"GET OVER HERE!" John shouted, dropping to his knees in the snow and reaching for Casey's wrist. He pressed his fingers against her chilled skin, praying as he never had before that he would find a pulse…and he did, though it was so weak he had almost missed it.
"She's alive," he said to no one in particular, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around her bruised and bloodied body. He heard movement behind him and said, "Call a bus."
Fin did as John asked and then knelt beside him, adding his coat on top of John's. "Be here in a couple minutes," he said. "Cragen, Elliot, and Liv are on their way."
They could do nothing but wait for the ambulance. John did not like leaving Casey lying in the snow, but he was worried about broken bones or any other injuries that might be aggravated if he moved her. He took her hand in his, however, unable to let go of her now that they finally found her. He could not believe it. None of them had dared to hope that she could still be alive.
"Stay with me, Casey. Come on, come on. Hang in there." He gently ran his thumb over her pale skin in an effort to keep her there with him. He actually had no idea what he expected his words and touch to accomplish, but he could not stop either one. "Hang on, Case."
The sound of approaching sirens assaulted their ears and an ambulance pulled up as near as it could to the ditch, followed by several police cars. Cragen and his two youngest detectives darted out of one, hurrying over to the edge of the ditch.
"Is she…?" Olivia asked breathlessly.
"She's alive," John said, reluctantly getting out of the way as the paramedics scrambled down the side of the trench to get to her. "But barely."
"Hopefully she'll be able to tell us who did this when she wakes up," Elliot said, breathing hard, and everyone present noted his use of the word 'when' instead of 'if'. John appreciated it.
"We're lucky our perp slipped up," Fin added, looking down at Casey at the paramedics strapped her onto a backboard, just in case. "I don't think he wanted us to find her alive. Something musta happened so he had to drop her here."
John agreed, though he did not say so. He followed the paramedics back to the ambulance, finding himself beside Weber. Loathe though he was to talk to Casey's ex-boyfriend, he knew that Weber would have a much better grasp of Casey's condition than he possibly could alone.
"I'm riding along," he announced to the rest of the squad, climbing into the back of the ambulance and sitting across from Weber. "How's it look?" he asked tensely, his eyes never leaving Casey's face.
"I'm sure she's got hypothermia…possibly shock from the pain and cold…." His voice trailed off as he started checking for broken bones. "Broken ribs," he continued, looking at John.
"But she'll live, right?"
Weber's eyes moved over John's face for a few seconds as the detective waited in agony for the answer. "There's no way of knowing yet," he finally replied after John was about ready to scream from the pain of waiting.
John nodded at the female paramedic. "Could you check if she was…if she was…raped?"
The woman rose to do as he asked, but Weber shook his head. "No, I'll do it."
Both John and the woman stared at him for a second, but neither said a word. John watched, his fists clenched so tightly they hurt, as Weber lifted the waistband of Casey's sweats just enough that he could examine her. John felt like he was hyperventilating, partly out of fear of what Weber would find and partly because he hated to see another man that close to Casey, even out of medical necessity. It was also hard because John suspected Weber was not seeing anything he had not before.
"Doesn't look like he did it," Weber finally said, taking in John's rapid breathing. John nodded, letting out a breath. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, he saw that Weber's hands were still under Casey's sweats.
"What are you doing?" John demanded.
"Just checking," Weber responded vaguely, moving his hands onto Casey's stomach and tracing a few of the cuts and bruises. "She sure is beautiful. I bet your perp's pretty disappointed that he never got to rape her."
Something inside John exploded. The next thing he knew he had Weber by the throat and was holding him against the wall of the ambulance. "What did you just say?" he asked softly, his voice dripping with hatred. It was all so obvious to him now.
Weber grinned at the detective. "He would have made it good for her. She's got to miss not having to fake it with an old man. Does she have a thing for father-figures or something?" His eyes darted to Casey and then back to John. "I made her scream my name," he whispered. "She begged me for more, and when she ended it, I never got to give it to her one last time…and that's your fault."
Neither of them realized that the ambulance had come to a halt or that the other paramedic was watching them from her place beside the oxygen tank, frozen by fear and confusion.
"You piece of shit," John said, tightening his grip around Weber's throat.
"I only regret," Weber choked, the insane light never leaving his eyes, "that I didn't get to fuck her…until she cried from the pleasure…and I left her…for you to find."
John threw Weber down on the floor and slammed his fist into the man's face. He was just about to connect again when the ambulance doors were thrown open and he heard Fin yell, "John!"
Two pairs of arms pulled John off Weber and out of the ambulance, restraining him as he fought like a madman to get back to killing Casey's attacker. "That son of a bitch; I'LL KILL HIM!" John shouted, unable to calm down despite Cragen yelling at him and the shocked expressions on the faces of the nurses and other bystanders.
Weber got slowly to his feet, his eyes never leaving John's, even when Elliot slapped handcuffs on him and hurled him up against his car. "Philip Weber, you are under arrest…" Elliot began, but John was not listening. He watched helplessly as Casey was wheeled into the hospital, doctors and nurses speaking frantically about her condition. He finally stopped fighting Fin and Cragen and slumped down, completely enervated after the emotional upheaval he had just experienced.