Hey all~ alrighty things are starting to wind down (I think) so I wanted to
say thank you to everyone who has given me a review. Sorry this chapter is
a little later than I'd planned but my math teacher and my Western
Civilizations teacher decided to be extra mean this weekend.
Misery Chick722- thanks for your 'English teacher' review. I have to say that English and I don't get along so well despite the fact I've been speaking it all 14 years of my life. That added to the fact that I never actually sit down and write a whole chapter in one setting leads me to do things like putting blank said all the time. I'll work on changing that and when everything is all said and done I'll go back and clean everything up. Thanks so much for your review!!!
Abc780- thanks for the suggestion and I'll definitely check that out. ~SJ
Sean looked at the hospital ceiling above his bed. He was bored out of his mind and sick with worry. The nurses had piled the blankets high on his body to return his body temperature to the normal body temperature. He wished that there was someone in the room that could distract him from his current train of thought. He was thinking of Emma which led him to thinking about how her current predicament was his fault, completely. Had he just stayed in Canada she'd have never been grabbed off the street. It was all of his fault again and he knew that he had to stop all of this. When Emma was found he was going to tell her to stay away from him. At the rate things were currently going by the time they were in college he would likely be responsible for her death. He just wanted to stop hurting her.
Elsewhere, Emma was also thinking. She was thinking of Sean and how she had failed him. She'd been unable to find him and convince him to come home. He could be in trouble and he'd have no one on his side. It was this thought that compelled her to climb to her feet. Charlie had since left the room and despite the killer headache that she had she was glad to find that she wasn't any more injured. Emma looked around the room and saw that the door was closed and realized that it was getting darker in the room. Night was falling and Emma finally had an idea. She had to get out of this place. Charlie was obviously insane and there was no telling what else he was capable of. There was no way that she could place all of her trust on being found by authorities, she had to depend on herself to get out of this. Looking to the window she knew she was leaving through it and quickly walked to it.
It took little effort to pull herself into a position that would give her easy access to it. Using one hand she pushed on the window and was slightly surprised to find that it slid open with relative ease. Placing each hand on either side of the window, Emma pulled herself free from her captivity and into the snow. She pulled herself to her feet and zipped her jacket higher as she climbed to her feet and took off running. She made it three blocks before she finally slowed to a walk, but she never stopped moving. She'd been walking for maybe a half an hour when she heard sirens and stopped dead in her tracks. Were they coming to get her? Had Charlie called the authorities and lied to them? As she was standing there pondering the questions the squad car had come to a stop and a uniformed officer got out on both sides.
"Emma Nelson?" The passenger side officer asked. That was all that she needed, Emma took off running and heard the officer swear and call something over his squeaking radio. She didn't stick around to hear what he was saying and turned down a nearby alley. At the end of it there was another squad car and Emma felt her heart skip a beat. She was trapped now and looked to the other buildings for a means of escape. A fire escape that was about a foot above her offered the only escape and Emma ran to it. She was in the process of pulling herself up when she felt a tugging on her legs. She looked down as she was kicking and noted that it was a police officer.
"Emma, stop!" A suited man exclaimed as she continued to struggle to pull herself up. Emma looked at him and only stopped when she had successfully gotten herself free of the officer's grasp.
"Who are you? Who sent you?" She asked.
"Emma, I'm Agent Harper of the FBI. Your step-father is waiting at the local police station for you. Come down from there and we'll go see him. You're safe now, Emma." The man told her. She looked at him skeptically and found a solution after a moment.
"Call Snake here. When he's here I'll come down." She reasoned. The agent looked a her with a little smile and replied, "That I can do."
"Oh, my gosh. A little boy! What on Earth are we going to name him? We never really considered it." Snake exclaimed as he paced the police conference room. Spike smiled on the other end of line as she held the phone between her ear and shoulder. In her arms she held their new baby and wondered what Emma would say.
"I don't know. I want to ask Emma though, I think this should be a family decision. Is there any news yet?" Spike asked, worry taking over.
"Yes, some excellent news. Someone called in and said they saw her running down one of the streets here. Agent Harper just went to get her now." Snake replied and Spike sighed in relief as her eyes filled with tears. Her baby was finally safe.
"When will you guys come home then?" Spike asked when she had her emotions under control. Snake, she could hear, was talking to someone that had just come into the room.
"Spike, I've gotta go. Apparently Emma isn't cooperating and has climbed up on a fire escape and won't come down until she sees me. I've gotta go but I'll call you as soon as I know she's okay." Snake promised with a hurried good-bye.
When he got to the site he felt a three ton weight lift from his shoulders. There was Emma on the fire escape stairs looking down at the officers below her, arms wrapped around herself to keep warm.
"Emma!" He called, opening the door before the car had even come to a complete stop. Her head snapped up immediately and he saw relief fill her eyes. She moved quickly to the stairs and let herself down to the ground and ran to meet him. He swept her up into his tight embrace, holding her high above the ground.
"Everything is going to be okay now, Em." He promised kissing her hair as her tears stained his jacket. Agent Harper watched the two and hated to break the reunion up, but there were things that still needed to be taken care of. Emma's health being one of them.
"Snake, we need to get Emma to a hospital and get her cleared medically and then I need to talk to her about the man that grabbed her." Agent Harper said in low tones and Snake nodded letting her slide to the ground, but keeping a form of physical contact with her at all times.
"What about Sean? Has anyone found him? Does anyone know if he's okay?" Emma pressed looking from the agent to Snake.
"He's fine, Em. He turned himself in after he saw a news story about you. He has mild hypothermia and is just under hospital supervision for the time being." Snake told her gently and she nodded looking all the more relieved.
"Snake, what happened to Ashley wasn't his fault. Charlie said something about a girl in Canada and I'm sure that he was talking about her." Emma told him. He and Agent Harper exchanged look and Agent Harper nodded. This was important but Emma's health was more important.
"Okay, Emma. We'll talk about that more after the doctor's get a look at you." Agent Harper told her and she nodded, obediently getting into the squad car. Everything was going to be okay.
Craig wished that Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs would get back quickly. He needed to pee but didn't want to leave Ashley alone. He just couldn't stand the idea that she could wake up alone. When the door opened he turned quickly to see that it was Jimmy and his eyes clouded over with anger. They still weren't on the best of terms. Craig hated that Ashley had ever been willing to change herself for him.
"Hey, Craig. Am I interrupting anything?" He asked nervously. He really wasn't sure what he was doing here. Craig looked at him for a moment before answering.
"No. Actually, can you sit with her for a little? I need a little break." Craig asked and Jimmy nodded. With a nod of thanks, Craig moved out into the hallway to the public bathrooms. Jimmy, meanwhile, looked at Ashley and sighed.
"Hey, Ash. I don't know if you can hear me or anything but I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all the stuff that I wish I could take some of the things I said back, but because I can't I'm saying I'm sorry." He told her. She made no move, nothing and Jimmy sighed. She was in a coma. She most likely hadn't heard a thing that he'd said. He'd spilled his guts for nothing. With another sigh he stood and began to pace the hospital room.
"Hello?" A voice croaked. Jimmy spun quickly and looked at Ashley who was looking weakly around the room. He hurried over to her and grasped her hand as he slid into the chair next to her.
"Hey, Ash. Welcome back!" He exclaimed as he stood over her. She looked into his eyes and after she focused and realized who it was she looked a little surprised.
"Jimmy, where am I? Where are my parents?" She asked softly. Jimmy looked down at her.
"You're in the hospital, Ash. I think your parents are in the cafeteria but Craig will be back in a minute. Do you want me to go and get him?" Jimmy asked and she gave a little nod. He gave her an encouraging smile before hurrying to get Craig.
Craig was, needless to say, a little startled when Jimmy burst into the bathroom telling him he had to get back to Ashley. His face lit up though when he saw her and he quickly went to her.
"Hey, you." He said softly as he grasped her hand in his own. Behind him he heard Jimmy say something about going to get her parents, but he was caught in Ashley's eyes, eyes that he'd missed for so long.
"Hey. What's going on?" Ashley asked, her confusion clear.
"Well," Craig began, "it's a pretty long story."
"I've got time."
"Run this through me again." Agent Harper asked as he set the tape recorder again. Emma sighed, this was going to be the fourth time she'd told the story and she could see Snake tensing up about it all.
"Okay, so I got off the bus and I went to all the different hotels and when I got to the third there was this guy there. I went to leave and he stabbed me with the drugs. I woke up in this little cell thingy. The bruises on my neck are from when he just sort of snapped. That's when he said about the girl in Canada who had refused him and look what happened to her. I knew he was talking about Ashley which means that Sean didn't do it. He asked me to stay with him, be his daughter, but I told him no and he spazed. He grabbed me around the neck and held me till I passed out. When I woke up I broke out and started running." Emma told him. When she got to the part about being his daughter she saw Snake's hands curl into fists. He had been furious when he saw the bruises around her neck.
"Okay, Emma. Oops, hold on a second." Agent Harper told her as his cell phone rang. He smiled at whatever his informant was telling him and when he was through he turned back to Snake and Emma.
"I have some excellent news. We sent a team to the location and we've got him. You guys have nothing to worry about. I have to get down there for when they bring him in, so I better be going." Agent Harper told them apologetically. They nodded as he left and Snake turned his attention to his step-daughter.
"Are you sure that you're okay now, Emma?" He asked, taking a seat next to her bed.
"I'd be a lot better if I knew where Sean was. I failed him, Snake." She told him tearfully.
"Emma, Sean's here. He is just down the hall from you. When he saw the story about you on the news he went to the police." Snake told her and she gaped at him.
"What?" Emma whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.
"As soon as the doctor clears you of needing any serious medical treatment, I'll take you down the hall to see him." Snake promised her and Emma nodded wordlessly. He was okay, that thought alone was enough to put her on hyper drive and so she took a few moments to calm herself and get her thoughts in order.
Sean was restless above all other things. He wanted to be doing something to get Emma back instead of lying on a hospital bed. He heard voices by his door and assumed that it was Tracker and a nurse, but when the visitor spoke it wasn't Tracker's voice.
"Sean." It was Emma's. He whipped his head around and took her in. She was in a hospital gown as well, hers having pink dots as opposed to blue, with an IV stuck in her arm. Her hair was down around her shoulders and directed his attention to the horrid looking bruises around her neck. She walked over to him and sat down on the bed next to him, lacing her fingers with his. He reached up and ran his fingers lightly over the marks on her neck.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She told him but he could see that she was shivering. Whether it was from fear or cold he didn't know, but he pulled the covers back and slid over, offering her a space in the warmth. Emma curled up next to him and reveled in the feeling of his hands moving around her back, calming her.
"What happened?" He asked her and Emma looked away. She couldn't look at him when she told him how she'd failed him.
"I get captured. This crazy guy that attacked Ashley wanted me to stay with him and be his daughter. When I refused him he tried to strangle me." Emma explained, trying to tone down the seriousness of what had happened. It didn't work so well and Sean shot her a serious look.
"Sean, I'm so sorry." She finally told him flat out. He gaped at her, unable to call to mind words of protest.
"I failed you. I was coming here to get you, to convince you that coming home was better than hiding and running, but I only ended up getting myself into trouble. I'm so sorry." She elaborated.
"Emma, if anything, I should apologize to you." Sean confessed. At Emma's look he elaborated, "Emma, this is just another instance where I've gotten you into something. You shouldn't be doing this, getting yourself into trouble for me." He told her and Emma looked up at him, pushing herself into a sitting position.
"Sean, no one made me come here. I got on that bus and planned this all out on my own without anyone else's input." She reasoned, but Sean would hear none of it. He had already come to his own conclusion.
"Emma, we can't be together anymore. I don't want to be with you anymore." Sean told her and Emma again found herself staring at him. How could he say this to her? What was he talking about?
"What?" She whispered, feeling tears come to her eyes. This couldn't be happening.
"We can't be together anymore. I don't want to date you anymore, Emma. I'm not the person for you." He told her, ignoring her tears that were falling freely now.
"I don't understand," Emma mumbled. Sean fought his own tears, he didn't want to do this but felt he had to.
"I just don't feel that way about you anymore. I still love you as a friend but I don't love you any more than that." Sean told her. Choking on her sobs, Emma gave him one last look before darting from the room as quickly as she could with her IV stand.
Misery Chick722- thanks for your 'English teacher' review. I have to say that English and I don't get along so well despite the fact I've been speaking it all 14 years of my life. That added to the fact that I never actually sit down and write a whole chapter in one setting leads me to do things like putting blank said all the time. I'll work on changing that and when everything is all said and done I'll go back and clean everything up. Thanks so much for your review!!!
Abc780- thanks for the suggestion and I'll definitely check that out. ~SJ
Sean looked at the hospital ceiling above his bed. He was bored out of his mind and sick with worry. The nurses had piled the blankets high on his body to return his body temperature to the normal body temperature. He wished that there was someone in the room that could distract him from his current train of thought. He was thinking of Emma which led him to thinking about how her current predicament was his fault, completely. Had he just stayed in Canada she'd have never been grabbed off the street. It was all of his fault again and he knew that he had to stop all of this. When Emma was found he was going to tell her to stay away from him. At the rate things were currently going by the time they were in college he would likely be responsible for her death. He just wanted to stop hurting her.
Elsewhere, Emma was also thinking. She was thinking of Sean and how she had failed him. She'd been unable to find him and convince him to come home. He could be in trouble and he'd have no one on his side. It was this thought that compelled her to climb to her feet. Charlie had since left the room and despite the killer headache that she had she was glad to find that she wasn't any more injured. Emma looked around the room and saw that the door was closed and realized that it was getting darker in the room. Night was falling and Emma finally had an idea. She had to get out of this place. Charlie was obviously insane and there was no telling what else he was capable of. There was no way that she could place all of her trust on being found by authorities, she had to depend on herself to get out of this. Looking to the window she knew she was leaving through it and quickly walked to it.
It took little effort to pull herself into a position that would give her easy access to it. Using one hand she pushed on the window and was slightly surprised to find that it slid open with relative ease. Placing each hand on either side of the window, Emma pulled herself free from her captivity and into the snow. She pulled herself to her feet and zipped her jacket higher as she climbed to her feet and took off running. She made it three blocks before she finally slowed to a walk, but she never stopped moving. She'd been walking for maybe a half an hour when she heard sirens and stopped dead in her tracks. Were they coming to get her? Had Charlie called the authorities and lied to them? As she was standing there pondering the questions the squad car had come to a stop and a uniformed officer got out on both sides.
"Emma Nelson?" The passenger side officer asked. That was all that she needed, Emma took off running and heard the officer swear and call something over his squeaking radio. She didn't stick around to hear what he was saying and turned down a nearby alley. At the end of it there was another squad car and Emma felt her heart skip a beat. She was trapped now and looked to the other buildings for a means of escape. A fire escape that was about a foot above her offered the only escape and Emma ran to it. She was in the process of pulling herself up when she felt a tugging on her legs. She looked down as she was kicking and noted that it was a police officer.
"Emma, stop!" A suited man exclaimed as she continued to struggle to pull herself up. Emma looked at him and only stopped when she had successfully gotten herself free of the officer's grasp.
"Who are you? Who sent you?" She asked.
"Emma, I'm Agent Harper of the FBI. Your step-father is waiting at the local police station for you. Come down from there and we'll go see him. You're safe now, Emma." The man told her. She looked at him skeptically and found a solution after a moment.
"Call Snake here. When he's here I'll come down." She reasoned. The agent looked a her with a little smile and replied, "That I can do."
"Oh, my gosh. A little boy! What on Earth are we going to name him? We never really considered it." Snake exclaimed as he paced the police conference room. Spike smiled on the other end of line as she held the phone between her ear and shoulder. In her arms she held their new baby and wondered what Emma would say.
"I don't know. I want to ask Emma though, I think this should be a family decision. Is there any news yet?" Spike asked, worry taking over.
"Yes, some excellent news. Someone called in and said they saw her running down one of the streets here. Agent Harper just went to get her now." Snake replied and Spike sighed in relief as her eyes filled with tears. Her baby was finally safe.
"When will you guys come home then?" Spike asked when she had her emotions under control. Snake, she could hear, was talking to someone that had just come into the room.
"Spike, I've gotta go. Apparently Emma isn't cooperating and has climbed up on a fire escape and won't come down until she sees me. I've gotta go but I'll call you as soon as I know she's okay." Snake promised with a hurried good-bye.
When he got to the site he felt a three ton weight lift from his shoulders. There was Emma on the fire escape stairs looking down at the officers below her, arms wrapped around herself to keep warm.
"Emma!" He called, opening the door before the car had even come to a complete stop. Her head snapped up immediately and he saw relief fill her eyes. She moved quickly to the stairs and let herself down to the ground and ran to meet him. He swept her up into his tight embrace, holding her high above the ground.
"Everything is going to be okay now, Em." He promised kissing her hair as her tears stained his jacket. Agent Harper watched the two and hated to break the reunion up, but there were things that still needed to be taken care of. Emma's health being one of them.
"Snake, we need to get Emma to a hospital and get her cleared medically and then I need to talk to her about the man that grabbed her." Agent Harper said in low tones and Snake nodded letting her slide to the ground, but keeping a form of physical contact with her at all times.
"What about Sean? Has anyone found him? Does anyone know if he's okay?" Emma pressed looking from the agent to Snake.
"He's fine, Em. He turned himself in after he saw a news story about you. He has mild hypothermia and is just under hospital supervision for the time being." Snake told her gently and she nodded looking all the more relieved.
"Snake, what happened to Ashley wasn't his fault. Charlie said something about a girl in Canada and I'm sure that he was talking about her." Emma told him. He and Agent Harper exchanged look and Agent Harper nodded. This was important but Emma's health was more important.
"Okay, Emma. We'll talk about that more after the doctor's get a look at you." Agent Harper told her and she nodded, obediently getting into the squad car. Everything was going to be okay.
Craig wished that Mr. and Mrs. Isaacs would get back quickly. He needed to pee but didn't want to leave Ashley alone. He just couldn't stand the idea that she could wake up alone. When the door opened he turned quickly to see that it was Jimmy and his eyes clouded over with anger. They still weren't on the best of terms. Craig hated that Ashley had ever been willing to change herself for him.
"Hey, Craig. Am I interrupting anything?" He asked nervously. He really wasn't sure what he was doing here. Craig looked at him for a moment before answering.
"No. Actually, can you sit with her for a little? I need a little break." Craig asked and Jimmy nodded. With a nod of thanks, Craig moved out into the hallway to the public bathrooms. Jimmy, meanwhile, looked at Ashley and sighed.
"Hey, Ash. I don't know if you can hear me or anything but I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all the stuff that I wish I could take some of the things I said back, but because I can't I'm saying I'm sorry." He told her. She made no move, nothing and Jimmy sighed. She was in a coma. She most likely hadn't heard a thing that he'd said. He'd spilled his guts for nothing. With another sigh he stood and began to pace the hospital room.
"Hello?" A voice croaked. Jimmy spun quickly and looked at Ashley who was looking weakly around the room. He hurried over to her and grasped her hand as he slid into the chair next to her.
"Hey, Ash. Welcome back!" He exclaimed as he stood over her. She looked into his eyes and after she focused and realized who it was she looked a little surprised.
"Jimmy, where am I? Where are my parents?" She asked softly. Jimmy looked down at her.
"You're in the hospital, Ash. I think your parents are in the cafeteria but Craig will be back in a minute. Do you want me to go and get him?" Jimmy asked and she gave a little nod. He gave her an encouraging smile before hurrying to get Craig.
Craig was, needless to say, a little startled when Jimmy burst into the bathroom telling him he had to get back to Ashley. His face lit up though when he saw her and he quickly went to her.
"Hey, you." He said softly as he grasped her hand in his own. Behind him he heard Jimmy say something about going to get her parents, but he was caught in Ashley's eyes, eyes that he'd missed for so long.
"Hey. What's going on?" Ashley asked, her confusion clear.
"Well," Craig began, "it's a pretty long story."
"I've got time."
"Run this through me again." Agent Harper asked as he set the tape recorder again. Emma sighed, this was going to be the fourth time she'd told the story and she could see Snake tensing up about it all.
"Okay, so I got off the bus and I went to all the different hotels and when I got to the third there was this guy there. I went to leave and he stabbed me with the drugs. I woke up in this little cell thingy. The bruises on my neck are from when he just sort of snapped. That's when he said about the girl in Canada who had refused him and look what happened to her. I knew he was talking about Ashley which means that Sean didn't do it. He asked me to stay with him, be his daughter, but I told him no and he spazed. He grabbed me around the neck and held me till I passed out. When I woke up I broke out and started running." Emma told him. When she got to the part about being his daughter she saw Snake's hands curl into fists. He had been furious when he saw the bruises around her neck.
"Okay, Emma. Oops, hold on a second." Agent Harper told her as his cell phone rang. He smiled at whatever his informant was telling him and when he was through he turned back to Snake and Emma.
"I have some excellent news. We sent a team to the location and we've got him. You guys have nothing to worry about. I have to get down there for when they bring him in, so I better be going." Agent Harper told them apologetically. They nodded as he left and Snake turned his attention to his step-daughter.
"Are you sure that you're okay now, Emma?" He asked, taking a seat next to her bed.
"I'd be a lot better if I knew where Sean was. I failed him, Snake." She told him tearfully.
"Emma, Sean's here. He is just down the hall from you. When he saw the story about you on the news he went to the police." Snake told her and she gaped at him.
"What?" Emma whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.
"As soon as the doctor clears you of needing any serious medical treatment, I'll take you down the hall to see him." Snake promised her and Emma nodded wordlessly. He was okay, that thought alone was enough to put her on hyper drive and so she took a few moments to calm herself and get her thoughts in order.
Sean was restless above all other things. He wanted to be doing something to get Emma back instead of lying on a hospital bed. He heard voices by his door and assumed that it was Tracker and a nurse, but when the visitor spoke it wasn't Tracker's voice.
"Sean." It was Emma's. He whipped his head around and took her in. She was in a hospital gown as well, hers having pink dots as opposed to blue, with an IV stuck in her arm. Her hair was down around her shoulders and directed his attention to the horrid looking bruises around her neck. She walked over to him and sat down on the bed next to him, lacing her fingers with his. He reached up and ran his fingers lightly over the marks on her neck.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She told him but he could see that she was shivering. Whether it was from fear or cold he didn't know, but he pulled the covers back and slid over, offering her a space in the warmth. Emma curled up next to him and reveled in the feeling of his hands moving around her back, calming her.
"What happened?" He asked her and Emma looked away. She couldn't look at him when she told him how she'd failed him.
"I get captured. This crazy guy that attacked Ashley wanted me to stay with him and be his daughter. When I refused him he tried to strangle me." Emma explained, trying to tone down the seriousness of what had happened. It didn't work so well and Sean shot her a serious look.
"Sean, I'm so sorry." She finally told him flat out. He gaped at her, unable to call to mind words of protest.
"I failed you. I was coming here to get you, to convince you that coming home was better than hiding and running, but I only ended up getting myself into trouble. I'm so sorry." She elaborated.
"Emma, if anything, I should apologize to you." Sean confessed. At Emma's look he elaborated, "Emma, this is just another instance where I've gotten you into something. You shouldn't be doing this, getting yourself into trouble for me." He told her and Emma looked up at him, pushing herself into a sitting position.
"Sean, no one made me come here. I got on that bus and planned this all out on my own without anyone else's input." She reasoned, but Sean would hear none of it. He had already come to his own conclusion.
"Emma, we can't be together anymore. I don't want to be with you anymore." Sean told her and Emma again found herself staring at him. How could he say this to her? What was he talking about?
"What?" She whispered, feeling tears come to her eyes. This couldn't be happening.
"We can't be together anymore. I don't want to date you anymore, Emma. I'm not the person for you." He told her, ignoring her tears that were falling freely now.
"I don't understand," Emma mumbled. Sean fought his own tears, he didn't want to do this but felt he had to.
"I just don't feel that way about you anymore. I still love you as a friend but I don't love you any more than that." Sean told her. Choking on her sobs, Emma gave him one last look before darting from the room as quickly as she could with her IV stand.