"She's my sister," Lindsay explained quietly. Deep down inside, she hoped that this was unrelated to the attacks from so long ago. "It's a long story, and I'll explain it as we get there, but we won't be able to take her to any hospital in New York. We're gonna have to treat her here. That's why I got you, Hawkes, 'cause you've been in the ER and you'd know what to do. And Mac, well, I got you because⦠you can handle a crisis." Taking this as his cue, Hawkes went over to the bloody figure slumped in the chair. He glanced at Mac, and together they lifted Anna and laid her on the carpet behind Lindsay's desk; they didn't want anyone to see them. Anna slowly opened her eyes; when she saw Hawkes, she let out a little yelp of terror. "Anna, An-An, it's OK! He's a doctor, he can help you! Relax, hon!" Lindsay said as she sat near Anna's head and held her hand. "If you're a doctor, why are you in the crime lab?" Anna asked quietly. "Well," Hawkes said gently, "I'm actually a CSI, just like your sister. I used to be the ME, and I worked in the ER for a few years before that." Anna nodded slightly and joked, "Isn't it a bit early for the ME?" Everyone laughed.
"Anna, sweetheart, I'm going to need to somehow remove your shirt to get at your wounds," Hawkes gently asked. Lindsay saw Anna's reluctance to comply, and she said, "It's okay, An-An. You'll be fine." Anna acquiesced. As Hawkes gently cut the shirt away from her body, he revealed a gunshot wound, several deep lacerations. None of them were prepared for what they saw next: Anna had been branded dead in the center of her chest, right over her collarbone. The flesh was black; the brand depicted a skull and crossbones surrounded by a wreath of laurels. Mac closed his eyes when he saw the symbol; he recognized it as the mark of an Islamic terrorist group he had encountered when he was a Marine. He knew the full extent of their sadism first-hand. Hawkes just stared at the black mark in open horror. Lindsay closed her eyes and allowed a few tears to fall, her worst fears confirmed. All the awful memories came flooding back.
Lindsay and Anna huddled in the corner of the dark room. They had just witnessed the brutal executions of their parents. Lindsay wished that they had never agreed to go to the Middle East with their parents. Suddenly, the door burst open and flooded the room with bright sunshine. A huge man stood in the doorway, a silhouette against the brilliant background. Slowly, he chuckled in anticipation. He stepped into the room and locked the door behind him. He removed a pouch from his belt and lit a small fire in the corner. He took out an object with a long handle and placed its end in the fire. The terrorist stepped over to the corner where the two girls sat in terror. His eyes flickered between them and finally settled on Anna. "I'll have you fir-" he was saying, when Lindsay interrupted him. "No. Take me first," she implored. "I'll do anything for you." The man considered this offer, then roughly grabbed Lindsay's arm. He dragged her out of the corner, then shoved her onto her back in the center of the dirt floor. He became very gentle now. He tied her hands behind her back and gagged her, caressing her all the way. Lindsay shuddered as he spread her legs. Anna made eye contact with Lindsay, and they held each other's gazes as the man raped Lindsay again and again. When he was satisfied, he roughly flipped her onto her back with his boot. He grabbed the handle of the object in the fire and walked over to Lindsay. Lindsay only saw a flash of white-hot metal before she felt a pain like no other on the center of her back. She heard and smelled her flesh sizzling and burning. Then, she was picked up an tossed rudely back into the corner.
