Disclaimers:

We don't own any characters although it would be nice to borrow them sometime.

This is not really a science fiction, so the effects of any future technological advances are minimized - for all we know, Katie could have cloned Jessie.

Rating: A couple of love scenes, but nothing really smutty

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CHAPTER 11: Finding Jessie

SOMEWHERE ON I-95

She had no idea how'd she'd gotten here, but somehow she managed to navigate her Ford Explorer through the mass of trucks on Interstate 95 as she made her way through New Haven. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Jessie and the images of the smoldering mess of the derailed train she saw on TV. God, this couldn't be happening. Not now. She had just found Jessie again and with that she found a part of herself that had been missing all these years and she was not ready to let go. Not now. Not yet.

"Oh God, please let Jessie be okay," she pleaded through her sobs. She swore to be good and not be angry anymore and start going to church again if He would just let Jessie be okay. KAREN! Oh my God, she remembered she had not called Karen to let her know what was happening. She fumbled in the darkness for her cell phone and flipped through the numbers until she found Karen's and hit Call. She tried to get herself together a bit so she wouldn't alarm Karen.

"Hello" she heard through the receiver. She took a deep breath.

"Karen, it's Katie," she said soberly.

Karen could immediately tell that something was not right. She could almost hear Katie's desperation through the phone. "What's wrong Katie?" she asked, as the realization hit her that something might be wrong with Jessie.

Katie couldn't stop the tears. "There's been an accident," she cried. "A train… Jessie's train collided with a truck carrying hazardous chemicals," she added through the sobs.

"Oh my God," exclaimed a now very worried Karen as she turned on CNN to try and get some information about the accident. "Katie, where are you?"

"I'm going there. I'm going to find her," she said emphatically.

"Have you tried calling anyone yet, the train station or anything?" Karen tried to think rationally.

"Grace did but they don't know anything yet," she informed Karen.

"Well I'll try to see if I can find out anything. Then, I'm getting on the first flight out of here. Call me if you find out anything, " Karen replied as she rushed around her bedroom pulling her overnight bag from the closet and throwing in there whatever her hand could grasp.

"Okay," replied Katie

"And Katie, please be careful," pleaded Karen.

"I will, " Katie replied as she glanced at the speedometer: she was driving at over 100 miles per hour.

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CRASH SITE

New London, CT, about 75 miles south of Boston

Katie used her GPS and the information she had gotten from police scanners to get to the crash site. As she got closer it was easier to just follow the search lights and the sea of blue police lights and the bright red of the firetruck lights flashing in the distance. Her breaths were shallow as she had to remind herself to breathe. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do until she saw EMTs and other emergency workers running by and figured that was her way into the crash site; she remembered a doctor's carry kit that Jessie had left in her SUV from the trip up to the cabin. Jessie always carried that stupid carry kit wherever she went. Katie pulled out a stethoscope and swung it around her neck as she grabbed the bag and ran to catch up to the EMTs. Nobody paid her any attention as she ran past the police who were all busy trying to keep out reporters and casual onlookers. She immediately started looking around for Jessie.

"Hey, we can use your help over here," she heard someone yelling at her.

She turned around and realized she was busted. "Um, I can't right now, I was given orders…" she stopped as she noticed another EMT jump in to help. Whew, that was close. She decided to put the stethoscope back in the bag. At least this way, she could just say she was bringing the bag to some medical personnel. There were so many injured people lying on the ground around her. She couldn't bear to look at their helpless bodies as emergency workers struggled to save them. All she could think about was finding Jessie. She had to be okay, she just had to be.

She came across an older man who had just put a little boy on a stretcher. He was assuring the boy that his arm would be fine, they would just have to put a cast on it at the hospital. As they took the boy away, the older man just wiped his face. He had worked many years in the medical field but it never got any easier. Katie walked up to him. "Excuse me," she said tentatively.

He looked up and acknowledged her.

"I'm looking for Dr. Jessie Sammler. Have you seen her by any chance?"

"Which unit is she with?" he questioned, trying to recall the name, but it wasn't ringing a bell.

"Oh, uh, she was a passenger but I know she would have been out here helping people," she trailed off, "if she was able to," she added.

"Hmm, I do recall hearing about some people who were passengers that had some medical training that were either helping or had been transported to the hospital. You might be better off, and safer if you just try going there," he told her.

Katie thanked him for his help and looked around a bit more before she realized she might never find Jessie out here. It was so dark and people were everywhere. She resigned herself to going to the hospital to wait. It was almost 3 in the morning.

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HOSPITAL

New London, CT

Katie made her way into the emergency room at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and headed to the desk where everyone seemed to be overwhelmed by the amount of patients that were being brought in from the accident. Katie waited patiently until someone asked if she could help her.

"I'm looking for a Dr. Jessie Sammler. She was on that train and I need to know if she was brought in as a patient or if she came in with any of the emergency crews," Katie stated calmly.

"I'm sorry, are you family?" the nurse asked.

"Um, no I'm not but she's a very close friend of mine and her Mom is on her way here right now. Can you please just check for me?" pleaded Katie.

"I wish I could, but I can't give out patient information except to family," she told Katie.

Katie had the urge to just run through the emergency room in search of Jessie, but she had no idea of where to go. Tears started to fill her eyes as she just looked around the room. She felt like she couldn't breathe and everything was closing in on her as the room started to spin. She didn't hear the nurse calling out to her as she slid to the floor.

Katie came soon as the smelling salts were waived under her nose. The nurse was cradling her head in her lap and was very soothingly trying to get her attention. "Ah, there we go. You're back with us now. Do you know what today is?" she asked trying to make sure Katie still had her senses.

"Yeah, the worst day of my life," she retorted, remembering where she was and why she was there.

The nurse helped her to a chair close by. "Why don't you sit here for a bit and just relax. I'll get you a coke and a compress for your head. And I'll see what I can find out about your friend," she offered.

Katie forced a small smile. "Thank you. "

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Two Hours Later

She had no idea how long she had been sitting there but it felt like weeks. She was numb, but it had nothing to do with the fact that her legs were asleep and her body was exhausted. Jessie had awakened a part of her that she had hidden for the past 20 years. She had felt so alive these last few weeks since she and Jessie had come back into each other's lives. And if that was taken away from her now, she didn't know what she was going to do. It hurt so much just thinking about it. Tears started rolling down her face and she put her head in her hands and started to cry. She let it all go. It hurt so much. She couldn't stop the tears. It seemed like forever.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard her name. She looked up and thought she saw Jessie, until she realized it was Karen.

She stood up and just looked at Karen. She couldn't say anything and just started crying as Karen wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly. Karen just held Katie and let her cry as she tried soothing her by rubbing her back. Karen let the tears fall from her eyes too. They had told her they still didn't have any news about Jessie. She held on to Katie as much for Katie's benefit as for her own. She couldn't lose her daughter, she just couldn't.

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