Chapter 8
Steve sat on a chair next to the bed that contained his wife. They had managed to get her transferred into a room. All her clothing that she had on had been taken the police forensic team, hoping for some kind of clues. Every now and again Rachel would whimper and toss on the bed and strained against the restraint that still held her. At these times Steve would lean forward and stroke his wife's hair and talked gently to her until she settled down again. Mark watched his son do this time and time again and had finally turned and left the room he sat in the nearest chair and buried his face in his hands. Jesse who had been just about to go in to Rachel's room spotted him, coming up to him he put his arm around Mark.
"Mark," He said. The older man looked up at him a haggard expression on his face. "I'm sure that she is going to be fine, the latest bloods have come back and show a marked decrease of the drugs in her system,"
"What about kidney and liver function?" He asked worried about the damage the drugs had done to those organs.
"A definite improvement," He said. Mark relaxed back into the chair. It had been one major concern that he hadn't shared with his son. Ever since they had found out about the cocktail of drugs she had been given, damage to her liver and kidneys had been a major concern. Now the drugs were disappearing the function was improving.
"Thank god," He said softly. Jesse looked at him.
"You didn't tell him did you?" Jesse asked. Mark shook his head. Jesse frowned.
"No Jesse," Mark answered him. " There was nothing any of us could do anyway,"
Turning back up the corridor they saw Cheryl and Jack making their way towards them.
"How is she?" Jack asked concerned.
"Improving at last," Jesse answered. Jack sigh with relief. "What have you managed to find out?" Jack gave a quick grin.
"Quite a bit," Mark stood and led them all into an empty room next to the one Rachel was in.
"Well?" He asked quickly.
"Don't you think that we should let Steve know all this as well?" Cheryl asked.
"No!" Mark said firmly. Both Jack and Cheryl looked surprised, but Jesse knew where it was coming from. "If I have my way Steve will be spending his time with Rachel and not running after the people who did it. I don't intend to let him make the same mistake that I made, " Jack looked surprised, but Jesse mouthed I'll tell you later, so he let the subject drop.
"Anyway Peters and Sawyer us took back to the place where they found her," Cheryl said. "We had a good look around and found where they had kept her," Mark smiled for what felt like the first time in days.
"What did you find?" He asked quickly.
"Forensic is still going over the place," She told them. "But what we did find was a tape,"
"A tape?" Jesse asked slightly confused. Jack nodded.
"They made a copy for us so the original can be examined," his eyes clouded. "It doesn't make for pleasant listening,"
"There's a tape deck in my office," Mark told them.
By the time they had reached Mark's office Amanda had joined them.
"I couldn't take sitting at home anymore," She told them "so I took the kids to my mothers,"
"Including Mollie?" Jack asked surprised. Amanda nodded and smiled.
"Yes," She told him. "She said it would be nice to have a nice quite little girl as well as two rowdy boys," Jack laughed.
"Doesn't know Mollie that well then," He said with a grin.
"Hey that's not fair she's always as good as gold with me," Jesse said indignantly.
"Only because you spoil her," Jack told him. Mark listened with a slight smile, this banter had been missing for time that Rachel was missing, and although there was still a lot to be done it was good to hear it back again. He sat behind his desk while Jack put the tape in the player.
"This isn't pleasant;" He warned and pressed play.
By the time the tape had finished Amanda sat with tears rolling down her cheeks, Jack had gone and put his arm around her and she buried her head into his shoulder. Jesse sat pale faced and angry his fists flexing at his sides. Mark sat with tears in his eyes and pale faced. Cheryl got up and ejected the tape.
"It's obviously made up you can hear it," She said, her voice subdued.
"Yes," Jesse said. "But with the cocktail of drugs they gave her, she probably wouldn't have noticed,"
"Oh the thought that she might believe what they made it seem like we said," Amanda cried fresh tears making their way down her cheeks.
" I don't think that she did honey," Mark told her. "Other than Jesse's black eye, she trusts us,"
"And that was more because of the needle," Jesse said. Mark sighed.
"At least we knew what they were trying to do to her now," He said sadly.
"Yeah," Jack sighed. "Get her so mixed up that when they did let her go,"
"She'd find the nearest river," Jesse said from between clenched teeth.
"But it doesn't make any sense," Cheryl said.
"Oh yes it does," Mark said to her. She gave a puzzled frown. " The drugs they gave her all break down in the system after death," Cheryl's eyes narrowed and her face turned angry.
"So somebody wanted her dead and tired to make out that she committed suicide?" Mark nodded.
"Someone obviously didn't want to get his or her hands dirty," Jack said.
" I'll keep on forensic," Cheryl said. "I'll let you know if they come up with anything else," She turned and left the room.
"Mark are you going to tell Steve about the tape?" Amanda asked quietly.
"I'll have to," He said reluctantly. "She may remember it;" He sighed and looked at the tape in his hands. "But not yet," and he slipped the tape into his desk draw.
Mark returned to Rachel's room, when he walked in he saw his son dozing in the chair. Seeing him asleep made Mark realise just how tired he felt himself.
"Steve," He gave his son a slight shake. His eyes came open immediately,
"Rachel?" He asked. Mark gave a small smile to his son.
"She's going to be fine," He told him. Steve eyes narrowed.
"No permanent damage?" He asked. Mark gave a slight shake of his head, surprised that his son had picked up on what they hadn't told him.
"How?" He asked.
"It didn't take much working out dad, I know that some drugs can damage internal organs," Mark smiled at his son.
"Liver and kidneys are starting to work normally again," Steve sighed with relief. "Listen I know that I won't stand a chance to get you to go home and get some sleep, so why don't I get the porter to bring up a cot so you can at least get some decent sleep," Steve gave a grin at his father.
"Sure," Mark gave a smile and left but returned a moment later with blankets and the promised cot came a few minutes later. He stretched his self-out on it.
"I'll be in my office," Mark told him. Steve gave a grin he was not the only one who really should be at home sleeping. Mark smiled back knowing exactly what his son was thinking. With a final check on Rachel's charts he left them both to sleep.
Steve woke up suddenly, he knew something had woken him but for a second his sleep muddled brain wouldn't work properly. He glanced over at the bed and he shot to his feet immediately, there was another man in the room, he had one hand over the struggling Rachel's mouth and in his other hand he held a syringe. Steve surged off the cot in blind fury and took the shocked man by surprise. He grabbed the hand with the needle and pulled it back away from Rachel. As his other hand came away from the mouth Rachel's scream pierced the air. Steve by now had got the man on the floor with his hand twisted behind his back; he planted one foot securely on his other hand. Steve then used his free hand to pull out his gun, which planted squarely in the back of the struggling mans head. He heard the sound of footsteps running up to the room.
"Give me a damn good reason why I shouldn't blow your brains out right now," He said between clenched teeth.
