Sorry, I have been on vacation for several weeks and just got back. As much as I say this one is getting wrapped up, I am finding it taking a little longer than anticipated. While the mystery itself is essentially wrapped up, the evolution, and ultimate disposition of the characters is quite another thing. Glad to have heard from some of you while I was gone. I will return your PMs when I get a few. As usual, feel free to review and give your two cents!

-33-

A week had passed. Callie remained in a coma in stable condition. Joe had joined Iola in her long periods of sitting vigil at Callie's bedside. At the one-week point, Joe, along with Fenton, had helped convince her that she needed some time out of the hospital environment. It was taking a toll on Iola.

For the sake of his own sanity, Chet took his leave after a couple days. Confused by the relationship which had apparently existed between Callie and Aimee. He has sat at Callie's bed more than a couple times asking his wife what he had done wrong. That he was sorry. That he wanted her back. He wanted them to be a family again. Though she could not respond, he wanted to think that there was a part of her that heard him. He knew he was not being useful to himself or Callie and decided to return home to at least check on the children and give them the news first hand.

Aimee had slowly started to recover from her physical wounds. Her mental ones would take a great deal longer to deal with. She had made inquiry to the staff about her friends and Callie. In the interest of keeping her condition stable, she had not yet been apprised of Callie's status. It had been difficult for Iola to avoid the subject on her brief visits to Aimee's room. But by Saturday the doctors had assured Fenton that Aimee was well enough to learn the news about Callie, as well as be questioned about how she had been abducted by Jeremy. They had also assured her that they did not anticipate Aimee to have any significant heroin withdraw at this point. She had been lucky in this regard, according to the doctor. Though not as fortunate in others, as they reported that she had been criminally assaulted in addition to her other physical trauma.

Iola looked nervously at Fenton as they stood in the hospital corridor.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. She knew the answer already before Fenton's face even showed he would demur the offer.

"Not now, my dear. I think we have put this off as long as possible. She is likely to have a wide range of emotions over this. I don't want her or you to endure any more than needed." Fenton had not exactly been tactful as he danced around the subject. He clearly did not want Aimee and Iola feeding off their mutual anxieties over Callie and bouncing their emotions off of each other. Not until he had an idea of how Aimee would take it.

Iola nodded.

"Well, I figured as much. But I will be outside if you need me." Fenton nodded and looked about.

"That will be fine. Where is Joe?" Iola pursed her lips and looked off to the side, a bit irritated.

"He is calling Chet and asking what is up. He left four days ago now and I haven't been able to reach him. I'm not very happy with my brother, as you know. He should be here." Fenton took a deep breath and smiled kindly to his daughter-in-law.

"We all handle a crisis in a different way, my dear. Please don't sell Chet short for not being here around the clock. He was here for a few days and then chose to check on the kids and tell them about their mother. They are going through a lot, no doubt." Iola blinked and nodded slightly to him.

"I know, I know. I just guess I think he should be here now."

"He was here, Iola. He sat in that same chair you sit and looked at his comatose wife for three days." Fenton gave Iola the all familiar look which she had seen for many years in such situations. One which spoke to be tolerant and understanding. To try not to cast judgment. Iola's face relaxed a little and she nodded.

"Yeah…I'm sorry. Again, I am here if you need help with Aimee." She said quietly. Fenton nodded back and smiled. He turned and walked slowly down the hallway leading to Aimee's room. Fenton, in spite of having been in similar situations before, felt a bit out of place. He wanted to get some answers to fill in the gaps about the kidnapping. The case had been one with a mixed outcome. All parties were quite happy that Nicole had been recovered alive. Alice was doing her best to keep her daughter's recovery as low stress as possible. Fenton did not want to pressure Nicole, and did his best to convince the local police that her questioning was not necessary at this time. Given the perpetrator had been killed and was no longer a threat to anyone. Fenton thought that Aimee was a little better suited at this point to answer some questions.

Fenton approached the door to her room. He took a breath before knocking lightly and entering.

Aimee Davidson looked over towards the doorway as Fenton entered. A slight smile creased her lips as she recognized him. She was grateful to see someone she knew and not another staff member coming in to take an another test or hand her more medication. The bruises and abrasions had slowly begun to show signs of healing. Aimee had fewer bandages on her face and arms than in previous days. Fenton smiled warmly to her.

"Good morning, Aimee. It's nice to see you." He said walking over and taking a chair on the side of her bed. Aimee nodded and smiled. Waved her hand as well.

"Good to see you, Fenton. They finally pulled the IV out of my arm this morning." Fenton grinned and gestured to her.

"There you go. Nice to have that range of motion again. I don't care for IVs myself. So are you feeling well today?" Aimee, aside from feeling physically limited, took a breath. She was wondering why she hadn't seen Callie, or even much of Iola. She sensed Fenton's sole presence with slight apprehension.

"Well, Fenton. I guess I am feeling a little better in that I am less sore. My head and neck don't feel like they were being used as a punching bag as much as they were. But I am wondering…" Fenton looked over to her as her voice faded to silence.

"Wondering?" He asked with a little forced innocence. He knew what she was wondering. Aimee raised an eyebrow to the detective and smirked.

"You are supposed to be one of the best detectives around, I have been told." Fenton nodded with his eyes closed.

"I apologize, my dear." Aimee gestured with a worried look on her face.

"Fenton, I have been asking to see Callie for days. Why can't they tell me where she is?" Fenton exhaled slowly. There was no need to continue the evasion. While the news may not be good, it was clear that Aimee may have entertained the notion that Callie had been killed. It served no purposed to torment her now that she herself was stable and able to handle the news. Fenton placed his hand on Aimee's hand.

"Callie is alive, my dear." His words were met with an instant look of relief on Aimee's face. She had quite obviously been thinking the worst. Aimee nodded and even managed to crack a cautious smile.

"Then why hasn't she come to see me?" Aimee asked with a nervous tone. Fenton made eye contact and took a breath.

"Callie is in this very hospital, my dear. She was hurt." Aimee's eyes flared with worry.

"Oh my God! What happened?" She asked. Fenton cleared his throat.

"She was shot…" Again, Aimee's eyes flared, but this time a stream of tears fell from them.

"No!" She gasped. "Was it… I mean did He… How?" She questioned him. It became increasingly clear to Fenton that Aimee had been unconscious by the time that Callie had reached the chapel in search of her.

"I am guessing you were probably knocked out by the time Callie got to where Jeremy had you held." Aimee slowly nodded. She tried to remember if she had seen Callie that night, but didn't recollect.

"I guess…I guess I must have been." She spoke softly. A bit confused as she tried to recollect that night. "I uhm, I remember when Nicole made her way out the bathroom window. She was scared but I told her to drop and run as fast as she could." Aimee rubbed her head ruefully and gave a shallow half smile "Lord, that pissed him off..." she coughed briefly and cleared her throat. Her face took on a painful look. "And uhm, he went ballistic and started beating the hell out of me. And then I remember being dragged on the floor." Fenton held her hand and nodded slowly. Aimee rubbed the side of her hear. "Then I guess I asked for it. Some words were exchanged, and, uhm, I remember his leg rearing back and then it was lights out." Fenton nodded.

"The doctor said he was surprised your neck didn't get broken by the kicking he gave your head." Aimee shook her head.

"Grace of God, I guess." She muttered blankly. She refocused on Fenton's face. "So how bad is Callie? I mean she is going to be ok, right?!" She asked with an urgent tone. Fenton took a deep breath.

"Well, Aimee, she is in a coma and has been for a week." Aimee's eyes closed. A stream of tears resumed full force.

"So, uh, we don't really know much then?" Fenton shook his head. He was not able to offer or direct any false hope to her. He couldn't be that unkind.

"The doctors said she could come out of it in an hour... or..." Fenton's voice faded. He couldn't really give her any prognosis because he had nothing definitive to give. Aimee wept quietly. Fenton handed her several tissues. Aimee shook her head.

"He didn't have to shoot her. Why couldn't he have just shot me? I don't have any kids. No one would have cared. Please, not Callie! Dear God, No!" Fenton had hoped that this would not have been the path Aimee had chosen. It would make it all the harder for her to accept the circumstances. He renewed his grip on one of Aimee's hands and looked evenly at her.

"Aimee, there is something you need to know..." He said with a cracking voice. She looked up from the tissues that she had pressed into her face.

"Wha..what?" She asked with hesitation. Fenton paused and turned to the nearby sink and poured himself a cup of water. He sipped it slowly as he looked towards the sink.

"From our examination of the crime scene, and from the information provided by the doctors, it would appear that Callie was shot while in motion. As if she were diving down to protect the target." Fenton closed his eyes, knowing that he wasn't exactly choosing the best way to describe the event. Aimee blinked several times. Not comprehending what he was trying to say.

"I am not sure I understand, Fenton." Aimee replied blankly. Fenton sighed lightly.

"When we found you and Callie, she was laying in your proximity. Parallel to your body." Aimee shook her head, still a bit confused.

"And...?"

"Callie, it is speculated, was shot while diving down to cover you, my dear. We believe that Jeremy was directing his shot to you... perhaps as a means to motivate Cal to do something he wanted, or just to be the sadistic and sick person he was. He was likely attempting to shoot you and she lunged in front of the bullet meant for you."

Aimee sat laying in her bed, starring over at Fenton with a glazed look of disbelief on her face. She slowly shook her head.

"No...uh, why? Why would she have done that...for me?" A renewed stream of tears flowed from her eyes as she slowly took in what he had said. Fenton turned to face her.

"Why?" He asked quietly. His lips formed a gentle smile and his eyebrows raised as his eyes met hers. "Because she loves you, my dear." Aimee's eyes closed and she began weeping.

"And I love her so..." She rasped between sobs. Fenton himself was quite struck emotionally by it all. He nodded his understanding to her and placed his hand upon hers.

Several moments passed and Aimee finally pulled the tissue from her eyes and tried to catch her breath.

"I want..I want to see her." She said with a slight stutter. Fenton nodded kindly to her. While he would have desired to ask Aimee additional questions about the kidnapping, he knew it was not a good time. Aimee would need to see Callie and just as Iola was doing, go through the process of being there for Cal. There would be time for the questions later.

"Of course, my dear. I will see about having the nurse get a wheelchair." Aimee, still sobbing as she absorbed it all, nodded faintly in his direction.

"Thank you." She said. Fenton rose from the chair and exited the room.

1:38PM

Intensive Care Unit front nurses station.

Chet Morton stood at the station next to a young blond girl of 12 years of age. He looked about pensively as the duty nurse turned her attention to him.

"Yes, sir. How can I help you?" Chet cleared his throat and forced a nervous smile to the nurse.

"Uhm, yes, I am wanting to see Mrs. Morton, please." The nurse smiled to the young girl who seemed to appear nervous. The girl fumbled with a smartphone she held, trying to remain distracted from the circumstance. The nurse looked back up to Chet.

"Mrs. Morton has a visitor at the moment, but if you would like to come back in a little while, you are more than welcome to see her." Chet sighed a bit uncomfortably. He had wanted Madeleine to see her mother and hopefully get over the initial shock. Their daughter had said little when Chet told her what had happened to her mother. Maddie was not a child to give overt displays of emotion and while the child was most clearly worried about her mother, Chet was uncertain as to how she was taking it inside. Before Chet could make additional comment his phone vibrated. He looked down at the screen and realized it was a business associate that he was previously trying to reach. Chet looked back and forth and saw a set of chairs off the left. He looked back to the nurse.

"Alright, we will be back later." He said and guided Maddie away from the nurse's station. He gestured towards the seats.

"Why don't you take a seat there, baby?" he said. "I need to return this call, and it's a bit noisy in here." The girl looked a bit blankly at her father. She brushed a wave of blonde hair away from her sapphire blue eyes, then turned towards the seats. She looked back at Chet, who gestured for her to sit. Maddie gave him a look which indicated she was displeased, but said nothing. Under more ideal circumstances, she may have chosen to give her father attitude for leaving her in a waiting room. Chet returned her a look. One which was pleading of her to be good and let him go do his thing. Upon receiving a slight look of acceptance from her, Chet turned and walked away to find a quieter environment to return his call.

Madeleine Morton sat quietly in the end seat that bordered the ICU nursing stations. She tried to distract herself and swiped through the usual pages on her smartphone. But no amount of titillating social media or game could distract her from the underlying reality that her mother was a short distance away, fighting for her life. She turned her phone screen off and slid it into a small bright yellow Kate Spade hand bag. She looked thoughtfully at it as she recollected back in time. She remembered getting the bag with her mom a couple months ago. Her mother had relented when she asked her repeatedly if she could get one too since they were so cool. Maddie studied the yellow leather bag for a moment. She remembered that day. She and her mom were getting along good that particular day. And it wasn't for the shopping of high end leather goods. Well, not entirely. They had enjoyed each other's company and spent some quality mother daughter time together. Well, to Maddie, in retrospect it did amount to more than her mom just buying her a $650 handbag. She allowed her daughter to be her equal. They sat at the mall, drinking coffee drinks and watching others pass by. She talked about school and her mom talked about how she might like to go back to work one day. It had been a good day, Maddie thought. They hadn't fought.

The steady sound of monitors beeping from the nurse's station brought Maddie's attention back to the present. She saw a large dry erase board in the distance on the wall. She saw her the name Morton written on it next the the number 5. Room 5 she had guessed. Maddie didn't understand any of the other notations on the line next to her last name. She sat there for a few minutes. Pensively waiting for her father to return, though she knew emergency or not, her father might not come back immediately. She saw a different nurse standing at the lead station. She looked around, but couldn't see the nurse who was originally there and had told them her mom had a visitor. Maddie wondered if it was Aunt Iola in with her mom. She would really like to see her aunt. She looked around the room again and still did not see the other nurse. Maddie stood up slowly and casually made her way over near the nurse's stations. She walked by the lead station. The nurse on duty did not look up from her position entering data on a computer. Maddie took another step towards the hallway which led to the ICU patient rooms. She glanced back over her shoulder towards the nurse on duty. This time the nurse, a woman of about 60 with greying hair and wire framed glasses, looked up.

"Can I help you?" She asked with a kind face to Maddie. Maddie raised her eyebrows, caught off guard. She cleared her throat and gave an awkward gesture towards the hall.

"I, uhm, just was going back to see my momma." She said in a whispered tone. The nurse smiled and nodded to her.

"Sure, baby. If you need anything, come see me." She said kindly. Maddie nodded slightly and walked slowly around the corner. She walked into a corridor with many rooms. All had numbers above the doors. Maddie looked down and saw the door with a number 5 above it. Her legs turned to jelly for a moment. She silently walked towards it.

Maddie came within a few feet of room number 5 and noticed the door was slightly ajar. She took a breath and walked up to it and was about to push it further open, but chose to look in first.

Aimee Davidson sat alone in her wheelchair to the right of Callie's bed. She saw the numerous tubes and sensors hooked up to her. Aimee closed her eyes tightly, in vain hope that it was all just a bad dream and she would awaken from it. The somber expression on her face told the truth when she had opened her eyes to the same scene.

"What did you do, girl?" Aimee asked her in a pleading tone. She heard the steady beep of the monitor and watched her friend's face for any sign of movement. Tears again fell down Aimee's cheeks as she reached over and touched Callie's hand. "You didn't need to do that. You didn't need to come to my rescue again." Aimee had deemed Callie her savior on more than one occasion since meeting her. She shook her head as the emotion swept over her. "You can't leave me now. You have so much to live for." She continued. She bent down and tried to control her sobs, but was unsuccessful. She managed to take a few deep breaths and sat back up. She looked through tear stained eyes at Callie.

"I don't know where to start, Cal. You came into my life at a time when I didn't know what I was going to do, or what I wanted to do. I know we haven't known each other all that long. But I do know that something happened when we met. And while it's hard to explain in words, I know we felt the same thing going on..." She paused and looked down for a moment. "And what you did for me removes any doubt that what this is. What we have is so very real. I never thought I could know this kind of feeling." Aimee took Callie's hand and held it tight. "But you need to get through this, girl. You have so much out there. You have friends and those beautiful children you talk about. I remember that night you fell asleep crying in my arms because you missed your oldest daughter so much and wanted to be there for her. You were sad that the two of you had a fight. But your love is undying and no matter what other difficulties you had in your married life, I know you are such a good person because you worry about your little girls. You are a dedicated mom. Even if you cry because you weren't perfect for them, I know you are a wonderful and decent person." Aimee couldn't help buy cry more. She wiped her eyes as she looked at Callie's figure laying so helplessly. Aimee managed to push herself out of her wheelchair. Her legs felt weak from lack of use, but she stabilized herself against the bed. Aimee bent over and gently kissed Callie's face. "I love you, girl. Don't give up. I will be here for you no matter what. You fight and know that I love you so very much." Aimee felt a wave of dizziness hit her as she stepped back, attempting to find her wheelchair to fall into. Her right leg twisted slightly and she instead fell to the floor next to the bed.

"Owww!" She yelped in a bit of pain. The atrophy her body had experienced with the week of being bedridden, along with her injuries, clearly were overwhelming her. She attempted to grasp on to the bedrail, but couldn't quite reach it. Aimee was taken aback by her body's inability to cooperate with her. She struggled for a moment in a futile effort to grab the bedrail again. A moment later, the door squeaked open. Aimee, somewhat embarrassed, expected to see a nurse entering the room to help get her up off the floor. Instead, Aimee saw a young girl she guessed to be maybe 12 to 14 slowly walk in. The girl had flowing waves of honey blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She approached Aimee with a slight look of hesitation. She knelt down next to Aimee.

"Hi..." She said quietly. "Can I help you?" She offered her arm to Aimee. Aimee blinked several times as she studied the child's face. Maddie gave Aimee a cautious smile. Aimee nodded and wrapped an arm into the arm of the girl who had just offered to help. Maddie pulled Aimee up slightly and helped her grab the bedrail to stabilize herself. She took Aimee's other arm and helped her swing herself back into her wheelchair. Aimee took a few breaths to recover and looked up to the girl who was still standing there, silently. Aimee nodded and gave the youth a kind look.

"Thank you." She said slowly. "I am Aimee. I appreciate the help." The girl studied her face closely. She was not sure who Aimee was. Her father had not mentioned any of her mother's friends. Friends being a relatively loose term given what she had overheard from outside the room. A rather telling tale indeed given what Aimee had been saying to her mother. Maddie nodded.

"Your welcome. My name is Madeleine...Madeleine Morton."