Teddy is still interested in finding out who her mysterious patient is... enjoy reading!
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Teddy stood at the window to the room where their John Doe patient was. She had been watching him for quite some time, throughout the whole night shift which had otherwise been surprisingly quiet.
4 a.m.
It looked like he was asleep, the indications on all the monitors showing that his vital functions were steady.
She fought the urge to enter the room and talk to him. He should be left alone, given some time to sleep and to recover from whatever he had been through. Just half a day ago he had somehow managed to stand up and leave the room- which was still a mystery to her. She had never seen anyone who was recovering from severe gunshot wounds who was able to stand, let alone to walk, just a day after surgery. He must have been in severe pain, straining his body in that way. But something had made him leave the bed, if only to walk out of the room and look around.
Eventually, she returned to the station's office and sat down in front of the monitor that let her observe his vital functions from over here. After ten minutes she got restless. She checked her pager – no emergency case in sight. This was getting boring.
And that was when she found herself secretly hoping to see a spike on one of the monitors, some little abnormality which would give her a reason to wake him up.
Damnit, don't be childish, she told herself, be professional.
It was one thing to be professional – but also a professional got curious from time to time. She really wanted to know what had happened to that man. She really wanted to know if she and Owen had been right, interpreting those parts of his army(?) tattoo, that they'd seen. And last, but not least she wondered who Audrey was. He had been calling that name when he had fainted.
Another ten minutes later, she stood up and went back over to the window. He was lying in bed, looking almost peaceful, compared to the moment when she'd first seen him in the emergency room. They had shaved his beard – well, only to be able to fix the lacerations at his chin – and even cut his long-grown hair to make it easier to bandage his head. The cast to stabilize his broken nose covered a big part of his face. His left cheekbone and temple were bruised and swollen, the right side covered with smaller scratches.
Don't be childish, she still thought, but she couldn't hold back any longer, this night shift was too boring and lonely.
Cautiously, not to make a sound, she opened the door and slipped inside the room. She could see him better now… slowly she went over to the bedside and looked down at the battered face. She looked at him, but yet she didn't know how he actually looked like. A policeman had been here yesterday and had taken a photo of his face, but he said it, too, that this photo wasn't going to help a lot in identifying that man.
She bowed down and looked at the tattoo on his right biceps. Two crossed swords cradling a fist. That had to be an army symbol, Owen was right about this. It looked like a ranger symbol.
And then he suddenly stirred.
Teddy stepped back in an instant – first, because he had sensed her presence and she wanted to get out of his comfort zone and secondly, because she was afraid that he could grab her again, like he had done the day before.
His eyes flew open and they ended up staring directly into each other's eyes in the dim light.
Audrey, he whispered, his voice shaking.
Teddy pulled a chair over to her and sat down, three feet away from the bed, in a safe distance. Who is Audrey?, she asked.
He lifted his right arm and tried to reach out for her, but he didn't get very far. Audrey, he whispered again, are you…. He couldn't find any words.
My name is Teddy Altman, I am your doctor, she silently spoke. She felt like she needed to set things right – he was obviously mistaking her for a woman called Audrey.
As he heard her words, his outstretched arm slackened.
Teddy could see how the initial excitement of seeing her gave way to pure disappointment. He blinked his eyes to see her more clearly.
It was really not Audrey.
The differences were little, but they were there. She wore scrubs, had her hair bound together, wore no make-up and her voice sounded different, somehow.
While he was staring at her in disbelief, none of them said a word.
Teddy saw the hurt in his eyes, as he realized that she wasn't the one who he had hoped for.
Yet she still wanted to talk to him. Who are you?, she asked him.
He didn't answer.
What's your name? She repeated her question, but he obviously didn't want to talk. She tried it in Spanish ¿Cómo te llamas?
Jack didn't feel like answering. He had been silent for so many months that he now also didn't want to talk. Even though he saw that she was a doctor and she obviously cared about him, he didn't trust her. He had lost his trust in anyone.
Teddy feared that she wouldn't get any further. No matter if he understood what she said or not, he didn't want to talk. He even avoided looking at her.
Who is Audrey? she asked him.
At once, his eyes were back. None of your concern, he spoke under his breath.
It is of my concern, Teddy cut in, Was she with you, when that happened to you? Could she still be in danger? It was standard procedure to ask these kind of questions.
He slightly shook his head. No.
Do you want me to call her, to tell you that you're here?
A million thoughts shot through his head. Seeing Audrey again? Calling her, just to come here…? He had totally forgotten how easy life could be, sometimes. She was just a call away.
But then again, he feared that being with him would bring her into grave danger.
How did I get here?
I wanted to ask you the same. Teddy sighed. You were brought here yesterday, an ambulance picked you up at the pier, you fell overboard a ship after being shot at.
Jack tried to think back. It was all a blur right now.
An uneasy feeling came over him. He was starting to feel watched, followed and haunted. Some of his memories came back, telling him that the Chinese must still be after him after he had fled.
Terry saw that he didn't want to talk to her. She gave it a last try. What's your name?
He slightly shook his head. No, he wouldn't tell her. It could only lead somebody back on his trace. Damnit, he was in a hospital, they could be close to finding him already. It wasn't that hard to get information about the people delivered to hospital with wounds like his.
When can I leave? He silently asked the doctor that looked so much like Audrey.
Of all questions, this was the only one Teddy hadn't expected. What?! She stood up from her chair and went to the foot end of the table.
His eyes constantly followed her, as she took the papers and started to read the list of injuries to him. Three weeks, minimum, she added. You better sleep now.
Jack sank back into the pillow. That sounded like a death sentence.
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A short message on her pager had notified her – thank god. So didn't have to face these people without any preparation. She had never liked to deal with intelligence agents. They were slick, inscrutable and most of the time, liars.
„Dr. Altman, this is Agent Lynn from Homeland Security."
They shook hands. "What can I do for you, Agent?"
"We are looking for a man, mid-40s, five eight tall, he got into a shooting and might have been brought here. We're searching all the hospitals in the area."
Teddy nodded, trying to hide her distrust. "Sirs, we're giving all information about suspicious persons and shot wounds to the police, I don't think that there's any case which isn't reported." She instinctively thought of her John Doe in the ICU. He had asked her when he could leave – it perfectly fit the picture. He was on the run.
"Do you have picture for me? A name?", she asked the agents, even though she already knew that this was about him. It could only be about him.
"His name is Jack Bauer.", one of the agents said and slid a picture over the counter.
Teddy took it.
A blonde man, blue eyes wearing a black suit and black tie looked at her on that picture. At first glance, he had nothing in common with her John Doe. When that guy had come here, she had pictured him being a homeless, a slob, maybe even a junkie living on the streets. In no way that fit this picture of a man like this.
She bent down and typed the name into the computer, sure already that she wouldn't find a patient under this name.
"Sorry, we don't have anyone registered under this name", she told the agents and took the picture into her hands again. She desperately wanted to keep it. "I can show this around, the personnel from the emergency room… maybe one of them has treated him." She needed to make this as inconspicuous as possible. "Is there a certain timeframe in which he could have come here?"
"Yesterday or the day before.", the agent answered, sliding a card with a phone number over to her. "Call us anytime."
I will, Teddy absent mindedly answered, and they already left as she still stood there, drowned in these blue eyes that stared at her on that picture.
She didn't know it yet that she had just saved his life. Again.
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enjoy, and please R&R!