I am so sorry that I didn't get this posted until so late today. At any rate, here is the next chapter. Things will be happening in a somewhat rapid-fire succession from here on out. If you thought your breath was taken away so far, then make sure you have some good old fashioned "O2" on hand.

Once again, many thanks to kellymutt, my absolutely awesome beta for making sure this thing is actually readable *grins*.

Remember folks, if you recognize the characters as being from the original show…I don't own it! The lovely folks in Hollywood do.

Chapter 11

"Hank let her go. She needs to cool off and process what has just been told to her. I mean you gotta admit this is a lot to take in. I kinda suspected that you had some kind of connection to Gage, but never suspected anything like this. Now I know why you get this look of unbridled fear whenever he gets hurt. But, what I really want to know is why you haven't mentioned this to John? I would think that it might be a bit obvious that you know her when you met her last year when he was hurt. Does she have some kind of hold over you," Mike didn't want to come off as sounding like a hard-ass, but he needed to know. He wouldn't like the answer.

"I always knew you were pretty perceptive, just didn't know how much. To answer your question, yes she is holding something over my head...or rather my wife's head. You see, Emily may be from California, but her family is actually from Florida. She and the rest of her family are full blooded Seminole Indian. Yeah, that's right. Rose wasn't the only one to marry a Native American. However, Emily was born in California and was sent to Maryland to live with her god-parents since her parents had been injured in a bad fire. Therefore, no one knew her true lineage. She knew not to mention it to anyone, lest she become a target of hate. Didn't matter to me; I fell in love with her at first sight and have never regretted it. She has given me three beautiful children and more love than should be allowed by law."

Both Mike and Hank shared a laugh about this. Neither of them knew that Christie had stepped back inside and heard what Hank had said. However, they did hear her gasp as the weight of what Hank had just told Mike hit her. The boys looked up and saw her standing in the doorway, looking like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights, "You mean to tell me that your own sister is holding something like that over your head, despite what she has done? I got the impression before that she was a bit unhinged. Now, though, it sounds like she is more than a bit unstable, but I'm not sure just how much. Cap, I gotta ask you are you sure that Emily and the kids are safe? Because knowing what I do know now, I am not too sure about that. Does Rose know where you live? If so, you might want to consider getting them to a new location for a little while. At least until we get things resolved here."

Hank sat there and thought about things for a few minutes. Then, as if a light bulb went off he realized that Christie was right; Emily and the kids might be in danger from Rose if steps weren't taken to keep them apart. The problem was how he was going to do this.

Meantime, while the three of them were taking care of things from John's apartment, he and Roy were discussing what was happening at the hospital with Dr. Joe Early. John was still trying to get his anger under control and not having a whole lot of luck, though it improved once he heard from Christie that the items had been removed from the apartment.

"John, I know it's none of my business, but what happened between you and your aunt? Granted, I haven't known her too long, but the few times I have seen her she has never struck me as the type to get that angry; and for that anger to be directed at you seems out of character for her. Like I said, none of my business, but I would like to help if possible," Dr. Early spoke with his usual calm, gentle manner laced with a considerable amount of concern for one of his favorite paramedics. He only hoped John would trust him enough to tell him. However, John wouldn't be the one to answer...Roy would be.

"Doc, I don't think you want to open that particular can of worms right now. Let's just get both of us healed enough to get out of here. He needs to do a lot of thinking and talking to certain folks and while I am sure he trusts you, I don't think he wants you involved in this particular fight right now. Does that about cover it, Junior," Roy glanced at his partner deep in thought waiting for a response.

"He's right, Doc. I will tell you, but right now it can wait. Besides, I don't want to repeat the story too many times and as it stands I still need to talk to one person in particular and see if my suspicions are correct. If they are, someone will end up being arrested and my family will grow by a considerable amount. Now, in the meantime I need to know when both of us will be released. I KNOW that JoAnn isn't gonna let me go home by myself, until SHE'S sure I can handle things on my own. Scary how I know your wife so well, huh Roy," John finished with his trademark silly lopsided grin.

"Actually, I just chalk it up to being family. After all, I consider you my brother, she and I are married therefore she considers you her brother as well. I mean, you are 'Uncle Johnny' to the kids, right? Besides, she is just making sure that the kids' favorite 'Uncle' is taken care of so that they'll have him around for a good long time," Roy finished with a wide grin. He might give John a bit of grief about things, but one thing he would never do is doubt that the man in the bed next to him was his brother in everything but blood...and after all they had been through, maybe even that.

Right then Dr. Brackett decides to come back in with Dixie, neither of them sporting a very good look. In fact, one could say they both looked livid, "Gentlemen, how are you doing now? I hope better than when I walked out of here with Rose. By the way, John, Rose is, as of right now, banned from visiting you here at this hospital...from now on. I also took the liberty of contacting the Chief and making sure that your records reflect that. I didn't tell him everything; just enough so that he knows that either DeSoto or Stanley are to be notified in case of an emergency. He didn't seem to be as surprised as I thought, but I could be wrong. The only thing is that when you get out you have to go to headquarters and do the paperwork on it. That way, she can't try to challenge it in any way, shape or form," the look on his face seemed to be softening a bit, but not on Dixie.

They quickly found out why. "Well, I have another problem with this entire situation. It seems that she is under the impression that she will be able to get an attorney and sue you somehow regarding the items in question. John, I don't know what the items are, but they are in some way important to her...if for no other reason than to hurt you. What's going on? What is she trying to hide that's so important? And most importantly, how in the hell does Christie factor into this? Her name came up in the process of conversation between the three of us and she almost went into an apoplectic fit. That definitely doesn't sound like the Rose Gage that I have known for so long."

Dixie had finished her rant, looking a little worse for wear and John had to feel sorry for her. So, he motioned her to come to him, took her hand and stroked it gently as she sat on the edge of the bed beside her. Then he began to speak,

"Dix, there is a lot going on that no really knows. Roy knows about most of it, but even he doesn't know about all of it. Truth be told, I have memories coming back from before I was 11 years old. Rose plays a big part of the reason the memories are repressed in the first place, and Christie plays a big role in bringing them back. I am not a hundred percent sure, but I'm pretty confident in stating that she and I are related. How, I still haven't completely figured out yet. But right now, I have to figure out when I get out of here and what is gonna happen after that. She and I have to talk, but I just can't shake the feeling that things are gonna come to a head really soon and I am not gonna like it when it does happen."