Disclaimer: nope, don't own them..sadly.
From the moment he had first laid eyes on her, he knew that she was the one. Unlike the others, she was perfect, he was sure of it. He had been watching her now for close to two weeks, each day falling more and more in love with her. Yet, she didn't seem to know that he existed. They had literally run into each other once, in the staircase. She had been running downstairs to the ER, answering an urgent page, and he had been heading up the upstairs. The collision had knocked both of them to the ground, sending papers flying everywhere.
"Oh I'm so sorry," he reached his hand out to her, and she accepted it.
"No problem," she smiled at him, and ran off. He watched as she raced towards the trauma room ready to save yet another life. He loved watching people, it was his hobby. And now the police were involved. The problem was that the people he liked to watch often ended up dead. The police and now the FBI weren't to fond of his hobby, and now the FBI was leading the investigation. To be specific, Special Agent Mike Fisher was the man in charge. And he had vowed to hunt down and throw the suspects ass, whosever it maybe, in jail. The man had laughed at that point, here was this FBI agent promising the public that the murderer would be apprehended, yet they didn't even know who he was.
The media had grown tired of referring to him as the suspect. After all, how many other crimes had nameless suspects in them? His were crimes that had captivated the city of Chicago for a while, and by the time the fourth body had turned up, the whole country was now enthralled with. He deserved a more detailed handle then just the suspect. Now he was referred to as the Michigan Avenue Strangler. the only reason he had that name was because his first victim, he had taken from Michigan Avenue, and then later strangled her, simple as that. Oh well, he didn't really care what they called him, as long as nobody found out his real name. If someone did, he would be in trouble. But nobody suspected him, hell who would suspect Martin Richards, the quite janitor that worked at County General? He had seen an interview days before on CNN. A retired profiler was being grilled about what he thought the suspect was, what he did, how he lived, every tiny detail. All that the profiler could come up with, was the same as the FBI had came up with.
Most likely, according to the highly respected profiler, the Michigan Avenue Strangler was a single male, probably in his late thirties, lived alone, and that some time in his past, an event had happened that involved some sort of medical personal. Whether it was a doctor, nurse, x-ray tech. nobody knew. Yet, the only connection the most renowned crime solving agency in the world could come up with, was that all four of his victims had worked in some sort of health care related field. The first had been a nurse that worked at a local pediatrician's office, she had been the one that started everything. Lisa Washington had been her name, the only victims name he could actually remember. The second and third had both been x-ray techs from local hospitals, the third had been a phlebotomist, and the fourth was another nurse.
He laughed, the FBI was way behind him, he already knew who his next victim was, and she wasn't a nurse. No, this one was a doctor, a gorgeous doctor who had everything to offer him. She was smart, caring, funny, everything he could ever want, all rolled into one. Maybe she would be the one, the one who listened, who would do everything he asked, unlike the others. That was the problem with them, they wouldn't do anything he asked them to do, but this one, she was different, he had faith in her. And tonight that young doctor he had fallen in love with, oh yes Martin had definitely fallen in love with her, captivated, bound in a way that he had never thought possible, would become his next victim. The first doctor to be added to his list. Yet, maybe he wouldn't have to just get rid of her like he did the others. Maybe, just maybe, she would be the one to cooperate and do what he asked, he had an incredible about of faith in her.
He threw himself back into his work, never finding it to be challenging. He knew that he could be better than some simple janitor working in an county facility. This was menial work and he was much better than that. He had a degree from Harvard and was sweeping the floors of a hospital, when he knew he should have been the one running the damn place. Posh know it all doctors, think that they were better than everyone, well they weren't and he was going to make sure that they all knew just how smart he was. His doctor, oh yes she would see, she would know that he was better than the job that they had given him, she would be the one to put him back up on top where he belonged. This day was passing too slow, no amount of watching the clock was going to make things any easier, she would work her full 12 hour shift, if not longer just as she did every day the only difference was tonight, she wouldn't be punching that clock.
As he walked into the crowded waiting room, he bent down and picked up a lose newspaper. The front page headline was of course, all about him. He stifled a smile as he pretended to read it over, if he had actually had smiled, someone in the waiting room might have become suspicious. After all, who smiled while reading an article about the most wanted man in the United States at the moment, only the man himself. As he turned around to finish cleaning up, he saw her in the waiting room, near the soda machine.
"Stole your money, didn't it?" he asked as he approached her.
"Yeah, do you mind?" she asked.
"Not at all." he reached into his pocket and pulled out his key ring, and searched for the one key that would open the machine and allow the doctor her soda. "What kind do you want?"
"Just a coke,"
"Needing some caffeine tonight huh doctor?" he smiled at her as he handed her the beverage. She returned the smile, before opening the can and taking a sip.
"After this shift, defiantly." suddenly her pager went off, singling that she was needed back inside the ER.
"Duty calls," he said, desperate to have some sort of conversation with her, before she would hate him. He was sure that she would hate, no, despise, him after tonight, at least for a while, until she realized that they were meant for each other.
"That it does," she turned around and began to walk away but stopped, "thank you again," she raised the can to identify exactly what she was thanking him for, then disappeared into the busy ER hallway.
"Damn dude," an unfamiliar male voice interrupted his thoughts. "She's hot! Is she a doctor?" he turned to see a teenage boy looking in the same direction as he was.
"No, she just wears a white lab coat because she feels like it," if there was one thing Martin could not stand, it was ignorant people. He watched as the kid's expression as he realized that the janitor was joking with him.
"What's her name? Think they'll let me request her?" The kid was still staring in the direction in which the doctor had disappeared, as if he stared hard enough, she might reappear.
"That's Dr. Lockhart, she's a damn good doctor, if you ask me,"
"Do you know if she's seeing anyone?"
Martin shot the kid a you've-got-to-be-joking glance "Sorry dude, I've heard she has a pretty important date tonight," and with that Martin went about his work, counting down the hours until Abby Lockhart was his. His patience was coming to an end as he made his way back to the cart of janitorial supplies the newspaper still in his hands.
"Bring it on Fisher," he crumpled up the newspaper and threw it in the trash can of his cleaning cart before heading back into the ER. He thought about it more, was Fisher daring him? He didn't have a problem playing the FBI game if that's what the agent wanted, he had eluded them thus far, why not continue the game? If that's what Fisher wanted, then that's what he was going to get. He couldn't help but look in the trauma room at her as he passed. He watched as she desperately tried to get the patients heart pumping again, but he couldn't stop at stare at her, later, but not now. So he went about his work, knowing that tonight was the night. Tonight, that young doctor would become victim number six.
