Fic: Dream Awake - Pt. 3 [Eli Stone]
Title: Dream Awake
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Eli, Nate, others
Summary: After the fight with his brother, after the nosebleed, Eli wakes up in hospital. He's not prepared for what happens next. Post episode 209
Eli left the hospital that afternoon but instead of going home Nate took him to his apartment. It was the one stipulation Dr. Fields had made, though Nate was still reluctant to have him signed out to his care. He thought Eli should remain hospitalized until his memory returned or he accepted that it was 2006 and everything he had described hadn't already happened and wouldn't happen in the future.
Their mother, of course, wanted Eli to stay at the family home, but he'd been reluctant. He was still unsure how to handle the fact that his father was alive - no aneurysm, no alcoholism. It was a dream come true but it still didn't sit right, not when Eli knew what really happened. The need to be under medical supervision, then, was a useful excuse. It also allowed him to stay away from his place where Taylor was still smarting over his revelations about their future. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better about it yet, so he decided a little distance was best.
Eli lay on Nate's couch staring up at the ceiling. He'd refused the bed, knowing Nate needed sleep more than he did. His brother had stayed awake all night at the hospital and was struggling to keep his eyes open. Eli lied and said he wanted to take a nap too, and pretended to fall asleep so Nate could do the same. His brother was snoring quietly in the bedroom as Eli contemplated what he was going to do.
He had to be rational about everything, he decided. He'd been stuck in this strange sort of limbo before, after the surgery to remove the aneurysm when he'd been in a coma for three days. Perhaps it had happened again - maybe the bleeding was caused by some complication with his condition and he was comatose. Eli wondered how long it would go on. Last time all he had to do was come to the realization that he was, in fact, having a sort of vision. Once he understood it, and after talking to Vision Dr. Chen, he'd been able to pull himself out. Somehow. Eli couldn't quite remember how he'd done it.
He tried squeezing his eyes shut, holding his breath and counting to ten. Nothing. He tried again, gritting his teeth and focusing every part of himself on the idea of waking up back where he was supposed to be. He blinked his eyes open only to see Nate's ceiling again. With a sigh, Eli sat up. His head was still sore and he reached for some more paracetamol. This was going to take some time.
He got up and wandered around Nate's apartment. It was strange not seeing the pictures of Beth and Ben that he'd put up around the place. It was a bachelor's pad through and through. Eli felt a wave of sympathy for his brother who deserved every happiness. That was why he needed to go back. Eli needed to help reunite Nate and Beth, he decided. It was as worthy a goal as any.
Eli stopped in his tracks when he realized what he should do. It had worked the first time, or at least it had helped. He needed to speak to Frank.
0 0 0 0
Eli caught a cab to Chinatown after swiping money from Nate's wallet. It wasn't his fault his was still at the penthouse. Besides, he figured returning to the future - or the present, depending on how he looked at it - and fixing things between his brother and the woman he loved would be compensation enough.
Dr. Chen's clinic looked just like it had on Eli's first visit. There were no smoothies and other add-on products he was peddling as Eli knew him now. There was faint guzheng music playing when he entered and a waft of incense tickled his nose. But Frank was nowhere to be seen. Eli waited for a minute before ringing the bell on the counter. He grinned when Frank came into the waiting area of the clinic.
"Welcome Dr. Chen's. You have appointment?" Frank asked using his fake accent.
"Do I ever have an appointment?" Eli joked.
"You seen Dr. Chen before?"
Eli's smile faded. Of course, he didn't know him. It threw him off kilter for a moment before he recovered his composure.
"I need to talk to you. I need your help."
"Dr. Chen help. You have bad stomach? Bad head? Problem wit'…" Frank whistled suggestively and pointed at Eli's groin.
"What? No."
"Why you need acupuncture?"
"I don't need it, or at least not right away. We need to talk first. And you can drop the accent, Frank."
"What you talk about?" Frank looked furtive before advancing on Eli and waving his hands. "You go. Dr. Chen no provide talk."
Eli shuffled backwards then stopped. "Your name is Frank Lebakowski. You grew up on a commune. You majored in philosophy at UC Berkley before studying holistic medicine in China," he stated calmly.
"What, are you a cop?" Frank asked, dropping the accent. "That pot was for medicinal use and the charges were dropped."
"No, my name is Eli Stone. I'm a lawyer and I need your help."
Frank looked at him, intrigued.
0 0 0 0
They sat on his roof and drank a beer while Eli related his story. Frank let him talk without interrupting, even when Eli got to the part about Frank meeting his father and promising to one day help his son.
"So, what do you think?" Eli asked, squinting against the sinking sun.
"I can see why you're having a hard time adjusting," replied Frank.
"What do I do?"
"You're asking me?"
"You helped me before," Eli persisted.
Frank shrugged and grinned wryly. "I don't know what to tell you, dude. I've never worked in a TV repair shop. I've never met your father. By the sounds of it, he's not the man you know anyway. If he doesn't have an aneurysm either and isn't drinking as a result of it, his whole life is different to what you've seen. Everything has changed."
"I know," Eli said, crestfallen. "And if I could keep that part intact and go back to my real life, I wouldn't complain. All I ever wanted was to have a normal dad like everyone else. But this isn't how things are supposed to be. What about all those people I helped because of my visions? What about all the people I'm supposed to help in the future? Nate's relationship with Beth? Jordan's new firm? Taylor and Matt's baby? Maggie…" Eli paused. Maggie was still with Scott, the man who would eventually cheat on her if he wasn't already. "All these lives, Frank. I can't just do nothing."
"What's the plan then?"
"Maybe acupuncture will work. It always has before."
"You say it allows you to revisit your visions? To seek clarity?"
"That's right."
"We can try, but I don't know it will work," said Frank.
"Why not?"
"You don't have an aneurysm anymore, Eli. You're not having visions."
"That you know of," Eli said. His eyes were pleading. "I don't know what else to do. I think we should try."
"Alright, man, whatever you say."
0 0 0 0
Eli took his time returning to Nate's place, taking a cable car instead of a cab. He wanted to avoid the inevitable confrontation with his brother, realizing he hadn't left a note and Nate would probably be worried about him. But he also had to come to terms with the fact that the one glimmer of hope he had - acupuncture - had done nothing. Dr. Chen had stuck the needle into his forehead and he'd waited for the familiar few seconds of disorientation. But nothing had happened. No clarity, no answers. Just a vague feeling of well-being. Eli's shoulders slumped further as he scuffed his feet along the sidewalk.
When he did slip back into Nate's apartment, his brother was on the phone. When he saw Eli he looked relieved, then angry.
"Hang on, he's back. He looks okay… Yeah… Yeah, I'll let you know, Dad." Nate disconnected the call. "Where the hell have you been?"
"I just went for a walk."
"It's almost dark out. I thought you were lying in a ditch somewhere." Nate manhandled him over to the couch and checked him over.
"I'm fine, Nate."
"Oh yeah? What year is it?"
Eli gave him a look.
Nate sighed. "You can't just wander off, Eli. You're supposed to be under medical supervision."
"I know, I'm sorry. I just had to check something."
"What?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Are you still… Do you still think you're from the future?" Nate asked hesitantly.
"I don't think I'm from the future, Nate. I'm telling you, I did hit my head on the planter but it was because I have an aneurysm and you diagnosed it…"
"For the tenth time, you don't have an aneurysm, Eli! We know what we're looking for. Your MRI is totally clear." He got up, swiping his hand over his mouth. "You shouldn't have been released from the hospital. I'm going to call my boss and get him to lean on Fields to admit you for evaluation."
"I'm not crazy, Nate."
"You need help, little brother," he said insistently. "Let me help you."
"Then let me stay here. I don't need to go back to hospital." Eli spoke firmly and held Nate's gaze steadily.
Nate thought about it for a long moment before finally agreeing. "For now. But if these delusions don't stop, you agree to go back."
"Deal."
Eli sat back against the couch. He tried to hide his frown but he needed to concentrate on what he was going to do. Acupuncture had been a dead end. He didn't know what else to try.
"So listen," Nate went on, placated, "you'd better give Taylor a call. She's worried about you."
"You mean she's pissed at me," Eli countered darkly.
"Wouldn't you be if your fiancée woke up one day and told you that you'd broken up?" Nate's eyes narrowed as realization hit. "This isn't an elaborate attempt to get out of marrying her, is it?"
"No."
"Good, because seriously? You're not going to do any better than Taylor."
"Taylor's great, but I know it won't work out. It wasn't fair to put her through -" He started to gesture towards his head because he couldn't use the word aneurysm again without raising Nate's ire. Then he stopped. Nate wouldn't believe him anyway. "Sometimes you just know things aren't meant to be."
Nate wandered into the kitchen. He called over his shoulder, "Well, you probably could have found a better way to tell her. I'm just saying."
Eli followed him after a few minutes during which Nate had begun preparing dinner. Eli watched him for a while, mulling things over.
"Nate?" he said eventually. "Is Dad okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is he still an engineer?"
Nate dropped some pasta into boiling water. "Unless he's retired in the last 24 hours he is. Why?"
"He never owned a TV repair shop on Market Street?"
"No. Why would you say that?" Nate chuckled briefly, then gave Eli a sober look. "Forget it, I need to stop asking."
Eli ignored him. "And his health's okay?"
"Apart from a little male pattern baldness - which doesn't bode well for either of us. You in particular," Nate said, glancing at Eli's hair.
"He isn't… an alcoholic?"
Nate's brow furrowed. "No, of course not. Now Mom, on the other hand… Get her around a jug of Sangria and there are consequences. Don't you remember when she and Uncle Gary got hammered at her sixtieth last year? They almost set the kitchen curtains on fire."
Eli grinned in response to Nate's amusement but it quickly faded. He didn't remember because it never happened. He stared off into the distance, lost in thought, until Nate threw a dishcloth at him.
"Why are you so worried about Dad? What's with the whole death fixation?" Nate fixed him with a firm stare. "You could have handled that little announcement better, too."
"I know…I just wasn't expecting to see him," Eli said, dropping his eyes. "I'm not the only one with an aneurysm, Nate. I got it from Dad, along with the visions. He just didn't know how to handle his so he drank instead. It destroyed him."
Nate continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable. When he tried to speak he found he had to clear his throat first.
"Eli, I know you believe that. I don't understand it, but I concede it feels real to you right now."
"It is real," Eli whispered, sounding scared.
Nate pressed his lips together. "Do you trust me?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Do you?"
"Of course I do," Eli replied. "You're my brother."
Nate reached out and held Eli's head in his hands, their eyes locking together. "Then trust me when I tell you this is all in your mind. Dad is okay, and so are you. I'm gonna help you through this, Eli. But you need to try. I need you to try."
"Nate…"
"No, I don't want to hear you talk about aneurysms or visions or George Michael. You need to focus on what's real."
Eli's mouth tightened as Nate's intense gaze bore into him. He felt his anger mounting and wanted to push his brother away, but something inside forced him to calm down. He wouldn't get anywhere antagonizing Nate. Eli was concerned he'd really think he was insane and have him committed. Instead he decided that he'd give acquiescence a try. At least on the surface.
"Okay, Nate."
A smile lit up his brother's face and he pulled Eli into a brief hug. He slapped his back firmly.
"Good. Now, are you hungry? Because I am going to turn this bottle of pasta sauce into something vaguely appetizing right before your very eyes."
"Sounds good," Eli said with a forced smile.
If he had to pretend everything was normal, he could do that. Eli knew he didn't have any other choice if he was going to get his real life back.
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Eli, Nate, others
Summary: After the fight with his brother, after the nosebleed, Eli wakes up in hospital. He's not prepared for what happens next. Post episode 209
Eli left the hospital that afternoon but instead of going home Nate took him to his apartment. It was the one stipulation Dr. Fields had made, though Nate was still reluctant to have him signed out to his care. He thought Eli should remain hospitalized until his memory returned or he accepted that it was 2006 and everything he had described hadn't already happened and wouldn't happen in the future.
Their mother, of course, wanted Eli to stay at the family home, but he'd been reluctant. He was still unsure how to handle the fact that his father was alive - no aneurysm, no alcoholism. It was a dream come true but it still didn't sit right, not when Eli knew what really happened. The need to be under medical supervision, then, was a useful excuse. It also allowed him to stay away from his place where Taylor was still smarting over his revelations about their future. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better about it yet, so he decided a little distance was best.
Eli lay on Nate's couch staring up at the ceiling. He'd refused the bed, knowing Nate needed sleep more than he did. His brother had stayed awake all night at the hospital and was struggling to keep his eyes open. Eli lied and said he wanted to take a nap too, and pretended to fall asleep so Nate could do the same. His brother was snoring quietly in the bedroom as Eli contemplated what he was going to do.
He had to be rational about everything, he decided. He'd been stuck in this strange sort of limbo before, after the surgery to remove the aneurysm when he'd been in a coma for three days. Perhaps it had happened again - maybe the bleeding was caused by some complication with his condition and he was comatose. Eli wondered how long it would go on. Last time all he had to do was come to the realization that he was, in fact, having a sort of vision. Once he understood it, and after talking to Vision Dr. Chen, he'd been able to pull himself out. Somehow. Eli couldn't quite remember how he'd done it.
He tried squeezing his eyes shut, holding his breath and counting to ten. Nothing. He tried again, gritting his teeth and focusing every part of himself on the idea of waking up back where he was supposed to be. He blinked his eyes open only to see Nate's ceiling again. With a sigh, Eli sat up. His head was still sore and he reached for some more paracetamol. This was going to take some time.
He got up and wandered around Nate's apartment. It was strange not seeing the pictures of Beth and Ben that he'd put up around the place. It was a bachelor's pad through and through. Eli felt a wave of sympathy for his brother who deserved every happiness. That was why he needed to go back. Eli needed to help reunite Nate and Beth, he decided. It was as worthy a goal as any.
Eli stopped in his tracks when he realized what he should do. It had worked the first time, or at least it had helped. He needed to speak to Frank.
0 0 0 0
Eli caught a cab to Chinatown after swiping money from Nate's wallet. It wasn't his fault his was still at the penthouse. Besides, he figured returning to the future - or the present, depending on how he looked at it - and fixing things between his brother and the woman he loved would be compensation enough.
Dr. Chen's clinic looked just like it had on Eli's first visit. There were no smoothies and other add-on products he was peddling as Eli knew him now. There was faint guzheng music playing when he entered and a waft of incense tickled his nose. But Frank was nowhere to be seen. Eli waited for a minute before ringing the bell on the counter. He grinned when Frank came into the waiting area of the clinic.
"Welcome Dr. Chen's. You have appointment?" Frank asked using his fake accent.
"Do I ever have an appointment?" Eli joked.
"You seen Dr. Chen before?"
Eli's smile faded. Of course, he didn't know him. It threw him off kilter for a moment before he recovered his composure.
"I need to talk to you. I need your help."
"Dr. Chen help. You have bad stomach? Bad head? Problem wit'…" Frank whistled suggestively and pointed at Eli's groin.
"What? No."
"Why you need acupuncture?"
"I don't need it, or at least not right away. We need to talk first. And you can drop the accent, Frank."
"What you talk about?" Frank looked furtive before advancing on Eli and waving his hands. "You go. Dr. Chen no provide talk."
Eli shuffled backwards then stopped. "Your name is Frank Lebakowski. You grew up on a commune. You majored in philosophy at UC Berkley before studying holistic medicine in China," he stated calmly.
"What, are you a cop?" Frank asked, dropping the accent. "That pot was for medicinal use and the charges were dropped."
"No, my name is Eli Stone. I'm a lawyer and I need your help."
Frank looked at him, intrigued.
0 0 0 0
They sat on his roof and drank a beer while Eli related his story. Frank let him talk without interrupting, even when Eli got to the part about Frank meeting his father and promising to one day help his son.
"So, what do you think?" Eli asked, squinting against the sinking sun.
"I can see why you're having a hard time adjusting," replied Frank.
"What do I do?"
"You're asking me?"
"You helped me before," Eli persisted.
Frank shrugged and grinned wryly. "I don't know what to tell you, dude. I've never worked in a TV repair shop. I've never met your father. By the sounds of it, he's not the man you know anyway. If he doesn't have an aneurysm either and isn't drinking as a result of it, his whole life is different to what you've seen. Everything has changed."
"I know," Eli said, crestfallen. "And if I could keep that part intact and go back to my real life, I wouldn't complain. All I ever wanted was to have a normal dad like everyone else. But this isn't how things are supposed to be. What about all those people I helped because of my visions? What about all the people I'm supposed to help in the future? Nate's relationship with Beth? Jordan's new firm? Taylor and Matt's baby? Maggie…" Eli paused. Maggie was still with Scott, the man who would eventually cheat on her if he wasn't already. "All these lives, Frank. I can't just do nothing."
"What's the plan then?"
"Maybe acupuncture will work. It always has before."
"You say it allows you to revisit your visions? To seek clarity?"
"That's right."
"We can try, but I don't know it will work," said Frank.
"Why not?"
"You don't have an aneurysm anymore, Eli. You're not having visions."
"That you know of," Eli said. His eyes were pleading. "I don't know what else to do. I think we should try."
"Alright, man, whatever you say."
0 0 0 0
Eli took his time returning to Nate's place, taking a cable car instead of a cab. He wanted to avoid the inevitable confrontation with his brother, realizing he hadn't left a note and Nate would probably be worried about him. But he also had to come to terms with the fact that the one glimmer of hope he had - acupuncture - had done nothing. Dr. Chen had stuck the needle into his forehead and he'd waited for the familiar few seconds of disorientation. But nothing had happened. No clarity, no answers. Just a vague feeling of well-being. Eli's shoulders slumped further as he scuffed his feet along the sidewalk.
When he did slip back into Nate's apartment, his brother was on the phone. When he saw Eli he looked relieved, then angry.
"Hang on, he's back. He looks okay… Yeah… Yeah, I'll let you know, Dad." Nate disconnected the call. "Where the hell have you been?"
"I just went for a walk."
"It's almost dark out. I thought you were lying in a ditch somewhere." Nate manhandled him over to the couch and checked him over.
"I'm fine, Nate."
"Oh yeah? What year is it?"
Eli gave him a look.
Nate sighed. "You can't just wander off, Eli. You're supposed to be under medical supervision."
"I know, I'm sorry. I just had to check something."
"What?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Are you still… Do you still think you're from the future?" Nate asked hesitantly.
"I don't think I'm from the future, Nate. I'm telling you, I did hit my head on the planter but it was because I have an aneurysm and you diagnosed it…"
"For the tenth time, you don't have an aneurysm, Eli! We know what we're looking for. Your MRI is totally clear." He got up, swiping his hand over his mouth. "You shouldn't have been released from the hospital. I'm going to call my boss and get him to lean on Fields to admit you for evaluation."
"I'm not crazy, Nate."
"You need help, little brother," he said insistently. "Let me help you."
"Then let me stay here. I don't need to go back to hospital." Eli spoke firmly and held Nate's gaze steadily.
Nate thought about it for a long moment before finally agreeing. "For now. But if these delusions don't stop, you agree to go back."
"Deal."
Eli sat back against the couch. He tried to hide his frown but he needed to concentrate on what he was going to do. Acupuncture had been a dead end. He didn't know what else to try.
"So listen," Nate went on, placated, "you'd better give Taylor a call. She's worried about you."
"You mean she's pissed at me," Eli countered darkly.
"Wouldn't you be if your fiancée woke up one day and told you that you'd broken up?" Nate's eyes narrowed as realization hit. "This isn't an elaborate attempt to get out of marrying her, is it?"
"No."
"Good, because seriously? You're not going to do any better than Taylor."
"Taylor's great, but I know it won't work out. It wasn't fair to put her through -" He started to gesture towards his head because he couldn't use the word aneurysm again without raising Nate's ire. Then he stopped. Nate wouldn't believe him anyway. "Sometimes you just know things aren't meant to be."
Nate wandered into the kitchen. He called over his shoulder, "Well, you probably could have found a better way to tell her. I'm just saying."
Eli followed him after a few minutes during which Nate had begun preparing dinner. Eli watched him for a while, mulling things over.
"Nate?" he said eventually. "Is Dad okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is he still an engineer?"
Nate dropped some pasta into boiling water. "Unless he's retired in the last 24 hours he is. Why?"
"He never owned a TV repair shop on Market Street?"
"No. Why would you say that?" Nate chuckled briefly, then gave Eli a sober look. "Forget it, I need to stop asking."
Eli ignored him. "And his health's okay?"
"Apart from a little male pattern baldness - which doesn't bode well for either of us. You in particular," Nate said, glancing at Eli's hair.
"He isn't… an alcoholic?"
Nate's brow furrowed. "No, of course not. Now Mom, on the other hand… Get her around a jug of Sangria and there are consequences. Don't you remember when she and Uncle Gary got hammered at her sixtieth last year? They almost set the kitchen curtains on fire."
Eli grinned in response to Nate's amusement but it quickly faded. He didn't remember because it never happened. He stared off into the distance, lost in thought, until Nate threw a dishcloth at him.
"Why are you so worried about Dad? What's with the whole death fixation?" Nate fixed him with a firm stare. "You could have handled that little announcement better, too."
"I know…I just wasn't expecting to see him," Eli said, dropping his eyes. "I'm not the only one with an aneurysm, Nate. I got it from Dad, along with the visions. He just didn't know how to handle his so he drank instead. It destroyed him."
Nate continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable. When he tried to speak he found he had to clear his throat first.
"Eli, I know you believe that. I don't understand it, but I concede it feels real to you right now."
"It is real," Eli whispered, sounding scared.
Nate pressed his lips together. "Do you trust me?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"Do you?"
"Of course I do," Eli replied. "You're my brother."
Nate reached out and held Eli's head in his hands, their eyes locking together. "Then trust me when I tell you this is all in your mind. Dad is okay, and so are you. I'm gonna help you through this, Eli. But you need to try. I need you to try."
"Nate…"
"No, I don't want to hear you talk about aneurysms or visions or George Michael. You need to focus on what's real."
Eli's mouth tightened as Nate's intense gaze bore into him. He felt his anger mounting and wanted to push his brother away, but something inside forced him to calm down. He wouldn't get anywhere antagonizing Nate. Eli was concerned he'd really think he was insane and have him committed. Instead he decided that he'd give acquiescence a try. At least on the surface.
"Okay, Nate."
A smile lit up his brother's face and he pulled Eli into a brief hug. He slapped his back firmly.
"Good. Now, are you hungry? Because I am going to turn this bottle of pasta sauce into something vaguely appetizing right before your very eyes."
"Sounds good," Eli said with a forced smile.
If he had to pretend everything was normal, he could do that. Eli knew he didn't have any other choice if he was going to get his real life back.