The young girl ducked as several bullets pinged across the top of concrete block they were hiding behind. She looked at Megan with huge eyes and trembling lips.
"You stay down. I'll do the looking," Megan's lips were tight.
"Why aren't you shooting at them?" the soft whimper only annoyed Megan.
"I have a pistol. They have semi-automatic assault rifles. It's a range thing. If you'd just done as you were told, they wouldn't have found us." They were Rowena's kidnappers. Megan had called for backup, but when the opportunity presented itself, she had gone in and rescued the girl. She hadn't counted on Stockholm's syndrome. Some profiler you are, she thought to herself in disgust.
They both ducked as the kidnappers opened fire again. "Unghhh!" Megan groaned in pain as one of the bullets caught her in the arm. The force of the bullet spun her around, enough for her to lose her balance. As she tried to regain her balance, she slipped on some debris that was present in every construction zone, and hit her head.
-----
Megan opened her eyes, and heaved a sigh of relief to see Don Eppes.
He touched her gently on her arm. The one that wasn't bandaged. "Glad to have you back, Reeves."
"Glad to be back, Eppes."
"Boy, are we glad to see you awake!" A hearty voice from the doorway drew her attention. It was Colby, carrying a huge teddy bear, a wide smile plastered on his face. David was right behind him, carrying a basket of flowers.
"What the heck is this, Granger?" a note of annoyance crept into Megan's voice. The hearty voice and wide smile was unlike Colby.
"I thought all girls liked teddy bears."
She glared at him. "Just because I'm in a hospital bed doesn't mean I can't kick your butt."
Colby's face froze. He swallowed and darted a quick glance at Don.
"What?"
"These flowers are from everyone in the office," David cut in.
"I don't care about the flowers. What are you not telling me?" Her voice was rising.
"Megan," Don's voice was gentle. "When you slipped and hit your head, you fell awkwardly onto some jagged, rusty spars. Several nerves in your legs were severed, and you bled out very badly. They had to amputate."
She stared at him. The pressure in her chest began to build, and she struggled to breath. "No, that's not possible." The small hitches in her breathing turned into gasping sobs. "I can still feel my legs. What kind of sophomoric humor is this? Did Granger put you up to this? It's not funny!" she shouted at Don, as she struggled to remove the blanket one-handed.
"Megan, don't." Colby tried to stop her but earned scratches on his arm for his efforts.
"No..." Megan screamed in denial, staring in growing horror at where her legs should have been.