The Dream Team and the Battle For Salvation
Characters: Nancy Thompson, Neil Gordon, Kristen Parker, Roland Kincaid, Joey Peterson, Donald Thompson, Elaine Parker, Alice Johnson, Rick Johnson, Dan Jordon, Debbie Stevens, Sheila Kopecky, Max Johnson and Freddy Krueger, special appearances: Elizabeth Simms and Eric Carver
Time-line: It's two years after the events of Dream Warriors, the trio is back in school, and Neil and Nancy are engaged and are getting married the following summer. Their parents are back together and their family is in one piece, while the trio has created a new gang and they are healed from what happened at the hospital at the time. Their parents' friends also know the truth and have pulled their group back together, and Neil has adopted Kristen as his daughter. So this is taking place in the opening scenes of the Dream Master.
Summary: It's been two years since the events of the Dream Warriors and Kristen is having premonitions of something on the rise that is going to after the rest of their group, after a dream that causes him to come back for real, and a injury, will they be able to stop him or is that it for the dream warriors, their friends and the entire town's junior population.
Disclaimers: I own nothing of the Nightmare on Elm Street series or the characters, they belong to Wes Craven and New Line Cinema. The story belongs to me everything else belong to the director and the movie company.
Warnings: With this being a scary story, I'm going to drag some of the lines from the third and fourth movies out, after that it is completely altered reality, and there is going to be the usual amount of gore and profanity and several mentions of attempted rape in it, so as to that, this is for teenagers 14 and up and adults and there is going to be a mention of one of Stephen King's movies and you will be surprised, there will also be a few flashbacks to what happened in the movie from Gordon's point of view and a bit of information from the third movie and what wasn't in the movie in this chapter and his thoughts, before it gets to the first twenty minutes of the Dream Master as well...
Chapter 1: The First Nightmare and Old Memories
Kristen Parker was walking down the side-walk heading to her house and saw a nine year old girl sitting on the side-walk working on a chalk drawing and she couldn't tell what is was she was working on from her position and moved closer to speak to her as she moved closer, it started taking shape and she saw the image of a house that her older sister, Nancy Thompson, used to live in, and knew what this could mean if she was having these nightmares again and got ready for what was coming.
Though her childhood memories showed it in a different way and that was when Nancy had been living in the house, before they and their family gang separated at the time, thirteen years earlier, but now the house had turned into a wreck in the three years since Jesse Walsh had moved to town, and the place was a total wreck since they moved out. "Hello little girl, do you live here?" she asked the girl and she giggled before answering her, the giggle only sending a chill down her spine then.
"No body lives here." she said and Kristen felt her heart starting to pound as she asked the next question. "Where's Freddy?" she asked, trying to keep from choking on the name, since to her and her entire familial gang, that name meant nothing but trouble, and they weren't losing each other no matter what they had to do, as she finished thinking that she watched as the girl gave another giggle before answering.
"He's not home." she said and turned back to the drawing and moved her hand and Kristen saw a picture of Freddy standing in the window of the drawing and she gulped as she backed up a minute later it started pouring and she had to get out of the rain, but before she could move she saw the door of the house open and started walking up the front path and heard the song that meant one thing and one thing only to her, trouble.
"One, two Freddy is coming for you, three, four better lock your door, five, six grab your crucifix, seven, eight gotta stay up late, nine, ten never sleep again." the kids who were doing jump rope were chanting as she went into the house and saw a tricycle falling down the stairs before turning around and seeing it from the other angle and the front door slammed.
'Dear god, please don't let this mean what I think it means, I've lost seven of my brothers and sisters and my aunt, I can't lose the rest of my family. Lord if you can hear me, protect my family, I can't take losing anyone else I love, I barely survived it once, I can't do it again.' she thought as she looked around the front hall of the house to see if she thought she was right about it. "Please God, if this gets any worse protect my friends and family, I'm not going through this again.' she thought as she started investigating.
In the Real World
Roland Kincaid and Joey Crusel were going to see a movie that night and were discussing her concerns as they headed to the theater. "You think she is over thinking this?" Joey asked and Kincaid nodded, his feelings of protectiveness were running on over drive at that point, after what the situation at the hospital did to his sister and she was only just beginning to heal up from it at that point.
"After what happened after we got back together, she is still recovering from it at this point and dad is getting more worried by the minute over this. Those nightmares are getting out of control, and frankly if I have to deal with it again, I'm going to kill the bastard for doing this to her." he said and Joey nodded in agreement to that opinion after everything that went on as Kincaid continued, as his brown eyes grew concerned.
"I think so, nothing has happened in two years, and the last thing we need is a repeater of our time in the hospital, so for the time being let's keep an eye out, if those nightmares get any worse, we need to tell dad and the rest of the family, Aunt Elaine is getting worried and so are the others." he said and Joey nodded with a sigh then.
"If we hadn't gotten back together, I doubt our bonds would have healed them, and if we hadn't kept our trio together, and if she didn't have us, our relationship would never survive the repeated call-ins like this, because I don't doubt if the Thompsons hadn't survived the previous fight our bonds as a trio would be destroyed by now." he said and he nodded to that as he answered him at that.
"Are you beginning to get annoyed with this like I am right now, because it's been three weeks and nothing's happened and she's exhausted if this keeps up I don't doubt, if Nancy had been killed we'd reach the point of not bothering to listen and if he comes back then it could kill us both, because you never would have changed if that had happened man, I would have reached my limit by this point."
"Nothing's happened yet, but if this means a repeat we need to be ready, because if something happens it's going to result in a comeback sometime in the next few weeks, and I'm not being taken away from her next and I know you feel the same way here." he said and he nodded in agreement, but before Joey could say anything they heard a pair of voices they knew way too well, knowing they had been caught by their own family members on a school night. "Did James and Jared give you permission to see a movie tonight guys?" they heard and turned around to see their psychiatrist standing there.
"Alright guys, what are you doing at the movie theater on a school night and don't you have homework to do right now?" Dr. Neil Gordon asked them and gave a smile to let them know they weren't in trouble with them. "Hi Doctor Gordon, Nancy, and to answer your question yeah they did." Joey said to them and they smiled. "Hi Joey, Kincaid, how are things going right now, and where's Kris right now, isn't she coming with you." Nancy Thompson asked and Kincaid sighed as he explained their concerns over their team-mate and sister, knowing they weren't going to like it at all then.
"Alright, but Kris's nightmares are starting, and she is bringing us back in again, I don't know if she is over thinking this or what, as for the second she bugged out on us, because she's worn out right now from this, and Aunt Elaine decided she needed some time to rest, because she's beyond worn out right now." he said and Neil looked at Nancy. "What do you think Nancy?" he asked and she thought it over.
"I'm not sure, she is more sensitive than the boys are and can sense if there is trouble, especially since she can sense all four of us now, after what happened when Joey was captured, but I think we better get this checked out, before it does start again." she said and he looked at the boys, as he remembered what this had done to his adoptive daughter and was determined to keep her from having to go through that a second time.
"He tries to go after her or you again and I swear I'm going to kill him." he said and Nancy looked at him. "Dad is not going to take it well and neither are Aunt Elaine or your parents." she said and they both nodded. "Yeah well, if they are ticked at hearing this information so will the rest of the family, when they get the news." Joey said and they nodded. "How serious are those nightmares getting guys?" she asked and he sighed.
"She's coming to school exhausted at this point, Rick is getting worried and so is the rest of our gang." he said and Neil sighed. "I need to talk to her about that, this keeps up and she is going to have a relapse, if these nightmares are going in the direction I think it's about to turn into a repeat performance, I'm ending it, before she has a relapse, I got to raise that dose so she's able to sleep, because this is getting worse by the day, and I'm not letting Simms get her hands on her again." he said and they both nodded to that.
"How are you guys holding up over this right now?" he asked and Kincaid answered that. "We're getting worried about her, we may have ended things, but she's still afraid of it starting again, after losing most of our original one and I'm not sure yet, but if her relationship with Rick is what I think it is, if he, Dan and the girls get involved in this and he gets killed it could kill her in the process." he said and Neil nodded, knowing exactly what he meant as he tried to control his protectiveness over his daughter as he thought about his son-in-law at the same time, as he changed the subject to take his mind off of it as he looked at them.
"What were you going to see?" he asked and Kincaid smiled as he answered him. "We're going to see Creepshow actually, they're doing a minor King novel/movie marathon the last two months, you want to join us?" he asked and the two looked at each other before looking at them. "Sure, I don't mind a scary movie." Neil said to him and they went to the booth and got their tickets and drinks, as Nancy looked at the trio.
" If this is anything like the other King novels, I'm probably going to be sick to my stomach by the end of this." she said and Joey looked at her at that. "Considering that we had to live through a psychotic dream demon and what he did to our friends and nearly did to you and your father and what he put her through, I'd say this doesn't even come close." he said and the quartet sat back in their chairs as the movie started.
As he sat there, he felt a shift in his link to his sister and knew something was wrong, and hoped that whatever was causing it, wasn't what he was thinking, because if it was it meant it was about to start again for a second time and his big sister and her soul-mate were going to be pissed if it did, after what happened and the amount of damage it inflicted on his baby sister two years earlier, and he was determined to keep it from happening again as he tried to focus on the movie.
In the Dream World:
As Kristen started looking over the house the noises were beginning to get to her, and she was feeling her nerves beginning to get frayed because of it as she looked around and saw a skewered pig on the table and moved closer and it suddenly jumped at her and she screamed as she backed up. 'God that's the second time in two years here. Keep it together don't panic, just stay calm.' she thought softly as she walked into the kitchen.
As she looked around her, she saw a blast of lightning and it suddenly came flying through the window and hit some dishes on the counter, another lightning flash gave off the image of what looked like a knifed hand and she turned to see a tree limb scraping against the window and she backed up. 'God not good, my nightmares are more than what I thought this is turning into some sort of premonition now, alright keep it together.' she thought as she looked around the room and she tried to relax.
As she scanned the room she walked to the door and saw it had shifted and just then the next blast hit went through the window, landed in front of her and sent her flying out of the kitchen and through the cellar door. 'Whoa, that's definitely not good this is bad, this is very bad.' she thought as she tried to relax as she looked around after hitting the floor, but feeling something grazing her shoulder as she was thrown through the door.
After landing she sat up and she saw that she wasn't in the house any more, but the boiler room and started feeling panicked as she looked at around and trying to keep calm as she started repeating it to maintain control since she knew that her fear would only make him stronger and she was trying to keep from giving him any fuel if he was in the room with her. 'Fear is his weapon against us, don't be afraid, stay focused, stay calm, and don't give him any fuel.' she thought, before saying it out loud to herself then.
"Stay calm Kristen, stay calm." she said as she was looking around as she saw some steam beginning to come off the boiler and the pipes and knew they were coming close to him coming back as she heard a whistle go off, and her previous thoughts shot through her again. 'Dear god, not again, please not again, you've taken enough from me, I'm not letting you take away my family, or my mate, you come near us and I'm going to kill you, do you hear me, I'm going to kill you!' she shouted out in her mind as she got ready to shout out the names of her family as she did a double check of the entire section of the room she was in as she heard a steam blast.
'Dad, this could be it, if this is more than a normal premonition or dream be ready, because it could be starting again, I'm not losing you guys without a fight here.' she thought softly, as she checked the room, before feeling a gentle pulse at that from him, and that was enough to to try and alleviate the anxiety as she did a section by section search.
The Real World
As Neil sat there watching the first part of the movie he thought over what he knew of one of his favorite patients and the girl who had become his daughter, and when he had met her for the first time, she had been brought in after a trip to the emergency room and was panicking because the orderlies wanted to sedate her, and he wasn't sure of the reason before Nancy came into the room and took care of calming her down for them.
As he thought of that his first memory of her came to his mind and Nancy telling him the reason for why she knew how to work so easily with the kids and what was the start of their relationship as well, as well as his connection to the kids and where he was going to become like them in dealing with Krueger and finding the truth as he saw the tombstone of the nun who was the mother of the man who his young friends were nearly killed by and he had lost four of them because of that monster.
It took a bit of time for Kristen to relax around him, but by the middle of the week, she was completely comfortable, since he had allowed her to open up to him and he could read her the same way that the rest of the group could and after getting back to the hospital with a broken arm, he went to check on her and nearly felt his heart give out because of it after two members of his group were killed and Joey in a coma and he now knew the reason why, his determination of keeping the rest of his patients alive had grown and she was the one who had the power to take Freddy down and with the rest of them with her.
The night of the final attack had been burned into his mind, after he had gotten the call from the kids telling him that Kristen had finally lost control of her temper and was now sedated they knew they had to hurry things up and put an end to this because otherwise it was not only going to kill her, but Joey as well.
After the two of them had separated, he had gotten her father, Donald, to go with him and get the remains and she was going to get to the kids and keep Krueger busy while he buried them in the ground of where they were hidden, after getting the grave set up they were attacked by Krueger's skeleton and he wound up with a concussion and a broken arm while Donald had wound up with stab wound, but finished what he had to do, and they went back to the hospital to check on Nancy and the kids.
As well as when he went to check on Nancy and Kincaid who were lucky to be alive from the fight and saw that two more of his patients were dead: Will from a stab wound and Taryn from an over-dose of heroin, he saw the needle marks in her arms and knew she had been killed by Krueger. After what happened that night, the trio's parents were beyond pissed and Kristen's mother, Elaine, had only given them one chance.
Said chance was they had only one chance to clean up their act, or they would be arrested if it started again, since they'd been caught by his daughter for hiring a convicted criminal without checking the records at the time. With everything that happened that week, hearing the truth had pissed off every member of the teenage team and twenty percent leadership was ready to have them both jailed for it.
After three months healing from her injuries and a small amount of her emotional recovery they began the rest of the healing by getting together every week and the bonds were healing her, what was healing her even more was that her godfather was back in her life. Her godfather, Donald Thompson, was fine with the fact he'd taken over for him and together they and the rest of his father-in-law's trio was healing the damage and things had gotten better since that night for all of them.
Despite the fact that the kids parents were shocked to find that they had found each other again, they were relieved to have a chance to get back together, and if there was ever chance he came back, get everything prepped and ready for another showdown and had accepted him as a member of their family as well, and he was always there for the kids when they needed him, and had taken over the role of her father since her birth father had moved out of town and with the fact that she had been traumatized with what had happened decided to be there for her as much as possible at the time.
He had adopted her a few months before they came home the hospital and knew he had healed that portion of the emotional pain after losing most of her gang, but it took a few months before she healed up completely when she and the boys created a new gang with five others and was now dating a martial arts expert by the name of Rick Johnson and their relationship had been going on for seven months now and that had healed her up completely from the emotional damage that losing her brothers and sisters had done to her. With the fact she and Rick were together now, he knew Rick was going to become his son-in-law someday and was glad she was so happy now.
While in his case, he and Nancy had been together for close to three years by that point and they were getting married in two years after the trio finished school and her father didn't mind that at all, as things shifted directions and their youngest was the first to find her mate and they waited for the other shoe to drop, knowing that the duo's future's girlfriends were probably going to be the other members of their gang.
As he thought about it, his memories of her first day as his patient came to mind and the first time he saw Nancy and the start of a very crazy week and the loss of four of his patients as well as the beginning of the truth of the kids connection and everything that came with it came as he was looking at the screen and he wrapped an arm around Nancy as he sat there and she leaned into him.
As he relaxed slightly he felt a slight pulse of anxiety come from her, 'God not again, Krueger I swear you try it again and I'm killing you and burying you a second time if you come after her a second time.' he thought, before shifting his thoughts to the duo then. 'Guys did she back out on coming with you tonight, because she's exhausted right now?' He asked and Joey answered that, his mental voice concerned as he answered him.
'Yeah she had a training session with Rick around five, and was getting ready for a test tonight, so she decided to stay home, and probably fell asleep early as a result, it's 10o'clock, so she's in bed already. You feel the same pulse I did?' he asked and Neil gave a mental nod as he sent a soothing pulse back to her. 'It's alright baby, just relax.' he thought softly as he refocused and waited to see what caused that anxiety jolt then.
The Arrival- Neil's POV:
I was making my rounds that morning and went to check on Kincaid after another outburst over something. I was used to this with him, since he was really hot tempered and was still pissed that his friend, one of my patients, had tried to kill himself and had been removed because he nearly bled to death after cutting off his eyelids to keep himself awake and had come close to bleeding to death before we had him moved to the medical hospital to get treated and it had made it worse as well as I shifted away from that memory, since it still made me sick when I thought about it now.
In the case of kids I worked with there in the ward they ranged from thirteen to eight-teen years old and the current group I was dealing with were 16, and it was four boys and two girls, and so far I've made a bit of progress, but they were getting irritated for some reason and whatever was going on had to do with what was going on in town and it was getting out of control at the time in the hospital.
It had been months since they had arrived and things within the group were getting more tense by the minute, while I was heading over there I heard the report on the news over another suicide and I exchanged looks with Max at that as he looked at me with a concerned, but annoyed look on his face as he turned it off and dropped it back in his pocket as we headed back into the ward. "Nothing like a little cheery news to start the day, right." I said sarcastically and he nodded with a bemused smile on his face.
"Hey listen doc, I've got a new theory about all these suicides." he said and I smiled slightly at that, since this had been going on for eight months and it was getting out of control, and I had two patients who had tried to kill themselves, one who did, and the others were all getting irritated over things in group and were still ticked over losing their friends being removed and whatever was triggering this was getting out of hand and it was driving us and every adult in town nuts, because we didn't know what was causing it, but I knew we were going to find out sooner or later.
"Don't hold back on us Max we need all the help we can get." I said and he went into it. "A fucked up chromosone, I mean all their parents dropped acid in the sixties." he said and I tried to keep from laughing as I responded to that, "Well it beats Simms's theory, she thinks its nothing but sex, drugs and rock and roll." I said and he started laughing at that. "Shit that's what keeps people alive." he said as we separated as I headed to the isolation room to check on Kincaid and passed a few of my teenage patients, the first was a girl by the name of Taryn White, the second was another by the name of Jennifer Caulfield and the last was a boy by the name of Philip Anderson.
They weren't the only ones either, I had three others one was Roland Kincaid, the second was another boy named William Stanton and the third was named Joseph Crusel, who both preferred their nick names. The six of them seemed to have some sort of connection going on and they were all scared to dream for some reason and we were still trying to figure it out and so far had come to any really conclusions then, but the theories were not even touching what the real problem was at the time.
We had been watching over and taking care of them for seven months since they had arrived, and they all seemed to have the exact same dreams to the point to where none of them wanted to sleep and it lead to the sessions turning into a debate rather than a therapy session and this was reaching the point to where my current delinquent was on the edge of breaking something as I looked through the window of the quiet room.
As I watched I saw him looking down with his head on his arms and was writing down what I was observing, I felt the concern shoot through me as I saw the irritated look in his brown eyes then. 'Come on son, you can't keep holding it in, tell me what's really bothering you.' I thought softly watching him, out of the sextet, he was the one I had the most problems with, no matter how many times we tried to head it off, he somehow kept losing control of his temper and kept winding up in here.
'God I hope whoever the newest one is or is going to be, it's enough to break the tension in the group, before he breaks the window next, because it's getting more tense by the minute here. These kids have been trapped here for six months and have been holding it in too long, it's not healthy, we need an ice breaker, before there's another outburst here.' I thought, though just as I finished thinking that Elizabeth came to join me.
"How is he?" she asked me and without looking away from him or the window, I answered her. "He's cooling down." I told her and she responded to that with the stern tone I was used to from her. "If he continues having these outbursts, I'll have to have him isolated completely." she said and I turned to look at her with a slight smile. "Oh, don't worry, it won't come to that." I told her and we headed further down the hallway as I brought up the subject of our new intern.
"I read the reports on the new staff member." I told her and she smiled. "So what'd you think?" she asked me and I gave a sigh before I gave her the truth of my opinion. "Frankly, I don't understand why some grad school super-star is being treated like a seasoned pro." I said and she tried to defend her. "She's been doing groundbreaking research on pattern nightmares." she told me and I interrupted her. Where my patients were concerned I wasn't risking someone doing more damage then, because whoever this rookie was-was trying to get her first gold star when I'd been at it for ten years.
"Elizabeth, we don't need any outside help, I know these kids, I don't want some hot shot, taking chances with them so she can get published." I said and just as she was beginning to respond to that the intercom went off. "Dr. Gordon, Dr. Simms, to examination stat." the voice called out and we exchanged looks before heading upstairs. I knew this meant only one thing and that was that we had a new patient who was having a serious panic attack, but whatever the reason was we were going to have to find out when we got up there.
In our case, we worked with teenagers, and I knew that whoever the new one was, it had to do with what we were already dealing with-with the other kids we were taking care of, and he or she didn't want to be put under. After getting up there we heard the shouting and knew it was a girl as the nurse gave us the low-down as we walked past a woman who was her mother by the sound of it. "This is ridiculous I know my own daughter, she's just trying to get a little attention and I'm not going play one of her games with her." I heard and I knew this meant one of only two things things then.
Either her mother had something else on her mind, or whatever the girl's father had done to her, she'd been holding it in too long by that point. 'Mam, whatever triggered this in you, I'm finding out later here and making sure it's neutralized, but it's obvious to everyone else here your daughter needs help, and now I need to find out what caused it.' I thought as I walked past her and the nurse explained to me what was up then.
"Suicide attempt, they just brought her down from county general." she told me as I tried to find out who she was as we heard a crash. "What's her name." I asked her quickly and she gave me a quick answer as Elizabeth saw something go flying out of the room as she told me. "Her name is Kristen Parker, she was fine before we tried to sedate her." she told me and I gave a quick nod as Kristen nearly ran into me as I was going in and I turned to see the girl in time for her to throw a blanket at Lorenzo, as he tried to keep her from running out of the room before we got in there, and he was trying to get close enough to get a hold of her as he told me the reason why, without taking his eyes off her at the same time and moved behind the exam table to get into position.
As he did that I tried to calm her down and she backed up against it, since I moved a few feet closer to her as she backed up against it. "She tore her stitches out." he said and I nodded as I tried to get her to calm down. "It's alright, we want to help you." I said keeping my voice gentle, since this helped in calming them down, and before she could move back further he lunged and got a hand on her shoulders and pulled her against him, as I moved closer to them she started fighting to get out of his grip as he started pulling her to the table, so we could it taken care of and she was trying break out of his grip for some reason, but it was obvious to me if this continued she was going to hurt herself. 'Easy, just calm down sweetie.' I thought as she tried to get free of him.
'Honey it's okay, calm down.' I thought again as I tried to get closer, over the years I had seen this more than once in a patient, and whatever the reason, we had to take it carefully, especially if he or she was recovering from the injury that put them in here. 'Damn it, this could have been prevented if whoever said the trigger word brought it up in the hall, instead of saying it in front of her, whoever did it this time is in deep trouble.' I thought, knowing the trigger word was sedative, because every patient I've gotten so far panicked every time they heard it, and it happened nine times on each arrival.
As I finished thinking that I got a better look at her, and I saw that her skin was dangerously pale, and she had rings under her eyes and she looked like she was on the verge of a collapse and if this kept up she was going to drain herself enough to trigger it and I wasn't going to risk that happening as I watched her carefully to see how serious this was and what caused it then.
As I watched her trying to break free from him, I knew I was going to have to sedate her before she tore something else, I was used to the new ones getting slightly panicked, but it suddenly became clear to me that if she had this reaction it meant we could have another one of that same background as the others and if that's what meant I had to calm her down before she tore anything else, as I quickly looked at him and gave the order to let him know I was taking over from here, and that he had to keep her from getting free as I got ready to sedate her then.
'See if you can calm her down, I'm going to have sedate her, she's ready to collapse here.' I said to him with my eyes and he gave a nod as I said it out loud. "Hold her." I told him and he nodded and I turned and grabbed a sedative, I knew if this kept up she was likely going to hurt herself even more, and we had to take care of her wrist, before it tore another one of the stitches or a muscle and I wasn't chancing that happening in the middle of this.
'Honey, just calm down, we're not going to hurt you.' I thought again to her as I gave her a gentle look and then grabbed the syringe and loaded it, after dealing with the girls I knew if this went in the same direction and if I was right about her physical appearance it meant she had just had been up for a while and probably had gone through a cycle and was still recovering from the anemia, and this resistance was draining her to a collapse if we didn't calm her down and quickly.
'God, first Taryn and now I have another in the same physical condition she was in, I have to get her to calm down before she hurts herself here.' I thought worriedly then. After dealing with my other patient, having to deal with another who was in the same condition she was in was even worse, though in her case it was because she was suffering a severe case of withdrawal and that clearly was not the case here. Whatever triggered this I had to make sure it didn't happen twice.
'God whoever triggered this is going to to be in big trouble.' I thought as I got the dose prepped. 'Easy honey, it's alright.' I thought to her gently as I listened to her behind me, feeling my anger and concern rising as I did. After doing this for eleven years I knew what I was doing and took out enough to let her rest while we took care of her wrist, and carefully got it worked out and kept half my attention on what was going on behind me, since with the boys and Taryn, I had to deal with this several times and I knew if it lead in the direction it was going in, someone was going to get hurt in the middle of it before we brought anyone else into the room, and whatever triggered this probably had to do with what happened last night or whatever dream it caused to hit that.
After having dealt with this one too many times with my other patients, and the ones I had before my latest ones arrived six months before then, I was used to it and I had to make sure she didn't tear anything else, on top of the issue that being a psychiatrist sometimes meant being the one to give the dose while you are trying to calm down the patient, and it lead to winding up in the line of fire if they lashed out in the middle of it, and she had the look of someone who had been taking gymnastics for several years, so I had to go carefully when I went to do it as well, as I finished with it, I thought again to her, injecting a soothing tone into my thoughts as I quickly got the air out, doubled checked it and then thought it again to her.
'Easy honey easy, it's alright just calm down. I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe, it's okay.' I thought gently as I turned back to her and shifted closer to her, as I injected a gentle tone into my voice then. "I'm Doctor Gordon, I'm not going to hurt you, I want to help you." I said gently as I got closer and she lashed out then and kicked me as I lost my balance than as he pulled me up and then tried to get closer as he tried to grab her as she backed into the corner before she sliced his arm with a scalpel she yanked off the instrument table by the window, after that I knew that we were going to need back up and backed off as he backed up slightly.
"Back off Max." I told him quickly since he was standing in front of me and barely six inches away from me, I had to get her to calm down and prayed she didn't try to do it in front of us, because we wouldn't be able to stop her in time without someone else getting hurt. 'Honey don't, it's alright, we're not going to hurt you.' I thought quickly as I kept my eyes on her then, somehow I knew she wasn't going to use it, but I still had to calm her down, since she wasn't the only one who had done that, Taryn had done the same before we calmed her down then.
'Easy sweetheart, it's okay, no one is going to hurt you baby.' I thought gently, out of the girls the only one aside from her who had this particular reaction was Taryn, who had been in withdrawal, but I could tell that wasn't the reason in her case, whatever triggered this had been a nightmare traumatizing enough that she didn't want to sleep, but if this kept up she was going to drain herself severely if we didn't get her to calm down and rest for a bit. After dealing with Taryn who had been in a serious case of withdrawal, it had taken close to half an hour to calm her down, I knew if she was this drained she was a few steps away from a collapse and whatever had drained her on top of her wrist was going to have to be dealt with and soon.
'Whatever or whoever caused this in her is going to be torn apart when I get through with them.' I thought as I watched her, 'Easy, easy it's alright, it's going to be okay baby.' I thought gently to her, 'Shh, it's going to be alright honey.' I said to her again softly. When it came to the girls, if they arrived in this condition, I usually took on a fatherly tone with them and it helped in calming them down, but if they were this panicked and were this close to a collapse I had to end it before it reached that point. With Jennifer I barely missed getting nailed with a set of surgical scissors, and this was just as serious and it took a half an hour to deal with, while my other patient's condition was even worse at the time.
After dealing with Taryn, her condition from a serious case of withdrawal, I'd been in the same predicament in that situation, and with this one I knew she was coming close to breaking then and I had to head off that collapse, because in her current physical condition, and going by the looks of it, her strength and energy levels were dangerously drained and we had to get her to lay down before it drained her enough to cause her to collapse right then. 'Shh, it's okay honey, no one is going to hurt you baby.' I thought again to her keeping a gentle look on my face as I watched her then.
'God whoever triggered this is going to be in big trouble, shh, easy honey, it's going to be okay baby. It's okay, it's okay, you're safe, shh, it's okay baby.' I thought softly as I tried again as I said out loud as I kept a gentle look on my face as I watched her then, whatever they did I had to deal with and then I was laying into them for it, since it always happened with the new ones and the girls, when they were in this condition, were so drained it took an hour to figure it out as I kept them calm as we took care of their injuries.
"Kristen put the scalpel down, no one is going to hurt you." I said gently with a quiet tone in my voice as I watched her, I wasn't sure but she looked like she was about to collapse right then and if she did we had to head off a collapse before that did happen and get that scalpel out of her hand before it did. Watching her I could see her shaking from exhaustion, 'Oh no, she's on the verge of a collapse, we have to end this now.' I thought as I tried again to calm her down as I watched her gently.
While I tried to reason with her and she said some sort of nursery rhyme before another voice finished it. "Never Sleep again." I heard and turned slightly to see our new member who seemed to be looking at her with a look of shock. "Where did you hear that rhyme?" she asked softly, but the look on my patient's face then was what looked like slight recognition, like she knew her as she got the scalpel away from her and pulled her into a hug and that ended it, as she buried her head into Nancy's shoulder then.
As I watched her with Kristen I felt a jolt of relief that portion of it ended, but I was making sure it didn't happen twice, as that thought shot through me I looked at Simms then, who had the same look on her face. 'God whatever triggered that we have to keep it from happening again.' I thought as I looked at Simms as I went into a silent conversation with her after what we just saw then as I saw my concern in her eyes.
' We have to figure out what triggered that and make sure it doesn't happen twice.' I said to her and she gave a nod as we looked at each other, 'She's beyond exhausted, and from the looks of her she needs time to heal up, we have to keep an eye on her.' she added and I gave a nod, 'We better call a meeting after we get her wrist taken care of I want to keep her under observation till she heals up, because she may have to stay a few months as well to heal.' I said and she nodded in agreement as we ended that.
As I exchanged looks with Elizabeth, I turned to look back at her in time to see her legs give out and almost fell forward as Nancy tried to steady her and Max quickly grabbed her, "Lorenzo give me a hand here." he said and he quickly picked her up so we could get her on the table as Max pulled her into his arms then moved over to it and laid her on the table so we could get her wrist taken care and head off a secondary one.
After seeing that the only thing going through my head was 'Damn it' I wasn't sure what triggered that, but with dealing with two other teenage girls I sure she was suffering from anemia and a serious case of exhaustion, and now we had to deal with getting those issues healed up as we tried to figure out what else cause this in her condition.
I could also tell she was exhausted as well and she looked she had suffered a dizzy spell when that happened as I turned to the nurse so she could tell me what else she knew, but kept most of my attention on my young patient and I was going to figure this out before it caused a relapse and I wasn't taking chances in her case after what just happened here, on top of her wrist, exhaustion and whatever else to cause that, and was going to make sure this didn't happen twice during her recovery period there.
'Whatever is causing this with the girls and the boys is getting out of control here, so what the hell is causing it. Alright time to focus, don't worry honey, you're safe.' I thought softly to her as I looked at the nurse to get started then. "Did the county hospital send her medical records over?" I asked her and she nodded as I looked back at Kristen as she started falling asleep and was relieved that we wouldn't a repeat of what just happened, Nancy was staying next to her and I shifted to the other side to stay next to her and rested a hand on her arm gently, I was worried and tried to figure this out.
As I looked at her I felt the stirrings of being her protector during her time as my patient here as I took care of her during that time, as I watched her she shifted position and I gently rubbed her arm to calm her. 'Whatever reason triggered this better not have to do with her father, because if he's the one who finally pushed her to do this, I'm going to kill him myself. Parker I swear if you're the reason for this, you better stay clear of town, or you're getting your ass kicked by me and the entire team here for this.'
'Shh, it's okay, you're safe, just rest, it's going to be okay.' I thought to her gently as I ran a fast check to check her vitals. 'It's going to be okay honey, you're safe just rest now, I'll be here.' I thought again to her as I looked at her gently, I could tell she was so exhausted that if she didn't get the rest she needed, she was going to wind up in the ICU for a month to heal from this, and I wasn't going to risk that, we had to deal with it, and make sure nothing triggered a panic attack serious enough to trigger a relapse at this point, because if it did, it would drain her down dangerously.
While I was thinking this, I could see her shivering and gently laid a hand on her arm. 'Shh, it's okay honey, I'm here, it's okay.' I thought to her as I rubbed her arm gently. After laying a hand on her arm I noticed she was drenched in sweat, and felt my heart start speeding up. "She's burning up." I said quickly and Max grabbed towel and started drying her off as Elizabeth did a quick check as she then looked at me.
"She's suffering a hot-flash on top of that collapse, going by my guess it's probably anemia which triggered that, but I'm not sure yet, it'll wear off in a few minutes." she said and I tried to figure out what caused that part of it as I turned to the records of what I needed to know of how to take care of my patient in case anything else came up."Is the medical doctor who treated her still here?" I asked and Lorenzo gave a nod. "Yeah she is." he said and I nodded. "Alright I was to see her." I said and he nodded and called the medical doctor into the room.
"You wanted to see me Dr. Gordon?" she asked and I nodded. "What's your name doctor?" I asked and she went into that, but before she did she moved over to her and looked at her with a look of maternal love and I knew something was up, because I had seen that look on the EMT's face when he brought Taryn in. I didn't have to hear the words, because from the look on her face, it was obvious she thought of her as a daughter. "My name is Erin Stanton, my son is one of the patients here." she said curtly and I nodded, Will had been in the ward for six months and I knew she was annoyed.
"Doctor how serious was it when she got there?" I asked and she went into that. "She was unconscious when she got to the E.R. and after running several blood tests, they indicated severe anemia, going by what I could tell she's been up for close to six months or longer and those nightmares are getting out of control as well, because she barely gets more than a few hours of rest, and when she does it doesn't last longer than a couple of hours." she said and I nodded. "From the way you were looking at her, you know who she is right?" I asked and she nodded with a sigh.
"Her mother is a friend of mine, but we haven't seen each other in a while though." she said and I nodded as that confirmed my thoughts. "The EMT who brought in Taryn White was looking at her in the same way, who is he and why is that?" I asked and she went into that. "His name is Jared Peterson, and like me, happened to be a friends with their parents." she said and I nodded. "Alright thank you." I said and she nodded gently as I went to the next question then.
"Are the five of you close?" I asked and she nodded. "We are, but we haven't seen each other since the kids were preschoolers, and it's private." she said and I nodded. "Alright I'll take that for the time being, who was in your gang exactly, because if my patients recognize each other that's all I need to know that your entire block ended up in here." I said and she nodded as she answered me. "Aside from my husband and me, its the Thompsons, Parkers, Lantzes, Lanes, Greys, Whites, Caulfields, Kincaids, and Andersons. Nancy's the youngest of her quartet and Kristen was the youngest of hers and my husband, James, Jared, Rob and Donald were her paternal pack." she said and I nodded in as I exchanged looks with Walter at that as he stepped forward then.
"Erin, with the fact that she just ended up here, along with Billy and Taryn, in addition to Nancy starting work here, today, what do you need from me, and before you ask, it's me Fast Catch Bennett." he said and she nodded in relief to that. "Two connections in the side of two hours, if he's hiding in plain sight right, he's winding up dead if her memory of that trial comes back all at once. You remember that original rule regarding important information Walter, because you're the only one who's going to listen to her at this rate, eight years maybe, but still." she said and he nodded as I saw the look on Lorenzo's face at the remark as I switched it.
"Lovely timing for a reunion right now at the moment. Alright, I'll let you know if she tells me that information, but I can guarantee that if he's found I'm telling Lieutenant Thompson on the situation." I said and she nodded. "Please do, because we're about ready to have him investigate the reason why we haven't heard from our kids in six months and with her being admitted he's going to tear a limb off if something starts screwing with her recovery later." she said and I nodded as I changed the subject at that then.
"Alright, how serious is the anemia, because she suffered a collapse right after Nancy calmed her down?" I asked and she went into that. "Her numbers are all over the place, and she's suffering an iron deficiency at the moment." she said and I nodded as that confirmed my thoughts. "Any severe medical allergies, because going by this, she's going to have to stay here for a while to recover from this physically. And while I'm on the subject what is this bastard's M.O. exactly regarding teenagers." I asked and she nodded.
"Tetracycline and if given pain killers she's allergic to any codeine based pain killer. To answer your question, His alias is the Cradle Nightingale and he's a teenage rapist and here's the more serious part of it, he attacks the week leading into, during or after their cycle end and my nieces are all going through theirs in the side of the next week and a half and hers just ended two days ago, and she's just beginning to recover from the anemia at the moment." she said and I nodded. "Alright thank you for the information." I said and she nodded as she gave one last bit of information I needed to know.
"One more question, how serious was her last cycle, because at this rate the anemia is going to trigger repeated hot flashes, and she collapsed right before I called you in here?" I asked and she sighed. "She lost a little more than a pint, and do to her wrist it added another so she's lost three pints here, whatever's triggering the nightmares has only made it worse and going what by Elaine told me she was up pretty late last night before that happened." She said and I nodded concerned, this was turning into a classic case of sleep deprivation and I knew what this meant if things progressed then.
"If something messes with her recovery, call me at work or you can reach me at my house, and my husband is going to want hear this as well, because he was one of her favorite uncles when they were little." she said and I nodded. "Was it just the three of them?" I asked and she shook her head. "Aside from them, the other four were Philip Anderson, Jennifer Caulfield, Joey Peterson and Roland Kincaid, and the older quartet of the kids was Nancy Thompson, Glen Lantz, Rod Lane and Tina Grey." she said and I nodded feeling my shock go through me, she had just named all of my patients.
'Oh my god, if she was connected to the trio this could mean their parents were closer than I thought. Alright, we better deal with that later here, I have to take care of her for now.' I thought as I nodded and she left the room and Max, Nancy and I exchanged looks over what we just heard on this, and then saw the look on Nancy's face at that and knew she was trying to figure it out as she worked through what Erin just told us.
"Dr. Stanton, you knew me and my friends?" Nancy repeated and she looked at her and then smiled. "Nancy, Nancy Thompson, baby, is that really you?" she asked and Nancy nodded and I felt my shock go though me at the wording. 'Baby, either she was her doctor or their bonds were more than that, but I'm finding out what's going on.' I thought as Nancy answered her. "Yeah I am my father was that Lieutenant you just mentioned, but I can't remember. Who were we to you exactly?" she asked and she smiled.
"Your father was my best friend, honey, in fact our families were all based in the same block, twelve years maybe honey, but the last time you saw her was the trial along with Claire, Elaine, and Wendy, the guys, we left but the four of you stayed put. when did you get back exactly, because if she recognizes you by adding the years to your features, our kids are next and he's toast if she finds out he's working here?' she said and she quickly answered that as she went on alert as she answered her question.
"I just got back from college today, Jenkins and Williams offered me a position here right now, why, what do you need from me, or Dr. Gordon, if this starts screwing with her recovery and where did Parker go to exactly, if her mother is reacting like this, and while I'm on the subject she tells me first and I'm nailing him myself, because though Tina is dead. In fact if the other four from the trial are in the exact same place if the girls are also here. He's getting arrested again when I get this to my father later, because he's going to kill him when he finds out later?" she asked and Stanton answered that firmly.
"I did know you and your quartet, better than you think honey, to answer the second question, Rick's job sent him to Cleveland this time and thirdly and as of now, you're making the calls for me and their parents, if any other members of their gang ended up in here and with that, you're in charge of my son and the girls, could you and Dr. Gordon call me or your father if there's trouble, Elaine is still looking for him, if the kids tell you anything call us okay." she said and I read that as she was now the parental proxy for my patients at that point. "Him who?" she asked and Stanton explained it to her.
"Rodriguez is at it again and her mother has been trying to find him since he was released, because he's at it again." she said and Nancy nodded. "Alright if I learn anything, I'll tell dad, because he's needs this to recover, and with the fact I'm back I'm getting in touch with him soon, but I'm doing what needs to be done for the trio I promise." she said and Stanton nodded gently to her as I thought over that statement then, her father she hadn't seen in a while and if I got this worked out he'd heal then.
"Aunt Erin permission to give medical orders for you and the rest of the parental gang in changes of medication in this case, if they're all here in the hospital. And I figure out what's causing this and their nightmares?" she asked and Erin nodded. "Granted, I'm the family medical doctor baby, you were my patient, as were your brothers and sisters. And with those words I'm saying it for every member of the seven of us."
"Or rather eight, Donald is her guardian and vice versa in your case, Elaine. What you wish to prescribe them, you have our full authority to do so. Daniel and Jane are friends of the family as is Walter Bennett. Walter you and Nancy are doing our orders for us." she said and they both nodded to that as I knew that just did it for whatever reason. "Parental proxy and parental authorization, Elaine when I say it to her is going to say yes, as is Claire, Rob, Jim, Jared and Damian." she said and the three of us nodded.
'Whatever her father is would be enough to help, but I've now got added back up here, and this will help out if her condition starts getting screwed around with here, because I've had more than one problem lately at this point.' I thought and we both nodded as she gave us a nod and left the room and I refocused, as I tried to process what I just heard and then heard my thoughts echoed by Nancy then."Good grief." Nancy said and we looked at her, "What's wrong now?" I asked and she looked at me.
"If she knew all of us, best guess is our parents have been friends for years, because that is the only reason she could have named me and my friends, but I didn't think she knew the rest of your patients here." she said and I nodded in agreement to that. "Aunt Erin, God the title is opening a vein now, but dad is her..., godfather, she's my sister, alright again, she's my responsibility Dr. Gordon, the seven just gave authorization." she said and I nodded as we tried to focus as I looked at my newest patient, who was in a low level sleep and moved closer to her and gently rubbed her arm.
My concern for her had shot up after what just happened and the reason for why she collapsed, after dealing with my other patients I could see the signs that I was dealing with another issue of whatever nightmares that were obviously keeping her up every night, and that we had gotten another one who was dealing with whatever nightmares the others had and it was beginning to get out of hand in the group. "She's too drained to do anything and she is half asleep as well, we better get to work and then let her rest while we try to get this figured out, I need those records so I know what else came up, just before she wound up here." I said to the nurse and she nodded.
"I've got them over here." she told me and I took it and read through some of the more important information before seeing that it said she had seen two other therapists before she wound up here. "Elizabeth you better get a look at this." I told her and she looked at the information as well. "What the hell, alright, so whatever was going on before this happened has to do with this." she said and I nodded at that, whatever this was it had to do with what just happened I had to get it worked out before something else came up.
"Whatever is going on has to do with whatever nightmares she has been having and it lead to this, with the fact she is with the rest of the kids we won't have a problem, but she is going to be drained for a few days." I added and she nodded in agreement to that after having dealt with Kincaid and Joey, and with another girl added to the mix it meant that if she had a relapse she was going to pass out if we weren't in the room with her and I wasn't going to chance that.
Since I took my job with them seriously, especially when it came to girls in case they collapsed because of something like this and it kept more dangerous with every situation when it came up so we took more time dealing with the girls because of it and if it was what I thought we could handle it without it getting worse, and she was going to be recovering for close to two weeks from this.
With the fact he was the one in charge of the kids when I wasn't around I preferred to have Max on hand in case something else came up, and since he worked well with kids it helped to get things under control if something else went wrong, which I hoped it wouldn't, since our newest one's physical symptoms were getting more dangerous by the minute and we had to make sure nothing else went wrong, and I wasn't taking chances here.
I also wasn't going to bother with the sedatives, she was beyond exhausted and I knew whatever nightmares she was having probably matched up to the ones the rest of the kids had, which meant dealing with a panic attack in her case meant not trying to sedate her since she was so wiped out she was going to fall asleep by the end it.
"Max, you better get one of your staff in the ward in case something comes up down there, because I want you in here in case she has another nightmare after what just happened here, because if this is headed in the direction it's going in I'm betting we have another one who has those nightmares that landed the others in here already and we need to head it off in case one gets triggered, especially after we just got her wrist taken care for a second time and I'm not chancing a relapse right now either." I said and he nodded as he went to the phone and called one of the other members of his staff to monitor things on the floor while the three of us were up here.
While he was doing that, the nurse unwrapped the gauze from her wrist and I saw a bloody mess on her wrist as I checked her temperature again and it was back to normal, as I checked her temperature I gently stroked a hand through her hair and she leaned her head again my arm at that, as I hid a smile as I kept it up.
Half the time the new ones needed the reassurance after what went on in the stand offs and this time I knew she was so worn out she didn't mind this at all as she shifted closer to me as I kept it up, looking at her I could see a young girl who needed a someone to take care of her and I was going to take care of her and knew she needed me if she responded to my actions that way as I moved my other hand and gave a gentle squeeze to hers and felt her give a response to that and felt her tighten her grip too.
I knew I was starting to gain her trust if she responded to my actions like that, after a minute I thought to her softly 'Get some rest, I'm here, it's okay.' I said to her softly and I knew she got the message since she left her head against my arm as I kept stroking her hair, knowing she was beginning to trust me now, even if our bond was just starting here. I wasn't sure yet, but if she was reacting to me like that, chances were our bond was going to grow to the point to where she could consider me a surrogate father during her time as my patient here, and I would be the one looking after her from here on in.
If she was admitted and if it did, she would need me a lot, since I hadn't read everything, but with the way it was looking I was probably going to take his place. The others already did and saw me in that way, and with the fact I was slowly connecting to her, it meant she would as well and if it lead in the direction it was going in our bond was going to be even stronger than the one she had with her real father, and I had to find out why only her mother was in the hallway if that was the case, it probably meant her parents were divorced and he had moved out of town, so with that, during her time in here, I would be the one acting like her father and take care of her.
'It's alright honey, I'll take care of you, you're safe.' I thought to her softly and I knew she heard that as she shifted position again and laid her head against my arm and I ran a hand through her hair to calm her. I could tell she was already beginning to trust me to respond to me like that as I kept it up and as I saw the damage and felt a jolt of anger at what brought her to making this decision as I looked at her.
After seeing how bad the damage was, I looked at the nurse. "How many did it take to get it set the first time?" I asked and she turned to me. "Twelve stitches and five of them tore before that had happened, and it was across one of the main veins in her wrist, after we figured that part out I was going to get it taken care of before Lorenzo suggested a sedative and she started panicking." she said and I nodded as I tried to figure that one out as she and another nurse reset them and adjusted a dose of pain killer into her system and I watched her as she was in low beta zone of sleep and knew she wouldn't be focusing on us as we took care of it.
While they were working on that Nancy grabbed a blanket and covered her with it, so she could sleep, but stayed with her as I continued in keeping her relaxed. "Whatever nightmare that triggered that reaction had to be traumatic, because I've never seen a patient that panicked before." Walter said and I looked at him as Nancy shoved Lorenzo out of the way so she could move closer to her, and I knew she was furious at him for causing that as Max positioned himself next to her as Walter took her left and Nancy was standing next to me.
"I've seen it six times in the others, and in her case I think whatever caused this has to do with their background and if they're connected, it means we've got another one, who's also having the same dreams." I said and he nodded as he sighed in aggravation, and I knew he was getting as fed up with the nightmares as I was then.
"I don't understand what do you mean doctor?" Jeff Brecker said and I went into that, feeling a jolt of annoyance at what these dreams were doing to my patients and I was hoping the truth would come up soon, because I was getting sick of it by that point, because they killed one of my patients and two others had been removed then.
"For the last ten months there's been an epidemic of suicides going through the city and no one can figure it out, and I've had nine wind up in here over the last eight months because of it and it keeps getting worse each time, during each arrival, Joey and Kincaid had the same reaction she did, and the girls were even worse and took even longer to deal with because of couple of things and her case I think she's been up longer than month if she collapsed after we calmed her down." I said and he nodded as he went into that.
"How serious was it in Taryn's anyway?" he asked and I sighed. "Whatever triggered the over-dose must have been serious, because it took close to two weeks to get all of it out of her system and the pain from the withdrawal was serious enough we had to keep her under guard and I was in the room to head off any escape at the time as well." I said and he nodded. Just as I finished saying that, I heard her start whimpering and moved closer.
'Shh, it's okay, it's okay honey, you're safe, just rest.' I thought to her and that helped as she relaxed again as I explained things to him and went into it further since he was new, before I could though Nancy turned to me then. "How serious was her condition when she got here?" she asked and I explained that, since I still felt a jolt of anger go through me every time I thought about that as I explained it to her.