The twins remained in the hospital for some time after the strange episodes. The small town was all abuzz with rumors; the children were traumatized and belonged at an institution where they could be properly medicated and taken care of. Over the years, as Thomas' work career had soared and earned him a high professional reputation, the towns people couldn't help but wonder of he was work obsessed. From the time he was a boy, he had been obsessed with proving wrong all the statistics. But when the twin's story had been brought to light, many thought he had acted in haste. He wasn't typically the man to let his emotions rule him, but in the case of the twins, there had been too much similarity. Everyone knew his story. The abusive father, the mother telling him to play hide and seek in the woods in a desperate attempt to shelter him from the harsh reality, and often being found the next day by some passerby, half dead and pale from the cold. The people thought he wasn't the best father for the twins. And while Thomas himself was thick skinned and didn't care for the words of the people in the town, Abigail worried. Not whether or not she and her husband were good parents for the twins, but whether or not the town would try to remove the twins from her and Thomas' care. Now that she stopped to think about it, his work seemed to occupy almost all of his time now. Late night calls of shootings or robberies, as the chief he had to be there for everything, or at least that is how he felt concerning the matter. All of his cases ended in success, the public never even heard of the criminals again once Thomas was on their tail. He was a brilliant officer, and the people in the small town indeed felt safe knowing he was watching. But how was it then, his own children fell victim to perhaps the sickest and most dangerous criminal the town had ever seen, and here he was, powerless to protect them and with absolutely no leads on the assailant.

He sat up late one night, contemplating the situation. He and Abigail had requested and made arrangements to stay at the hospital with the twins overnight. The unfortunate pair lay motionless in their beds, each wrapped up in bleach white sheets and IVs stuck in their arms. Thomas glanced over at Abigail. She was sleeping peacefully on a mat the nurses had set up for her, curled up with her hands under her cheek. Thomas' sensitive eyes strained in the dark and moved to look at Tristan and Marissa's still forms. The twins had come through all of this beautifully, they hadn't complained or wallowed in self-pity, they had made sure the other was all right, and cooperated with the other officers as they tried to find the individual responsible. Tristan had been the only one of the twins to get a somewhat decent look at the attacker. All he said he had seen was a tall man and a pale face. The boy didn't remember eyes, but he clearly remembered the head of a human towering above him. Thomas was sure the same criminal had attacked Marissa, though she had stated she never had the chance to see him. Marissa, of the two, was in worse shape. She had suffered an injury close to a concussion from getting slammed against the wall, and her shoulders were bruised and cut. Tristan had come through relatively unhurt physically. Mentally, however, he was a wreck. Thomas was sure a good deal of his son's agony was attributed to the fate of his sister. He would occasionally break out onto fits, stuttering out empty noises and fragments of words he used to be able to say. Thomas sat quiet and strangely alone in the room. Branches from a tree growing outside tapped on the window tauntingly as the breeze bid them to bend back and forth. There was nothing to be heard but the occasional tapping of the wood against the glass and the steady beeping of the heartbeat monitors attached to the children. Thomas put his head and his hands and rubbed his eyes. His physical body was severely exhausted, yet his brain was wide awake.

Thomas suddenly became aware that one of the heartbeats running across the monitor had ceased. Panic rose in his chest as the monitor above Marissa's bed began to moan out a high pitched warning. Her heart had stopped. Thomas was suddenly deathly tiered and nearly collapsed as he leapt up. His voice hoarse and fearful, he yelped out,

"Nurse! Nurse, there's something wrong!"

Immediately two nurses, one male and clad in blue the other a woman clad in pink, rushed in. Abigail suddenly came awake at the rug of activity. Thomas remembered nothing of the chaos that followed. He and his wife had been shoved back and made to leave the small room and allow the doctors that had rushed in to help their daughter work. Thomas eventually collapsed on a bench in the hallway, his head heavy in Abigail's lap. She stroked the hair behind his ear gently and kept her eyes locked on the door leading to her children's room.

"Don't worry..." She whispered more to herself than to Thomas. "These doctors know what they are doing... She's gonna be alright..."

A few horribly tense minutes passed before the door opened and one of the nurses jogged off down the hallway. One of the doctors came out and closed the door gently behind him. Abigail gently shook Thomas awake and he moaned and sat up.

"Is she alright?"

He managed to say.

"She's in a coma."

"Oh..."

Abigail clapped a hand over her mouth and bit her tongue to keep from wailing. Thomas stared blankly at the doctor. His gaze hardened and suddenly he grew suspicious of the doctor before him.

"Why? What caused it?"

The doctor noticed Thomas' tension and took a tiny step back.

"To be honest, we aren't completely sure. When we scanned for internal bleeding, we found none. Well scan again but I can't see that as a possibility right now. But she's stable. And as soon as we find an answer, I will let you know."

Something in the doctor's words weren't enough for Thomas. That was his little girl in there. He needed to know what was wrong with her body, and he needed to know now.

The doctor felt the anger radiating off of Thomas and decided it best that he should leave. Abigail, almost in a trance, stood and went to her daughter's side. Thomas stood to follow, but suddenly the receiver in his radio buzzed. He cursed aloud and listened as a voice on the other end described a kidnapping suspect.

"Target is described as a Caucasian male, twenty to twenty-five years of age, one hundred to one hundred and fifteen pounds, and buzz cut brown hair. Last seen in a white t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts. Victim is a Caucasian female, thirteen years old, ninety-five pounds, brown shoulder length hair, gray eyes. Last seen in a flannel pink and white nightgown."

Thomas winced at the very thought of leaving, but that little girl was someone's daughter. He had to help. So, heart breaking, he fished his keys out of his pocket and jogged for the exit. He was halfway down the hall when one of the doctors called to him. He tried to ignore, knowing that if he didn't make it out the door within a few seconds it would be near impossible to leave his family's side. But his job wasn't like so many others. This was serious. People could die. He was determined to prevent such a horror from happening.

"Mister Keelan!"

The doctor ran up and tapped his shoulder. Thomas stopped and stared at the floor, refusing to make eye contact.

"I'm on a call. Make is quick."

"Um, about your daughter... We need you to tell us any potential allergic reactions to-"

"Discuss it with my wife, I'm on a call."

"But she isn't-"

"Leave me alone! I have a job to do! A child could die here! Does that mean nothing to you?! I told you; go discuss it with my wife!"

Thomas practically sprinted out the door and across the parking lot to his patrol car. He felt horrible for yelling at the man and now sincerely regretted it. But what choice did he have? He started the engine and tapped the receiver of his radio.

"This is officer Keelan…." He began.

Author's Note:

Thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews and support! I'm so glad to hear you all are liking the story so far! :D Now, I do apologize for typos, this whole chapter was written on my iPod touch and well, you know...

Anyways, would love to hear your thoughts! Hope you enjoyed!