Chapter 2

As soon as Schanke pulled up to the E.R. he was relieved to see Natalie waiting with a female doctor. Good. Nick had called him to say that he was going to call Natalie with more details so that they would be prepared for Tracy. They both approached the car. "Hi, Trace. This is my friend, Dr Jane Cuthbertson. She's going to be the one who takes care of you." Natalie hoped how upset she was didn't come out in her voice.

Tracy shook her head. "No. I changed my mind. I just want to go home O.K. I'm fine. It wasn't a big deal." She couldn't fall apart in front of everyone again. She had to hold it together.

Natalie leaned down to talk to her. "Please Tracy." She saw Nick approaching. "I'll be with you every step of the way. It's really important to do this. You don't have to but I wish you would." Natalie was pleading with her.

Tracy looked at all of them. She knew they were trying to help but she really wished they didn't know. She didn't want anyone to know what a complete and utter failure she was. But they did know; she could tell by their expressions. Why fight it? It hadn't worked before. "O.K." Natalie gave her a small smile as Tracy got out of the car.

Natalie followed Tracy to the exam room where Jane took over. "Tracy, I need you to step on this sheet and undress."

Tracy did as asked. She felt sore all over but it wasn't anything she couldn't live with. She had no choice. As much as she wanted to she couldn't break down in front of them. She could do this. She kept her composure until she saw someone enter with a camera. She couldn't let them take pictures because they would reveal the fang marks on her neck. This had to stop right now. It didn't matter what standard procedure was.

"No. I don't want you too."

Natalie came over and stood beside Tracy. "Tracy, I know this is hard for you but this is necessary. It'll be all right. I promise. I'm here with you. I'm not going anywhere."

Tracy was panicked. Her mind was whirling. They didn't know about vampires and they mustn't find out or they'd all be killed and it would be her fault. How could she stop this? There was no way to; she'd already consented. She squeezed her eyes shut. "O.K," she whispered.

"Tracy, is there anything else that we should know about?" Jane gently asked.

"Um…yeah…one thing. He banged my head against the ground. It wasn't that bad, though."

Jane and Natalie looked at each other. "Thank you for telling us, Tracy," Jane said, as she got started. There were a lot of cuts and scrapes that had to be cleaned and bruises to be checked.

Tracy felt like the exam was another ordeal that she could barely handle. But she did and by the time they were combing out her hair she felt a little more together. When Tracy was given a gown to wear she felt enormous relief at being covered. "Can I go home now?"

"I'm sorry Tracy but we're not done yet," Jane said.

Natalie squeezed her hand. "I'll stay with you until they are done, sweetie. You won't be alone."

Tracy let out a small sigh. She hadn't really expected them to let her go this soon but she'd had to ask anyway. "How soon?"

"I can't tell you that. It depends on what we find. Or if you've got a concussion or not", Jane explained.

"Fine." Tracy said, flatly.

"I'll do all I can to help you. We all will. You just have to let us." Natalie told her.

Tracy nodded. She got it. Best to be calm and keep herself under control. It had been a mistake to agree to come here and she wasn't going to make another by getting all emotional. She was fine.

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Even with Natalie there Tracy couldn't help but feel violated all over again. The doctor took blood for the H.I.V. test. Tracy was also given the "morning after" pill. She didn't bother to say that she wouldn't need it.

"We're going to take you to X-ray to make sure you don't have a head injury."

"Whatever." She nodded.

Natalie squeezed her hand. "Tracy, I'm going to talk to Nick. I'll be here when you get back." Tracy barely heard Natalie as she was taken away.

Natalie went to Nick out in the hall. 'Where's Schanke?"

"He's giving hair samples because he was the one who carried her to the car."

Natalie nodded as she touched his arm. "I know how much you must have wanted to be the one to carry her."

Nick looked like he was about to cry. "I couldn't. I knew they'd want samples from whoever carried her and I couldn't take the risk of discovery."

"I know you want to help. There is something you can do."

"What?"

"Go to Tracy's apartment and get a change of clothes. If they do release her she's going to need them."

"I can do that. I know you don't like me to use my powers unless it's absolutely necessary but…." Natalie nodded her understanding as Nick left.

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Natalie went back to wait for Tracy. Schanke came by. "Where's Nick?"

"He left to get a change of clothes for Tracy in case she's released tonight."

"Why would they keep her?"

"Apparently besides beating and raping her, her attacker slammed her head on the ground. She's in X-ray right now to determine if she has any head injury. If not, she'll probably go home."

Schanke blew up. "That bastard! We have to catch him, Nat, if it's the last thing we ever do."

She patted his arm. "I know you'll do everything you can."

Just then Tracy was brought back in. "No serious head injury." Jane reported.

"So I can go home now, right?"

Jane nodded. "I'll get to work on your discharge papers. You should come back for a follow up in a couple of weeks." Tracy didn't say anything.

"I sent Nick to get you a change of clothes. He should be back soon." Natalie told her.

Schanke approached Tracy." "Tracy, I've got to ask you some questions."

"No! I don't want to talk about it. Coming here was a huge mistake. I'm not making any more. I don't have to talk to anybody and I won't."

Both Natalie and Schanke were taken aback by her vehemence. They agreed that it would be for the best to back off. For now.

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Nick was back. Minding the fact that he wasn't supposed to be back this soon, he wandered down to the lab in the hopes of gathering information that would help bring Tracy's attacker to justice. "Strange, isn't it?" Nick heard one lab tech remark to another. "Those semen samples they collected from that rape victim that was brought in tonight were all blood. Guess the guy had some kind of physical, sexual problem in addition to being a creep."

Nick froze. The rapist was a vampire! Things were even worse than he'd thought. He had to talk to Nat right away and he hurried off.

Nat and Schanke were sitting with Tracy. "Hi, everyone. Tracy, I've got some clothes for you. Are they letting you out?"

"Yes, they are. Give me my clothes." He did and she went back behind the curtain to change.

"Nat, can I talk to you for a minute? Excuse us, Schank." She followed him out with a questioning look. He got right to the point. "The rapist is a vampire. I overheard a tech talking about how the semen was all blood."

"Oh, no! What are we going to do?" All the blood had drained from Natalie's face and for once she looked paler than Nick

"Cover it up of course. As usual." There was anger, pain and guilt in his voice. "I can make them forget. I'll have to hypnotize the photographer too." Natalie told him who it was. "I'll also have to hypnotize your friend too. I'm sorry."

Natalie nodded. "Poor Tracy. No wonder she was afraid to come here. She must be terrified that we'll all get killed and it'll be her fault somehow. That's a burden she does not need right now. If we had…" she trailed off.

"Leveled with her right from the start than maybe things would be different. Especially with Vachon gone. I should have-. Too late now. What's done is done. We have to do what we have to do. Which means I've got to let LaCroix know." His face screwed up in distaste.

"Oh, Nick! Do you really have to?"

"You know I do. This is a rogue vampire and what he's done is against the code. It's very bad, even by vampire standards." Nick paused. "He's a danger to both mortals and vampires alike and must be stopped. And as much as I hate it, that means going to LaCroix. He is the elder here."

"I know; you're right." There was pain, anger and guilt in Natalie's voice as well. "I'm going to go back and be with Tracy. You'll find Jane getting her discharge papers at the desk."

"O.K. I'll go hypnotize her first and then find the others and do them too. I'll have to make them give me the samples. I have no choice. I wish…."

"I know. We'll get through this. All of us." She went back to Tracy.