"Hey Kerry, there is someone calling from Royal Hobart hospital calling for you." Leon yells out from his computer.
"Why would they be calling me for?" Kerry asks walking up and grabbing the phone from him.
"I don't know, but I gotta go to the toilet quickly." Leon says taking his headpiece out and quickly walking to the toilet. Making sure he locks the door, he pulls out his phone and calls Lawson's mobile.
"Yeah Leon." Lawson answers.
"Kerry is on the phone to the Royal Hobart Hospital." Leon whispers.
"Okay, why are you whispering, where are you, it's all echoey, you're not on the toilet are you?" Lawson asks.
"No I am not on the toilet, but I am in there so I could call you out of earshot from Kerry, hence the whispering, I thinks it's about Shannon, they wouldn't tell me what it was about apart from they needed to speak to my boss about someone." Leon says.
"Thanks Leon." Lawson says before hanging up.
"What was that about?" Stella asks.
"Just wait a couple of minutes, you will find out." He says.
….
"Hey guys, I just received a phone call from Royal Hobart Hospital, we have some good news, they have Shannon, now it's a fairly long story so when you finish your shift I will debrief you on the situation." Kerry says over the coms of both cars.
"That's great news Kerry." Josh says over the coms.
"Yeah it is, but just wait till you get back to base later to find out the full details before you make that judgement call, now get back to doing your jobs." Kerry says.
….
"Alright Elliot and Lincoln, you guys can head home, I just need to talk to these four about what was discussed in the phone call, we will see you in 48 hours' time for your next shift." Kerry says as they all get out of the cars.
"No worries Kerry see you then." Elliot says as Lincoln says bye to the others.
"Alright guys, get changed and we will discuss everything in the office, Leon and Audrey are there waiting as well as they don't know what was discussed either, you got ten minutes to get organised." Kerry says before turning around and walking back to the office.
"Come on guys, let's get ready." Stella says to the boys before quickly walking to the locker room to get ready.
….
"Alright guys, well I spoke to a Doctor Beaumont about Shannon's condition after the verified a few things, apparently she was able to make a phone call to triple zero and the operator was told her name and who she works for, that she needed an ambulance and police sent to her location, that she was abducted and they needed to trace the call, she became unconscious during the call and has been in and out of consciousness now for the past forty eight hours, now her condition is stable, she has multiple wounds from what appears to be from a knife, as well as burn marks, chain marks, and bruises across her body, she was able to tell them she had been tasered numerous times but that is all they have gotten out of her, she had some poison in her system too and is also being treated for malnutrition and dehydration, she is very lucky." Kerry said.
"So when is she getting transferred to Melbourne?" Christian asks.
"Well she isn't at the moment, not until she gains consciousness, she is part of a police investigation there, they found her weapons with her fingerprints which I thought would have been obvious, but they also have his prints on them as well as other weapons found just all lined up on a bench outside a room that was a basement but had been set up to some sort of cell, it had a padlock hanging off the door and chains on a post down in the basement with no working lights, but because they don't know exactly what has happened and because he had a bullet wound to his leg and was flexi cuffed they want to interview her first as Fletcher won't talk." Kerry says.
"That's bullshit, she was put through the ringer by the sounds of it, and she should be sent back here to us, her family, to help with her recovery, we have better resources down here." Josh says.
"Rules are rules though Josh, we have already sent through all the information we have on Fletcher Murphy and so have the staff who manned that island." Kerry said.
"But Shannon is going to be okay?" Stella asked.
"Well that's the thing, we can't really be sure, physically yes, but mentally and emotionally it will most likely be a longer recovery period." Kerry said.
"I'm going to call Tash, see if she can pull some strings over at the hospital to get Shannon the treatment she needs over in Tasmania." Josh says before getting up and giving Lawson's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"I will keep you guys informed, Lawson I will need you to stay back." Kerry says as the others stand up and walk off to go home and Stella pulls out her phone to call Michael to give him an update.
Once everyone has gone, Kerry sits down in front of Lawson.
"So she is okay?" Lawson asks.
"So far from what they can tell yes, but I'm not going to lie to you Lawson, she may not be the same Shannon that we know and love, it may take a short period of time to get her back to how she was or it may take a long time, she may never come back from this, it's just too hard to decide at the moment when they can't talk to her and assess her thoroughly enough, but we will all be here to help support her and help her through this, but you need to be there for her and be patient, just help her out and understand she has been through some fairly traumatic trauma." Kerry says.
"I really want to see her Kerry." He says desperately.
"I know Lawson, I know, but she is in Tasmania and it will be a while till she can either come back to Melbourne after being discharged from Royal Hobart, or she may get transferred, but till that happens, I can't afford for you to take time off to go and see her as we are short of a Sergeant at the moment." Kerry says.
"Can we talk to her when she does regain consciousness?" Lawson asks.
"Well I am getting updates from the hospital, when she does I will ask them if we can, go home and get some rest, Shannon doesn't need to see you looking like shit when she eventually comes back." Kerry says standing up.
"Yeah I guess I better, see you in two days' time then, keep me posted." Lawson says getting up out of his chair.
"Shall do Lawson." She says as he walks out.
…
Pulling out his mobile when he gets home, Lawson dials Josh's number.
"Hey Lawson."
"Hey Josh, do you think you could take me to the airport so I can catch a plane to Tassie to see Shan, we have two days off so I can go there for a day and come back, I really need to see her." Lawson says.
"I know, but think about it, she is unlikely still going to be unconscious as she needs to recover, and she probably has police officers manning her room, I mean she is part of an investigation, you know they don't let visitors in when they are under investigation." Josh says rationally.
"Yeah but I will show them my police id so I can go in." Lawson says agitatedly.
"You know they still won't let you in, they would see it as a conflict of interest." Josh says.
"I need to make sure for myself she is okay." Lawson says.
"I know mate, look Tash already spoke to the doctor treating Shannon, she is getting the best care possible in a single room on a ward, Shannon isn't expected to really gain proper consciousness for another day or two yet and the guards are really strict with who is going in and out of that room, as soon as Shannon is aware enough and can comprehend what is going on they will assess her injuries more thoroughly as well as her mental and emotional state, they will have a counsellor speak to her and then she will get interviewed, as soon as they give her the okay, they will transfer her to the Royal Melbourne who will then transfer her to the Epworth, where Tash will make sure she has the right counsellor and treatment, till then you just need to be patient." Josh says reassuringly.
"What would you do though if it was Tash?" Lawson says.
"React the same way as you are but then you would be in my position and be reassuring me and making me sees sense." Josh says with a slight chuckle.
"Yeah I guess so, thanks mate." Lawson says.
"No worries, just keep your chin up mate, Shannon is a tough cookie." Josh says.
"Enjoy the rest of your night." Lawson says.
"You too, try and get some sleep." Josh says before hanging up.
…
Meanwhile back at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Shannon has been awake for over two hours and has been assessed by the doctor and counsellor.
"Just take it easy on her, she is still a little bit on the drowsy side, but she can comprehend what is going on." The doctor says to the two detectives while walking out of Shannon's room.
"Hello Shannon Henry, we have been waiting a couple of days now for you to wake up and have a chat with us." The detective says.
"And who are you exactly?" she asks
"Sorry, I am Detective Hanley and this is Detective Jones and we have a few questions to ask you and considering you can't come down to the station for a fair while we thought we would ask you here if that is okay and you are up to it." He says.
"No worries, ask away." She says taking a sip of water.