AN: So sorry for the delay AND for the shorter chapter! To those of you that are following my story, I so appreciate you all

A special thanks to my friend ReeseIsLAVAHot for reading and catching things that my work-addled brain missed. Another thank you to my friend Joaquina for always being my cheerleader. You girls are the best!

Chp 10

Ella punched the key to call Harold. He picked up almost immediately.

"I've got him Ella! I'm taking him to the county hospital."

"I'll be there as soon as I..." She started.

"NO!" Harold interrupted. "I'm at the hospital but I'm not taking him to the ER. He can't be treated through the proper channels."

"But..."

"Please Ella, stay there. I promise to call you as soon as I can. I'll let you know where you can meet us. I'm here now...I'll call you back."

The call disconnected and all she could do was sit there as her mind rolled through thoughts of John and the types of wounds he could possibly have...how serious they could be...were they serious enough that he might not make it? Then her thoughts turned to Daniel's Uncle. Mark, that horrible, disgusting bastard had trapped John...and shot him. How many lives could one man ruin before he was punished or at least stopped? She made a vow to herself that she would be involved somehow in taking this fucker down. She didn't know how or when, but it would happen. Finally, her mind brought Detective Carter to the forefront of her thoughts and the anger flowed through her in waves. She could feel her skin heating as her blood boiled. She stared at the monitor that had been paused at the pointwhere the Detective had just finished her call with Mark. "Why?" She whispered to the screen. Ella just couldn't understand what would make Carter turn on him after he had saved her life...well, not turn on him but turn him in. Her mind wouldn't settle on the rationale behind it and it just served to make her even more angry at the woman.

She looked over at her cell phone and picked it up. She pushed a button so that she could see the display. No new messages, no missed calls. She pulled up her text messages and read through the three that John had sent her earlier. That last one...he had actually been flirting with her. Ella smiled again and then she felt her eyes filling up. She was surprised that she had any tears left after all she had shed earlierover Harold but here they were, threatening to spill again for another man. She certainly didn't think that she would ever be crying over a man...not after what had happened with Daniel. Ella hadn't planned on ever feeling anything, much less crying for any man, ever again. She wasn't hardened enough that she thought every man was a sick and twisted fuck who would trick her into caring for himand then end up beating the shit out of her for years...but then again she didn't want to take the chance either. Yet here she was, trying not to cry... correction, crying over this man that she now cared for.

Ella got up and started pacing as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. She couldn't continue to sit there and wait but she couldn't leave either. Harold had asked her to stay, so she would, but she couldn't just sit. She held onto her cell tightly, looking down at it every few seconds, just willing it to ring. She checked the time every single time she looked at it. It had been a little over an hour but it felt more like ten.

"Please call... Please." He must have heard her because a second later her phone was ringing with Harold's number showing on the display. It didn't make it to the second ring before she had the "answer call" button pushed and the phone pressed to her ear.

"Harold!"

"He's alive Ella." Came Harold's voice through the phone. No, pleasantries...he knew she didn't want or need them...just information, good or bad.

"Oh thank God," she whispered.

"I need you to grab some things and come to the hospital."

"OK, what do you need?"

"There's a large black duffel bag in the room that you pass just before you get to the N.O.C. room."

She ran to the little room just down the hall, looked quickly around and saw the bag tucked back behind a large leather wingback chair. She walked over and picked it up, grunting as she slung it over her shoulder. She wondered what the hell was in it but figured she would find out later. "OK got it. Anything else?"

"No."

"OK, I'll take a cab and be there as quick as I can." She started jogging back through the N.O.C. room to head out.

"No, there's a quicker way. Are you in the NOC room?.

"Yeah." She answered quickly and slid to a stop just before she got to the other side of the room.

"In the bookshelf, behind the monitors, far right, about eye level you'll see a small, black, leather bound book."

She found the book and pulled it off the shelf. "I've got it."

"Open it. The keys to the car are inside."

Ella might have laughed at the absurdity of Harold hiding car keys in a hollowed out book if she had found out about them at a different time. As it were, she shoved the book back on the shelf and started down the hall at a run. "How do I get down to the car Harold?"

"When you get to the bottom of the stairs turn right and follow that hall until you get to the door at the end. That will lead you out into the garage. It's a black Town Car. When you get here, there's a back entrance into the hospital that is strictly used by the M.E.s. Pull up to the double glass doors. I can leave the car that I drove here in the lot and come back for it later."

"OK, I'll be there as quick as I can." She reached the stairs at the end of the hall and practically flew down them. Her speed was partly from wanting to get to them as quickly as possible but another part was pure, unadulterated elation. John was alive, she could breathe again. She reached the door to the garage, slowing only because it was unfamiliar territory. It certainly wasn't a typical garage. It looked more like a mini parking garage, onethat you would see at a really nice office building.

Ella immediately saw the black Town Car and headed straight for it. As focused as she was, she couldn't help but notice the extensive collection of vehicles housed in the rows of parking slots. Funny, she thought, Harold didn't really seem like a "car guy". She pushed the unlock button on the keyless remote for the Lincoln. She wondered how she was going to get the large bay door open to exit the garage. Her question was answered when she slid onto the supple black leather of the driver's seat and pushed the button on what looked like a garage door opener clipped to the visor. The door opened quite quickly for beingas large as it was. Ella slid the key into the ignition, backed the car up quickly and headed out of the garage. She pushed the button before pulling out into the alley on the side of the building, making sure the garage door was shut. Ella didn't think Harold would be too thrilled to return and find his extensive car collection gone because she couldn't take the time to shut the door.

She tore down the street as fast as she could. Thankfully it was very early in the morning and traffic wasn't too heavy. It took her all of fifteen minutes to get to the back entrance where the morgue was located. Ella pulled up to the door where Harold had instructed her to meet them. She shoved the car into park and jumped out of the car. As she was rounding the back fender, she saw Harold walk out the big glass double doors leading out of the morgue. He held it open for a large, foreign looking man who was pushing a wheelchair that held a slumped figure draped with blankets.

Ella froze, her breath catching in her throat. He looked dead. That was her first thought and she wanted to scream. Such an irrational thought though, who would push around a dead body in a wheelchair? ...Someone who didn't want others to know that the man was dead. She couldn't stop the onslaught of images from invading her mind...a grave site, Harold's eyes welling up but still trying to comfort her as best he could. All of this hit her in the few seconds it took for Harold to reach the car and pull the back door open. She watched as the man followed Harold to the car. He engaged the brake on the wheelchair and walked around to the front of it. He placed a large, green duffel bag in the car and slid it across to the middle of the seat. The man then started to lift John's arm around his shoulders so that he could help him into the car when Harold put out his hand, stopping him.

"Just a moment Farouk. Ella, do you want to ride with John or would you prefer to drive?"

Ella's head snapped up to meet Harold's eyes and then she nodded once before running back around to the other side and sliding into the back seat from the opposite side. She grabbed the bag and put it down on the floor so that she could slide to the middle. The man that Harold had called Farouk started to move John again. He put one arm around John's waist and lifted him up while using his other arm to steady John's upper body. Thankfully the man was still mindful of John's left side where Ella knew he had been shot.

John's body was so limp as the man eased him into the car next to her. Ella could barely contain the tears that threatened to overtake her as she took his arm and raised it gently to rest across her shoulders. The quiet little whimper that escaped from him just about did her in because she knew he wasn't the kind of man that allowed himself to show any sign of weakness. He had to be in immense pain so she cradled him against her side by slipping her arm easily between his back and the seat and wrapping her other arm around the front of his chest.

The man, Farouk gave her a half-hearted smile before backing out of the car's door frame and began speaking to Harold. "The supplies are in the bag alongwith antibiotics for possible infection. Call me if he starts to run a fever."

Harold reached out and shook his hand. "Thank you Farouk. I will."

"No, thank you sir."

Harold nodded and then Farouk turned and took the wheelchair back into the morgue. Harold then turned and leaned into the car. "Ready Ella?" She nodded and then glanced over at John's face. He was so pale and there was a light sheen of sweat across his forehead. His eyes were closed and his brow was wrinkled. Harold made to shut the door but Ella stopped him. "Harold..." She pointed at his breast pocket. "Can I have your handkerchief?" He immediately pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. He closed the door and she watched him half jog, half limp around to the driver's side. She lifted the handkerchief to John's face and started dabbing it lightly over his brow and across his cheeks and then over his lips.

John turned his head towards her, leaving it resting against the back of the seat. His eyes barely opened but she could still see the blue between his lashes looking down at her. She saw his mouth twitch just slightly. If she didn't know any better she would have thought he was trying to smile at her.

"Oh John..." She started, in a shaky whisper. "I'm so glad you're okay." She felt the tears overflow and slide down her cheek. Before she could turn her head to hide it, John's hand, the onethat had been resting in his lap was tracking the moisture down her face. She smiled at him and then brought her own hand up to his. She wrapped her fingers around his and brought it to her lips where she pressed a light kiss and then lowered it back down to his lap. She didn't release the hold on his hand though.

Harold caught pieces of the exchange in the rear view mirror and smiled to himself. He wasn't sure what it was about this woman that he had liked so immediately, maybe it washer spunk, her intelligence, her kindness, her resilience, or just the fact that John seemed to be so taken with her. Whatever it was, he was very thankful that she had been brought into their lives.