Despite the frigid air, a lone figure was out, fully prepared for the cold and ready to cause pain.
As he turned the corner on to the street where the clinic was located, Elton Douglas allowed a malicious smile to cross his lips. He was staring at the clinic that Amy and Malucci ran.
By all rights, Elton thought as he started towards the clinic, both Amy and Malucci should have died in Grenada years ago. Unfortunately, his multiple attempts at doing away with them failed.
It had taken a lot of years, but Elton had finally found his ex again and he wasn't surprised to see that she was still good friends with Dave Malucci. It was time to put her life through torture.
Allowing himself another malicious grin, Elton fingered the knife that was stashed in the pocket of the coat he had acquired by force. That witch deserved no less than was coming to her and the children, although they were all his biologically, would be made to suffer heavily in time.
Payback would be strong, quick, and cause multiple people suffering, as it was meant to.
"I don't know why Doctor Greene didn't just let me go home for the night," Ray grumbled, as he pulled sweat-covered sheets from the beds that were in the common recovery area. "I'm a medical student, not a janitor...Doesn't this clinic have an actual janitor?"
From her desk, which was in the corner of the room, Dr. Faith, who was working on charts from patients earlier in the day, shook her head and ignored the complaints. She had dealt with guys like Ray before and a little janitorial work was a great way to instill humility in them.
"You won't die from having to change the sheets, Barnett," Dr. Faith replied, as she set another signed off chart in the metal box beside the desk. "When you're done with the beds, there's a bucket and mop in the supply closet...I need the common recovery room mopped tonight."
Ray grumbled, but finished stripping the beds and tossed the sheets into a laundry bag. He then moved off towards the back of the clinic, where the supply closet was located, for clean sheets and the mop.
Fighting the urge to laugh, Dr. Faith sighed and leaned back in her chair, she was exhausted.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Amy sighed and got up from her chair.
Even though it was early in the morning, the clinic had never turned anyone in need away.
As she came to the front doors, Amy suddenly froze in horror: Elton was standing outside with a large rock in his hand. She looked around worriedly, Ray was still in the supply closet.
Before she could stop him, Elton threw the rock at the glass, instantly shattering it.
"Now, my little Amy, where is the illustrious Doctor Malucci?" Elton hissed, as he stepped over the broken pane and pushed her against the wall roughly. "It's been too long since we talked..."
There was movement in the back, "Doctor Faith, I can't find the sheets or the bucket-" Ray said, as he walked into the room and suddenly froze at the sight of Elton holding Dr. Faith against a wall.
"Now, my dear ex-wife, why don't you introduce me to this...I don't know what he is," Elton angrily ordered, as he whipped his hand out of his pocket and put a knife to Amy's throat.
Realizing that Dr. Faith was becoming increasingly uncomfortable at this strangely aggressive man's presence, Ray moved over to Elton, "Look, buddy, I don't think Doctor Faith wants you here, so why don't you just leave?" he suggested, a warning tone in his voice.
"Ooh, the skinny bean pole has an attitude!" Elton crowed, amused at this skinny punk was standing up to him despite being unarmed. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Gritting his teeth, Ray scoffed, "I'm Ray Barnett, a medical student," he replied, his tone sharp.
"WOW!" Elton shouted, even more amused at this situation. "That's absolutely incredible, Amy, you and that dirtbag Malucci managed to get your hands on a medical student!"
Knowing that this armed stranger could cause some serious trouble if something wasn't done, Ray lunged at Elton, knocking him to the floor. Amy put a hand over her mouth and gasped.
Unfortunately, Elton quickly slashed the knife across Ray's forehead and, after punching the younger man repeatedly in the nose, he had slammed Ray to the floor, knocking him out.
"Never mind Malucci, I'll deal with him another time," Elton snapped, as he grabbed hold of Amy and roughly pulled her close to him. "You and I, my dear, have a lot of catching up to do..."
Despite the fact that Elton could kill her at any time, Amy summoned all of her internal courage and pulled the nearest fire alarm. As the alarm rang and the sprinklers suddenly started, Elton slapped Amy across the face. Despite it hurting, Amy didn't even wince.
"LET'S GO!" Elton shouted, as he forcefully dragged Amy from the clinic, as he didn't want to be around when rescue showed up to respond to the alarm and found the injured Ray.
As she was dragged into the night, Amy silently prayed that not only Ray would be found and given proper help, but that both her children and Dave would be safe from Elton.
Across the city, Luka quietly ushered the nearly frozen Dave inside and closed the door.
"What happened to you?" Luka asked, as he watched Dave sink on to the couch, clutching a box and a tattered piece of paper in his hands.
Suddenly realizing that the box felt like a ton of bricks, Dave loosened his grip and allowed both the box and the paper to slide to the carpet, "I'm so tired, Luka," he said, his voice listless.
Concerned, Luka sat down on the couch beside Dave, "I thought you were being kept overnight in the ER for observation," he commented, wondering what Dave was even doing there.
"I left AMA nearly two hours ago and I've been walking around, trying to make sense of my screwed up life," Dave replied quietly. "My past is crap and the future looks just as awful."
Luka was silent for a moment and he suddenly noticed the piece of paper next to the box, "You were evicted from your apartment?" he asked, as he picked the paper up and skimmed it.
"It's not like I'm making any money working at County this time," Dave replied. "The only reason that I'm being allowed to work there again is to pay off my medical bill. I bet that once the bill is paid, Weaver will be more than happy to send me into the streets yet again..."
Sighing, Luka rolled the paper up and slipped it into the pocket of his pajama pants, "Take my bed for the rest of the night, Dave," he said, as he rose from the couch. "I'll make you some NeoCitrin so that you'll sleep easier...It's usually for colds, but it'll help you warm up..."
As Luka walked towards the kitchen, the ongoing silence unnerved him. Something wasn't right.
"Dave, what's wrong?" Luka asked, as he turned around and saw that Dave hadn't moved.
Dave was silent for a moment, then sighed, "I have no strength left to move," he stated.
Mentally kicking himself, as he should have realized that Dave was exhausted, Luka gently took hold of Dave's hands and gently hoisted the tired doctor to his feet, "Just stay awake long enough for me to get you into bed," he said, as he led Dave through the living room and into his bedroom.
"What are you doing?" Dave groggily asked, as he was gently eased into a resting position and felt Luka pull his soaked jacket off.
Luka pulled Dave's worn shoes off and set them on the floor, "That jacket is doing more harm than good right now and you'll be more comfortable with your shoes off." he said.
"Is Daniel sound asleep?" Dave muttered, worried that his emotional display woke Daniel.
Nodding, Luka covered Dave with blankets, "He and Joe are both sound asleep in Joe's bedroom," he replied gently. "That room is big enough for both a crib and a mattress."
"I'm sorry I woke you up," Dave whispered, as he dropped off to sleep.
"I was already awake," Luka murmured, as he quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.
That part was true, as Joe woke up and not wanting Daniel to wake up, Luka had walked his boy around the apartment. He had just returned Joe to his crib when Dave knocked on the door.
Ever since that first day when he had seen Dave again after many years, Luka had a distinct feeling that there was something in Dave's pre-County past that could explain his behaviors.
However, Luka knew that if that were true, he couldn't attempt to provide help to Dave by himself although Dave had come and asked for help. Maybe in the morning, things would be different.
Not sure of what else to do at the moment, Luka walked over to the phone and picked up the reciever. He needed advice from County, but didn't want to put Dave under a microscope.
In silence, Luka dialed the front desk at County, hoping that he could talk to someone.
Dawn would come in a few hours, yet Mark was filled with fury-fueled adrenaline.
"Seriously, Jerry, how could you let Doctor Malucci sign out AMA and leave?" Mark snapped, as he paced back and forth in front of the desk, where Jerry sat.
Jerry shrugged and looked to Lydia, "Something didn't seem right about Doctor Malucci's whole demeanor when he left," Lydia stated, her voice full of concerned. "I wasn't sure what to do."
"You should have followed him outside, sedated him, and brought him back inside strapped to a gurney," Mark replied in a frustrated tone, realizing that he probably couldn't have stopped Dave either. "I'm sorry for snapping, Lydia."
Scoffing, Mark turned away, intending to go outside for some air. Suddenly, the phone rang.
"County ER," Jerry said, as he picked up the reciever. "Oh, hey Doctor Kovac."
At the mention of Luka's name, Mark froze and turned around to face Jerry, listening to what Jerry was saying on the phone, "...Give me a minute," he said. "Doctor Greene's right here."
Wondering why Luka wanted to talk to him, Mark grabbed the reciever from Jerry, "Luka, why are you calling the ER so early in the morning?" he asked, his voice still slightly full of irritation.
There was a prolonged silence as Mark listened to Luka with a sudden look of concern on his face,"...Luka, keep an eye on him for the rest of the night and see if he'll come here in the morning, after Daniel's gone to school...Yes, I know that Malucci's stubborn...At least he had the sense to come to your apartment instead of spending the night walking the streets...No, I don't know what's going on with him...Did you give him anything to help him sleep?...Anyway, keep an eye on him tonight...All right, I'll talk to you later, Luka...good night."
Looking rather disturbed, Mark hung up the phone, "Doctor Malucci ended up at Doctor Kovac's apartment and is sound asleep," he stated, as he looked at Lydia and Jerry.
Suddenly, ambulance sirens could be heard in the distance, "That's probably heading our way," Mark commented, as he moved towards the ambulance bay. "Jerry, wake Carter up...we're short on nurses tonight, so we're gonna need him for this..."
As Mark and Lydia walked into the ambulance bay, they both shivered at the frigidness in the air.
Fortunately, it was at that same moment that an ambulance came into the bay with its sirens wailing loudly, followed by a police car. Mark and Lydia sighed and moved towards the rig.
The doors were pushed open and a paramedic hopped out, "Doctor Greene, we kinda went out of our way, but since he was one of your guys, we made the trip," he commented, as the gurney was brought out to reveal an unconscious Ray, whose face was covered in blood, which was beginning to stain the blankets that were covering Ray's body.
"We found him in what looked like a free clinic," the paramedic said, as they wheeled Ray inside and past the desk towards the nearest trauma room. "He's got a broken nose, deep head lac, hypothermia and possible head trauma...He was unconscious on the floor and being drenched by fire sprinklers...The fire alarm was pulled by someone else...but who would have done it?"
As Mark and Lydia began to work on Ray, a cop walked into the trauma room, "Excuse me, I'm wanting to talk to Ray Barnett about that attack," he said, as he held an ID badge in his hand.
Just then, Carter, who had been rudely woken up from a restful sleep by Jerry, came into the room, "Jerry said we had a trauma come in," he commented, as he was stopped by the cop.
"Sorry, doc, nobody else gets near Ray Barnett until I get some answers," the cop said.
Carter frowned, "What happened to Ray?" he asked, as he muscled past the cop and moved over to the gurney just in time to see Ray's wet clothes being cut off and replaced by a clean gown.
"My detectives are processing the crime scene right now," the cop replied. "From what we already know, someone broke into the clinic and somehow, Mr. Barnett was injured..."
"Carter, hook up some IV's," Mark ordered, as he moved away from the gurney. "I need to go to the desk and call for a surgical consult. "Officer, come with me and we can talk at the desk."
The officer nodded but didn't move, "Oh, Doctor Carter?" he said, suddenly recognizing the man from one of the pictures that he had seen at the clinic during the inital investigation. "This was found on the floor next to Mr. Barnett...I think something might have happened to its owner."
Quickly hooking another IV line to Ray's arm, Carter moved a step closer to the officer, "What's that in your hand?" he asked, suddenly noticing the small ID badge in the officer's hand.
"It's an ID badge belonging to a Doctor Amy Faith Romano," the cop replied, as he handed the badge to Carter, who immediately pocketed it. "Apparently, her clinic was attacked tonight."
Carter was silent for a moment, as if he was unable to believe that had happened.
"Who would do this?" Carter quietly asked himself, as he turned back to the unconscious Ray.
Mark sighed, "Carter, focus on helping Ray for the moment," he said. "If you'll come with me, officer..."
"Body temp's starting to rise," Lydia chirped, as if helping Carter try and focus on his job.
Cater nodded and turned his attention to Ray, silently hoping that Amy would be all right.
What seemed like hours later, Amy woke to find herself handcuffed to a metal railing.
Looking around, Amy realized that she was in some sort of basement apartment, laying beside a flight of stairs. She was still wearing the clothes she had on when Elton took her from the clinic.
"Well, my little Amy, finally woke up..." Elton, who had been nearby and saw Amy open her eyes, said, as he came into view. "You know, darling, passing out in my car wasn't a good idea..."
Amy said nothing, but inside, she was feeling sick and repulsed as Elton knelt beside her and caressed her face, "So, dearest Amy, how come Malucci wasn't at the clinic with you last night?" he asked. "Did he get fired from there like he got thrown out of County?"
"You leave Dave out of this," Amy hissed, horrified that Elton had been keeping track of both her and Dave for all these years. "You got me, Elton, what more do you want?"
For a moment, Elton looked very much like he wanted to slap Amy, then he broke into a malicious grin, "Oh, my naive little ex-wife," he stated. "I am going to make your suffering intense..."
Amy gasped in horror as Elton pulled a knife from his pocket and lifted her shirt, "You know, my dear, I could stab you and let you bleed to death," he hissed, as he straddled the blade across her upper abdomen. "However, that would ruin my fun...I want to have some fun with you first..."
Breathing hard, Amy winced as Elton dropped the knife and began kissing her face and neck.
"It's a shame that Malucci wasn't there last night," Elton said, as he moved his lips to her neck. "I would have very much liked to see him again...It's been too long since I saw that loser..."
Amy remained silent, as a retort would only cause Elton to harm her more. She knew that back when Elton had last found them, he tried to kill them both, but failed, and killed someone else instead. The memories and scars of that death were still very apparent for both of them.
"I promise, Amy, by the time this is over, you'll regret living," Elton hissed, continuing to kiss her as he began to undo the buttons on her shirt. "You won't even get to die, you'll live in suffering..."
Whatever happened to her, she only prayed that Dave, Daniel, and her kids would not be harmed.