"Kid, you've got to eat more than that," Bobby said with a shake of his head as he followed Noah out of the cafeteria. 'Vannah had already finished her food and headed down to the gift shop and Cosmo was off somewhere trying to track down Richard Kimble for advice.
"Not really hungry, Bobby," Noah said quietly. He had thought about Catherine; worry about how she was doing and how Sam was holding up had haunted him through the whole meal, putting a real damper on his appitite. "Besides, you ate enough for all of us put together. You know, there are other people here that might have appreciated it if you had left some food for them." He chuckled lightly. How in the world could he have ever forgotten what Bobby was like with food, Cosmo's wardrobe, Sam..... He had missed them, had missed them so much.
"Kid, a good strong breeze could blow you away." Bobby shook his head as he looked at Noah. "What have you been doing for the last three years to get so skinny? You were thin before but...."
"I chased kids, Bobby. Chased lots and lots of kids." Noah shook his head as he thought of it. Wonder if the kids had heard about his memory returning yet? He had to admit that he would kind of miss the kids when he went home despite the trouble that they could cause. Just then he heard a soft patting noise coming down the corridor. He glanced up as a girl, tiny with long brown hair swinging loose, came down the hall carrying a large tray covered with donuts. "What do you know. Here comes one of the kids now. Hey, Cindy, shouldn't you be at home in bed?"
"Power failure. Electricity was out forever and there's a wedding tommorrow at noon. Well, there's a wedding at noon if Father Murphy gets himself back to the rectory by then. Sister has no idea where he's wandered off to. No one's in bed over at my place. Daddy said we had to clean out everything so he'll have space to redo wedding stuff." The girl shook her head as she held out the donuts. "Want them? School's closed tommorrow and I think Vice Principal Dunbar's about to have a breakdown. The superintendent made him bring the leftover meatloaf over to donate and he's just waiting for someone to drop dead now."
"Tell your dad thanks, Cindy. And anyone who gets poisoned by that meatloaf has only themselves to blame. They shoud have thought before eating," Noah said as he reached out and took the donuts. Sam would definitely like them if he could be persuaded to eat. "You have a ride home, right? You shouldn't be out so...."
"Tim's around somewhere. Since someone ate all of the meatloaf," the girl shook her head. Wonder when they were going to find that corpse. "The superintendent decided to clean out all of the freezers at school and donate the stuff. Tim's helping Vice Principal Dunbar hide it all before there's a mass poisoning. Are you really a US Marshal? Can the superintendent be arrested for that? Donating poisoned food to disaster victims?" The girl paused for a moment, spotting someone down the hall. "Got to go. You can drop by tommorrow if you want to. If Father Murphy doesn't show up, Daddy's going to have plenty of wedding food that will need eating."
"Nice kid," Bobby said slowly as the girl hurried away, reaching out as he talked and snagging a donut, while mulling over the odd invitation she'd issued Noah.
Noah rolled his eyes. "Nice because she's alone. They normally travel in herds. Leave the chocolate ones alone, okay? If Sam's able to eat...."
"Cosmo Renfro, Bobby Biggs, Savannah Cooper, Noah Newman, please report to ICU. Cosmo Renfro, Bobby Biggs, Savannah Cooper, Noah Newman, please report to ICU." The two men stopped short as they heard the announcement blaring over the intercom. Their postures announced their shock.
"Catherine," Noah whispered, horrified, looking over at Bobby for a moment before the two men turned and headed for the elevators at a dead run, meeting 'Vannah and Cosmo there, Cosmo beating frantically on the elevator UP button. If anything had happened to her.... Noah felt tears starting to sting his eyes as the elevator doors parted and they all piled in. He had to have done something, missed something. If anything happened....
"Awww, no," Cosmo whispered as they stepped out of the elevator a few moments later only to see the door to Catherine's room opening as the priest exited. "Cath...." His fault, it was his fault if she was gone. Yelling at Noah, threatening to.... Sam would never forgive him, he'd never forgive himself. Cosmo hung his head. This couldn't be happening.
"She's prepared now," Father Murphy said quietly as he approached the group. "Her transition will be peaceful. Is there anything else that I can do to help?"
The marshals couldn't say anything, just stared at the old priest for a moment before 'Vannah shook her head and they all went rushing into Catherine's room. Prepared, he said Catherine was prepared. Did that mean that she wasn't gone yet? Maybe....
"Sam?" Noah whispered as they entered, shock filling his eyes at the sight of his boss. Sam was holding Catherine's hand, gently stroking her fingers, seemingly calm but the expression on his face as he looked up at his "kids" one of fear. Fear? Noah didn't think anything could frighten Sam Gerard.
"Sam, it's okay." 'Vannah moved to their boss's side, reaching out and laying a hand on his shoulder. The machines Catherine was connected to were still steadily beeping. Priest or not, that had to mean something. "What happened?"
"Last rites. He gave her last rites." His voice was hoarse, rough, even to his own ears. Sam closed his eyes for a moment to try to get control back. No one had told him, why hadn't they told him that Catherine was.... No, he wouldn't let her go, wouldn't let her leave him, not if he had to fight every step of the way to keep the life in her body.
"Kimble's getting ahold of a specialist in New York now to see if there's something else that they can do for her. He's flying in himself, as soon as he can get a plane. I told him I'd arrange a Marshal Service plane for him. Already made the call." Cosmo stared at Catherine for a moment, fear almost overcoming him as well. His fault, this was his fault. If she.... There had to be something, anything that they could do to fix this. Catherine couldn't die. "She's not going anywhere. We aren't going to let her."
"And Father Murphy being here doesn't really mean anything," Noah said slowly, not really sure if it did or not but knowing that they needed to get Sam calmed down somehow. "You know, he delivered a sermon once on sexual sin. You would never think an elderly priest would have read the Kama Sutra, would you? Only problem was that he was supposed to be conducting a christening at the time. Bet he got the room mixed up or something and gave last rites to the wrong person. She's going to be fine, Sam. She's going to be fine." As Sam bent over Catherine, planting a shaky kiss on her forehead, the marshal team glanced at each other apprehensively, and hoped that Noah was right.