Chapter 4

Just try to stop me...

That particular thought played over and over in Vaughn's head as he went to find Sydney.

Absolutely no one could stop him from seeing her again.

He walked cautiously into the examining room that Brian had said she'd be in and spotted her right away. For the third time that day, he stopped and simply gazed at her constantly worrying that none of it was real, that she wasn't real. She was sitting quietly on the edge of the examining table, hands in her lap, staring out a window with her back to the rest of the room.

She looked so defeated.

This wasn't the same person that he'd known three months ago, he could read that person like a book. The person sitting on that bed only feet away was like a stranger to him, but he knew in his heart that he loved her, no questions asked.

She didn't hear him come in, she just sat there, shoulders hunched and her hair covering the majority of her face as if she was trying to hide. He remembered that she had told him once that having her hair in her face bothered her quite a bit, today it was like a security blanket.

He walked up behind her and rounded the table, he then gently grasped her hand. Vaughn was surprised when she didn't even flinch, she just sat there and continued to stare out the window.

Maybe she had known he was there after all.

They both sat, hand in hand, staring out the window until Brian found them a half an hour later. Vaughn sighed and reluctantly went over to him in the doorway.

'Can she leave yet?' he asked Brian.


'Yeah, but I really don't like it Mike.' Brian said pointing his finger at Vaughn punctuating the words.
'Here is my cell phone number if she has any trouble at all, I mean it, any trouble. She is definitely going to need a psych evaluation but I'd rather not do that here, we'll figure that out later. For the time being she needs fluids badly, we given her some through IV but she has a long way to go. She also needs some food if she can handle it and she is well past the point of exhaustion, so here are some sedatives that will get her some deep, hopefully uninterrupted, sleep.' Brian explained.

Vaughn was paying attention to him and he nodded to show that he had heard him but his eyes never left Sydney. Suddenly, his brain got the better of him.

'Is she OK Brain?' he asked quietly.

'Eventually, she'll be physically fine, is that what you mean?' Brian replied.

When Vaughn didn't answer, Brian knew what he had meant.

'I really don't know Mike. I tried to talked to her while I bandaged her up but she just stared out that window the whole time.' Brian said with a small sigh.

Vaughn thanked him for all he had done, then Brian left the room with a nod.

A million thoughts went through Vaughn's mind as he tried to decide what to do next. His main concern was her so he headed back over and touched her lightly on the arm. She didn't respond so he ended up having to call her name a couple of times as well. She looked up at him with confusion but recognition quickly pushed it's way into her eyes.

'We can go now that you are all fixed up.' he said gently knowing full well that she was so far from being all fixed up.

When he said this, the look of relief that crossed her face was evident. She all but jumped off the table and ran across the room. He had to hurry to catch up to her but when he did, she had that death grip on his hand again. He pulled that hand out of hers and wrapped his arm around her shoulders careful not to hurt her again. She laid her head against his chest and grabbed his other hand instead as Vaughn thought to himself,

It's going to be a long night.