Jesse had spent a peaceful Sunday with Eliana. He had spoken to Alex on the phone and he knew as much as the young doctor did about Rae's condition. Eliana had been a bit weepy with her cold, but the house was warm and cozy and the father and daughter had enjoyed each other's company. Jesse had managed to keep the longing for Rae's presence in the back of his mind, and it hadn't been until his little girl was fast asleep that he had sunk down on the sofa and let some of the despair he felt come to the surface.
He had taken the wedding albums out again and had spent over two hours just looking through them and watching the video that Alex had taken. It had been one of the two happiest days of his life, and he found it hard to come to terms with the fact that Rae couldn't remember it. In the end he had put everything away and headed for his bedroom. He was still sleeping in the spare room. He just couldn't face the big double bed in the main room until Rae was back to share it with him.
Alex had finished his shift a little while after he had spoken to Jesse about Rae's MRI. He hadn't told him how depressed she had sounded to him and Steve before he had sedated her for the afternoon and overnight. Jesse had enough on his mind without worrying about that as well. When Alex had signed out he had seen Shannon going into the elevator, and had called to her. She had come over with a smile and taken his hand in hers.
"Hey, are you all right? You look really worried." Shannon's smile was replaced by an anxious look.
"Yeah, I just have a patient that is causing me concern at the moment, but I'll get there with her." Alex had a warm feeling inside and he knew it was because of the young lady in front of him.
"I don't know if I can help you with that, but I finish in five minutes, we could grab a coffee… if you would like."
"I would like, very much, I'll wait for you in the doctor's lounge, ok? I have a call I have to make."
"I'll see you there." Shannon let go of Alex's hand and headed back towards the elevator.
Alex went into the doctor's lounge, and relieved to see it was empty he moved over and picked up the phone. He checked the number he had taken note of a little while earlier, and punched it into the handset. Alex heard the sound of the phone the other end ringing out for a moment until it was finally answered.
"Brian Dobson."
"Doctor Dobson, it's Doctor Alex Martin, I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I need to talk to you about Rae." Alex knew that Brian would know exactly who he was talking about.
"In what way, Doctor?" Brian's tone was cold and hard, and Alex felt the unexpected tightening of his stomach.
"I guess you know that she has been arrested, well, she was attacked in jail, and seriously injured. She seems well on the way to slipping into depression, and I was wondering whether you could come in and speak with her. You are one of the few people that she really trusts. Her husband isn't allowed in to see her, neither are her friends, but I know that I could get clearance for you." Alex realised that he was rushing to get out everything that he desperately wanted to say.
"Doctor Martin, I'm not sure how I can say this without sounding rude, so I hope you will excuse me, but I am staggered that you would even consider asking me to come and meet with the woman who has been charged with the murder of my nurse and one of my patients."
"Doctor, you can't really believe the Rae is guilty of murder." Alex was astounded by what he was hearing. "You know her better than any of us, and none of us think that she had anything to do what has been happening. Please Doctor Dobson, I am seriously concerned about her state of mind."
"Doctor Martin, I will be extremely blunt with you. I have no intention of seeing Detective Yeager again until I am sitting in a courtroom watching her trial. If she is found not guilty then I guess I will have some apologising to do, but until then, I have nothing more to say." The phone was put down without another word, and Alex stood looking at the receiver in his hand, not quite knowing what to do next.
It seemed to Alex that it was far longer than five minutes before Shannon arrived, but he knew that it wasn't really. He stood as she tapped on the door, and waited on the threshold. "You can come in, we don't bite." Alex smiled at her; he could see that suddenly she looked really nervous.
"I have never been in a doctor's lounge before, I guess I just feel a little unsure." Shannon walked into the room, and Alex moved over and took her hand. They were the only people in the room, and she leant close to him and kissed him gently on the lips. Alex pulled her even closer and began to kiss her with more passion. After a minute or two she finally pulled away from him, and smiled up into his eyes. "Mmm, I think I like this lounge."
"Well, I've had enough of it for one day, come on, I'll buy you dinner." Alex pulled her by the hand and they moved out into the hallway. Nadine and Katie were walking down towards them, and they smiled as they saw the couple standing hand in hand, waiting for them.
"Well, I guess you got your money's worth?" Nadine smiled as she spoke, and then felt a little guilty as she saw them both blush.
"Nadine!" It was Katie who spoke, but then she laughed. "She tends to speak first, think later, I'm sorry."
"The words just come out of my mouth before they go through my brain!" Nadine knew that she was blushing as well now.
"Don't worry about it. I guess it's true in a way." Alex was enjoying Shannon's company so much, that he didn't really mind what they said to him.
"So, where are you going?"
"Oh, I thought I would introduce Shannon to the delights of barbecue." Alex tightened his grip on Shannon's hand, and they moved towards the elevator, "See you later, ladies."
The doors opened and then closed on the two friends, and Katie and Nadine looked at each other and laughed.
"Oh, well, I did say they were made for each other didn't I?" Katie tried not to look too smug.
"Yeah, I know, and they look so different that they go real well together." Nadine smiled, "so, I guess we could go for barbecue too."
"Nah, how about coffee and a Danish in the cafeteria?"
"Ok, sounds fine seeing as we only have ten minutes of our break left." Nadine checked her watch and then they headed towards the elevator themselves.
Jesse woke the next morning just after eight, as he heard his daughter begin to come to. He got quickly out of bed hoping to get to her before she woke up completely, he loved to see her wake up and begin to realise that she had another fun day ahead of her. He stood just inside the nursery door, and he could see her stretching out and flexing her little fingers. Eliana turned in her crib to find her dolly but instead her eyes found her father. "Dadadadadada."
For a moment the lump in Jesse's throat was so big he couldn't move or even respond to her. He couldn't believe that the beautiful little person lying there was a part of him, that he was a daddy. He was suddenly spurred into action and he moved into the room and bent over the crib and picked her up. "Hey, Sweet pea, how are you today?" Eliana began to cough as Jesse spoke to her. "Oh, dear, come on let's get you a drink of juice, that will help your poor throat." He could see Rae in the beautiful little face looking up at him, and he took a deep breath, he would see her today, no matter what happened. Having made that decision he headed towards the kitchen, and the delights of breakfast with an eight-month-old baby. Twenty minutes later, while Eliana was sucking at a toast soldier he put a call through to Sally, to double check that it would still be all right for her to have his daughter for the six hours he planned to work at the hospital. Once that had been confirmed he got himself a cup of coffee and a couple of pieces of toast, because he knew that Amanda would come and check that he had eaten.
Wil Collins had examined Mark, and although he already knew he wouldn't be going home that day, when Wil had said the same thing he had felt really down for a while. Jo had arrived about twenty minutes after the doctor had left Mark's room, and she had been worried by the change in her friend.
"Mark, Honey, what's the matter? You seemed so much better yesterday, has somethin' happened?"
"No, no, it's just me being a silly old man, I knew I wouldn't be going home today, but when Wil said it too I felt, I don't know, let down, I guess."
"Well, I wanted to talk to you about some things, nothin' to do with the case, more to do with the time of year." Jo smiled, she hoped she could get some of the excitement back in Mark's eyes. There were no new developments with Rae's case, and Jo knew that the main part of Mark's problem was boredom. She also knew, from Steve, that he just loved Christmas, and so she had a few plans of her own to share with him.
Alex signed in at the ER desk and then headed straight for the elevator. He knew that Rae would probably be awake already, but Wil had promised to keep an eye on her, and to be around should she need him. As he walked down the hallway he could see that Officer Simpkins was back on duty and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good morning Officer Simpkins, how are you today?"
"Doctor Martin, I'm fine thank you. Well apart from the fact that I wasn't supposed to be working today."
"I am pleased to see you anyway, it's nice to be greeted civilly when I come to see my patient." Alex smiled as he spoke, and was relieved to see it returned.
"I think that she is awake in there, I haven't gone in, because of what you said about her memory loss, I thought it would be better if I stayed out."
"Thank you. I'll go in then, and let you know how things are with her this morning, when I know myself." Alex moved into the room, and once again called out as he did so. "Honey? It's Alex."
There was no sound at all, he could see that Rae was awake, her eyes were open, and he could see the fingers of her left hand were moving slowly on the bed.
"Rae, is something wrong?" Alex regretted the words as soon as he had spoken them.
"Oh no, Alex, everything is just coming up roses. I don't want to talk to you, or anybody else for that matter, just go away and leave me alone." Rae spat out the words and then shut her eyes.
"Ok, I won't say anything, but I am going to start raising your bed, just a little, then I will leave it for an hour and I will come back and raise it again. If it makes you feel nauseous you must let me know and I will stop straight away." Alex moved over and began to gently raise the head of the bed. Rae was able to see quite a bit of the room before she suddenly spoke.
"Stop, ooh, Alex, please."
The bed stopped moving straight away, and Alex turned to her. "I knew I could get you to talk to me."
For an instant the old Rae was back and she stuck her tongue out at Alex. "Smart Alex!"
"Oh funny…! Rae, talk to me, how are you feeling?"
"Alex, there is nothing to talk about. I have nothing to say."
"Rae, I know you must be really scared about what is happening to you, and on top of that you have no idea why you are here, or anything that has occurred in a long time. But you have to believe that we are doing as much as we can to help you." Alex didn't know if what he was saying would do any good, but he had to try.
"Alex, I know that, but I just feel so helpless and lost. I miss Jesse so much, but nobody will tell me why he can't come and see me. I have tried and tried to remember what has happened to me. But the last thing I can recall is a bright flash of light, and then, then I was here, with a guard by the door. I can't move my left arm, my right arm really hurts, I have cracked ribs, my legs hurt and I can't even think about my throat. And sometime in that period of darkness, I turned into moaning Minnie!"
Alex laughed as Rae finished talking. "Oh, Honey, you aren't a moaning Minnie, you have so much on your plate right now, I'm not surprised you are feeling a little sorry for yourself."
"Did you get my results back yet?" Rae tried to focus on the present. She had spent most of the early morning trying to bring her past back.
"No, it will be after lunch before I can go and enquire. It takes twenty-four hours, and I don't want to push my luck, we got two procedures done in one session because you were still ok, and able to have your knees done, so I will tread a little carefully."
"I guess I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah, I guess. Can I get you something to read sent up?"
"You could, it would be nice to get my mind onto other things for a while." Rae tried a smile, and was surprised to find that it was a little easier to do than she had imagined. Her doctor leant over and kissed her gently on the cheek before he had to leave the room. "Alex."
He turned to her, "Yes?"
"Thank you."
Alex moved back over. "For what?"
"For doing more than you have to." Rae couldn't really put what she felt into words, but she hoped that someday soon she would be able to.
The nurse on duty in the ER was Louise Willis, and as the elevator doors opened she looked up and saw a small child being brought in. "Good morning Ma'am, can I help you?"
"I need to see Doctor Martin please."
"There are other doctors on duty, Ma'am, I'm afraid that Doctor Martin isn't in the ER at the moment."
"But he is in the hospital?"
Louise nodded her head.
"Then page him please, I don't want her to see anybody else." As if on cue the baby in the woman's arms began to cry, and as she did so she also started to cough, violently.
Jesse was coming out of the doctor's lounge when he saw Sally standing at the reception desk just down the hallway. He heard his daughter begin to cry, and he broke into a run.
"Sally, what's the matter?" He could feel his heart beating in his chest as he arrived at his sitter's side.
"Oh, Doctor Travis, this lady wants Doctor Martin to attend to her child. Could you see to it for me, I can't disturb Doctor Martin he is with a patient."
"I can't treat this little girl, nurse. She's my daughter." Jesse smiled and then held out his arms, and Eliana lunged at him and began to cry and cough on her daddy's shoulder.
"Jesse, you need to be careful, every time she coughs she is…" Sally stopped talking as she, Louise and Jesse all heard a noise they recognised. "Sick."
"Oh, great. Eliana, look what you did to Daddy. I knew I shouldn't have given her porridge and toast for breakfast. Ughhh."
Louise realised who the baby's mother was, and she knew that for this patient Alex would want to be paged. "If you will just hold on a moment, Doctor, I will get Doctor Martin for you."
Alex was in the elevator heading back down towards the ER when he heard his pager beeping on his belt. He looked at it, and seeing that he was almost at the required destination he switched it off, and then waited for the doors to open. As he stepped out into the reception area he was met by the unmistakable smell of baby vomit, and he looked straight into the eyes of his goddaughter.
As he moved over into Jesse's line of sight, he heard him begin to speak. "Alex, Eliana is sick, please can you look at her?" Jesse gently moved his daughter from his shoulder and handed her over to his friend. "I'll be back in a moment, I'm just gonna lose this top. Sally will you go in with her?"
"Of course." Eliana's sitter went into the trauma suite, and Jesse headed back towards the locker room, wishing he could peel his shirt off straight away.
By the time he got back, Eliana was sitting on Sally's lap and Alex was checking her over. She seemed quite happy again, although she looked pale. Jesse tapped on the door and seeing Alex nod at him he entered. "Alex, what is the matter with her?"
"She has a mild chest infection, I have given her a dose of Tylenol, and Shannon is just getting her some antibiotics. She will be fine Jess."
"Thank you, Alex, and you, Sally for bringing her in so quickly."
"Not quick enough, she was sick three times before we got here. But she seems a little more cheerful now. I guess she was missing her daddy too." Sally smiled at the two doctors in front of her. She loved looking after Eliana, but she had seen the reaction of the little girl when Jesse had walked down towards them, and Sally knew that for today at least she was second best.
"Jesse, I have an idea, if you agree, I think it may help Rae."
Rae had been sitting looking around at her room, which was just as she knew it would be, all the rooms were the same, except the suite that Texas had been in when they were fighting the pathogen that nearly claimed the lives of most of her friends. As she cast her mind back Rae began to realise that it was childish of her to feel sorry for herself. She had a job she loved, which Alex said she would be able to go back to. Although she couldn't remember the wedding she was apparently married to the man she loved most in the whole world, and they had a child, she was still living in LA, which was where she wanted to be. Life might be a little bleak, but there was plenty in it to look forward to and cherish.
She had just decided to drop her black mood when she saw a shadow pass her window and she realised that her guard had stepped away from her door for a moment. She guessed that she had gone for a toilet break. Rae wasn't worried, none of the women who had been sitting out in the hallway had spoken to her, and so she was hardly going to miss their company for a few minutes. Alex had been as good as his word and had spoken to the nurse on duty on Rae's floor and her eyes dropped back to the magazine she held in her left hand. It was far easier to hold it in her right hand, but she was determined to use both hands as much as she could, as soon as she could. Rae carefully turned the page, and as she did so she heard a sound next to her.
"Well, well, Detective Yeager, and how does it feel to be on the wrong side of the law?"
The voice was hard and full of menace and Rae turned her head sharply towards the noise, and for a moment was overwhelmed by the pain the movement caused. She cried out, and as she did so felt the call button being pulled out from under her hand.
"You won't be needing that. Now I suggest that you don't make a sound."
Rae felt the hard cold steel of a knife above her collar and under her chin, and the panic rose to the surface. "Please, what do you want? I don't know who you are."
"You don't know who I am? Oh that's right, deny my existence, just as you made him deny it."
Rae tried to look round to see if the guard had returned, and her assailant pressed the knife harder against her.
"Don't move. All the guard will see is a nurse checking on a patient. If you want to live, you will do just as I say. Understand?"
"No, I don't understand at all. Why are you doing this?" Rae desperately wanted to move, to defend herself in some way, but she couldn't. Her neck and shoulders were so painful that she knew that there was no way she could take this lunatic, and so inhaling as deeply as her injured ribs would allow, she looked into the face of the woman next to her and tried to remember who she was.
Steve had arrived at the hospital hoping to see his dad before he headed into the station. He realised that he hadn't given him a list of the locations of the drive-by shootings, and he wanted his input. He also planned to give a copy to Rae, he knew that she would have the time to ponder his problem, and knowing her she would probably solve it too.
As he walked down the hallway towards his dad's room he heard laughter coming from inside, and with a grin on his face he entered.
"Hey, stinky, how are you this mornin'?" Jo moved over to him. "Today, you can have a kiss." She pulled him towards her and felt his arms wrap round her.
"Much better now I can hear your laughter, mmm, I've missed you."
"Don't you two live in the same house?" Mark looked at the two of them and felt the happiness inside him as he saw the love in both their eyes.
"I went to the beach house last night, just to make sure everything was all right, I watered the plants, brought in the mail, that sort of thing."
"Oh, thanks, Son, I appreciate it. When you get as old and decrepit as I am you need all the help you can get." Mark was talking as if he was about ninety years old, and soon they were all laughing. Mark placed his hand over his wound, he could feel it pulling, but the laughter bubbling out of him was a welcome relief.
Suddenly the happy atmosphere was shattered as the intercom blared for security to go to room 293.
"That's Rae's room. Jo, stay with Dad." Steve drew his gun and raced out, praying that what ever was happening, he wouldn't be too late to stop it.
Rae stared at the woman in front of her, and gradually a memory came to the surface of a tearful nurse who'd had her ass chewed by Steve because she had become friendly with that man. Rae couldn't even think his name anymore. She began to speak, but her voice came out very quietly. "I know who you are."
"Oh, you remember now do you? I should kill you, but it is more fun to watch you suffer. I wonder whether I can get a front row seat for when you get the needle? Killing people is a capital offence in this state."
"I have never killed anybody except in the line of duty, never." Rae could feel the memories trying to force themselves to the front of her mind, and she pushed them back. She knew if she let them out now she would be lost.
"Oh really, how about Lee Tennant, Helen Baxter, and Cameron Posner? Then of course, there are the attacks on Jo Walters and Mark Sloan, you almost killed them too." The voice was getting colder and colder, and Rae could feel the knife as it cut through her skin, and the warm blood as it trickled down her neck and round the collar.
"No, I don't know what you are talking about." Rae could feel herself beginning to lose control, she desperately wanted to scream, surely the guard must be back by now. "Please don't do this. Arghhhhh!" Rae couldn't help but cry out as she felt a fist drive into her ribs and then an agonisingly sharp pain radiated out from the same area.
"Shut up. We only have a few minutes before that brainless guard comes back from the wild goose chase I sent her on. Now, I want you to get that stupid husband of yours up here, and then you can watch him die, just as you did Cameron Posner. I intend to destroy every part of your life, just as you destroyed mine."
As Rae heard those words she was suddenly flooded with images of a dead body on the ground by her car.
"You killed him, that poor little man who used to see Brian, you stabbed him."
"Of course I did, just like I killed the nurse, and the chef, and everybody thought it was you." The laugh that rang round her room made Rae's blood run cold.
"And Mark, and Texas, you did that too?"
"Oh, they were easy. I heard you tell that stupid old doctor that you would be late for lunch at Bob's, Bob's don't you people ever eat anywhere else? So I just killed Posner, got in my car and went and attacked the old man."
"With my knife?"
"Oh yeah, that was just so easy. You left your purse at that restaurant the night you were there with the cop. God, your husband must be thick, doesn't he realise what is going on between you and him?"
"There is nothing going on between me and him." Rae felt the knife move against her throat again and she stopped talking.
"I got your smart card and that meant I could get into your street. Without that none of this would have been as convincing. While I was watching your house a car drew up, and I knew you were having visitors. After a while you came out, I had just finished working on the station wagon and you came round the side of the house. You fiddled around with your plants and so I thought I would have a look around. That woman you call Texas almost caught me when she went out and left the patio doors open but she didn't so I went in, I found some real nice jewellery and then I saw your knives. This is a really good weapon." The voice was quiet, but Rae knew that her attacker was gloating.
Rae tried to move but it was a mistake. "Arghhh." Rae could do nothing but cry out as the knife was drawn across her throat.
"So that was everybody, three dead, one survived a road accident, and unfortunately one survived a stabbing."
"They have never hurt anyone, how could you do these things?"
"Because you had Phil arrested and then he was killed. You ruined my life, and now I am doing the same to you. Everybody that you were nice to I killed. Nobody will believe you when you tell them what I have said, and I will make sure I am never caught. I just have Doctor Travis left and then I will leave you to your fate."
Just as she was about to try to call out she heard her name being called and she froze once again.
"Rae, Honey, you have a visitor."
Alex had walked carefully down the hallway, and had been surprised to see that the guard had moved from Rae's door. He was immensely relieved. Rae wasn't going anywhere, and he knew that once she realised that the woman had gone she would be more relaxed.
Alex smiled, as he got closer to the door, he hoped that what he was about to do wouldn't be too much for Rae, but he had a feeling that it could provide her with the link to the past that she so desperately needed. He opened the door calling out as he did so. "Rae, Honey, you have a visitor."
Rae felt the pressure of the knife disappear as her assailant turned towards the sound of the voice. "You, I was coming for you next. How dare you ignore me, and go out with somebody else. You will pay for that."
Rae looked on in horror as the woman advanced on her friend. She tried to press the call button but remembered that it had gone. In despair she began to call out for someone to help her, but she was shocked into silence as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.
"What are you doing in here?" Alex tried to move back towards the door, but he was cut off, and as he turned again to put some distance between him and his attacker, he felt a sudden sharp red hot sensation and his arms went limp as he dropped his surprise for Rae, and then he knew nothing else.
Rae was suddenly jerked back to life, and as she realised who it was Alex had with him, she saw her disappear out into the hallway, and she began to scream out. "Ana, help me, please, somebody, she has taken Ana! She tried to take a breath to call out again, but it was so painful that she couldn't speak any longer."
Officer Simpkins came rushing down the hallway as she heard a noise. She had been holding on the phone for just over ten minutes for a call from her warden. When she had finally managed to speak to somebody the other end, no one had known what she was talking about. Feeling a sudden cold dread take her over she raced back to her post, just in time to hear a voice calling out in an almost hysterical way.
"…she has taken Ana!"
The officer rushed into Detective Yeager's room, and was horrified to find the body of the young doctor on the floor, a knife sticking out of his chest, and blood pooling around him. The police officer was lying on the bed, blood pouring down over her collar and then down her front, trying desperately to reach the phone on the wall. Ms Simpkins picked up the receiver, but to her dismay it was dead. "Where is your call button?" She looked at Rae, but it was obvious that she was not responding to her. The officer took her by the shoulders, shook her and to her horror the woman in the bed screamed in agony.
"Arghhhhhh, no, please don't, arghhhhh!" Rae didn't think she could take any more. She had just seen her daughter taken from her, she could feel the blood rushing down from her throat, and now someone was causing her whole body to be flooded with pain. As she cried out, she felt the merciful presence of blackness as it surrounded her.
By the time Steve arrived outside Rae's room he could see a gurney being rushed into the room, and he moved over towards the prison officer, who was sitting outside the door oblivious to it all.
"I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan, LAPD, what is going on here?"
"I only went to answer the phone, that's all I did, I just answered the phone."
Steve heard the sound of the gurney being moved backwards, and as he expected to see his partner being wheeled away, he was shocked to see the almost grey face of Alex under a mask instead. As he watched he saw Jesse come running from the other end of the hallway.
"Steve, what happened? My God, Alex. Steve, where is Eliana? Alex had Eliana with him, where is she?"
"Ana, she took Ana, that's what the Detective said, she took Ana!"
Jesse went as white as a sheet and sank down the wall to the floor where he sat hugging his knees.
"Rae, only Rae ever calls her Ana, where is she?" Jesse's voice was urgent and full of panic. He looked over at the prison officer and saw her just raise her arm and point into Rae's room. He rushed in, stopping for just a second in the doorway. "Steve, the guard is going into shock, get a gurney up and take her down to the ER, I'll see to Rae."
Rae was lying in the bed, and a nurse was just finishing the initial treatment of her wound. First of all he wasn't sure if she was conscious or not, but as he moved closer the nurse turned to him.
"She has just come round, Doctor Travis, she was unconscious when I began to treat her. I am worried about her breathing, which is very uneven, could you listen for me?
Jesse nodded, and took the stethoscope from the nurse. He could hear Rae talking quietly, but it was obvious what she was saying. It was just the one word over and over, "Ana, Ana."
"Rae?" Jesse moved a little closer, and the nurse stepped slightly away, as she did so she pressed the final gauze pad to the wound on the woman's neck, who she knew was married to the doctor now treating her.
"Jesse?"
"Shhh, I just need to listen for a moment, then we'll talk." Jesse put the stethoscope on Rae's chest, and he could hear the unmistakable sounds of a punctured lung. He turned to the nurse. "I need a ventilator in here, 100% oxygen, some Betadine, I need a 14 gauge large bore angiocath, and I want the equipment for a blood transfusion, the details are on her chart. I need chest tubes two of them; no make it three, just in case. And I want a water seal and a vacuum device."
"Three tubes?" Steve had come into the room as he heard Jesse shouting instructions.
"She has a punctured lung, there are chances of a haemothorax as well as the pneumothorax, and I don't want to have to send for more supplies once I start work on her."
"You are gonna do this here?" Steve looked on in astonishment.
"If I don't, Steve, she could be dead before I get her to the OR. Nurse, go get those supplies."
"Yes, Doctor."
"Steve, I need you to keep your hand on Rae's neck, press hard, you have to stop the bleeding." Jesse didn't look up; he knew that his friend would do as he was told.
Rae began to speak, slowly, and painfully. "Oh, God, Jesse, I remembered, I remembered it all, and then that woman, she took her, she took Ana." Rae began to cry then, hysterical sobs, which shook her pain racked body making her breathing more uneven, and Steve could feel the warmth of the blood underneath his hand. Jesse moved as close as possible, and then with a heavy heart, he took Rae gently into his arms and as he cradled her let her weep just for a moment.
Steve stood, and surveyed the scene. He needed to speak to Rae, so that he could get an APB out for her daughter, but he wasn't sure if she was up to it. Jesse had called for all that equipment, and he knew that even though Rae was conscious her condition was serious. He rested his phone on the side of the bed, and with one hand called the station and let them know that Eliana had been snatched, and that she was with an unknown Caucasian female. He told the dispatch officer that if they sent someone up to his desk there was a photo there that they could use for identification purposes. He then contacted hospital security to get the hospital locked down tight. Once he had done everything he could think of he leant over and placed his free hand on Jesse's shoulder.
"Jess, I need to speak to Rae, I know it isn't a good time, but it has to be now."
Jesse moved slightly and spoke softly to his wife. "Rae, Honey, you need to tell Steve what happened. Can you do that?"
Rae looked up into the worried eyes of her partner, and she knew that before she said anything else, she had to tell him something. "Steve, I didn't stab your dad, I promise."
"Oh, Rae, I know you didn't. But I think that you know who did don't you?"
"She stabbed Alex, and he …" Rae had to force the tears back as she concentrated on breathing. It was getting more and more difficult to get air into her lungs, but she knew that before that could be dealt with she had to tell them what happened. She watched as Jesse got up off the bed, and she tried to ignore Steve's hand on her neck.
She began to speak again, and the words were coming in gasps now. "Alex had… Eliana in his arms… he … had …brought her… to visit me, she stabbed him, and he… dropped her, I … heard her… scream out… and then she… was … she was gone." This time the tears overwhelmed her. "Steve… pl… ease… get …her… back, she …took our baby." Rae tried to take in a deep breath, she was running out of air, but she couldn't do it. "Jesse… I …can't breathe…"
Steve and Jesse watched in horror as she seemed to sink back into the pillows, and her breathing became so shallow that they could hardly hear it.