Saint Francis Memorial Hospital: Emergency Room

"What's the diagnosis, doc?"

The doctor shuffled through her papers on her clipboard. "She's got a mild concussion, bruised ribs, minor internal bleeding in the abdomen, and a sprained ankle. We've placed her on a liquid diet for the next three weeks, so we'll see how she handles it."

"How long until she would be discharged?" Ivy inquired.

"In her condition, probably around four to six weeks," the doctor replied.

"How's her mental health? Does she remember anything?" Carmen asked. She was met with a sigh and the doctor put her clipboard on the counter.

"That's what I'm most concerned about," she answered with a serious tone, and motioned for them to follow her. "We'll discuss it in my office." With no other choice, the trio obeyed the woman's directions and kept on her heels as she turned around multiple corners to finally make it inside their final destination.

As they all took a seat inside the quite spacious room, the doctor clasped her hands on her desk. "I don't think this is the first time she's experienced emotional trauma on this level." Brows raised.

"What do you mean, doctor?" Curiosity creeped into Carmen's voice.

"You see, she came to us when she was about four or five years old. Or should I say, the San Francisco Police Department brought her to us," the doctor started. "Reportedly, she was found wandering the streets of San Francisco at around three in the morning with a few burn wounds. When she came in, she did not speak a word. In fact, she didn't speak at all. I suspect it was because of whatever she had seen or gotten away from."

"Did she talk at any point while she was here?" Zack mentioned. The doctor shook her head.

"No, not a single word. We had to ask her 'yes' or 'no' questions."

Ivy crossed her leg. "What about her parents? Didn't they realize what had happened to her?"

"The Federovs are not her biological parents," the doctor revealed. "From what I remember, she most likely didn't know who her father was and didn't know what happened to her mother."

Carmen shifted in her chair as she processed all of this information. "Did she remember what had happened before she arrived?"

"Either she didn't remember or she didn't want to tell me. She couldn't remember her name."

"Wait," Ivy interrupted, "then how did she meet the Federovs?"

"Nicolai Federov was recovering from a hip surgery, and his bed was next to hers. When she came in, they absolutely adored her and wanted to adopt her as soon as they found out no one claimed her nor was there anyone to come and get her."

Zack leaned back in his chair and rocked it back and forth. "I wonder how they got her to open up," he mused out loud.

"The oddest thing," the doctor brought up, "was that she never cried at all."

"You mean not a single tear?"

The doctor nodded her head. "She also didn't cry when she found out she was the last survivor of her family."

"Hmmm, that's kind of an odd reaction" Ivy noted critically.

"It might be shock," her brother suggested. Ivy shrugged.

"I'm quite concerned about her mental state since this is practically déjà vu for her. At this point, she would be unpredictable considering what she has experienced in the past. I'm not a psychologist, but I have no idea how her current situation is going to impact her overall outlook on life."

Carmen remained silent for most of this conversation, though this didn't mean she was not listening. This young girl's story was practically a parallel to her own, in fact, it was almost the same. Wandering the streets of San Francisco at a young age. Losing two families. No memories. Not to mention, she also looked like herself. Carmen immediately felt pity for the young girl she did not know as her story was a replicate of her own. Memories flooded her to the time she had been taken into the police department all those years ago. The same flood of emotions reminded her clearly of that period. She felt an overwhelming and protective urge to console this girl and watch over her to keep her from experiencing the same fate she had fallen prey to.

"Is it possible to visit her?" She finally found her voice again.

"Of course," the doctor answered, rising from her seat. "You may have to wait awhile, since she will have routine testing done soon. Not to mention she has a ton of visitors coming in and out." The trio stood and shook hands with the woman.

"Thank you, doctor. You've been a great a deal of help in this investigation," Carmen spoke as she extended her hand.

"My pleasure. Please keep her safe."

"She's in good hands," Zack assured her with a thumbs up.

As they walked through the hallways, Ivy nudged her brother's arm discreetly. "Did you notice the look on Carmen's face when we were talking to the doctor?"

He leaned close to her ear and cupped the side of his mouth to keep the thief from overhearing, "Yeah. It's really getting to her."

"Is there anything you'd like to ask me face-to-face, detectives?" Carmen asked in a calm manner, her back to them as she led the way.

"How does it feel to be meeting your twin?" Zack joked, thanking God he managed to think that quick. 'Good one,' his sister mouthed to him and winked.

"No different than I feel everyday."

"It'll be like looking in a mirror," Ivy snickered.

"Excuse me," two attractive young girls called out as they approached Carmen. They looked like high school students, and seemed to be the "popular" type.

"Yes?"

"Are you here to visit someone named Karina?" one asked in a friendly manner. Carmen looked at the two detectives behind her, and glanced back at the strangers.

"We," the woman moved out of view to expose the siblings, "all are."

"I knew it!" the other girl remarked with a proud smile. "We saw you earlier and thought you look exactly like her."

"Are you related to her?" The one question on everyone's mind, except Carmen's. She shrugged indifferently.

"Maybe, maybe not."

The girls whispered to each other as if they had just found out the tea about some drama at school. Zack cleared his throat subtly to signal someone to carry along this conversation or get out of it.

Ivy stepped out in view from behind Carmen, "Do you know her?"

"Of course, we're her best friends."

"Oh."

"Since you're here to visit," one of the girls turned to Carmen, "we can take you to her room and you guys can see her."

"Lovely," Carmen responded politely and with that same mysterious air she always held. The teenagers enthusiastically led the way and continued to speak in whispers with each other and were excited by their discovery. As they walked along the corridors, they passed the nurses' counter which was laid out with about a dozen rainbow bouquets of flowers. Quite a pleasant thing to see in such a bland hospital.

"Are those for Karina?" Zack pointed to the flowers. The girls peered to the side and nodded. "Yup."

"She's quite popular isn't she?" Carmen remarked at the observation. "She's like the princess of the school. Honestly." Ivy and Zack shared an unsure look at that comment. What were they going to be dealing with? Was she uptight and conceited? Difficult? The complete opposite of Carmen? If she was, this was really going to break the preconceived notion they had of her.

A few moments later, they had finally reached her room. One of the girls knocked gently on the door and stuck her head in.

"Come in," a voice spoke from behind the door. They opened the door to finally meet Carmen's twin in the flesh.

The young woman seemed to be in good spirits, indeed. A tired look worn on her face. The bruise on her forehead was a dark purple, but didn't look as horrific as earlier. Her right ankle was wrapped in some bandaging with a couple of splints and elevated on two pillows. For serious condition, she still looked pretty good.

"Hey girl!" one of the girls greeted cheerfully. She smiled as the string of visitors fit themselves into her hospital room.

"Hi guys," she said softly and looked at the three new faces, "who's this?"

"Well, we basically found your twin and she was coming to visit you anyway, so here she is." Her friend explained gesturing to Carmen.

She smiled at the woman and reached her hand out. "Hello." Carmen noted the deep bruises along her arms, but did not stare. She extended her own hand and simply held it, almost afraid that she would break her bones from a handshake. Karina took note of this and giggled.

"You won't break my hand."

"Girl," her friend interrupted, "we have to go. I'm sorry we can't stay longer, but let us know if you need anything." Karina nodded her head.

"See you girls. Thanks for visiting."

"Don't do anything crazy!" one of them exclaimed as they walked out of the room. As soon as the door closed, a sense of privacy was finally settled.

"Sorry about busting in on you like this so early and so soon, but we're ACME detectives," Ivy spoke up and gestured to herself, "I'm Ivy. This is Zack and your doppelganger is…"

"Adriana," Carmen made up on the spot. "Yeah, Adriana…"

Karina shook her head. "It's alright, detectives. I don't mind you seeing me. Being around others helps take…some things off of my mind." She motioned to the chairs in the room, "Please have a seat."

"You guys are the ones always chasing Carmen Sandiego, aren't you?" she added with a smile as the recognition filtered through her eyes.

"Yes, we are," Zack puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips.

"Wow, I'm in the presence of some notable people."

"You have no idea," Carmen said coolly. "What do you think of Carmen Sandiego?"

"Well," The young girl fiddled a little with her fingers and looked down with an amused smile, "I would really like to meet her, to be honest."

"Oh?" Carmen said quite flattered, "why is that?" Karina leaned back in her bed.

"I did some research on her in the past, watched some documentaries, sifted through newspapers. From what I've found, I don't think she's a bad person."

"You say that as if you're definite," Ivy commented.

"Let her speak her thoughts, Ivy," Carmen crooned with a sly smile. "It's not everyday we hear someone saying they want to meet the infamous Carmen Sandiego." Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I wonder how Carmen would feel hearing this," Zack said tauntingly to the woman, "I'm sure she would be sooooooooooooo flattered."

She gave a smug grin, "You should know better than anyone else."

"You guys are funny," Karina commented at the banter between the trio. "There's actually a story I wanted to tell her."

"By all means," Ivy agreed. The teenager shifted and leaned forward in her bed.

"When I went to prom, I wore a red dress," Carmen nodded her head with approval. "It was absolutely gorgeous and I love that dress. But anyway, all of the girls told me that I looked like Carmen Sandiego." A smile raised on her face at the memory.

"So I said, 'Yeah, and I'll steal your man too.'" Her audience laughed at the response. Zack laughed so hard he almost fell out of his seat.

"That," Ivy said, collecting her breath again, "was the best comeback ever."

"She would have said the same thing," Carmen winked and a hearty laugh came from the girl, but she placed a hand over her ribs in doing so.

"Are you alright?"

She forced a smile, "I'm fine," she reassured, trying to hide the pain of bruised ribs. "I think most of all, I want to meet her because I would be able to relate to her."

"Why?" Ivy asked out of pure curiosity. Karina shrugged, but the look in her eyes told a different story. That same playing-hard-to-get game Carmen always played with them.

"By the way, have you seen all the flowers outside?" Zack brought up, earning him a minor smack on the arm.

A small chuckle escaped from her lips, "No, I haven't actually."

"Karina," Ivy got into a more serious phase. "We not only came to visit you, but also we wanted to talk to you." She wasn't surprised at all, simply stoic. She knew that they weren't there for a cup of tea and sweet talk.

Zack ran a hand through his hair, "We're going to have to transfer you to another hospital. Your location got released into the press somehow, and it wouldn't be safe with a killer on the loose." Karina nodded her head.

"I understand."

"We understand that this is a very difficult time for you," Carmen began and some of the emotions behind the girl's mask began to filter through, "and we know it may be hard for you to tell us anything about what happened. But we would like to know what happened and if there's anything you know."

Karina sighed and bowed her head down to gain some composure. "I know it looks very suspicious because I'm not mourning aloud." Her hands shook as she tried to clasp them together.

"What Scarface did to me in the past…" she paused, "and when Olga and Nicolai took me under their wing, I cried tears until I couldn't cry anymore. Still, I don't think I have any more tears to cry. But I still feel the pain and guilt of destroying another family."

Carmen placed a gentle hand on her arm and rubbed her thumb in circles. "It's okay, just take whatever time you need to tell us." Ivy also put her hand on her shoulder for extra support.

"Thank you. All I remember was talking to my cousin, and I saw his face. He was there. Then he was gone. I tried to warn my parents, but all of sudden, the gunshots went off and that was it. I guess I hit my head because I have no idea what happened after."

"Do you know why he would want to hurt you or your family?" Zack asked.

"I don't know. But I suspect he got the Chairman of Nicolai's company involved."

Ivy shifted her weight onto one leg. "Why do you say that?"

"He's been acting strange for the past month, and it's not the good kind of strange. He was advising Nicolai on who should have control over the company should he die."

"Who would it go to?" Carmen asked.

"In his will, I think he placed me as the heir. But that's when I'm of age, and I'm only sixteen."

"So he might have a motive to strike everyone out and take over the company," Ivy concluded.

"Correct."

"Any connections to Scarface?"

"If there is any, the only one I can think of is through the Russian mafia."

Zack shifted in his chair, "I don't know if this is the right time to bring up, but the doctor told us a little about your past and that you might have had amnesia. Is there anything that you remember?" At the mention about this memory, a look of regret seeped through the features of Karina.

"I don't remember facts," she muttered. "I only remember images of my past." A slight pause. "He was there too."

"Do you remember the night you came to this hospital?" Carmen asked. Karina gently shook her head.

"I'm sorry."

"You know, C-Adriana" Zack corrected himself, "saved your life."

"You did?"

"I only found you."

Karina clasped both of her hands around Carmen's and bowed her head. She remained in that position for several seconds in silence, and finally looked her straight in the eye. "Even still, thank you, Adriana. Thank you so much."

A soft knock came from outside, and a young nurse entered. "Hi y'all. I'm here to take Ms. Federov for some testing." Her visitors stood up from their chairs, as the nurse came by the bed to adjust her I.V.

"We'll be outside if you need anything," Ivy motioned to the waiting area outside. They shuffled outside as the nurse pushed the patient out of the room and through the corridors. Zack slumped into another chair and rested his arms on his knees.

"What do you think?" Ivy asked her brother. "I mean, she's pretty and she doesn't seem mentally unstable or anything" he answered truthfully.

She rolled her eyes, "That's not what I meant, Sherlock. I mean her story."

"She's hiding something, detectives," Carmen replied twisting her ponytail, and cracking her knuckles. "Whatever it is, it might just be what Scarface is after."

"But what's the connection to home?" Ivy prompted. Zack's watch beeped, "Go ahead, Chief."

"Hot tip from Crimenet, gumshoes! While you were busy trying not to faint, word got in that Lee Jordan broke out of jail!"

"How coincidental," Carmen frowned. Ivy clenched her fists, "Lee Jordan's gonna have it this time," she mumbled between gritted teeth.

"And I have a strong feeling that he's going to try and hit back at Carmen even harder than before," Zack added. Sighing, Carmen sat down in a chair and rubbed her temples as she contemplated silently.

Chief moved closer to the woman and tried to see her face. "Hey, don't look so down, kiddo," Carmen slanted her head with some annoyance at his joke. "We need you in tip top shape so we can slam dunk Scarface and Lee Jordan better than Michael Jordan's iconic free throw line dunk!"

The blaring sounds of the fire alarm pulsed throughout the building, surprising our main characters. Zack looked around, "Gee, do they really have to do this now?" he asked in annoyance. A nurse walked down their hallway and ran towards them quickly.

"Are you the ACME detectives?"

Ivy waved her hand in dismissal. "We'll call the fire department, and they'll be here to—"

"Karina Federov is missing." Zack and Carmen stood from their seats.

"What?!"

"The staff has searched the entire building. She's gone."

"What about the nurse who took her? Where is she?" The nurse scrunched her face in confusion. "What are you talking about? We didn't send a nurse to get her."

"It was a young woman. Probably her early 20s, blond hair, green eyes. She came in and wheeled Karina out for testing," Carmen replied.

The nurse shook her head. "Karina didn't need to leave her room. Her testing was going to be done in her room." Zack, Ivy, and Carmen looked at each other with a panicked look in their eyes.

"We need to find her now."


Several miles away…

Her breathing hitched as she tried to get the jacket through one arm. The pain was excruciating throughout her entire body. Her muscles were stiff and they ached and they cried. It even hurt to breathe because of her ribs.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" a male voice asked her from the front seat. Super hot guy.

Her eyebrows scrunched together slightly. "Never better," she managed to cough. One arm slid through the sleeve of her jacket.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, we just snuck you out of a fucking hospital," a girl with dark brown hair sitting next to her asked. A blond wig sat next to her foot in the car. She held the hospital gown Karina had been wearing earlier. Her friend nodded.

"I'm fine," she insisted, her voice hoarse. Thank God her friends agreed to sneak her out of the hospital.

"Did you guys bring everything I asked for?" A backpack got passed to the backseat where she was sitting. Carefully she rummaged through it. Aloe. Medical kit. Make-up. Cleansing wipes. Phone. Antibiotics. Money. Ointment. Whiskey flask.

She smiled. "Vodka?"

Her friends grinned. "Smirnoff." A chuckle escaped her lips and she buckled her belt.

"What would I do without you guys?"

"Sleeping in a hospital," the guy answered.

"Can you help me put my shoes on?" Karina asked softly to the girl. "Sure," she whispered.

Her friend made a turn. "So, why did you ask us to get you out of there?"

"Because that guy is after me. And I'm going to find my mom."

Another turn. "Wouldn't it be safer if you were with the detectives?"

She sighed. "They're only going to get hurt. I need to keep moving as much as I can."

"Honey, how the hell are you going to find your mom if you don't know where to look?" the girl prompted as she tied the shoelaces.

Karina lightly filled in her brows, trying to keep her hand steady in the car. "I remembered something."

"What was it?"

"My mom told me that if we ever got separated, go to the Golden Gate Bridge."

"And you're sure it wasn't a dream?" her friend snickered. Karina rolled her eyes.

"And you're actually going?" her friend asked as he stopped at the red light.

"John. Courtney," she muttered almost indifferently. "You need to stop asking stupid questions and start asking the right ones."

Courtney shook her head and fluffed her hair. "I told you not to do anything crazy, and you never listen."

"I'll be fine," she replied, trying to reassure her. 'I hope so,' she thought to herself. 'What am I getting myself into?'

Author's Note: If you could give a review just to let me know how it's going that would be awesome! (: I haven't written stories in a long time, so I don't know if I've still got that touch.