Part 7 Reactions
Steve drove into the hospital parking lot and headed for his usual space before remembering his resolution from the night before. He turned the wheel and headed up a couple of floors to park on one of the upper levels. It was still early and the lot was largely deserted so he had his choice of spaces. He pulled in randomly and headed into the building. A short discussion had decided that he should come in alone whilst Mark dealt with their guest. They couldn't really abandon Nurse Johnson alone at the Beach house. So, despite his strong desire to accompany his son, Mark had agreed to wake her and wait until she was dressed before following Steve to the hospital, taking the opportunity to check the chapter posting to the web site.
As Steve walked into the building, he did his best to try to work the kinks out of his aching muscles. It must have been around 3am when he had finally fallen asleep over the files on the table and his cell had rung at a little after 6. He yawned and rolled his shoulders again, trying not to grimace at the stiffness.
It took him less than five minutes to reach the ER and locate the storage room which was taped off and guarded against prying eyes. It was the second time in only a few days that a body had been found in this section of the hospital and the atmosphere spoke of fear and confusion. The staff who were occupied tried to temper their curiosity and get on with their work. Those who were not, could not help but speculate on what had happened. Mark's briefing from the previous evening, warning some nurses that they may be in danger, coupled with the fact that many had read Jesse's story, fuelled the discussions, that were rapidly connecting the events.
The conversation dropped to hushed whispers as he passed, and, even in his sleep deprived state, he could not fail to notice. He filed the observation away until he had more time to consider it and pushed his jacket back so that the badge clipped to his belt was clearly visible, not that it was really necessary to get him past the police guard, he knew all of the officers who were at the scene by sight and they knew him. He moved past the cordon and into the narrow room beyond. He was surprised to find Amanda examining the body.
"Hey Amanda," he said as he came up beside her. "Don't you have a home to go to?"
Amanda stood and stretched, turning to face him. "I was with Jesse 'til after midnight," she explained, rubbing her neck. "Didn't seem to be a lot of point in going home after that, I'd already asked the sitter to stay over, so I crashed in one of the on call rooms." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I asked them to page me if anything happened in the hospital."
Steve smiled sympathetically before nodding in the direction of the body. "What have you got?"
"Female nurse, age 26, killed sometime in the last two hours." She looked down at the body and then up at Steve. "Like the hospital porter she was hit over the head, possibly knocked unconscious first, but the blow didn't kill her. I won't know what did until I get chance to do an autopsy."
Steve looked at her, "I get the feeling that you could save yourself the time and the trouble by just going upstairs and asking Jesse."
Amanda nodded "You've noticed too huh?"
"Matches Jesse's description of the second victim and how they are found in everything but the hair colour." He clenched his fists in frustration. How could they have let this happen right under their noses. He drew in a deep breath. "Guess we should have extended the warnings to cover all of the nurses instead of assuming the killer would stick to the details," he said, the bitterness showing in his tone.
"Hey," Amanda said soothingly. "You did everything you could to try to prevent this, we all did, so don't even go there. Besides," she nudged him gently on the arm. "I've already got one friend eating himself up with guilt over this. I don't need another."
Steve met her gaze, soft brown eyes stared into his. She was right, feeling guilty wasn't going to help, he'd already given that speech to Jesse the day before. Still, knowing something rationally didn't always help to take away the emotion. He sighed, "I know," he said softly, turning to look once more at the body, his brow creasing as memories suddenly slid together. "Oh, God!" The softly spoken exclamation made Amanda stare at him as he knelt down to get a closer look, but moving closer only confirmed what he had just realised. He pursed his lips pensively one finger rubbing his chin.
"Steve?" Amanda used his name as a question.
"Ellen Steven's" Steve said, looking up. "Jesse dated her a couple of times about four months back." He stood, letting out a deeper sigh, staring down at the body of the young woman. "Any idea how we're going to tell him about this?" He asked, the fact that his friend knew the victim well was going to make it even more devastating for him.
Amanda shook her head, her thoughts mirroring Steve's, she let out a sigh of her own. "No, but we need to do it soon or the hospital grapevine will do it for us."
It was at that point that they heard the raised voices from outside the room, "I'm sorry sir, but I can't let you past."
"But I need to get in, I need to see.."
The familiar voice made both of their hearts sink, with a glance at each other that clearly said 'too late,' they made their way quickly to the door. Steve made it first, "Jess," he said as he approached the position where the uniformed officer was blocking his friend's path.
The officer obligingly stepped back out of the way to leave Steve to handle the situation.
"Steve," Jesse said, relieved at seeing a familiar face, but it was short lived, his expression changed as he remembered why he was there. He looked into his friend's eyes pleadingly. "I need. I need to." he began, hesitantly.
"Jess," Steve interrupted. "You don't want to go in there." he said, wishing he'd had the chance to break the news to him, at least he could have tried to handle the situation sensitively, stopped him from coming down to the murder scene, he would have done anything to spare his friend more torment.
Jesse began to move forward slightly, tilting his head as though that would allow him to see around the wall, to see what was beyond. "I don't want. I need.." He shuffled forward a little more, almost expecting Steve to move out of his way but Steve remained stationary. "I need to see for myself, please Steve, I need to know."
He turned his gaze back toward his friend's eyes and in that moment all his questions were answered, his fears confirmed. He swallowed hard, it wasn't that he had held out any real hope that he was wrong, from the moment he had overheard the nurses talking to the police guard by his door, about another body found in the hospital, he had known, and yet, he had still needed confirmation. "It matches?" He half stated, half asked, his voice strangely flat in tone, as part of his mind detached from the conversation and he confirmed to himself that he had caused another death.
Steve's nodded reply was unnecessary and reluctantly given, he was only the messenger, had no choice but to confirm what was true, but somehow he felt he was responsible for causing his friend more pain.
Jesse looked searchingly at Steve's expression, there was something else, something Steve didn't want to tell him. What else could he need to know apart from the fact that he had been responsible for another death. He pinned Steve with his gaze, as he realised what that something could be. "Who?" This time it was a clear question.
Steve didn't want to answer, wanted Jesse sitting down, preferably with his father there to monitor his friend's responses. He put his arm on his shoulder. "Let's go somewhere.."
Jesse shrugged the arm off. Steve hadn't thought it possible but his stare became more intense, more pleading. "Who?" he asked again.
Steve sighed, waiting was not going to make this easier, he had no choice but to answer. "Ellen Stevens," he replied quietly
Jesse's shoulder's sagged and he stepped back again, the world seemed to collapse in around him, his vision dropped to a narrow tunnel, his hearing blocked with cotton wool, with effort he forced himself to take a breath as even automatic responses seemed to shut down.
"Jess?" Steve's muffled voice reached him through the mental fog that had descended.
'Breathe, dammit breathe,' his mind seemed to scream at him.
Suddenly the walls around him were closing in, even Steve's gentle touch on his upper arm felt like a vice tightening, and he had to move, he had to escape.
He stepped back again, shaking free from Steve's touch, his thought processes confused with the tumble of emotions, he turned and headed down the corridor at a half run, oblivious to his surroundings, unable to temper his reactions.
Steve was momentarily stunned, whoever was doing this was destroying his friend and he felt like he was helping to twist the knife.
Amanda had stood and witnessed the entire exchange, feeling helpless as she watched Jesse's agitation grow, knowing that there was nothing that she could say that would make this any easier. She moved forward and touched Steve's elbow, "Go after him. I'll finish up here," she said softly, realising he needed prompting.
Steve glanced briefly at her, an instant was all that was needed to share their mutual concern and nodded, "Thanks." Pausing only to tell the officer that had followed Jesse down from his room that he would take the protection duty from here, he hurried after his friend.
Amanda watched until he had disappeared around the corner and then turned back to supervise the removal of the body.
--
Jesse wasn't sure how he ended up in the small sluice room off one of the examination rooms. For a while all he was aware of was the fact that he had only just made it to the sink before his stomach tried to empty it's meagre contents, he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, so there was only liquid to empty as the rolling nausea turned to a desperate wretching that continued painfully, long after his stomach was empty. When it stopped he realised that he was shaking, holding on to the basin for support, still having to remind himself to take a breath as his brain continued it's plea for oxygen, kicking out stress chemicals to try to alleviate the situation, which, perversely, only made things worse.
Some part of his brain recognised the symptoms, knew that he needed to breathe slowly and calmly. The rational part of his mind fought against the rising temptation to panic as his chest muscles seemed to tighten and his vision remained fogged around the edges.
Eventually the rational side won, his breathing calmed and he looked up into the small mirror to see his own anguished expression looking back. He turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face and the back of his neck before leaning his head down and waiting, all of his thoughts concentrated on his breathing.
Finally back in control he looked at himself once more and tried to rationalise his response, hardly able to temper the pain of loss with his own perception of responsibility, whoever was doing this was deliberately tearing him apart, killing people in the process. The fact that the victims were innocents in some sick game only made things worse.
Jesse pushed the door back and entered the examination room, somehow he already knew that Steve was there, not at all surprised to see him waiting for him, watching out for him. He was grateful for the support, drew strength from it.
Steve waited for a few moments, not wishing to press but needing his friend to know that he was there for him. "Jess?" He asked with quiet concern, a myriad of questions and openings expressed in that single word.
"I'll be OK," Jesse replied forcing a tired attempt at a smile that did not quite succeed in turning his lips up at the edges.
Steve nodded, scrutinising his friend carefully, he was pale and his eyes held none of their usual brightness but he seemed to have regained control, however tenuous, of his emotions. "Dad's waiting for us in his office," he said, striving to keep his tone neutral, he did not want to give him any reason to lose that control. "I've got a few more questions for you. Do you feel up to it?"
Jesse nodded his reply and Steve pushed open the door for him.
--
Jesse looked up from the screen and sighed. "Yes," he answered the question that had been asked before he started reading. "I wrote every word, but like the author's note said, the order has been rearranged."
"So chapter 3 has been reposted and chapter 4 added to fit in exactly with the sequence of events here?" Steve asked, he was the only one in the room who had not read the newly posted section of story.
"Yes," Mark confirmed, "Chapter 4 now ends with the discovery of the body that Jesse had as the ending to chapter 3."
"And according to the computing section, the post was made about ten minutes before the body was found." Steve shook his head. "The killer is broadcasting every move and we still can't stop them." His fists clenched as the earlier frustration returned.
Mark picked up the pieces of paper that had been left on his desk the day before. "If whoever this is maintains their pattern, maybe we can guard against their next move, at least we have some idea of what's going to happen."
Jesse looked forlornly at the notes he had written about the upcoming chapters. "But now we have no idea what order the events will occur in and no idea which of the hospital employees they will target next." He looked Steve directly in the eye, "Even when we knew they were going after a nurse, we couldn't protect them all."
Steve felt another stab of his own irrational guilt, hearing Jesse's words as an accusation, not a statement. No, he'd already dealt with this, he refused to let himself be drawn down that path. He struggled for words of reassurance. "The other people in your story are surgeons, doctors, there are less of them and I'm sure the Captain will authorise more men."
Mark picked up on what Steve was attempting. "And hospital security is being increased further, whoever is doing this is going to find it much more difficult to move around unnoticed." He picked up the pieces of paper one at a time, glancing at each one, "Besides, from what I can tell, no one else is killed in what you've written."
"No just badly injured or almost killed," There was that hint of bitterness in his voice that was so unlike Jesse, it almost made his friends wince. He reached out his hand and Mark handed across the sheets. A small rueful laugh escaped him. "Thank goodness for the unwritten rules."
Both men waited for an explanation, when none was forthcoming, it was Mark who asked. "Rules?"
Jesse glanced up. "All of the characters I attack in the upcoming chapters are regular characters in the series, so you can hurt them but you can't kill them off, at least not without warning the readers that that's what you are going to do." He paused for a moment as he remembered something and he began flicking through the pages "Except for.." He shuffled back through the sheets again, when he caught a movement in his peripheral vision. He looked up, Steve was standing behind his father shaking his head, as he made eye contact he flicked his eyes down to his father and then back again repeating the shake.
Jesse got the meaning instantly, Steve knew that there was a sheet missing but for some reason he didn't want his father to know.
"Except?" Mark asked, wondering why Jesse had paused.
Jesse looked him in the eye, then looked back down at the sheets as he tried to find an alternative way to complete the sentence he had started, "Except for the fact that the killer is posting their own version of these events, any of these attacks could kill." He looked up at Steve and caught the gratitude in his expression.
Mark sighed. "Then let's hope they stick to what is written or we catch them before they do any more harm." He looked at his watch and then turned to look at Steve who carefully adjusted his expression. It was a testament to how rattled even he was that he had not picked up on the non verbal communication between the two. It was normally nearly impossible to get anything past him. "Look I'm going to have to do my rounds, I've got to see my patients and Jesse's but I'll get through them as quickly as possible."
Jesse started to protest. "I can do my own rounds."
Mark turned back to look at him, "Jess, with everything that's happening I don't think you're really up to working today, even if you hadn't taken that nasty blow to the head, I still think I'd be advising you to have the day off and since you did. besides I think you're still officially a patient yourself unless you took the time to sign yourself out?"
Jesse shook his head.
"In that case I'll take care of the discharge papers on my way round. Meanwhile you stay here with Steve, see what you can come up with." Mark headed for the door. He looked once more at Steve. "I'll be as quick as I can," he repeated, before turning to leave.
"Dad," Steve's call stopped him with his hand on the door. "Be careful, we don't know who this person is going to target next, apart from the fact that it's one of the doctors."
Mark nodded, appreciating his son's concern.
Jesse barely waited for Mark to be out of earshot before asking. "Where's the last sheet detailing the events of chapter 9 and why didn't you want your dad to know that it was missing?"
Steve sat at his father's desk. "It's missing because I took it."
Jesse did not want to put the effort into thinking it through. "Why?" He asked still confused.
"Because of what happens in it," Steve stated, when Jesse still looked confused he elaborated. "Police lieutenant Steve Slade is so obviously based on me and." he paused briefly, "given what happens to him I didn't want dad to worry." He stopped speaking as he realised that Jesse's expression had gone blank.
Steve's parting comment to his father and now his comments on chapter 9 had sent Jesse's mind into momentary overdrive, as it really hit home that the next victims of attack could be from amongst the people he was closest to in the world, the people he loved as family, Steve was right, it was so obvious that he wondered why it hadn't occurred to him when he was writing it out. If the killer chose to emulate the events of chapter 9 then Steve was the obvious target and that meant. His thoughts were interrupted.
"Jess," Steve said again urgently, grateful as his friend's eyes appeared to refocus.
"Steve, you need to stay away from here until this is over," Jesse blurted the words out, his voice taking on a slight panic as his careful control on his emotions wavered slightly, fear for his friend's safety now outweighing other considerations.
"Jess, I'll be OK, I know what to look out for and I'll be careful. I just don't want dad worrying about it and you shouldn't either," he said firmly. "I can take care of myself."
Jesse wasn't convinced, "But.."
"Worrying won't get us anywhere," Steve asserted, "We need to work on catching them before they can try anything else. So do you feel up to those questions?" He asked, neatly changing the subject.
Jesse was struggling to regain his focus again. He stood up, suddenly the office seemed stuffy. "Can we get some fresh air? I'll answer as we walk."
--
They made it to the gardens that ran down one side of the hospital building, they were screened off from the road by hedging and were used by patients during their recuperation. The area was almost deserted as it was still early. Steve's cell phone rang. The two men walked in step as Steve answered. "Sloan, here"
It quickly became clear to Jesse that it was Captain Newman at the other end of the phone and that Steve was not happy with what he was being told, but seemed reluctant to speak in front of him, he was only half surprised when Steve stopped and covered the mouthpiece. "Jess, why don't you go on ahead," he nodded forward, "I'll catch up when I've finished, but make sure you stay in sight."
Jesse nodded, part of him was curious about what Steve didn't want him to hear, but he was too wrapped up in his own considerations of what had happened and what may happen next to try to figure it out. He stuck his hands in his pockets and kept walking.
Steve watched him closely, grateful that he could now continue to voice his argument more freely.
"Look Sloan, you know full well that if it had been anyone other than Dr. Travis who had written this story you would have had them in by now at the very least as a material witness." Newman was continuing his side of the argument. "Need I remind you that he has detailed publicly two murders and a bombing and that his cell phone, which was found in his locker was almost certainly used to detonate said bomb. The murder weapon for the first victim was also found in his locker, how much evidence do you need."
"I know sir, but he was under police guard when the second murder was commited and he was attacked himself."
"He could have hired an accomplice.."
"Sir," Steve interrupted his Captain slightly too abruptly but pressed on. "Surely you don't think Jesse. Dr. Travis had anything to do with these murders, he's as much the victim here as anyone else and.."
"No, I appreciate that someone is probably targeting the doctor and using his story but you have to appreciate how this looks. You're Dr. Travis' best friend and business partner, I can't leave you as lead investigator on this, and we really need to bring him down to the station so we can show that procedure has been followed. When the press get hold of this they'll have a field day as it is." He paused and blew out a breath. "Don't worry I won't take you off this altogether I'll just show Detective Turner as taking the lead, but I do need you to bring Dr. Travis in."
Steve sighed in frustration, he knew that the Captain was right but he didn't know how Jesse would handle being taken in for formal questioning in his current state of mind. "What if he wasn't fit to be discharged from the hospital?" He asked. "In those circumstances we'd normally interview him here."
It was Newman's turn to sigh, he was quite certain that however healthy Dr. Travis really was, he had just prolonged his hospital stay. "All right, I'll send Detective Turner there."
"Thank you, Captain," Steve said, genuinely grateful. He knew that his Captain, could have insisted on taking him off the case completely and could have had Jesse brought in, so he was appreciative of the latitude he was being shown.
He hit the disconnect thoughtfully and glanced around, he had been so focussed on the conversation that he had failed to notice that Jesse had moved out of sight. He felt the blood drain from his face and his stomach seemed to sink deep into his abdomen as he set off at a run in the last direction he had seen his friend go.
--
Jesse walked with his hands still stuck deep into his pockets, his shoulders down, barely picking his feet off the floor. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Guilt seemed to pervade every thought, feeding negativity through everything he felt, and his future only seemed to hold more pain for those he loved. He tried to repress the emotions again, to focus his thoughts, but it was becoming increasingly difficult, besides he still had no idea where to start looking for the person who was doing this to him, a day of thinking about it had got him nowhere.
He dug his nails into his palm as he tried once again to work through his memories, from the time he had arrived at the hospital and started helping Mark and Steve out.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice that he had rounded the corner of the building. He stopped abruptly as someone stepped into his path, it took him a moment to focus and realise that the expanse of cloth in front of his eyes was actually a man, he looked up to take in the full view of the hospital orderly who was about 6' 4" and seemed almost as wide. "Excuse me I." he began, assuming that he just hadn't been watching where he was going, he moved to go round but an arm blocked his path. That was when his instincts finally cut in and told him that something was wrong. He turned to move around the other way but a second man, a male nurse whom he vaguely recognised blocked his path. He turned again but there was a third man, a porter behind him. He swallowed as the third man pushed him roughly back into the first, who grabbed him and shoved him hard against the wall, knocking the breath from his lungs.
"Dr Travis," the porter said, "We need to have a talk."
TO BE CONTINUED..
Steve drove into the hospital parking lot and headed for his usual space before remembering his resolution from the night before. He turned the wheel and headed up a couple of floors to park on one of the upper levels. It was still early and the lot was largely deserted so he had his choice of spaces. He pulled in randomly and headed into the building. A short discussion had decided that he should come in alone whilst Mark dealt with their guest. They couldn't really abandon Nurse Johnson alone at the Beach house. So, despite his strong desire to accompany his son, Mark had agreed to wake her and wait until she was dressed before following Steve to the hospital, taking the opportunity to check the chapter posting to the web site.
As Steve walked into the building, he did his best to try to work the kinks out of his aching muscles. It must have been around 3am when he had finally fallen asleep over the files on the table and his cell had rung at a little after 6. He yawned and rolled his shoulders again, trying not to grimace at the stiffness.
It took him less than five minutes to reach the ER and locate the storage room which was taped off and guarded against prying eyes. It was the second time in only a few days that a body had been found in this section of the hospital and the atmosphere spoke of fear and confusion. The staff who were occupied tried to temper their curiosity and get on with their work. Those who were not, could not help but speculate on what had happened. Mark's briefing from the previous evening, warning some nurses that they may be in danger, coupled with the fact that many had read Jesse's story, fuelled the discussions, that were rapidly connecting the events.
The conversation dropped to hushed whispers as he passed, and, even in his sleep deprived state, he could not fail to notice. He filed the observation away until he had more time to consider it and pushed his jacket back so that the badge clipped to his belt was clearly visible, not that it was really necessary to get him past the police guard, he knew all of the officers who were at the scene by sight and they knew him. He moved past the cordon and into the narrow room beyond. He was surprised to find Amanda examining the body.
"Hey Amanda," he said as he came up beside her. "Don't you have a home to go to?"
Amanda stood and stretched, turning to face him. "I was with Jesse 'til after midnight," she explained, rubbing her neck. "Didn't seem to be a lot of point in going home after that, I'd already asked the sitter to stay over, so I crashed in one of the on call rooms." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I asked them to page me if anything happened in the hospital."
Steve smiled sympathetically before nodding in the direction of the body. "What have you got?"
"Female nurse, age 26, killed sometime in the last two hours." She looked down at the body and then up at Steve. "Like the hospital porter she was hit over the head, possibly knocked unconscious first, but the blow didn't kill her. I won't know what did until I get chance to do an autopsy."
Steve looked at her, "I get the feeling that you could save yourself the time and the trouble by just going upstairs and asking Jesse."
Amanda nodded "You've noticed too huh?"
"Matches Jesse's description of the second victim and how they are found in everything but the hair colour." He clenched his fists in frustration. How could they have let this happen right under their noses. He drew in a deep breath. "Guess we should have extended the warnings to cover all of the nurses instead of assuming the killer would stick to the details," he said, the bitterness showing in his tone.
"Hey," Amanda said soothingly. "You did everything you could to try to prevent this, we all did, so don't even go there. Besides," she nudged him gently on the arm. "I've already got one friend eating himself up with guilt over this. I don't need another."
Steve met her gaze, soft brown eyes stared into his. She was right, feeling guilty wasn't going to help, he'd already given that speech to Jesse the day before. Still, knowing something rationally didn't always help to take away the emotion. He sighed, "I know," he said softly, turning to look once more at the body, his brow creasing as memories suddenly slid together. "Oh, God!" The softly spoken exclamation made Amanda stare at him as he knelt down to get a closer look, but moving closer only confirmed what he had just realised. He pursed his lips pensively one finger rubbing his chin.
"Steve?" Amanda used his name as a question.
"Ellen Steven's" Steve said, looking up. "Jesse dated her a couple of times about four months back." He stood, letting out a deeper sigh, staring down at the body of the young woman. "Any idea how we're going to tell him about this?" He asked, the fact that his friend knew the victim well was going to make it even more devastating for him.
Amanda shook her head, her thoughts mirroring Steve's, she let out a sigh of her own. "No, but we need to do it soon or the hospital grapevine will do it for us."
It was at that point that they heard the raised voices from outside the room, "I'm sorry sir, but I can't let you past."
"But I need to get in, I need to see.."
The familiar voice made both of their hearts sink, with a glance at each other that clearly said 'too late,' they made their way quickly to the door. Steve made it first, "Jess," he said as he approached the position where the uniformed officer was blocking his friend's path.
The officer obligingly stepped back out of the way to leave Steve to handle the situation.
"Steve," Jesse said, relieved at seeing a familiar face, but it was short lived, his expression changed as he remembered why he was there. He looked into his friend's eyes pleadingly. "I need. I need to." he began, hesitantly.
"Jess," Steve interrupted. "You don't want to go in there." he said, wishing he'd had the chance to break the news to him, at least he could have tried to handle the situation sensitively, stopped him from coming down to the murder scene, he would have done anything to spare his friend more torment.
Jesse began to move forward slightly, tilting his head as though that would allow him to see around the wall, to see what was beyond. "I don't want. I need.." He shuffled forward a little more, almost expecting Steve to move out of his way but Steve remained stationary. "I need to see for myself, please Steve, I need to know."
He turned his gaze back toward his friend's eyes and in that moment all his questions were answered, his fears confirmed. He swallowed hard, it wasn't that he had held out any real hope that he was wrong, from the moment he had overheard the nurses talking to the police guard by his door, about another body found in the hospital, he had known, and yet, he had still needed confirmation. "It matches?" He half stated, half asked, his voice strangely flat in tone, as part of his mind detached from the conversation and he confirmed to himself that he had caused another death.
Steve's nodded reply was unnecessary and reluctantly given, he was only the messenger, had no choice but to confirm what was true, but somehow he felt he was responsible for causing his friend more pain.
Jesse looked searchingly at Steve's expression, there was something else, something Steve didn't want to tell him. What else could he need to know apart from the fact that he had been responsible for another death. He pinned Steve with his gaze, as he realised what that something could be. "Who?" This time it was a clear question.
Steve didn't want to answer, wanted Jesse sitting down, preferably with his father there to monitor his friend's responses. He put his arm on his shoulder. "Let's go somewhere.."
Jesse shrugged the arm off. Steve hadn't thought it possible but his stare became more intense, more pleading. "Who?" he asked again.
Steve sighed, waiting was not going to make this easier, he had no choice but to answer. "Ellen Stevens," he replied quietly
Jesse's shoulder's sagged and he stepped back again, the world seemed to collapse in around him, his vision dropped to a narrow tunnel, his hearing blocked with cotton wool, with effort he forced himself to take a breath as even automatic responses seemed to shut down.
"Jess?" Steve's muffled voice reached him through the mental fog that had descended.
'Breathe, dammit breathe,' his mind seemed to scream at him.
Suddenly the walls around him were closing in, even Steve's gentle touch on his upper arm felt like a vice tightening, and he had to move, he had to escape.
He stepped back again, shaking free from Steve's touch, his thought processes confused with the tumble of emotions, he turned and headed down the corridor at a half run, oblivious to his surroundings, unable to temper his reactions.
Steve was momentarily stunned, whoever was doing this was destroying his friend and he felt like he was helping to twist the knife.
Amanda had stood and witnessed the entire exchange, feeling helpless as she watched Jesse's agitation grow, knowing that there was nothing that she could say that would make this any easier. She moved forward and touched Steve's elbow, "Go after him. I'll finish up here," she said softly, realising he needed prompting.
Steve glanced briefly at her, an instant was all that was needed to share their mutual concern and nodded, "Thanks." Pausing only to tell the officer that had followed Jesse down from his room that he would take the protection duty from here, he hurried after his friend.
Amanda watched until he had disappeared around the corner and then turned back to supervise the removal of the body.
--
Jesse wasn't sure how he ended up in the small sluice room off one of the examination rooms. For a while all he was aware of was the fact that he had only just made it to the sink before his stomach tried to empty it's meagre contents, he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, so there was only liquid to empty as the rolling nausea turned to a desperate wretching that continued painfully, long after his stomach was empty. When it stopped he realised that he was shaking, holding on to the basin for support, still having to remind himself to take a breath as his brain continued it's plea for oxygen, kicking out stress chemicals to try to alleviate the situation, which, perversely, only made things worse.
Some part of his brain recognised the symptoms, knew that he needed to breathe slowly and calmly. The rational part of his mind fought against the rising temptation to panic as his chest muscles seemed to tighten and his vision remained fogged around the edges.
Eventually the rational side won, his breathing calmed and he looked up into the small mirror to see his own anguished expression looking back. He turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face and the back of his neck before leaning his head down and waiting, all of his thoughts concentrated on his breathing.
Finally back in control he looked at himself once more and tried to rationalise his response, hardly able to temper the pain of loss with his own perception of responsibility, whoever was doing this was deliberately tearing him apart, killing people in the process. The fact that the victims were innocents in some sick game only made things worse.
Jesse pushed the door back and entered the examination room, somehow he already knew that Steve was there, not at all surprised to see him waiting for him, watching out for him. He was grateful for the support, drew strength from it.
Steve waited for a few moments, not wishing to press but needing his friend to know that he was there for him. "Jess?" He asked with quiet concern, a myriad of questions and openings expressed in that single word.
"I'll be OK," Jesse replied forcing a tired attempt at a smile that did not quite succeed in turning his lips up at the edges.
Steve nodded, scrutinising his friend carefully, he was pale and his eyes held none of their usual brightness but he seemed to have regained control, however tenuous, of his emotions. "Dad's waiting for us in his office," he said, striving to keep his tone neutral, he did not want to give him any reason to lose that control. "I've got a few more questions for you. Do you feel up to it?"
Jesse nodded his reply and Steve pushed open the door for him.
--
Jesse looked up from the screen and sighed. "Yes," he answered the question that had been asked before he started reading. "I wrote every word, but like the author's note said, the order has been rearranged."
"So chapter 3 has been reposted and chapter 4 added to fit in exactly with the sequence of events here?" Steve asked, he was the only one in the room who had not read the newly posted section of story.
"Yes," Mark confirmed, "Chapter 4 now ends with the discovery of the body that Jesse had as the ending to chapter 3."
"And according to the computing section, the post was made about ten minutes before the body was found." Steve shook his head. "The killer is broadcasting every move and we still can't stop them." His fists clenched as the earlier frustration returned.
Mark picked up the pieces of paper that had been left on his desk the day before. "If whoever this is maintains their pattern, maybe we can guard against their next move, at least we have some idea of what's going to happen."
Jesse looked forlornly at the notes he had written about the upcoming chapters. "But now we have no idea what order the events will occur in and no idea which of the hospital employees they will target next." He looked Steve directly in the eye, "Even when we knew they were going after a nurse, we couldn't protect them all."
Steve felt another stab of his own irrational guilt, hearing Jesse's words as an accusation, not a statement. No, he'd already dealt with this, he refused to let himself be drawn down that path. He struggled for words of reassurance. "The other people in your story are surgeons, doctors, there are less of them and I'm sure the Captain will authorise more men."
Mark picked up on what Steve was attempting. "And hospital security is being increased further, whoever is doing this is going to find it much more difficult to move around unnoticed." He picked up the pieces of paper one at a time, glancing at each one, "Besides, from what I can tell, no one else is killed in what you've written."
"No just badly injured or almost killed," There was that hint of bitterness in his voice that was so unlike Jesse, it almost made his friends wince. He reached out his hand and Mark handed across the sheets. A small rueful laugh escaped him. "Thank goodness for the unwritten rules."
Both men waited for an explanation, when none was forthcoming, it was Mark who asked. "Rules?"
Jesse glanced up. "All of the characters I attack in the upcoming chapters are regular characters in the series, so you can hurt them but you can't kill them off, at least not without warning the readers that that's what you are going to do." He paused for a moment as he remembered something and he began flicking through the pages "Except for.." He shuffled back through the sheets again, when he caught a movement in his peripheral vision. He looked up, Steve was standing behind his father shaking his head, as he made eye contact he flicked his eyes down to his father and then back again repeating the shake.
Jesse got the meaning instantly, Steve knew that there was a sheet missing but for some reason he didn't want his father to know.
"Except?" Mark asked, wondering why Jesse had paused.
Jesse looked him in the eye, then looked back down at the sheets as he tried to find an alternative way to complete the sentence he had started, "Except for the fact that the killer is posting their own version of these events, any of these attacks could kill." He looked up at Steve and caught the gratitude in his expression.
Mark sighed. "Then let's hope they stick to what is written or we catch them before they do any more harm." He looked at his watch and then turned to look at Steve who carefully adjusted his expression. It was a testament to how rattled even he was that he had not picked up on the non verbal communication between the two. It was normally nearly impossible to get anything past him. "Look I'm going to have to do my rounds, I've got to see my patients and Jesse's but I'll get through them as quickly as possible."
Jesse started to protest. "I can do my own rounds."
Mark turned back to look at him, "Jess, with everything that's happening I don't think you're really up to working today, even if you hadn't taken that nasty blow to the head, I still think I'd be advising you to have the day off and since you did. besides I think you're still officially a patient yourself unless you took the time to sign yourself out?"
Jesse shook his head.
"In that case I'll take care of the discharge papers on my way round. Meanwhile you stay here with Steve, see what you can come up with." Mark headed for the door. He looked once more at Steve. "I'll be as quick as I can," he repeated, before turning to leave.
"Dad," Steve's call stopped him with his hand on the door. "Be careful, we don't know who this person is going to target next, apart from the fact that it's one of the doctors."
Mark nodded, appreciating his son's concern.
Jesse barely waited for Mark to be out of earshot before asking. "Where's the last sheet detailing the events of chapter 9 and why didn't you want your dad to know that it was missing?"
Steve sat at his father's desk. "It's missing because I took it."
Jesse did not want to put the effort into thinking it through. "Why?" He asked still confused.
"Because of what happens in it," Steve stated, when Jesse still looked confused he elaborated. "Police lieutenant Steve Slade is so obviously based on me and." he paused briefly, "given what happens to him I didn't want dad to worry." He stopped speaking as he realised that Jesse's expression had gone blank.
Steve's parting comment to his father and now his comments on chapter 9 had sent Jesse's mind into momentary overdrive, as it really hit home that the next victims of attack could be from amongst the people he was closest to in the world, the people he loved as family, Steve was right, it was so obvious that he wondered why it hadn't occurred to him when he was writing it out. If the killer chose to emulate the events of chapter 9 then Steve was the obvious target and that meant. His thoughts were interrupted.
"Jess," Steve said again urgently, grateful as his friend's eyes appeared to refocus.
"Steve, you need to stay away from here until this is over," Jesse blurted the words out, his voice taking on a slight panic as his careful control on his emotions wavered slightly, fear for his friend's safety now outweighing other considerations.
"Jess, I'll be OK, I know what to look out for and I'll be careful. I just don't want dad worrying about it and you shouldn't either," he said firmly. "I can take care of myself."
Jesse wasn't convinced, "But.."
"Worrying won't get us anywhere," Steve asserted, "We need to work on catching them before they can try anything else. So do you feel up to those questions?" He asked, neatly changing the subject.
Jesse was struggling to regain his focus again. He stood up, suddenly the office seemed stuffy. "Can we get some fresh air? I'll answer as we walk."
--
They made it to the gardens that ran down one side of the hospital building, they were screened off from the road by hedging and were used by patients during their recuperation. The area was almost deserted as it was still early. Steve's cell phone rang. The two men walked in step as Steve answered. "Sloan, here"
It quickly became clear to Jesse that it was Captain Newman at the other end of the phone and that Steve was not happy with what he was being told, but seemed reluctant to speak in front of him, he was only half surprised when Steve stopped and covered the mouthpiece. "Jess, why don't you go on ahead," he nodded forward, "I'll catch up when I've finished, but make sure you stay in sight."
Jesse nodded, part of him was curious about what Steve didn't want him to hear, but he was too wrapped up in his own considerations of what had happened and what may happen next to try to figure it out. He stuck his hands in his pockets and kept walking.
Steve watched him closely, grateful that he could now continue to voice his argument more freely.
"Look Sloan, you know full well that if it had been anyone other than Dr. Travis who had written this story you would have had them in by now at the very least as a material witness." Newman was continuing his side of the argument. "Need I remind you that he has detailed publicly two murders and a bombing and that his cell phone, which was found in his locker was almost certainly used to detonate said bomb. The murder weapon for the first victim was also found in his locker, how much evidence do you need."
"I know sir, but he was under police guard when the second murder was commited and he was attacked himself."
"He could have hired an accomplice.."
"Sir," Steve interrupted his Captain slightly too abruptly but pressed on. "Surely you don't think Jesse. Dr. Travis had anything to do with these murders, he's as much the victim here as anyone else and.."
"No, I appreciate that someone is probably targeting the doctor and using his story but you have to appreciate how this looks. You're Dr. Travis' best friend and business partner, I can't leave you as lead investigator on this, and we really need to bring him down to the station so we can show that procedure has been followed. When the press get hold of this they'll have a field day as it is." He paused and blew out a breath. "Don't worry I won't take you off this altogether I'll just show Detective Turner as taking the lead, but I do need you to bring Dr. Travis in."
Steve sighed in frustration, he knew that the Captain was right but he didn't know how Jesse would handle being taken in for formal questioning in his current state of mind. "What if he wasn't fit to be discharged from the hospital?" He asked. "In those circumstances we'd normally interview him here."
It was Newman's turn to sigh, he was quite certain that however healthy Dr. Travis really was, he had just prolonged his hospital stay. "All right, I'll send Detective Turner there."
"Thank you, Captain," Steve said, genuinely grateful. He knew that his Captain, could have insisted on taking him off the case completely and could have had Jesse brought in, so he was appreciative of the latitude he was being shown.
He hit the disconnect thoughtfully and glanced around, he had been so focussed on the conversation that he had failed to notice that Jesse had moved out of sight. He felt the blood drain from his face and his stomach seemed to sink deep into his abdomen as he set off at a run in the last direction he had seen his friend go.
--
Jesse walked with his hands still stuck deep into his pockets, his shoulders down, barely picking his feet off the floor. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Guilt seemed to pervade every thought, feeding negativity through everything he felt, and his future only seemed to hold more pain for those he loved. He tried to repress the emotions again, to focus his thoughts, but it was becoming increasingly difficult, besides he still had no idea where to start looking for the person who was doing this to him, a day of thinking about it had got him nowhere.
He dug his nails into his palm as he tried once again to work through his memories, from the time he had arrived at the hospital and started helping Mark and Steve out.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice that he had rounded the corner of the building. He stopped abruptly as someone stepped into his path, it took him a moment to focus and realise that the expanse of cloth in front of his eyes was actually a man, he looked up to take in the full view of the hospital orderly who was about 6' 4" and seemed almost as wide. "Excuse me I." he began, assuming that he just hadn't been watching where he was going, he moved to go round but an arm blocked his path. That was when his instincts finally cut in and told him that something was wrong. He turned to move around the other way but a second man, a male nurse whom he vaguely recognised blocked his path. He turned again but there was a third man, a porter behind him. He swallowed as the third man pushed him roughly back into the first, who grabbed him and shoved him hard against the wall, knocking the breath from his lungs.
"Dr Travis," the porter said, "We need to have a talk."
TO BE CONTINUED..