Hello again! Thank you so much for the wonderful reaction to last chapter! You guys rock! As a warning, this chapter is the shortest since the first one, but it's very eventful. I hope you guys like it, I know you'll have something to say, so please tell me! Enjoy!
-Jen
The following morning, when the SUV bringing Mary, Brooke, and Ariella to the rehearsal venue stopped instead at the hospital, Ariella looked at Brooke. "Why are we here?"
"Linda wants to see you, and so you're seeing her." Brooke said. "For one last ok before you do the show. If she doesn't clear you, then you can't do it, Ariella. You get worse and worse by the minute."
She said nothing, but as they went in, her face was set into a unimpressed, unhappy face.
They were immediately sent to Linda's office, and she was waiting. "Ah, good, you're here in time. You're heading down for a bone marrow aspiration." She said.
"How am I supposed to perform after that?" Ariella objected, "My hip will be stiff and sore!"
"Ariella," Linda said gently, walking over and taking her hands. "If I say you're fit to perform, they you'll have to improvise. You should be more concerned about your health. Now, if you don't do it then I'll pull the plug. If I say it's not ok, you know they won't let you do the shows. If you do the procedure, there's at least a chance."
Lips pursed, Ariella said nothing, and just sat in the wheelchair the nurse showed up with.
"We're going to head out and grab some breakfast, and talk to the stage manager real quick." Mary said, "We'll be back in three hours, once she's out of recovery, and Elliot and Olivia are meeting us here."
"Alright. I put a rush on the results, so they'll be ready by twelve." Linda said. "Just come right here."
They nodded, and left the hospital. Two floors above, Ariella was changing into a hospital gown. Being back there for this again, finally made this feel real. She hated bone marrow aspirations, despite how run of the mill they were for her. But maybe it was because she was so used to them that she hated them. No one should have to be used to them.
She told the technicians not to bother telling her about the procedure once she was wheeled in. She just got on the table, lay on her stomach, with the pillow under her pelvis. General anesthesia, the norm for this procedure, never worked for her, and so she was always given real anesthesia.
I was like she'd never even been in remission, it felt like, as they rubbed iodine on the crease of her elbow, as the needle tot he IV line slid in and taped down, and as the anesthetic made it's way into her body, making her world go blurry before she finally fell into drugged sleep.
xXxXx
Several hours later, she came to in the recovery stiff ache in her hip was familiar, just like this whole situation, and as expected, the nurse was hovering over her, smiling. "The procedure went well, dear. Once you wake up a little more, you can change and I'll have you taken back down to Doctor Reynold's office, you'll be more comfortable there."
Sure enough, thirty minutes later, Ariella was changing into her own clothes. It was a slow process, but it was eventually done. The IV was still connected, and they planned on leaving it until she left. It was delivering a low dose of morphine to ward off the pain of having a needle stuck in her hip bone, but it was making her tired and out of it. She finished changing, and then checked her phone to find a message from Taylor, which she responded to, before stowing her phone inside her bra, since she had no pockets.
She then rode in a wheelchair back down to Linda's office. The doctor had been doing some paperwork at her desk, but she looked up, and smiled. "Hey, honey, how are you feeling?"
"Peachy." Ariella said, as the nurse put the break on, and left.
"I'm gunna go check in with a patient, and then see if the results are back yet. You make yourself comfortable, try and rest, and I'll be back soon, ok?" She asked.
Ariella nodded, and Linda smiled, gently patting her back before she left, the door shutting behind her. With a little difficulty, Ariella got up from the chair, and moved over to the couch, wheeling the IV stand beside her. She knew Linda wouldn't mind, and she really needed to lay down. She sunk into the soft cushions as she lay down, sighing with relief, easily drifting into a light sleep.
She was woken harshly two minutes later when the door slammed shut, and she groaned, wondering why Linda would be so loud. She found it odd when the doctor locked the door behind her, the lock clicking with finality as she did. Ariella didn't bother waking up, not until she heard, "Hello there."
Her blood turned to ice, her heart stopped, her eyes flew open. She sat up, turning towards the door, and there he was, her worst nightmare now a reality.
Her ex-adoptive father stood there, a sick, sadistic grin on his face. His left arm hung casually at his side, his hand gripping a sharp knife, and with his right hand he pulled the shade on the door down, to cover the window.
"Ariella," He said, and his voice made her want to run an hide, the way he said her name made her hate it. "Long time no see, eh? What's it been...seven years? Almost eight?"
Breathing was hard, she was so scared. Just the thought of this man had her crying for a long time, and she'd gotten over that. But he was here. feet away from her, in a locked room, with a weapon, and she knew he wanted revenge.
"Just do it." She finally spoke, her voice a whisper, pleading.
"Do what, baby doll?" He said, his voice mocking. He used to call her that once he's beat her into submission, he'd called her that as he violated her.
"Just do it quick. Just kill me." She pleaded. She tried to look at the positives. If he just did it, then she wouldn't have to ever suffer through a prolonged cancer death. It would just be quick, at least she hoped.
He laughed darkly. "Oh, but that wouldn't be fun, would it baby doll? Too easy. I have a plan, you see, one I've been thinking of for such a long time. You have a lot of time, see, when you're stuck in a jail cell."
"Please," She said, coming out as a sob as the tears overflowed, "Please just do it quickly. You owe me that much."
"I don't owe you anything, you little bitch." He said, voice changing. "If anything, you owe me everything! You got me locked up in jail for fucking seven and a half years!"
There was a knock on the door, and Linda's voice called, "Rellie? Honey, why'd you lock the door? I left my keys in there, open it please!"
He grinned, turning towards the door, and let the shade spring up. "Sorry Doc," He spat through the door, "Ariella's a little busy right now."
Linda's face turned into horror, and she ran down tot he nurses station, grabbing the phone from the desk, and calling the Special Victims Unit, since she knew it'd be their case anyways. When she ran back to the door, the shade was pulled again, and she knocked again. "Ariella!" She shouted, "Ariella, are you ok?"
All that answered her was a high pitched, girl's scream.
xXxXx
Olivia and Elliot strolled into the hospital hand in hand, both really happy. They'd just come from a jewelry store, where, as promised, Elliot had gotten her a ring. It would be a few weeks before it came in, but it was beautiful, and she loved it.
They were walking in a comfortable silence, when they ran into Mary and Brooke, who had just come in a different entrance.
"Hey," Brooke said, smiling, "You two look unusually happy."
Olivia shrugged. "Might as well take whatever happy moments we get."
"True. Ariella's back in Linda's office, the procedure went fine." Brooke told them. "We're meeting them there." Together, the four headed for the office, but when they got to the hallway, they found it filled with police officers.
"Linda!" Brooke said, seeing the doctor, in tears, talking to a man, "What's going on?"
Linda turned and saw them, pale and crying, she hurried over to Brooke, "Its him," She choked out. "I left her in there to rest after the aspiration, I just went to check on some patients and get the results and when I came back the door was locked and...he's in there, Brooke, he's in there."
"Who?" Brooke said, but Olivia and Elliot had put it together, because walking towards them was their boss.
"No," Olivia said, gripping Elliot's arm. "No." She said, shaking her head as Don stopped in front of them. She felt like her legs would give out, she clung to him for dear life, and he wrapped his arms around her, heart cold.
"We got here a few minutes ago. He pulled all the shades over the windows, the snipers cant get a shot." He said.
"Is she ok?" Olivia choked out.
"We don't know." Don said. "They've only heard one thing from her."
"What?" Elliot asked, holding tightly to Olivia.
"That." Don said quietly, as Olivia began to cry when it happened again: Ariella's voice, clear as day, letting out a scream of intense pain.