2nd Thursday
It was three in the morning when the phone rang. Jesse picked it up. "Dr. Travis… no that's alright… Yeah, I'll be there in about half an hour… bye." He put the phone down and gently shook Rae by the shoulder. "Rae, honey, I have to go into the hospital, will you be alright on your own?"
"What? … Oh, yeah, Martin's outside the door, I'll be fine… Why do they need you?"
"Just short staffed is all, go back to sleep. I'll ring you when I'm finished, ok?" She did as he said, and Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. The voice on the phone had said that Alex had taken a turn for the worse; it looked like an infection had set in. He didn't want to worry her before he knew what was going on. He got out of bed, and quickly got changed. After kissing her gently on the cheek he headed out towards the guard.
"Officer Robertson, I just got called into the hospital. I'll be very careful. Rae's still asleep." Jesse walked down the hallway; he stifled a yawn, and hoped that today wouldn't be as long as yesterday. If he got Alex on to a broad spectrum antibiotic as soon as he got in …He was miles away as he walked towards his car, already treating his friend in his mind. He didn't hear a sound, but suddenly he felt a cloth over his mouth. Just like Steve. He had no chance to fight back before he slipped into unconsciousness. His assailant took Jesse's keys out of his pocket, put the doctor on the back seat of his own car and drove away.
Thursday I did it, it worked like a charm. I knew that doctor wouldn't be able to resist coming to the aid of his ailing friend. Too bad he never even got to his car by himself. Now I have him and he will suffer before my Rae even realises he's missing. I just have to make sure that I'll be in all the places I'm supposed to be today and she'll never guess who I am until I'm ready for her.
Jesse groaned and tried to move. He instantly wished he hadn't as he felt extremely sick, extremely quickly. There was no one waiting for him with a bowl and he could do nothing but throw up where he was, wherever that was. After a while the nausea passed off and he took another look around. He was in a room on a bed, which was on one side, there was a kitchen the other; he tried to move his arms and found that he couldn't, he could feel the handcuffs dig into his wrists behind his back. He looked down; his legs were tied together as well. He stopped for a minute and tried to work out what was happening to him. As he did so the door opened and a shaft of light picked him out.
"Oh, so you're awake are you? Good, I would hate you to miss your big moment!"
Jesse looked up at the young man in front of him; he could see the undisguised hatred in his eyes. "You, you're the one who did all of this!" Jesse shook his head, it was a big mistake and suddenly he was very sick again.
"Oh, for goodness sake, hold yourself together!" Jesse's captor walked over to him hauled him off the bed and kicked him viciously in the side. He collapsed in pain vomiting again as he did so, he heard the man laughing above him, and felt the foot come in again before the man turned and left the room. Jesse struggled to catch his breath. Oh, God, Rae, Alex, I am so sorry.
Jesse had no idea how much time had passed before his tormentor returned. He marched straight over to Jesse, and grabbed him by the hair, forcing him up on his feet, which were tied together with rope. "So, you think you're good enough for her do you? Ha, don't make me laugh."
"She loves me. Do you really think she has anything but contempt for you after what you've done? Aagh" Jesse reeled back as he was punched hard in the face. He felt his nose begin to pour with blood. Once again his hair was grabbed and he felt a fist go into his stomach.
"How dare you speak to me like that? She is mine! She'll realise that we're destined to be together, when she sees how useless you've become." He let go of Jesse's hair and smiled as he watched him slump to the ground. Then he picked up a Polaroid camera. "Smile for the birdie, Dr. Travis." He took two pictures and then once again he left.
Thursday He's such a wimp. How can he possibly believe that my love would choose him over me? He's more pathetic than I thought he was.
Rae was fast asleep. She heard a phone ring somewhere, turned over in bed and reached for Jesse. Her eyes sprang open when she couldn't find him. She got out of bed grabbed her gun and rushed to the front door. She pulled it open, but Martin wasn't there. Frantically she began to call out. "Jesse, Jesse, where are you? Martin! Oh, God, where is everyone?"
"Detective, I'm sorry, I'm here." Officer Robertson came hurrying up the hallway, tucking in his shirt as he ran. "I'm sorry, call of nature. I'd been waiting hours."
"Why didn't you knock first and let me know you were going? And where's Jesse?"
Martin looked at the concerned face before him; he thought she was lovely. "He went to the hospital, hours ago. He said that you were still asleep. I thought he would have left you a note."
"Oh, sorry, yeah, actually I do remember something about him getting a phone call." Rae suddenly looked very embarrassed.
"Detective, you have nothing to apologise for. I left my post, I'll report to Lieutenant Sloan later."
"Don't worry about it. I'll get dressed and go into the station. I can ring Jesse from there." Rae looked at her watch, then she shook her wrist, it must have stopped. "What time is it?"
"Five past eleven, Detective."
"Five past eleven! I've never slept that late." Rae went over to the phone. She rang the station. "Can I speak to Lieutenant Sloan please...? No, there is no message."
It was just after twelve when Rae arrived at the station. She looked for Steve and Mark, but the room was busy, just as it always was, and no one took any notice of her. She grabbed herself a cup of boiling water and made a drink. As she sat down with it, she saw Steve and Mark coming in through the door. She got up and made two coffees and walked over to Steve's desk. "Morning, Mark, Steve." She kissed Mark on the cheek as she handed over their drinks.
"Rae, why didn't you phone?" Steve looked angrily at his partner.
"I did, you had a busy line. Look I overslept. I'm sorry, I've had a hard week."
"Rae, where's Jesse?" Mark looked at her, concern etched on his kind face.
"He got called into the hospital. I don't know why, but it was really early this morning. I'm just about to call him." As she was talking she was unlocking her desk. She opened the drawer, and without looking, put her hand in to grab her phone. Instead she let out a cry of agony. "Aaaaaaaaagh!" She pulled her hand out of the drawer. It was dripping with blood.
"Rae!" Steve rushed to her side his anger forgotten. "My God! Dad, have you got your bag in the car?" Mark nodded and hurried out of the room. Steve pulled a box of tissues over from the window and tried to mop up some of the blood. He looked down into her drawer; it was full of broken glass. "Rae, sit down," he faced her; all the colour had drained from her face. "Put your head down, it's all right, Dad'll sort it out in a minute." He looked at the detectives who had gathered around her desk. "I need a SCU team here now, and somebody get on to Jan Burlington and get her up here."
Steve began pressing hard on Rae's arm, his senses returning to him. He raised it so it was above her head. "Rae, talk to me, are you alright? Campbell get one of those fans over here." The detective moved off, glad to have something to do. "Did anybody see anyone here this morning fiddling around by Rae's desk?" Nobody said anything.
Mark came back into the room and Jan rushed in behind him. "Oh, my God, Rae, what happened?"
"Somebody filled her desk with broken glass, that's what happened! Why has he started to hurt her? I thought he was infatuated with her."
"There is a very thin line between love and hate, Lieutenant. He will send her nice things like the flowers, but he will try to hurt her too."
Steve glared at her. "Why didn't you tell us that before? I didn't think she was actually in any danger herself. Just her property, Jesse and me."
"Sorry, Lieutenant, but if you remember, I did tell you just that."
Mark started to work on Rae's hand. Steve winced as he heard her cry out. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I have to get the glass out of your palm. What were you going to get out of the desk?"
"My phone... I wanted to call... Jesse."
Steve looked into the drawer. "It's here, Rae, just covered by all this glass." He picked up the phone on the desk and dialled the familiar number for Community General. "Dr. Travis, please… no he was called in this morning… oh, I see, thank you." Steve put the phone down. His face was lined with worry. "Nobody from the hospital called Jesse last night. He isn't there!"
Rae said nothing. Steve had expected her to crumple as he spoke, but his words seemed to have the opposite effect. She had an angry, but determined look on her face. "If he hurts him, I swear I'll kill him."
"Rae, you're going to need stitches in some of these cuts."
"Then do it here, Mark, because I'm not going to the hospital. We have to work out who this madman is and save Jesse…" her voice dropped, "before it's too late."
As Mark picked up the anaesthetic Rae shook her head.
"No, Mark, do it without. That stuff affects my stomach."
Mark paused, "It won't do that to you sweetie."
"Mark, it's just my hand, it's not worth me throwing up, I just need it done, please."
"It's up to you, Rae, I'll try not to hurt you, but this is gonna be painful."
Rae looked at him. "I know that, Mark."
He took a deep breath, as he put the anaesthetic back in his bag and started to suture the deep cuts on Rae's right hand. As Rae gritted her teeth she saw the SCU team arrive at her desk. They dealt with the glass quickly and efficiently and then removed it.
"Lieutenant." The officer in charge called Steve over. "This was under the glass." Steve took the proffered envelope by the corners and walked back over to Rae. He pulled a pair of latex gloves on and showed her what he had.
"This was in your drawer, do you want me to open it?"
She just nodded. She had her left hand in her mouth and she was biting down on one of the fingers, Steve tried not to look at the pain in her eyes. Sometimes she was too stubborn for her own good. He carefully pulled the seal apart and slid out what was inside. As on previous occasions there was a letter and a photo. Rae gasped as she saw the picture, which landed face up on the desk. "Jesse!"
Steve picked up the instant picture. He could see that Jesse's face was covered with blood; he was lying in what looked like vomit, and was obviously in a lot of pain.
Steve said nothing, but he could feel the anger rising in him. Jesse never hurt anyone. It was his purpose in life to stop people from suffering. He brought his fist down on the table. There was no other way to vent his anger.
Rae leant over and pushed the edge of the letter towards him. He picked it up and began to read.
"Well, as you can see I have your little doctor friend. I hope you didn't hurt yourself too much getting to the envelope. He made the mistake of telling me that you loved him. Let's hope that he doesn't make any more mistakes. I would just hate to have to hurt him some more. If you want to save him you'll have to find out who and where I am. And when you do, I'll still kill him. You're mine, and nobody else will ever have you again."
As Steve finished reading out the note a cell phone started to ring. Everybody checked theirs before one of SCU officers realised that it was coming from the open drawer in Rae's desk. Steve took the phone and the officer began to dust the envelope, picture and letter.
"Sloan here… Rae, it's him, he says if I don't pass the phone to you he'll hurt Jesse some more."
Rae looked at Mark. He stopped working on her hand and Steve walked over to his desk and gave her the phone. Then he put his head close to hers so that he could hear as well.
"Are you listening to me, my darling?"
"Leave Jesse alone, if you hurt him I'll k…"
"You are in no position to bargain with me. Now just listen, and I will tell you what is happening. You are mine, nobody else's. You display yourself in skimpy clothing, have lewd photos taken of yourself; I'll have to teach you a lesson. You were so kind when I first met you. I know about the photos for the magazine. I'm looking at them right now. Why, you even had to flaunt yourself in a practice session first, and you enjoyed the results. You're a tramp, but I'll change all that. But you had better hurry and find me, your doctor friend is looking very ill."
"Let me speak to him, pl…" The phone clicked and he was gone.
Rae had, if possible, gone even greyer. He has the photos from the magazine. "The negatives, he took the negatives. I forgot to put them in the evidence locker last night." But he said photos. Rae tried to think, but her brain wasn't working. She looked over at her partner.
Steve was thinking. He knew that he'd heard something that should tell him who it was; he knew he'd finally made a mistake. Or maybe it was on purpose; he wants her to know who he is. He went over the conversation in his mind. Suddenly he knew.
"The stalker, I know who he is!"
Jesse heard the phone call. He recoiled when he heard the cold tone of voice. He tried to move, and gasped in pain, he was sure that he had some broken ribs.
The door opened and he saw the smiling face that he had grown to hate. "So, Doctor, let's have some fun while we wait for your ex-girlfriend to work out who I am, shall we? He walked over to Jesse and pulled him to his feet again. As he stood up Jesse turned to him and spat in his face. He felt himself being slammed up against the wall. Stop fighting him you idiot; he'll just hurt you more. The fist went into his side once again, and then he must have fallen to the floor because he was being kicked, but this time in the back. He felt an agonisingly sharp pain, the whole world swam around him as he cried out, and then he slipped thankfully into darkness.
"Lieutenant, I have a print from the envelope. I'll run it through the computer as quickly as I can." The SCU officer had excitement in his voice. Steve walked over to him.
"I suggest that you check for this name." Steve wrote on a piece of paper. "And come directly to me, understand?"
"Steve, who is it? For God's sake, he could be killing Jesse right now, while we're just sitting here." Rae's face was white and taught, and she had beads of perspiration on her forehead. He knew that she'd been in considerable pain while her hand had been stitched, but thankfully his dad had finished now.
Steve walked over to her. "It's Phil Levington." He let the information sink in. It didn't take long.
"He said that I'd had a trial run on the photos for the magazine. Everybody here saw me, but nobody else, apart from you, knew that I quite liked the results. My God, he was in my apartment last night! He left me the ring." She jerked her hands in frustration.
"Rae, steady, I need to bandage this up, or you'll burst your stitches, and then you will end up at Community General!"
With great difficulty Rae kept still. She needed to be on the move, now. They had to find out where he lived, and get over there. Maybe that would give them a clue as to where Jesse was. She stood up. Her hand was throbbing and felt like it was on fire. She tried to put the sensations to the back of her mind. Steve went over to the computer. "If he takes pictures for the police, then he should be in here somewhere. Rae, what did he mean by you were kind when you first met him?"
Rae thought for a minute. "Well the only thing I can think is that when you and I were in Ethan Norville's apartment he was there, taking pictures and I waited until he finished, before I walked in front of him. He thanked me and said most cops wouldn't have noticed. But that can't be it surely?"
"It could be, some people are stalked because they smiled at someone!" Jan looked at her. She was worried; Rae seemed so cold and clinical. "What happened next?"
"I saw him later that day, here. He took the picture that appeared in the paper." She shuddered. "I never considered him. I let him take those... those pictures." Rae's face was drawn. Jan put a hand on her shoulder.
The phone rang again. Steve picked it up. "Sloan here… Thank you … Ok, do you have an address for him? … Yep I've got it." He put the receiver down. "Right,
"Ok, Rae, it's him. Levington has a licence to carry. Oh, and, Detective, you do as I say. I know he has Jesse, but I'm in charge got it?"
"Yes, Steve, I know, but Jess..." Rae couldn't continue so she just nodded.
Jesse slowly struggled back to consciousness. He felt sick and he was having trouble catching his breath. He eased himself into a slightly more comfortable position but every part of his torso hurt.
The door opened once again. "So you're back with me. Good, good. Stand up, Doctor." Jesse just lay there. He wasn't being difficult, he just knew that he couldn't do it without help, but Phil didn't see it like that. He yanked him by the back of his shirt. "I said get up." Jesse could feel himself being throttled. Then he felt the cuffs that were restraining his wrists as they were removed. Jesse went to turn but froze as the muzzle of a gun was placed below his ear. "Don't, I only need a small excuse to blow you away!"
Jesse felt himself being moved back against the radiator in the room, then the cuffs were put back on, but now his arms were attached to the pipe work. He tried to move into a sitting position, but the radiator was in the way. However he tried to rest, his back and his ribs screamed in protest. Half of him wished that he could disappear back into unconsciousness, but the other half knew he had to stay awake to stay alive.
Out in the parking lot, Rae ran over to Tom and got her Kevlar vest, while Steve got his own out of the trunk of his car. Steve and Rae got into the front of his car while Mark and Jan got into the back. Steve had phoned Amanda to tell her what had happened. She was going to meet them at the address Steve had given her. He had asked her in a very quiet voice to keep her eye on his dad, he didn't want him getting hurt, but he knew he couldn't keep him away, nor did he want to, he had a very bad feeling that they would need him.
The car sped past Jesse and Rae's apartment block, "He only lives about five minutes from here," Steve was thinking out loud. "That's what the officer said last night."
Rae responded, but her voice was shaky. "He trashed my place, and then he was invited back in to take pictures of his destruction!" She ran her good hand through her hair. She was trying to remain focused, but it was hard. Part of her wanted to give up and run away, but she knew that the part of her that wanted to get in there and save Jesse was the part that would win.
Steve drew up outside a photography store. It was a small place, called Phil's Pictures. Steve and Rae got out of the car. They could see Amanda's car parked a little further along the road. There were two black and whites, but they were staying out of sight for the moment. Amanda walked carefully over to Steve's car, and got in with Mark and Jan.
Steve was walking in front of Rae; they both had their guns drawn. As they neared the entrance to the shop a shot rang out, Steve cried out and fell to the ground. "Steve!" As she crouched down Steve saw her put her gun under her jacket, in the back of her jeans.
"Rae … it's all right … it got my vest … I wish they could stop the pain as well as the bullet…" he tried to sit up and Rae began to help him. She looked back over at Mark and gave him a thumb's up. Suddenly a loudspeaker voice filled the air.
"Unless you would like him to have a bullet through the brain I suggest that you come in and leave him where he is."
"No way, Levington… she stays here."
"How unfortunate," another shot rang out, but Rae had pushed Steve to the ground as soon as Phil had begun to talk. "Then I will have to shoot the good doctor instead."
"No! I'll come, just don't hurt anybody else." Rae stood up and began to walk towards the store.
"Detective." But Steve knew it was no use. He also knew that if he had been in her position he would be doing exactly the same thing she was.
Rae walked up to the door, she kept her hands where they would be seen, and then gingerly opened it and stepped inside. As she looked around she felt her mind swim once more. Every wall had pictures of her on it. Some were quite small, but some were very large. In the ones that had Steve or Jesse in them they had either been blacked out or ripped off. There were pictures of her in Jesse's apartment, some were of her and Jesse in bed, probably from the same video as the ones in the paper, of her getting dressed and undressed, and of her and Steve asleep on the beach. She gasped as she saw the pictures that Lloyd had taken, all mutilated. I am in serious trouble here.
She heard footsteps behind her, and as she began to turn, felt the heat of a recently fired gun behind her ear. "Walk." She did as she was told. "Turn round." She turned to face her tormentor. He pressed her back against the wall. He lifted her left arm up. "You aren't wearing my ring, my darling, but I see you took my advice about your hair!" He let her hand fall and to her horror she saw him twist her hair through his fingers. He came closer and began to kiss her. She tried to turn her head away, but he was leaning in hard against her and she felt him begin to undo her kevlar vest. "Take the vest off." She looked down, but cried out as he rammed her head back against the wall. "Take It Off!" Rae felt the Velcro fastening, down the middle of the vest come apart as Levington pulled at it, and then his hand was inside the vest, moving purposefully across her breasts. She shuddered as she felt his hand move down her body and shrugged herself out of it. She tried to shut her mind to all the sensations obviously running through Levington's mind and body. She pushed her hands against him, the pain exploding into her right palm. Rae felt his tongue go into her mouth, and she bit down on it hard.
Phil raised his fist, slammed it hard into the side of her face and she dropped like a stone. He pulled her back up by her hair and she felt the gun once more. There was a door in front of her. "Open it." Rae complied.
"Before you go in there, give me Sloan's cell phone number."
"I don't know it, I don't often have to call him, he's usually with me. Aaahhh." Phil grabbed her by her injured hand and she felt the stitches give, then he pulled her round to face him again.
"I know it, leave her alone and I'll give it to you." Rae breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Jesse's voice. At least he was still alive. Jesse haltingly recited the number that she really didn't know, and then she was pushed up against the wall while Phil made his call.
Amanda raced past the officers who had rushed out of the two patrol cars. "Steve, Steve, are you alright?"
"Yeah, Amanda, it got my vest and knocked the air out of me. I'm fine." He groaned as he got up. "But Rae's gone in there. I couldn't stop her."
"She never had any plan other than to go in and get Jesse, you know that. Is she still armed?"
"She was when she left me."
Two officers came up to him. "What do you want us to do, Lieutenant?"
As Steve went to answer them his phone rang.
"Really, Lieutenant, you didn't think I would let you get too close did you? What a shame you had the foresight to wear a vest. I was top of my class in marksmanship at the police academy. How unfortunate that they said I didn't have the right mentality to be an officer. Still, I always knew it would come in handy. I kept my weapon licensed and in working order, all this time, just for today. Right now it's pressed into the side of your Detective's neck. Have a nice day, Sloan."
"Wait… Dammit!" Steve knew that he was helpless. There was nothing that he could do at the moment. He walked slowly back towards the cars. He motioned for the other officers to keep watch and then went for a discussion that he knew would probably yield nothing.
Rae heard him click off the cell phone that he was using and then she was pushed into the room with Jesse. She took one look at him and tried to move towards him. "Oh, no, you don't, you'll never be able to touch him again. I only brought you in here to watch him die!"
"No, Phil, don't. You haven't killed anybody up till now. Don't start. Let him go... I'll stay with you if you let him go."
"So that he can do what? Tell your cop friends where you are and what's happening? Oh, no, my dear, that is not likely." He walked over to her and ran his finger down the rapidly rising bruise on her cheek. He carried on and soon his fingers were on her neck.
"NO!" Rae brought her knee up into his groin, while trying to keep her panic down. He crumpled; she pulled the gun from her waistband and fired on him, again and again.
"RAE!" Jesse screamed at her. She stopped and turned to him. "Leave him." He began to cough, more blood splattered on his shirt.
"My God, Jesse, I'm so sorry." She ran to him. "Where are the keys?"
"I don't know, Rae... I think I have a punctured lung … I have so much pressure... in my chest… help me!"
Rae rushed from the room. "Mark! Mark!" She opened the door, fear showing now on her face. The realisation of what had happened and what she had done slammed into her like the bullets she had just fired and she collapsed to the ground.
Steve had phoned the Chief when he got back in the car. The four of them were trying to work out a plan to get into the photo store when Amanda called out. "Steve, it's Rae, she's coming out of the door. Oh, my, God!" She opened the door before he could say or do anything and rushed towards her friend. Steve, Jan and then Mark weren't that far behind her.
"Rae, look at me. Can you hear me?" Rae looked up at her beautiful friend. She nodded. "Talk to me, Rae, tell me what happened. Where's Jesse?"
"He needs Mark, he's got a punctured lung. He can't breath, Mark, help him, please."
"What about Levington?" Steve looked down on her, his voice was stern but his eyes were soft and kind. "What happened to Levington, Rae?"
"I shot him. He put his hand on my throat, and I shot him."
Steve turned away and taking his gun out he slowly went into the building. He caught his breath as he saw all the pictures on the walls. He scanned the room and then moved towards the only other visible door. As he pressed himself against the wall he heard Jesse coughing. He came through the door, and seeing Levington lying on the floor in his own blood, rushed to his friend's side.
"Jesse, can you hear me?" He was rewarded by a nod. "I'll get dad." He got out his walkie-talkie and called to the officers outside. "I need someone in here now with cutters to cut handcuffs."
He left the room and called out to his father.
"Dad, it's clear, you can come in." Mark must have been waiting right outside the door, because he was immediately inside.
"I've phoned for an ambulance, where is he, Steve? Rae said he has a punctured lung."
"This way, Dad." They went together into the other room. As Mark knelt by Jesse, Steve felt for a pulse on Levington. He was relieved to find a faint but steady one. "He's still alive, I'll call for a second ambulance."
An officer came into the building, and Steve directed him to where Jesse was collapsed against the radiator.
Then while he waited, Steve went back in to the other room. He started to look at the photos. Rae's whole life for the last eleven days was on these walls. She'd been snapped in almost every location that she'd been to. All the photos that Levington had taken of Rae at the station were on the walls. The ones where he had got her to pose provocatively had been either scribbled over or slashed. And all the pictures of either Jesse or himself had been mutilated. He looked at the pictures that had been taken inside Jesse's apartment. He knew that she would have seen them. Steve shuddered; he didn't want to think about what would have happened if Rae had been in here any longer than she had. Thinking of her brought him out of his deliberations. He went out of the door, and saw that she was still in the same position as when he had left her.
"Amanda?" she turned to him. "Is Rae all right? Did he hurt her?"
"No, I don't think so, not physically apart from her hand and her face, but mentally, I dread to think."
Steve looked down; he could see the bandage that his dad had put on her hand was now almost completely red with blood.
"She hasn't said a word since you left, she's exhausted, Steve. I don't think she has the energy to do anything, not even stand up. I'm just going to let her be until the ambulance arrives."
"Levington is still alive in there. He needs to get to Community General as well. Then we'll let the courts deal with him."
"Steve, how's Jesse?"
"Dad's with him," Steve realised that it was Rae who was speaking. "I'll go and ask for you."
Mark had checked Jesse over. His body was covered with bruises and he was right he did have a punctured lung. Mark sighed as he looked at him. In his minds eye he could see Amanda lying in the rubble of Community General as he relieved the pressure caused by her punctured lung. He took gloves and the scalpel out of his bag and prepared to make the incision.
"Dad?" Mark looked around. "Rae wants to know how Jesse is, so do I for that matter."
"Dead if I don't get this done. Tell her I'll be out in a minute." Mark hadn't meant to snap, but he was having trouble keeping his anger down. He looked over at the unconscious form of Phil Levington, then he pulled himself together and began the procedure.
Steve stood back and watched his father as he pulled on his gloves and applied Lidocaine to the area. Mark made a small incision; Steve reckoned about four centimetres long. He knew his father didn't have all the instruments he would have at the hospital, he saw him move the scalpel inwards, which would cut through the muscles. Mark inserted his fingers in the gap and Steve looked up at Jesse's face. His friend was unconscious and almost grey. Time seemed to have stood still since his father had started the procedure. Mark turned round.
"Steve, I need the chest tube from my bag. I have to keep my finger in here or I'll lose the desired tract. It's in a package with blue writing on it." Steve opened the pack and passed it over to him and watched as he inserted it. Once that was done he sutured the site and watched to see what was expelled through the tube, without a vacuum device only a red trickle came out.
"Is it supposed to be as bloody as that, Dad?"
Mark shook his head. "No, Son, it isn't, we need to get him to Community General as soon as possible." At that moment the sirens could be heard. Steve went out to see Rae and to direct the paramedics in to get Jesse and Levington.
"Dad has done a…" he looked at Amanda, "put a tube in?"
"A tube thorascostomy."
"Is he going to be alright, Steve? He'd been so badly beaten." Rae was shaking and clearly in shock.
"We're going to get the two of you to the hospital right now, and Levington, you didn't kill him Rae."
"Oh, well, never mind." Rae was distant and quiet. A paramedic came over to her and began to wrap a blanket around her. Steve walked back towards his father. I shall wear a path if I keep going back and forwards. As he got nearer he could hear his dad.
"I've performed a tube thorascostomy, I'll come in the ambulance with you and continue with his care when we get to Community General."
One of the paramedics looked over to Phil Levington. The doctor in Mark felt guilty that he hadn't even looked at the man, but the part that was Jesse and Rae's friend took precedence. "He will go in the second ambulance."
Jesse was gently placed on a stretcher and wheeled out of the building. Rae was being helped into the ambulance as Mark walked up to Steve. "I'll go with them, I'll see you there."
Mark climbed up into the ambulance. Rae was sitting looking over at Jesse. He was lying with a mask over his face. She turned to face Mark, "Did you save him, Mark? Will he be alright?"
"I think so, sweetie, we need to get him a CT scan and x-rays once we get to Community General, then we can assess the damage that was done. How about you, did he hurt you?"
Rae shook her head. "Only my hand again, and this." She put her good hand up to her face. She just couldn't tell him what else he had done to her. "Oh, Mark, I'm so cold." He could see that she was shaking.
"It's probably just reaction. Lie down here, you'll still be able to see him."
She did as she was told. "Where are Steve and Amanda?"
"Steve's staying at Levington's store to supervise the search; he said he'll be over in a little while. Amanda is following in her own car." Rae nodded. The ambulance drew up at the doors to Community General and Rae went to get up. "No, Rae, stay there, let somebody check you out. I want you staying here tonight. You're suffering from shock, your hand needs to be re-stitched, and you need to be monitored."
Rae just nodded she was glad to have all the decision-making taken from her. Her hand, and face were both hurting, and she was so tired.
Soon she was lying in a trauma suite. Dr. Collins had checked her vital signs and now he was unwrapping the bandage from her hand. Rae had explained to him how the injury had occurred. "This looks incredibly painful, Detective."
"It is. It feels as if it's on fire."
"You should have come in immediately. Not just let Dr. Sloan stitch you up, you do know that don't you?"
Rae said nothing and Dr. Collins applied the Lidocaine and began to re-stitch the wounds. After a while he moved round and began to speak to her. "Can you feel this, Detective?" She looked over at him but he was standing between her and her hand. Suddenly red-hot bolts of pain spread through her.
"Yes." She had her teeth clenched. "Stop, please stop." She could feel the tears come to her eyes. She began to feel sick, she wasn't sure if it was from the pain or the anaesthetic.
"I'm sorry." Dr. Collins looked at the pain in her face. "I was just checking for nerve damage, which you don't appear to have any of. This was all I did." He took her other hand and ran his fingers over the palm; it was firm but not at all painful. "I'll check it again in the morning and start you on a course of antibiotics if necessary." He began to re bandage it. When he had finished he looked over at her.
"I'm going to admit you. I'll give you a sedative..."
"No, can't I sleep on my own?" Rae looked at him. She hated taking them.
"Ok, but I want you to rest. I'll have the nurses' check on you, but leave you to sleep unless you seem restless. But if you are I may change my mind. I'm not sure that you'll be able to go home tomorrow. We'll see how you go. Nurse, will you take Detective Yeager up to a private room please?"
"No, Doctor, please, let me wait. I want to see Jesse. Please."
"Stay here a minute, I'll check with Dr. Sloan." He left the room and headed into the next trauma suite. It seemed to Rae as if he were in there for hours, but as she had been watching the clock she knew it was only ten minutes before he was back.
"They've given him a CT scan, put him on antibiotics, replaced the tube in his chest cavity, and attached the vacuum. He's in x-ray at the moment and then he's being admitted. You can see him in the morning."
Rae nodded and then she was wheeled out of the room. She could see Dr. Collins following them. When she had been settled in her room he came in to speak to her.
"Rae, I thought you might like to know, before you go to sleep, that Dr. Sloan has finished today's tests and has said that Jesse is out of danger now."
"Thank you." her voice came out as a whisper. Dr. Collins left the room, and she checked her watch, it was almost half past five. I've only been awake for six and a half hours. Rae turned over onto her side, and finally let the tears come. At last she fell into an exhausted sleep, her pillow was wet, her face red and swollen from all the crying, but she knew that her ordeal was over, at least for today.
