Thanks for the reviews girls. This chapter will answer a few of your
questions. (
CHAPTER 3
Against his better judgment he and Cody got her in the car and they all headed to the Donovan house. Elaina fell asleep on the way as they arrived Frank saw that the car was still there in the same location as Sab and Elaina had seen it. Frank laid his hand on her shoulder to wake her, normally that would've been enough but this time he had to shake her lightly.
"Home already?" Elaina said, as she realized where they were.
"I'll get Jake and Alex, then we'll check out the car," Frank said as he parked the car.
"I'll just stay here, you can tell me what you find. This headache is dragging me down." Elaina got out of the car and noticed someone taking her arm as she did. "Sab, I can walk on my own. I'm not dizzy anymore."
"I'm not taking any chances. Don't argue with me either I can be stubborn, too."
"You can say that again," Cody said coming up on the other side of Elaina.
Frank went in to get Alex and Jake. When Elaina and the others came in, Alex noticed how pale Elaina looked. "You look like hell. Are you okay?"
"Nothing that a little nap can't take care of." Elaina broke away from Sab and Cody and went over to the couch to lie down.
Sarah came in the room with Megan and saw her mommy lying down. She went over and crawled on top of her to lie down too. "Hi, Momma."
"Hi sweetie. Momma isn't feeling good." Sarah kept switching positions trying to get comfortable. "Can someone, please take her?" Elaina said it harshly and Frank came over to get Sarah.
"How's Daddy's princess today?"
"Okie." Sarah looked down at her mommy. "I want momma."
"Mommy's head hurts, you want to lay down Meg will take you upstairs." Frank turned to Megan. "I think that would be the wise thing to do, otherwise, she'll keep going to Elaina."
"Come on Sarah, let's go play in your room for a while and let Momma rest." Sarah protested up the stairs but soon quieted down.
"Jake, Alex, let's go check out that car. It's been there long enough, if it were broke down they would've towed it by now. Cody, Sab keep an eye on her," Frank said, becoming more worried about her as time passed.
"Don't worry we will," Sab told him as they walked out the door.
Elaina fell asleep on the couch not long afterward she started talking in her sleep. At first Sab couldn't make out what she was saying, but Elaina got clearer and louder.
"Maybe we should wake her." Cody was worried.
"No. She's just dreaming, she'll be okay. I hope."
"You can't do this to me." Elaina's arm started to twitch as if she was struggling. "I can't do it. I won't. I'll fight you. You'll never get me to." Elaina stopped abruptly. Sab quickly wrote down what she said so she could ask her when she woke up about it.
******
They approached the car cautiously. They didn't see a driver in the car until they looked in the window. The driver was lying across the front seat in a pool of blood. Alex opened the passenger side and looked in.
"He's been shot just like Burrell and Torrelli right in the center."
Frank looked at the man's face closer. "Damn," Frank said, recognizing the person.
"Someone you know?" Jake asked.
"Yeah. Simon Stanhope. Elaina and I were to have a meeting with him Friday. It has to do with one of our old cases."
"I'd say that the meeting has been cancelled," Jake said, as he called the sheriff and the coroner.
"You two stick around for the coroner, I'll go tell Elaina." Frank went back to the house to find her asleep. "How long did it take her to get to sleep?"
"She got up long enough to take something for her headache and fell asleep the minute she laid back down,." Cody told him.
"She did talk in her sleep a bit too," Sab added.
"What did she say?"
"Here I wrote it down, so I could ask her later." Sab handed him the paper. "She acted like she was struggling with someone."
"I'm beginning to worry about her. What did she take for her headache?"
"They're in her pocket." Cody pointed. Frank walked over and took the bottle out of her pocket.
"She took these earlier, then started acting different," Frank told them.
"NO! I don't want to do it. Please, I can't do it," Elaina started talking in her sleep again. "Leave me alone. Don't hurt me."
Frank sat down on the couch next to her. "Lady, wake up." He gently shook her. She didn't awaken. "Elaina!" he said it louder and smacked her face.
"Get away from me." She woke up still fighting, almost knocking him off the couch.
"Elaina, it's me, Frank." He noticed she was confused for a moment. "What were you dreaming about?"
"I wasn't dreaming anything," she snapped.
"You were talking in your sleep, you must've been dreaming about something," Sab said to her.
"Why don't you find something to do around here, other than bother me." She was being rude and Frank wasn't going to stand for it.
"You don't speak to a guest in our home, like that."
"I'll speak, anyway I see fit. Now let go of me." She struggled with him. She managed to get up and walk away from him. He took hold of her again.
"Frank, don't she didn't mean to say it. She isn't herself," Sab said, hoping to keep them from fighting.
"What do you know? Did you get a medical degree today?" Elaina snapped at her.
"Stop it, Elaina. Apologize to her." Frank spun her around to face Sab and Cody.
Elaina looked at them, her demeanor changed. "I.I'm.Sorry, I said those things to you, I really didn't mean to say them. I don't know what's happening with me, the past few days."
"I think I know. I think these have something to do with it." He showed her that he had the bottle of pills.
"Give those back. My therapist gave them to me for my stress headaches." She tried to get them back but he kept them tightly gripped in his hand.
"What therapist? Allison?"
"No, Dr. Martin. Now give them back." She tried again but Frank didn't let her have them. "Fine, keep them you have to sleep sometime. I'll get them back," Elaina assured him.
"You'll never know where I put them," Frank told her.
"You checked the car tell me what you found." Elaina changed the subject.
"Believe it or not it was Stanhope in the car. He was shot in the same manner as Burrell and his partner," Frank informed her
"Interesting, think his associate did it? Trying to frame us, by bringing him here?"
"Why would he do that?" Frank asked.
"I don't know maybe he didn't want Stanhope around anymore. Maybe he liked being in control."
"That's a good theory, but what does this have to do with Burrell?"
"Maybe they used the same hit man? You're an agent too, think of your own theory." Her character was changing again. "Could be just a vigilante following you and your team, taking out the bad guys for you." Elaina laughed.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were drunk, the way you're acting."
"Hey! I'm not the drunk in the family. That w, would b, be Ma.Maria." She had difficulty talking suddenly.
"Now you even sound drunk. There's something wrong with you. I'm going to take you to the hospital."
"Don't you thr.threat.threaten me." She turned to walk away and blacked out again.
Frank caught her and laid her down on the floor. Megan was at the top of the stairs when she saw it happen. She raced down the stairs to see what was going on. Frank noticed Elaina wasn't breathing.
"Meg, she's not breathing." They did CPR on her as Cody called for an ambulance.
"Sab, go up with Sarah," Megan said between breaths. Sab went around them, she started up the steps when she saw Sarah looking down. Sab took her back to her room.
As they were working trying to get Elaina back, Alex and Jake came in. "What happened?" Alex asked Cody.
"She blacked out." Cody was too worried to explain everything.
"Come on, Elaina, come back to us," Megan talked to Elaina as they did CPR. Elaina finally took a breath of her own. Frank checked her pulse, found it to be weak but steady. Frank took the pills from his pocket.
"Jake, take a few of these to the lab and have them analyzed. I want to know everything about them." Jake took a few of the pills and wrapped them up in a tissue. "I let you know the minute they find out."
Sirens could be heard in the distance. Megan was still talking quietly to Elaina trying to get her to wake up. Elaina opened her eyes for a few seconds but closed them again. Frank went up to check on Sarah and found Sab rocking her in Sarah's room.
"Is Elaina okay?" Sab asked as he walked over to take Sarah.
"She's breathing again but not awake." He held Sarah hugging her.
"She saw Elaina on the floor and it scared her."
"I know. It scared me too," He looked at Sarah as he said it. Sarah hugged his neck tight.
"The ambulance is here you better go. I'll try to help Meg find Derek, then Cody and I'll drive him there."
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. Princess, I have to go somewhere with Momma. You go back to Sabrina." She didn't protest; she went back to Sab and waved goodbye.
As he got downstairs he saw the paramedics checking Elaina. "Cody. Call Monica, tell her to pick up Maria."
"I already did she said they'd meet you there," Cody informed him.
"Thanks." Frank walked out with the paramedics, as they took Elaina out.
******
At the hospital Frank waited for news about his wife, Monica and Maria were there too. Maria tried to keep Frank calm but he kept getting up to pace the floor. Cody and Sab arrived with Derek. Frank took him over to the side and explained the events that led to her being there. It was close to an hour before Doctor Nathan, came out to talk to Frank. "Finally! Daniel, what's going on with her?"
"Let's all sit down, I'll explain. First of all she has suffered a mild stroke." He could feel the shock of everyone having heard the news. "She should recover fully from it. In mild cases the patient rarely has residual affects from them. Her emotions are going to be on a roller coaster when she wakes up."
"That's nothing we can't handle, she's been like before," Frank told him.
"We have done a CT scan. We found very little damage to her brain from the stroke or the lack of oxygen."
"What about the pills I gave you, what are they?" Frank asked.
"They're a mystery to me. I've never seen them before. I have the lab checking them for me."
"I had the same idea. I sent some to our lab to have them analyzed," Frank said, "When can we see her?"
"I'm having her moved to ICU, just overnight to keep a close eye on her. Then, in the morning, if all goes well, she'll be put in a private room. I only want family members in ICU, the others will have to wait until tomorrow to see her."
"We understand," Monica said for everyone.
"Is she awake, to know what happened to her?" Derek wondered.
"She's still in and out of consciousness. I doubt that she wakes up completely until morning. Whatever those pills were, her body was rejecting them which caused her black outs. If she had told me about them today, I might have been able to prevent this."
"She didn't tell me about them until today, so don't feel bad. Do you know her therapist, a Dr. Martin?"
"No, I sent her to a Dr. Vincent. I did hear that he was offered another job at UCLA, so he may have sent her to someone else. I'll have the nurse get you, when we have her settled." He turned his attention to Sab. "Miss Kells, I thought I told you to rest?"
"I'm feeling better, I wouldn't relax not knowing anything."
"I know she's your friend but she wouldn't want you stressing out more because of her. I'll have an aide check your blood pressure." He went back to be with his patient.
"You seemed to have charmed the doctor, Sabrina," Frank teased her.
"I think he's just scared Elaina would hurt him, if he wasn't nice to one of her friends," Sab said smiling.
"That's a definite possibility," Derek said.
*****
The nurse came in a while later carrying a small envelope. "Mr. Donovan this is your wife's jewelry. We had to cut her wedding ring off; her hand swelled from the stroke." She showed him the ring cut in half. "You can come with me now to see her. Family members, only two visitors at a time and fifteen minutes an hour. Those are the doctor's orders."
Frank looked at Derek and Maria. "Who's first?"
"You and Derek of course," Maria said.
"Are you sure, I can wait until later." Derek was a bit apprehensive to see his mother in her present condition.
"I'm sure, go on. If she wakes up, she'll want to see you there," Maria told him.
Cody and Sad were feeling a bit uncomfortable around Maria, so they went for a walk down the hall. Maria had been watching them closely. Frank had warned her not to bother them but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
Jake met Sab and Cody in the hall and told them what he found. Cody took the file to read on the way back to the waiting room. "We need to show this to Donovan," Cody said, still reading it.
"Maria, go get Frank for us," Alex suggested.
"What did you find out?" Maria asked Jake.
"You'll find out when he does." Jake was very cold to her.
"Stop treating me, like the dirt you walk on. I do have feelings, too," Maria snapped at him.
"What you did to Sabrina was beyond being forgiven for. I am glad you broke up with me because if you'd done that while we were together, you'd see just how angry I can get."
"I was wrong. I admit that, I'm sorry I ever did it. When I'm jealous of someone I just try to ruin their love for the other person so I can have that love for myself." Maria realized they were all staring at her. She had finally admitted why she had done what she did.
"Maria, go get Donovan, well tell you with him," Cody told her.
"Fine." Maria left but didn't return with Frank, she stayed where she felt safe.
"What did you find out Jake?" Frank took the file from Cody.
"The drug had been stolen about two months ago from a lab in Ohio. It was still in the experimental process. They were developing it for Alzheimer patients. During their studies they found that if they increased the dosage in the lab animals, they could teach them to do things quicker. It acted like a mind control substance. They've never tried it on human subjects, because it was never okayed by the F.D.A."
"Well, it has been now, unfortunately," Monica said.
"Our next move is to find this Dr. Martin that Elaina went to see," Frank said.
"Donovan, I called Andy, he's sending Dee over to take command in the morning. He wants you off the case."
"Under whose authority did you call Andy? I'm the one in charge you aren't."
"Elaina told me once, if she was ever in the hospital and you with her, as she knew you would be, to call Andy, have him decide what to do," Jake informed them.
"She ties my hands even when she can't speak," Frank said under his breath. "Ok but I'm not going to be left in the shadows. I want to know everything you find out as soon as you find it."
"We promise to keep you updated," Alex said.
"All of you go home and get some rest. You can't see her until tomorrow anyway. Sab that means you, too."
"I really don't want to go. I'm fine. They checked my pressure and it's down. I promise to relax in here as much as I can. I want to be here for Derek. You have Maria to lean on, he may need a shoulder, too."
"She won't listen to me either," Cody said, as Frank looked to him to get her to go home.
"What about Maria being here? Doesn't that bother you?"
"I'm all over that, whether she is or not. I have Cody back. That's all that matters to me about that subject," Sab told him.
"Ok, but if I see you and Maria getting into a fight, you're out of here. You got that? The rest of you go home," Frank ordered.
They all took off and Sab curled up in one of the chairs to watch TV in the waiting room. Frank went back in with Elaina, while Maria and Derek came out to let them be alone for a while. Maria sat on the opposite side of the room from Sab.
"Either of you want anything to eat or drink. I'm buying?" Derek asked.
"I'll take some coffee, so sugar," Maria said. "Sabrina, do you want anything?"
"Not right now, maybe later, Derek."
********
Frank defied the doctor's orders and spent most of the night in the room with Elaina. The only time he left was when Maria or Derek forced him to go out. Early the next morning Derek and Sab were asleep in the waiting room when Derek heard a cell phone ringing. He knew it wasn't his so he looked in Sab's bag and found it was hers. It stopped before he could answer it but saw that it was Cody on the ID.
"Sab, wake up." Derek shook her lightly to get her to wake up.
"What's wrong?" she asked still sleepy.
"Nothing. You just missed a call from Cody. I shut it off, you can't use it on this floor."
"I thought it was shut off. Thanks, I'll go call him at the payphone." Sab went around the corner to the payphone and called Cody at work.
"Hey, Cody. You went to work earlier than usual," Sab said as he answered.
"I wanted to be ready when everyone got here. Why didn't you answer your cell?"
"Can't use them on this floor."
"Oh yeah I forgot, sorry."
"That's okay. I needed to get up and walk anyway. I hope you can find out something today about the jerk that gave her the drugs."
"Me too. If she wakes up we need a description of the doctor. We all forgot last night."
"I'll see what I can do, when I get to see her or talk to Frank."
"Dee's here, I better go. Catch ya later, Angel."
"Say hey to Dee for me. Bye."
Maria had come in as she was talking to Cody. "I see that Cody didn't forget your morning wake up call," Maria said.
"True, he does call me every morning, if he can't come by." Sab figured it wouldn't hurt to try to have a civil conversation, since Derek was there.
"Yes, I remember how he came over every morning to drive you to work when I stayed with you. That's a mistake I'll ever make again."
"I didn't think you could keep it civil. You had to make a comment to try to start a fight. Guess what, it isn't going to work," Sab stated as she went for a walk down the hall.
******
Frank had sat down in the chair next to Elaina's bed and put his head down next to her hand to rest but he fell asleep. Elaina started to wake up a few minutes later. She was confused at first as to where she was. She heard the heart monitor above her and it clicked that she was in the hospital.
She turned her head to the side to see Frank asleep next to her. She tried to move her hand but couldn't. 'Must be asleep too.' She thought, trying again to move it. She tried to call out to him but found that difficult as well. She cleared her throat to try again but couldn't. Her trying to talk woke Frank; he saw that she was getting frustrated and about to panic.
"Lady, don't worry, you'll be okay." He held her left hand; she tried to hold his but was barely able to move it. "You had a mild stroke. Daniel said you'll be okay in a few days."
Elaina started to cry. Frank walked to the other side of the bed, to sit down to hold her. She realized that she was able to move her right hand. She tapped him on the shoulder and he pulled back from her. She signed to him having to spell out words that she needed both hands for.
She asked Frank, 'What happened to me?'
"The pills you were given by the therapist, you were seeing caused it."
'How?' She signed.
"We can talk later when you're stronger. You're going to be fine," Frank assured her, then he saw her sign something else.
'Don't let Derek see me like this.'
Frank saw in her eyes how upset she was. "He's been here all night. He knows what happened. He's handling it."
"I.I'm.not! Elaina managed to speak.
"Ok. I'll ask him to stay out for a while, until you get adjusted to this."
"I.love.you." She smiled at being able to say it to him.
"I love you too, Lady. You're doing pretty good at talking."
She reached up to touch his face and then his lips. "Kiss."
"I think, I can handle that request." Frank leaned in over to kiss her. She didn't want to stop. He finally broke the kiss.
"Nice."
"Like that did you? I did too." Frank gave her another kiss as the doctor walked in.
"Well! I guess I don't need to ask how you feel. Glad to see you awake."
"She hasn't talked much, she does sign one handed though," Frank told the doctor as he moved from the bed.
"I guess you better stick around in case she signs for me." The doctor took hold of her hand. "Squeeze it as much as you can." Elaina concentrated on her hand being able to move it more than she had when Frank held it. "Not bad. You'll get better at it with practice," he encouraged her.
He pulled the sheet up over her feet. He checked her reflexes by running a depressor down each foot. She pulled the right foot up away from him, the left she barely wiggled. He then tested her sensitivity by sticking her left foot with a pin.
"OW!" she didn't have to sign it.
"Felt that, did you?" The doctor grinned at her. She returned a not so nice gesture to him. "No need to translate that sign. I've seen it on the highway. I think that's a first though for the hospital."
"Elaina, be nice and put the bird back in its cage," Frank laughed and so did Elaina.
"That's a good sign that she can laugh. I'm going to have a physical and speech therapist come in to work with her later. The sooner we get her started, the quicker she'll be back to normal."
"She's never been normal, Daniel," Frank said teasing her.
"Sh.shut up," Elaina managed to say.
"Keep talking, it will do you good. Sign only if you have trouble with a word. Frank, if she can't say a word write it down, so the speech therapist can work with her."
"I can do that," Frank said, as the doctor went out.
"Frank."
"Yes, Lady?"
"M.my ri.ring," She stuttered but manages to say it.
"I have it. They had to cut it off when your hand swelled. Don't worry, I'll get you a new one."
"Let's see it," She told him. Frank took the ring from his pocket and showed her. "Keep it."
"I'm not parting with it." He placed it back in his pocket. She had tears in her eyes again, he wiped them away, then sat and held her until she fell asleep.
*****
Back at the nest Dee was settling into her job as leader. She had been second in command on a few assignments but never leader. She was both thrilled and a little scared. She found the files for the case they were to go over. She walked back downstairs seeing that everyone had made it there on time.
"Ok, we know that the three targets from the two cases were shot in the same manner. Ballistics show that it was probably the same gun, so we know it was probably the same person. We also know that Elaina was given an experimental drug that was stolen two months ago. That means that the doctor was either an impostor or was being paid for some reason to give it to her. Have I missed anything?" Dee asked.
"Elaina said before she collapsed, that maybe it was the same hit man that did the murders or a vigilante," Cody told her.
"We have the address of the office. Jake, Cody, go over there see if you can find anyone that knows what this Dr. Martin looks like in case Elaina can't tell us. There maybe prints in the office, so check that and any security cameras in the vicinity."
"We'll do our best," Cody said grabbing his jacket.
"Monica, find out how many Dr. Martins, there are with the AMA. Hopefully there are a few that are Psychiatrists."
CHAPTER 3
Against his better judgment he and Cody got her in the car and they all headed to the Donovan house. Elaina fell asleep on the way as they arrived Frank saw that the car was still there in the same location as Sab and Elaina had seen it. Frank laid his hand on her shoulder to wake her, normally that would've been enough but this time he had to shake her lightly.
"Home already?" Elaina said, as she realized where they were.
"I'll get Jake and Alex, then we'll check out the car," Frank said as he parked the car.
"I'll just stay here, you can tell me what you find. This headache is dragging me down." Elaina got out of the car and noticed someone taking her arm as she did. "Sab, I can walk on my own. I'm not dizzy anymore."
"I'm not taking any chances. Don't argue with me either I can be stubborn, too."
"You can say that again," Cody said coming up on the other side of Elaina.
Frank went in to get Alex and Jake. When Elaina and the others came in, Alex noticed how pale Elaina looked. "You look like hell. Are you okay?"
"Nothing that a little nap can't take care of." Elaina broke away from Sab and Cody and went over to the couch to lie down.
Sarah came in the room with Megan and saw her mommy lying down. She went over and crawled on top of her to lie down too. "Hi, Momma."
"Hi sweetie. Momma isn't feeling good." Sarah kept switching positions trying to get comfortable. "Can someone, please take her?" Elaina said it harshly and Frank came over to get Sarah.
"How's Daddy's princess today?"
"Okie." Sarah looked down at her mommy. "I want momma."
"Mommy's head hurts, you want to lay down Meg will take you upstairs." Frank turned to Megan. "I think that would be the wise thing to do, otherwise, she'll keep going to Elaina."
"Come on Sarah, let's go play in your room for a while and let Momma rest." Sarah protested up the stairs but soon quieted down.
"Jake, Alex, let's go check out that car. It's been there long enough, if it were broke down they would've towed it by now. Cody, Sab keep an eye on her," Frank said, becoming more worried about her as time passed.
"Don't worry we will," Sab told him as they walked out the door.
Elaina fell asleep on the couch not long afterward she started talking in her sleep. At first Sab couldn't make out what she was saying, but Elaina got clearer and louder.
"Maybe we should wake her." Cody was worried.
"No. She's just dreaming, she'll be okay. I hope."
"You can't do this to me." Elaina's arm started to twitch as if she was struggling. "I can't do it. I won't. I'll fight you. You'll never get me to." Elaina stopped abruptly. Sab quickly wrote down what she said so she could ask her when she woke up about it.
******
They approached the car cautiously. They didn't see a driver in the car until they looked in the window. The driver was lying across the front seat in a pool of blood. Alex opened the passenger side and looked in.
"He's been shot just like Burrell and Torrelli right in the center."
Frank looked at the man's face closer. "Damn," Frank said, recognizing the person.
"Someone you know?" Jake asked.
"Yeah. Simon Stanhope. Elaina and I were to have a meeting with him Friday. It has to do with one of our old cases."
"I'd say that the meeting has been cancelled," Jake said, as he called the sheriff and the coroner.
"You two stick around for the coroner, I'll go tell Elaina." Frank went back to the house to find her asleep. "How long did it take her to get to sleep?"
"She got up long enough to take something for her headache and fell asleep the minute she laid back down,." Cody told him.
"She did talk in her sleep a bit too," Sab added.
"What did she say?"
"Here I wrote it down, so I could ask her later." Sab handed him the paper. "She acted like she was struggling with someone."
"I'm beginning to worry about her. What did she take for her headache?"
"They're in her pocket." Cody pointed. Frank walked over and took the bottle out of her pocket.
"She took these earlier, then started acting different," Frank told them.
"NO! I don't want to do it. Please, I can't do it," Elaina started talking in her sleep again. "Leave me alone. Don't hurt me."
Frank sat down on the couch next to her. "Lady, wake up." He gently shook her. She didn't awaken. "Elaina!" he said it louder and smacked her face.
"Get away from me." She woke up still fighting, almost knocking him off the couch.
"Elaina, it's me, Frank." He noticed she was confused for a moment. "What were you dreaming about?"
"I wasn't dreaming anything," she snapped.
"You were talking in your sleep, you must've been dreaming about something," Sab said to her.
"Why don't you find something to do around here, other than bother me." She was being rude and Frank wasn't going to stand for it.
"You don't speak to a guest in our home, like that."
"I'll speak, anyway I see fit. Now let go of me." She struggled with him. She managed to get up and walk away from him. He took hold of her again.
"Frank, don't she didn't mean to say it. She isn't herself," Sab said, hoping to keep them from fighting.
"What do you know? Did you get a medical degree today?" Elaina snapped at her.
"Stop it, Elaina. Apologize to her." Frank spun her around to face Sab and Cody.
Elaina looked at them, her demeanor changed. "I.I'm.Sorry, I said those things to you, I really didn't mean to say them. I don't know what's happening with me, the past few days."
"I think I know. I think these have something to do with it." He showed her that he had the bottle of pills.
"Give those back. My therapist gave them to me for my stress headaches." She tried to get them back but he kept them tightly gripped in his hand.
"What therapist? Allison?"
"No, Dr. Martin. Now give them back." She tried again but Frank didn't let her have them. "Fine, keep them you have to sleep sometime. I'll get them back," Elaina assured him.
"You'll never know where I put them," Frank told her.
"You checked the car tell me what you found." Elaina changed the subject.
"Believe it or not it was Stanhope in the car. He was shot in the same manner as Burrell and his partner," Frank informed her
"Interesting, think his associate did it? Trying to frame us, by bringing him here?"
"Why would he do that?" Frank asked.
"I don't know maybe he didn't want Stanhope around anymore. Maybe he liked being in control."
"That's a good theory, but what does this have to do with Burrell?"
"Maybe they used the same hit man? You're an agent too, think of your own theory." Her character was changing again. "Could be just a vigilante following you and your team, taking out the bad guys for you." Elaina laughed.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were drunk, the way you're acting."
"Hey! I'm not the drunk in the family. That w, would b, be Ma.Maria." She had difficulty talking suddenly.
"Now you even sound drunk. There's something wrong with you. I'm going to take you to the hospital."
"Don't you thr.threat.threaten me." She turned to walk away and blacked out again.
Frank caught her and laid her down on the floor. Megan was at the top of the stairs when she saw it happen. She raced down the stairs to see what was going on. Frank noticed Elaina wasn't breathing.
"Meg, she's not breathing." They did CPR on her as Cody called for an ambulance.
"Sab, go up with Sarah," Megan said between breaths. Sab went around them, she started up the steps when she saw Sarah looking down. Sab took her back to her room.
As they were working trying to get Elaina back, Alex and Jake came in. "What happened?" Alex asked Cody.
"She blacked out." Cody was too worried to explain everything.
"Come on, Elaina, come back to us," Megan talked to Elaina as they did CPR. Elaina finally took a breath of her own. Frank checked her pulse, found it to be weak but steady. Frank took the pills from his pocket.
"Jake, take a few of these to the lab and have them analyzed. I want to know everything about them." Jake took a few of the pills and wrapped them up in a tissue. "I let you know the minute they find out."
Sirens could be heard in the distance. Megan was still talking quietly to Elaina trying to get her to wake up. Elaina opened her eyes for a few seconds but closed them again. Frank went up to check on Sarah and found Sab rocking her in Sarah's room.
"Is Elaina okay?" Sab asked as he walked over to take Sarah.
"She's breathing again but not awake." He held Sarah hugging her.
"She saw Elaina on the floor and it scared her."
"I know. It scared me too," He looked at Sarah as he said it. Sarah hugged his neck tight.
"The ambulance is here you better go. I'll try to help Meg find Derek, then Cody and I'll drive him there."
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. Princess, I have to go somewhere with Momma. You go back to Sabrina." She didn't protest; she went back to Sab and waved goodbye.
As he got downstairs he saw the paramedics checking Elaina. "Cody. Call Monica, tell her to pick up Maria."
"I already did she said they'd meet you there," Cody informed him.
"Thanks." Frank walked out with the paramedics, as they took Elaina out.
******
At the hospital Frank waited for news about his wife, Monica and Maria were there too. Maria tried to keep Frank calm but he kept getting up to pace the floor. Cody and Sab arrived with Derek. Frank took him over to the side and explained the events that led to her being there. It was close to an hour before Doctor Nathan, came out to talk to Frank. "Finally! Daniel, what's going on with her?"
"Let's all sit down, I'll explain. First of all she has suffered a mild stroke." He could feel the shock of everyone having heard the news. "She should recover fully from it. In mild cases the patient rarely has residual affects from them. Her emotions are going to be on a roller coaster when she wakes up."
"That's nothing we can't handle, she's been like before," Frank told him.
"We have done a CT scan. We found very little damage to her brain from the stroke or the lack of oxygen."
"What about the pills I gave you, what are they?" Frank asked.
"They're a mystery to me. I've never seen them before. I have the lab checking them for me."
"I had the same idea. I sent some to our lab to have them analyzed," Frank said, "When can we see her?"
"I'm having her moved to ICU, just overnight to keep a close eye on her. Then, in the morning, if all goes well, she'll be put in a private room. I only want family members in ICU, the others will have to wait until tomorrow to see her."
"We understand," Monica said for everyone.
"Is she awake, to know what happened to her?" Derek wondered.
"She's still in and out of consciousness. I doubt that she wakes up completely until morning. Whatever those pills were, her body was rejecting them which caused her black outs. If she had told me about them today, I might have been able to prevent this."
"She didn't tell me about them until today, so don't feel bad. Do you know her therapist, a Dr. Martin?"
"No, I sent her to a Dr. Vincent. I did hear that he was offered another job at UCLA, so he may have sent her to someone else. I'll have the nurse get you, when we have her settled." He turned his attention to Sab. "Miss Kells, I thought I told you to rest?"
"I'm feeling better, I wouldn't relax not knowing anything."
"I know she's your friend but she wouldn't want you stressing out more because of her. I'll have an aide check your blood pressure." He went back to be with his patient.
"You seemed to have charmed the doctor, Sabrina," Frank teased her.
"I think he's just scared Elaina would hurt him, if he wasn't nice to one of her friends," Sab said smiling.
"That's a definite possibility," Derek said.
*****
The nurse came in a while later carrying a small envelope. "Mr. Donovan this is your wife's jewelry. We had to cut her wedding ring off; her hand swelled from the stroke." She showed him the ring cut in half. "You can come with me now to see her. Family members, only two visitors at a time and fifteen minutes an hour. Those are the doctor's orders."
Frank looked at Derek and Maria. "Who's first?"
"You and Derek of course," Maria said.
"Are you sure, I can wait until later." Derek was a bit apprehensive to see his mother in her present condition.
"I'm sure, go on. If she wakes up, she'll want to see you there," Maria told him.
Cody and Sad were feeling a bit uncomfortable around Maria, so they went for a walk down the hall. Maria had been watching them closely. Frank had warned her not to bother them but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
Jake met Sab and Cody in the hall and told them what he found. Cody took the file to read on the way back to the waiting room. "We need to show this to Donovan," Cody said, still reading it.
"Maria, go get Frank for us," Alex suggested.
"What did you find out?" Maria asked Jake.
"You'll find out when he does." Jake was very cold to her.
"Stop treating me, like the dirt you walk on. I do have feelings, too," Maria snapped at him.
"What you did to Sabrina was beyond being forgiven for. I am glad you broke up with me because if you'd done that while we were together, you'd see just how angry I can get."
"I was wrong. I admit that, I'm sorry I ever did it. When I'm jealous of someone I just try to ruin their love for the other person so I can have that love for myself." Maria realized they were all staring at her. She had finally admitted why she had done what she did.
"Maria, go get Donovan, well tell you with him," Cody told her.
"Fine." Maria left but didn't return with Frank, she stayed where she felt safe.
"What did you find out Jake?" Frank took the file from Cody.
"The drug had been stolen about two months ago from a lab in Ohio. It was still in the experimental process. They were developing it for Alzheimer patients. During their studies they found that if they increased the dosage in the lab animals, they could teach them to do things quicker. It acted like a mind control substance. They've never tried it on human subjects, because it was never okayed by the F.D.A."
"Well, it has been now, unfortunately," Monica said.
"Our next move is to find this Dr. Martin that Elaina went to see," Frank said.
"Donovan, I called Andy, he's sending Dee over to take command in the morning. He wants you off the case."
"Under whose authority did you call Andy? I'm the one in charge you aren't."
"Elaina told me once, if she was ever in the hospital and you with her, as she knew you would be, to call Andy, have him decide what to do," Jake informed them.
"She ties my hands even when she can't speak," Frank said under his breath. "Ok but I'm not going to be left in the shadows. I want to know everything you find out as soon as you find it."
"We promise to keep you updated," Alex said.
"All of you go home and get some rest. You can't see her until tomorrow anyway. Sab that means you, too."
"I really don't want to go. I'm fine. They checked my pressure and it's down. I promise to relax in here as much as I can. I want to be here for Derek. You have Maria to lean on, he may need a shoulder, too."
"She won't listen to me either," Cody said, as Frank looked to him to get her to go home.
"What about Maria being here? Doesn't that bother you?"
"I'm all over that, whether she is or not. I have Cody back. That's all that matters to me about that subject," Sab told him.
"Ok, but if I see you and Maria getting into a fight, you're out of here. You got that? The rest of you go home," Frank ordered.
They all took off and Sab curled up in one of the chairs to watch TV in the waiting room. Frank went back in with Elaina, while Maria and Derek came out to let them be alone for a while. Maria sat on the opposite side of the room from Sab.
"Either of you want anything to eat or drink. I'm buying?" Derek asked.
"I'll take some coffee, so sugar," Maria said. "Sabrina, do you want anything?"
"Not right now, maybe later, Derek."
********
Frank defied the doctor's orders and spent most of the night in the room with Elaina. The only time he left was when Maria or Derek forced him to go out. Early the next morning Derek and Sab were asleep in the waiting room when Derek heard a cell phone ringing. He knew it wasn't his so he looked in Sab's bag and found it was hers. It stopped before he could answer it but saw that it was Cody on the ID.
"Sab, wake up." Derek shook her lightly to get her to wake up.
"What's wrong?" she asked still sleepy.
"Nothing. You just missed a call from Cody. I shut it off, you can't use it on this floor."
"I thought it was shut off. Thanks, I'll go call him at the payphone." Sab went around the corner to the payphone and called Cody at work.
"Hey, Cody. You went to work earlier than usual," Sab said as he answered.
"I wanted to be ready when everyone got here. Why didn't you answer your cell?"
"Can't use them on this floor."
"Oh yeah I forgot, sorry."
"That's okay. I needed to get up and walk anyway. I hope you can find out something today about the jerk that gave her the drugs."
"Me too. If she wakes up we need a description of the doctor. We all forgot last night."
"I'll see what I can do, when I get to see her or talk to Frank."
"Dee's here, I better go. Catch ya later, Angel."
"Say hey to Dee for me. Bye."
Maria had come in as she was talking to Cody. "I see that Cody didn't forget your morning wake up call," Maria said.
"True, he does call me every morning, if he can't come by." Sab figured it wouldn't hurt to try to have a civil conversation, since Derek was there.
"Yes, I remember how he came over every morning to drive you to work when I stayed with you. That's a mistake I'll ever make again."
"I didn't think you could keep it civil. You had to make a comment to try to start a fight. Guess what, it isn't going to work," Sab stated as she went for a walk down the hall.
******
Frank had sat down in the chair next to Elaina's bed and put his head down next to her hand to rest but he fell asleep. Elaina started to wake up a few minutes later. She was confused at first as to where she was. She heard the heart monitor above her and it clicked that she was in the hospital.
She turned her head to the side to see Frank asleep next to her. She tried to move her hand but couldn't. 'Must be asleep too.' She thought, trying again to move it. She tried to call out to him but found that difficult as well. She cleared her throat to try again but couldn't. Her trying to talk woke Frank; he saw that she was getting frustrated and about to panic.
"Lady, don't worry, you'll be okay." He held her left hand; she tried to hold his but was barely able to move it. "You had a mild stroke. Daniel said you'll be okay in a few days."
Elaina started to cry. Frank walked to the other side of the bed, to sit down to hold her. She realized that she was able to move her right hand. She tapped him on the shoulder and he pulled back from her. She signed to him having to spell out words that she needed both hands for.
She asked Frank, 'What happened to me?'
"The pills you were given by the therapist, you were seeing caused it."
'How?' She signed.
"We can talk later when you're stronger. You're going to be fine," Frank assured her, then he saw her sign something else.
'Don't let Derek see me like this.'
Frank saw in her eyes how upset she was. "He's been here all night. He knows what happened. He's handling it."
"I.I'm.not! Elaina managed to speak.
"Ok. I'll ask him to stay out for a while, until you get adjusted to this."
"I.love.you." She smiled at being able to say it to him.
"I love you too, Lady. You're doing pretty good at talking."
She reached up to touch his face and then his lips. "Kiss."
"I think, I can handle that request." Frank leaned in over to kiss her. She didn't want to stop. He finally broke the kiss.
"Nice."
"Like that did you? I did too." Frank gave her another kiss as the doctor walked in.
"Well! I guess I don't need to ask how you feel. Glad to see you awake."
"She hasn't talked much, she does sign one handed though," Frank told the doctor as he moved from the bed.
"I guess you better stick around in case she signs for me." The doctor took hold of her hand. "Squeeze it as much as you can." Elaina concentrated on her hand being able to move it more than she had when Frank held it. "Not bad. You'll get better at it with practice," he encouraged her.
He pulled the sheet up over her feet. He checked her reflexes by running a depressor down each foot. She pulled the right foot up away from him, the left she barely wiggled. He then tested her sensitivity by sticking her left foot with a pin.
"OW!" she didn't have to sign it.
"Felt that, did you?" The doctor grinned at her. She returned a not so nice gesture to him. "No need to translate that sign. I've seen it on the highway. I think that's a first though for the hospital."
"Elaina, be nice and put the bird back in its cage," Frank laughed and so did Elaina.
"That's a good sign that she can laugh. I'm going to have a physical and speech therapist come in to work with her later. The sooner we get her started, the quicker she'll be back to normal."
"She's never been normal, Daniel," Frank said teasing her.
"Sh.shut up," Elaina managed to say.
"Keep talking, it will do you good. Sign only if you have trouble with a word. Frank, if she can't say a word write it down, so the speech therapist can work with her."
"I can do that," Frank said, as the doctor went out.
"Frank."
"Yes, Lady?"
"M.my ri.ring," She stuttered but manages to say it.
"I have it. They had to cut it off when your hand swelled. Don't worry, I'll get you a new one."
"Let's see it," She told him. Frank took the ring from his pocket and showed her. "Keep it."
"I'm not parting with it." He placed it back in his pocket. She had tears in her eyes again, he wiped them away, then sat and held her until she fell asleep.
*****
Back at the nest Dee was settling into her job as leader. She had been second in command on a few assignments but never leader. She was both thrilled and a little scared. She found the files for the case they were to go over. She walked back downstairs seeing that everyone had made it there on time.
"Ok, we know that the three targets from the two cases were shot in the same manner. Ballistics show that it was probably the same gun, so we know it was probably the same person. We also know that Elaina was given an experimental drug that was stolen two months ago. That means that the doctor was either an impostor or was being paid for some reason to give it to her. Have I missed anything?" Dee asked.
"Elaina said before she collapsed, that maybe it was the same hit man that did the murders or a vigilante," Cody told her.
"We have the address of the office. Jake, Cody, go over there see if you can find anyone that knows what this Dr. Martin looks like in case Elaina can't tell us. There maybe prints in the office, so check that and any security cameras in the vicinity."
"We'll do our best," Cody said grabbing his jacket.
"Monica, find out how many Dr. Martins, there are with the AMA. Hopefully there are a few that are Psychiatrists."
