Blood Deep
Chapter Seven
St. Catherine's Hospital
Emergency Room
7:00 PM
Casey thrashed her head from side to side, whimpering and crying. They rushed her into the ER and the doctors immediately ran tests on her because her fever was dangerously high, and she became delirious in the ambulance, so they had to sedate her on the way in because she was thrashing about.
"No," she panted. "No, please leave me alone."
John came into the room and he took her hand in his.
"Casey," he said.
She gasped and sat up and she looked around frantically.
"Oh God," she panted as she laid back down. "John…"
"I'm right here," he said softly. "Just relax."
Casey closed her eyes and looked away from him.
"Our baby," she said faintly. "The baby…is it okay?"
"They don't know yet, honey," he said softly. "Everything's going to be okay."
Her hair was completely damp with sweat, and she was pale and the circles around her eyes seemed to get darker. John got up.
"I'll be back, okay?" He said.
He went to one of the house keeping staff.
"Excuse me, do you have a clean wash cloth?" John asked.
"No, sir, I don't have one on me," the woman said.
He sighed and ran his hand over his face as he went to the nurse's station.
"Is it possible for me to get a clean washcloth or a towel or something?" He asked.
"Yes sir I'll-"
The monitor at the station began to go off and it was coming from Casey's privacy room. The nurses rushed to her room and they pulled back the curtain.
She was having another seizure, and they called in another doctor.
John was shooed out of the way and he couldn't take it. He went back out into the waiting room and that's when he saw Olivia.
"John," she said. "What's going on with Casey?"
"They don't know yet," he sighed. "She had a seizure at her office and now here."
"What about the baby?" She asked. "Is the baby okay?"
"I don't know," he huffed. "Everything is happening so fast…"
"I know," she sympathized as she hugged him.
"I knew that she hadn't been feeling well because of the baby, but…" he sighed.
They pulled away and Olivia sat down.
"Liv, I'm sorry," he said. "You need to be off your feet."
"John, I'll be okay," she assured him. "Elliot's on his way."
"Well, Maggie's in trouble," he sighed. "She thinks she killed a man."
"Who's Maggie?" Olivia asked.
"Maggie is Casey's sister," John explained.
"What?" Olivia asked. "Wait…Casey has a sister?"
"Yes, she does, is that so hard to believe?" He huffed.
Olivia sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry. She just never talked about her family. She certainly never mentioned a sister."
"Well, I just met Maggie and it seems like everything rolled downhill since she got here. Not that I'm blaming her…"
Elliot walked in and he came over to Olivia.
"How is she?" Elliot asked. "And you need to be-"
"Elliot, Casey's in a lot worse medical condition than I am," she said.
"She's had two seizures and the doctors don't know what's going on with her," John explained.
"Is the baby okay?" Elliot asked.
"They don't know for sure yet, but they think that the baby's fine," John said. "But if Casey gets any worse…"
"Don't think about that," Elliot said. "Casey's just as stubborn as Liv…she'll kick ass and get through this."
John nodded.
Casey Novak's Townhouse
Upper West Side
7:30 PM
Melinda hovered over the dead body of Kyle Morton. The frying pan that Maggie used was sitting on the table, and it had already been dusted.
"What's the COD, doc?" Fin asked.
"Well, from the looks of things, I'd say she got him good with the frying pan," Melinda surmised. "I won't know more until I open him up."
"I don't want to lock this girl up for murder," Fin said. "It's Casey's sis."
"I'll do my best, Fin," she assured him. "I didn't know Casey had a sister."
"Neither did we," Fin sighed. "Everyone's got skeletons in their closet."
Cragen was outside, talking to Maggie in the car.
"So, you opened the door and he pushed his way in," he repeated. "Then you said that he grabbed you."
"Yes, then I fought back," she explained, pulling the blanket around her tighter. "Then he threw me down and I hit my head against the coffee table. I got up and ran into the kitchen and I threw a couple of dishes at him. I went over to the stove, grabbed the pan and then I swung. I kept swinging to keep him away from me. I hit him across the face and he fell then I hit him in his balls, then I hit him in his shoulder."
"Did you do anything else?" Cragen asked.
"Not to him, no," she said, shaking her head. "I called you, then I hid in the pantry."
"Okay, I'm going to take you to the hospital, okay?" Cragen said. "Then I'm going to need you to fill out a formal statement."
"I just want to see my sister," Maggie said.
"Okay."
St. Catherine's Hospital
Emergency Room
8:17 PM
Casey was finally calm again, and she was so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open.
"Hey there," Olivia said with a smile.
"Liv," Casey said weakly.
"Shh, just go to sleep, Sweets," Olivia said softly. "You're a trooper, so I know that you'll pull through."
John was smoothing over Casey's hair.
"You're going to be alright, honey," he said.
"What's wrong with me?" Casey asked tearfully. "I don't want to lose our baby, John. I can't lose our baby."
"You're not going to lose the baby," he assured her.
"I told you I would give you a son," Casey cried.
"And you will," he said. "You and the baby are going to be just fine, okay?"
"Where's Maggie?" Casey asked miserably. "Where's my sister?"
"She's on her way," Olivia said. "Right now, you need to sleep. Stop fighting it."
"Not until I see my sister," Casey insisted stubbornly.
Olivia shook her head. "God, how long has she had this fever?"
"I don't know," he said.
Elliot came back into the room and he stood next to Olivia.
He looked upon his best friend and he hated to see her like this, especially now that she was pregnant. He knew that John was nervous about Casey's condition.
"Have they at least given her something for this fever?" Olivia asked as she got up cautiously. "She is burning up."
"Listen, why don't you two go home," John suggested. "I'll stay here with her and update you in the morning."
"Are you sure?" Olivia asked.
"Yeah," John nodded.
Olivia and Elliot left the room and John stayed with Casey.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. A thousand possibilities ran through his head, each of them worst case scenarios. He wouldn't know what to do if she died from whatever it was that was afflicting her. The thought of losing his child was scarier than anything he thought possible. It would devastate Casey because she wanted this child so much.
After a few moments of silence, Cragen came in with Maggie.
She began to cry.
"My sister," she said as she went to Casey's bedside. "What happened to her?"
"The doctors don't know yet, Maggie," John said. "What happened with you?"
"Nothing compared to what my sister is going through," she sniffled. "It's nothing."
Casey woke up and she grinned slightly when she saw her sister.
"Maggie," Casey whispered. "What happened to your head, sister?"
"Nothing, you just need to get well," Maggie insisted.
"Um, you're going to have to come down to the precinct," Cragen said. "To get a formal statement."
"Alright," Maggie said as she looked upon her sister. "I'll be back, Casey."
Casey closed her eyes.
Maggie left with Cragen reluctantly.
1-6 Precinct
SVU Squad Room
Interrogation Room A
9:33 PM
Cragen brought Maggie a cup of coffee and she thanked him.
"Are you and Casey close?" He asked and she grinned and nodded.
"Yes," she said. "I mean, even though I grew up in Ireland, she always came to visit, and we kept in touch…"
"How did you two end up growing up in different places?" Cragen asked.
"Well, when I was four, our mother died," Maggie explained. "Casey was six…our father couldn't cope, so a year after she died, my aunt and uncle wanted to take me to Ireland to raise…they agreed that sometimes things just have to be done so that Casey and I could have a good life."
Cragen nodded.
"Tell me what happened tonight," he said. "From the very beginning."
Maggie nodded.
"I was sitting on the couch watching the television," she began. "All of a sudden there was a knock on the door, and I thought it was Casey. So I got up and I opened it. That man…I didn't know who he was so I started to close the door, but he forced his way in. I fought him off and then he pushed me down…I cut my head open. I ended up running into the kitchen and I grabbed dishes from the dish rack…I'm afraid Casey won't appreciate that. He was backed away and I grabbed the frying pan; it was still hot and I swung as hard as I could to keep him away. He backed up but then came at me and I swung and I hit him on his face. He stumbled back and fell to the ground. I hit him in his balls, then I got him in his shoulder. After that, I called the precinct. He passed out I think, maybe, but that's all I saw and then I hid in the pantry."
Cragen nodded.
"Did you know the man that attacked you?" He asked.
"No," Maggie said. "No, I didn't. He never spoke to me."
He sighed and folded his hands on the table.
"Maggie, I believe the events of the story," he began. "I believe that what you say happened, happened, but…I don't believe that you didn't know him."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "But I didn't. I didn't know him."
"His name was Kyle Morton," he explained. "And he certainly knew you."
"No," Maggie insisted. "That's impossible."
"Maggie, he had your name and current address where you were staying, and that address was your sister's townhouse," he revealed and she shook her head. "It was in his wallet."
Maggie got up and went over to the window.
"Maggie, I can't help you unless you tell me everything," Cragen said.
"I did tell you everythin'," she huffed. "I didn't know that man."
"Is Justice William Novak your father?" He asked.
"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?" Maggie asked. "Why are you asking me all of these questions?"
"You name, Casey's address, your father's number," Cragen added up. "You've never been to the city previously, have you?"
"No, I've spent my whole life in Ireland," she said.
"Then the chances that this was random are slim to nil," he said. "Did he know your sister?"
"No, Casey wouldn't know him either, that I can be sure of," Maggie insisted. "Look, it doesn't make a difference. I killed a man."
"In self defense," Cragen added. "But Maggie, it's going to look differently if you don't tell me the truth."
"I am telling you the truth!" She yelled. "I told you everythin'! I don't know what he has to do with my father, or me, but I'm certainly in as dark a place as you about it. I need to be with my sister."
Cragen sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll have you escorted back to the hospital."
Maggie nodded and crossed her arms over her chest.
St. Catherine's Hospital
Room 406
10:45 PM
Maggie dabbed at Casey's forehead and chest.
"It'll be alright, Sister," Maggie whispered. "You're going to pull through because you've got a baby to raise."
"Maggie…" Casey said in barely above a whisper. "What happened? Why'd you come in with Cragen?"
"Nothing that you need to be worrying about," Maggie said.
John came back into the room with two cups of coffee.
"Here, Maggie," he said as he handed her a cup.
"Thank you," she said gratefully. "Did they give her something for the fever?"
"Yeah," John sighed. "Casey, try and sleep."
Casey furrowed her eyebrows. "No, I want to know what's wrong with me…I want to know if the baby's okay…"
"Shh," Maggie said as she continued to dab at Casey's forehead. "Please try and sleep. The doctors are going to figure everything out."
After a few more minutes of fighting, Casey finally gave in to sleep.
John put his hand on Casey's belly, feeling the bump there. He rubbed her tummy, and he prayed that everything would turn out fine.
The snow was falling outside, and the forecast predicted freezing temperatures overnight. The room that Casey was in was okay, but it was still a bit cool…to prevent bacteria and other germs from festering. John never really liked hospitals because of the idea that it was literally a building full of sick people. But now was no time for him to be sarcastic. Casey was in the hospital fighting off whatever was attacking her body.
Maggie sighed.
"I can tell by your eyes that you really love her," she began.
"I do love her more than she'll ever realize," he said as he caressed Casey's belly. "And I love our baby. I've been so worried about Casey lately. Before this, she'd been stressed. She hasn't been sleeping well, and every little thing…she just gets upset. It's like she's a different person."
"She'll get better," she promised. "Casey's been through worse."
"See? That's what I'm talking about," John huffed. "Before you came here, she never mentioned you, or anyone else in your family. I didn't even know she had two brothers."
"Andrew and Daniel," Maggie broke in. "Look, you're just going to have to trust Casey to tell you about our family when she's ready."
"Why don't you tell me about your family?" John said. "Casey's going to be out for a while."
"Please, John," Maggie sighed. "I've already answered enough questions tonight. I promise you she'll talk to you. For now, I just need to be here for my sister."
