A/N: And now the lawyer's chorus: I recently learned that I must inform you that this story was originally published on starting in January of this year. It's not complete on epinions, in fact, it's just as far along there as it is here. But for some reason I have to give them credit. Anyway, here we go with another chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 6
John, Fin, and Dr. George Huang stood in Jackie's room in the ICU of St. Luke's Hospital. She was still doing the best she could under the circumstances. Her jaw was still wired, she was still medicated and was not able to talk very well. She felt empty and scared. She didn't know who to trust anymore. She tried to look the Asian psychiatrist in the eye and focus on what he was saying as he asked her a few questions.
"How are you feeling today? Are you getting any better?"
"Little more each day." She said slowly and weakly.
"How much do you remember about the attack now?" He asked in a reassuring tone. He tried to make her feel that even though three people were about to ask her questions she wasn't being ganged up on.
"Just... bits and pieces... here and there. It's hard to think and talk." Her speech was improving but not by much. The doctor had instructed the men in the strictest possible terms not to upset her or tire her out. She was still very fragile.
"Do you remember who Brian Lambert is?" Huang asked.
"Who?"
"You mentioned his name to this detective when you were first interviewed. You don't remember?" He said, pointing to Fin to try to give her some sense of recognition.
"Don't know...who you're...talking..about." She said defensively.
John sensed she was about to close up and it would hurt that even more to see that happen. He wanted to catch this person as much as anyone. So he jumped in.
"I know this is painful but we need you to think. Take your time no one is judging you. We're trying to find whoever did this. You said the name, it must be important. It must mean something to you. He must exist unless he's a ghost."
"Sounds like...movie I was watching...that day...The Entity."
The three men laughed a little. But John continued. "Hey, I love Barbara Hershey as much as anybody. Damn good actress but I don't think that's what you were talking about."
"Well...I..." She started to talk when the nurse peeked her head in.
"We need to turn her. You need to leave the room for a minute."
John got an irritated look on his face. She was just starting to open up and now he was sure she was going to shut down again. "Damn it." He thought to himself as he and his colleagues left the room.
"Now what? We're running out of ideas here." Fin said.
"Not necessarily." Huang reassured. "As much as she fought us she is willing to talk she's just not sure what to talk about."
"What does that mean?" John asked, looking confused.
"Something happened that night that she doesn't know how to explain or she's just too embarrassed to talk about it. If I few more minutes I could..."
"No! Please don't!" Jackie screamed from her room.
"What the hell?" the three men said at the same time as they ran into the hospital room. They almost wished they hadn't.
Jackie lay there in a pool of blood with blood on her hands and her stomach. The nurses were standing there dumbfounded. They couldn't move or even breathe. These tough experienced nurses couldn't deal with stitches being ripped out.
"Why the hell are you just standing there? Do something!" John screamed.
"I'm on it." Huang said as he ran towards Jackie to put pressure on the exposed wound.
"We need the Doctor in here." Fin called out from the room.
"What happened?" Huang looked up at the nurses to ask. They just stood there. "Damn it, answer me! What happened?" He insisted.
One nurse found the courage to speak. "Sh-she...I mean..her..her stitches removed themselves."
"You stand there vapor locked over popped stitches? What kind of nurses are you?" John's fuse was very short at this point.
"No, they untied themselves and removed themselves on their own."
At that time the doctor came in with backup and proceeded to fix the problem. The three men were again forced out into the hallway as Jackie was put in restraints.
"Just what the hell was that all about?" Fin asked.
"I don't know." Huang said. "I didn't have time to do a proper interview but she didn't seem suicidal. I can't believe she would rip out her stitches."
"Let me ask you this Agent Huang." John began. "Do you think—he sighed—do you think she did the beer bottle thing to herself? To abort the baby?"
"I don't know. It's possible but I would need more information about her background."
"But what about the semen?" Fin asked.
"She had sex before she inflicted the wounds if she inflicted them." He tried to explain.
"The number one reason to falsely report a rape—cover up a sexual enounter." John added. "Of course that doesn't explain the skin cells. And this is the most violent self abortion I've ever seen."
"Like I said." Huang continued. " I don't have all the answers. I need more time."
"Are you two trying to say she broke her own jaw and fractured her own skull?" Fin just couldn't believe any of this.
"I've seen all kinds of violence people have done to themselves. Suicides where they stabbed themselves over and over. She was talking about The Entity earlier." John said.
"I studied that case in med school." Huang added. "She inflicted injuries in places where she couldn't even reach. But there are disorders that can cause wounds without inflicting them. The just appear. The mind is very powerful."
Just then Fin's cell phone rang. "Tutuola." he answered then listened for a second. "Ok, we're almost finished here. We'll be there as soon as possible." He hung up and filled in the other two.
"That was Cragen. They found a dead guy in an alley in Jackie's neighborhood, no I.D. . Warner's waiting for us at the morgue."
"And what does this have to do with us?" If John got anymore confused he would have to check himself into this very hospital for sedation.
"The guy had a picture of Jackie and himself in his pocket." Fin answered. "Could be the boyfriend."
cue the dramatic music and the doink doink
