Chapter Nine – Split Loyalties

Jo sat on the first crate and began to think. Someone in her own house had locked her in the attic and no one had missed her! She tried banging on the door, but she didn't expect anyone to hear her, and when fifteen minutes passed without anyone coming she sank back on her makeshift seat and wondered what to do next. As she closed her eyes the vision of her cage at Werner's garage came up and the shock once again left her breathless.

"Girl, pull it together, this has nothin' to do with that, an' the man is incarcerated … But then right now so am I. So think, no point in doin' anythin' else, no one is gonna hear you… Why would anyone want to lock me in my own attic? Well, Miss Prissy Knickers might, but how would she explain my absence? Girl, you have only been awake for a few minutes an' you are talkin' to yourself already."

Jo kicked the nearest box, it hurt her foot, but somehow it made her feel better. She banged on the door again, "Hey, hey, let me out of here…! Stupid place to put an attic, up where nobody can hear you… Think, Girl, you were a cop, gettin' out of a room shouldn't be a problem, concentrate!" Jo sat cross-legged on the floor, she decided that maybe she would be able to focus a little more if she was uncomfortable, and this was definitely that, mind you she had been uncomfortable all night, and that hadn't helped.

The room looked different now that she was lower down, and Jo could see that none of the crates had been moved in a very long time, except the one she had just kicked, probably she realised because as heir to the Walters estate she had the only key… "Key, where is the key?" Jo crawled across and peered through the keyhole. She had checked it the night before but all she had done was see into the hallway beyond, but now, much to her surprise, Jo could see nothing, the key was back in the lock. With a cry of disgust she stood up and tried the handle again, someone had been up, replaced the key and unlocked the door, she couldn't believe that she hadn't heard it, but at least she was free. She made sure that the attic was firmly secured behind her and then made her way back down the stairs.

. . . . . . . . . .

Alex began his shift at seven and wondered how long it would be before Rae arrived at the hospital. She would be all right, physically at least, but Alex knew that the fact that her husband had tried to kill his best friend would haunt her for a long time. With a heavy sigh Alex made his way to the ICU, Steve was his patient this time around, and he needed to check on him right away.

Steve had been monitored constantly throughout the night, and his blood count was much higher than it had been. The wounds had been stitched in surgery and the sigh of relief felt around the hospital as friends of Steve, and staff that had treated him over the years, heard that he had survived yet another almost fatal encounter.

Alex stopped at the door to Steve's room, he had expected to see Mark, but instead it was Daniel who was sitting, holding his father's hand and reading something at the same time.

"Hey, Dan, how's it going?" Alex smiled at the young man and watched him drop his magazine, carefully lay Steve's hand back on the covers, and then move over towards him.

"Slowly, but M cleared it with the school, I can stay all day, and if you want him Grandpa is checking on Jesse, he said that he wouldn't be more than a few minutes, and he also said … that you saved Dad, Alex, thanks."

Alex smiled and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I was just doing my job, Daniel."

"Yeah, right!"

Daniel cuffed his friend as he spoke, and Alex laughed. Theirs was a deep friendship, but Alex wondered how many people were happy to spend time with the person who had held up a store, kept them hostage, and been given six months in juvie for their trouble. To be fair it hadn't been Daniel holding the gun, that honour had gone to his cousin Zeke, and Alex had known that Daniel had been as terrified about the whole ordeal as he had. He'd pestered Steve to keep track of the boy, and when his foster family sent him back to the care home, begged him and Jo to foster Daniel themselves.

It had worked out far better than any of them could have imagined, and now Jo and Steve were half way through the process of adopting Daniel. To Alex's delight they had asked him if he would be the boy's guardian should anything happen to the two of them, and he had felt privileged to accept. The doctor looked at the still form in the bed, he had almost been needed before the legalities were complete, and he was very relieved that he hadn't let anyone down.

"I'm just gonna check him over, but you don't need to leave, and if you like I'll explain it all to you as I go. I would talk to Steve the whole time anyway." Daniel just nodded and so Alex continued. "Ok, Steve, I'm just gonna check your vitals," Daniel watched as Alex picked up the chart from the end of the bed and read through the notes already there. "I just need to take a note of the figures on these monitors." Alex wrote as he spoke, and Daniel checked the figures himself and then looked to see where exactly his friend was writing them down.

"The readings we want to see are already here, and I check what I have with what I would like to have. Ok?" Alex paused, and saw Daniel nod.

"What does it tell you? Is it getting better?" Daniel looked at all the figures; he thought that he would never get the hang of it.

"Yeah, he's getting there. Now, I need to know how much oxygen is in the blood, and this thing on the end of his finger does that. It doesn't work if you have nail polish on, but I guess your dad's stopped wearing that!"

"Yeah, they were all out of pretty pink at the drug store this week!" Daniel laughed at his friend's words, but was instantly serious again as he watched Alex move up to where the wounds on Steve's arm were. "They seem so ordinary, but they could have killed him, couldn't they?"

For a moment Alex paused, he didn't know how much Mark had told his grandson, but in the end he decided that honesty was the best policy, Daniel trusted him, and he didn't want to betray that by lying to him.

"They very nearly did; the wounds aren't serious, they've been stitched up and he'll have a couple of scars, but nothing more. He might need a little physiotherapy to help with the muscles, but the problems weren't to do with that." Alex hesitated again, but the look on the boy's face told him that nothing other than the truth would suffice. "The knife severed the brachial artery, the second wound only nicked it, but the first one alone would have killed him if Rae hadn't called 911."

For a moment Daniel couldn't answer. To know that he had almost lost his dad, who always seemed so strong, so resilient, to something so innocent looking, Daniel swallowed his feelings back down and then voiced his main worry. "But it's all stitched up now; it won't bleed again will it?"

"No, it won't. Steve's blood pressure is rising all the time, he's a far better colour now, I'm not as worried about him as I was, and he'll come round naturally during the morning."

Daniel grinned, "So by the time Mom gets here, he'll be ok?"

"Not quite, but the worst will definitely be over… Dan, Steve would be proud of the way you've carried yourself throughout this, and your grandpa too." As far as he knew Alex was the only person to call the boy Dan, and he secretly hoped it would stay that way.

. . . . . . . . . .

Jo made her way down the stairs, her anger building with every step, and by the time she was in the main hallway she was just about ready for anything. She heard voices and moved into the dining room.

David was sitting at the large oak table, a set of files in front of him, his glasses perched on his nose, and for an instant she was reminded of Mark, he never put the arms over his ears either. Debs was sitting in an easy chair, a copy of 'Parent' magazine in her hands.

"Why, Jo, where have you been all mornin' an' you missed your dinner last night?"

"Where have I been? I have been missin' since yesterday an' all you can say is where have I been. I'll just bet you knew exactly where I was."

"Jo!" David barked the one word.

"What? An' you, you aren't a little bothered that I disappeared, an' have only now just turned up? Well, gee, thanks."

"Jo, Honey, I don't know what you are gettin' so worked up about." David looked and sounded completely bemused.

"I am gettin' worked up because someone, probably you, locked me in the attic!" She glared at Debbie as she spoke.

"Jo, that is enough!"

"No, David, it's nowhere near enough. I am the only person with a key, an' I told Miss Pris… Debbie where I was goin' yesterday, she knew where I was, an' I never miss my meal without a good reason. An' nobody heard me, why didn't anybody come lookin' for me?"

"Honey, I thought you had arranged it with the kitchen, an' then this mornin', I guessed you had gone straight back to LA when you heard about Steve." David began to find his way back into the conversation.

"Heard what? What's happened to Steve?" Jo felt her stomach heave, she knew it was bad.

"I came an' called through your bedroom door just after Mark called, in the middle of the night, I might add, but there wasn't any reply, I thought you were fast asleep." Debbie looked at her future sister-in-law, the picture of innocence.

"You … you …" Jo shook her head, Debbie carried on looking at Jo, and she realised that she couldn't read the woman at all. "Arghhh, words fail me." Jo moved closer to the woman, glared at her and made sure she enunciated each word clearly. "What … is … the … matter … with … Steve?"

"I told you." Debs lowered her eyes as she spoke, and folded her hands in her gently swelling lap, and Jo felt her temper rise.

"I DIDN'T HEAR, TELL ME AGAIN!" Jo was shouting now, her heart was pounding, and she wanted to shake the annoying woman hard.

"Ok, Jo, that's enough, sit down or I will lose my temper." David stood up, moved across and pulled his sister away from his fiancée; his words were loud and insistent. "Now, I don't know why you have such a downer on Debs, she is a kind, hard workin' gal, an' I love her. I like Steve, an' even if I didn't, I know you love him an' I wouldn't dream of puttin' him down. So just grow up an' leave her be."

Jo closed her eyes for a moment, she couldn't remember the last time her brother had shouted at her, and she felt tears rush into them.  She swallowed hard, "Just tell me what happened to Steve."

"Well, Mark said somethin' about him being in the hospital, in the ICU. That poor chil' he must be so worried, you being away an' his daddy ill like that. It's a huge responsibility havin' a chil' in your life." Debbie smiled in, Jo thought, a conceited way. "I guess maybe the problems you are havin' is the Lord's way of tellin' you to slow down a little. I am mighty sorry about what happened in the past, but it's a big job bein' a parent."

"David, so help me if you don't shut her up I will." Jo was furious with Debbie, but even more so with her brother.  "You told her, how could you do that?"

"Now, Jo, just hold on a minute…" David saw his sister's eyes flash, and he knew that he had maybe overstepped the mark. "I'm marryin' her, we have no secrets."

"No, maybe not, but, thank God, I'm not marryin' her, an' I sure as hell do have secrets from her, an' I thought that was one of them! An' just so you know, it wasn't your secret to tell!" Jo took a deep breath and then turned back to Debbie. "Please, tell me what Mark said, an' when he said it."

"He called in the middle of the night, which I just said, an' told me that there had been some trouble an' Steve an' Rae had both been taken to the hospital, Jesse too."

Jo was running into the hallway as she heard the words, she picked up her purse from where she had left it the day she arrived and rummaged around for her cell. She knew the battery would be dead and so she pulled out the adaptor as well and plugged it in, then she found Mark's number and dialled it.

"Mark … Mark, is that you?"

. . . . . . . . . .

Rae gradually woke up, reluctantly, just after seven thirty, and headed upstairs to have a shower. She stood in the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes showed her lack of sleep, and reaction to the happenings of the night before. Rae enjoyed living in Oak Place, but she knew that there would be no way to forget what had happened in her house.

Once Rae was dressed she went back downstairs and put a call through to Sally, asking her to keep the girls until a little later in the day when she would come over, pick them up and sort out the child care arrangements for the next few days. Then she put through another call, ordered a cab and waited for it to take her to see her husband and her partner.

. . . . . . . . . .

Mark walked back from Jesse's room a worried expression on his face. It was very early in the morning, and he had known that the young man would still be asleep, but the fact that he had caused the injury to Steve, had almost killed him, was, now that neither of them was in any danger, just beginning to sink in. He reached the doorway to his son's room and realised that every part of him was desperate for sleep, for relief, however brief, from the crisis he had suddenly found himself in the middle of.

As he went to speak to his grandson the room swum a little and he was aware of both Daniel and Alex rushing towards him.

Mark had sunk into the chair that his friends had guided him to, and for a while said nothing. Alex knew that while Steve was sedated he wouldn't hear anything that his father said, and so he crouched down in front of him. "Mark? Are you ok?"

Mark shook his head, "I'm sorry, I guess I just let it get to me for a moment there."

"That's not surprising; it's been quite a night." Alex had his fingers over Mark's wrist as he spoke, and was relieved to find that his pulse was as it should be.

This time Mark nodded. "I saw Jesse, just for a minute, and he was asleep, I knew he would be, and Lauren is going to go see him later, Alex, what happened? How could he have done that to Steve, to Rae?"

Daniel had been desperately trying to get a word into the conversation, and now he jumped in before Alex had a chance to reply. "I saw him the other day, and he was fine with me, but he nearly killed my dad, I thought he was his friend, I HATE HIM!" The tears that had been just under surface ever since Daniel had first seen Steve, so pale and sick, rushed to his eyes, and he tried furiously to knuckle them away.

"Daniel, just wait, let's listen to Mark, and then we can talk this through." Alex was still concerned for his old friend, and wanted to finish checking him first.

"Daniel, there has to be a reason why he has done this, he loves Steve, and he definitely loves Rae. We will find out why, we will."

"Yeah, right. I'm gonna go call Mom, see where she is." Daniel stood up and moved out into the hallway, he knew that he couldn't use his cell phone in his dad's room, he didn't really want Mark or Alex to hear his conversation and he figured he might have calmed down a little by the time he got outside the building.

. . . . . . . . . .

Mark and Alex watched Daniel leave the room and then they looked at each other. "Do you think one of us should go after him?" Mark didn't really have the energy left in him, but he would go if Alex thought it necessary.

"Mark, I'll go in a little while, he's sensible, he'll go outside, call Jo and then come back. It's you I'm worried about. Have you had any sleep?"

"In that chair? You have to be joking. Daniel had the cot, and I just watched the two of them."

Alex had seen the makeshift bed and guessed it would have been for Daniel. "Well, why don't you go down to your office, grab a bite to eat and sleep for a while. Steve is still sedated; I don't want him moving yet, his body has to have a chance to get over the trauma. Once he wakes up I don't think I'll be able to keep him still for very long."

"You could be right, and if he will be asleep for a couple more hours then I'll sleep too, but in here, ok?"

Alex, realising that it was a compromise he could live with, nodded his head. "Ok. The nurse is checking him every thirty minutes, but she won't disturb you." Alex watched as Mark stood up, he seemed to have aged greatly over the last few hours, and he was very concerned about him.

"Thanks, Alex, and Daniel can come back in, I know he'll be quiet, he's a good boy."

"Yeah, he is, but I'll probably find him and feed him." As Alex waited for Mark to make his way to the cot he decided that he would get the nurse to keep an eye on the father as well as the son. Mark sat down with a sigh and his cell phone began to ring.

"Mark, let me," He held out his hand and took the phone, "Hi, this is Doctor Sloan's phone … No, Jo, it's me, Alex… Yeah, he's here, hold on." Alex handed over the phone, knowing that the other doctor would want to speak with his daughter-in-law.

"Jo, Honey, how did the flight go, are you here yet…? What … Oh, my, no … no, he's out of danger now … I'll tell you when you get here, it's still very confused, I don't really know myself how it happened… No, he's been here, sitting with his dad… I don't know, look, let me put you back to Alex, he can tell you." Mark held the phone out. "Jo wants to know about Rae." When Alex had taken it he lay down and shut his eyes, and Alex knew if he wasn't careful he would have another patient.

. . . . . . . . . .

Daniel stopped as he saw Rae in the hallway. There was no one with her and he walked up to her. She hadn't been injured and she looked fine and it was that which finally made his anger break free. "I thought you were nice, and Jesse, I guess I was wrong, I know Mom owns your house, I'll get her to make you move, he nearly killed him, he nearly killed my dad."

"Daniel…?" Rae could see the anger in his eyes and she reached out to him. The pain he was in made her feel even worse than she already did and as tears filled her eyes she gasped in a gulp of air. Instantly Daniel felt his animosity disappear.

"Rae, I'm sorry, I … I didn't mean to make you cry, do you want me to get Grandpa … or, or Alex?" Daniel's head was swimming, he'd never been in a hospital in his life until he moved in with his new mom and dad, and he didn't know what to do.

"No … no, I'm fine, but I am so sorry … Daniel, is Steve ok?" Rae thought she already knew the answer; he wouldn't be in the hallway if his dad was still really sick as she waited for his answer she rubbed at her eyes to rid them of her tears.

He nodded his head, silent for a moment as he worked out what to say. "Yeah, he wasn't, but Alex saved him."

"He's a good doctor… Daniel, I'm sorry that Steve got hurt. I … I don't know what else to say." Rae shook her head; the memories of what had happened were still so confusing that she didn't know where to start, so she opened her arms and to her relief Daniel let her hug him.

Daniel didn't know how to finish the conversation and so he took a step back, nodded his head and began to speak. "I'm gonna go and call Mom, Rae, I'll see you later." Rae seemed happy with that and so he turned and made his way down the corridor, but although he had told Rae his plans he didn't think he could do that, not yet, and so, after turning the corner, he sat in the nearest chair and let his feeling engulf him.

. . . . . . . . . .

Jo shut her phone down and left it plugged in to charge. Then she went back into the living room. "Well, it seems that my husband has survived, no thanks to you. Mark thought I was callin' from the airport to let him know it would only be a half hour 'til I got there!" That wasn't quite true, but it worked for her.

"So, what are you gonna do now? Don't you have an appointment to go see the Station Captain later today?" David had closed the folder on the table and taken his glasses off; for once his sister had his undivided attention.

"I am going home; I don't know when I'll be back so I'll get the packin' cases shipped to Los Angeles. I'll go count them while the plane is gettin' ready."

Jo moved back out into the hallway again. "Jonathon, could you come here please?" Her voice reverberated through the lower storey of the house, and she waited.

"Yes, Madam?" The butler was tall, very black and extremely efficient.

"Could you call the airport an' let them know that I will be needin' the plane in about an hour or so to go back to LA?"

"Certainly, Madam, will you be requiring full service this time?"

"What? No, no, just make sure there are some snacks an' plenty of water, that'll do me … no, wait, get Chef to make me up a basket, that way I can go straight to the hospital, thank you, Jonathon."

"It is my pleasure, Madam." The man turned and walked back in the direction of his pantry and Jo headed for the stairs.

. . . . . . . . . .

Rae moved on after speaking with Daniel and came to Jesse's room just a little too soon. She was anxious to see him, to be able to sit and know she was there for him, but she didn't know what to say so that he knew, that whatever had happened the night before, she still loved and trusted him. She carefully opened the door and moved towards the bed. Jesse was dead to the world, the hands that held the knife now lying still on the covers; his hair tousled and mussed up from the night's rest. Rae had to smile, her husband had always looked about twelve years old when he was sleeping, and her heart filled with love for him once more as she sat down in the chair next to the bed and just watched as Jesse rested.

. . . . . . . . . .

When Jo had returned to the attic for the final time before she left for home she had been planning to label the chests so that she had a map in her mind of where everything had been. To her delight though she discovered that the job had been done for her, she had moved the crate nearest the door so that she could get to the one behind it and there, on the side hidden from view, was a sticker which said Item No, 458. Jo had then gone to the farthest room and checked the one nearest to the locked door; it said Item No, 53. "So there are 406 boxes in the rooms I can get into, an' fifty-two in the room I can't. Now I can sort out the rest from home." With a spring in her step Jo had checked the odd packing case here and there just to double check they were all numbered, and when she found that they were she silently thanked her grandmamma for being so organised.

As she locked up the attic once more Jo made sure that it was completely secure and then she made her way down to her own bedroom intending to pack her clothes ready to leave.

"Oh, Maria, what are you doin' in here?"

"Packin' for you, Madam, Miss Gardiner said that you were returnin' to LA right way, an' I was to make sure you didn't leave anythin' behind."

"Hmmm, I'll just bet she did." Jo averted her eyes from the maid, who carried on with her duties, and looked around the room. There was a picture of her mamma and papa on the wall, one of her grandmamma too, and suddenly she knew she wanted to take them with her. "I'll just take these downstairs, I need them." She carefully took them both down and then carrying them in front of her made her way to the kitchen where she knew Jonathon would be able to find her some bubble wrap.

An hour and a half later she was sitting in the airplane as it taxied down the runway; she had called Mark and left a message on his cell, and also spoken to Daniel and Michael. Her son had been amazed and upset that she wasn't home yet, but she had heard the maturity in his voice as he had told her what he would do.

"Don't you hurry, well, yeah, hurry, I miss you and … and I know Dad will be better as soon as you get here, but I'll sit with him, and Grandpa, he needs me too. Until you get here, I'll do all that."

"Honey, I am so proud of you, an' I'll see you soon, I promise. You take care, now." Jo had felt the tears prick the back of her eyes.

"I will, and, Mom …"

"Yes, Sweetie."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

She had disconnected then and collapsed back onto the sofa on the plane.  She still didn't know what was wrong with Steve, she knew he wasn't in danger, but nothing else, and she guessed that until she could get to him she would have to be satisfied with her limited knowledge, but she also knew that no matter what her grandmamma wanted her to do her family would come first from now on.