xxxxx

chapter nine

xxxxx

and i know when time
will pass by slow
without my heart
what can i do?
-Beruit, "Mount Wroclai"

xx

2:40 am

"I'm very sorry, but the hospital may not release any information without the express permission of the parents!" Martin heard a stern old woman dressed as an orderly yell out over the crowds of the media that had gathered in the otherwise empty waiting room.

He held his older sister's hand, feeling that it was going to take both himself and Tim to hold her up after finding out that her babies had been found locked in a closet. He was silently grateful when his father had mentioned that Samantha had been with the girls since the moment they'd been found. He knew instinctively that they would be alright as long as Samantha was with them.

His Secret Service Agents forged a path through the media circus, and Martin laughed inwardly as he likened it to the parting of the Red Sea. The orderly beckoned the family further, and they fell into step rapidly, all eager to see for themselves that Kelsey and Bridget were going to be okay.

The corridor they had been led down seemed endless, until finally they stopped outside one of the doors. The curtain behind the door was drawn closed, but Martin could make out the sounds coming from inside the room.

"Ma'am, do you have her?"

"Yeah, all ready." Samantha's voice sounded like music to his ears. "Shhh, shhhh, almost done."

"May I speak to the parents?" A physician in her late forties approached the Fitzgerald family, and they all immediately turned to the doctor.

"I'm Caroline Byrne," Caro stepped forward, "I'm their mother, and this is my husband, their father." She motioned to her side where Tim stood.

"I'm Dr. Kurbin. I've been taking care of the girls since they got here, and from what we can tell, neither one was harmed in any way. We haven't been able to fully examine Bridget, though -- she barely let go of Agent Spade long enough for us to get her in a gown. We're going to give them some IV fluids, though; both of them look pretty dry."

"How much?" Tim asked, his defense mechanisms kicking in over the shock of what had unfolded in the last 10 hours.

"We're running Kelsey's at 250 cc's an hour, and Bridget's at 150. We're watching to make sure we don't overload them."

Martin wondered what that meant, but Caro and Tim seemed to nod in agreement.

"You can go on in and see them if you like," Dr. Kurbin said. "Their nurse was just starting up the IV's."

The next thing Martin knew, his mother had thrown open the curtain and the family rushed into the room before shutting the door behind them.

Martin saw two hospital beds lined up in a row. Kelsey's sleeping form lay on the left bed, and when his gaze moved right to the other bed, he felt a momentary panic to find it unoccupied.

But he then craned his neck to the far left corner of the room when he saw a nurse rise, only to reveal Bridget clinging to Samantha as she sat in the chair by Kelsey's bed. Kelsey's small hand clasped in Samantha's for comfort, even in sleep.

Caroline rushed forward, taking Samantha by surprise. Martin couldn't help but crack a smile when he saw his sister embrace her daughter and, in extension, Samantha. She looked taken aback, but adjusted quickly.

"Oh, goodness! I'm so sorry!" Caroline said, "I didn't mean to attack you like that!"

"It's fine," Samantha smiled reassuringly. "I just didn't see you come in."

"I just, I -- Excuse me!" Caroline laughed and wiped tears of joy from her eyes. Tim walked up behind her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Samantha stood to hand Bridget to her parents, and Martin noticed that Kelsey roused when her hand fell from Samantha's grasp.

"Sam?" Kelsey's voice was heavy with exhaustion.

"I'm right here," Samantha said. "And your mom and dad are here, too."

"We'll give you some time alone," Lydia Fitzgerald spoke up quietly. "But we'll be back later. Just let us know if we can bring you anything."

When they had closed the door behind the reunited family, Samantha turned to his father.

"We're still going to have to get a statement from both of the girls, but we can do that whenever you think is the right time." She said softly, but firmly. And then -- "I'm sorry, I need to get this."

"Spade," her voice echoed in the virtually empty hospital corridor. "Alright, Danny. Thanks -- Yeah, no, they're fine all things considered. They're going to be okay. -- Back at the office? I'm not sure. I'll let you know."

She flipped her phone shut. Martin couldn't help but study her face as she breathed deeply, her eyes closed and her hand massaging the back of her neck.

"Agent Spade?" It was his mother's voice, and Martin noticed how old both she and his father appeared. They'd seemed to age rapidly over the course of the past 10 or so hours.

Samantha heaved a sigh, turning to face them.

"Shawn Aguilar is dead."

xx

4:30 am

Samantha stood quietly outside the door of Kelsey and Bridget's room before knocking.

"I just wanted to see how they were doing," she said, opening the door just enough to step through.

"They're asleep, but they're pretty restless," Lydia Fitzgerald replied. "I sent Tim and Caro with Martin to get something to eat. I can call them if you'd like something?"

"Oh, no thank you," she said, touched by the woman's consideration.

"They remind me so much of Caro and Becca when they were younger," Lydia said wistfully. Samantha cast her eyes at Kelsey's bed, where the two girls lay side by side. "I would get home from work, and they would be wrapped up in some elaborate fantasy scenario. You know, they used to use Martin as their own personal doll -- they would put him in their doll strollers and race him around the house. Victor hated it," she laughed, and Samantha tried to fight that smile that rose across her face. "He would say 'No son of mine will be wheeled around in any pink strollers!' Don't tell him, but I used to encourage it. Martin always loved the motion -- any kind of motion: car rides, the swings, just being held. And the girls always took care of him, even when we -- couldn't be there."

"Your secret's safe with me," Samantha no longer tried to hide it as she grinned. As much as she was trying to fight it, her attraction to Martin was something she did not seem to be able to control. At the same time, though, she tried to fight the gnawing sensation in her stomach that was reminding her of her own sister and everything that they had missed out on in the last ten or so years.

Her reverie was interrupted when Martin crept back into the room. "Becca's at O'Hare," he said. "She said her flight gets in at about 9:15, and that Scott sends his love. And Bonnie is insisting that we come over for dinner tonight. I told her to fight with Dad over that." He rolled his eyes, and she wondered who 'Bonnie' was. "Where is Dad, anyway?"

"I'm right here, Martin," Victor said as he entered. "Agent Spade?" She nodded at her superior, "Agent Russell is here for you."

Before Samantha has a chance to raise her eyebrow, Naomi's form became visible as she stepped from behind the Deputy Director.

"NYPD found a 21 year old college student outside one of the libraries at Columbia, fits with Larry Horton's MO."

"Copycat already? You've got to be kidding me."

"Homicide is meeting us back at the Bureau, they need our reports." Before Samantha can raise her voice in protest, Naomi held up her hands to stop her. "Don't thank me yet, Sam. Wait until you hear who our contact is."

Samantha rolled her eyes before mouthing "one second."

"I'm so sorry, but I really do need to go talk to NYPD."

"I understand, it's all part of the job," Victor sympathized.

"But if there's anything that I can do, just give me a call."

"When the girls are ready," Victor spoke on behalf of the family, "We'd like you to be the one to take their statements."

"Of course. Tell the girls I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer."

With that she turned on her heels, willing herself not to look back. But that did not subdue her intuition tell her that she was leaving something behind.

xx

9:00 am

Martin took a deep breath as he boarded the elevator at the Bureau once again. This time, though, things were looking much better than when he'd entered the building just about 12 hours previously. He held Kelsey's hand in his, afraid to let go as if she might suddenly disappear again.

He couldn't even imagine how Caro and Tim felt.

The family exited the elevators in complete silence. They knew Kelsey needed to give her statement as soon as possible -- Bridget as well, if she could give them anything. Shawn Aguilar was dead, apparently suicide, according to the report his father had given, but they still needed to get the girls' statements on record.

From the desks at the bullpen, he could see Samantha's form slouched in her chair.

"Oh, come on Sam. It wasn't that bad!" Naomi called out.

"What, no flowers this time?" Danny asked.

Samantha groaned, spinning her chair around and tossing a blue foam football in Danny's direction.

"You know, you could do a lot better," Danny said, tossing the football at Naomi.

"Yeah, but nobody's going to do better than Viv --" Samantha saw something that apparently they didn't, and the other two turned around to investigate. "What is this, more leftovers from Reggie's tournament?"

"Your husband, Vivian, is a saint." Naomi said, taking the opportunity to heave the football at Danny's unsuspecting form while he was otherwise preoccupied with the bagels Vivian placed on the conference table before them.

"SAM!"

The four agents all turned their heads when Martin's niece called out from his side.

"Hey, Kelsey. You look like you're feeling a lot better."

"Wow, isn't she something special," Danny laughed to Naomi and Vivian. "The first time I called you 'Sam', I thought you were going to castrate me."

"Don't tempt me," Sam quipped. "You're still in hot water from earlier. Now, if you'll excuse me, some of us around here actually plan on doing our jobs."

Samantha turned to face Caroline and Tim. "We can do this however you think would be best."

"Marty, can you take Bee for us?"

"Of course," he replied. Bridget was still rather tired from the ordeal and didn't even rouse when Caroline handed her over.

Samantha led them to a separate lounge, and Martin followed with his parents. He watched through a tinted glass window as Samantha sat Kelsey down at small table, laying paper and colored pencils in front of her.

"I heard that you like to draw," she said, and Caroline looked gratefully at Samantha. "So while we talk, why don't you draw us something?" Kelsey nodded, thinking for a few minutes before taking one of the pencils to the paper in front of her.

Martin felt both of his parents tense up beside him. He tried to remain calm - not wanting to disrupt Bridget's nap - but inside, his heart was doing an odd variety of somersaults that even Samantha's soothing voice didn't seem to suppress.

"Now, I want you to start at the very beginning. I need you to tell me everything that you can remember, okay ... ?"

xxxxx