Tommy wiped the sweat off his face with the crook of his arm. With his hands taped into his boxing gloves it was his best option.
He had been pounding out his frustrations on the worn punching bag in the station's gym for almost two hours. His chest and back glistened in the dimly lit room. He was sure his hands were bleeding inside his gloves, but he wasn't even close to being finished.
"I think your opponent might need a water break," Yaeger joked from the open doorway, gesturing towards the bag.
Tommy jumped slightly at the sound of Yaeger's voice. He was so lost in his own head that he hadn't even noticed him walk up.
"So … I take it that things haven't improved between you and Lindy."
Tommy didn't bother to respond. He grabbed his water bottle off the floor and drained everything left in it. Then, he turned his attention back to the bag.
The muscles in his arms, back and shoulders rippled with each hard hit. He focused on his combinations, trying desperately not to think about Lindy. Jab, jab, cross, uppercut, jab, cross, cross. Repeat. And repeat again. And again.
The sound of the phone vibrating on the floor beside his bed woke Boris well before Tommy heard it. He scrubbed his eyes with his fist and yawned. He grabbed the phone without looking at the screen assuming it would be Yaeger or the station.
Then he heard a voice he recognized. It was muffled, but it was definitely Lindy's. Tommy couldn't catch every word, but he could tell from Lindy's tone that something was very wrong.
From the ambient noise, it sounded like she was in motion... In a moving vehicle maybe. There was also an echo to everything ... Like she was in a large, empty space. Tommy's mind scrambled trying to pick up any discernible noise that help him figure out what was going on.
He grabbed his tablet and opened Skype. He didn't want to risk breaking the connection with Lindy on his phone.
"George! I'm sorry man. I know it's super late ... it's Lindy," Tommy said.
"Don't worry about it," George said sleepily. "Answering calls in the middle of the night is becoming a bit of a specialty for me. What's going on?"
Tommy proceeded to outline the little that he knew of the situation so far.
"K... I've got the signal for the phone that you are connected to. It's definitely not one of Lindy's. You were right, it's moving... And fast. I should have coordinates soon." George said quickly. Tommy could hear the sound of furious typing in the background.
"Okay… I'm going to head down to my car. Hopefully you'll have them by the time I'm ready to go." Tommy said matter-of-factly, as he pulled on jeans and a t-shirt. He grabbed the phone, his tablet and badge, and then blazed out his front door, letting it slam behind him.
The next three hours were the most stressful of Tommy's life. Shortly after Tommy got on the road, the call from Lindy disconnected. Luckily, George had already a gotten lock on the phone's GPS.
They found Lindy locked in a shipping container in a warehouse parking lot in New Jersey. The inside of the container was mostly except for a dirty mattress thrown half-hazardly on the floor. Lindy was curled up in a ball in the far corner of the metal container. Her hands and feet were tied with a thick, rough rope. She didn't stir when the officers cut the locks and swung open the doors. Tommy's heart dropped to his feet. Disregarding every protocol in the book, he ran straight for her.
She was so cold.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. "Lindy, please … be okay… please… " Tommy begged softly into her hair.
Then he felt it.
It was weak, but it was there. A small exhale escaped from Lindy's lips. She was unconscious, but she was alive.
Tommy swept her up in his arms and sprinted out of the container towards the waiting ambulance. From the intense look in his eyes, the EMS team could tell it was pointless to suggest that he not come along with them to the hospital.
Tommy had paced the hallway for an hour waiting for an update from the medical team. Finally, Catherine came out with an update.
"She was drugged, but she's going to be fine. They think it was ketamine, so it should clear her system without any long term side-effects. The rest is just superficial … bruises and scrapes."
Tommy let out a slow breath of relief, leaning against the beige tile wall behind him. He looked down at the floor and after almost a minute he looked up avoiding Catherine's eyes.
"Was she…?" he started but couldn't finish the question.
"Assaulted?" Catherine softly finished what he couldn't.
"No. They didn't touch her," she said quietly, placing her hands on Tommy's shoulders for reassurance. He breathed a small sigh of relief.
"This is all my fault," Tommy admitted, roughly raking his hands through his hair. "She never would have been on her own if I hadn't broken her trust. She would have had the protection of the CCU."
"Tommy, you can't take this all on yourself," Catherine said trying to comfort him. He looked up at her and she could see so much pain and emotion in his eyes.
"The doctors said that she should be regaining consciousness any time. Maybe you should head down to her room. Then she'll have a familiar face there when she wakes up." Catherine suggested with a delicate smile.
Tommy winced and let out a tired chuckle. "I am the last person that she wants to see. Trust me."
Catherine frowned.
"When she was in trouble, she called you. Don't forget that." Catherine said as she shrugged her shoulders and walked away.
Tommy stood there, leaned up against the wall of the hallway for almost 10 minutes. He debated following Catherine's advice … but in the end he turned and walked out the emergency room doors into the brisk dawn air.