Author's Note: Hello readers! In honor of my birthday today, I offer you a new chapter! And after you've read this, you should go read (if you haven't already) katbybee's awesome new Emergency one-shot, Say It with Whump, which she wrote for me as a birthday gift! It's a fun read with a nod to my first fan fic, Johnny Gage and the Great Big Book of Fan Fiction. Thank you, kat! I've read it multiple times because I love it so much!

Thank you, readers, for your feedback! I'm grateful for you all, especially for katbybee and Piscean6724, my lovely beta readers and most excellent friends!

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Chapter 6

Glossary (Choctaw - English)

Nanta ishkanampa tuk? - What happened?

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When they reached the zoo, the only thing that kept Johnny from charging ahead of the police officer to find Nita was that the officer was the one who knew where he needed to go. And so, he did his best to keep his cool and not let his long stride carry him forward too fast. His mind was working a mile a minute. Part of him was remembering the bits and pieces of his ordeal with Eddie Guinness, the criminal who had first taken him captive almost nine years ago and then kidnapped Megan in order to control him. Guinness had kept him so drugged up that he couldn't remember much, but he remembered enough to have occasional nightmares even now.

Another part of him was working its way through a frantic prayer on JoJo's behalf as he tried not to imagine all the terrible things that could be happening to her. And yet another was just trying to propel his body through the zoo and get to Nita without collapsing from anxiety and grief. He hadn't been a practicing paramedic for a long time, but he needed to get into paramedic mode now or he wouldn't be able to get through this.

What is this anyway, God? he questioned. It's like every time I turn around some terrible thing is happening. Can't You give us a break just this once? He was thankful for Roy's steady presence next to him. They'd become best friends not long after they started working together, and that friendship had carried him through a lot of dark times.

The officer conducted him and Roy into the zoo security offices, then disappeared into the back with a promise to return shortly with whatever information he could give them. Nita was waiting in the lobby with Jamie, teary and pale. Johnny rushed forward and gathered her into his arms. "Nita, nanta ishkanampa tuk?"

She spilled out the whole story in English, doubtless so Roy could understand too. "I was just in the restroom for a few minutes. Melissa was watching the little ones. She… she fainted… and someone took JoJo out of her stroller."

"Nita, where's Jo?" Roy asked. "Why isn't she here?"

Nita's forehead wrinkled for a second. "Jo… oh…" She shuddered in Johnny's arms. "DJ fell and hurt his arm. We aren't sure how it happened — he wouldn't say — but… they took him to the hospital with Melissa. Jo had to go with him, and…" She swallowed hard. "Sarah Kate asked to go along, and they let her. They… they were supposed to tell you, Roy."

Johnny could see how torn Roy was, his loyalties warring with one another, but of course JoAnne and DJ had to win that battle. "Go, Roy," he said. "Your family needs you. Someone oughta take you over there." He sucked in a deep calming breath. "We'll be all right."

Roy hesitated for a moment, but then hugged Nita. "We'll find her. I'll be back as soon as I know DJ is OK."

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When Roy got to the hospital, he gave his name at the front desk of the ER and was soon conducted back to the small exam room where JoAnne waited with DJ. His right arm immobilized in a splint, the little boy was sitting in his mother's lap, his face pressed close against her shoulder. His stuffed bear, Taco, was in between them, with his head and a paw sticking out.

Sarah Kate sat off to the side, reading a magazine. Roy frowned. The girl's father should have been contacted to come get her by now. Or maybe Ramona if Mr. Hamilton was unavailable. Roy didn't like being uncharitable, but at this point her presence felt like an intrusion.

He caught Jo's attention, then slid his eyes toward the girl and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged slightly and sighed. "She doesn't know her father's work phone number," she whispered, "and it's Ramona's day off. She was a big help getting DJ calmed down when Nita needed me."

He nodded as he sat next to her and bent down to press a kiss to DJ's tousled hair. "Hey, Buddy. Daddy's here." DJ didn't look up. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," he said to Jo. "I didn't know you were here till we got to the zoo and Nita told me."

"Have they found anything?" Jo asked.

"Not that they told us before I left." Roy sighed heavily. "Just that they're fairly sure at this point that JoJo is no longer at the zoo. Oh… and the empty stroller wasn't the one Nita rented. Apparently, the kidnapper stole a stroller from the rental place and then exchanged them. The one Nita rented was returned and wiped clean, but they hope they can get some useful fingerprints off the empty one."

"Roy, I think DJ must have seen what happened. He was so scared… like when he used to have those awful nightmares." Jo gently rubbed their son's back. "But I haven't been able to coax one word out of him."

A knock on the door preceded the entrance of a slender white-haired doctor. If his face weren't so round, he would have looked a lot like Joe Early. "Mr. and Mrs. DeSoto?" When they nodded in confirmation, he stepped inside. "Hello. I'm Dr. Kostanyan. I've been going over your son's x-rays." He glanced at the paperwork and then back at Roy and Jo. "Daniel has a supracondylar fracture of his right elbow. My guess is, he fell with his arm extended and landed on his palm. It's a pretty common injury in children. Did either of you see what happened?"

JoAnne shook her head. "My husband wasn't there at the time. I was in the restroom. Our friend was with him, but she… well, she fainted, and no one was watching him for a few minutes."

He knelt and put a hand on DJ's back. "Danny?" he said gently. "Hey Buddy, can you talk with me for a minute?"

"We call him DJ," Roy corrected. Meanwhile, DJ just pressed his face harder against Jo's shoulder.

Dr. Kostanyan eyed JoAnne, then looked back at DJ. He reached to give Taco's paw a shake. "Well, hello, Mr. Bear. Do you have a name, sir?"

There was silence for about ten seconds, and then a muffled voice said, "Hi. I'm Taco. DJ can't talk now."

The doctor's forehead crinkled. "Why can't DJ talk, Taco?"

"'Cause of the mean lady who taked JoJo," came the answer. "DJ tried to stop her an' she pushed him an' said, 'You say one word an' I'll hurt your mommy.' DJ doesn't want Mama Bear to get hurted, so he can't talk."

Roy felt tears forming. He watched as JoAnne closed her eyes and breathed out heavily and snuggled their boy close, taking care not to jostle his arm. "It's OK, DJ. No one is going to hurt me," she said. "You can talk. You can tell us what you saw. Then the police can find JoJo and put the bad lady in jail."

All of a sudden, Roy felt like he couldn't breathe. He had to get out of that little room, where the walls seemed to be closing in on him. His feet carried him through the door and into the hallway and he steadied himself against the wall. White-hot anger surging through him, he clenched his right hand into a fist, then pulled it back and roared as he let it fly, releasing all that anger in a punch to a door marked 'supplies.' Around him, all the noise of a busy emergency department stopped for a moment, and he felt dozens of eyes staring at him. He stayed right where he was, jaw clenched, face turned to the wall, while the hustle and bustle started up again.

The door was harder than his hand. It didn't even take a dent. But Roy knew he would be heading for x-ray and would join DJ in getting a cast. He didn't care. The intense pain throbbing in his hand seemed appropriate right now. He hadn't been there to protect his kid. He hadn't been there to support Jo. He wasn't there to help Johnny and Nita. And he was the one who had floated the idea of bringing their families to this conference in the first place — a chance to turn a dry business trip into a fun family vacation. Some fun. So help him, if he ever got his hands on this woman who took his niece and put her hands on his son, he would —

"Breathe, Roy." JoAnne was suddenly there behind him, wrapping her arms around him and clasping her hands over his chest. She rested her cheek against his back. "It isn't your fault, honey. I know what you're feeling because I feel it too. I'm fighting those dark memories, same as you are." He turned in her arms and looked down into her face. For the first time, he took in her red-rimmed, swollen eyes and the deep sorrow etched in her features. Wrapping her in his arms, he pulled her close for a long moment and did as she suggested… the same suggestion he'd given Johnny just over an hour ago. Breathe.

After a moment, JoAnne pulled away and tugged him toward the door. "C'mon, honey. Let's go have Dr. Kostanyan take a look at your hand."

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Three doors down from DJ's room, Matt sat with Melissa. According to the nurse, she had awakened in the ambulance — it was amazing what a little oxygen and saline could accomplish. But she'd been drowsy when she got to the hospital and had fallen asleep shortly before Swede Halverson got him there to join her. So now he was sitting and worrying and watching her sleep.

Swede's wife Nancy had found him in the coffee shop next to the hotel. He'd skipped out on the conference sessions and instead was reading the Bonhoeffer book he'd brought with him. The book intrigued Matt, even though he found himself reading some paragraphs three or four times before he felt he had made sense of them. Every so often, he turned back to the inside front cover and ran his fingers over the inscription Taffy had written there. Matthew, my boy, you will never regret pursuing costly grace.

He had all but made up his mind to quit his job and enroll in seminary. The only thing stopping him was the fact that he hadn't yet talked with Melissa about it. Well, that and the fact that they would be without health insurance, and he couldn't take a step like that without knowing what was going on with Melissa's health. Money would be tight, but he thought they could get by if they were careful, even without touching what Taffy had left him. Matt had some ideas how they might use that to honor Jordan — another matter he needed to discuss with his wife. But before he did that, he wanted to be sure she was on the path to recovery.

A sound at the door drew him from his scattered thoughts. A young woman entered a minute later and offered him a soft smile. "Mr. Carter? I'm Dr. Fellner."

"Yeah… um… hi. It's Matt." He wasn't sure he'd ever get past looking around for his dad when he heard someone call him Mr. Carter. "How's Melissa?" He took a deep breath and waited for her response.

"I want to keep her overnight for some tests, but I can tell you already that she had an episode of tachycardia. Her potassium levels are quite low, which could be the cause, but I want to rule out some other possibilities." Her warm brown gaze and her steady tone had a calming effect on him as she continued. "Please, Matt. I know you're worried. We're just being extra careful because of the baby. But I promise you, we're going to —" She stopped suddenly, and her forehead wrinkled. "You… didn't know, did you?"

Unable to speak, Matt shook his head. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't manage to coordinate his voice and tongue to produce words.

Dr. Fellner laughed. "I'd say your wife is about twelve weeks along, based on what she told the paramedics in the ambulance." She glanced through Melissa's paperwork. "Let's see. She said she's had intense nausea. You weren't aware?"

"She… she had a traumatic brain injury early last year… now she gets migraines. They make her nauseous. I just thought…" He reached for Melissa's hand and stroked it gently. "No wonder she stopped taking the meds."

He swallowed hard as the news sank in. "Um… Doc… last year when we were in the wreck… she was pregnant then, about six weeks along… she lost the baby."

Dr. Fellner lay a hand on his shoulder. "This baby is doing great," she reassured him. "We just need to get Mama in better shape so she can enjoy this time. Now, I'm going to send in a nurse to get her vitals while I get the admissions paperwork started. Don't you worry, I'll be keeping a close eye on her."

Matt nodded. "Uh… thanks, Doc." As she left, he settled back in his chair and shook his head. A baby? This was good news. Why hadn't she said anything? He leaned over her and wrapped his fingers around her slim hand. "Lissa, honey?"

A minute later, she blinked open her eyes and looked up at him. "Matt," she said, a drowsy smile tugging at her lips. "I… I know where we've seen Sarah Kate before. I… she's… she's our Angel Girl!"*

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NOTE:

*This refers to my story Back in the Frying Pan.