Banshee Song

Book One

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dr. Stevens finished her nightly rounds of the Psychiatric wards with Ariel's room. She stepped inside the silent redhead's room. "Hello Ariel, how are you…Ariel?" Her voice rose in alarm as she found the patient bed empty. The girl was nowhere to be found in the small sanitary room. She checked the thick glass windows to find them securely locked. {How did she get out? The door was locked when I came in.} She pondered with a slight tilt of her head. She quickly flew into action. {Never mind that, where is she now?}

She checked up and down the hospital corridor and some of the nearby patient rooms. There was no sign of the young woman. She grabbed a nearby desk phone and dialed Marlena's cell phone. {I hate bothering Dr. Evans with everything she's going through right now, but as head of the psych wards, it's her job to handle the situation. She has to know what is happening.}



The shrill ringing of her cell phone immediately woke Marlena from a light, restless sleep. She glanced around the waiting room at the other sleeping couples. They had all been so worried about J.T. that it was a wonder they were able to sleep at all. Marlena shook herself out of her reverie and answered her phone.

"Dr. Evans." She stated mechanically, hiding her emotional turmoil beneath a cool, professional façade. She listened to the concerned voice on the other end.

"Okay, contact Security, but tell them to be calm and gentle with the girl. Ariel is more than likely confused and scared. I will be right there." She clicked her phone shut and stood up from the cramped bench where she and John had lain.

John murmured groggily as he sat up on the hard bench. "Anything wrong?" he yawned, slowly becoming more alert.

Marlena kissed his scruffy cheek. "Nothing for you to worry about. One of my patients isn't in her room. I'll be back soon." She kissed her sleepy husband tenderly on the lips and left to find her errant patient.



Brady yawned and stretched fully on the waiting room bench. He looked around him groggily, shaking off the remaining sleep haze. "Chloe?" He became more alert when he found that she was nowhere in sight. {Probably using the restroom.} He surmised. Brady was then reminded of his own urgent need and got up to answer nature's call.

After leaving the men's room, Brady was suddenly struck by the urge to check on his little brother. {Little brother. That's certainly going to take some getting used to.} He turned around the corner toward the room where little J.T. was valiantly fighting for his life against a severe FAS complication. Brady took three steps and froze, not believing his tired eyes. There, on the shiny hospital floor in front of him, lay Chloe and another girl. Both were motionless, unconscious.

"Chloe!" He ran to the prone brunette on the floor. He felt for a pulse and found it to be strong and steady. {What's wrong with her? Did she pass out? If so, why?} He turned his puzzled eyes to the other girl with the mass of bright red hair. He looked at the still girl and was hit by a strange sense of familiarity. He shook off his wandering thoughts and turned his attention back to Chloe. He could find no sign of injury, no reason for her current state.

Brady heard quick footsteps behind him. "There she is…Brady! What happened?" Marlena's concerned voice rang out in the hall. She ran up to Chloe and looked her over, and Ariel as well. Her brows came together in a sharp frown when she too failed to find a reason for the girls' collapse.

"I don't know. I just now found them like this. I haven't a clue how long they've been out." He looked again at the mysterious girl with the vibrant hair. "Who's she?" He asked, motioning to Ariel.

Marlena looked up from taking Ariel's pulse. "Oh, she's a new patient of mine. We call her Ariel."

Brady looked at the two unconscious girls before him and suddenly it clicked. He closely studied the girls' faces as they lay side by side. "This Ariel, looks a lot like Chloe."

Marlena looked up. "Hmm?" She looked back at the two girls and frowned slightly. She did remember that Ariel had reminded her of someone. "How do you mean?"

"Look at them. True, they have different hair color, different skin tones…"

"Different color eyes." Marlena pointed out, still not quite seeing the resemblance.

"Whatever. But everything else is the same. Everything. Same build, same features. Look at their mouths, and their noses; exactly the same. Even their eyelids are shaped the same. I don't know what it means, if anything. I just noticed it, that's all."

Marlena nodded slightly in thought. It was possible, and it would explain why the girl seemed so familiar to her. She shook her head slightly, her unruly blond hair falling around her face. Anyway, that was a mystery for another time. Right now, she had to find out what was wrong with the two girls and figure out how to help them.

Brady cradled the unconscious Chloe in his arms and softly called her name. "Chloe, can you hear me? C'mon, wake up for me."

Beneath her closed eyelids, her eyes fluttered rapidly and her breathing quickened. She murmured softly and only Brady heard what she said. "Sheamus," she moaned, her voice full of anguish and despair.

Ice crawled through his veins when he heard that name. He had known that name, a long time ago. Blurred visions and images whirled through his mind without meaning. He saw a beautiful girl with brilliant red hair and flashing green eyes. Why did that name affect him so? What was he trying to remember?



Colin rolled his tense shoulders as he exited J.T.'s room. They had managed to stabilize the young boy, but he still needed constant monitoring. His feet dragged along the linoleum floor; his heart was so heavy. It was always hard, operating on small children. But now, it was even worse, because that young child was a Brady, if in name only, a member of his family.

He closed his eyes and tried to block the haunting images. But it was no use. He still saw it. He would always see it. Her tiny grave, her simple tombstone. Brianna Cassidy. He saw her tiny, charred body, so badly burned that only her bright red hair could identify her.

One day. He had been late in arriving home by one day. If he had gotten there sooner, perhaps he could have… He was only fifteen, but maybe he could have saved her at least. Or died trying.

But he didn't save her. His little niece was dead, and he was alive. And he would always be consumed by guilt. And now especially, that guilt ate at him, pushing him to insane limits to try to save young John Thomas.

He yawned deeply and headed to get some coffee. The stronger, the better. However, as he rounded the next corner, he found that caffeine wasn't needed to fight his weariness; panicked concern worked just fine.

"Chloe!" He yelled as he raced over to where she lay in Brady's arms. He checked her vitals quickly. "What happened?" He barked with the urgency of an emergency doctor handling a severe injury.

"We don't know. We just found them like this." Marlena calmly replied. She noticed Colin's uncharacteristic anxiety. Normally, the young doctor was calm and self-assured. What was different now?

Colin then noticed the young redhead. "Who's this?" He asked as he gave her a passing glance. Marlena explained as Colin again tried to revive Chloe. He put all thoughts of the young woman behind him and focused solely on Chloe. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to find the cause of her unconsciousness. {God, let her be okay.} He couldn't lose her too. He was about to order a battery of tests when Chloe moaned softly and fluttered open her eyes.

"Chloe!" All three voices exclaimed with relief. Colin moved in closer to her and checked her eyes. "How do you feel? Do you hurt anywhere?" Colin asked her while resisting the urge to gather her in his arms.

"Um, I feel a little dazed, but I don't hurt. What happened?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. What do you remember, Chloe?" Marlena asked gently.

Chloe bit her lip while she racked her recent memory. "The last thing I remember is falling asleep with Brady in the waiting room. How did I get here? Who is that?" Chloe asked, looking at the unconscious girl in Marlena's arms.

Now that Chloe appeared to be okay, Colin permitted himself a second look at Marlena's mysterious patient. {Wow, look at that hair.} He smiled slightly to himself, remembering Brianna's thick mass of red curls. He pulled Ariel's eyelids back and shone a small flashlight into her eyes. He saw her green eyes and jumped back with a gasp. Those eyes.

"Colin? What is it?" Marlena asked, concerned by his extreme reaction. She noticed his suddenly pale skin and wide eyes.

Colin was about to answer, when the monitor alarms in J.T.'s rooms suddenly went off. He flew down the hall toward the boy's room, all thoughts of the young woman fleeing his mind.

Marlena put Ariel back in her room with the help of some nurses. Ariel had come out of her unconscious state and was now deeply asleep. Marlena then left to join her worried family and friends.

Amazing what can change in a matter of minutes. When she left the waiting room to find Ariel, everyone had been asleep, casting off their worries for a few moments of peace. Now, she reentered the room to find everyone awake in a state of barely controlled chaos. Tension hung in the air, a tangible presence.

Her eyes immediately rested on her dear friends Bo and Hope. Bo cradled his wife in his arms and tried to offer words of comfort. "He will survive this." He murmured softly as he rubbed her back.

Marlena noticed her daughter Belle with Shawn. Belle tried to encourage Shawn but his face was a cold mask of stone. He simply stared out in front of him, refusing to be comforted until he knew that his little brother would be okay.

Then her eyes drifted to a bench where Brady held Chloe. Marlena knew that he was ignoring his own worries and concern for J.T. and focusing instead on comforting Chloe.

Her husband frantically paced a corner, his face cold and intense. Marlena knew that look well. It was the look of the hidden mercenary that John always sought to control. She went to John to try to soothe him. She gently wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.

John sighed quietly. "I can't lose him now. I never even got the chance to know him."

"I know." Marlena murmured quietly.

Minutes passed and Hope shivered in her husband's strong arms. Once again she felt a gathering storm, the approaching doom. She tried to keep hope, and faith. But somehow deep inside she knew.

Colin and Craig finally entered the tense waiting room wearing stony expressions. Hope felt her heart stop at the looks on their faces. Craig opened his mouth to speak, but Colin interrupted.

"No, let me. They should hear it from family." He slowly positioned himself in front of Bo and Hope. His mind flashed and once again he saw Brianna's grave. Guilt. He turned to Hope.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could. John Thomas didn't make it."