Chapter 9:
Abby was still in the hospital she was scheduled to be released tomorrow if she continued to improve the way that she was. She still hadn't regained any of her memory and they didn't know if she would or not. She had tried not to think about it knowing that right now it was out of her control. She might get some of it back when she was able to go to her apartment and be around her things.
Night started to fall over the city of Chicago and Abby could see the lights starting to twinkle outside her hospital room window. She moved from the chair that she had been sitting in back to the bed. She was tired and she thought that she might as well try and get some sleep. She was excited about getting out of there, no one liked being in the hospital and she was no exception to that.
She settled into the bed and was surprised to see Susan standing in her door way, "hey can I come in?"
"Yeah sure." Abby said waving her in. She pulled herself up a little more in the bed.
"I was off and I thought that I would see how you were doing before I headed home." Susan said as she crossed over to where Abby was.
"I'm doing okay." Abby replied, "ready to go home though."
"Yeah I'm sure that you are; you've been here awhile now." Susan looked at her, "you feeling better then?"
"Yeah I am feeling better." Abby said giving her a soft smile.
"That's always good to hear. You are looking a lot better than the last time that I saw you." Susan said.
"Yeah I might be looking better and feeling better than I was. As hard as I try not to think about it, I just wish that I could get my memory back." Abby said looking down.
"You still don't remember anything?" Susan asked her. "That has to be frustrating for you."
"Yeah you could say that it is." Abby said looking at her. "I remember some things and most of my life up until we were locked down in the ER. I remember the kids coming in and being so sick and how scared we where but that is where my memories end. I don't know, I know that we had to have gotten through it okay cause I am sitting her talking to you but anything else don't ask me about cause I won't have an answer for you."
"So you don't remember that you and Carter started dating after that or what happened up on the platform that afternoon?"
"No Susan you are the fifteenth person who has asked me that and I have no idea what happened up on that platform. I wish I did, I wish I could tell you who did this to me but I can't." Abby said, "They think that I might be blocking it out from the trauma, but I just don't know. I can't force the memories to come back."
"No you can't force them to come back; if they are going to come back they will come back on their own. As hard as it is, you just have to be patient with them." Susan told her knowing that she had probably been told that too.
"I know." Abby said letting out a sigh. She looked at Susan now, "the police officers told me that they arrested someone in the case." She was almost heart broken in a way over this, and if she could have remembered their relationship she might have been even more heartbroken.
"How do you feel about that Abby?" Susan asked.
"I don't know, honestly, I feel like I should be upset about it. I can't say yes he did it or no he didn't do it." Abby said playing with the blanket that covered her now. "It is an eerie feeling that I was dating someone who could have done something like that. Do you think he really did it?"
"I don't know Abby." Susan said answering her honestly. "I have always thought that Carter could never hurt anyone but lately I don't know and with everything that they have against him, it's looking more and more like he did do it."
"I wish that I could have been more help to the policeman but I told him that I didn't remember my attack." She said looking down still, "I just don't know if I want to remember it."
"Who knows Abby?" Susan said. "I wish that I had answers for you but I don't. I'm just want you to know that I am here for you if there is anything that you need okay?"
"I know." Abby still couldn't look up at her, "I'm just tired right now."
"I'll let you get some sleep and maybe I might see you before they let you out in the morning." Susan said as she stood up to leave the room, "goodnight Abby."
"Good night Susan." Abby sunk down more into the bed now.
Susan turned the lights off in the room for Abby as she left watching her friend sink more into the bed that would be hers for one more night. She was worried about Abby with everything that had happened. There was still that doubt that Carter might have done it or he might not have. She didn't know if the police had checked to see where Paul had been during all of this or not, but if they thought that he might have had something to do with it then surely they had.
Abby felt safe in the hospital as she drifted off that night. She knew that if Carter did it he was indeed in the County Jail right now for it, and if not then whoever it was wouldn't come after her with other people around. Although that hadn't stopped him from attacking her in broad daylight… wait she was remembering something… that the attack happened in broad daylight while she was waiting for the train.
She remembered walking up the steps of the EL and how cold it was. That the wind was blowing and the rain that it was coming through her coat that she was cold while she waited for the train. Abby chewed on her lip as the small pieces of that day started to slowly come back to her. She was on her way home; she had gotten off on time and was looking forward to getting home. She tried not to focus on remembering but to let it come back on her own.
The hairs on her arms stood up as she heard the voice again. That cold voice the one that had been whispered in her ear while she stood there right before the pain, the horrible pain. "Abby guess I didn't finish this the first time and I have to do it again."
Her eyes darted around the room, "what… what do you want." She said as she searched to figure out where that voice was coming from in the darkness of the room.
"To make him suffer, he's in jail which is a start but it's still not enough." The voice said to her again, "and you dying will seal his fate. It will look like it happened from the stabbing on the platform."
Abby had the chills, her entire body was shaking as her hands searched for the call button, she needed to get someone in here and she needed them in there now. "No stop please." She tried to put some power behind her voice make it carry down the hallway some. She could scream that might bring someone down there.
"No, you see Abby darling I can't stop. It wouldn't be right to stop." The voice said to her again.
Abby got the feeling that the voice was getting closer to her that it was somewhere in that room with her and panic filled every ounce of her body. She went to scream but nothing came out. Her hands were frantically searching in the sheets for the call button but it was no where to be found. "Please, don't, just go." Her voice was barely there, she would have run but she didn't know where he was. She was near crying now from being so terrified.
"I promise that it will be faster this time, you won't hurt, you won't suffer, and I can get it right."
Her hands kept searching, finally coming into contact with what she had been looking for she hit the call button once, twice, three times; she just wanted someone to come there. She was crying now tears were flowing freely down her face.
Then there was the glint of steel the light just happened to catch his weapon and she knew where her attack was in the room. She was hurting still from the stab wounds in her back but she was still small and quick. She jumped off the bed and ran for the door. She just hoped that her legs could carry her since she was so scared. Bolting for the door was her only option since no one seemed to want to answer her call light.
She reached the door and made it into the safety of the hall. She knew he was there somewhere behind her but Abby didn't stop until she reached the nurses station out of breathe but still alive. "Help please help there's a man in my room trying to kill me. Call security now please."
"Abby, honey, come back here you should be in bed." Paul said as he approached the two women. "Please excuse my sister, she panicked from not recognizing me, you know her memory problems, I didn't mean to scare her."
Abby tried and back even further away from him, "he's not my brother." She said looking at the nurse her eyes begging for help. "My brother is in Minnesota."
Paul had to think fast on his feet. "Abby I came to see you. I got here as soon as I could when I heard you were hurt." He was good at lying. "Please come on let's get you back to bed."
Abby was getting frantic surely the nurse couldn't believe him over her. "Really he's not my brother. Don't let him near me. He's trying to kill me. He's the man that stabbed me on the platform when I was waiting for the train." She was panicking. "Please call security don't let him near me."
The nurse went to pick up the phone to call for security just as Paul lunged at Abby missing her by a fraction of an inch. Abby ran again as fast as she could she didn't know where she was going she just knew she had to run. She found herself in the stairwell as she started to fly down the stairs. She was running for her life.
"Get back here you bitch!" Paul yelled as he took off after her now that he had recovered giving Abby a small yet decent head start.
She could hear him now coming after her she leaned over the railing and slid painfully down to the next landing. She just prayed that she didn't fall over and end up killing herself. She was on the 6th floor and had gone down two floors. Four more if she could stay ahead of him for four more flights she could get to the ER where there would be more people and rent-a-cops there.
Three more flights, two more flights, closer and closer Paul got to her Abby just kept going though she had to get away from him no matter how much it hurt. One more flight, her hand was on the ER door now as she flung it open running into the ER. There were people all over the place but she didn't recognize anyone just yet. There was a familiar sight, a face she knew.
"Pratt!" Abby yelled as loudly as she could trying to get his attention she darted towards him just as Paul reached the ER landing. "Help my god someone help me."
Pratt heard her calling to him as he turned around and Abby practically leaped into his arms, "that's the man, that's the man that stabbed me and he's trying to kill me."
The security guards heard the woman screaming and the came over just as Paul stepped from the landing into the ER. Abby was frantic she wanted this to end and she didn't want to die to end it. "That's the man who stabbed me." She kept repeating until the security guards managed to apprehend him.
Pratt looked at her and instinctively started to look her over, "oh god are you okay, did he hurt you anymore?"
Abby started to sob uncontrollably now, "no, no he didn't." She just couldn't stop crying.
"You're okay Abby, you are okay." Pratt said picking her up and heading for an empty exam room taking her away from where they were holding Paul down on the floor. "We'll get you taken care of sweetie."
They moved into a room and Pratt got her into a bed. He knew that the cops would want to talk to her after what she was screaming in the ER. But for now she could rest here. He made sure that she was tucked into the bed, "you'll be okay." He said, "I won't leave you right now."
Abby just didn't feel safe right now; she didn't think that she would feel safe anywhere in there again. How could he have gotten inside the hospital but the greater question weighing on her mind was how the psychopath was able to get out of the mental institution. Surely he couldn't have just walked out of there of his own free will; he had only been in there three years.
Pratt was however good to his word as he sat down in a chair near the gurney that he had laid her on. He knew that she was frightened and he didn't blame her one little bit, he was sure that if a psycho was trying to kill him, he would be a little on edge too. She had been through a lot the last couple of days and while the ER was busy, Pratt wasn't about to leave her alone in there. The last thing that any of them needed was for Abby to have a nervous breakdown.
Abby spent the night curled up on the gurney in the ER. She was not able to sleep and it wasn't until after she had spoken with the police officers and told them what she remembered that she even felt any kind of relief that this might be anywhere near over.
They explained that somehow there had been a mix up at the mental institution and that they had released the wrong patient and it wasn't until a few days ago that the error had even been realized. That didn't make Abby any more comfortable, it fact it just added to her uneasiness that it could happen again. The only difference was, this time Paul would be going to a more secure facility, where he would more than likely spend the rest of his life behind locked doors.
