AN: Thanks for the reviews guys. I apologise for the delay. It's been one of those weeks, both at work and at home. Toodles.
The following day went pretty much the same. She avoided a couple of mid morning phone calls from Jack, as she struggled to keep her paranoia in check. She felt better by mid afternoon, her anxiety towards the whole 'Jack situation' dissipated, as had her irritation at both her cousins for putting it there in the first place.
Just after lunch, her cell phone rang. She sighed in relief. It was Sam.
"Sam, is everything OK?" She asked into her cell.
"They found another one" He said "She's alive, at the county hospital"
"Who is it?" She asked anxiously as Leslie's face popped into her head.
"I don't know yet, but we're on our way now" He said and she could indeed hear the sound of the Impala's engine in the background "Meet you there?"
In a flash of movement, she picked up her keys and handbag, leaving her office in a rush, amidst confused and curious looks from her coworkers. She jumped into her car and drove the 20 miles to the hospital like a maniac. When she arrived, there was a lone camera crew there, clearly waiting from some sort of statement from the police or hospital staff. She ran in and found Deputy Stillwell with another couple of police officers in the admission lobby of the emergency room. He spotted her and walked over.
"Miss Bennett" He said tilting his head toward her in salute.
"Sir" She said quickly "I heard you found one of the girls"
He looked at her suspiciously "Yes ma'am, although I'm afraid it's not your friend"
"Can you tell me who it is?" She pleaded.
"The first girl" He said after a moment of hesitation "Catherine Dupont"
Isabel vaguely remembered the name "Is she alright?"
"The doctors are seeing to her now Miss, I'm afraid I can't tell you anymore"
He walked away from her with another tilt of his head and Isabel sat down on one of the chairs in the otherwise empty waiting room. A nurse came by at one point and asked her if she was waiting for someone.
"Just here for Catherine" Isabel said.
"Oh, are you family" The nurse asked her "Because we haven't been able to locate anyone yet"
Isabel saw her window of opportunity "Cousin" She said quickly "Can you tell me anything?"
"She's pretty shaken up" Said the woman sympathetically, taking a seat next to Isabel "She hasn't been able to say much yet. They're not sure if they can save the baby"
"Baby" Isabel asked weakly.
The nurse looked at her confused "She's pregnant. You didn't know?"
"Oh God" Isabel had a sick feeling in her stomach, and her Caesar salad was suddenly not sitting all that well "When can I speak to her?"
"The police will want to speak to her first" The nurse said gently "I'll let you know when she's up again, honey"
Isabel found herself alone again, and after half an hour of sitting by with her eyes closed and her head leaning against the wall behind her, she felt movement next to her. She opened her eyes slowly and found Sam sitting looking at her.
"Where have you been?" She asked him.
"Gathering information" He said "Catherine Dupont, the first girl to go missing"
"I know, I spoke to the deputy" She said "Also spoke to a nurse. She's pregnant too. Where's Dean?"
At that very moment Dean walked into the room. Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked from Sam to Dean. He was wearing a white lab coat, and had a stethoscope around his neck. She almost laughed.
"You've got to be kidding" She said "Dean, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"That's Dr Winchester, thank you very much" He said, sitting down on a chair across from Sam and Isabel.
Isabel took a deep breath "What have you found, Dr Winchester?"
"Not much" He said seriously "I tried to speak to her but…she's gone"
"She died?" Isabel asked horrified.
"No" He said lowering his voice to a whisper "I couldn't make sense of anything. She's completely lost it. Nuts"
"How did she get here?" Sam asked.
"She escaped somehow. Ran through the woods until she came across some hikers" Dean explained "She's been hysterical since. Seems she was drugged with something, they're still trying to figure out what. She's sedated now"
Isabel felt a jolt run through her. The hiking trail again, and her thoughts once more went to Jack. She was starting to hate this paranoia, and she was again torn as to whether to tell her cousins or not.
"Did you check the names I gave you?" She asked.
"Yeah" Sam said "You were right, it's not them"
"What now?" Dean asked "She's our only lead. We need to talk to her and find out what happened"
They decided Isabel would stay at the hospital, and hopefully get a chance to talk to either the police again, or Catherine's doctors. Maybe even Catherine herself. Sam and Dean would go to the woods and see what they could find.
Isabel watched them leave and picked up one of the trashy tabloid magazines sitting on a table across from her. Her mind was elsewhere though, making it impossible to take in a single word of what she was reading. She was attempting to go through the first article for a third time when a pair of brown leather boots materialized at her feet. She looked up expectantly.
"Have you been telling the hospital staff you're Catherine's cousin?" Deputy Stillwell asked her, his brow furrowed into a stern frown.
"I'm sorry Sir" She said apologetically "I'm just worried and I figured it would be the only way to find out what's going on"
"You know, it's a felony to lie about serious stuff like that" He said firmly, but there was a slight twinkle in his eye, letting her know she was in no real trouble.
"I know, I'm sorry" She said "Is her family here?"
"We haven't been able to locate any close relatives" He said shaking his head sadly "It appears Miss Dupont does not have any close living relations"
"Oh" Isabel said quietly "What will happen to her now?"
"She'll be moved up to the psychiatric ward once she's stabilized" He said taking a seat next to Isabel "Then we'll see if we can get a statement and find out what happened out there"
"Poor thing" Isabel said thinking of how alone Catherine was and realizing she was in a very similar situation "I know what it's like to be alone"
"All alone too Miss Bennett?"
"Please, call me Isabel" She said smiling "And yes, I do. My parents died a few years ago and I'm an only child"
"And you've been alone all this time?"
"I'm a bit of a loner myself" She said weakly.
"I'm sorry" He said sympathetically "If it makes you feel better, I can relate. Been on my own for a while now"
"Are you any closer to finding out who's doing this?" She changed the subject, getting the weird feeling the deputy might be flirting with her.
He shook his head in defeat "We'll be closer once she comes around. In the meantime Isabel, go home" He said "I promise I'll let you know if we find out anything else"
She thanked him and stood up to leave. She walked to her car and sat inside for a while. It was getting dark. She started the engine finally, and as she was about to pull out of the parking lot, her heart skipped a beat as she recognized Jack's car pulling into he parking lot. She killed the engine and watched as Jack got out of his car and rushed into the hospital. She'd be lying to herself if she said her cousins suspicions hadn't been somewhat justified, and now looking at Jack she realized they were probably not only justified, but accurate. What was Jack doing there? She knew she was being impulsive, but if there was ever a trait she shared unequivocally with Dean, apart from stubbornness and a quick temper, it was impetuousness. She didn't even give herself a chance to think it twice. She drove out of the hospital parking lot and headed for Jack's house, parking her car on the street, rather than the driveway.
After carefully breaking in through a window, she stepped into Jack's house and started looking around, wondering where to begin, and for what. She searched through closets and drawers but it wasn't until an hour later, as she was looking under his bed, that she discovered a shoebox filled with pictures. They were photos of Jack with various people. Parents, friends, she figured, even girlfriends perhaps. But one of them stopped her cold. She found a picture of a man and a woman. It looked like they were hiking in the mountains and it was taken before a sign. She put her glasses on and read it 'Mt Hood National Park'. She knew that was in Oregon. A paper clip held the photo together with some newspaper clippings about a young girl disappearing. It was the girl from the picture. Her boyfriend had been killed and the girl had vanished. It was dated a year ago.
She saw a few more clippings, some that included similar headlines, but with Catherine Dupont's picture, Kelly Richardson, even Leslie. She didn't get a chance to look through them carefully before she heard the sound of a car pulling up outside. She stood up and looked through the window to see Jack running up to the house.
"Crap!" She cursed under her breath, knowing that he had to have seen her car parked outside, and knew that she was there.
She waited until she heard the front door unlock, pocketed the photos and clippings she was holding in her hand and snuck out the bedroom window.
"Isabel?" She heard him call out to her as she landed on the lawn.
She didn't turn around though, instead sprinted to her car and sped off, looking at her rearview mirror to see Jack running onto the road. He was just staring after her.
Please R&R