Chapter Eight

Chris awoke with such a start that he caused the nurse that was checking the printouts on his ECG machine to jump in surprise. He bolted upright in the white hospital bed, no paying any attention to the various tubes protruding from his arms and scanned the room intently, confused yet aware, looking for the woman that had haunted his dreams for the past hours. Chris found himself alone in the room aside from the nurse, who was studying him with a strange expression on her face; Jessie was no where to be seen, which did nothing to ease his troubled mind. Though he knew that she was in good hands, he had seen to that before he let the doctors take him to the emergency wing of the hospital, that knowledge didn't make him feel any better, didn't release the tension and worry that his latest spring of nightmares had pressed upon him. He dreamed that he and Jessie were back in the woods but they had somewhere become separated and she had been taken again....

"Sir, are you all right?" The nurse's words brought Chris out of his reverie and caused him to look over at her. That was when he noticed the various instruments he had been hooked up to and the bandages covering his stomach and lower torso, which had begun to throb again.

He leaned back against the sea of pillows he had been resting upon and sighed. "I'm fine." Chris muttered and on second thought added, "Do you if there's a Jessica Burlingame in any of the rooms in the hospital?"

The nurse studied him blankly for a moment before saying, "I'll have to check, is she a relative of yours?" She looked doubtful but asked anyway.

Chris considered for a moment. "Yes, she's my cousin." He knew they wouldn't check if they didn't share blood, he had learned that much in pre-med school. The nurse lingered for a moment before retreating out of the room either to check up on his request or to push it off and go about her other duties.

It was then that he felt something beneath his right hand other then the coarse bedsheets. Curious, Chris picked up the object and found that it was a folded sheet of paper; even before opening the folded note, he could see the familiar handwriting scratched against the paper. A cold pit of dread begun to sneak its way into his stomach.

Dear Chris-

I don't really know where to start with this note so I'm just going to get to the point; by the time you read this, I might all ready be back, who knows? I had to go back to the woods, Chris... I don't really expect you to understand but I had to. You're probably furious at me, or worried for me, but you don't need to be, this time I know what I'm doing. If I'm not already back by the time you read this -who knows how long it'll be before you wake up- I'll be back soon.

Love always, Jess

Chris read the note twice before letting it flutter onto his chest; for a long time he could do nothing but stare at the blank wall in front of him, trying to collect his thoughts, to process what he had read. A part of him willed the words to be all a misunderstanding, that they weren't true after all but he knew that everything that he read was the truth. He could tell by the way Jessie's handwriting wasn't as even as it usually was that she was going to go through with her plan, even though she was scared but whatever was driving her back into the woods overrode her fear. It was almost as though, as she had been writing the last couple words of the letter, she hadn't even been sure she was making a promise.

After his disbelief passed, Chris found himself filled with anger, that was driven more by fear for the woman he loved more then anything else. How could she be so stupid? How could she be stupid enough to go back and face the men that had killed so many people alone, without anything more then the tattered shoes on her feet and sweat-stained clothes she had on her back? Why hadn't she waited for him? Why had she gone alone?

I don't really expect you understand, but I had to, Jessie's note had read and he realized she was right. He didn't understand and he would have done everything in his power to keep her from leaving his side ever again, especially to embark on such a foolhardy mission.

Chris pressed the note against his chest and closed his eyes deeply, praying that he would see Jessie again.

* * *

The back of Jessie's head felt hot and sticky when she woke and she moved her hands to touch it with her fingers, but a sharp pain bit into her wrists when she tried to do so. That was when she became fully awake and fully aware of just where she was; she was tied with barbed wire to the bed frame in the woodsy cabin just like Chris had been hours earlier. The room was still bathed in shadows but she could tell she was alone, aside from the assortment of rusted and rotted furniture but Jessie was too dizzy to fully comprehend that fact.

Groaning, she leaned herself back as far as she could possibly go, until her back was resting against the dusty ground, while her shoulders and head were held up by the wire. The last thing she remembered was discovering that the safety on the police officer's gun was on and that she wasn't able to defend herself from the murderous mountain men, whom had no doubt knocked her unconscious and tied her up. Her brilliant had gone down the tubes faster then she could even blink and here she was, in a mess that she had no way of getting out of. How can I get out? Jessie questioned herself, angry at her blunder. Chris is in the hospital and no one knows where to look for me. I'm going to die. Though she had thought those last words many times in the past hours, this time they seemed much more realistic; this time, it seemed more possible then she was going to die then she wasn't.

"Stupid." Jessie grumbled to herself, trying to take her mind off the pounding pain in the back of her head. Why had she gone without waiting for Chris? Maybe he would have understood. Maybe she should have just gone to the police.

Jessie let her eyes roam across the room, trying to find anything she could use to advantage. Her eyes settle on something that made her coil up in shock and revolution, two emotions that she had never expected to experience when seeing her little sister. However, she couldn't help herself from experiencing a wave of nausea at the sight of her sister's headless corpse, which lay only feet across from her, the head laying off to one side of the body. Jessie squeezed her eyes shut tightly and turned her head away, unable to feel anything but the sensation that she was going to throw up. One of her sister's eyes had gone missing.

* * *

Chris looked toward the doorway when the nurse reentered, already knowing what she was going to say before she opened her mouth to speak. Jessie was gone, this was not new knowledge. "I'm sorry, sir, Jessica Burlingame has left the hospital; one of the nurses is looking for her right now but it appears that she's simply vanished. Her clothes are gone and her room is empty." She informed him.

With a sigh, Chris nodded his head and rested it upon the pillows behind him; all he could think about was Jessie, and how he could get to her. "Miss, I really need to check out now. I think I'm well enough to go back to my own house." He knew it wasn't going to work, but it was worth a try anyway. Jessie had pulled a jailbreak, he was going to have to pull one too; however, he knew he wasn't strong enough to even stand on his own two feet at the moment.

The nurse actually managed to chuckle at his remark. "I don't think so, Mr. Flynn, you're still too weak from loss of blood to go anywhere." She shook her head and headed out of the room once again.

"Jessie," Chris mumbled to the empty room. "Hold on."