don’t sugar coat it. I know Connor’s the worst so that leaves me as the only adult able to care for and make decisions for my family. I have to be completely informed. Please, Dr, Petros. I’m not a china doll. I’m not going to break. I’ve had enough of people putting me off today.” Abby was determined to know the truth of her family’s situation. She wouldn’t let them ignore her any longer.
Dr. Petros sighed. “Well, I guess I should just give it to you straight then. Are you sure you want to hear it all?”
Abby nodded in response and set her jaw. She had to know. There was no other choice.
“OK.” The doctor continued. “Your husband sustained three gunshot wounds, a fractured skull and shattered cheekbone, multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken leg and a fractured wrist, as well as going into shock due to stress and loss of blood. His gunshot wounds were to the shoulder, back, and lower torso. It looks as if his assailants not only kicked, beat, and shot him, but stamped on him also. Frankly he was lucky to reach us alive, and we are trying our hardest to keep him that way, but we are fighting an uphill battle. I’m sorry, but the best thing I can tell you is that it is going to be a wait and see case. He’s in surgery right now, so I will do my best to keep you informed as soon as we hear anything from the operating team.”
Abby stifled a sob, but let the tears flow. Becker kept his arm around her. He was closer to her now than her own brother. He was family, and she was glad of his presence.
“And the kids,” Becker prompted.
“Your children will be fine, Mrs. Temple, though they both will need to be here a while longer. You will only need to stay overnight. Sarah is in surgery right now to fix the damage to her liver from the bullet and Nick is in surgery to remove the bullet fragment from his lower intestine. We also have to keep a close eye on him for complications with his asthma. Do you understand what I’ve said to you?”
Abby’s nodded as her head began to swim again and the faces of Becker and the doctor blurred. The edges of her vision turned black and then caved in on top of her.
Abby awoke back in a hospital bed a few minutes later. The doctor and Becker were starring anxiously down at her.
“Abby? Abby, are you OK?” Becker asked.
“Mrs. Temple, is there any chance you could be pregnant?” The doctor was now looking up from her chart.
“Yes… No… I don’t know. I suppose I could be, but I’m not sure. We haven’t tried to get pregnant, but we haven’t been super careful either. We thought we were past babies, you know, what with an eight and a ten-year-old” Abby wiped her eyes. Becker handed her a tissue from the bedside table.
A nurse joined the doctor and he told her to draw some more blood, and to run a pregnancy test. She did her work quickly while Abby watched, her eyes slightly unfocused.
She looked up at Becker. “I can’t do this without him.” Abby descended into sobs again.
Becker sat next to her and put his arms around her. “He’s a tough guy, tougher than we all give him credit for. You know that. Connor will pull through. I know it. If you are pregnant, you need to tell him. He’s going to need all the good news he can get.”
Abby nodded and blew her nose.
“You need to calm down and rest, Abby. If you are pregnant, please, think of the baby. Rest, OK?”
“The kids…”
“Are still in surgery, there is nothing you can do right now. Let the doctors take care of you. Let them give you something to rest.”
The nurse returned and talked in low tones with the doctor.
She came over to Abby. “I think your friend is right. Let’s give you something to help you rest.”
Abby nodded. The nurse calmly injected a clear liquid into Abby’s IV. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d been hooked back up to an IV. She felt the cold tingly feeling creep up her arm and then everything went fuzzy.
To be continued...