Rifiuto: Non Mirena
"Your vitals are good-"
"Can I go home now? I want to see my dad." Allison sighed, taking a seat on the bed beside Jo.
"Not yet. We need to keep you here a while longer, Jo."
"But-"
"Your dad gave us permission. He doesn't want you back until you're healthy. You've had quite a shock to your system- being found in the woods. Be patient. Okay?" She nodded, as Allison reached out and patted her hand. The doctor got up, seeing Carter leaning against the doorframe. "I'm going to have a few more tests run. Janie will take care of you." Jo nodded; quickly, Allison made her way to Carter, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the hallway near the infirmary.
"Find out anything else, Carter?" Allison asked, he shook his head.
"Dead ends mainly. I checked on the manager of the theater they disappeared from, but the man we'd taken the statment from that night is dead. I haven't had a chance to run a check for the owner of the ice cream parlor." He glanced at Jo, before turning to Allison. "How is she?" The older woman sighed.
"She was what?"
"Raped. Multiple times." Zane sat heavily on the sofa in Fargo's office; the director himself looked sick. Carter sat at Fargo's desk, the evidence spread out before him, hands folded, fingers steepled. He was silent; Henry leaned against the railing, back to the window, and Grace sat in one of the chairs across from Carter. "There's even evidence of possible sodomy. Whoever took this girl-"
"Tortured her." Carter finished. Everyone turned to look at him. "It's not uncommon, in cases like this. Often, abducted children are abused in every form before being killed. Sometimes they fight. Sometimes they don't. Jaycee didn't. It doesn't mean she gave up hope, she just stopped fighting to protect herself and the daughters that bastard fathered. If you have the will to fight, then you have the will to survive, even when you stop fighting." He glanced up at everyone. "Steven Stayner stopped fighting, and when he had the chance, he got himself and Timmy White out; sometimes, the only thing you can do is stop fighting. It's usually the only thing that can keep you alive." He turned his gaze back to the evidence spread out before him. A moment passed, before he picked up the photographs taken from the movie theater's security cameras. Images of the two teens in the lobby, leaving the theater...
Nothing was connecting.
"So... she's not only emotionally damaged, she's... physically damaged..." Zane whispered.
Pedophiles in the 'nineties often got away with it, because they weren't registered. I can only imagine what those two children went through." Carter choked out, just as Allison's phone started beeping. She grabbed it; the color drained from her face.
"It's Jo. I've got to get down there." She rushed from the office, leaving the others to slowly catch up. Carter was on his feet in minutes, chasing after her. When they got to the infirmary, it was to a pair of orderlies, attempting to restrain a struggling Jo. She had climbed out of the bed, ripping the needles and wires, causing the alarms to blare- and was currently curled up in the door to Allison's office, holding a pair of scissors like a knife. She screamed at them, slashing out every time they attempted to get close. "What's going on here?" The orderlies turned to her.
"We caught her trying to sneak out of the infirmary, Dr. Blake. When we went to restrain her, she grabbed a pair of scissors and started slashing out at us. She won't let us get close. We've tried everything we can think of." Allison sighed, moving quickly towards Jo, but she stopped when the girl lashed out, narrowly missing her with the scissors.
"Get away from me!"
"Jo, I need you to put the scissors down, okay?" Allison asked.
"I want to go home! I want my dad!" She cried, pushing herself further against the locked door. "Get away from me!" A moment pased, before both Zane and Carter knelt down. Carter glanced at Zane, confusion on his face. The younger man shook his head; all he cared about was protecting the young woman before him.
"We'll take you home soon, Jo, but we need to figure a few things out first. Okay?" Carter asked.
"I want my dad!" She cried, pushing herself further into the locked door. Carter nodded.
"I know. And he wants you back with him too, but it's going to be a while. You have to be patient. Now give me the scissors, Jo. Please." Slowly, Carter crawled towards her, holding his hand out. "We'll get you back to your family as soon as possible, but we have some loose ends to tie up first. Okay?" A moment passed, before she dropped the scissors, burying her face in her hands. Carter snatched up the scissors and handed them to Allison, before slowly turning back to the girl. "It's o-" His words were cut off as she launched herself at him, wrapping her slender arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder, sobbing.
He sat back on his butt, Jo in his lap, and his arms went around her, tangling in her raven hair. He listened to her sobs, his heart breaking at the pain she was in. For some reason, she felt safest in Sheriff Carter's arms- perhaps it was because he was a law enforcement officer, or a because he had the air of fatherhood about him- but whatever the reason, twenty-some years after her disappearance, she felt protected. Carter took a deep breath, pressing a kiss to her head.
"You did a brave thing today, Carter." He turned, from his post by Jo's bedside, to see Henry standing behind him. "She could have really hurt someone, and you talked her out of it." Carter sighed, turning back to the sleeping young woman at his side.
"She's scared, Henry. Scared and alone and lost in a world that's changed since she disappeared. She was twelve-years-old when she went missing... I can't imagine what she went through, and then to... find yourself in the infirmary of a strange builiding, in a strange town, surrounded by people you don't know, after twenty years... if Zoe were going through what she's going through..." He reached out, taking her hand. She shifted in her sleep.
"She'll get through it, Jack. You said it yourself, she has the will to fight."