"No!" Rick "told" her again, only to be startled as Laurie burst through the window above their heads and fell on Altman. As the ex-con lay dazed on the glass-covered ground, Laurie got up then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pounded his head against the wall.
"You monster, you'll never touch my husband or my brother again, do you hear me!" Laurie yelled, then dropped him on the floor and went to untie Rick and A.J. As she loosened the ropes holding him to the chair, Laurie asked, "Rick, can you move?" Before he could reply, Rick saw Altman start to get up, and yelled, "Down, Laurie!" As she dove to the floor, he managed to stand, then picked up the chair he'd been tied to and struck the would-be murderer, knocking him backwards. Altman went down again, then Laurie got up and unlocked the storeroom door. Relief flooded through Rick as he saw Robbie standing there. Before Altman could recover, Laurie picked him up by the back of the neck and almost threw him at the feet of her son.
"Robbie, take him away from me before I lose it." She said, furiously, then she finished untying A.J... Just then it hit Rick, what if he didn't see their assailant's movement? That monster would have killed her in front of him! All he could think about was that she had ignored his warning. Rick stood up as she turned and went to put her arms around him. Walking past her, he reached over and hugged his son.
"I'm glad to see you, Robbie. Did you or Rob call the paramedics?"
"Yes, Pop, they're outside. Let me go get them." He replied, a puzzled look on his face.
"Are you all right, A.J., oh, he beat you…." Laurie glanced at Rick, confused, then pulled out a handkerchief and folding it into a square, pressed it against the younger Simon's cheek.
"I'm all right, sis…ow!" A.J. tried to get up and Rick immediately pushed him back into the chair.
"No, you're not, little brother. You stay right there-oh, thanks, son." Rick nodded at Robbie as he ushered the medics in. Despite the pain he was in, Rick only agreed to go with A.J. to the hospital only to placate him.
"I'd like to ride with my husband and brother-in-law, please." Laurie told the paramedics, only for Rick to shake his head.
"Laurie, it's all right-go ahead and ride with Robbie."
This time it was A.J. who shot Rick a look, as Laurie nodded wordlessly then went to join her son.
"Rick? Are you guys all right?" Ron stuck his head into the back of the ambulance, then winced at their bruised faces. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, that creep used our radios to mis-direct us."
"I'm okay, Ron, but A.J. got the worst of it. Did you catch Altman's son?" Rick asked, trying not to think of his wife's hurt look.
"Yeah, Robbie chased him outside and Rob cornered him; so he gave up without a fight. I bet Altman wishes he had, Laurie sure did a number on him. Course Oscar just went ballistic when she went after you two." Ron had a half-smile on his face.
"Well, she knows better, Ron. I've told her never to put herself at risk like that, that psycho was planning to torture then kill her and Linda in front of us." Rick growled, then A.J. cleared this throat. "So that's why you gave her the brush off. I know she wouldn't break a promise, but you know how she is, Rick….."
"Yeah, but I told her not to come, if Altman had heard her outside…." Rick didn't even want to imagine what the sadistic murderer would have done to his wife.
"Well, I'd better go play peacemaker for her, I'll see you at the hospital, guys." Ron grinned knowingly at his friends, then exited the ambulance and the driver immediately took off, sirens blaring.
A few hours later Rick was trying not to show how worried he was, as he watched their friend Dr. Allen examine A.J.. In the artificially bright hospital lighting, his brother looked so bad with a blackened eye, swollen cheekbones and broken nose. He didn't even want to think about A.J.'s other injuries, or how he should have protected him.
"Okay, A.J., you can pull the sheet up now." The doctor said, then wrote some words down on a chart and passed it to a nurse.
Rick cleared his throat. "Well, Doc, is he going to be all right?"
Dr. Allen nodded, then smiled at the relief on both brother's faces. "Yes, Rick. He's got a nasty fracture on his rib cage, and I may have to set his left cheekbone, but he'll live. That sprained knee is going to have to have some therapy, though. I'm keeping you overnight. Now Rick…."
The doctor turned to the older Simon. "You've been doing a good job of pretending, but you have two fractured ribs and your nose matches A.J.'s. You're staying put too!"
Rick groaned then brightened as Dr. Allen added, chuckling, "At least you did a number on that monster, I don't know how hard Laurie hit Altman, or what you did to him, but he's not going anywhere."
A.J. grimaced. "That's the problem, Doc. Rick told her not to come, Altman was planning to kill Laurie in front of us. If she'd missed landing on him…..
"Well, that explains it…." Rudy came in to the room just then.
"What?" Rick suddenly realized he hadn't seen Laurie for a couple hours. "Is something wrong?"
"Well, between Oscar's reading her the riot act for disobeying him, and you giving her the cold shoulder, Missy's pretty upset. I know, son, that you were worried," Rudy put a hand on Rick's shoulder.
"But, she loves you two, there's no way you could make her not try to save you. I think you've punished her enough, Rick."
Part of Rick's heart melted; he didn't realize he'd hurt Laurie by his silence. "Rudy, I didn't mean to do that, I just wanted Laurie to realize what could have happened…wait a minute-where is she?"
Now it was the doctor's turn to look surprised. "I thought she'd been here, you haven't seen her?"
A.J. tried to sit up, a frantic expression on his face. "Rick, you need to find her, what if Altman had someone else working for him? "
Rick bolted immediately from his bed, ignoring his painful ribs. "Call Oscar, Rudy. You ," he pushed his brother back down. "Stay put….I'll find Laurie." As he limped down the hall, he "called" to his wife. "Laurie, sweetheart. Where are you?"
There was no answer, then he felt her very strongly nearby. As he went towards the visitor's area, he passed the chapel, and he knew where Laurie had gone for comfort.
Turning around in his tracks, Rick quietly entered the dimly lit room, then saw his wife with her head bowed, at the far end of a pew. As he started toward her, he felt ashamed that he'd made Laurie feel this bad.
Suddenly he froze-as he saw a figure rise up from next to her.
Altman. His voice sounded low in the stillness of the room.
"Well, well, Mrs. Simon. Alone at last." At once he saw the murderer push Laurie down as she let out a muffled cry.
"Sweetheart, don't move." Rick "told " her, slowly backing out of the room and heading toward the backdoor of the chapel. Turning on his transmitter, he quickly called "Oscar? Come to the chapel, quick, Altman's here!"
"Rick, help me!"
Laurie's thoughts answered him, her terror coming through, then he heard sounds of a struggle come from inside, and he burst through the door.
Before him, he saw in the half-light the former doctor holding his wife down, one hand covering her mouth, the other poised with a knife. With a speed he didn't know he still had , Rick lunged, knocking Altman backwards. Off balance, the man flipped over the pew, then fell, wedged between the benches.
At once the lights flashed on, then Oscar and Ron , followed by two security men, ran in and grabbed up the dazed murderer. Rick turned, then frantically gathered Laurie into his arms, saying, "Laurie, darlin', did he hurt you?"
Gasping for breath, she shook her head, "Noooo, Rick, but, I guess I nodded off, I thought I heard you call, then… he was going to stab me, I couldn't breathe, love….." Laurie's voice failed her, and he tightened his embrace.
"Shhh, it's all right-I'm not going to let you go, sweetheart. Forgive me, Laurie, you scared me."
In a flash the fear left her eyes, and Laurie raised a trembling hand to his face. "Darling, I'm sorry too, I, I didn't know …" she murmured, then Rick pulled her hand to his lips. "My brave Valkrie…."
"Rick, Laurie?" Ron came toward them. "Everyone okay?"
"Yeah, but how'd that bastard get out of the jail ward?" Rick growled, fury building inside. He felt Laurie's hand stroke his face, and the anger lessened as she whispered "It's all right, darling."
Oscar spoke from behind the Chief of Detectives. "He somehow got a knife and forced a doctor to unlock his cuffs. Fortunately the man got away from Altman and sounded the alarm. If you hadn't called me…."
The older man stopped, then sat down and shakily hugged his daughter.
"It's okay, Dad, you got here in time. I know I shouldn't have gone without you, but…" Laurie bit her lip, then resolutely said, "I couldn't let him kill Rick and A.J….."
A proud look appeared on Oscar's face. "I know, honey. Like this man of yours, I was terrified. Please humor your old dad, though, okay."
Smiling, Laurie nodded, then rested her cheek against his. "I promise."
Clearing his throat, Ron got their attention. "I'm glad we got that settled, guys. Now we'd better let Rudy and A.J. know everything's under control."
Rick grinned, then a spasm of pain reminded him of his broken ribs. Laurie saw his discomfort and put her arm around him. "Rick, we need to get you to bed, you're hurt."
Chuckling, he let Oscar and Ron help them up, then taking Laurie's arm, told her, "As long as that's plural, sweetheart."