Disclaimer: I do not own the characters within this story. All rights and much respect go to Crown Media, Hallmark, Brian Bird, Michael Landon, Jr., the actors, creators, and writers of the show "When Calls the Heart."

Chapter 9- Into the Darkness

There was a bright light, a loud bang, and then Elizabeth's world began to spin. She felt pain throughout her body as she seemed to be flying. Once her truck came to a stop everything went black.

7:00am the following morning…

"Bay Breeze Veterinary Clinic; this is Harper; how may I help you?"

"Good morning Harper. This is Dr. John from Dominion Equine Vet. I just wanted to thank Dr. Thatcher for covering a farm call for me last night…"

"She isn't in yet, but I'll be glad to leave a note for her," Harper advised. She wrote a note and attached it to the computer monitor…

"Dr. John called and wanted to thank you for taking his farm call last night."

"Thank you very much. You have a great day…" Harper stated.

"You too…" Dr. John replied before the call was ended.

"Hey, I thought you were off today. What are you doing here?" Kelly asked as she entered the building, locking the door once she was inside.

"I am, but I left my cell phone here, so I stopped in to pick it up. I'll see you tomorrow," Harper stated as she slipped her jacket off of the back of her chair, accidently knocking the sticky note from the computer monitor onto the floor.

Mandy was the next one in, which was quite unusual because Elizabeth was generally first, but always arrived before Mandy.

"Where's Elizabeth?" Mandy asked.

"I don't know. Maybe she had a long night with that handsome guy of hers," Kelly giggled. "Let's go ahead and get the treatments done on the hospitalized animals. She should be here soon," Kelly stated as both girls headed to the back room.

Hours passed since Elizabeth's truck left the road. She couldn't move. Between drifting in and out of consciousness, her limbs were throbbing and her head was spinning. She was cold as the nighttime air whipped through the cab of her truck; her cheeks were numb, and she had little feeling in her fingers and toes. Her only conscious thought was that no one would find her until it was too late. Although she saw her phone teetering on the edge of the dashboard, she couldn't remember any people or numbers to call. It made little difference as she reached for her phone only to have it slip from her uncooperative fingers, out the window and into the standing water outside her door.

When it first happened, it was pitch dark, except for the blinding light in the road that she didn't recall seeing again. Now, the sun was up, but the clear day was doing little to stave off the cold temperatures. As the tears fell down her cheeks, she felt the cold wetness and prayed for unconsciousness, as that was the only time that she felt no pain.

Back at the vet clinic, Mandy and Kelly were used to Harper opening the door, so they were startled when the buzzer rang. Kelly went to the door and found four people in line, two had appointments and the others were there to pick up supplies.

Kelly allowed them inside and then went to Elizabeth's office, wondering if she had slipped in without them noticing. Her door was unlocked, but her office was empty.

"Hey Mandy, who do we call about Elizabeth? She's still not here and I'm worried," Kelly stated as she stood in the hallway outside the treatment room.

"Gosh, I don't know. The only number I have is Elizabeth's," Mandy replied.

"Have you called it?" Kelly asked.

"Every 5 minutes since I got here," she replied.

"Well, can you hold down things here while I ride by her house?" Kelly asked.

"Sure, go ahead. I'm just going to reschedule the appointments," Mandy advised.

Kelly jumped in her car and made her way to Elizabeth's farm. She found nothing out of the ordinary; Elizabeth's truck was gone, but her house was locked up.

"Hey Mandy, I'm gonna ride by the police station and see if I can talk to Sgt. Thornton," Kelly advised.

"You don't think he did something to her, do you?" Mandy asked.

"Don't be stupid. He's in love with her," Kelly replied.

Kelly walked into the precinct and stepped up to the counter, "Excuse me ma'am, Is Sgt Thornton working today?"

"He is, but he's out on patrol. I'll be glad to leave him a message if you'd like," the desk sergeant offered.

"Thank you, I'd like that," Kelly replied as she wrote Jack a message…

"Sgt. Thornton, Elizabeth hasn't shown up for work today and we're really getting worried. Do you know where she is?"

She handed the paper back to the desk sergeant, "Would you please make sure he gets this as soon as possible."

"Just as soon as I hear from him," the desk sergeant stated. Hmm Jack. You're getting in over your head. I thought you were already dating someone…

Kelly walked toward the door but stopped and returned to the desk, "Is there someone I can talk to about a missing person?"

"Is it a child?" the desk sergeant asked as she quickly grabbed some forms to be completed.

"No, it's not a child…"

"Well if it's an adult, we can't do anything until they've been missing for 24 hours. How long has this person been missing?"

"I don't know; she didn't show up for work this morning," Kelly advised.

The desk sergeant passed several forms to Kelly to complete, "I'll be honest with you, if an adult wants to hide out it's very hard to find them. We'll do what we can but if you get any more information about this person..." she glanced down at the paperwork Kelly was completing, "This Elizabeth Thatcher, let us know."

It was now 11 am and Kelly drove back passed Elizabeth's farm. She observed nothing different and headed back to the office.

Mandy was busy at the front desk going through the book and calling to reschedule appointments. "Any luck?"

"No; I rode by her farm twice, and went to the police station. I left a message for Sgt. Thornton, but I don't know any more now than I did when I left," Kelly remarked.

Both girls looked through Elizabeth's office hoping to find her parent's telephone number, but still had no luck.

Jack was patrolling not far from the vet clinic. He switched areas with another officer so that he could stop by and see Elizabeth when his shift was slack.

While on his lunch break he rode by the clinic, but not seeing her truck, he assumed that she was out on a farm call.

He knew that Elizabeth wanted him to think about things but if truth be told, he had done nothing but think about her since he left her home last night. He didn't need to take a few days to think about things. Actually, he didn't need a few hours, or a few minutes or even a few seconds. She may not know what she wanted, but he was positive and he was planning to tell her.

His shift was over and he rode back by the clinic. He still didn't see her truck, but stopped by anyway.

Jack walked in the door, "Is Dr. Thatcher in?"

"No…" Kelly and Mandy responded in unison.

"Is she on a farm call? I really need to talk to her," he replied.

"She never showed up this morning. Her truck isn't at home and we can't reach her on her phone," Kelly advised.

"She never showed up for work?" Jack asked as if he couldn't believe what they had already told him.

"No, I'm telling you that I've been to her house and the police station, but I don't know what else to do," Kelly blurted out and it was evident that she and Mandy were becoming more emotional.

"Why didn't you contact me?" Jack asked.

"I left you a message at the precinct, and the desk sergeant said that she'd give it to you when you came back in," Kelly remarked.

Jack pulled out his phone and called the dispatcher, "This is Sgt. Thornton. Would you check the log and see if Dr. Thatcher was called out last night on any city animal calls?"

"No? Are you certain?" Jack asked as apparently the dispatcher advised him that Elizabeth had not been called out.

"Hey, what's this?" Mandy asked as she picked up a sticky note from the floor.

"Dr. John called and wanted to thank you for taking his farm call last night."

"Who's Dr. John?" Jack asked.

"He owns Dominion Equine Vet Clinic," Mandy stated.

"What's his number?" Jack asked, dialing the number as Mandy called it out to him.

"Hello, this is Sgt. Thornton of the VBPD, and I need to talk with Dr. John…"

"I'm sorry, but he's out on a call. Is there something I can do to help?" Sarah, the receptionist asked.

"Apparently he asked Dr. Thatcher to take a call for him last night…"

"Yes, the Sanford's quarter horse. They were very pleased with her work," Sarah added.

"Where did she have to go?" Jack asked as he grabbed a piece of paper and pen from the desk to write down the address.

It was now 4pm and the girls weren't the only ones worried. Jack left the vet clinic and carried Maverick back to the precinct to check in. He gathered several of his brothers in blue together to help in the search.

Jack and five other officers headed separately down to Salem Road. From there they split up, taking sections of road between Salem and her farm.

Jack called her phone every few minutes, each time it went immediately to voicemail, leading him to believe that her phone battery was dead. A call to Verizon got him the information he needed…her phone last pinged off of the tower on Salem Road last night, but there had been nothing since.

He made one pass down the long and winding road, and seeing nothing, he turned around and headed back again.

This time he saw a deer lying in the ditch on a sharp bend in the road. The road was damp from a quick passing shower, and unfortunately, tire marks were the norm on this stretch of road. Finding new ones compared to those that had been there longer than a day may be difficult. He pulled into a driveway nearby and began walking, checking the road for signs of anything abnormal.

"Can I help you officer?" the home owner asked as he walked down the driveway.

Jack approached and introduced himself, "I'm searching for a missing person. She apparently came down this road last night, but hasn't been seen since. Did you happen to hear anything late last night or early this morning?"

"I thought I did," the home owner advised. "I looked out the window and I thought I saw a bright light on the road. I got dressed and came down to the street with my flashlight, but everything was gone and I didn't see anything. I didn't even see that deer, so I don't know when it was hit."

"Did you hear anything?" Jack asked.

"It sounded like screeching tires and…" the home owner replied.

"And what?" Jack asked.

"A gunshot, but maybe it was a truck or car backfiring," he replied.

Jack thanked the man for the information before calling his friends together to search in the thick brush on both sides of the road.

As they started out, there were two sets of tread marks which appeared newer. One was heading to the left, across the oncoming lane of traffic, and the other was heading off the road where the deer was located. Unfortunately there was nothing in the area that stood out as signs of an accident. This stretch of road was known for frequent single car accidents so the ground on either side of the road was always torn up.

With his flashlight in hand, Jack went to check out the deer.

"Hey, come here," Jack called out to his fellow officers.

As they gathered around, Jack shined his flashlight on the deer's chest, "Doesn't that look like a bullet wound?"

"It does, but why would someone shoot it and then leave it?" Jason asked.

"I don't know but I think it has something to do with Doc. Come on, we've got to find her," Jack stated.

He gave Maverick a jacket that was in his vehicle that belonged to Elizabeth. His nose covered the majority of the garment before he hit the ground running in search of her scent. Initially, Jack started to walk into the brush on the right side of the road, jumping over the deer in the ditch. Maverick's nose went into the air and he immediately took off across the street with Jack close behind.

They headed through the thick brush and thin weedy pine trees to about 75 feet in. Jack and his fellow officers continued to move deeper into the brush following Maverick and getting closer to the power lines.

Jack stopped. There was a soft, faint scent of Lavender and Lilacs wafting through the air. It was her; it was Elizabeth's scent and he'd know it anywhere.

Off in the distance, about 25 feet away, Maverick found it first. Although it could barely be seen, her truck, with the roof smashed, blended in with the underbrush.

"ELIZABETH," he yelled as one of the officers grabbed him.

"Let Jason check it out first. Maybe you don't need to see her," Alan stated.

"What are you talking about; she's not gone. GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME," he yelled as he pushed Alan away, freeing himself.

He rushed to the truck. It was evident that at some point during her trek through the dense brush, her vehicle flipped most likely several times, thankfully landing upright. When he reached the truck, the driver side window, and windshield were shattered, her purse contents were scattered all over the ground, and Elizabeth was unconscious, but luckily still strapped into her seatbelt.

She was breathing, but unresponsive with blood trickling from her nose. Through further examination, there was blood covering her clothing and on various places in the cab of the truck which appeared to have come from an open cut on her head and arm.

Her truck was relatively new, but a recall on the driver's side airbag that she had yet to have repaired, kept it from deploying on impact. As such, her head apparently hit the steering wheel, and possibly shattered the driver's side window causing a large goose egg knot above her left ear.

Although Jack observed people running, to him it seemed as though everything was moving in slow motion. Alan was on the phone, and Jack assumed that he was calling for an ambulance, but he heard nothing. Jack's eyes darted about the scene, but the rest of his body remained still as if he was standing in a block of cement.

He observed Jason checking her vital signs, and although he gave Jack thumbs up, the look on his face when he approached Alan told him something completely different.

"Jack…Jack…JACK," Alan eventually yelled, attempting to get Jack's attention. "The bus is on its way. I'm going out to the road to direct them in," Alan advised.

Jack was afraid to touch her for fear that any movement would cause more harm, so he waited for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only seven minutes.

Jack barely heard the sirens in the distance, and eventually observed the flashlights working their way through the brush as he finally began to hear voices, and his legs, though wobbly, were able to move again. He tried to help open her driver's side door, but it was jammed, requiring the Jaws of Life to extricate her from the truck.

As she was gently placed on the backboard with a neck brace in place, she momentarily awoke.

"OUCH…AH…Ooo," were the only sounds she made as her eyes winced in pain.

"Oh Elizabeth, thank God we found you," Jack stated as he took her hand.

She pulled her hand away and looked at him as if he was a stranger. With just a look, without so much as a touch from her, she had dealt him the hardest punch to the body that he had ever taken in his career as a police officer.

He saw her eyes close again and she slipped back into unconsciousness.

The medical personnel carried the stretcher back toward the road, followed very closely by Maverick. As they loaded her into the ambulance, Maverick jumped in right behind her immediately resting his head on the stretcher.

Jack knelt down and began to pick up Elizabeth's personal items that were strewn about the ground.

"Jack, don't you want to go with her?" Jason asked.

"Did you see the way she looked at me? It was like I was a stranger," Jack stated as he casually wiped his eyes before returning to pick up her belongings from the ground.

"Jack, she's been out here for almost 24 hours; she's bound to be scared and she's in pain. You need to be with her. Let me take care of this, and we'll keep Maverick for you," Jason assured him.

Back out on the road, after several attempts to remove Maverick from the ambulance, one of the rescue personnel called out, "Whose dog is this? We need to get this girl to the hospital."

Alan pulled Maverick from the ambulance as Jack came out of the field carrying her purse containing her personal items. They stood in the road and sadly watched as the ambulance pulled away.

Jack fell back against one of the parked patrol cars as his fist slammed the door.

"Jack, you need to go. We'll take care of things here," Steve Young, another officer remarked.

Jack looked down unable to get the look on her face out of his head. "We had a fight last night."

"That doesn't matter now, Jack. She's hurt and she has to be scared. Put that behind you; she needs you right now," Alan stated.

Realizing that they were right, Jack left Maverick with his fellow officers and he ran to his vehicle.

He pulled out his phone to make a call to her parents that he never dreamed would be necessary. Mr. Thatcher advised that they would be leaving immediately and would be at the hospital within a few hours.

The ambulance arrived shortly before Jack. Once he pulled in and found the ambulance parked and empty outside the ER entrance, he had an odd sense of peace, knowing that at least she was being seen by the doctors.

He didn't remember any time in his life when he had been this scared, although his father's death and telling her that he loved her the first time came very close.

For some reason, he was unable to enter the hospital. Possibly that was because if no one was able to tell him anything, then he could believe that everything would be okay.

He hadn't slept since their argument. All he could hear was her voice asking for them to take a break from each other. Once he factored in the hours that they had searched for her, the anxiety over what they would find; the look she gave him as they carried her away and the twenty minutes that he paced in the ER parking lot, his adrenaline rush was over and he was emotionally spent.

Jack eventually walked into the waiting room and approached the visitor's desk.

"Hi ma'am, I'm checking on Elizabeth Thatcher. She was brought in by ambulance a short while ago," he stated as he rested his arms on the counter, doing his best to keep his knees from buckling.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any information about Mrs. Thatcher…"

"That's Miss Thatcher," he corrected her.

"I'm sorry, but if you want to take a seat when she can have visitor's the nurse will come out and get you," the volunteer advised.

Jack took a seat in the crowded waiting room. He looked around and the one thing he saw that he had in common with every person in the room was the fear that they each carried in their eyes.

He had turned the volume off on his phone, but felt it vibrate. Looking down he observed that the call was from Mr. Thatcher.

"Hello sir…" Jack responded before adding, "Oh, I'm sorry, Hello Mrs. Thatcher." He advised her that Elizabeth was in the ER and he knew nothing more than he did before.

Just as the call ended, a nurse came out into the waiting area, "Any family for Elizabeth Thatcher…"

Jack immediately stood and approached her. "Her parents are on their way from Charlottesville and should be here in a few hours. "I'm her boyfriend."

"Hmm, that's odd…"

"What's odd?" Jack asked.

"I asked her if she had a boyfriend, and she said that she didn't think so. But don't let that bother you, she took a pretty hard hit to the head, so her memories might be a bit off," the nurse advised.

"So she's conscious?" he asked before quickly adding, "May I see her?"

"Of course, but just keep in mind that she's getting pain medication. She's conscious, but I'm not sure how long she'll be awake," she advised as they headed through the swinging doors to the emergency room cubicles.

Jack walked quietly into her room and stepped around the curtain to find her asleep. He pulled a chair up beside her bed and took a seat. Looking over the exposed parts of her body, he found her head, and left arm bandaged. Her bedding was tucked in and Jack observed that there were hot water bottles all around her, and he could only assume that they were there to assist in raising Elizabeth's temperature. She was reportedly wearing an immobilizing brace on her left knee and there was also an IV in her arm providing necessary fluids.

Although he had asked, due to confidentiality laws, no one would give him any information regarding her condition. Nursing staff stepped into her room regularly checking on the various monitors which continued to beep. He didn't know what they meant, but when the beeping sounds increased in frequency bringing a nurse back into her room, he couldn't help but to be concerned.

He wanted to take her hand in his, to let her know he was there, but the look she had given him at the scene had his stomach in knots. Add to that the fact that she told the nurse that she didn't think she had a boyfriend, and he didn't know what to expect.

Jack sat with her until her parents arrived several hours later. The pain medication that she had been prescribed was quite strong, and although everyone was waiting for her to wake up, she remained asleep.

"Jack, you don't need to leave," Mr. Thatcher stated as Jack excused himself from the room.

"No sir, I have something I need to do, but I'll be back soon," Jack stated as he left her room, walked down the hall, stepped into the elevator and headed for the chapel.

Jack was thankful when he walked into the chapel and found it empty. He walked down to the second pew and took a seat.

He looked up, mesmerized by the stained glass window, wiped the tears from his eyes and bowed his head as he prayed.

"Dear Lord, I come to you confused and scared, as I place everything in your hands. She means the world to me," the emotion was easily heard in his soft spoken voice. "I know that you didn't bring her into my life just to rip her away. I pray for the doctor's knowledge and skilled hands as they do whatever is necessary to heal her injuries and bring her back to me…"

Jack sat quietly for a few moments and was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay son?"

Jack turned slightly to see Mr. Thatcher as he took a seat beside him. "I'm just worried sir. How is she?"

"She's still asleep. I wanted to let her mom have some time with her alone," he replied.

"Do you know what happened?" Mr. Thatcher asked.

"No sir, but I'll find out," Jack advised.

"There is one thing I'm thankful for…" Mr. Thatcher stated.

"What's that sir?" Jack replied.

"The nurse said that she was wearing a seatbelt," Mr. Thatcher voice broke slightly. "I always fought with her about the seatbelt. If she hadn't been wearing it, I'm afraid that she wouldn't have survived."

Jack's eyes began to water, "She wore it for me. I made her promise that whenever she was in a vehicle that she would buckle up," Jack responded. "I only knew that she was wearing it when I was around. Thank heavens she seems to have been wearing it all the time."

"Apparently she listens to you, Jack…"

"Sir," Jack wiped his own eyes before any tears actually fell. "Elizabeth was upset with me last night. I called and talked to her when I got home, but she didn't say anything about having to go out. I'm just so sorry that I wasn't there. It wouldn't have happened if I had been with her," Jack replied as his head rested in his hands.

"Jack, I wish it hadn't happened too, but as much as I'd like to think that you could always be with her to protect her, the truth is, you can't. It's not your fault. Besides, you moved heaven and earth to find her and for that I am so very grateful," Mr. Thatcher replied and honestly meant, but he wasn't so certain that Jack believed him.

"Well, we luckily went to the right place, but to be honest, Maverick was the one who found her," Jack responded.

Mr. Thatcher smiled, "Well I guess it's only fair that he saved her since she saved him before. When all this is done and she's back home where she belongs I'd say that he should get the biggest steak around," though quite worried himself, Mr. Thatcher attempted to lighten the mood.

Jack smiled, "Yes sir, I agree."

Mr. Thatcher stood from his seat, "Why don't we go back and check on our girl?"

"Maybe you and Mrs. Thatcher would like some time alone with her?" Jack offered.

"What's wrong Jack?" he asked.

"When they carried her from the scene, I reached for her hand; she pulled it away and looked at me as if I was a stranger," Jack admitted.

"Jack, from what the doctor said, she hit her head pretty hard in the crash. He told us not to be surprised if she seems disoriented when she wakes up," Mr. Thatcher explained.

"They wouldn't tell me anything because they said I wasn't family. Is she going to be okay?" he asked as his heart pounded with anticipation.

"I don't care what they say, Jack. To us you are family," Mr. Thatcher turned away to wipe his eyes. "Jack, I will never be able to thank you for finding her."

Jack was concerned because Mr. Thatcher had yet to answer his question, "William, is she going to be okay?"

"She has stitches in her head, left arm and leg, as I'm sure some of which you've seen. The brace is because her knee hyper extended, most likely when the truck flipped. They are working to raise her body temperature because she was outside in the elements most of the night…"

"What about her going in and out of consciousness?" Jack blurted out, anxious for the answer.

"Well, since no one was there, it's not known how much of the time she was actually unconscious. Right now, it appears that she's fortunate and only has a concussion, which could have its own complications, but there is no fracture. They will be waking her ever few hours to check on her, and will start weaning her from the strong pain medication soon. She should come to and then we'll see what we're dealing with," Mr. Thatcher stated as he tried to maintain his strong stance.

"Come on Jack, let's go see her," Mr. Thatcher suggested.

Jack hesitantly accompanied Mr. Thatcher back to Elizabeth's room. As they walked in, her doctor followed behind them. He was busy, so he was very quick to provide the information.

He glanced at Jack and then back to Mr. Thatcher.

"This is my daughter's boyfriend; he's family and he can stay," Mr. Thatcher quickly stated avoiding any issues regarding confidentiality.

The doctor opened his file, "Well, in that case, Miss Thatcher has a closed head injury. We are monitoring her condition and so far there has been no swelling. So basically that means that she has a severe concussion. Her lacerations have been treated and stitched and will heal with time. There is some deep bruising on her chest from the seatbelt, but the pain of that will lessen with time. She has multiple contusions which will also heal, but initially she will be very sore. We are also treating her for hypothermia, but her body temperature has risen and is close to normal. She does have a large knot on the side of her head, and I want to caution you that when she wakes up, she may have some memory lapse as a result."

The doctor watched as Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher and Jack appeared to be digesting the information. "When she wakes up…"

Jack had to ask; the question in his mind had not yet been answered and he couldn't wait any longer, "When she wakes up; is she unconscious?"

"No, she's on heavy painkillers. From what I understand, she was missing last night and into this evening. Her body has been through a massive ordeal and we really just want her to rest," the doctor responded.

Regaining his train of thought, the doctor continued, "Regarding her memory, don't pressure her, because her failure to remember can be very frustrating. She may not suffer any loss, but then again, she may not remember some things, while other memories are readily assessable. Just try to keep in mind, the memories should return, but unfortunately I can't say when."

"Are you referring to amnesia?" Mr. Thatcher asked.

"Well, that is always a possibility, and each case is different. However, most of the time in situations like this it's short term memory loss," the doctor explained. "But we won't know until she wakes up fully.

"Short term memory loss? How far back does that usually go?" Jack asked.

Mr. Thatcher knew what he was referring to, "Jack don't worry, she'll remember you and how much you mean to her."

The doctor turned to Jack to answer his question, "Unfortunately it's hard to say. If she has any memory lapse and I'm not saying she will, but if she does, it could be as simple as not knowing what she had for breakfast yesterday, to not recalling people or events from months ago. But like I said, she could have trouble remembering some things, while others come right to her. Try not to worry until she wakes up. It may not even happen."

To be continued…

NOTE: Chapter 10 is very close to completion as it isn't my intent to leave you hanging for long!