Chapter 11

"This is inexcusable." Anna screamed as Lisa and her representatives stood at attention.
"I'm sorry mother." Lisa apologised.
"How could you be so stupid."
"Joshua…"
"Joshua is a medic. You are in charge. You should have refused his request."

"What would you like me to do?"
"Find her. If she wakes up she could ruin everything."

"Of course mother." Lisa bowed and went to leave.
"And Lisa." Anna struck her across the face, opening up the skin. Lisa regained her balance and then resumed her diplomatic pose. She nodded her head and turned and left the room. Anna would accept nothing less than success. If she had any hope of finding Erica now then she had to use extreme methods. Feeling she had no other choice, Lisa headed for the soldier cells. Unleashing a soldier on the ground, came with its own consequences but failure to find Erica Evans was not an option.

Three days came and went as Hobbes organised their defences and kept watch over Erica. Syd kept his distance, but Jack dropped by regularly. "Hobbes?" He hadn't answered the door and Jack had to let himself in. Jack left the paper bag of groceries on the counter and went to find him. Clearly he wasn't in the lounge room, so he checked the next likely place. Slumped over in the chair, his mouth open a little Hobbes had passed out cold. "I guess even soldiers need to sleep at some point." He whispered.

"How long was I out for?" Hobbes asked, alerted to the extra presence in the room.

"I'm not sure. I brought some groceries and the hardware you asked for."
"Good." Hobbes rubbed his face to help him wake up, then got out of the chair to stretch his back.

"Can I speak to you for a moment."

"What is it?"
"Out here." Jack motioned as if Erica might hear him.

"Whatever you have to say…"
"I insist." Jack held the door open, Hobbes gave in and made his way through.

"This had better be good."
"I made some calls." Jack handed him a card, "I found the name of a doctor that we can trust."
"No. Damn it Jack we've talked about this."
"It's been three days. How much longer will she last like this?"
"Out of the question." Hobbes pushed the card into Jacks chest.

"Just listen to me."
"No." Hobbes threw the card away and it landed under the dresser draws.

"God damn you Hobbes!" Jack raised his voice. He wasn't going to let his friend fade away without doing something about it.

"Jack?" He thought he was hearing things.

"Erica?" They raced back into the room. She was dying to talk but her mouth was dry. Jack reached across and helped her sip on some water. Hobbes stood arms crossed against his chest leaning against the wall, trying to give her some distance.

"Where am I?"
"You're safe." He wiped her chin and put the glass down. "We were so worried about you. Whatever possessed you to go up on that ship like that?"
"Ship?"
"What do you remember?"
"Not much. I was in the park, someone was talking to me."
"Just take it easy. It will come to you." Jack comforted her.
"How long have I been here?" She looked around dazed. Her skin felt grimy and her breath stale.

"Three days." Jack told her. Erica tried to remember what had happened. Her teeth were furry and her muscles were sore, she must have been in bed for a while. She didn't think anything was broken but it was hard to tell. Sitting up, she ran her hand through her hair. It was a mess. "Have you been here the whole time?"
"No." Jack shook his head, wishing he had, "But he has." Jack pointed towards the corner of the room and for the first time Erica realised that they weren't alone.

"Hobbes?"
"He came back about ten days ago. He's the one that rescued you from Anna. He hasn't left your side since we got you back."

"What? Why?" Erica's emotions were torn between hatred for walking out on her and gratitude for saving her life and relief that he was back.

"Hmm." He stirred in the corner.

"Forgive him Erica. He's been through hell too."

"What did he tell you?"
"No. He'll tell you in his own time."
"What about Anna?"
"Furious you managed to escape, but she has no idea where you are?" Hobbes smirked. It was good to hear his voice.
"I wish I could remember."
"You will, in time. But be careful what you wish for"

"Thanks. I guess."

"How are you feeling?" All of a sudden he felt like a shy school boy. Erica enjoyed seeing him squirm.
"Ok. I think." Hobbes handed her another glass of water and she took another sip. She gave the glass back and then tried to sit up.

"Woah. What are you doing?" Hobbes and Jack both panicked.

"Take it easy. You've been out for a long time." Hobbes reminded her.

"Fine. But I need to use the bathroom." Then it occurred to her, had Hobbes been cleaning up those accidents too? She blushed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just a little overwhelming. That's all."
"You've been through a hell of a lot in the last few days. We thought we were going to lose you."
"Well clearly that's not going to happen. Now will one of you help me up." Jack stood back and held out his hand as Erica swung her legs over the side and started to stand up. She was a little uneasy, but she made it a few steps before stumbling.

"Easy there sailor." Hobbes called out as he caught her from behind. "I've got this." He told Jack. "I'm sure she could use something to eat."

"Good idea." Jack was relieved that he didn't have to volunteer. As he left the room, Erica felt an awkward silence.

"Here we go. One step at a time." Hobbes held her weight while Erica went through the motions.

"Where did you go?" She asked as she washed her hands. Hobbes sat her back down on the closed toilet seat and took a seat on the edge of the bath.

"It's complicated."
"Bullshit."
"What do you want me to say? I am so sorry. If I had known…"

"Known what?"
"One day soon I will tell you, but not now. All I can tell you is at the time I thought I had no choice. I thought I was protecting you. I can see now that I was wrong."

"I didn't need your protection. I needed you."
"I know and I'm sorry." Fighting back the tears he still carried in silence from the pain he had caused her, he stood up and turned around. Absent minded he turned on the water and started to run a bath for her.

"Tell me one thing."
"Anything?"
"Did you care about me?"
"More than I wanted to."

"And now?" Erica needed to know, but before he could answer Jack returned with a sandwich.

"I heard the water running. I figured you might like to eat this before you washed up."

"Thank you." She patted him on the hand as he gave her the plate.

"You're welcome." Jack noticed the tension in the room, "I'll leave you to it."

"You too." Erica ordered Hobbes to leave.

"In a minute."
"Now." She pushed him away from her, "Please." Hobbes wasn't going to leave her. "I'll call out if I need help but for now I just need to be left alone. I have a lot to think about."
"I'll be right outside if you need anything."
"Go." Reluctantly Hobbes left. He left the door open so he could hear her. Erica managed to get herself into the bath. The warm water soothing her aches and washing away the dirt. She wanted him back so badly, but how could she forgive him. And what was it that she couldn't remember? She knew from Jack and Hobbes reactions that it was something terrible.

Closing her eyes, she let the water wash over her face. The shampoo had untangled the knots and the salt crystals had removed the stench but something still weighed her down. Lights flashed before her eyes, then an image of Joshua, Anna, Lisa, her cell.

"No!" She screamed. Floundering in the water as it splashed over the sides. She clung onto the edge of the bath as tight as she could as the image replayed in her mind. Jack and Hobbes raced into the room. Hobbes grabbed her by the shoulders and held her close as Jack handed her a robe to help protect her privacy.

"Oh my god." She cried into Hobbes shoulder. He held her close and stroked the back of her head.

"I know, let it out Erica. Let it out."
"She killed him. She killed my son." She looked at Hobbes, wanting him to tell her why.

"I promise you that bitch is going to pay." Erica started having trouble breathing. Hobbes stroked her back trying to help. In the end, all he could do was hold her. Only time could heal her pain, and revenge. He lifted her out of the bath and placed her on the floor where she curled up into his chest. Her wailing was heartbreaking as the memories of what had happened to her returned.

After almost half an hour, Kyle picked her up and placed her back in her bed. He carefully put one of his shirts around her shoulders and pulled the blankets up over her. This was worse than before. Being unconscious was bad enough, but conscious and unresponsive.

"Get Syd, John, anyone you can get your hands on. We're going to strike back tonight just to let Anna know we are still here."
"What about Project Ares."

"No. It's too soon. Leave it to people we know we can trust. I'll meet you at the church in two hours."

"What did you have in mind?"
"We're going to make as much noise as we can. Firebomb the visitor centre if we have to. Anything. Right now Anna has to be looking for us. It will put her off guard if we show up at her doorstep."

"You're taking a big risk."
"If we don't start taking risks we'll never win this thing." Hobbes was going to channel his emotions. Anna had no idea who she was dealing with.