Seeds of Doubt
Alex kept Rae sedated for almost all of Saturday, in fact he wished he were sedated himself. He was absolutely exhausted when he arrived for his shift at seven in the morning, and didn't feel even vaguely human until lunchtime.
It was just after four in the afternoon when Jesse looked up and saw Alex coming into his room. He had been up, dressed and reading for over an hour and was bored to tears. "Jess, I'm sorry that I haven't been into see you today, how are you feeling?"
"Better, I think I've gotten used to the fact that Rae is going to have problems again, and won't remember some of the most wonderful times of our lives. Alex I just want to go home, see my daughter and try to get some sort of life sorted out for when Rae can come home." Jesse looked up hopefully at his friend.
"Jesse, I'm prepared to release you, as long as you don't come back to work for a few more days. Monday at the earliest, no OR duty, and just paperwork for the first week and you do short shifts, maybe six hours at the most."
"Alex, I'll agree to anything if it means I can get back to Eliana, and try to get things back to how they used to be."
"I don't know that they ever will be like they used to be, and you have to remember Rae is still awaiting trial, but we will all help as much as we can to get the three of you back together, you know that." Alex smiled at Jesse, it seemed strange that it was he giving out all the advice, but he knew that Jesse would take it as it was meant. "Now, I was just paged to say that Rae was beginning to come round, and I thought you might like to come in with me. You'll need to be Doctor Travis, but just don't mention your name, ok? I'm not sure whether you would be allowed to see Rae, and I didn't want to check with the guard just in case she said no."
The two doctors walked down the hallway together, and as they did so they could hear Rae calling out. Officer Bryant was actually on her feet and looking in through the door, but she hadn't gone in to see if she could be of assistance. They ran the rest of the way, and squeezed past the guard to get to her as quickly as they could.
"Help me, please, somebody help me." Rae could feel the tightness around her throat and the panic began to overwhelm her. She tried to move her arms, but the pain that radiated up from her shoulders towards her neck was so bad that she had to stop. She wanted to open her eyes, but she knew that she would see him staring at her, and she couldn't cope with that right now.
"Rae, Honey, it's Jesse, it's all right, you're safe now." Forgetting all that Alex had told him Jesse took her hand in his and began to run his fingers over it gently. He could see that she wasn't responding to his voice, and he hoped that the actions would help. "Rae, come on, it's all over, and you are safe, really safe."
"Jesse?" This time Rae did open her eyes, and she saw the smiling but worried face of the man she loved looking at her. "Jesse, oh, God, he told me you were dead, oh, Jess, I love you so much."
Jesse was about to say something when he heard the door being flung open, and he turned to see Officer Bryant standing there.
"Hey, she isn't to have any visitors, she hasn't been cleared for anybody to see her at the jail, and the same rules apply while she is in here."
"I'm a doctor at this hospital and I've every right to be in here." Jesse stared at the woman standing in front of him.
"You are this woman's husband, you can't be her doctor, and so you have no right to be in here. Now scram, before I call security and have you removed."
Alex looked over to where Rae was lying and he could see her listening to every word that was being said.
"I think that you should continue your conversation outside. I am entitled to be in here, and I need to see my patient." Alex just stood there, he wasn't going to take no for an answer from the guard, but he knew that she was right, and Jesse shouldn't really be there. "Jesse, Rae is getting upset, please just go back to your room, I will come see you in a little while, ok?"
Jesse just nodded and left the room without another word. He had to force his feet to take him away from Rae, but he knew that he would only make matters worse if he stayed. He turned back for one last look at her room, and saw the guard come back out and sit in her regular place. Jesse sighed; at least Rae wouldn't have her in there while Alex tried to explain the information she had just heard.
Rae was lying staring up at the ceiling, trying to take in what had happened. There had been a guard, a prison guard, who said she had no rights in jail, and then she had called Jesse her husband. She couldn't see what was going on in the room; because she couldn't move her head, and she had to battle the whole time to get past the fact that she had something around her neck, which was attached to the wall behind her, or at least she imagined it was attached to the wall. She thought about the guard again, and what she had said about jail, maybe she had killed him, and couldn't remember.
"Rae, Honey, I need to talk to you. Do you know where you are?" Alex began to speak before he got too close to Rae so that she knew he was coming.
"I think I need to talk to you too. I thought I was in that house, but I'm not am I? And, and that woman said Jesse was my husband… Is that what you meant by me having memories missing? How could I forget I'm married to Jesse? It's almost as bad as me forgetting I had children. Alex did I kill him, is that why I have a guard, is he dead?"
Alex felt his heart fall, and he saw Officer Bryant stand up and step inside the room. It appeared that she could hear Rae at the most inopportune moments. He knew that he had to answer Rae, but he was dreading what he might hear. "Who, Rae, who do you mean?"
Rae took a deep breath, and the pain shot through her injured ribs, "Arghhh," Alex could see the agony etched on her face and he moved over and took her hand.
"Rae? Be careful, you have cracked ribs. Who do you mean?"
"Levington, is he dead, did I kill him? She's a prison guard, that woman outside my door, if I did, I didn't mean to, not even after what he did to me. I guess I am in here because of how he hurt me, but kill him, Alex, I just couldn't."
Alex felt himself relax and he shot a triumphant glance at the disappointed guard. "No, you didn't, you injured your neck and your ribs, but you didn't kill him."
"Oh, thank God." Rae could feel her emotions beginning to well up, and was aware that the strongest one was still fear. "Alex, I am just so scared by what is happening to me, nobody is with me, sometimes I wake up and the room is empty, I call out and nobody answers, but Jesse isn't allowed to be here, I don't understand that." Rae stopped talking, she just couldn't say anymore.
"Ok, now Rae, I want you to listen carefully to what I have to say. You are gonna find it hard over the next few days, weeks, months, I don't know how long, as maybe your memories come back, but I will make sure that your buzzer is under your hand, as soon as you wake up you press it and I will come. I wasn't told you had been waking up, I thought I was here every time that happened. I'm sorry."
"That's ok, Alex can you take this off my neck, please, you don't know how close I am to just losing it because of what I can feel." Alex could hear the panic in her voice as she spoke to him.
"What you are wearing is called a cervical traction device, and it is designed to help people with neck injuries while they are asleep. I know what you had round your neck before, and what it was used for, but this is helping you. Sometimes you can have good things round your neck and this is one of those times. You just need to focus on the fact that it is an aide to recovery, can you do that?"
"I don't know, but I will try." Rae shut her eyes for a moment, and tried to feel positive about what she could feel, but she couldn't shift the terror that it seemed was always waiting to overwhelm her.
"You need to have some more tests done, but I don't think I will do them today, I was planning to, but maybe tomorrow will be better. I am just going to examine you, and then I'll tell you my decision, is that all right?"
"Of course, you know I trust you Alex, I always have."
Alex checked on Rae's ribs, and could see that they were beginning to heal nicely. The fact that, apart from just now, she hadn't moved since she had been brought in was definitely helping them along. Her knees were still very swollen, and Alex could see that the bruising on them was really coming out now. Alex pressed the call button and waited for a duty nurse to come into the room. Once she had arrived he moved on to her neck and he saw her take a deep breath and then react once again to the pain as he began to place his hand on her traction unit. "Honey, it's ok, I am going to take it off for a few minutes, but it will have to go back on, I'm sorry."
Rae wanted to just nod, but knew she couldn't. "Ok." She took a deep breath and waited to feel Alex's fingers on her skin. Very slowly she felt his hands brush over the back of her neck and then the pressure was released. This time she couldn't contain her feelings and the tears ran down her cheek. "Oh, God, Alex, thank you."
"Shhh, it's ok, I am so sorry about this, but we have to touch you, it will be round the back of your neck, I will try not to touch the front." The nurse was already supporting Rae's head and neck and gently Alex began his examination, he could feel that the area was still swollen, and by Rae's reaction it was extremely tender. He took a mirror from his pocket and slid it underneath so he could see the skin, and had to stop himself from gasping as he saw the obvious signs of a boot shaped bruise, not once but twice. He felt his senses go on to overload as he realised that once again, Rae was lucky to be alive.
"Doctor Martin, are you all right?" The nurse's concerned voice cut through his fog and he shook his head to clear it.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. Rae, I'll put the collar back on, and then I need to speak with you." He felt her tense up as he spoke, and so before he began he brushed the hair off her face, and waited for a moment. Alex saw her move her eyes so that she could see him. "If you promise not to move, at all, I will leave it unfastened while we talk, then when I do it back up, I will sedate you, and you won't know it's there for a while."
"Thank you." Rae felt her whole body relax, and she shut her eyes for a moment as the relief washed over her. Between them Alex and the nurse put Rae's neck back in the brace so that it was undone but in the correct place to give her some support.
Alex and Rae talked for just over a half hour, but it was clear that she didn't remember anything more. In the end he told her that she needed to let the memories come back in their own time, he didn't want to tell her things and make false memories instead of real ones. Rae seemed to accept this, although Alex thought that part of the reason was she just couldn't process the things he was saying and it was the easiest thing to do. Finally he did up the collar, sedated her once again, and sat with her as she drifted back off to sleep. He then went out to speak to the guard.
"Officer Bryant, I need to speak to you, and I will be talking to your superiors as well.
Now, yesterday I told you that Mrs Travis had a severe memory loss as well as some serious injuries. I also told you that it would be very traumatic for her to get her memories back all at once. So what do you do? You come in, tell her that she should be in jail, and that she is married to someone that she thought was dead. Well that was real caring of you. I have also found out that she is sometimes waking up alone, which as she can't look round to see where she is, has been extremely frightening for her. She may be a prisoner, but that doesn't deny her the right to proper medical attention. If she wakes up again, you call me." Alex decided not to tell the guard that Rae would be calling him too. It would be interesting to see if she had actually listened to a word he had just said.
"Doctor Martin, I am here to make sure that my prisoner is not given the run of the hospital, doesn't escape, doesn't see anybody she isn't supposed to see, and is kept safe until she can stand trial. Maybe you should tell her everything that has gone on, so that she knows what will be happening in about five weeks time. If you aren't man enough to do it, you only have to ask and I will be delighted to reacquaint her with her life."
"Yeah, I'll just bet you will." Alex couldn't remember having ever been so angry. "Mrs Travis is now sedated once again, and she will remain that way until the morning. I had planned to x-ray her today, but she isn't ready for that yet. Tomorrow morning I will take care of it, until then she will remain asleep, to help her heal. You have your list of those people who are allowed in the room, I hope you will be as vigilant with them, as you were with Doctor Travis."
With that Alex turned and walked away down the hallway. He realised that by the time he had finished speaking to the guard he had been shouting, and as he looked down at his hands they were actually shaking. He thumped the call button by the elevator and waited for it to arrive. The doors opened, and Alex was delighted to see Shannon standing inside it.
"Alex? Are you all right?" Shannon could see that he was almost seething with anger. She wished that it were just her in the lift, but unfortunately Louise had run and caught the doors before it closed on the floor above.
"Yeah, I'm having a bad day is all, but seeing you has improved it no end." He moved over towards her, and then saw Louise standing almost hidden behind her. "Oh, hi, Louise."
"Doctor Martin." She looked at him from under her lashes, and with a flash of disgust Alex realised that she was actually flirting with him. "I had a lovely time last night, I hope we can do it again. I know that Katie said we would go in pairs, maybe you and I?" She stopped talking, and Alex realised that his day was getting worse and worse.
The elevator pinged and the doors opened, and Alex looked on in horror as Shannon got out. As she passed she touched his hand fleetingly, and then she was gone.
Louise moved closer to him, and smiled again. "So, what do you think?"
"Sorry, what do I think about what?" Alex realised belatedly that he was expected to answer.
"About you and I going together the next time we all meet up."
"No, Louise, I'm sorry, I asked Shannon out." Alex was still very angry, and spoke more abruptly than he normally did. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he needed this to stop, right now.
"Oh, I see." Louise's tone of voice changed and was suddenly hard and cold.
The elevator stopped once again, and without looking to see where he was, Alex just walked out of it, and without a backwards glance headed to the stairwell, to take him where he really needed to go.
By seven on that Saturday night everybody who was able, was back at Jo's house. Steve had taken over some files for his dad to read through, but he had seemed to be having a reaction to his injury and had spent most of the day asleep. Steve had been very worried about it, but he had spoken to Jesse, and he had told him that he wasn't at all surprised, and that sleep would be one of the best things for him.
Tony had been into the hospital to see Rae, Officer Worrell had been on duty and spoken to him, and once he had told her that he was only over for a few days on business she had let him sit with Rae for a while. Although she had been sedated for the whole of his visit, he had been heartened to see that she was able to breath on her own, even though the other injuries she had worried him immensely.
Although they were all there to talk about how they could prove Rae's innocence it was her current condition that concerned them most as they all met up in Jo's living room once again.
"Why would it be that she can remember things up until she was with that man, and then nothing? I don't understand why she is unable to remember all the good things that happened, but can remember the bad things." Tony looked confused and upset.
"I'm not sure, but I do know that being with Levington was such a traumatic time for Rae, and I think that maybe the cervical traction device has joined in her mind with the scarf she had round her neck and forged a link, but it's just guess work really, nobody understands the workings of the brain well enough to be able to say for certain why things happen." Alex stopped talking. He was almost sure that what he was saying was true, but he couldn't be positive. He had gone and seen her before he had finished for the day, and she had been fast asleep. Doctor Collins had promised to attend to her if she did wake up over night, and so Alex had come away feeling confident that he had done all he could for her until the morning.
"So she doesn't know that he is dead does she? I can't believe that she can remember all the terrible things that he did to her, but the fact that he is gone an' can't hurt her anymore is unknown to her." Jo shook her head as she spoke. Of all the traumatic things that had happened to Rae, seeing her greatest enemy killed in front of her had affected her the least.
Alex took a deep breath and began to speak again. "She thought that the guard was on her door because she had killed Levington. She asked me if he was dead, but I managed to avoid the question, but I did tell her that she hadn't killed him. She thought that she was in the hospital because he had hurt her and the guard was there because she had killed him. She said that she couldn't have killed anybody, not even him."
"She hates the idea of killing anybody or anything. I have been with her when she has had to kill somebody in the line of duty, twice, and I know that both times she has been physically sick." Steve looked over at Alex.
"Yeah, I know, I was with her the first time too." Alex recalled the day when Rae had realised that she had shot somebody. "I thought she was gonna pass out, and she was sick…"
"And she was so upset by the whole thing that she didn't follow proper procedure, and almost got an ass chewing from Chief Masters." Jesse remembered that as well. He had taken her home that night, and had been surprised at her vulnerability.
"So everything that has happened since we found her in Levington's basement doesn't exist to Rae, have the memories disappeared, or are they locked away somewhere? Could they come back to her?" It was Martin who spoke, and he found that he really wanted to know the answer to the question he had just asked. The thought of her missing all the good times from the past year or so made him feel incredibly sad.
"They could, last time, when she was attacked by Donovan she remembered almost everything in the end. She could even see his face as he came at her with the weapon in his hand. But now she's been injured again, and a foot coming in with venom can cause just as much damage, if not more than the piece of wood that was used the first time." Jesse looked around at his friends as he spoke. "And don't forget she was knocked out in between times when Jo was taken. You know once somebody has had a concussion they are four times more likely to get another one, I guess she is keeping her figures up!" Jesse tried a smile, but none of them really felt like smiling or joking.
Michael came in at that moment with the coffee and some homemade cookies. "Excuse me, Madam, but Doctor Sloan is on the telephone, he asked to speak with you."
Jo stood up, and went out into the hallway. There must be a reason why Michael hadn't brought the phone in to her, and so she moved as far away from the living room as she could.
"Jo, Honey?"
"Mark, are you all right?" Jo could hear the anxiety in her voice as she began to speak.
"Yes, I'm fine, but I want you to do me a favour, but I don't want to get anybody's hopes up. Jesse came in and told me that he had been discharged and was going home. Could you go over there and see if you can find a photo of Rae from the side. There must be one in the wedding pictures, people were snapping away at all angles for most of the day. If you find one can you bring it in to me in the morning?"
"Yeah, of course, have you seen somethin' that we haven't?"
"I don't know, there is something about the picture of the murderer that looks like Rae… Hold on Jo, let me finish." Mark heard her gasp as he spoke. "There is something about the picture of the murderer that looks like Rae, but, there is also something that tells me it isn't her, I just don't know what that is yet."
"Ok, I'll go over tomorrow. I was plannin' on doing that anyway, although Alex has said he can come home, I didn't want to leave him on his own for too long. Mark, I have to get back to the others, but I will see you in the mornin'."
"Good night, Sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, sleep well." Jo put the phone back down and her mind full of what Mark had just said, she walked back into the living room.
Steve was standing in the doorway and he took her in his arms as she stopped in front of him. "Honey, are you all right, where did you go?"
"I'm sorry, Michael didn't tell you?"
"No."
"Come in, an' I will." Jo led Steve by the hand and they sat down at the table where, once again, all the information was laid out. "That was Mark on the phone, an' he was askin' me a favour."
"What, has he found something?" Jesse's voice was eager and full of enthusiasm. He was holding his daughter and she was drinking down her nighttime bottle. This time the look of adoration was especially for her daddy, and she looked happy and secure in his arms.
"Yeah, I think so, although he wouldn't tell me what it was. He wants a picture of Rae taken from the side, he suggested we go through your weddin' pictures an' see if we could find one. Lord knows the world an' his wife was takin' snapshots that day!"
"I'll be home tomorrow, you can come over and we can do it together." Jesse began to feel his positive nature surge back to the surface, he knew that Mark would find something to save his Rae; he just knew it.
For a while the room was quiet as the eight people in it read through statements, looked at photos and compared notes. Alex had spoken to Jo and Shannon was coming over to join them just before nine, and he checked his watch to see what the time was. As he did so he was frightened out of his life as Jo slammed her hand down on the table.
"That's it! I knew there was something missin' on the photo of the murderer. Alex you are a genius."
"Well, my mom would agree with you, but I have no idea what you are talking about. Jo, what did I do?"
"You looked at your watch. Where is it?" Jo began scrabbling through the photos that were on the table, and with a whoop of glee she picked up two of them.
"Look, look, there's Rae, crouched down an' you can see she is wearin' her silver bangle, the one with the blue stone in it, an' her watch, which sort of matches it. I have never ever seen her without them on, except when she is in the hospital. Now, look at this one. This is the picture of the murder actually happenin' an'… There Is No Watch Or Bangle!" Jo paused for a moment, as she looked at all the faces staring at her. "She would have been wearin' them. She wore them on her weddin' day, so there is no way she would have taken them off, not just to go see Brian, that is not her in the picture." Jo felt her eyes fill with tears; she knew that she had found something that could begin to sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of the judge and jury. Now they had to find what Mark needed and work from there.
Amanda watched Jo struggle with her emotions, and she saw everybody else begin to smile as they realised what Jo had just said, and she knew that she may be about to be the bad guy. "Ah, I hate to burst your bubble, so to speak, but I have a problem with one part of this."
"What, Amanda?" Steve smiled at her; he could see she was worried. "What have you thought of?"
"When your brake lines were cut, you were at Rae's house, which is in a gated community, nobody can get in or out without a note being taken of the date and time, well, I have just checked the records for that day, and Rae came in just before you did. You also said that she went outside and was looking at your car just before you left, I don't see how anybody else could have tampered with it. She had no other visitors that day, and according to the security logs, none of her neighbours had anybody call at the vital time either."
"Wait a minute Amanda, what did you say about Rae coming in just before I did?" Jo looked across, she knew that what Amanda was saying was wrong.
"Look, this is the log for the day that you had your accident."
"What accident?" Tony looked confused, he must have missed some papers somewhere.
"Jo ended up in the hospital a little while ago, her brake lines were cut, and she crashed her car. The car was parked outside Rae and Jesse's house, when it was vandalised." Steve's voice was tight and hard, if he shut his eyes he knew he would be able to see Jo's car in the police impound yard, a complete write off.
"This isn't right." Jo was checking down the entries for the day they were talking about. "When I got to the house Rae came an' opened the door an' took me into the living room, she didn't want me to be there because she was worried something would happen to me. She showed me a list of things that she had written, she was tryin' to find ways to make her life safer so that Jesse an' Eliana wouldn't be hurt, and they could come back an' live with her again. She said that she had been writin' all mornin', an' she was frightened to take Eliana out into the street and sometimes she was frightened to go out there herself."
"I still don't see what you are getting at." Martin looked over at Jo and saw her exchange a glance with Steve, and he knew that the Lieutenant knew exactly what his fiancée meant.
"So, what you are saying is that the records are wrong, Rae had been in the house all morning, but the log says she came in just before you did. Is there a record of her going out, so that she could come back in?" Steve could feel his heart beating louder and faster; he knew that they were getting somewhere now.
Amanda ran a finger down the page once again, and Steve could see the light as it reflected off the deep gold nail polish she had on. "No, she just comes in. I thought they logged everything, and there is only one entrance and exit at Rae's place, you have to come and go past the one guard that's right isn't it? It's ages since I have been there."
"But how could the records say that she came in, especially in her car, which stands out a mile, if she didn't?" Alex looked puzzled, he had a feeling he was missing something somewhere, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself.
"No, look, you see this." Jesse leant over and pointed to the same line the Amanda had her finger on. "That little squiggle, that means that the person came in on foot."
"So what do you do, wave at the guard and he opens those big gates for you? I hate to say it, but Rae is as well known as her car." It was Martin who spoke up this time, he had only been to Rae's house a couple of times, and he had always arrived in the car.
"No, you just use one of these." Jesse fumbled about in his pants pocket, careful not to disturb his daughter as he did so, and brought his wallet out. He opened it up and took out a smart card, and promptly dropped it when Steve clapped his hands together.
"Bob's she left it at Bob's."
"What?" Jesse's voice came out a little muffled as he lent down to pick up his card.
"The day that Rae had her panic attack, when we got back to the gates into your place, I asked Rae for her card so she could show the guard, and she realised that she had left her purse at Bob's. As far as I know she never got it back, somebody could have taken it that night. There were a few people in the restaurant who were known to Rae, if they had the card, they could get into the community, and on the computer it would register as Rae coming in."
"No, that wouldn't work, Martin is right, Rae never has to introduce herself, people know who she is, an' the guard would definitely know if there was somebody else using her card." Jo felt her heart sink perhaps they weren't getting anywhere after all.
"When I went to see Rae one day I waited for a while before the guard even realised I was there, and I was in a car, so they aren't always as vigilant as they should be, and maybe somebody wore a hat, or something." Alex remembered the lazy guard, and hoped he would be of help.
"It had been rainin' that was why I couldn't control my car, the person could have had an umbrella, or a hat, or, or, a hood up, that would cover the face, we know the attacker has to be small, because people are thinkin' it is Rae when it isn't… It had been rainin'" Jo repeated herself as she realised something else. "An' she didn't look wet, she didn't look like she had been any place but home..." Jo breathed a sigh of relief; they were back on track again.
"And then whoever it was could wait inside to attack Rae, or me, or whoever, and maybe they saw Jo's car, realised they had a good chance to hurt another of Rae's friends, and they tampered with the brakes… Martin is this enough to get you and Cheryl to have another look at the evidence you have against Rae?" Jesse looked over at the young detective, could see that he was smiling, and knew the answer before he spoke.
"Yes, it casts a doubt, and up until tonight, there was no doubt, except in the minds of all of us."
Just as Martin finished speaking they heard the doorbell, and Michael got up and went out into the hallway. They all listened, and a moment later his voice could be heard floating back towards them. "Certainly, Madam, if you would like to follow me… Excuse me, Doctor Martin, Sir, there is a young lady here to see you."
"Good grief is it that time already, thank you Michael, I'll be straight out." Alex stood up, I won't be a moment." He moved out in the same direction as Michael, and a few moments later reappeared with an extremely nervous looking young lady on his arm. "Guys, this is Shannon… Shannon, these are my friends, this is Jo Walters, this wonderful house is hers, that's her fiancé Lieutenant Steve Sloan, he's Doctor Sloan's son, that's Detective Martin Robertson, Doctor Amanda Bentley, Tony Yeager, who's Rae Yeager's ex husband, and this is Doctor Jesse Travis, who is now Rae's husband, and that little one is Jesse's daughter, I'm her godfather." Alex stopped talking, he was extremely fond and very proud of all his friends, but he suddenly felt embarrassed by all the titles he had to use.
Jo stood up and walked over to where Alex and Shannon were standing. "Honey, I'm sure you won't remember all that, but we are mighty pleased to meet you. Just call us all by our first names an' forget the rest, that's Tony, Steve, Amanda, Jesse an' Martin. Michael you met when he got the door, Alex you know, the baby is called Eliana, an' I'm Jo. If you are a friend of Alex's you will get used to seein' us around the place."
"What a beautiful name for a baby." Shannon smiled over at the little girl, who had long since finished her bottle, and was sitting happily in her daddy's lap enjoying all the activity. She had her soggy giraffe in her hands, which Amanda had given her after she started to destroy evidence.
"Alex said you were trying to help someone who is in trouble. Would that be Detective Yeager?" Shannon looked at the group of people in front of her as she spoke.
"See, like I said, everybody knows Rae." Martin smiled as his point was made for him.
"Yes, that's right. We all know that she isn't guilty of the terrible crimes she has been charged with, an' tonight we think we might have just started to find some proof of that."
Shannon turned to the young man standing next to her. "If you want to carry on, I would be pleased to help, and we can rearrange our date for another time. This seems more important than dancing the night away."
Alex smiled and was about to reply when Jo cut in again. "Honey, when you are young an' just gettin' to know each other, nothin' in more important than dancin' the night away. Now you two go on, we were just about to break for the night anyway, I think we have gone as far as we can tonight."
"Ok, if you're sure." Shannon looked up at Alex, and saw him smile over at Jo.
"We are sure, I don't think my brain can take any more in tonight anyway. Jo, thank you for opening up your house to us again, I'll see you tomorrow." Alex leant over and kissed her on the cheek, and then he went round, shaking hands with his male friends, he kissed Amanda and received a hug in return, then he bent over and gently kissed Eliana and ran a finger down her soft smiling face. He moved over and took Shannon by the hand, and then turned as he reached the door. "Goodnight all."
A chorus of goodnights followed the couple as Michael showed the two of them to the front door, and soon everybody in the living room heard the door as it shut against the night once again.
It was just after nine on Sunday morning when Jo arrived at Rae and Jesse's house. She'd brought Eliana with her, rather than Jesse take her the night before, so he got a good night's sleep in his own bed the first night out of the hospital, and it had been a good decision. Eliana'd had a disturbed night, cried a lot, which wasn't like her, and felt a little warm.
Jesse let them in, and Jo could see that even though he was still worried, he was far more at peace with what was happening to him than he had been for a while.
Eliana began to cry as soon as she saw her daddy, and she started to fight against the restraints in the carry seat. "I think she has a fever Jess, can you take a look at her before we start?"
Jesse was instantly businesslike and he placed his hand against her forehead. "She does feel a little hot, take her out of the seat and into the living room, I'll just go get my bag. Jesse was only a moment, and then with his daughter sitting on Jo's lap he took her temperature, and looked her over. She was much happier now that she was out of her seat, and although she was a little under the weather, she was bouncing up and down on her Aunty Jo's lap with a grin on her face.
"Honey, just keep still a minute, let Daddy look at you. I think she just has the start of a cold. She'll be fine." As if to show what a good doctor her daddy was Eliana sneezed. It was a tiny delicate little sneeze and Jo and Jesse both laughed. Eliana grinned again as she heard the sound, and let out a delighted squeal. "Oh, I have just missed you so much." Jesse picked the little girl up and gave her a big hug.
Jo stood up and went into the kitchen to make a coffee. She knew that Jesse wouldn't mind, and she wanted to give him some time with his daughter. She opened the cupboard to get out the cup she usually used then she made two hot drinks and a baby juice and went back towards the lounge. Jesse was standing by the window looking out into the back garden, he was pointing through the glass as he showed Eliana the things he could see. Jo put the drinks down on the coffee table and went back out into the kitchen. There was a newspaper on the counter, and not wanting to interrupt Jesse while he caught up on some of the time he had missed with his little girl she began to read the headlines. Rae was still front-page news, although not quite as vividly as before. There was just a small article in the bottom left hand corner of the page saying that she was still in the hospital, but it mentioned that she was awaiting trial for murder, and Jo knew that until they could clear her name everything ever written about her would say that.
Jesse finished showing Eliana where he was going to build her a sand box, and where her swing would be, and how they would have lots of lovely flowers that they could plant together, and turned back into the room. He saw the drinks on the table and realised that Jo had retreated to give him some time to himself. He picked up Eliana's cup and as he handed it to her saw her yawn. Jesse smiled at her and walked down to the nursery. He changed her diaper, and put her into just an all in one vest over the top, so that she wouldn't get too hot. Then he lay her down with her doll, covered her over and went back towards the living room. He had got all the way to the sofa before Eliana realised that she had been left alone and he had to go back.
Alex had arrived at the hospital in a much more positive mood than the previous few days. Shannon had an early shift, and he had arranged to meet her for coffee in the cafeteria before they both started work. She was standing just inside the door with a tray in her hands as Alex entered. He leant over and kissed her gently on the cheek.
"Hey, how are you today?" Alex looked at Shannon who was smiling up at him. He realised that she had the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. "It was good last night wasn't it?"
"Yeah, I had a great time." Shannon tried to stifle a yawn. "But I think you might find me asleep in the laundry cupboard by about two this afternoon."
"Ooh, just about the time I'll need to go check our supply of sheets." Alex smiled at her and picked up a tray of his own. They had walked over to the servery as they'd been talking, and joined the queue. He picked up a Danish pastry and kept on moving, Shannon had taken a grapefruit half and a sachet of brown sugar. They poured themselves a coffee each and headed towards a quiet table.
They had been sitting there happy in each other's company for five minutes when Shannon realised with a sinking heart that Louise was making her way over to them. "Ah, do you want Louise to join us?"
"God, no… She's coming over isn't she?"
"Oh, yeah, do you feel like being rotten, or do we put up with it?"
"I guess we have to put up with it don't we?" Alex looked round to see the nurse about two tables away and coming in their direction. He was about to pull a chair out for her with a forced smile when she began to speak.
"Doctor Martin, Doctor Collins asked if you could come and see him before rounds."
"Oh, thank you Nurse Willis, ah how did you know I was in here?" Alex had an uncomfortable feeling that he had been spied upon.
"I guessed. I know Shannon normally has her breakfast in here when she does this shift." Louise turned and walked away before either of them could reply and Alex turned back to Shannon.
"That woman gives me the creeps, I don't know why, but she just does." Alex felt a little guilty, and hoped that she wasn't too close a friend of Shannon's.
"She doesn't mean to be a nuisance, she finds it hard to make friends, and when she does try she just goes too far." Shannon didn't know why she was making excuses for Louise, she knew the favour wouldn't be returned, but she felt sorry for the girl, and wished that she had made more of an effort with her herself.
"Shannon, I have to go, I need to see what Doctor Collins wants, I'll call you tonight, is that ok?"
"Of course it is, I'll look forward to it. Have a good day… Doctor." Shannon smiled at him, she leant across and kissed him, a little shyly on the lips, and then watched as Alex got up and left the cafeteria.
Wil was waiting in the doctor's lounge for Alex and doing some long overdue paperwork while he sat there. He looked up as the door opened and smiled at the young doctor as he entered the room. "Alex, how are you this morning?"
"Fine, thank you." Alex was always a little wary around the older doctor. He knew that Rae had been his patient before she had registered with him, and Alex felt a little embarrassed by that fact.
"I just wanted to let you know that as you requested I have reduced Rae's sedation overnight, so that she knows that she is being taken for her tests. I spent a little time with her this morning, but I don't think that she has remembered anything more. She asked me questions, but I didn't give anything away, I just kept to the basics."
"Thank you, Doctor Collins, I appreciate all your help on this."
"Alex, please, it's Wil, you're a good doctor, and from what I've seen of Rae's treatment so far she's lucky to have you. She obviously feels that way, she was very complimentary about you." Wil smiled as he spoke, and saw the young man in front of him blush furiously.
"Oh, thank you, I appreciate that. Ah, I'll go now then." Alex concentrated on not hurrying from the room; he was thrilled but embarrassed by what he had just heard.
Alex moved down the hallway towards Rae's room. There was a new guard on the door, Officer Simpkins, and so Alex held out his ID, and pointed to where he was on the list of names he had given to Bryant when she had been there the first day.
Officer Simpkins seemed to be completely different to both Bryant and Worrell. "Your patient has just woken up I think, I thought I heard her, but I haven't been here before, and I didn't want to scare her."
"That's kind of you. I guess Officer Worrell didn't fill you in on her condition before she headed home?"
"No, I got the feeling that she was anxious to get away, nobody likes these shifts very much, but I don't mind myself." She could see Alex's puzzled look and so she continued. "I write, poetry mostly, and so when I am doing one of these twelve hour stints, I write stanza's in my mind. Sometimes I even put pen to paper if I think I have found something worth remembering." Officer Simpkins had smiled again and Alex found himself warming to the woman.
"Ok, thank you, I guess I had better get into Mrs Travis."
"Doctor Martin, if you wish me to sit with your patient actually in the room, at any time, I will be pleased to do so. I know that a lot of the staff at the jail despise her for what she has done, but I intend to reserve my judgement until she has been found either guilty or not guilty in a court of law."
"You don't know how relieved I am to hear you say that, but I think you will only distress her. She can't remember anything of about the last thirteen or fourteen months, so she has no memory of being arrested, or of being in jail."
"Oh, dear, thank goodness I didn't go in to see her then. No, nobody told me that. I think I may have to be writing an official complaint instead of poems while I am sitting here."
Alex had gone quietly into Rae's room then, and began to talk so he didn't frighten her. "Rae, it's me, Alex, are you awake?"
"Yeah, I'm awake, how are you today? How was your date last night?"
Alex was delighted to realise that Rae was actually retaining the new information she was being given, he had purposely told her about taking Shannon out, because he knew it would interest her, and she would want to hear all about it if she remembered, which she obviously did.
"It was great, you know…" Alex stopped talking as he felt himself begin to blush. "I really like her, Rae. She is so nice, she's friendly and open, I hope she feels the same way. We are going to the beach this afternoon. It will be cold but we thought it would be nice to wrap up warm and walk along watching the winter waves crash to the shore."
"It sounds lovely, I would like to do that too, maybe when I finally get out of here, Jesse and I can walk along the beach… Alex, I need to ask you a question."
Alex moved a little closer, and he could see tears welling up in her eyes. "Rae, what is it? You know you can ask me anything you like."
"Alex, did I lose my baby? I know I am not pregnant, I just can't feel it any more. Not moving, I don't mean that, I don't feel pregnant. I haven't been sick, and I was sick, a lot, with, with that man."
"Rae, I don't want to tell you things, because I want you to remember yourself, but this time I'll make an exception, ok?" He saw Rae nod, and saw the worry in her eyes. "You didn't lose your baby, you had a daughter, she is eight months old, and the most beautiful thing you ever saw. Now." He placed an arm on Rae's shoulder as she began to talk. "Now, I am not going to tell you any more, I'm not going to tell you her name, or her birthday, nothing like that, maybe knowing that she is alive and well you will begin to remember things about her and it will help you remember other information as well."
"Alex, where is she? Is she safe?"
"Of course she is, you don't think we would let her be anything but, do you? She is with her daddy, Jesse has her, Honey, and he just dotes on her. Ok, you and I have an appointment in the MRI department, but first of all I have to take this neck brace off."
"Oh, thank goodness. I have been trying so hard to think positively about it, but it is just so difficult."
"You have to keep still Rae, I know if I was wearing this thing I would want to move my shoulders and my head and loosen up the muscles, but until you have had your tests, you have to resist the temptation, ok?"
"Yes, Sir." Rae smiled at him then, and he could tell that she was relaxing at the prospect of being free of her instrument of torture for a while.
He very carefully undid the brace and removed it from around Rae's neck. As he did so his fingers brushed her neck and he felt her tense up. "Rae, I'm so sorry."
"That's ok, it wasn't as bad as the last time you did it." Rae tried to smile to reassure him. "And I can't get away from you this time anyway."
For a moment Alex smiled back, but then he realised what she was saying. "Rae, when did I touch your neck before?"
Rae's smile disappeared and he could see that she was trying very hard to concentrate and remember. "I don't know." Her voice was very quiet as she spoke. "I know you touched it and I ran, but I don't know when that was. I'm sorry."
"That's all right, don't worry about it. Now let's get you down and have the picture taken of your insides, then we can see what is going on. I'll just call for a couple of orderlies to help me." Alex went over to the phone on the wall, but it was still out of order. "Rae, I won't be a moment." He left the room and headed down the hallway and told the nurse what it was he wanted, and then he came back to Rae's room, knowing that what he had to tell her would make her as fed up as he now was. He had been told that due to a bad three-car pile up on PCH, the MRI would be in constant use for about the next three hours. "Honey, I'm gonna have to put your neck brace back on, just for a little while longer, I don't know how long I can stay, but we can't get to the MRI Suite for at least three hours, so I will have to go and come back again." As Alex spoke he was putting the cervical traction device back onto Rae, and he could feel her tense up as he did so. He wished he could remove it all together, but until she had her tests it had to stay where it was.
Steve had called his dad as soon as he knew he would be awake. He was on an early shift, and couldn't get into the hospital until the evening. Jo had promised to go straight there from Jesse's and he knew that he would have to be content with that for now. Steve knew that there would have been another drive by shooting by now, if they were right with the pattern that was, and so he wasn't surprised to find that his desk had a pile of unread papers on it, and three memo's from George Bannister to meet him at the latest crime scene.
George pulled his jacket up round him and looked over at where his partner was digging about in some trash. It was getting close to Christmas, and although not bitterly cold, he would still have preferred to be in the squad room and not standing about on a street corner waiting for Steve. It was another half an hour before he saw the dark blue car draw up and the Lieutenant get out. It was Campbell's and his case, but Steve had seniority over both of them, and they tended to defer to him as soon as he arrived.
"George, what do you have this time?" Steve came striding across to him, not looking as if he felt the cold at all.
"There was one fatality, and it was a shoe store. You try and work out the connection, because I sure can't. Unless he, or she, has a real downer on the whole retail community of LA, in which case we could do a Harry Trumble, and stay on this case for the rest of our working lives." George laughed as he finished and Steve did too, even though he didn't think the joke was funny. His father and Harry Trumble had been friends at one time, and it saddened him to think that the late detective was as much one of the Clown Killer's victims as all the women he had killed. It was a standing joke around the precinct, that if you struck lucky you could work the one case for your whole detective career, never have to stand on cold street corners, get your own office, your own staff, and choose your own hours. Of course it would also turn you into an obsessed workaholic, with no social life, no home life and a tendency to think that anything that breathed was a major suspect in your case.
"Hey, Steve, wanna join me in the trash?"
"No thanks, Campbell, I'm trying to give it up, did you find anything of interest?"
"Well, the guy who works in the shoe store only likes sweet 'n' low in his coffee, and gets his lunches from Captain Cluck, but apart from that, nope, nothing, nothing at all."
"How many shots were fired?" Steve looked round as a thought struck him. "Campbell, why are you in the trash if this was a drive by?"
"I have no idea, it seemed like a good idea at the time." Campbell smiled, "A lady who witnessed the shooting said that she was sure she saw something being thrown from the car, well, I couldn't find anything on the sidewalk, so I moved onto the trash in the dumpster. It's obvious really."
"Why do I feel like I'm working with Abbot and Costello?" Steve looked at the two cops now standing in front of him. "Unless you have found an important clue, I think you are both in need of a vacation."
"Steve, we are so bored with searching drive by sites, that anything we can do to lighten the moment we grab with both hands."
"Yeah, I guess. So where is the witness, maybe I ought to go and speak with her."
"Well, if you want to go through the dumpster you will, her name is Mary, and this is her spot, if you get my drift."
"Great, come on then, let's get on with it." Steve looked at Campbell. "After you … way after you!"