"Cheryl!" Rae screamed her friend's name and rushed out of her hiding place. She was aware of the eyes on her, and she heard a bullet whiz past her, but she didn't care, all she knew was that she had to get to Cheryl and fast. As she reached the edge of the dock she turned her speed into a dive and went head first into the water.
Martin watched as Rae went into the darkness and then he turned to Griffith. "Now what?"
"We get that pallet back on the ship, that's what." Griffith turned to the man on the quay and saw him head back up toward the crane. In just under five minutes, to Martin's astonishment, the pallet was back on board and the engine was being started up. "Come on, it's not safe for you to stay here. Your days of minding a warehouse are over."
Martin looked in amazement at the man in front of him, and then knowing that he had little or no choice in the matter, he followed him up the gangplank and onto the ship.
Larry Griffith watched from the deck as the ship moved away from the quay and then he turned to Martin. "Ok, so what gives dating a cop?"
"I swear, I didn't know she was a cop." He shivered as the sea breeze blew through his hair. "Geez, I can't believe I didn't spot her. I'm real sorry."
"Look, you dealt with it. She's gone, and we need to be too. The cops will be all over this place, they should be here already." As he spoke they heard the sirens in the distance. "Let's get below."
As Martin turned he sent up a silent prayer that Rae had managed to find Cheryl and get her out of the water before it was churned up by the motor. He saw a jacket float to the surface and felt his heart miss a beat. He was helpless, he had succeeded in killing his partner, and probably his friend as well, and now he was sailing off to God knew where with no possibility of getting a message out.
Rae felt the cold and filthy water hit her like a wall. She shrugged her jacket off, kicked at her trainers and tried to open her eyes, but they began to sting instantly. She realised that she had absolutely no idea where Cheryl would be, and so she headed back to the surface and hoped that the lights on the quay wouldn't pick her out.
As she broke the surface of the water she shook all the blonde hair out of her face. The floodlights had given the water a ghostly appearance, and she was thankful for it. She kept looking around and as her eyes got re-accustomed to the light, or lack of it, she thought she saw movement in the water. Her swimming stroke wouldn't have won any prizes, but as she cut through the water she could see that there was definitely something getting closer and closer to her. Then suddenly just as she began to make out the shape it disappeared from view.
Rae took a deep breath and once again went under the waves. She could just make out a disturbance in the water and she reached out with her hands and made contact with a solid object.
As she pulled it toward her the water seemed, if possible, to get even darker. She tried to move towards the surface, feeling that her lungs would burst any moment if she didn't, but suddenly she realised who was above her, and knew she would have to stay where she was if she had any chance of staying alive.
After what seemed like a lifetime, but Rae guessed was a minute or so, if only because she was still conscious, her head began to spin and she hurried towards the surface. She thought, in a muddled headed sort of way, that she would come bursting out into the light, but as she reached the end of her endurance, and was within a hands width of safety she felt herself being enveloped in something, dark, and cold. For a moment she let panic overwhelm her, but then she began to pull herself together again. She very carefully let one arm slip from around Cheryl and she began to claw at whatever it was that was attacking her. Eventually she managed to pull it away, and as she finally saw the sky once again she realised that she had been covered over by her own jacket. The waters threatened to claim her again and she swallowed a mouthful of foul water. Choking and trying once again to stay calm she shut her eyes for a second and uttered a silent prayer.
Her heart sank as she managed to re-acclimatise herself once again to the dim night-light. She was in the middle of the dock, and although she had Cheryl in the correct position to pull her with her to the shore she didn't think she had the energy left to actually do it. She looked at her friend's face and even in the dimness could see that she was very pale. As she let her concentration lapse for a second Rae's head disappeared under the water again, and she ingested some more of the putrid water. Coughing and spluttering Rae turned her eyes to the heavens, and as she began to swim she kept one thought going through her head. Each stroke gets me closer.
Suddenly she was caught in a beam of light, which blinded her. She stopped swimming and began to tread water. Then a voice came out through the darkness, almost ghostly "This is the Police. Stay where you are, there is a boat coming for you." Rae kept treading water and tried to ignore the fact that her eyes were burning, and her lungs were so painful that she could hardly take in a breath.
Two hands were suddenly under her shoulders. She tried to talk to tell them to take Cheryl first, but they kept on pulling at her. Rae kept a tight hold on her friend. There was no way she was going to lose her again.
They were both hauled into the bottom of the boat, and as Rae collapsed, unable to breathe, she felt her hands being pulled behind her back and into handcuffs and saw a gun pointed at her. Rae fought to stay conscious, but she had no energy to tell them that she was a cop. She had no idea if her badge was still in her pocket, but she hoped her gun had disappeared. She knew she would be taken to Community General, and somebody there would recognise her. As she lay there she knew with absolute certainty that she was about to be sick. But with a gun pointed at her, and no voice, she just had to let it happen. Then as she flopped back down everything mercifully went black.
Alex was just signing the admittance forms for a road traffic victim when the nurse on reception duty walked up to him.
"Ah, Doctor Martin, we just got word two prisoners are coming in, they are near drowning victims and have been dragged from the docks. There will be a police presence on the floor the entire time they are here."
"Thank you. Get Doctor Sloan up here STAT."
"Yes, Doctor." The nurse moved back to the reception desk and almost immediately the message was relayed through the air.
Alex sighed and clenched and unclenched his fists. He knew that drowning victims presented injuries that were among the most devastating a doctor had to deal with. "Do you know what their condition is?"
"One was pulled out of the water barely alive but no other apparent injuries, the second has a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and has also been in the water too long. They are both female cold water victims."
Alex moved over towards the doorway to trauma one. It was nearest to the entrance and he wanted to be able to wheel one prisoner into that room and the other into the adjoining one.
The two gurneys came in together; Alex could see that both patients had portable ventilators in place, as well as cervical collars. He could also see that they had both had finger sweeps to remove debris from the mouth and upper throat, and this was lying in a bag on each trolley. He checked each ventilator and saw that they were receiving almost 100% oxygen. They were also wrapped up in the aluminium-coated blankets specially designed for trauma victims to stop them from developing hypothermia.
As the first gurney was pushed through towards the trauma suite and Alex turned to ask the paramedic for details his eyes caught her face. "What the…? This isn't a prisoner. This lady's a cop. Her name is Cheryl Banks." Suddenly an awful thought crossed his mind and he moved over to the second gurney. "My God, Rae. This is a cop too, Reagan Yeager, and even if she wasn't she shouldn't be wearing those cuffs, get them off her." He couldn't believe that Rae had been handcuffed to the gurney.
"Doctor Martin, that had nothing to do with us." Alex looked behind the paramedic and saw two police officers with their guns drawn.
"Do you really need them? Neither of these ladies is going anywhere, and they are both cops. Now, get rid of the guns and the cuffs, before I have security escort you out." Alex turned as he spoke and as he rushed in with Rae, he saw Mark coming up the hall.
Mark came running down the corridor, and as he neared the ER he heard Alex's raised voice.
"Alex what's wrong?"
"You need to get to Trauma One, it's Cheryl, she is a near drowning victim, so is Rae, but Cheryl has been shot."
"Can you cope with Rae?" Mark look concerned, but he already knew the answer.
"Yes, I'll be fine."
Both doors shut behind the two doctors and for a while all was quiet and calm in the reception area. In the trauma suites however, it was different. As Mark entered he heard the high pitch noise that meant that Cheryl had crashed. He rushed over and started to revive her. Barking out instructions as he worked.
"I need the temperature in this room and the next one raised, gradually, but continually until I say otherwise, or we are both finished with these patients. I want some of the silver heat retaining blankets for both rooms, somebody needs to get in touch with Doctor Travis, and I need an OR, STAT!"
"Yes, Doctor." Mark didn't recognise the nurse who left the room, he guessed she must be new.
Mark breathed a sigh of relief as Cheryl's vital signs all headed back towards reasonably stable levels. He made a quick check of the wound and then changing his gloves he removed the ventilator mask and quickly began to undertake another finger sweep before he put a nasogastric tube in place to remove the swallowed water and debris. Once that was done Mark took a deep breath and checked Cheryl's vital signs once again. Her breathing was still erratic as was her pulse. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long struggle for her. She had lost a lot of blood, although the cold water had probably helped in one way and hindered in another. A nurse handed him a blanket and he made sure that Cheryl was almost completely covered with it, and he was still able to work.
Alex checked Rae's ventilator, and then turned to the nurse standing beside him. "I want a blood gas analysis, a complete blood count, she has ventricular dysrhythmias which will need to be monitored closely." He raised his arm and wiped his brow on his sleeve. He knew Rae needed the temperature up, but he sure didn't.
"Ok, I want Detective Yeager taken to an OR, she will need an endotracheotomy. Her breathing is way to irregular for my liking and her heartbeat. Then she needs to be admitted to the ICU and I want her room temperature raised, and more heat retaining blankets provided for her. STAT."
"Yes, Doctor."
Alex leant back against the wall and tried to catch his breath. He checked over the chart and all the procedures he had undertaken. He dropped the green contact lenses into the trash, they landed unseen by him next to the false nails that had been hanging off her fingers, as his mind continued to whirl. He didn't think it would take Rae long to recover once her breathing had steadied. There was something causing an obstruction, which was why she needed the operation, and once she was in the ICU and they could regulate her heartbeat, he would feel happier, but he knew that she had aspirated god knows what into her lungs and stomach, and she had already been sick once, so she would still need close observation. He wondered what had happened to result in both her and Cheryl ending up here. He sighed; he hoped he would get the chance to find out.
Jesse turned over in Rae's bed and heard a phone ringing in the distance. It wasn't hers so he sighed, checked his watch and seeing that it was just coming up to three thirty in the morning, punched the pillow into shape, closed his eyes and started to drift back off.
Alex watched as first Cheryl and then Rae were wheeled down towards the OR. He watched as Mark followed them down the hallway and then sank down in a chair. He was relieved that it wasn't up to him to operate on his friends, but he wasn't sure that the waiting wasn't worse.
Alex stood up and stretched, then he headed for the doctor's lounge. He knew that Mark would come and get him or he would be paged as soon as Rae was in recovery, so that he could have her admitted to the ICU. He thought it strange that Jesse hadn't arrived yet. He went to get himself a cup of coffee when he heard his name being called and knew that he would spend his waiting time working in the ER.
Martin sat in the cabin of the cargo ship as it headed back out of the docks. Larry Griffith was pacing up and down; blaming everybody and everything he could think of for the failure of their drop except himself. In the end he turned to Martin and placing his hands on the table in front of him began to speak.
"Right, Anderson, I think that the best thing will be for us to stay on here out in the channel until tomorrow morning. There are no more drops scheduled for this week, so we will just go back into the docks in twenty-four hours and unload this, hopefully more successfully, than tonight. What did you have down for tomorrow?"
Martin tried to think. His brain was so full of the picture of Cheryl falling backwards in to the water and Rae following her in that he couldn't concentrate on anything else. "What, sorry, what did you say?"
"What drops do you have down for tomorrow night?"
"Oh, right…" Martin began to focus, "One at twelve and one at three, but won't the cops shut the place down?"
"Yeah, ok, I'll see if I can get on to another of our guys and get it delivered there. I suggest you get some sleep."
"Yeah, I think I could do with it." Martin desperately wanted to get to Community General to find out what had happened to his partner and his friend, but he knew that tonight that wasn't going to happen.
"Ah, Anderson, you did well tonight. You got rid of that cop no problem. I don't know who went in after her, but I don't think we will see her again either." For the first time since they had boarded the boat Griffith smiled, and Martin had to fight the urge to send him flying into the middle of next week.
Mark walked up to Steve's room and looked in through the door. He knew that his son was going home in a few hours, but he needed to tell him about Cheryl and Rae. He looked at his watch it was five minutes past six, Rae was in the ICU just down the hallway but Cheryl was still in recovery. She had flat lined again on her way to the OR, but the gunshot wound had been much less serious than they had first feared. She was lucky to be alive, in fact they both were, and he still didn't have any idea what had happened.
Mark was also worried by the fact that Jesse hadn't come to sit with Rae, who had had her tracheotomy and was now back on the ventilator and being monitored constantly. He looked through the glass and saw that Steve was sitting up, wide-awake, looking both fed up and very anxious.
"Dad? What are you doing up here this early?" Steve saw the worried face through the glass.
"I came to see how you were feeling, and I have something to tell you."
"What, what, has something happened to Jo? No, it's not, it's Rae isn't it?" Steve knew with absolute certainty that his partner had been hurt, again.
"Rae and Cheryl, Son. I don't know what happened, but they both nearly drowned, and are in the ICU. Well, actually Rae is and Cheryl will be real soon."
Steve was already easing himself out of bed. He had kicked the covers back with his feet, knowing that trying to do it with his hands would take twice as long. He took a deep breath as his ribs protested at the unexpected action and moved slowly across the room. "Take me to them, Dad, please."
"I'll take you to Rae, she's already in a room, and Jesse hasn't come in yet, Cheryl won't be able to have anyone sit with her for a while yet."
As Mark pushed Steve in a wheelchair down the hallway he filled him in on what little information he had. Steve was worried that not only had Jesse not arrived, but that there had been no word from Martin either.
"Has anybody been in touch with the Captain?"
"I have no idea, son, but I'll check. And I'll get them to try Jesse again."
Suddenly Steve remembered something. "He left here with Rae yesterday, maybe he's at her place. But they would know to try there wouldn't they?"
Mark thought for a minute. "Maybe not. It was a nurse I didn't recognise who went off to call him. You sit with her and I'll go find out."
Steve got very gingerly out of the chair at the doorway to Rae's room, and looked at the scene in front of him. It was a terrible thing to realise but the sight of his partner lying on a ventilator with tubes and wires everywhere no longer shocked him. He knew he would never get used to it, but it didn't surprise him any more. There was a nurse in the room as Steve entered but she put the chart back at the bottom of the bed and left without a word.
He carefully sat down and placing one plastered hand over Rae's he looked at her. He could see that she'd had the same procedure carried out as when Jesse'd had to do it to save her life for her just about a year ago. The ventilator worried him, but he knew that she wouldn't be on it if it weren't needed. He took a deep breath and began to talk.
"Rae, I owe you a big apology. You have no idea why, but I do. I told Jo what happened, but I did it badly, and she walked out on me. She's gone, Rae, and I don't know what to do." Steve didn't know if it was because he was tired, and it was early in the morning, or because Rae was still unconscious and wouldn't know what was happening, but slowly at first two tears fell down his cheeks. Then as if the floodgates had finally been opened the tears began to fall quickly and heavily. Great sobs escaped from his chest, ignoring the pain it caused, and not caring that he got his hands wet he lowered his head onto Rae's bed and began to cry.
Mark walked quickly down to the reception area of the ER and spotted the young nurse he had spoken to before. "Excuse me, ah… Nurse Willis, did you get hold of Doctor Travis?"
"No, Doctor I have tried his home number three times now, and his cell, but there is no answer on the one, and a voice tells me the phone is unavailable on the other."
"Did you try Detective Yeager's home number?"
The nurse looked puzzled. She thought that maybe the old doctor was loosing it. "Detective Yeager was the patient, Sir."
"Yes, I know that, but she is also Doctor Travis' girlfriend. He may be at her apartment."
"Oh, I'll try right away." The nurse remembered now that she had known that the doctor and the cop were an item. She felt an embarrassed blush creep up her face and trying to keep the resulting temper under control she took the piece of paper with the telephone number on it without another word.
Mark watched as she began to dial and then he headed back up to the recovery room to see how Cheryl was doing. He checked his watch; it was just after seven, and he still had another one and a half shifts to do before he could even think of going home. His footsteps were weary, and his shoulders stooped slightly as he entered the elevator, but by the time he exited it nobody would have realised just how tired he really was.
The recovery room was silent. Sometimes it was a hive of activity, and others it was a quiet and peaceful part of the hospital. At the moment that was how it appeared. Mark gratefully walked towards Cheryl's bed, he didn't feel like making small talk with anyone, all he wanted to do was check on his patient and then try and catch a quick nap in the doctors lounge before starting work again.
He moved over and placed his hand gently on her forehead. He was instantly alert as he felt how burning hot she was. She was still being kept warm with the heat retaining blankets, but Mark knew that the heat wasn't coming from that, but from a raging fever.
With a worried expression on his face, Mark hurried to the drug cupboard next to the recovery room. He opened the door and just stared. The cupboard was almost empty. Cursing the staff shortages that had probably resulted in the oversight he moved over to the phone on the wall and put a call in to the ER and requested Alex come up with a broad based anti biotic to feed into her IV, then he got a cloth from the washbasin and began to sponge her down.
By the time Alex came up she didn't feel quite so hot to his touch, but Mark knew that they still had to get the fever to break before she would begin to recover. As Alex began to administer the drugs Mark moved the dressing aside on her wound and looked at it. The site was red and angry, which was understandable, but he was worried about that too. It looked worse than he would have hoped for. The bullet hadn't caused anything like the damage he had feared initially, but at the moment the wound looked far more inflamed than it should. Mark touched Alex on the shoulder, because somehow he felt unable to speak at that moment. Alex must have felt the same, as without a word he moved over and looked at the site of the entry wound on Cheryl's upper chest.
Alex took a breath. For some reason the air seemed charged with emotion. He could see that Mark was tired but it was more than that. It was almost as if by keeping quiet neither of them would have to admit what they both feared, that Cheryl had picked up something nasty while she was in the water, something that was already infecting her body.
"I don't like the look of that, Mark, but it's too early to really hypothesise on what it could be. We need to leave it a couple more hours before we can be sure that it isn't just reaction to the surgery."
"But you don't think it is?"
"No, I don't." Alex was suddenly embarrassed and extremely flattered that this great man would ask his opinion. "I think she has an infection in there, one it could be difficult to isolate."
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly." Mark sighed. He respected this young man in front of him, and felt that he had the makings of a fine young doctor. Between him and Jesse the ER at Community General would be in safe hands for a good many years to come.
The phone was much more insistent this time, and Jesse realised that it was ringing right by his head. He picked it up and mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Um, is that Doctor Travis?"
"Yeah, this is me. Can I help you?" Jesse was trying to wake up as he spoke, but he wasn't really succeeding.
"This is Community General Hospital, I am phoning to ask you to come in at once please, Detective Yeager has been in an accident."
Jesse was wide-awake instantly. "I'm on my way, do you know her condition, is she in the ER?"
"Ah, no, Doctor, she is in the ICU now, she has been here about three or four hours. I'm sorry, but I couldn't reach you first of all."
"What? Oh never mind. I'm on my way!" Jesse leapt out of bed and grabbed the clothes he had been wearing the previous day and was on his way out and down to his car before he had even caught his breath.
It was twenty five minutes before he screeched into the parking lot and thanking automatic locking cars was on his way in through the double doors before he heard the beep beep of the mechanism engaging.
As he burst into the ER he saw Jo just in front of him. "Jo, what are you doing here? I thought you were coming for Steve later?"
"I don't know what I'm doing yet. I need to talk to him. Jesse did you know that he an' Rae kissed?" Jo didn't even think of his reaction if he had known nothing about it.
"Yes, I know. Rae and I have talked it through and as far as I am concerned it was a one off, and it's over. They have a very complicated relationship, Jo, but I know that Rae loves me, and Steve loves you. Look I'm sorry, but I have to get to Rae, she was injured last night, and it took the nurse three hours to find me."
"My God, I'll come with you, I can go see Steve in a little while." They travelled in silence up in the elevator and they headed towards the ICU together.
Steve had composed himself, although it would be clear to all those who knew and loved him that he had been crying. Now he was just talking, trying to work out what he could do about Jo.
"Rae, she was so hurt, she wanted to know why I'd told her. But you understand don't you? I couldn't have a relationship with her and not tell her. I love you, Rae, and it's a very special kind of love, I know that I can trust you with my life, all my secrets, even my lunch order!" He smiled to himself but carried on talking. "But Jo. That's different. She lights up my life. When I see her walking towards me, or sometimes when we're all together and she doesn't know I'm watching her, I can't believe that she wants to be with me. I'm just a big dumb cop. There is nothing about me that makes me stand out in a crowd, I have no idea why she wants to be with me, but she does. Or she did. I think I've blown it, Rae, I found somebody who could love me as I am, even though I'm a cop, somebody who I could love back and I blew it. She's gone, and without Jo I don't think I will ever be the same." He stopped talking he was exhausted, he had emptied his heart out and there was nothing left. He let his head drop to the bed once again but this time he shut his eyes and tried to keep the tears from falling any more.
Jo and Jesse walked slowly down the hallway. Jesse wanted to get there as fast as he could, but he didn't want to see her once again in the ICU. As they got nearer they could hear a voice. They both recognised it instantly…
"…She's gone, and without Jo I don't think I will ever be the same."
Jo felt tears prick her eyes. She looked over at Jesse and he nodded. She went into the room alone, and even though it was her best friend in there her eyes never left the distraught figure by the side of the bed. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder and she felt him leap in fright.
"Honey, it's all right. I'm still here, an' although we are gonna have to talk about this, I don't plan on leavin' just yet." Jo put her purse on the bed and then she crouched down in front of Steve and gently ran her hand down his bruised face, her fingers tracing down the stains left by the tears he had shed earlier. "It's nothin' that can't keep, but you need to know that you haven't lost me, I love you, Steve."
Jo was almost knocked off her feet as Steve turned and buried his head into her hair as it tumbled over her shoulders. She could feel his body begin to heave and knew that silence was her best friend right now. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and let him cry.
Jesse watched the scene from the doorway and felt his heart grow a little lighter. He knew that Steve had an incredibly hard road ahead of him, but he had a feeling that whatever bumps and craters he encountered along the way, with Jo's help he would reach the end, intact, and maybe more whole than when he started out.