25 Threats or Promises?
By the time the sun came up on the Saturday morning those closest to the case and its players had begun to gradually accept the horror of the previous day.
Steve had slept for the thirty minutes he allowed himself, waking up just before Belinda came to get him. His thanks had, hopefully, covered the embarrassment he now felt, but he also knew that he had needed the time and privacy to do what had been done and his heart, although still heavy, was considerably lighter than it was when his visit with Jayden had begun.
He had driven home through almost deserted streets, followed a squad car past the familiar homes of his neighbours, and become concerned as it slowed a little past his own gates, but he was indicating to turn in and guessed they were just checking him out. Jo had already gone to sleep, as had the rest of the household, but a loving note was on the hall table and he'd read it with a smile before grabbing himself a drink of water and then climbing the stairs to join her.
Jesse had dozed on and off in the chair by his wife's bedside, coming to with a start each time he subconsciously realised that he was asleep. He knew that Rae wouldn't wake, would feel no pain, but still he had to be there, to support her in the best way he could.
Japhur had come in a little after six to say that he was going to continue reducing the sedation levels, and would be making regular visits to check on her. He had cleared his schedule of all operations for the next few days, wanting to keep an eye on Rae and also the male patient from the previous day who seemed to be violently allergic to the meds he had received.
Rae's bruises and injuries were more pronounced, but Jesse knew that it was only day two, and that they would increase in lividity until the fourth day at least. Alex was back on duty at ten in the morning and Rae had an appointment for a MRI scan at ten-thirty. The main areas of concern were her face, hip and lower spine. The corticosteroids that had been prescribed were helping reduce the swelling and Jesse knew that although a diagnosis would still be difficult Alex would want to touch every base, at least once, in the treatment of his friend.
From what Jesse could see Rae had definitely landed right leg first, probably only by a millisecond, but that was all it had taken for that side of her body to bear the brunt of the fall. With his training in emergency medicine Jesse could picture the way her body had crumpled as it struck the asphalt. Her right leg would have jolted underneath her, causing the open fractures, her hip would have slammed into the ground, then her shoulder, before her face hit, hard, probably bouncing up and then hitting again.
He closed his eyes, that type of image he could do without. He needed to be positive, he knew that Steve had been shocked yesterday, and he had disgusted himself too, when he had talked about letting her die if she didn't respond to treatment and it was suggested as an option. Now he didn't see it that way at all, he knew Rae would fight with every fibre of her being to survive and be with her family again, and he also knew that although he had needed to examine his feelings about the difficult decisions he may have to make that need had passed and he wouldn't mention it again.
The night staff were out in the hallway handing over to their day shift colleagues and Jesse stood up to stretch cramped muscles and get himself another cup of coffee. He was hungry, but didn't want to leave Rae alone, and knew that he could probably last another hour or so before the need for food would become all encompassing.
The coffee smelt wonderful as he went quickly into the doctors' lounge for that floor and he knew that the first task assigned to the new staff had already been completed. Freshly brewed, and kept hot all day. He poured the liquid into his cup and then turned to make his way back to Rae's room. At the same time the doors to the elevator opened and Mark, looking just a little less dapper than usual, stepped out.
"Hi." The one word, although whispered, and the smile that accompanied it, lifted Jesse's spirits and he smiled back.
"Hi, yourself, coffee? It's fresh." Jesse watched as Mark nodded and made his own way into the doctors' lounge, emerging a moment or two later with his own steaming mug. Then the two friends went into Rae's room together, Mark holding his feelings in check as he saw his friend for the first time.
Jesse moved his chair closer to the bed and took Rae's left hand into his own. It felt warm, as soft as always and he realised that it was one of the few parts of her body that hadn't been scratched, bruised or injured in some way. Mark was reading the details on the chart and checking the figures on the various machines and monitors. Jesse didn't interrupt him, knowing them all almost off by heart, so little had they changed overnight.
Finally, with a deep sigh Mark looked up. "Jess, I am so very sorry."
"Yeah, I know. But she'll pull through, yesterday I couldn't see that, but today I can't consider it any other way, I know that it's just see-sawing emotions, I guess they'll sort themselves out in the end just like Rae will."
Mark could only nod. He wasn't sure what Jesse was talking about but spending all night in the doctors' sleep room meant that he had probably missed some things.
As he prepared to speak again Mark saw a movement outside the door and looked up to see two uniformed officers being stationed one each side of the entranceway.
"Jesse?" Maybe this was another one of the things he had missed and he appealed to his younger friend before asking any questions.
"What? Oh, uh, what's going on?" Carefully he laid Rae's hand on the bedcover before standing and moving closer to the two men and then, seeing Captain Newman standing waiting for him looking grim, he indicated for the man to speak.
"Doctor Travis, Doctor Sloan. I'm sorry to intrude again."
"That's ok, you know you can come see her anytime, but I don't understand, why does she need a guard?" What Jesse said was true, but he also had a feeling that, even though he didn't understand, he did know it wasn't good.
For a moment Jim Newman wished he was somewhere else. He had to steel himself to make eye contact with the young man in front of him.
"There have been some threats."
"Threats? I don't understand, from Dominic? The guy's in custody, her other main case was the killing of the janitor in the same building, why would there be threats?" Jesse looked first at the grim face of Rae's superior officer and then at the concerned countenance of his own boss. "Tell me."
"It seems that Nicholas Large has quite a following in LA, other places in America, and beyond. Local fan mail began arriving for him this morning at the county jail and some of it threatened not only Rae but Steve ... He knows, Doctor Sloan, I called him before coming here." Newman had seen as well as heard Mark take in a breath and hurried to reassure the older man.
"Why would people write to him? You said fan mail, as in, they like what he's done?" Jesse sounded totally astounded. "How can anyone be anything but disgusted and sickened by what that man did?"
"Doctor Travis, trust me, there is always someone out there who is more depraved or evil than the worst you think you will ever see. I wouldn't be surprised if, by the end of the week, we have marriage proposals coming in too."
"Oh you're kidding!"
"No, Jesse, he isn't. I hadn't had time to think through what would happen, but I'm not surprised." Steve had joined them without being noticed by any of the three men but all of them looked at him the moment they heard his voice, noting the uniformed officer standing three steps behind him.
"Right now we have people, anonymous of course, who have threatened to finish what Large started by killing Rae and me." He paused and then turned to his companion. "This is Lee, you'll be seeing quite a bit of him I would imagine."
The young man just nodded, his eyes scanning the general area although they were all aware that he wasn't missing a word that was said as he did so.
"I met him here, Jo doesn't know about the threats yet, I'll need to approach it with her carefully, I called David though and apparently we already have a guard on the house, Jess, I'm guessing you'll have one as well." He didn't wait for an answer, he wasn't really sure if his friend could take much more, and so instead he carried on talking. "How is she?" Steve let his eyes rest on his partner's still form. He knew she would look worse before she began to look better, and that she would still be non responsive, but even so he willed her to move, just a slight ripple of her fingers, anything, but there was nothing.
For a moment he was somewhere else, no longer in the hallway but in one of those beds, with his own guard on the door. He had been in the ICU because Gordon Ganza had ordered a hit on him. Three bullets had slammed into his chest and stomach although he was unable to remember it happening. What he did remember was that, gradually, over a period of time which had no meaning to him, he had realised that he was alive, in a hospital bed and then, finally, there was someone standing next to him. He had been so sure, in his muddle-headed way, that it was his dad, but he had been wrong. Jesse had smiled down at him, carrying on with his doctoring until finally the tube had been removed and he could ask the question that burned in him, where was his dad?
The horror began then, in that moment, when Jesse told him what had happened. It turned out ok in the end, but Steve knew without the help of friends and family his father would have died. A shudder went through him and he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Son?" Mark's voice was soft and full of concern.
"Sorry, I'm ok, I was just … sorry." He couldn't say, couldn't tell them, where he had been.
"Sloan, I would ordinarily recommend a week's personal leave, but you know that in the circumstances I can't do that." Newman looked concerned, the strain the man in front of him was under had to be enormous, but there was no way he could spare him at the moment.
"No, Sir, I understand that. Jess, can I sit with her? Just for a little while, Sir?" He looked at the two men and saw them both nod. He couldn't say anything further and so, without another word, he moved cautiously into the room and sat by his partner's bedside; his guard taking up position in the hallway.
ooo
Jo had been driven to the hospital by Steve, but instead of going up with him to see her friend she had two other places to go. There was no way that she could sit with Rae if she hadn't seen her own child first. But even before that, finally, after just over a week, she was having her stitches taken out.
Jo wasn't a fool, she knew that she would still hurt, but the pulling, the uncomfortable feeling that something was shrinking, would be gone. She had known that all of her friends would be either with Rae or not on duty. Alex had worked way over his hours the day before and had told her, as he drove her home, that he wouldn't be in until ten. Mark and Jesse, she was sure, would be in the ICU, but Wil Collins was on duty and she had gratefully followed him into an exam cubicle, appreciative of at least a friendly face.
There had been no complications and she had been sitting with Jayden in her arms almost before she realised it. The photos that Steve had taken the day their son had been born were now on display at home, and she was surprised to see how much he had grown and developed in the eight days that he had been in the NICU. Steve had told her he had spoken with Belinda and she had been a great help. Jo was sorry to see that the nurse wasn't on duty; she had wanted to thank her. Her husband didn't let his feelings out very easily but right now Jo knew he would drown in them if he didn't have someone he trusted. The fact that he had found that someone cheered her enormously, especially as she knew and felt so at home with her herself.
Jayden's progress was almost textbook and Jo knew everything was going just as it should be at this stage. She had been a mom to a baby for over a week, and the initial sense of failure had finally started to diminish. Slowly and carefully she began to change Jayden's diaper, putting it to one side to be weighed and then the little boy was put back in his isolette while the contented mom expressed enough milk for the day. Once Jo had fed him herself, enjoying the job so much that she thought she would burst, he was carefully laid down to sleep and, willing herself to be strong, Jo made her way to the ICU.
ooo
Cheryl was also at Community General Hospital. She wasn't there to see Rae, knowing that as just a work colleague she had no chance of getting near her. She had, however, put in a request to Captain Newman that she might be put on the guard list, which would at least allow her a few hours supporting her friend. Now though she and Ron Wagner were going to speak with Susan Hilliard and try and get a more detailed account of what had happened to her.
Rae had spoken with Susan, they both knew that, but the case was no longer hers and they needed a first hand version of events from the only living witness of the Red Rose Killer apart from Rae, who was slightly different.
The man sitting with Susan stood as they arrived, both of them showing their ID to the guards posted on the door as he did so. Susan hadn't been specifically mentioned in the threats but Jim Newman wasn't taking any chances, he needed Susan, not because the evidence wasn't compelling, it was, but because she added a human face to the suffering that the victims had endured.
They were expected and Cheryl watched as the visitor, who she knew was Susan's husband, kissed his wife on the cheek and then made his way out of the room, stopping by Ron Wagner as he did so.
"She slept well last night but the guards have got her spooked this morning. Look, I know I can't stay, and I don't want to put any extra pressure on her so I'll be in the cafeteria if you need me."
Nodding mutely they made their way into the room.
"Hi, how's Rae?" The first words were not for herself but for a woman she had, until recently, seen only as a rival, now though she was just concerned for her wellbeing. Although they didn't know it Susan's voice was much stronger than it had been, she was still in pain but was, physically, recovering well.
"As far as I know she's still sedated. I doubt there'll be any change until later today." It was Ron who spoke, reiterating what his wife had told him when he had asked her the very same question just over an hour earlier.
Amanda wasn't working until the Monday, but she planned to take it easy during the day so that she could come and sit with Rae overnight and let Jesse sleep properly. Ron would be home with the boys and then they would go out for the morning at least on the Sunday so that she too could catch up on her rest.
"The man who came to see me, Captain Newman, he said you caught him, you caught Nika." The terror in Susan's face was something both Ron and Cheryl had seen many times before. The naked fear that nothing, apart from time and therapy, would help diminish, but Susan was lucky, not that she would feel that way right now, her attacker had been caught, many men and women never had that knowledge to cling to.
"Yes, we did, but his name wasn't Nika, we think he only used that to lull you into a false sense of security. He's used a lot of aliases over the years; it appears it was just the latest one.
"Oh." She had no idea what else to say.
"Susan, over the next month or so we're gonna need to speak to you quite a few times. Today is to get you to look at a photo array, give us a brief reiteration of what happened and to let us know if you have thought of anything else since you spoke with Rae." Cheryl had taken her notebook out of her pocket and slipped the photographs she had with her out of their protective travelling place.
"I … I've been trying not to think about it, y'know? They're giving me something to help me sleep and it seems to stop me dreaming, so if I can keep my mind on other things during the day I can almost pretend it didn't happen." Her hands were plucking at the bed sheets and it was clear that her pretence wasn't working at the moment.
"Well, we need you to think about it, just for a little while. But first of all I want to say that any time you need to stop just tell us. We can do this gradually, one step at a time, a case this big isn't gonna come to court quickly."
"Ok," Susan nodded her head and then thought of something, "I … I'll have to face him, in court I mean."
"Yes, probably, but it can be a healing process, seeing justice being done, knowing he's going to be judged and sentenced for what he did to you. You'll also have had counselling by then, that'll help too." Ron spoke now, he had interviewed quite a few victims for some research he was undertaking and most of them said how an experience they'd dreaded had actually helped them as long as they had a therapist to turn to after the event.
"Ok." Again the one word, but it seemed that this time she believed what she was saying and, with as deep a breath as she could manage, she looked at the two officers in front of her. "What do you want to know?"
ooo
The medical wing at the county jail wasn't sparse, but it certainly wasn't luxurious by any means. Matthew had woken up in a private room, a guard on the door and a camera pointing at his head.
He had no idea how he came to be in this room rather than his cell and he had lain in the not very comfortable bed for almost ten minutes going over the last things he remembered before he realised what had happened and his mind went back to when he had fainted like that for the first time. It was when he was a child and newly fostered out to a family who lived just outside of Bakersfield. He had been five or six years old, and they had lived in what, on first sight, was an almost ideal location.
It had been a smallholding, chickens, a cow or two, some horses, even a donkey looking over the fence as he had been driven up in his social worker's car. The family had come out to meet him; there had been a mom, a dad, two boys and a little girl of about three. He had thought that heaven was waiting just inside the main entranceway until the car had driven away again and his world changed.
He had found that the chickens needed to be let out each morning and fed twice a day. Their eggs had to be collected and the hen house cleaned out. That had been the first chore allocated to him, but gradually he had been given other jobs, taking them over from the two elder boys until they lay in bed every morning while he got up and worked. Whenever his social worker called he was pampered, but it didn't happen very often and for the three years he was there he felt put upon and victimized.
The father had been the bully of the household, everyone else, in one way or another, lived in fear of him. His constant accusation of the scared young boy had been that he 'wasn't Matthew' and although he'd had no idea who Matthew actually was, he had tried so hard to become him that, in the end, he found a quiet, self-effacing part of his personality that responded to the name and tried valiantly to diffuse difficult situations as or before they arose.
The fatal day had been warm, sunny and there was a rainbow across the far meadow. The rain wasn't heavy, just enough to turn the dirt dark brown for a second or two before it began to dry again. He had broken two eggs that morning while out collecting from the chickens that scratched and pecked about in the dust of the farmyard and had tried to hide his clumsiness.
He knew that he hadn't succeeded when a roar was heard from his foster father and Nicholas, who had been the one to cause the problem, retreated, wanting to leave Matthew to face their pa. When he saw the large man striding towards him, his belt already in his hand he too had fled, and he remembered nothing else until he woke up in the local hospital, a different social worker at his bedside telling him that he wouldn't have to return to his family.
This time the person who came into the room wasn't a social worker but a prison warden. He took his pulse, his blood pressure and then wrote on a chart. Matthew wanted to disappear but knew that this type of man was the sort to be left to him to deal with and so, swallowing down his fear, he waited to see what would happen next.
ooo
There was a police officer standing at the end of the driveway to Jo and Steve Sloan's house and Wayne was unsure what to do. He had put the next stage of his plan into action, wanting Josephine to feel vulnerable, to know that he could attack her from all sides, get to her family, her friends, anyone that he chose, and she would have no way of stopping him.
Of course, having a member of the Beverly Hills Police Department standing outside the house wasn't gonna help his cause any and so, driving away, he began to rethink things.
The mail was sitting on the hall table when Daniel came down the stairs a little bleary eyed and looked around him. He had tried to stay awake until his dad got home the night before, but as he couldn't remember hearing him realised he must have failed. Daniel knew that his parents would have both left for the hospital before he got up, and although he was disappointed not to see them he wasn't surprised.
David was on his cell phone as he walked into the morning room and so he left again, going to find Juan to ask for some fresh toast. Seeing an envelope addressed to him he grabbed it and began opening it as he made his way into the kitchen.
By the time he reached the table that Juan used for his own meals he needed to sit down and the Spanish butler, turning around at the sound of company, was concerned to see a look of fear on the boy's face.
"Master Daniel, is something the matter?" His accent always made his questions seem less formal, softer somehow and right now that helped his young companion enormously.
"Yeah, take a look at this, but don't pick it up. Then we need to go get in touch with the local cops." Daniel put the piece of paper down on the table and, with sudden inspiration, picked up the clear heatproof glass pot-rest from the counter beside him and placed it over the paper, protecting it from stray fingerprints and contamination.
So, Daniel,
I have scared your mom and your mom's best friend so far. I wonder who will be next.
Your school is very expensive, very well run, but can they protect you at all times? How lucky you are to be on vacation right now. Of course, there is your new little brother. He is only in an ordinary NIC Unit. What are the chances of me getting to him there I wonder?
The police know who I am; I told that Doctor Travis my name, but they won't find me, I'm way too good for them.
Have a nice day
Wayne
"How can I tell Mom about that?" Daniel's voice was quiet, scared and quiet and the detective sitting across the table from him didn't reply.
"Have you any idea what this Wayne looks like?" Burt McKinley had explained to Daniel and a man who said his name was David Walters and was the boy's uncle, that he had been contacted by a near neighbour of theirs about a Wayne McCaulay and it appeared that this was the same man.
"I know what he looked like a few months ago. He came here, visited with Mom, and then Dad threw him out. M was here then, he would know what he looked like too."
"M?" the detective looked up sharply as Daniel spoke.
"He was Mom's butler before, but we found out that he was her brother too, or at least her half brother, and so obviously he couldn't work for us anymore, so he left and now we have Juan. He's Uncle David's brother too."
"Juan is?" Burt was confused now.
"No, M. M is Mom and Uncle David's half brother. He's British."
"I see." He didn't, but he would check for himself later. "And this Wayne, why do you think that he's targeting your mother, which seems to be the case from his letter?"
Daniel was quiet for a while but then, knowing that the man wouldn't be caught otherwise, he began to speak. "He thought I was his son, but I'm not. I was four years old already when his baby would have been born. For some reason he started to stalk my mom after the first visit. He's not entitled to anything; I don't know why he's doing it. And Rae, he hurt Rae, she had Anneya with her, she's deaf, and he hurt her too."
Burt wanted to scream, scratch his head, go out and come in again, but knew that he couldn't do any of those things. He was writing down everything that this young man was saying but it sounded like an impossible puzzle, the type that ends with 'if Wayne is thirty-six when M is forty-eight how old is Uncle David?' He was going to have to draw himself a family tree when he got back to the station.
"So, where are your mom and dad right now?"
"My mom has gone to sit with Rae, she was hurt yesterday morning, Dad'll be there too for a while, and then he'll go to the station. If Mom isn't with Rae she'll be with Jayden."
"Who is Jayden?" Another name, he couldn't believe that there could be others still that he didn't have noted down.
"He's my baby brother." Despite the seriousness of it all Daniel couldn't help but smile, just as he always did when he thought of the little boy.
"He's the one in the letter, so he is in the NICU, yes?" He breathed a sigh of relief as the boy nodded his head.
"Ok, well I need to speak with your parents, I'll go over to the hospital, and get a guard put on your brother, I'll also put another man on the gate, but I would suggest that maybe a security guard on patrol in the grounds might be a good idea for a while at least."
"I'll get on that right away. Do you have any local companies that you could recommend to me?" David hadn't said a word, letting Daniel deal with the problem, knowing that was the way the young man would want it, but now, now that there was something that he could organise, he was happy to spring into action. He would also, although he hated to do it, send Damita down to her mother at the hotel she was staying in. He didn't want his baby girl in danger, imaginary or otherwise, but he had no intention of leaving his sister and her family in that situation either. Steve was busy, stressed and busy, and if he could help then that was what he would do.
ooo
The trip for Rae to have her MRI scan had taken its toll on her. The actual scan had been fine, her sedation levels still high enough that she didn't realise that she was once more in a contraption she called an open-ended coffin. By the time that her bed was back in her room though she was clearly distressed, the readings on the reconnected machines were erratic and Alex had a crash cart brought in just in case.
Japhur had also come to Rae's room and Jesse had moved out into the hallway. Steve had gone into the station and now Mark, who wasn't on duty until the afternoon, and Jo were sitting on two nearby chairs waiting to see what happened next.
Gradually the fevered activity in the ICU suite seemed to die down. The atmosphere emanating from the room changed and, from their vantage point, the three friends could see the two doctors treating Rae weren't as concerned as they had been. Once two sets of vital signs showed her condition was stabilizing Jesse and Jo were allowed into the room and Mark went off to see his grandson.
Gradually the day moved on, Jesse went and got some food, he sat in a quiet corner of the cafeteria and ate undisturbed, his colleagues seeming to realise that he needed the peace not their company. As he sat there Jesse tried to feel positive about everything that was going on. He knew that Amanda was going to sit with Rae overnight so that he could go home, sleep in his own bed and see his children, and although part of him didn't want to leave he knew that the two little girls needed him far more than Rae did right now.
By the time Alex and Japhur came to check on Rae at four in the afternoon Jo had gone home, her own anxiety levels now sky high because not only had Daniel been threatened but Jayden as well. Finding a police guard on her week old son had been traumatic enough, but when Daniel had explained what had caused it she had clung to him, tears falling onto his shirt as they tried to comfort each other.
Amanda was on her way into the hospital, calling en-route to see if Jesse needed anything, but the knowledge that already there was a support structure in place to help him had been enough and he had said that all he needed was her company.
The room was silent apart from the shushing of the ventilator and the occasional beeps and clicks from other machines and Jesse moved slightly out of the way, knowing that Alex was going to check Rae's responses, to see how deeply unconscious she was.
The sedation had been completely out of her system for a little over two hours, all that she was being given was a strong painkiller, an equally potent antibiotic, saline and ringers as well as vitamins and minerals. Her heart rate, which had dropped dramatically on her return from the imaging suite, was steady once more, but it was obvious that the trauma she had suffered on just that short journey meant that any further trips would be thought about extremely carefully including the one for surgery on her hip.
"Jesse, I know you want to stay, but I need you to go wait someplace else, just for ten minutes or so." Alex placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. He was going to have to hurt Rae to do the test, and he knew that Jesse would find that very hard to bear. He wasn't sure how he felt about it himself, but he knew it wasn't good.
"Alex, what if she responds, what if she wakes up?" The words were so filled with hope, hope that both of them, realistically, knew was futile that for a moment the younger doctor couldn't answer but then taking a deep breath he looked at Rae before speaking.
"Then I will have you back here so fast you won't even realise you've moved."
Jesse nodded, he didn't want to go, but equally he didn't want to stay, he'd done Glasgow Coma Scale tests on patients many, many times. He'd done one on Steve when he'd been in the ICU, it wasn't something he wanted to do again, not to a friend at any rate, and so, appreciating Alex's position, he turned and left the room, looking warily at the guards as he did so, but only walking until he was out of sight of the doorway before sitting down to wait.
"Ok, let's get this done." Alex's voice was tight and Japhur looked at him.
"Are you alright, I can assist if you wish?" He didn't move closer, not wanting to embarrass his friend.
"Could you write down the scores for me that would be the biggest help?"
"Sure, do you do eye, verbal, motor?" He wouldn't usually ask, but one doctor at the last hospital he'd been at did them in reverse order for some reason.
"I do, so it'll be eye first." Taking in a deep breath Alex looked at Rae, her eyes were closed as they had been since he'd first seen her in the ICU. He had talked to her quietly the entire time he was with her, first as he assessed her condition, in the OR as he stabilized and then treated her, and each and every time he checked her vital signs. So far there had been no response, but he hadn't really been looking for, or trying to entice, one. Now that had changed.
"Rae." He said it in as normal tone of voice as he could, but there was no response at all. "Rae!" he tried again, a little louder before finally shouting. "RAE!" Still there was nothing and so he took her left hand into his own and, remembering back to when he had treated her for a neck and shoulder injury, he pinched the nail bed of her thumb as he pulled it away from her hand. Instantly her eyes opened, although they didn't look at him, and he wrapped his own hand around hers, trying to reduce the pain he had just caused.
"That's a two then?" Japhur made a note, wishing it could have been a three or a four, but happier with a two than a one.
The verbal responses were going to have to be noted down as a one because Rae was still on a ventilator, still needed to be on it, and so no sounds could be made. Alex was about to say as much to Japhur when he realised that, despite the ventilator, now her eyes were open Rae was trying, desperately, to communicate.
"Honey, you're on a ventilator, I can't remove it yet, but when I can we'll talk, ok?"
She seemed to know what he was saying, although still she didn't move her eyes so that she could see him, but there was a huge difference between understanding someone else and being able to be understood herself. "Put it down as a three. She would be speaking if she could, but it might be gibberish."
"But incomprehensible sounds get you a two." Japhur had seen the same thing as Alex and had already written down the number two.
"Yes, I know, but she's reacting to my words. Leave it as a three."
"Ok." He knew Alex had done more of these coma scales than he had and so he deferred to the other doctor.
Once again Alex took Rae's hand, and this time taking her index finger did the same test as before. Her eyes opened wider, it was clear that the pain registered immediately and she pulled at her arm, trying to move it out of Alex's grip.
"Four, she feels it and she doesn't like it. Her pull was quite strong."
"Ok, four it is, that gives you a total of nine, split up as E2V3M4 GCS9." The anaesthetist looked up. He knew that a score of eight meant severe brain injury and that nine only just put her in the moderate bracket. She would need to score at least thirteen the next time to be considered as suffering from a mild brain injury.
Now that the test was completed Rae's eyes had closed again. Alex indicated that Japhur should get Jesse and then he spoke again.
"Rae, this is Alex, Jesse is coming back into the room now, and he would love to see you with your eyes open, Honey, can you do that?"
There was no response, and Alex raised his voice again, "Rae, look at me."
"Rae? Please, Baby, open your eyes." Jesse's voice was breaking as he spoke, he was standing on his wife's right side, and that eye was so badly bruised and bloodied that he knew she wouldn't be able to see out of it, but her left one was less damaged, and he desperately wanted her to look at him, if only for a second.
"Rae, I love you." The tears threatened him as, for a moment, she opened her eyes, "That's it, I'm here, Rae, right here … I'm …" He stopped speaking, the right eye was too swollen to see into but the left, with just a little puffiness, was open wide enough for him to realise that it also had the blank stare of someone who saw nothing, nothing at all.