I owe you guys a HUGE apology. I am so sorry for the lack of updates but my university work has been taking up nearly all of my time. All I can say is thank God for Easter holidays.

Anyway thank you so much for all the reviews and e-mails, I appreciate it so much. I still can't believe this is the tenth chapter!

Hope everyone has a great Easter!

Claire

Hide and Seek

Part 10

Kerry exited Trauma 2 a little while later and saw Mark leaving the neighbouring Trauma room looking exactly how she felt; shocked, worried, confused, the list could go on. He was rubbing his neck and appeared absolutely exhausted, which was not really that surprising considering his shift finished some hours ago.

"Mark, how's he doing?" she quickly asked, falling into step with the male doctor.

He gave a deep sigh before answering. "Well we've got his temp up and there doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding. X-rays show some broken ribs. We'll be taking him upstairs shortly. How's the paramedic doing?"

"Ok. Slight concussion and some broken ribs. I just can't believe this happened."

"I know."

"I'm gonna call upstairs see if there's a private room yet, they were going to do some shuffling for us."

Arriving at the admit desk Mark flopped himself down on one of the stools and picked up the phone. As she watched him dial the extension number Kerry's gaze wandered and fell on the figure of a policeman leaving the doctor's lounge. Without saying a word to Mark she quickly limped over to the lounge and peered inside, taking in the hunched figure sitting at the table. She looked down at her feet and took a deep breath before pushing the door quietly open.

****

Charles Smith slowly turned off the car engine and stared transfixed at the house in front of him. Swallowing hard at the sight, he took in the darkness, the silence, and the overall emptiness of the place and felt his stomach churn. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to walk into his house and find it devoid of life. How had it come to this? He found it hard to believe that so much had changed in such a short period of time.

Taking a breath he exited the car and walked cautiously up to the front door. Smith took another careful glance around, making sure there was no one in sight, especially no cops. That doctor had probably got to the hospital by now and if he said anything Smith knew this place would be surrounded. After all his address was already at the hospital.

As he walked through the dark hallway his feelings tried to get the better of him and he knew that if he didn't leave soon he would eventually break down. Nothing in the house felt right anymore, and he quickly ran upstairs to grab what he had came for before racing off into the night.

****

"Peter, how are you?" Kerry asked softly. She could practically see the tension ebbing from the surgeon as he sat stiffly at the round table with his arms crossed in front of him. Quickly giving him the once over she observed that he had taken quite a blow to the head and had the stitches to prove it. The tattered and dirty clothes that he had arrived in had now been replaced with clean scrubs although the blanket Haleh must have provided him with was slung unceremoniously over the chair facing him.

Glancing up at her anxiously, Kerry almost cringed at the emotions that were evident on the surgeon's face; fear, confusion and exhaustion were all on display and she prayed that the information she was about to give would provide him with some relief from his worries.

"Carter's going be fine. His temperature has risen, he has some broken ribs, a concussion, and a lot of bruising but he's ok……thanks to you." She replied, ignoring the fact that he had not answered her question.

"Where is he? What about internal bleeding? I want to make sure……" Benton hastily shot up from his chair and made a start towards the door before being overcome with pain from his side. He gripped the area where the pain was coming from and felt anger at the fact that it was slowing him down.

Noticing him wince Kerry stood up and walked around the table, placing her hands on Benton's shoulders and gently pushing him back down into the seat. When the surgeon attempted to rise again she pressed firmly on his shoulder and looked him hard in the eye.

"Peter he's fine. He's in Trauma 1 while we wait for a private room to become free. He's still unconscious so why don't you use this time to get some rest?"

"I don't need rest, I'm fine." Benton shrugged her hand off his shoulder and stopped rubbing his side as if to prove it.

Seeing he wasn't going to move again soon Kerry sat down and paused for a moment before returning her gaze to the surgeon and asking the question that had been plaguing her since Carter had been brought in.

"What on earth happened tonight Peter?"

Benton chuckled bitterly and focused on his hands as the traumatic events replayed in his head.

"I've been sitting here trying to answer the very same question to the Police and I'll tell you what I told them, I have absolutely no idea. That probably sounds ridiculous seeing as how I was there but that's the truth. One minute I'm in the elevator going to the surgical floor the next I'm diving into Lake Michigan to pull Carter from a submerged van, and I have no clue why." He banged his fist on the table in frustration. "All I know is that some guy forced Carter into the back of a van and is trying to hurt him for some reason I am unaware of."

"Peter don't worry. I'm going to call Security now and have them place a guard outside Carter's room. The Police are here as well so there is nothing to worry about." She lowered her voice but it didn't change the firmness behind her words. "John's safe here."

"Has anyone spoken to his family yet?"

"No, I was going to do it after I had called Security."

"Don't worry I'll call them."

Kerry was about to respond when a figure caught her eye through the window. Looking over Benton's head she saw a security guard approaching the admit desk.

"Peter I'll be right back, there's a guard at the desk."

****

Kerry quickly left the lounge and crutched over to the other side of the admit desk to catch up with the security guard.

"Hey, we need you. We have a patient who needs supervision. Stay outside his room and make sure only authorised personnel enter ok? I'll show you where he is." Turing around Kerry was about to start walking when she took in his drenched appearance.

"Have you been outside? I was hoping it would have let up by now, is it still that bad?" She wanted to arrive home without looking like the human equivalent of a drowned rat.

"Oh yeah it's murder out there," the guard responded following Kerry to the Trauma rooms. "Maybe in here too." He added under his breath.