Reliving The Past
Chapter 36
Nathan does research on Boulder, Colorado in 1997. He is astonished at the pages of missing kids. Mostly they are female. All under 18. He stopped counting at 50. The FBI had been involved. But didn't get any leads. So they got put to the side when other cases that they could solve. Nathan understood the issue. They had to do the same thing. It was the one big part of the job he hated. He always kept those kinds of case files in a place in his drawer. When he was burned out on a case, he would look at the files in that drawer. It helped him and the cold case file.
Nathan then looked up Jessica Hogan. He was taken aback at the case file for her. It showed that she had been raped and murdered. Well, had been injured and succumbed to those injuries a few days later. She was 17. The injuries were puncture marks in her chest and abdomen. The police got to her just in time to keep her alive. She lost a lot of blood. The police report said that she had been raped by at least 5 men. They assumed she was stabbed with a stick. As there were little splinters removed from the wounds. She had been stabbed over 30 times. The ME said that she had to have suffered a great deal. Nathan was sickened by that. So he ran off copies and went to go see Elizabeth. He had to make one stop first.
Elizabeth and Franco slept through the night. Waking to Doctor Monroe entering the room. Well, Franco did. Elizabeth continues to sleep.
"Good morning Franco." Doctor Monroe says, checking Elizabeth's vitals.
"Good morning Doctor Monroe. How are you this morning?"
"Good thanks. I am seeing to Sabrina Santiago getting her job back here. But unfortunately, Nurse Webber will be gone before. But I did speak with Nurse Santiago. She would love to work here again. And we are trying to get that going. With all the nurses afraid to work here until the killer is found, she will be more than welcome." Doctor Monroe writes down some things in her chart.
"Well that's good. I heard you guys were short staffed. Just don't let Liz talk you into letting her come back anytime soon. She would if you'd let her. She's trying to avoid these memories. She just gave me the basic idea. Griffin, I'm not a religious man, but I tell you, there is a special place in hell for someone that could do what those people did. Liz is terrified beyond belief. Maybe when we leave here, she can try to talk about it." Franco says, disturbed by the thought of someone trying to hurt Liz that way.
"Well, she's a strong woman. And she has you. I would hate to be a bad guy coming after her." Griffin smiles.
"Thanks." Franco carefully and slowly gets off the bed. Trying not to wake Liz.
"When she goes home, don't let her lift anything more than 5 pounds. She could tear her stitches if she does more than 5 pounds. Oh and there is a big guy outside the door." Griffin says.
"What? Just one guys? That doesn't make sense." Franco goes to the door and opens it.
"Hello Franco. Mr. C sent me to look after Ms. Webber. When we leave here, we go pick up some clothes for her and you. Then we go to a safe house." Max says, still watching the surroundings. They both notice a strange man, lingering around Liz's room. Max goes to the man. "Can I help you sir?"
"I'm looking for the maternity floor. My girlfriends having a baby." He smiles.
"That is 4 floors down." Max says, eying the suspiciously. Franco does too.
"Thanks." The man leaves. Franco uses his phone to get a picture of the man's face. He wasn't taking any chances. Just as Franco thinks that, he hears something happening in Liz's room. He steps in. He sees Elizabeth in the throes of a pretty nasty nightmare. Griffin tries to help.
"No! Mom! Help me! JESSICA!" Elizabeth is thrashing around. Caught up in her sheet. Griffin gets close and tries to grab her arms so she won't hurt herself or anyone else. She scratches and punches at Griffin. Just so trapped in the nightmare.
"Liz! Liz, wake up!" Griffin says, trying to bring her out of her horror.
"Elizabeth! Wake up!" Franco says, getting next to her bed. Then tries to help stop her from hurting herself or anyone else. When Griffin gets her hands secure, Franco grabs Elizabeth's face. "Hey, hey there. Are you awake know?" Franco asks, looking into her eyes. But seeing the transition from scared and confused to recognition and relief.
"Yeah. I'm sorry." Elizabeth's eyes fill with tears.
"Are you sure you are ok?" Griffin asks, starting to let go.
"Yes. I'm so sorry. Excuse me. I need to use the restroom." Elizabeth slowly gets off the bed and goes into the bathroom. When she shuts the door, Griffin and Franco look at each other.
"Wow. I hope that she's ok. As hard as she was fighting, she could have ripped a stitch." Griffin says, the doctor in him peeking out.
"I'm worried about her because this is taking a lot out of her. I just wish I knew who was doing this. I would make them regret what they did to ANYONE." Franco says, so sad for her.
"My bet is she could hold her own for a while." Griffin says, looking at all the little nail cuts and bruises. Franco looks over and smiles.
"Sorry man. I'm just so proud of her for not giving up. Even in a dream." Franco gets a warm feeling all over. Then he looks over to the closed bathroom door.
In the bathroom, Elizabeth is splashing water on her face. Trying to wash the dream out of her head. Yet she can't get the images out of her head. She takes a few minutes. Placing her hands on the sink and hanging her head. Then she feels a little pain in her side. She pulls her gown out of the way and looks at the bandage. It didn't have any red on the bandage. So she peels back the bandage. There was a little blood. But the stitches look intact. So she covers it back up and takes a few cleansing breaths. She finishes up in the bathroom. She places a smile on her face and then comes out.
"Sorry about that. Thank you guys for helping me. Hopefully when I get home, these dreams with stop." Elizabeth's smile fades a little and her fake smile comes out.
"Liz, those aren't dreams. Those are nightmares. It's ok to have nightmares. We will help you get through this so the nightmares will die off." When Franco says 'die off', Elizabeth gets a flash of Jessica's nude bleeding body. Both Griffin and Franco can see her body tense up.
"What did he say that caused you to tense up Elizabeth?" Griffin asks.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it. When can I go home?" Elizabeth evades the question. It seems like the more she talks about it the more the memories become more vivid. And the dreams get worse. Elizabeth makes her bed. Then starts to get things straightened up.
"Then on call doctor is going to come and check your stitches and vitals. Then you will be allowed to go home." Griffin says.
"Can't you just check my stitches and you can see my vitals are fine? Please! I want to get the hell out of here! Oh, I'm so sorry Griffin. I'm just not feeling safe or comfortable here. I just need to go and feel safer than I do here." Elizabeth lays her hands out on the bed and hangs her head down in frustration.
"Elizabeth, Max is here to look after you. Remember him?" Franco asks, rubbing her back.
"I remember him just fine. But I need to be able to cook, clean, do laundry. I need to keep busy." Elizabeth tries to hide the upset. When she just sits around she thinks about Jessica. And then she starts to freak out.
"Even if you go home Elizabeth, you will be restricted. Why don't you paint? I heard that you were a wonderful painter." Griffin says, watching her carefully.
"I would. But I don't have the funds to get the supplies. Besides, I have to get the house in shape for the boys to come home. They have to come home before school even if we don't catch…" Elizabeth stops before she finishes her sentence.
"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" Franco gets over to her. His body right next to hers.
"Oh. Franco, call Nathan. I think I know who threatened me. I need Nathan! Please!" Elizabeth turns around and sits on the bed. She grabs the small pad of paper and the pen there on the table. She begins to draw HIS face. While Franco is on the phone with Nathan, Griffin comes over to see what she's drawing.
"Hey, I know that face. It's younger. But I saw that face recently. Here at the hospital. Wasn't he a…a janitor?" Griffin says. Elizabeth looks up at him. Eyes big and full of fear.
"Oh God! It is who I thought it was. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Tom was there in Colorado. He was the man that threatened me. He was…" Elizabeth flashes back to when she heard Jessica screaming. She remembers seeing Tom on Jessica. Tom was the first to rape Jessica. That was why she could still hear her screaming. But how he got to her so fast after Jessica stopped screaming. He must have seen her either before or during her rape. Elizabeth drops the pen and paper. She stands up and looks around.
"What is it, Elizabeth?" Franco asks, grabbing her hand. For two reasons. One, to support her and let her know he was there for her. Second, so she wouldn't bolt from the room.
"I need sketch paper and pencils. NOW!" Elizabeth gets antsy.
"Ok. Nathan is on his way. He has some info too. Let me run to my art therapy room. I'll be back in a few minutes. Watch her Griffin. Please." Franco kisses Elizabeth's head and rushes off.
"Oh Griffin! Please, please pray for Jessica and me. Because if I am right, they are going to find me, kidnap me. And do god awful things to me before they try to kill me. But what they don't know is that I have determination to stay alive for my boys. Even the hell I went through as a teen. I would go through that 100 times just to keep my boys alive and happy. And to be with them. The thought of it scares the living daylights out of me. But what they don't know now as from then is that me being a mother makes me so much more unbeatable. Doesn't diminish the fear and tremendous terror, but it makes me more willing to fight. Even if I have to fight to my death." Elizabeth sits back down and rocks. She imagines what it must be like to have numerous rapists at once. The thought just scares her so. Griffin comes over and tries to pull her out of her thoughts. He barely touches her arm and she pulls away screaming. "NO!"
"Hey, it's ok. Elizabeth!" Griffin looks into her eyes. For a moment he doesn't see the Liz he's used to. He sees what must have been that scared teen all those years ago. Max comes rushing in.
"What's going on?" Max is confused.
"Max, go get Doctor Maddox, NOW!" Griffin says, staying back from Elizabeth. Max rushes off down the hall. Franco comes in with his hands full.
"What happened?" Franco drops the stuff on the bed.
"She must have been having a memory of some sort and she wasn't coming out of it. I just barely touched her arm and she started screaming. Max went to get Doctor Maddox. Look at her eyes. She's not coming out of this memory. Stay back here with me so you don't upset her anymore.
"Lucky! Help me!" Elizabeth puts her back to the wall and slowly slides down the wall. Down to where her legs are up to her chest. Even though she's looking at Franco and Griffin, she doesn't really see them.
"Maybe we can reach Lucky and he can talk her down." Franco says. Never seeing this kind of fear in her eyes. And feeling so helpless.
"Go ahead and try." Griffin says, not taking his eyes off Elizabeth. While Franco is on the phone trying to contact Lucky, Max and Doctor Maddox comes in and sees what's going on.
"Griffin, what happened?" Doctor Maddox asks, watching as they talk.
"She was talking about these people. She remembered the face of the guy that threatened her. She drew it on that small pad of paper. When I looked at it, I'd seen that face before. Older now, but that face was the face of a janitor. She asked for sketch paper and pencils. Franco went to get them. She told me that they were going to come after her. Rape her and kill her. But she was going to fight. How she would go through 100 times what she went through in her teens to protect and get back to her boys. She was shaking and rocking. I went to touch her arm. She freaked out. Screamed 'No!' at me. She then said, 'Lucky! Help me!' I didn't know what to do or say to help her. Franco's trying to get Lucky on the phone to try to calm her or break her out of whatever it is she's stuck in." Griffin says, out of ideas.
"Elizabeth, its Doctor Maddox. Do you remember me?" He waits for a response.
"Lucky! I need Lucky." Elizabeth says, closing her eyes. Franco gets Lucky on the line. He puts the phone to Elizabeth's ear.
"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" Lucky asks.
"Lucky. He's going to find me and do it again. Help me Lucky, I can't do this alone." Elizabeth is crying.
"Ok. Elizabeth. Where are you?" Lucky tries to play along.
"I'm in the park. I'm alone. I'm scared."
"Elizabeth, there are some of my friends there. Do you see them? Their names are Franco, Griffin and Andre. Can they help you until I get there please? They can be trusted. They won't let anyone get to you. I swear it." Lucky says, trying to sound like he did all those years ago.
"You trust them? Do they know?" Elizabeth asks, afraid.
"No. They don't know. But they are good guys. Just tell them what's wrong and they will help. With them there, he won't even think of doing anything to you." Lucky says. It's quiet for a minute.
"Ok. But hurry. I don't like men I don't know." Elizabeth says. The look in her eyes changes a little bit.
"Elizabeth, I'm Andre. This is Griffin and that's Franco. Is it ok if we sit here with you?" They all have fake smiles on their faces, trying to make them seem friendly to her.
"Yes. Just don't touch me. Lucky doesn't like when people touch me and I don't like it either." Elizabeth looks around at them all.
"Lucky told me you like to draw and paint. Would you like to draw?" Franco asks, grabbing the pad and pencils off her bed.
"Yeah." She reaches for the pad of paper and pencils. She begins drawing. They let her draw for a little bit. Whispering among themselves. When she finished the first drawing, she just set it aside. Then started the second one. Andre looks at the first drawing.
"This looks like the fountain in the park. Sometime in winter." Andre says, as all three look at the picture.
"When's Lucky going to get here? I'm getting sleepy. He always comes when I sleep. Lucky keeps him away."
"Honey, if you are tires you can sleep. We promise to watch over you." Andre says, thinking that this was what might break the hold on her stuck psyche. She lays down on the floor and closes her eyes. Drifts off fast. Andre reaches for the pad she was drawing on. This time it was a bigger picture of Tom. But still from back then. Once they knew she was in deep enough sleep, Franco gently picks her up and puts her to bed. They all look at her and watch her sleep.
A/N: Thanks for all the reading and reviewing. Hope you like the chapter. More to come soon. Thanks.