In-Jokes: Officer Bradshaw is a shout-out to my husband. He was a regular listener to Z100's "Phone Tap". Officer Bradshaw was one of the reoccuring characters played by someone on the Z-Morning Zoo whose name escapes me for the moment.

Chapter Four: Rock Bottom

Gary had blacked out when Lisa had been shot; through their link, he'd felt the bite of the bullets as if he'd been the one shot instead, and the shock knocked him out. When he came to, he saw one of the waitresses emptying the contents of the register into a sack held by the robber. Glancing over to where Lisa and Sue were, he saw Sue on the floor as still as a statue and Lisa lying beside her, bleeding from her shoulder and leg. Were it not for the link telling him otherwise, he could have sworn she was dead.

"No…" he whispered, tears filling his eyes. His chest, shoulder and left leg were burning with pain.

The attacker backed away from the register, pointing his gun around at anyone who took his fancy. He was headed for the door when the sirens could be heard. The attacker panicked and made a hasty exit. Looking out the windows, the people inside could see the police give chase while another officer came inside.

"I'm Officer Bradshaw. Is everyone all right?" he asked. "Is anyone hurt?"

Gary didn't seem to hear the officer. All he could do was stare at Lisa's motionless body. Luckily, Lucy and Sue remained clear-headed. Lucy explained to the officer what happened, pointing at Lisa's still form, and he radioed for an ambulance, then began taking statements.

Sue reported, her hands near Lisa's nose, "She's still breathing."

Gary was barely aware that he was pulling Sue's hands away from Lisa's neck, lest she feel the double pulse. He took her up into his arms and tried to stop the bleeding in her leg and shoulder. He forgot about the paper, about the robber, about everything. He just wanted Lisa to be okay.

"Lisa," he whispered hoarsely, more tears slipping from his eyes. "Lisa, talk to me…" Getting no response, he tried telepathy. Lisa, can you hear me? Lisa, please say something…

Nothing.

Marissa finally came out of the office. "I heard the shot and called the police," she explained. "Is everyone all right?"

"Lisa's been shot," Gary croaked.

"What!" Marissa shouted, incredulous, hardly believing it herself. She knew of Lisa's origins, and this was unheard of.

Sue placed her hand on Gary's arm. "Gary, we'll get her to the hospital," she said softly. "She'll be okay."

"Hospital…" Gary murmured, not really hearing what she was saying. Hospitals, right. They helped fix things like this, yeah. Lisa would be taken to a hospital; they'd find what's wrong and fix it. Yeah, a hospital…

It clicked then. Lisa couldn't be taken to a hospital! They'd find out she wasn't human.

"No," Gary said. "No hospitals…no she can't – "

Lucy had come over and mistook Gary's distress for something other than what it was. "Gary," she said, "don't worry. She'll be fine. We'll get her help."

"No, y-you don't understand," said Gary, so upset now he was stuttering. "She c…s-she can't go to a h-hospital."

He shot a pointed look at Marissa, and Sue and Lucy exchanged concerned looks. Gary insisted, "She can't…"

He firmly believed that bringing Lisa to a hospital would cause more harm than good, however, here she was with bullets in her and there was no way he'd be able to take care of them himself.

End chapter four.