Thank you to xpsychxssjs, 2007gracee, and Punkboy for reviewing chapter 2. And thanks to Sovereign Lord of Chaos and SeaIng for reviewing both chapters so far! I hope everyone enjoys chapter 3.
Chapter 3 – A Long and Painful Fight
"Heaven bent to take my hand
And lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
To a long and painful fight"
~ from "Fallen" by Sarah McLachlan
Jade and Cat sat to the side while the doctor spent a good ten minute examining Tori's throat with a variety of lights and scopes.
"Why can't she talk?" Cat asked innocently.
"It could be any number of things," the doctor said calmly. "Don't panic. We'll have to do more testing – but it is very likely reversible." Jade knew there was more that the doctor wasn't sharing; Cat was the reason. People didn't like to talk about dark and scary things in front of the tiny redhead.
"Cat, can you go and call Beck and Andre and Robbie and tell them that Tori's awake?" Jade asked. "You have to go to the front lobby to use your cell phone. Make sure to tell Robbie and Andre about your trip from New York."
"Kay kay," Cat said happily, skipping away. Jade closed the door and took a seat next to the bed.
"That will keep her busy for a while," Jade said. "Now what is wrong with her voice?" The doctor pulled a chair close to the other side of the bed and faced Tori. It was only polite to speak to the person being discussed.
"Whatever caused the bruising on your neck probably caused a lot of internal bruising. That would make it painful to speak. That should go away with time." She paused. Tori stared at her, waiting to hear an answer – she knew that wasn't all of it. "As for the stutter, it could be psychological – undue stress can cause stuttering. " She paused again, her yes locking with Tori's. "Or it could be a result of the electrocution."
"What?" Jade asked sharply.
"When Katie was working on your hair," the doctor said, ignoring Jade and focusing on Tori, "she found several burn marks. Did he use electric shock on you?" Tori nodded, her teeth worrying the bottom of her lip. "Well," the doctor said briskly, "no matter what caused it, we can try to correct it with therapy. Do you know how long it has been since you could talk without pain?" Tori shook head, eyes glassy with tears. "That's okay," the doctor said, "we will figure it out." She could see she was agitating Tori, so she moved on.
"Tomorrow, your physical therapist is going to come in to visit and do a quick exam to figure out what the course of treatment will be. The faster we get you out of this bed, the better." Tori simply stared at her. "Later this afternoon, Isabelle Greeley, our best psychiatrist, is going to stop in to see you."
"Do you have any questions?"
Jade handed her a tablet and pen from the bedside table. Tori concentrated but couldn't get the pen to cooperate. Eventually, Jade helped her get her fingers around it and supported her hand as she wrote. In loopy, squiggled, very-un-Tori-like letters, she spelled out her question.
"How did I get here?"
"There is a detective outside who wants to speak with you – and I'm going to let her answer that one. Any medical questions right now? " Tori shook her head. "Alright. I'm going to leave you to the detective. But if you need anything – you hit the call button and the nurses will find me. Sound okay?" Tori nodded. When the doctor left, she looked at Jade and pointed toward the water pitcher. Jade filled a cup and plunked in a straw, holding it steady while the other girl drank.
They were joined in less than a minute by a woman Jade had already spoken to several times. Jessica George was a federal agent who specialized in crimes against women. She had been called in because one of the kidnapped girls was from over the state line, making the case a federal instead of a local one.
"Hi, Tori," she said pleasantly. She held out her hand and Tori took it gingerly. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Jessica George with the FBI. Please call me Jessica. I'm glad you're awake. How are you feeling?" Tori grimaced, causing both Jade and Jessica to smile. "I can understand that. Let's get to the most important point – the bastard who did this to you – he's behind bars right now."
Tears sprang to Tori's eyes and she buried her face in her hands, trying to hide them. She couldn't control it – no matter how hard she tried. The sobs overtook her overly thin frame and she was surprised when she felt Jade's cool, slim fingers gently rubbed her back and neck. "He can't hurt you anymore," Jade promised softly. Once Tori was able to settle down, she picked up the notepad she had written on before and offered it to Jessica. She read the question and nodded.
"One of the other girls escaped and led the police back to the house where he was keeping you. You've been here for three days."
"How long there?" Tori wrote in her clumsy hand. The agent looked at Jade, who she thought would be a better person to drop the bomb.
"Just over three years," Jade said softly, her fingers wrapping around Tori's free hand. Tori's expression crumpled and the tears came again, racking her overly thin frame with spasms. She sobbed until she choked and vomited. Jade was quick enough with the emesis basin to save them both from the fallout. Despite Jade's reassurances and calming words, Tori flew into a panic and couldn't come down from it. The machine monitoring her heart began to beep and a nurse entered the room with quick strides. She took a syringe from her pocket and stuck it into the IV line.
"Tori, we're going to give you something to help you relax. It'll just take a minute."
"No," Tori cried painfully, but that was as far as she got before the Valium took over and her eyes grew heavy.
"It's okay," Jade promised, holding her hand and guiding her back into a comfortable position on the bed. "It's okay." She knew it as a lie. Nothing was okay. But Tori was alive and awake. And that was better than the alternative.
While she slept off the tranquilizer, Tori was moved. Since the ICU was no longer a necessity, she was moved to a private room in the neurology ward. Dr. Garrett explained it was because of the trauma and stress to her nervous system that she was on that particular floor. Jade didn't care as long as it was away from the stench and constant noise and commotion of the ICU. Beck arrived around eight that evening to find Cat asleep in Jade's lap on a love seat in the corner of the room. He pulled a chair next to his wife and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Hi," he whispered against her lips.
"Hi," she responded, exhaustion seeping through her voice.
"Take Cat home for the night," Beck suggested. "I don't work tomorrow – I'll stay with Tori – and call you if anything changes."
"No," Jade argued.
"Yes," Beck responded softly, his hand falling to rub the back of her neck. "I saw Dr. Garrett in the hallway. She said Tori won't wake up until tomorrow morning. " He paused before adding, "Please."
"Fine," Jade answered. They kissed once more before she shook Cat awake. The tiny redhead bounced quickly from asleep to awake, her eyes alert and clear.
"Is Tori awake?" she wanted to know immediately.
"No," Jade answered. "She'll be asleep until tomorrow. We're going home for tonight – Beck is going to stay here."
"Kay Kay," Cat said simply. She stood and walked over to the bed, dropping a kiss on Tori's forehead before going to the door and picking up her bright pink suitcase. Jade accepted a strong hug from Beck before following Cat and picking up her own bag and car keys.
Jade hadn't been home for more than a few minutes since Tori had been found. However, the luxury of having a cleaning company meant that her home was as spotless as she liked it. Locking the door behind them and setting the alarm, Jade went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water for herself and a bottle of sugar-free juice from Cat's reserves.
"Do you want something to eat?" Cat shook her head; she was tired and troubled – never a good combination. "I'm going to shower and try to sleep. Do you need anything?" Cat shook her head again and watched as the brunette ascended the back stairwell to the second floor. After a moment alone in the kitchen, Cat followed and continued on to the third floor where she had her very own suite.
When Beck and Jade had originally purchased the house, Cat was still living with them in California. So, a bedroom, sitting room, bathroom, and walk-in closet were all hers. It made traveling from the east to west coast much easier – she barely had to pack. She showered, changed into a pair of pink cotton pajamas, and crawled under the perfectly laundered covers. Twenty minutes passed and her eyes never once closed. Carefully, she crept out of bed, her favorite stuffed bear under her arm, and padded softly down the stairs to Jade's room. She knocked on the door and waited for permission before she entered.
Jade was in bed, the soft purple sheets pulled up over her black cotton pajamas. The lights were out, but there was enough light from outside to illuminate her form. "Can I come in?" Cat asked, her voice small – almost lost in the large master bedroom.
"Just for tonight," Jade agreed, pulling back the covers on Beck's side of the bed. Cat clambered underneath, the teddy bear snuggled under one arm as she curled against her best friend. Jade was awake for most of the night but eventually Cat's soft, regular breathing and the slight thud of her heartbeat lulled the brunette into a much needed repose.
The next morning, Cat woke to an empty bed and carried her teddy bear down the stairs and into the kitchen where, to her excitement, she found Jade making her favorite – chocolate chip pancakes. Once they sat down with the sugary breakfast, Cat was fully awake and as chatty as usual.
After fielding questions about everything from the weather to how she got the pulp out of the orange juice, Jade was not prepared for insightfulness on Cat's part. "Who hurt Tori?"
Jade paused mid-sip of her coffee and set the mug down on the kitchen table. They'd never told Cat that someone had hurt Tori; only that she was sick and needed a lot of time and help to get better. But despite her innocence and general lack of common sense, Cat was not stupid.
"A bad man," Jade answered simply. "He's in jail. He can't hurt anyone else."
"Okay," Cat answered, before rolling into a story about how she'd gone through an entire Broadway show without her shoes. Jade shook her head and tried to keep up.
Thank you for reading chapter 3 – I hope you liked it. With 24 story alerts for the first two chapters, do you think we can make it to at least 12 reviews for chapter three? Challenge issued :-) What do you like about the story? What do you hope to see in the future of the story? Is Jade in character? I'm trying to bring out a more mature side without taking away what makes her a fascinating character. Let me know how that's going.
