Code Blue

Don heard the cars pull up outside his temporary home. He hadn't planned to still be so close to the house when the garage exploded, but that idiot Lee had come back, fussing on about how they were in big trouble, telling him that the cops would be here much sooner than they had thought.  Now they were both sheltering in the small shed at the bottom of the garden where Crosier had kept his recycling. Recycling, Don thought, the man recycled everything, papers, cans, women, his woman. I bet he only did it for the returns. His hands were in tight fists, and he wished that he could hit something or someone, without calling attention to their presence in the garden.

The noise of the explosion died away slowly, and for a moment there was deathly silence, then the air was filled with the sound of people in pain, and car alarms.

Steve and Rae had clung to each other as the noise and horror overtook them. For a minute or two they had no thoughts except to keep each other safe from harm, but as the world came back to some sort of normality around them they both realised at the same time what had happened.

"Jesse, Texas, oh God, Steve, we have to go." Her words seemed to spur them both into action and they leapt out of the car and rushed towards the garage. The sight that met their eyes when they pushed their way through the shattered gate stopped them immediately.

Ron was leaning against the wall to the house next door. He had blood pouring from a wound on his temple, and as Rae crouched down in front of him she was concerned that he didn't seem to be aware of her. "Ron? Ron, can you hear me?" There was no response and Rae shrugged herself out of her jacket and placed it over him to keep him warm.

She pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and dialled 911, and then moving over to where Steve was crouched by the side of another agent she began to speak. "This is Detective Yeager, we have officers down at 387 Murietta Avenue, there has been an explosion and we have officers down. This is a Code Three, repeat, Code Three" Rae listened for a minute and then shut her phone off and put it away.

"Steve?"

He looked at her and his face was lined with grief. "They're all alive, but the shrapnel has hurt them pretty bad."

Rae cast her eyes over the fallen agents and then she saw Cheryl and Martin huddled together, both of them with blood coming from numerous wounds, and she wished that she had something else to cover her friends with. As she carried on looking round her in horror she called out again.

"Steve, look, my God, look at the garage!" Rae's gaze took in the pile of rubble that was all that was left of the building where they had hoped to find their loved ones. The brick and wooden structure had been raised to the ground, and there were piles of burning wood spread around. She moved closer to the front of the structure and let out a gasp. "Steve, come here, now, right now!"

There was something in her tone that made her partner leave the man he was tending and run to her side. He was so scared that he didn't really know what to do, but her voice left him no choice but to go closer.

"Steve, look." Rae pointed down to a pile of bricks and Steve felt sure his heart would stop as he saw his wife's arm sticking out of the rubble.

"Rae, I … I can't."

"Steve, we can't just leave her here, we have to dig her out… STEVE!" Rae screamed at him, but still her partner just stood as still as a statue, and Rae knew that she had to get him back to her quickly or he would go into shock and be of no use to anyone, and she knew that she couldn't do this alone.

"Rae… what … what if it isn't attached to her?"

Rae moved over to where he was standing, carefully negotiating the fallen wood, and bricks that the garage had been made of. "Then we have to take her home just the same, come on, Partner, we'll check her together." She took his hand and pulled him back the way she had come, stamping down a small smouldering piece of wood as she did so, and then crouching down once again she gently took her best friend's hand into her own and felt for a pulse. With a deep sigh she looked up into the haunted eyes of the man standing over her. "She's alive, Steve, her hand is warm, but her pulse is weak."

Steve seemed to be jolted back to reality and he began to move the debris that covered his wife, and as he did so Rae heard a sound that momentarily rooted her to the spot.

"Rae … Rae, help me." The voice was faint, but it was Jesse's, and checking quickly that Steve was now at least functioning she carefully clambered across towards the noise.

"Jesse, Honey, keep talking." The air was silent though, except for the sounds of crackling, burning wood, and with an increasingly heavy heart Rae made her way to the back of the piles of rubble. As she did so there was a slight glint in the sunlight and she saw a metal pole with a chain wrapped around it and she knew that her husband was at the end of those links somewhere. Not stopping to think about how she was actually going to manage it, Rae began to pull the pieces of brick and burning wood from around the pole. She didn't even realise the size of some of the chunks she pulled and pushed aside, didn't take in the fact that she was moving wood that was still alight. Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was probably just a few minutes Rae saw the first strands of blood matted blonde hair, and with a cry began to work even harder.

Steve had been working on automatic pilot until he too found hair underneath his fingertips, the feel of it, even through the dust that covered it, made a lump form in his throat. The next piece of timber that he moved revealed her face to him and, unable to stop it, a sob escaped him and he became frantic, needing to remove every piece of her prison so that he could take her into his arms, could hug and hold her, could save her.

Rae lifted a plank of wood that seemed, amazingly, to be unscathed, and Jesse looked up at her. His eyes were open and as he saw her he let out a sigh. "You're here."

"Of course, my darling, where else would I be?" Rae blinked back the tears as she saw his eyelids flicker and close, and then she heard a shout.

Steve had just got Jo into a position where he could hold her, talk to her and just keep her near to him until help arrived when he was aware of a movement in the very edge of his vision. He turned and to his horror and fury he saw Don Werner moving quietly across the end of the yard, making for the fence into the next garden.

The precious seconds he used up carefully lowering Jo to the ground were ones he would never regret but they gave his prey the chance to get over the first hedge, and with a roar Steve raced after him.

"You son of a bitch, get back here!" Steve almost vaulted the first barrier, closing in on his prey quickly. Werner was much bigger than he was, but that was a disadvantage. Steve was tall, but he was agile and he was strong and fit. The fences between the yards didn't pose any problem for him and by the time he had landed in the third garden he was on top of the vice cop. He launched himself and took the man out, landing on him. "That's my wife, you did that to." Steve was sent staggering backwards as his quarry pushed himself up from the ground, swinging round as he did so, Steve raised his fist and hurled it into Don's face, and then was sent sprawling as the larger man punched him viciously in the gut. Steve wasn't about to let him get away and he bounced back kicking Werner in roughly the same place that he had himself been hit and, as the man staggered backward, he brought both fists down on the back of his neck and then punched him again in the face as the man fell like a stone, his head hitting the ground as he did so.

Steve stood over him, punching him first one side of the head then the other, his vision was blurred by the blood pounding through his brain, and the memory of his wife, bloodied and half dead in the remains of the garage.

"You bastard, if she dies, I'll kill you!"

"Steve… STEVE!" It was Cheryl's voice that finally got through to her ex-partner but he kept on hitting and hitting Don Werner, seemingly unable to stop even as he felt her hands pull back on his arms. "I think you have him." Cheryl tried to keep a tight hold but Steve dragged himself out of her grasp and kept on ramming his fists into the fallen man's face. "Steve, Jo needs you … now."

At the mention of his wife's name Steve dropped his arms, turned and saw the compassion in her eyes. She handed him a set of cuffs and he hauled the man up by the collar, just high enough to flip him over, and then with his foot in the middle of his back Steve restrained him.

"Help me, Cheryl; I have to get … Jo …"

"I know, Steve, I know." She wiped her sleeve across her face, and for the first time Steve noticed the blood and the wounds that she had on her.

"My, God, Cheryl, you're hurt, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, but we need to get him back." As Cheryl began to think about how to get their large prisoner across three hedges the rear door to the house whose garden they were in opened and a small, extremely frightened looking, elderly woman came out.

"Get that man out of my yard! I don't want him here a minute longer."

"Yes, Ma'am, we plan to do just that may we take him through your house?" Cheryl got her ID out, and tried to clean her face on the sleeve of her top.

"Certainly not! But you may take him round the side and through the front gate," the woman glared at the three of them as they made their way up the garden path and around the house.

Rae had watched her partner take off after the man responsible for the situation they found themselves in, and wished that she could follow him, but she needed to stay with Jesse, his breathing was so shallow, and his pulse, when she had finally found his wrist, was almost non-existent. Rae had manoeuvred herself so that she could rest Jesse's head in her lap and still carefully remove some of the rubble that covered him.  She had been talking softly to him the whole time, almost in a world of her own, but as she pulled aside a blackened piece of lumber that was full of jagged edges she saw the gate open and Don Werner was shoved unceremoniously into the driveway.

Steve looked around as he moved the vice cop into the back yard of Crosier's place and then as his eyes took in the shattered garage once more he stopped and with fear and horror in his voice called out. "Rae!"

As she heard her partner call her name Rae felt the unmistakable pressure of a gun against the back of her head.

"Detective, I don't want to use this, but there ain't no way I'm goin' down, now drop him and stand up." Leroy Raab was surprised at how steady his voice and his hand were and, as his new hostage didn't move, he jabbed the barrel of the gun hard into her neck grabbing her hair in his other hand and pulling her to her feet. "Drop your gun."

"Jesse!" Rae couldn't help but call out as she saw him fall, the injured arm she had just uncovered smacking against the bricks as it fell.

"He's half dead already, now drop your gun and move!" The revolver was jabbed again and Leroy was relieved to see her begin to do as she was told.

Rae carefully moved away from where she'd had to let Jesse drop to the ground. She knew that Steve and Cheryl were aware of what was happening to her, but no one else seemed to be conscious enough to come to her aid. In the distance she heard the sound of a siren and knew that there would be medics or cops or fire-fighters here, all risking being shot if she didn't do something, soon.

"Move quicker." Leroy was getting twitchy, he was trying to keep his hands from shaking, and as he got in line with the house he moved back against the wall so that no one could take him out from behind.

"Lee, let her go. There is no way you will get away with this, let her go." Steve's voice was confident and strong. He and Cheryl had their weapons drawn now, and both were aiming at him.

"If you shoot so will I. Steve, I gotta do this, I can't go to jail, man, and I don't want to die."

"I don't want you to die either, but I will shoot, Lee, I can't let you take her." Steve took a step further but stopped as he saw the gun move in Lee's hand.

Rae felt it and for a moment she stopped walking, she felt it slightly unbalance her captor, so she raised her foot and, moving it backwards, pushed herself off of the wall behind her. As she did so she felt the gun move away from her neck and the sound of shooting, then as she fell she knew nothing else.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The ER at Community General had been quiet, but as word came through of the explosion in Van Nuys they braced themselves for the rush to come. Mark and Alex sent down for all the supplies that they knew they would need, they put a call through to Wil Collins and, leaving the family party he was attending, he came straight into work. By the time they had everything in place the first ambulance had pulled up and medics were wheeling in two of the injured FBI agents.

Amanda and Daniel had been called, but Mark had explained about the explosion, and although she was desperately worried about Ron, Amanda had taken the boy to the doctor's lounge to wait until Mark or Alex came and got them.

The first two agents had been checked over and admitted; Jackson Manning had been looked at and sent straight to the OR, the piece of charred wood that had pierced his chest needing surgical removal. Ron had regained consciousness as the medics had been carefully putting him onto a gurney, and much to his disgust Alex had taken one look and said, "Admit him."

As Alex and Mark had both exited trauma suites at the same time one of the nurses on duty moved across to them, a look of worry and concern on her face. "Doctor Sloan, I just got word, the next ambulance has your daughter-in-law in it."

For a moment Mark closed his eyes, but then he refocused and nodded his head. "Thank you, have her sent straight to Trauma One." Mark moved across to the water cooler, poured himself a drink, took a sip and tried to mentally detach himself from what he was about to see. He heard the sound of the gurney before he saw it and, listening intently to the medic wheeling it in, he headed towards the emergency room.

Alex looked round for Steve, he had expected him to be right next to Jo as she arrived, and his absence was worrying him. The thoughts were sent out of his mind as the next gurney arrived, and he looked down at the unconscious form of his friend and colleague. He looked to the medic and began to listen.

"The patient has a temperature of 104.5; he has swelling and edema in his right arm, where there are three wounds. The patient appears to be suffering from shock and infection…There are crush injuries to his left leg but both were trapped for roughly thirty minutes… He's a great guy, Doctor Martin, he needs you right now." The young medic watched as Alex nodded his head and moved with the gurney into Trauma Three. Then shaking his own head the medic moved over to get himself a drink before returning to the street for the rest of his shift.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Steve had watched as first Jo then Jesse were put onto gurneys and wheeled away to waiting ambulances. He desperately wanted to go with one or other of them but knew that he had to finish up a few things first. He tried to call through to his dad but was told that he was tied up, and so, not thinking to leave a message, he just closed down his phone and returned to where Cheryl was watching Martin being treated by a medic.

"Cheryl, is he all right?" Steve placed a hand on her shoulder, he wanted to check on Rae too, but the look on his friend's face worried him.

"I … I don't know, Steve, he was struck on the back of the head by something, and he has been out cold ever since. They … they need to help him … breathe before they move him … Steve, I … I have to go with him."

"I know, you go, I'll … I'll be along in a minute, ok?" He saw Cheryl nod her head, and then as Martin was gently laid on yet another gurney he watched her move away with the man she loved.

The body of Leroy Raab had been removed and was lying inside a body bag waiting to be moved to the Community General morgue when the living had been dealt with. Steve looked at the shape covered over in black and sighed, they hadn't been really close, but he and Lee had been colleagues in vice, and had kept in touch, but now he had killed the man and whatever else had happened he felt the weight of guilt from his death added to every other emotion he was feeling.

Rae was still lying on the ground waiting to be treated. She had his jacket rolled up under her head, and Steve could see a large bruise coming up on her forehead. A medic who he recognised as one of the men who had taken the first two FBI agents to the hospital came up to her at a run and then crouched down beside her.

"What's her name?" he looked over to Steve.

"Reagan or Rae."

"Reagan, can you hear me?" The young man placed his hand over her wrist as he spoke, feeling for a pulse, "Reagan."

To the relief of both men Rae began to stir slightly. She opened her eyes, but even Steve could see that they were very unfocused. "I need you to look at me, can you do that?"

"What? No, I have … I have to get to Jesse." Rae began to move, but everything began to swim round her, and the little colour she had in her face drained away. Steve moved in closer to her and placed his hand over hers.

"He's already at the hospital." Steve had no idea whether Jesse had arrived or not, but he knew that he would be there before Rae was. "Alex will be looking after him, Rae, Rae, can you hear me?"

There was no response from his partner and Steve looked anxiously at the medic next to him. "She'll be all right, her pulse is steadier all ready, but I think she took a real hard knock, and she has some nasty burns." He indicated with his hand and a gurney was wheeled across towards them.

"Yeah, she had a … she had a dead body knock her to the ground."

"Oh. I guess it was pretty hairy here for a while?"

"It was. It definitely was that."

"Lieutenant." Steve was jolted from the memories that had momentarily threatened him by the voice of his boss. He turned to see Captain Newman moving across the driveway towards him. "Why are you still here? You should be at the hospital getting checked over and your wife …" For a moment his voice failed him. Maybe his man was still here because Jo Sloan was dead.

"Dad is with her, Sir. I wanted to make sure that Werner was taken away, and I knew that Jo would be in the ER and surgery for a long time before I could see her …and … I … I just let her go." Steve felt the little energy he had left leave him, and he swayed where he stood.

"I need a medic here, now!" Newman's voice was hard and loud, and before he knew it Steve was being loaded into an ambulance, a mask on his face and a blood pressure cuff on his arm.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Amanda and Daniel had sat in the doctor's lounge for over an hour when, unable to stay still any longer, he had burst out of his seat. "Amanda, please, go see what's happening, I need to know if they found my mom in time."

She looked at him and Amanda felt her heart go out to him. Daniel was a tall slim boy, and he had changed so much in the time that he had lived with Jo and Steve. She remembered the picture that Alex had shown her after the hold up at Lewis's Store had resulted him in doing time. He'd had a lot to do with the rescue of this young man. The eyes in that picture had been haunted, he had been hunched up and scared, even though he and Alex had been shooting hoops with some other at-need kids who were in the group home with him after he was released from juvenile hall. Amanda could see the scene in her mind, and knew that if they hadn't been in the background of the picture all grinning inanely Daniel could have been waiting for a firing squad. But now, even in this terrible situation, he was a tall, self confident, polite young man with a future, she just hoped and prayed that the future still contained a dad and mom who loved and cared for him.

"Amanda?"

"You stay here though, ok? I'll go check." Amanda placed a hand on his arm as she went past. She wanted to know about Ron, but hadn't liked to leave the boy before he was ready to be alone. She had called her sitter and arranged for her to stay overnight with CJ and Dion, explaining a little of what happened, and asking her to let them know that even though Ron was staying in the hospital he would definitely be all right. Her thoughts took her all the way to the desk in the ER and she indicated for one of the nurses on duty to come over to her.

"I need to know how Jo Sloan is … and Ronald Wagner too."

"Yes, Doctor Bentley. Mr. Wagner is in x-ray right now, and then he will be admitted room 459, intermediate care unit, Mrs. Sloan is still in with Doctor Sloan, but he just called out for an OR, so I don't think she will be in there for much longer."

"How about Doctor Travis?" Amanda knew that Jesse was seriously ill, and part of her dreaded hearing any news about him.

"Doctor Martin has called for an OR too, and … and he called a Code Blue, he had a crash cart taken in a little while ago."

"Oh, God." Amanda's hand covered her mouth, and then she looked around.

"Rae … where is Mrs Travis?"

"Ma'am?" The young nurse looked at her.

"Detective Yeager, Mrs Travis, they're the same person." She hadn't meant to snap but her words came out in a quick, hard stream.

"She is being brought in right now."

"Being brought in, she's hurt?" Amanda saw the nurse nod her head, she should have guessed, Rae was always in the centre of things, and even if Ron had handcuffed her to his car, she was sure that her friend would have made her way to Jesse, one way or another. "And Lieutenant Sloan?"

The nurse went to speak but was interrupted by the phone ringing beside her; she reached out without even looking, and put the receiver to her ear. "Community General, Emergency Room… Yes, Sir, please hold." The nurse moved the receiver down a little. "Doctor Bentley, Lieutenant Sloan is on here." The young woman, looking as if a ghost had appeared, handed over the phone.

"Steve? … No, she's still with your dad, but she is going to the OR any minute … Honey, why aren't you here? … Oh … no, no he's here, but he needs either you or your dad or someone with him right now… Well, then you stay right where you are and I'll keep him with me… I'm sure you'll find me … bye." Amanda handed back the telephone and then smiled at the nurse. "Lieutenant Sloan is also being brought in, very reluctantly I might add. Don't let him come in search of me or his son until he has been treated, ok?"

"Yes, Doctor." The nurse shook her head, she hadn't been working in the hospital for long, but she already knew that Steve Sloan could be a very difficult patient.

Mark watched as Jo was wheeled away from him and down to surgery. He had been amazed by the job that Jesse had done on her finger, and apart from cleaning and re-dressing it he hadn't had to do anything to it. He had given her anti-biotics, she had been hooked up to an IV and he had stitched a deep but relatively clean lesion in her arm, but the thing that was worrying him the most was the wound on the back of her head where hair had been ripped out, and the shrapnel wounds on her back which he knew had been caused when the garage had exploded around her.

From what Mark could tell the building had been made not only of brick but also wood and it had turned into a million small burning arrows as the explosive had detonated. Jo's back was covered in small abrasions and burns, which would gradually heal themselves, but she also had two large pieces of wood which were imbedded in her, it was also obvious that she was suffering from shock, exposure and dehydration. There had been a long slit down his daughter-in-law's body that had caused his anger to flare. The after effects of what had happened to Jo would be long lasting, and the scar that would be left from her neck to her navel would be a terrible daily reminder of what had occurred. Mark had cleaned all the dirt and dust out of the wound, and he hoped that the anti-biotics would prevent infection, but he wasn't convinced that he had done enough. He had, however, managed to stabilize her sufficiently that he was happy she would survive the surgery, but she would need to be kept on a ventilator in the ICU for the next twenty four hours at least.

As Mark turned he was surprised to see Rae come into the ER, a mask over her face, which was swollen on the left side, and a warm blanket over her. He diagnosed immediately that she was suffering from shock, but that didn't surprise him, he knew that the explosion would have shocked most people at the scene, and Rae and Steve had more reason than most to be traumatised by what had happened.

As Wil Collins made his way over to Rae's gurney Mark smiled and was about to check with the desk to see how many more people were still to come when he saw Martin Robertson with Cheryl along side him being rushed through and straight on down towards the trauma suite closest to the OR. The doors opened and closed on the young detective, and Mark watched as Steve's old partner seemed to deflate as she lost sight of her love.

"Cheryl, Sweetie, let me look at you, come on." Mark put an arm around her and guided her towards the room he had just vacated.

"Doctor Sloan, your son is on the way in; Doctor Bentley said I wasn't to let him go anywhere until he had been seen too."

Mark had stopped in his tracks as he heard the nurse begin to speak, but as he heard the end of her explanation the smile returned to his lips. He knew that his son wasn't in too bad a way if he needed to be restrained, and so he just nodded and carried on into his room, calling over his shoulder as he did so. "You have my permission to use whatever means you think best to keep him still, nurse." The doors shut behind him and he didn't see her look of worried shock as she realised what he had just said.

Alex felt a sigh of relief leave his body as he was told that an OR was now free, and he looked down at Jesse once more. Twice he had nearly lost him, and even now he wasn't anywhere near as stable as he would like, but he needed to be in surgery before anyone attempted to clean up both his arm and his head. Alex had expected to see the angry and desperate wound on his friend's arm, but the sight of exposed flesh on his head where the hair had been pulled away had been a shock to him. As he had worked Alex had sent out a call for the best plastic surgeon that he knew, a man called Marlon South, he had trained with him when he had been an intern, and had been amazed by the way he worked. The man was meticulous, taking far longer over his patients than any of the case studies that Alex had read through suggested. The after care had also been second to none, and he knew that if anyone could help his friend then it was Doctor South.

The crush injuries had been bad too, and Jesse would be either bedridden or dependent on people for quite a while. Jesse had crashed for the first time just after the call had been made, and for a few minutes Alex had thought that he wouldn't be able to bring him back. He knew that his system was flooded with toxins; he was suffering from severe shock, as well as exposure and dehydration. Alex had found himself getting almost aggressively angry as he had watched an orderly carefully take his time over cutting through the metal collar that his friend had been forced to wear, and if the marks left by it were anything to go on, tortured with. When he had finished his job the orderly had moved on to do the same thing to Jo. The delay had been unavoidable, but Alex knew that it could be fatal. Jesse was a gentle guy, when he was with Rae or his two daughters he was as kind and loving a man as you could hope to meet. When Alex had been training at Community General he had watched him work under the most harrowing of circumstances without ever losing his sense of humour or treating the patient as anything other than the most important person to him in the world at that moment. To think that another human being could have done this to him. Alex had looked at the blood-covered body in front of him; Jesse was, as he imagined Jo was in the next room, covered in wounds caused by the explosion, and Alex knew that it would be a long and difficult road for his friend before he was able to be back treating patients rather than being one himself.

As the orderly took Jesse out of his room Alex heard the sound of Steve's voice, and even amidst all the horror and trauma he had seen that afternoon he couldn't stop a laugh escaping him, and then he went out to see if he could rescue the nurse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dane had stayed with Debbie Gardiner and David Walters, even after Amanda had taken Steve and Jo's son with her to the hospital. He wanted desperately to be with his own son, but wasn't sure how Rae would receive him. When he heard that she too had been injured and would have to be admitted he had excused himself and driven straight to the hospital.

By the time he arrived in the ER his son was in surgery, and his daughter-in-law had been taken up to her room. The nurse who was on duty in admissions told him that Rae could be found in room 120 and so, with a smile in her direction, he had headed for the elevator.

There had been a police guard on the door to Rae's room, but even when he had explained who he was and why he was there, the young officer had refused to let him in. So now, he found himself sitting in the hallway waiting to be with a woman who, until yesterday, he had never met, knowing that she would need someone with her when she awoke.

As he sat there he heard a throat being cleared behind him and he turned to see the young doctor he had seen at Jesse's house looking at him.

"Hi, Mr Travis, how are you holding up?" Alex looked at the man who had practically accused his patient of having an affair with him and wondered what sort of reaction he would get. He also wondered why he was sitting in the hall, but decided to ignore that.

"I'm good. I'm worried about Jesse and Rae… Doctor …" Dane looked at the badge on Alex's coat. "… Martin, can you tell me how she is?"

"It's Alex, and she has a concussion which will keep her out of action for a few days and her hands were badly burnt, but apart from that she's just plain exhausted. I know she hasn't been sleeping, and I'll bet she hasn't been eating either. She's had a traumatic time, but she'll come out of it. I'm inclined to let her sleep until her body wakes her up. That maybe just a few hours, it may even be a few days. If Jesse needs her I will come get her, otherwise I plan to let her be."

"I see, and Jesse?  I know that the prognosis isn't as good there is it?"

"No, Sir, it isn't. But you already worked that out didn't you?"

Dane nodded, and the two men moved a little way away from the guard and before Alex had a chance to speak Dane asked him another question. "Can you get me past that man, so I can sit with Rae?"

Alex smiled and moved over to where the uniformed officer was standing, had a quiet word with him and then smiled. "That is no problem; your name is now on Rae's list."  Then knowing that nothing but the truth would satisfy the man in front of him Alex began to talk again.

"Your son is dangerously ill. He has a condition which is called toxic strep, and that can be fatal. He also has three areas which are gonna require skin grafts, and he has crush injuries to his legs. When he comes out of surgery he'll be placed in ICU, on full ventilation. It will be a very long road for him and he's going to need a lot of help."

"Yes, I understand that. Doctor Martin … he will come out of surgery won't he?"

Alex was thoughtful for a moment, and then he looked the man in the eye. "I don't know, Sir, we may have got to him too late to save him."