Rae was still in bed when she heard the doorbell ring the next morning. She got up, looked at her watch, slipped on her robe and then squinted through the peephole. She could see Steve and Jo standing there and opened the door.
"Steve, Jo, what are you doing here? It's only now coming up to nine o'clock. I guess you'd better come in."
"Rae, what happened? We didn't even know that you had left last night."
"I don't want to talk about it Steve. Can I make you a tea, or coffee?"
"Rae, if you don't mind, I'll do it. You sit down an' talk with Steve. I'll make us all a cup."
"Thank you, Jo. I'll just get dressed." Rae headed back into the bedroom, and pulled a pair of jeans and a t-shirt on. As she headed back towards the living area, she kicked her dress as she passed. "Damn, damn, damn." The tears began again, surprising her with their intensity; she collapsed onto the bed and let them flow.
Steve heard her and walked quietly into the room, and sat on the bed. "Rae, what happened? How did he do this to you?" Steve couldn't believe how angry he felt with Jesse, even though he had no idea what he'd done.
"He… he asked me to marry him, Steve…"
"But that's wonderful… isn't it?" Steve looked confused.
"No. He said that … he had worked… out how I could stay… he'd just marry me… and get round the problem that way… Like he was doing me some big favour."
"Oh, honey, come on, you know what Jesse is like, he had probably been practising all day what he was gonna say, and then when it got to it, all the words just left him. He loves you, Rae, you know that. Why else would he ask you to marry him?"
"I don't know, but I do know that just to get around a problem isn't a good reason." Rae got up and headed back into the living area and sat in the chair. Steve walked back with her and moved towards the sofa. As he sat down he sneezed, violently, twice.
Rae ran her fingers through her hair. She couldn't really explain why she was so devastated by what Jesse had done. Maybe it was because it had seemed like he was doing her a favour, that it would just be a kind of marriage of convenience. Whatever it was it had ruined her evening, and made her wish that she was living somewhere else. As she sat there she saw Kira jump silently up on to the back of the sofa and pad quietly along towards Steve.
Steve turned towards Jo in the kitchen and watched as she put the tea things together on the counter. Suddenly he felt a strange sensation on the back of his head.
Rae looked over and saw Kira licking Steve's hair. She was about to tell Steve what was happening, when he put his hand behind him and flicked at whatever was causing it. He heard a squawking sort of sound and then a little thump.
Rae leapt up. "Kira! Steve, be careful for God's sake." She realised that her temper was on a very short fuse, but she didn't apologise as she moved round behind the sofa and picked up her kitten. "Kira, honey, are you alright?" The little kitten meowed and rubbed her head against Rae's chin, and she could hear her begin to purr. She glared at Steve and went and sat back down.
"Rae, I'm sorry, I didn't even know you had a cat." Steve knelt down and stroked the kitten, and began to sneeze again.
"Atishoo, Atishoo, Atishoo. It's not you, Rae, I think I'm, Atishoo, Atishoo, allergic to your cat." Steve could feel his eyes begin to itch. "I have to get out of here, I'll go to Jesse's, I'm sorry, Rae, I'll see you later." He got up and hurried to the door; opening it he went out and headed for Jesse's.
Jesse was making a cup of coffee for himself and wondering whether to phone and volunteer for some extra shifts when he heard Rae's door slam. He moved over towards his door and opened it just in time to see Steve staggering towards him, his eyes streaming.
"Steve? Are you ok?" Jesse looked alarmed, for a moment he thought that his friend was crying.
"Yeah, I think I am allergic to Rae's cat! Atishoo, Atishoo."
"I didn't know you were sensitive to cats." Jesse went to get his medical bag.
"Neither did I. I never have been in the past. Atishoo. I don't have much contact with them, so it's not something I could easily find out."
"I can give you some desloratadine, which is for perennial rhinitus, but you will probably find that it will go away gradually if you stay away from Kira. Are you planning to go back next door?"
"Could I have that in English now please?" Steve tried not to rub his eyes as he spoke.
"It's an antihistamine to relieve seasonal and year-round allergies, which is what perennial rhinitus means."
"Thank you. Yeah, I'm going back in a minute. Oh well, at least I know why I sneeze when I'm with Rae now." Steve smiled at Jesse and took the tablet he offered him and swallowed it dry.
Jesse shuddered; he couldn't understand how his friend could do that. "How is she Steve? I can't get her to talk to me. I don't even know what I did wrong, not really."
"You hurt her feelings, Jesse."
"She told you what happened?" Jesse wasn't sure whether to be relieved or jealous. His feelings were so muddled up.
"She said that you proposed to her, Jess, but that you made it sound like you were only doing it to solve a problem, so that she didn't have to go home."
"Oh, God, no, no, I didn't mean it like that. Oh, Steve, what am I gonna do?"
"Leave her for a while, Jesse. Let her realise just how much she loves you. Give her a bit of space, once she calms down she will be able to see things more rationally."
Jo and Rae had sat down with their drinks as Steve left the room. Jo had been worried about him, but as Rae had pointed out Jesse was a doctor, so he was going to the right place. Rae told her what had happened the night before, and then she had leant back and shut her eyes.
"Rae, honey, I don't know you very well, or Jesse either, but maybe you over reacted. Steve told me you would be goin' home in about six months time. Jesse doesn't want to lose you; you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Let him ask you again."
"I don't know. It was the way he said it and how I felt when he spoke. I've been married before, Jo; we have three children who live with him back in London. My first husband proposed to me beautifully, I had only known him three weeks, but I knew straight away that it was the right thing to do to say yes. But last night, it wasn't right. He was doing it for the wrong reasons. How can I stay with him if I say no? But if I say yes, it will split us up anyway because I would be lying to him."
"Honey, I don't know what to say to you. Maybe your divorce is makin' you gun-shy, an' your responsibility to your children. I don't know if they have met Jesse, but you have to listen to him, an' tell him what you just told me. Let him understand what you feel an' give him a chance to talk to you too." Jo took her hand in her own and squeezed it.
"They've all met him. We had a holiday in London a little while back. Thank you, Jo. I will. But it'll have to wait; I need to get to work." She stood up and walked over to the door, she picked up her jacket. "I don't want to seem ungracious, but I need to get to the squad room. Steve is only next-door. Maybe we can meet up again under happier circumstances."
Jo knew that Rae didn't mean to be rude. "Not straight away, I will see you at the funeral tomorrow won't I?
"Oh, Jo, I'm sorry, yes I'll see you then." Rae opened the door and she headed off down the hallway and pointed out Jesse's door as she went past. Then she got into Tom and drove off towards the precinct.
Rae sat down at her desk and began to go through the paperwork from the interviews the day before. Steve had called to say he would be in later, once the sneezing and itchy eyes had disappeared. Rae knew she had been short with him, but she had told him she would prefer to work alone. Shrugging she picked up the phone and started to ring round all the names that they had been given to collaborate the alibis of the interviewees.
By the time she had gone though all the numbers, she had concrete alibis for all of the activists. She wasn't surprised; she had known that that is what would happen. She had been at her desk for two hours. She had itchy feet, she needed to be anywhere but where she was. In the end she tidied her desk up, headed back to her apartment, and went out for a long and punishing run.
Jesse watched her leave the parking lot in her running kit. He wanted to chase after her, but he knew that he couldn't. He picked up the phone and dialled Community General. After he had let them know that he would be available for any extra shifts that they were having trouble covering, he had a shower and got ready for his scheduled shift that day.
In this way Rae and Jesse avoided each other for the whole of Sunday. Rae didn't have a chance to tell him about the funeral and so the next morning she got ready alone and headed down to her car.
It was quiet and shady at the chapel where the service was to be held. Steve walked over to where James Worthington was standing. "Excuse me, Sir, did the Chief manage to call you on the phone this morning?" He saw the man before him nod, and he continued. "He asked me to say again how sorry he is that he can't be here. He said he would be in touch again, real soon." Steve didn't know how to finish the one sided conversation so he just moved quietly away and re-joined Jo.
Rae saw Jo and Steve standing together under a beautiful oak tree and walked over to them. "Hi, Steve, Jo." She put her arms out and gave her new friend a hug. "How are you doing today?"
"Not too bad really. I didn't know her very well, but I feel so bad for James, an' Steve tells me that she didn't have a pleasant death, I wouldn't wish that on anyone."
Rae looked at her; sometimes Jo had a strange way with words. The funeral cortège began to arrive and the three of them walked into the church ahead of it and slipped in at the back.
They were walking over to the burial spot and Rae had just apologised to James for Jesse's absence when the trouble started.
The first indication that something was wrong was when a balloon filled with red water was thrown and hit the side of the building, just to the left of where Steve and Jo were standing. "What the…" Steve looked over to where it appeared the missile had come from. He drew his gun and headed over that way.
Rae drew her own weapon, but she headed over to where James was standing with Mrs Barraclough. She pulled Jo with her. "You need to get out of sight, now. We can finish this later."
Suddenly about thirty people all with placards and more missiles invaded the churchyard. Rae couldn't believe that they could stoop so low as to disrupt a funeral.
She directed Jo, James, his housekeeper and the priest back into the church and then headed back to Steve, but a protestor saw her as she crossed one of the paths and turning his placard round struck her across the back of the head, viciously, with its handle.
Jo, looked out of the door, and saw Rae go down, and stay down. She rushed out, grabbing her cell phone as she did so. She dialled 911 and requested police and ambulance back up. She struggled to lift the unconscious form of Rae and took her back with her into the church. Once she had done that she took Rae's gun and headed back towards Steve.
Steve knew that he had no chance of dealing with any of these protestors, there were just too many of them. He gradually worked his way round towards the church; he could see the mourners were also going back into the vestibule. He saw Rae as she was knocked to the ground, and watched in horror as Jo rushed out to her. His attention was diverted then, as he had to back away from a group of three protestors who were heading towards the coffin, which had been left on the ground.
Steve stood up and fired into the air. The protestors stopped in their tracks, and the coffin was left untouched. Silence descended on the area and then the sound of sirens could be heard faintly in the background. Five black and whites and an ambulance came into view and Steve breathed a sigh of relief. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, gun raised, to be face to face with Jo.
"Hey, lower that, before you turn around. You could have my head off."
"Jo, honey, you shouldn't even be out here."
"I know, but I just knew that you needed somebody else after Rae got hit. Sorry."
"That's all right, how is she?"
"Out cold, or she was when I came out. I called an ambulance for her. Yep, there it is."
They headed back towards the church as the officers began to round up the protestors. As Steve opened the door he called out to the frightened people inside. "This is the police, everything is under control now." Then he entered.
Rae was still unconscious on the floor and the paramedics came in and moved straight over to her. James Worthington was sitting quietly, slightly away from everybody else, except for Mrs. Barraclough. Jo moved over to him. "James. It's over. We'll carry on in a minute; once Rae and Steve have left we will start the service up again, right from the beginnin'.
"Jo?" She could see that her boss was both shocked and shaken, and she had to admit so was she. "What kind of savage brutes would disrupt a funeral?"
"James, shhh, I promise you, Candi will get her Christian burial." Jo watched as James just nodded, but she saw the priest stand up and begin to arrange things once again.
The paramedics had supported Rae's neck and spine and now they gently put her onto a gurney and began to wheel her to the waiting vehicle. Steve moved over to Jo. "I'm gonna go with her, honey, I'll call you later, ok?
"Yeah, I'll go straight home from here, unless James needs me. Call me on my cell phone, ok? Oh, Steve, this is Rae's." She handed the gun to Steve, kissed him quickly on the cheek and moved away before he could say anything more."
Steve got into the ambulance and looked down at Rae. She looked very pale and there was blood on the sheet underneath her head. The paramedic was working on her and Steve watched as the man shone the light into Rae's eyes. There was no response. As he sat there Rae's breathing began to become erratic and the medic put a mask over her face and checked all her vital signs for the second time since he had entered the vehicle.
Jesse was working in the ER when the doors opened and he saw Steve come running in next to a gurney. "Steve? Oh, God, Rae." He looked over at the medic. "What've you got?
"Severe concussion, possible skull fracture, and internal bleeding. Irregular breathing, no response to stimulus."
Jesse looked around. "Get Doctor Sloan and Doctor Martin down here, STAT." He followed the gurney into the trauma room looking around him all the time as he did so. Steve looked through the glass; he could see Jesse checking Rae over. He turned just in time to see his dad and Alex coming down the hallway.
"Steve, Jesse had us paged, what's wrong?"
"It's Rae, Dad, she's in there." Mark went into the room and Jesse came straight out.
"Alex, you need to get ready to take her up to x-ray and she'll need a CT scan." Jesse sank down into a chair and ran his hands through his hair. "Oh, God, Rae."
"Jess, what is it? She was just knocked out. Why aren't you treating her?"
"She's not responsive, Steve, she could be in a coma, or have brain damage, I just can't treat her." Jesse stood up and began to walk up and down the hallway. Steve put his hand on his shoulder.
"Jess, come on, let's go and get a coffee, Dad or Alex will come get you as soon as they know anything."
Steve and Jesse sat in the doctor's lounge for just over an hour. Then slowly the door opened. Jesse leapt to his feet, but sank down again when he saw that it was Jo.
"Honey, what are you doing here?" Steve moved over to her.
"The funeral finished, I couldn't keep still, so I decided to come here, I hope you don't mind. How is she?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't look good. What happened to her, Jo?"
"Did you see it? What was she hit with?" Jesse was back up on his feet.
"One of the protestors hit her with his placard, or rather with the handle of it. A great big piece of wood. She went down without a sound."
"Jo, honey, could you recognise him, the guy that hit her?"
"Oh, yeah, in a heartbeat. You can still hold 'em for forty-eight hours without havin' to charge 'em can't you?"
Steve paused for a minute. "Yes that's right, why?"
"Then keep all of 'em right where they are. Let them sweat, I have no intention of leavin' here until I know Rae is gonna be all right. Then I will identify him."
Steve stood up then and moved across to her. He put his arm around her. "She has a very good friend in you, Jo. And me, well I know what I have." He kissed her gently on the forehead and they sat down together.
The door opened again and Alex came in. "We've admitted her Jesse. Mark says that you can go up and sit with her. But she's in intensive care; her breathing was so irregular that we had to ventilate her. Mark wants to keep her on the machine so that he can monitor her. Jesse just nodded and walked out of the room. He went with his young friend along the hallway and then got into the elevator.
Mark was waiting for him when he alighted; he walked over to him and guided him towards her room. "Jesse, she has a fractured skull. I don't think we'll have to operate, but I will need to keep a close eye on her, if the swelling increases then it may be necessary. The bleeding had stopped by the time we got her ready to x-ray, but her breathing is too irregular for her to breathe on her own and her heart rate is erratic. I'm sorry."
"No, thank you, Mark, for being honest with me. Will she die, Mark?"
"Jesse, I don't know. But head injuries are difficult to treat. She could come round in five minutes, or still be like this in five years… Does she have a living will?"
"No, Mark, but I know that she said that if she were to… die she wanted all her organs to be used… Oh, God, Rae, honey, please… wake up."
"Jesse, buzz for me if you need anything, for Rae, or for you, ok?" He watched as his friend just nodded and sat down. As Jesse covered Rae's hand with his own, Mark left the room. The memory was still fresh in his mind of when he had been sat in a room identical to that one watching his son as he lay on a similar machine. He felt nothing but compassion for Jesse. Just yesterday he had been thinking how normal their lives had become, and now they were back into an existence of worry and heartache.
Slowly Mark walked down to his son in the doctor's lounge. He opened the door and saw him sitting cuddled up to Jo. They seemed to be gaining strength from each other.
"Dad how is she?"
"Not good, son. She is still unconscious and in a coma. The machines are doing all the work for her. It's just a case of waiting now. There is nothing else we can do."
Steve slumped back down into the sofa, which seemed to envelope him. "Three hours ago, she was fine, upset, but fine, and now you are saying that she may … may never leave here?"
"Yes, son, that's exactly what I am saying."
The sun set over Community General and Jesse still sat with his hand over Rae's. He couldn't get his mind round how everything had changed completely over the last forty-eight hours. Two days ago, they had been blissfully happy. One day later, they weren't speaking to each other, and now Rae was seriously ill, and there was no guarantee that she would even be alive by tomorrow.
Amanda came into the room. "Jesse, go and get some sleep, Rae will need you when she wakes up. Go on, you know that even a few hours will help."
"I can't, Amanda, what if she wakes up while I'm not here."
"Jesse, I'll sit here until two in the morning, then I'll send for you, ok? Go down to the sleep room. I promise you, if anything happens between now and then I will send somebody for you, I won't leave her alone."
Jesse nodded. He stood up, leant over and kissed Rae on the forehead, hugged Amanda and left the room. Before he even realised it he was in the sleep room. As he lay down he thought of a problem. He picked up his cell phone and rang Steve's number. "Steve, are you at home? … Oh, look you have a key to Rae's place don't you… could you go and feed Kira for her… thanks, buddy… No, no change."
That done, Jesse lay down. He shut his eyes and fell instantly to sleep. At two in the morning Amanda got a nurse to check on him. Following the orders she had received, the young nurse left Jesse where he was, fast asleep. There had been no change, and Amanda knew that she would be able to deal with Jesse in the morning, when he had got the amount of sleep he needed. She leant back on the couch at the back of Rae's room and shut her eyes. She had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be the start of a very difficult time for all of them.
Jesse woke up with a start, for an instant he had no idea where he was. Then as his senses returned to him he checked his watch, stared at it in disbelief and headed for the ICU.
Amanda was awake; she was sat by Rae's bedside, talking softly to her friend. As Jesse entered the room he heard her talking about CJ and what sounded like a school test result.
"Amanda, what happened to two in the morning?"
"You slept right through it. Jess, I sent a nurse down to check on you, you were fast asleep. There hasn't been any change, so I just let you sleep. You know that you would have done the same thing if it had been Mark or me down there."
Jesse nodded. "Yeah, but that doesn't seem to count when it's Rae in that bed." He walked over towards her and Amanda moved away a little so that he could get closer. "There hasn't been any change, not even a little one?"
Amanda shook her head. "Jesse, I would have got you, you know that." As she spoke she turned round and saw Mark and Alex standing by the door.
"Hi, honey, Jesse, I need to see Rae, can you wait outside?" Mark moved over to them. He had to be businesslike, because he knew that otherwise he would have to hand her care over to somebody else, and he didn't think that Jesse would agree to that.
Jesse and Amanda moved out of the room and stood with Alex. Amanda had her arm around Jesse, and Alex could see that she was almost holding him up.
Mark checked Rae to see if he could get any responses at all from her, but everything was the same as the last time he had checked. He walked back out to the three friends standing in the hallway and shook his head. "There's no change, Jesse. I am going to prep her for another set of x-rays and CT scan, to make sure that there is no further bleeding occurring in the brain." He stopped talking, and balling his hands into fists he thrust them into his pockets. "Steve told me what happened to her, Jesse. I think you should prepare yourself for the fact that if she does regain consciousness, she may not be a Rae you recognise."
"No, Mark, I can't do that, not yet. I'll face that if I have to, but right now, I don't have to so I just won't." Jesse turned and headed back into the room, he sat down in the chair and took Rae's hand in his own. Then he placed his head on the bed and began to cry.
Amanda went to join him, but as she moved she saw Steve coming down the hallway. She walked up to him. "Steve, Jesse is in with Rae, I think he needs a friend right now."
Steve looked in through the door, and seeing his friend's trembling shoulders walked in squatted down and placed a hand on his back. Jesse raised a tear stained face and looking into the eyes of his best friend began to sob uncontrollably.
"Oh, God, Steve… I can't believe this is happening… What will I do if she dies?"
"Shhh, Jess, come on buddy. You know how long I was in here, it hasn't been twenty-four hours yet, she'll come back to you, you have to believe that."
Jesse smiled weakly at Steve. "I hope you're right, Steve, because I don't think I can live without her."
"Can you come outside just a minute? I have some news for you all." Steve stood up and Jesse followed him out. "First of all the news of Rae's attack is in the paper this morning, I just thought you should know. But the main news is that we had a big break looking for the guy that did that to Rae." Steve's eyes wandered back towards her room. "The arrogance of these activists is staggering. They were filming their assault on Candi Worthington's funeral! On the film is Rae's attack. All we have to do is identify the person holding the placard and we've got him. We can't actually see the whole of his face but with what we do have I'm sure there will be no problem. They are all in custody, so it shouldn't take long to work out who it is."
"So, what are you doing here, get and book him. And you can take me with you. I want to look him in the eye." As he realised that he could do more for Rae than just wait and worry Jesse seemed to grow about three inches in front of them all.
"No, Jesse, there is no way you are coming with me. I want to be able to present this guy to the courts standing upright, not in a box. Besides Rae needs you here." Steve paused. "Jesse, it's only because I have a picture of this guy, who wasn't wearing a mask by the way, that I know who he is. He wasn't one of the guys who invaded the station, or Worthington Laboratories, and these activists are very loyal to each other, without the film we may have never found out who did this to her."
Jesse shrank back inside himself again. "Oh." He turned and walked back into Rae's room, and sat down.
Amanda and Mark looked in and then at each other. "We need to make sure that one or other of us comes up and checks on Jesse about every hour or so."
"Count me in too, Mark, I'll come up as well." Alex looked in at the ER doctor that he admired so much, and Rae as she lay motionless on the bed. "I saw her leave the ball early on Saturday night, I guess they were having problems, Jesse must feel so bad right now."
"He does, Alex, but they'll get over it." Amanda looked at him and Alex knew not to ask any more.
Steve headed back to the precinct. He had phoned Amanda's house and knew that Ron was planning to stay at least a couple more days. He had arranged to meet with him in the squad room after he had spoken to the Chief.
Steve knocked on the door to Chief Master's office and entered. "Good morning, Sir."
"Lieutenant, please sit down." Steve sat directly in front of his boss and waited.
"I understand that you have a film of what happened yesterday. I want you to hand it over to Detective Robertson, he will be looking into the attack on Detective Yeager."
Steve stood up. "With all due respect, Sir…"
"With all due respect, Lieutenant, there is no way that you will be able to keep an open mind about this case, you are way too involved. You will hand the film over to Detective Robertson, and then you will concentrate on the Worthington murder and break in. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Steve sat back down, he knew that there was no point in arguing, the Chief was right.
"Agent Wagner will be returning to Quantico by the end of the week, I want you to work with him until his departure, he needs all the information on what went missing both at the Worthington home and at their laboratories. You will assist him with that, and Detective Yeager will need you to take your turn on guard for at least two or three hours every day." The Chief smiled slightly. "How is she, Lieutenant? I haven't been able to get through on the phone this morning yet."
"Just the same as last night, Sir. There is no response to any stimuli, Dad has arranged for her to be re-scanned and for another skull x-ray. She has a fractured skull, and when I was in the ambulance with her there was blood on the bed underneath her." Steve stopped talking. He felt suddenly weary, and wanted to contact Jo, he just needed to hear her voice.
"Are you making any headway with Mrs. Worthington's murder, Lieutenant?"
"No, Sir, but…" as Steve was speaking an idea struck him. "If these fanatics took a video of their attack on Mrs. Worthington's funeral then I'm sure that somewhere there is a film of the meeting that all our suspects were supposed to be at and even…." He shuddered at the thought "of the murder."
"Well then, Lieutenant, you'd better get back to work. Oh, don't forget to hand that video over to Robertson, and Sloan, if you go anywhere near the man who was responsible for the attack you will answer to me, understand?"
"Yes, Sir." Steve looked at his boss, he knew that he was saying this for his own good, but he still didn't like it.
"You don't have to like what I'm saying, Lieutenant, but you do have to abide by it. You are dismissed."
Steve walked back towards his desk. The man was a mind reader. Ron was sitting waiting for him.
"How is she, Steve? Amanda stayed all night at the hospital with her. It seems to me that she has made quite an impression on all of you since she has been here."
"Yeah, she has. She's a good cop, I told you that, but it's more than that. She's friendly, open and it never felt like she was new here, more like she had always been around." Steve suddenly thought of something, picked up his phone and dialled an internal extension. "Hello, Jan, it's Steve Sloan…"
Jan Burlington was sitting at her desk looking through the details of an attack in broad daylight in a nearby shopping mall when her phone rang. "Hello, Officer Burlington… Oh, hi, Steve… Oh, my… how is she…? And Jesse…? What happened…? Look if I get a chance I'll go over and sit with her for a while…Steve keep me informed if there's any change…Ok, bye." Jan put the phone back down. She took a deep breath. She had read about the Worthington murder and also had heard about what had happened to Martin Robertson. But for this to happen to Rae after everything else. She shook her head. There was nothing she could do except visit and talk to her friend, she would make sure she did that real soon. Feeling better having made a decision she turned back to the case on her desk.
Steve put the phone down and looked over at Ron once again. "I need to know what it is you want from me on this case, because I have other things I have to do." Steve had raised his voice as he spoke and Ron could see a few heads raised from their tasks as Steve finished speaking.
"Steve, listen to me. Calm down. I know you are upset, and you are welcome to take it out on me, I'm going back to Quantico at the weekend, but you have to work with me until then, and we are gonna do things right, got it?"
"So talk to me! What do you want, or is it so secret that I have to work in the dark?"
"Some of it is, but what I need to do is go over to Worthington Laboratories and find out what was on the CD ROMs that were taken both from there and Worthington's home. Can you do that with me without losing it?"
Steve stood up. "There's no time like the present then." He stalked off before Ron could say another word and the FBI agent had no choice but to race after him.
Jo sat at her desk and tried to get her head around what had happened to her over the last few days. She had been combining one of the most wonderful things that had occurred in a long time with two of the worst, and she felt as if she was two people living the same life. She sighed and looked back down at the list of things she had to do. James had asked her to cancel all his appointments until further notice. She had to write to all their contacts informing them that any business arrangements would be done via e-mail, phone or post for the foreseeable future. James had also told her that he wouldn't be in the office for at least the rest of the week and that he wanted her to cover for him until he felt he could return. Then he had slipped on his white coat and headed for the lab.
As Jo ticked off two names from her list she heard a voice at the front desk. She stood up and walked towards it, and her heart began to race as she saw Steve standing with another man talking with the security guard.
"Steve." She smiled at him, and her day got brighter. "How is Rae? I couldn't get her out of my mind all evenin' but I didn't want to intrude by comin' back over."
"There is no change, I'm going over to see her from here, you can come with me if James doesn't mind." Steve walked over and kissed her on the cheek. He whispered to her as he did so. "I've missed you, are you busy tonight?"
"No. Mr. Wagner, I recognize you from Saturday night, how are you this mornin'? However, I don't know why you are here."
"I'm fine. I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you worked here. I need to see Mr. Worthington, and probably his secretary too." Ron took out his ID and showed it to Jo.
"Oh, my. Well, that's me, I'm his secretary. He's in the lab, if you would like to come into my office, I will ring down to him."
Steve and Ron sat and waited in the office while James Worthington came back up to the room. Steve was shocked by his appearance; he seemed to have aged considerably overnight.
"Good morning, Steve, tell me how is Rae? That was a dreadful thing yesterday, dreadful. To defile a funeral like that, these people have no shame, and that attack was quite the worst thing I have ever seen, terrible, terrible."
"Did you actually see it happen, Mr. Worthington?" Steve looked over at him; he had thought that he had been back inside the church when Rae was assaulted.
"I looked out to see what had happened to the… coffin. I couldn't bear the thought of those animals touching it. I saw you fire your gun to get them away from it, thank you for that. But as I looked out I saw this thug with a placard in his hand. 'Animals have rights too' it said on it. As Rae moved across towards him, he turned it round in his hand so that he was holding the thick wooden stake as a weapon and as she passed he rammed it into her skull. She dropped to the ground; I don't think she knew she had even been hit. Terrible, as I said, terrible." James finally seemed to run out of words, to distraught to realise that he had been repeating himself.
Steve had been writing quickly as James Worthington spoke. "If I get this typed up as a statement would you sign it for me? When the person responsible for this comes to court it will help put him away."
Jo stood up. "Would you like me to type that out for you now, Steve? Then James could sign it before you leave today."
"Thank you, that would be a great help…I'll come and tell you how it should be set out. This isn't my case, but I will pass it over to the Detective responsible for it. He will need you both to come and see the mug shots that were taken of the activists arrested at the funeral."
Ron cleared his throat. "Mr. Worthington, I'm Agent Ron Wagner, FBI. I need to speak to you about the computer discs that were taken from here and your home. Especially with regard to the government contracts that your company has, is there somewhere private where we could discuss this?"
James Worthington looked a little shocked, but he stood. "Yes certainly, my office is this way. Jo, could you arrange for some refreshments, in about, ooh, say a half hour?"
"Yes, Sir." Jo watched with concern as her boss walked towards his office door with Ron. She wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Honey, face it you can't take much more of it yourself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Steve looking at her with concern, and much more in his eyes.
Jesse was waiting for Rae to be bought back to the room after her second set of x-rays and CT scans. He checked his watch again, she had been gone for ninety minutes, but it seemed to him more like ninety years. As she had been pushed out of the room he had noticed that the bed had a squeaky wheel, he had been listening for that sound ever since. As he moved over to the window he heard it, and rushed out of the door. Mark and Alex were with the orderlies who were wheeling her back in. "Mark, what took so long? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Jesse, let's just get her settled, and then I'll talk to you. The orderlies pushed the bed back into place, and plugged her back into all her monitors. The portable ventilator was disconnected and soon Rae was attached to all the machines in the room and they left.
Jesse put his hand over Rae's and waited for Mark to talk, but he didn't get the chance. As Jesse sat down he felt Rae's fingers move. "Mark, Mark, she's moving her fingers. Rae, honey, can you hear me?" Jesse looked at Rae, but her eyes were still closed, and there was no response.
"She did that in the x-ray room, Jesse, and she opened her eyes."
"And… and then what?"
"She followed the light, Jess, then she closed her eyes, and they've been that way ever since."
"But she followed the light, she knew it was there?"
"Yes, Jesse, she knew it was there."
"Oh, thank God!" Jesse felt a tear slide down his face, but he didn't care. Suddenly he felt her fingers move again. He turned to her and saw her eyelids flicker. "Rae, honey, it's Jess, it's all right, everything will be all right now."
Mark put his hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Jess, come outside for a moment with me, Alex will stay with her."
Jesse looked back at Rae, her eyes were closed now, but somehow she already looked different to him. "Rae, I'm just going to leave the room for a minute, but Alex is here, and he will stay with you. If you need me squeeze his hand and I'll come back, ok? Slowly her eyes opened again, just for a second and then they closed, but Jesse was elated. He stood up and moved out of the room; Alex sat down and took Rae's hand.
"Rae, it's Alex, it's me holding your hand now, ok? Jesse is just outside the door, he can still see you." He looked down at his friend, now all they had to do was wait, and then find out whether there was any permanent damage, he hoped with all his heart that they wouldn't find anything.
"Jesse, she's doing fine, she is still in a coma, but we have had a little response and it has been less than twenty-four hours, I'm much happier with her prognosis now than I was even two hours ago. There was some bleeding inside the skull; but the swelling has begun to go down in the area where she was struck. She has been very lucky, Jess. But, and it is a big but, that doesn't mean that this is going to be an easy ride for her or you, this could be it, there could be no more improvement."
Mark went back into the room, but Jesse stayed out into the hallway for just a moment to himself. He had been so excited a moment ago, but now he felt as if his friend and mentor had just punched him in the chest, he was just about to turn and return to Rae's side when a nurse came up to him.
"Excuse me, Dr. Travis, these flowers were delivered for Detective Yeager, it doesn't say on her chart if she is allergic to them or not."
"They're beautiful aren't they, do you know who they are from?"
"Somebody called…" the nurse checked the card. "Phil."
Jesse felt himself go cold all over; he sat down on the chair behind him. He couldn't believe this was happening on top of everything else. He wasn't sure how much more of this any of them could take. "No, Detective Yeager is to have no flowers. But I will take the card, then you can give them to another patient."
"Yes, Doctor." The nurse handed over the small piece of white card and headed back the way she had come. Jesse stayed on the seat outside Rae's door and looked at the words on the front.
To My darling Rae,
I so want to be there to help you recover, but it won't be long before we can be together again, forever.
Love Phil
xxx
Steve was sitting with Jo waiting for Ron to come back out of James' office when his cell phone rang. "Sloan here…Jesse… Oh thank God… What? No, Jesse I'll sort it out…I can get on to the prison and get them to check his mail and calls…Yes, we'll be over in a while… Jess, look after yourself too, ok?"
"What, Steve was that about Rae?"
Steve nodded. "She's started to come round. She opened her eyes for a short while and moved her fingers. She is still technically in her coma, but her prognosis is better now."
"How can she still be in a coma?"
"Because she can't do anything, she has no voluntary control over what she does. She can't get up and walk out of that room, or sit up, or eat or respond to instruction, anything like that. But Jesse said that she could open her eyes by herself and that is a start. She will be alright… she has to be."
Jo wasn't sure if Steve was trying to convince himself or her, she was about to ask him why he needed to contact the prison when the door was flung open and Ron came out of the main office, with a face like thunder. James Worthington followed him out, his eyes blazing.
"Miss Walters, Steve, I apologise for being such a long time, but we have encountered a few problems. I need to talk to both of you, in the other room, but before I do, I need you to realise the confidentiality requirements of this. Nothing, and I mean nothing that is discussed in there is to be repeated, is that clear?"
"Ron, you know I understand that, what is going on?"
"Miss Walters, do you understand that?"
"Yes, Sir, I do." Jo got up and taking Steve by the hand, so that there could be no misunderstanding the fact that they were together, she moved towards the door and entered the office. Ron followed behind them, but she noticed that James went off in the other direction.
"I have told Mr. Worthington that he should double check all his security systems, and then lock up this facility and go home for a few days while the FBI take over in here." Ron paused and looked at the two people sitting in front of him. He was used to being in control of situations, and this was no different, but he had a feeling that he was going to shock both Steve and Jo with what he had to say.
"The computer discs that were taken from Mr. Worthington's home are no longer of consequence; they were family information, accounts, that sort of thing. However, the discs from here are an entirely different matter. Worthington Laboratories has been undertaking government contracts for the last ten years, and we have never had any cause for concern. Today though, I am extremely concerned. The discs that have gone missing cover a great many subjects, again accounts, contacts, unfortunately the names and addresses of all the scientific staff members, their bank account details, wages, social security numbers they are all now in the hands of the activists, but more dangerous even than that…" Ron paused; Jo had a look of horror on her face.
"That means that nobody who works here is safe. All our details are now available to these, these weirdoes. You know what they did to Mrs. Worthington, an' to Rae… My, God, we are all potential victims now."
"I didn't say that, Miss Walters. The scientific staff is in considerable danger, but the office and security staff details were kept on a different disc and that is still here. There are ways to reduce the danger that they will find themselves in, and I will go through that with them in a while, but the main worry, for me at any rate, is that they have got discs that have the formulae on them for certain substances which in the wrong hands would be very dangerous. They also have the cure for some of them, although some of them don't have antidotes yet, and I have just been informed that not only have the original discs gone, but also the backup ones. If some of these substances are released we don't have the ability to counteract them!"
"What sort of substances are we talking about here? Things like mutated viruses, or threats to crops, what?" Steve was horrified. He could understand why Ron looked so angry; the security in this place must be non-existent.
"I thought all our discs were password protected. Whenever I put anything on security discs I always protected it." Jo looked at Ron and waited for his answer.
"How did you choose your passwords, Miss Walters?"
"I picked a word out of the air. But I also have a disc which has all the passwords on, an' I do have a set password for that." She looked at him, she didn't know what else to say.
"Could you tell me the password for any of your discs without the password disc?"
"No, Sir, an' I have two password discs, one is here an' the other one is at home in a cd case by my cd player. Why?"
"I can't give you too many details, but I will give you an example. One of the discs that has been stolen has the details of a strain of beetle, which can be enhanced to ravage potato crops. This was the first disc that was copied this year and so on it, in black pen apparently, is the word 'One'. The password for this disc is…" Ron waited.
"I have no idea, but if you are askin' me about my passwords, I guess Shirley in the lab doesn't do things like I do. Is it a simple code?"
Ron just nodded at her, and then took a breath. "It is so simple a child could work it out, Miss Walters, so can you tell me now?"
"If it is simple an' it has one written on the disc, I would guess that the password is one."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding. I hate computers, but even I can think up a better password than that." Steve looked at Ron with horror in his eyes as he realised from his friend's face that the password was indeed one.
"I have to get back to Quantico tonight, to find out what I can about the research that was being carried out here. I will have six agents here within the hour, Miss Walters, to search this place from top to bottom and lock it down so tight that air won't be able to get in. I hope you have other things you can do for the next few days."
Jo looked over at Steve and winked, then she turned serious once again and spoke to Ron. "Yes, Sir, I will have plenty to do. I am no scientist, I'm pleased to say, an' I have no idea what went on in the laboratories. I came here on a temporary contract, an' I only stayed because I liked workin' with James. Sometimes I felt a little left out, not understandin' what everybody was talkin' about. Now I couldn't be more pleased that I am a scientific idiot."
Ron stood up. "I am going to seal off this building, so if you have anything in here that you wish to use over the next week I suggest that you remove it, now."
Jo and Steve also stood. "No, I don't keep anythin' here, I will just get my purse an' we'll get out of your hair." Jo left the room and Steve looked at Ron.
"This is serious isn't it? Was there germ warfare experimentation going on here?"
"No, not the kind you mean that can wipe out a complete village in twenty four hours, but investigations into the type of pathogens and bugs that terrorists might use on us, and how we could infiltrate and eliminate the threat, that was being checked here, as well as agricultural germ warfare. Crops that never grow into a harvestable crop, so causing famine, or seeds that leak toxins into the soil thus preventing it from being used in the future. Things that can cause a natural disaster at a pre-decided time."
"My, God, Ron, how can you sleep at night, knowing that these things are going on? How could Worthington?" Suddenly the man went right down in his estimation, and he knew that he would have to make sure that Jo didn't know anything about it, before he could go out with her again.
Steve followed Jo out to her office and closed the door after him. "Jo, honey, I need to talk to you, and I don't want to make you cross or upset, but there are a couple of things that I need to know."
"Did I know what was happenin' here an' did I know what type of work was goin' on right under my nose?" Jo looked at him for a second.
"Yeah, do you do mind reading on the side?" Steve smiled at her, he was in a mind reading mood himself, and he had a feeling that he already knew her answer.
"No, Steve, I had no idea we even undertook contracts for the government. I was James' secretary, but I didn't deal with his scientific work, just his day-to-day correspondence, an' his social diary, that sort of thing. It would have made a difference to you if I had known wouldn't it?"
"Yes, it would."
"Good, 'cause I don't think I would want anythin' to do with a man who didn't care."
Steve smiled, "I'm glad. Well, I can't tell you what Ron just told me, but at least this place is gonna be shut for a while. Come on sweetie, let's go."
It took them just over forty minutes to drive to the precinct and then they waited another five minutes before the mug shots were brought to Steve's desk. Martin was busy so Steve and Jo sat and went through the pictures together. There were twenty-five of them.
Jo ran her hand over her eyes and returned to the beginning of the photos to look through them for a third time. "Honey, I'll look again, but I know he isn't here."
"What do you mean, he isn't here?" Steve looked at her with disbelief. "He has to be here, these are all the people who were arrested at the funeral.
"Well, then your men missed one, he must have got away, darlin', because the man I saw just isn't here."
Steve ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't believe that they had let Rae down like this. "I was so sure we had him. Dammit, Jo, are you certain?"
"Honey, I want to get this guy too. Do you think I wouldn't tell you if I thought any of 'em looked even a little like him?"
"I'll get the sketch guy up here. Can you give him enough for a picture?"
"Sure, an' he can always check it with James when it's finished."
Jo worked with the artist for just over an hour. By the end of the time she was happy that the picture looked very like the man who had attacked Rae. Once she was left to herself again Jo looked around for Steve. "Steve, I'm finished. It's time to go see Rae."
Steve had got up and was looking out over the squad room. He didn't seem to hear her and so she stood up and moved over to him.
"Steve. Let it go. You know this isn't your case. Leave it."
"Maybe you're right, if I am around when he is finally caught, I won't be responsible for my actions. Come on, let's get out of here." Steve caught her by the hand and strode out of the room. Jo found herself running to keep up with him, but she didn't try to slow him down.
They drove in separate cars to Community General and then walked together to the ICU. They sat with Jesse and Rae for almost two hours before they went home. They told him that the activist responsible for Rae's condition had got away, but neither of them was sure if he even took it in. Rae moved her fingers a few times, but there wasn't really any more change.
"Jesse, I'm gonna run Jo home, would you like me to come back so that you can get some sleep?"
"No, I slept last night, thanks to Amanda, I'll be fine tonight. Thanks, Steve, but maybe you could come back tomorrow, just for a while?"
"Sure, no problem." They walked together out to the parking lot; Jo was cuddled right in close to Steve.
"She will be all right, won't she, Steve?"
"She has to be, Jo, too many people love and need her for her not to be."