Title: "The Neurobiologist's Evanescence" - Chapter 15
Author's Note: Still Day 12. :) Enjoy this one!
Think of this first part as a TV show… Flipping back and forth between two scenes, trying to stay in real time. The different sections (split by + signs) aren't really separate, if that makes sense. I am going to bounce back and forth. Usually I just do one scene at a time, but here we are going to switch between two things happening at once. If that doesn't make sense now, I think you'll understand what I mean once you get into the story. :)
Amy was literally going to go insane. It was Saturday and Kripke had gotten the harebrained idea to spend the entire day with her. After everything he had put her through, he was the last person she wanted to spend any time with. But of course, she figured he knew this. She assumed it was all just part of his plan to torment and torture her, much like he had the night he pretended there were cops outside the dungeon.
That night, she had disassociated and drifted through a series of dream-like trances. She wasn't sure how long she remained that way, but eventually she had fallen into a deep sleep. She awoke nearly ten hours later with a massive headache. The pain was so severe that she had slept off and on most of the day just trying to escape it. That evening he had brought her dinner and acted like nothing at all had happened. She refused to look at him or speak to him, but he had sat and ate with her anyway, chattering on about his day and whatever other stupid things popped into his head.
The food had helped to ease her headache, along with the two bottles of water she had downed to get the cotton feeling out of her mouth after screaming so much and sleeping for so long.
He continued visiting her in the evenings over the next few days, always bringing her dinner and restocking her supplies. Eventually she gave up on trying to ignore him. Granted, she didn't engage with him all that much, but she at least spoke to him when necessary and was able to look at him briefly when needed.
But now it was Saturday and she'd been with him for most of the day. She hadn't been able to ignore him at all, as he'd insisted they "hang out." They had played some card games, he'd made her read some of the Little House books to him, and he'd regaled her with stories of his youth that he thought were so "hiwawious."
The worst part had been when she had to use the bucket in front of him. She hadn't been able to hold it any longer and didn't see any end in sight to the day, so she'd been forced to go. And he had stared at her the entire time with a creepy smile on his face.
Shortly afterwards, he had left her to go make lunch and she had scolded herself for not holding it just a little while longer.
The second reprieve she'd gotten for the day was when he had left to go make them dinner. At least that had taken him awhile. He'd bragged about how great his steaks were and that she just had to try one, so he'd made them steak for dinner. It wasn't the best she'd ever had, but she had to admit that it was pretty good. She had to give him that - that one thing. He kept her well fed.
She was mad at herself for one thing they had done that day, though. They'd talked about science for a while. She'd told him about a cellular automata approach to neuronal connectivity, and how she thought it might have some interesting applications to string theory. He had been over the moon about that and had even stolen her notebook to jot down some notes. It made her sick now, thinking that he might take her work and use it to get himself published while she was stuck down there. She wished she had bitten her tongue. But it felt so good to talk about science. For a second, she had forgotten where she was. It had felt… normal. And she hadn't had any normal in her life for nearly two weeks.
She could barely remember what her real life was like anymore. So much had happened in the last twelve days. It overshadowed everything. The trauma of it all was like a dark heavy rain cloud that sat directly overtop of her, intermittently pouring down on her versus rumbling with an intimidating thunder. She couldn't escape it.
It's almost better this way, she thought. If she could forget her life from before, she wouldn't miss it so much. She could settle in to this new life and just… live it. No, live wasn't the right word… Survive it. Yes. She could just survive. Not live, not thrive. Just… exist.
Unbeknownst to the two in the bomb shelter, the cops were pulling into the driveway of Kripke's aunt's house with all their lights off. They pulled in behind Kripke's car, blocking his exit. Detectives Castle and Brennan hopped out of their car and started silently directing the SWAT team to move to the house.
They ran up onto the porch and tried the front door. It was locked. Castle gave the signal and the SWAT team used a battering ram to bust down the door. There was no hiding their presence now, especially since they hadn't noticed the security camera hidden in the top corner on the porch.
Amy was suddenly shaken out of her reverie when Kripke asked, "Amy, did you hear me?"
She tilted her head in question. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I asked what you would like to do now?"
"Oh," she paused. "Um, actually, to be honest with you, I'm getting kind of tired. That steak really hit the spot," she said and patted her stomach, insincerely complimenting him.
"Oh, c'mon," he whined. "Let's play another game."
She rolled her eyes. "Like what? I Spy?"
He chuckled. "No. I think you'd win. You've gotten to know this room pretty well over the last couple of weeks."
"Yeah." She huffed. "You're right about that," she muttered.
"Let's play Never Have I Ever," Kripke said gleefully and rubbed his hands together.
Amy sighed. "What's that?" She asked in a bored tone.
"Well, it's this game where you say something you've—" He stopped suddenly. "Hold on." He stood up and walked to the other side of the room, digging into his pocket for his phone. Then he spun around quickly, his face as white as a ghost. "Shit," he muttered.
Amy straightened on the bed, swinging her legs to the floor. "What?" She asked with alarm in her voice.
"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, shit!" He exclaimed loudly and started moving around the room in a panic. He scrambled up the ladder and poked his head out of the hole. When he didn't see anything, he reached up and grabbed the hatch door, swinging it closed and shutting it as quietly as possible. "We have to get out of here," he muttered and shoved the ladder to the opposite side of the room, away from Amy.
Amy's eyes were wide and she was so confused. "What's going on?"
"The cops. They're here! I saw them on the camera."
Amy jumped up, her heart suddenly pounding out of control in her chest. "What?" She asked in disbelief. Was this another one of his tricks? She didn't think so, just based on his face alone. She didn't think he could act so well that he could make himself go pale, but she also didn't really trust her own judgment anymore.
Kripke started shoving one of the shelves to the side. He grunted and groaned as he pushed the heavy shelf in front of the ladder, blocking it against the utility sink.
"What are you doing?" She asked in confusion.
"Shut up! I have to think!" He said and Amy nearly threw up when she saw him push against the wall behind the shelf and it opened up. There was a secret door. Whatever it opened up to was dark, but she could tell that a human could definitely fit through there. He had lied to her. There was more than one way out of this hell hole. If she had known, she would have chewed off her own hand to get out of there.
"I left the cuffs at the house," he muttered to himself as he looked around the room for an alternative. He grabbed a roll of duct tape off a shelf.
Suddenly, Amy gathered her wits about her. "No. No way!" She exclaimed and immediately started screaming for help.
Back in the house, the SWAT team split in two, one group going upstairs and the other going into the living room. Castle went up the stairs and Brennan followed behind into the living room, both with their guns drawn.
It didn't take long to clear the downstairs, as it wasn't very large, consisting of only the kitchen, the living room, and a tiny bathroom off the living room. Brennan looked out the back door that led from the kitchen to the yard and saw a shed of some sort off to the right. There was also a tarp with something large underneath it.
"This way," she commanded and opened the door for the SWAT team.
"Shut up! Shut up!" He growled, throwing his hand up and over her mouth. Suddenly, she felt the sting of his knife against her neck. "Don't make another sound or I will cut your voice right out of you. Got it?"
She nodded, her eyes wide. He pulled his hand back just an inch to see if she would scream. She didn't.
"Put your hands behind your back. Now. Hurry up."
"No," Amy said. She was going to fight like hell. The more time this took, the more likely the cops were to find her. She moved away from him, avoiding his touch.
He grabbed for her, squeezing her jaw hard in his hand when he got ahold of her. "Do as I say or I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will kill you," he said with a wild look in his eyes.
She believed him.
Amy clenched her jaw and tried to sort through her flying thoughts. If she could just get him to unchain her from the wall, she could fight. She had to fight. This was her chance. If she didn't take it, who knew how much longer she would have to endure this hell of his making.
She needed to cooperate a little, just to get free. Okay, okay, she thought. She took a deep, shuddering breath, then turned around and put her hands together behind her back.
He wrapped her forearms together with the duct tape first, before unchaining her.
Dammit, she thought. There goes that plan.
"Why are you doing this?"
"What?" He asked distractedly.
"Why are you taking me with you? I'm just going to slow you down, especially with my hands tied behind my back. If you want to get away, you should go now," Amy fervently said, trying to convince him.
"You wish," he muttered and started to shove her towards the opening in the wall.
"I'm not going with you," she said vehemently.
"Yes, you are."
Amy screamed as loud as she could, startling Kripke.
"Bitch! I told you to shut the fuck up!"
The SWAT team swept through the back yard, moving towards the shed and the tarp with Brennan on their heels. When they reached it, they tried the door, finding it unlocked. Two SWAT members went in and Brennan stopped to check out what was under the tarp. With the help of another SWAT team member, she pulled the tarp off of a car. A silver car. Brennan swept her flash light to the license plate and immediately recognized Amy's license plate number.
"It's hers," she muttered and went to look inside the vehicle, but stopped in her tracks when she heard a faint scream. "Did you hear that?"
The SWAT member nodded and pointed to the left of the shed, towards the woods. They turned together and moved in that direction.
She sucked in another deep breath to scream again when she saw him start to bring the knife up. She reared back, slamming the back of her head into his nose. She hissed in pain as the knife sliced through the skin of her upper arm. Her head throbbed from where it had connected with his face.
"Ahhhh," he yelped, dropping the knife on the floor. It clattered and slid underneath the nearest shelf. "God dammit! That fucking hurt!" He clutched at his bloody nose.
Amy wasn't going to give up now. She stomped down hard on his foot, but it didn't do much damage since she had socked feet and he had shoes on. But it was enough to piss him off. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the taser.
"Go ahead!" She yelled at him as she backed away. "If you tase me, you'll have to drag me out of here. Am I really worth your freedom?"
He wiped his left forearm under his nose, smearing blood onto his cheek. "You're not worth shit," he spit out angrily.
"I'm going to start screaming again. So either tase me and drag me out of here or go and save yourself. It's up to you, Barry." Then she pulled in a deep breath and started to yell. She watched as he darted towards the opening in the wall, grabbing one of the flashlights on the shelf, before glancing back at her one last time. Then he slipped through it into the darkness.
Relief flooded through her and she stumbled towards the center of the room to stand under the hatch door. And then she screamed for everything she was worth. She screamed out all of the fear and pain. She screamed for the lost time. She screamed for everything he had taken from her. She screamed until her throat was raw and then she screamed some more.
It wasn't long before she heard voices above her and she collapsed onto the ground, sobbing and shaking in relief. "Oh, thank God," she cried out. "I'm down here. Help me!"
A few moments later, the hatch door swung open and she looked up to see several faces peering down at her.
"He's gone. He ran through a passageway down here."
"Go, go," she heard and then watched as two policemen decked out in SWAT gear lowered themselves through the hole and swung down to the ground, expertly maneuvering over her. She tilted her head to the secret door.
"That way!"
"Amy?"
She looked up to see a pretty woman with auburn hair looking down at her.
"We found another ladder in the shed. Can you scoot back so we can lower it down?"
Amy crawled backwards on her knees, wincing at the hard concrete pressing on her bruise from falling a few days ago.
The ladder was lowered and the woman climbed down. Amy noticed that she was wearing a bulletproof vest and had a badge clipped to one hip with a holstered gun on the other.
"I'm Detective Kate Brennan," she said. "Are you okay?"
Amy was trembling. "I am now," she croaked out, her eyes full of tears.
More policemen filled the room, but Amy barely noticed as Brennan crouched down in front of her. "I know someone who is going to be very happy to see you."
"Sheldon?" Amy asked hopefully.
"Oh yes, he's been quite the nuisance in trying to find you."
Amy laughed and sobbed at the same time. "Sounds like him." She swayed forward and the detective caught her in a hug.
"You're a lucky woman, to have someone love you like that," Brennan murmured, making Amy sob again.
Brennan pulled back, holding onto Amy's shoulders. "I'm going to cut the duct tape on your wrists, okay? But I don't want you to peel it off. It will hurt like hell and will probably take some skin with it. The EMT's will help you get it off."
Amy nodded in understanding. Brennan moved behind her and started working the tape. Within moments, Amy was free. She pulled her arms around the front of her and rubbed at her wrists, wincing when the tape pulled the delicate hair on her forearms.
"I'm going to stay with you. We're going to go up top now and have the paramedics look at you, all right?"
Amy nodded.
"Is there anything down here you need?" Brennan asked.
"God, no," Amy replied and pushed up to her feet. They started walking to the ladder, but she paused. "Wait. My purse. Can I take that?"
"Give me a sec," Brennan said and pushed a button on her ear piece. "Hey, Castle. Amy's purse is down here with her... Can she take it with her? I'm thinking yes, but want to make sure we're on the same page. Uh-huh. Yeah, she's okay. A little shaken up. Some minor injuries. All right, thanks."
The detective turned back to Amy. "We think it should be fine."
"Thank you," Amy said and reached for her purse on the shelf where it had sat for the last twelve days untouched. She realized her hands were shaking. She took a quick, calming breath and looped the strap over her head before turning back to the detective who motioned for Amy to climb the ladder.
When Amy got to the top, she took a deep, cleansing breath of the fresh night air. She stood, waiting for Brennan.
"First time having fresh air in twelve days?" Brennan asked with a slight smile.
Amy shook her head and shuddered, before wrapping her arms around herself. "Second," she whispered.
Brennan saw the haunted look on Amy's face and suppressed a frown. She hoped Dr. Cooper realized that their journey through this had only just begun.
"C'mon," Brennan murmured softly and took Amy's elbow to lead her around to the front of the house slowly, being mindful of Amy's socked feet.
"Can you call Sheldon?" Amy asked. "I want Sheldon." Her chin trembled.
"We'll call him as soon as we can, Amy. It's not safe for him here until we catch Kripke."
Amy nodded slightly. No one is safe here, she thought darkly.
Brennan directed her towards the back of an ambulance, where a male paramedic was waiting for her. He and Brennan helped Amy climb inside.
He smiled gently. "Hi. Amy, right?"
She nodded.
"I'm Walter." He motioned at a female paramedic who was climbing up behind Amy. "This is my partner, Angela. We're going to take good care of you, okay?"
Amy nodded again. She was so overwhelmed, she couldn't speak.
"Have a seat here, okay?" Walter motioned at the gurney. "I'm going to check your vitals."
She sat down on the gurney and glanced outside to look for Brennan. The detective was still there, watching quietly. For some reason, her presence soothed Amy.
"What happened to your arm?" Angela asked her softly.
Amy swallowed. "Knife."
"Can I see?"
Amy nodded and pulled her arm out of the hoodie. The cut wasn't very deep, but it was still oozing blood. Amy could tell it was going to need stitches.
"Looks fairly superficial, but it will need sutured. I'm going to clean it and then wrap it to stop the bleeding, okay? They'll stitch you up at the hospital."
Another nod. She watched as Angela gathered supplies.
"This will probably sting a little," Angela said softly as she started cleaning the laceration. Amy hissed in pain.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Amy forced a smile. She had gotten used to pain.
"I told Amy you would help her take the duct tape off her wrists," Detective Brennan spoke up from outside the ambulance.
Walter nodded. "Sure, we can do that." He was finished taking her vitals, so he grabbed some rubbing alcohol and poured it on some clean gauze. He soaked it under the edge of the duct tape on her left arm, helping to dissolve the sticky adhesive as he gently pulled it away from her skin.
A few minutes later, her right arm was bandaged and both wrists were free of duct tape.
Amy smiled at the two paramedics. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," they both replied.
"Amy?"
Amy turned to look at the detective.
"We're going to take you to the hospital now. I'll ride with you."
"Do I have to go?" Amy asked. "I'm fine, really."
"Your arm needs sutured and they're going to want to check you out. It's best if you go now."
Amy sighed, but nodded her head. "Okay." She glanced out the doors, looking back at the house one last time, as Detective Brennan climbed into the ambulance with her.
Good riddance, Amy thought, just as the doors shut in front of her, blocking her view.
The two paramedics got situated up front as Amy and the detective took seats in the back. They slowly pulled away from the house and onto the main road. Amy was grateful that they didn't run the sirens. It was mortifying enough without them.
"Amy, I'm going to ask you some questions now, okay? Once we get to the hospital, you're going to be busy being treated and then you'll need to rest. I'd like to get some initial information from you while I can. Is that all right?"
"Sure," Amy replied softly.
"Tell me about your injuries. I can see the bruises on your face. Obviously, I'm aware of the cut on your arm. How did you get them?"
"He, um, he didn't touch me the first week. Well, other than to put me down there in the first place. He drugged me." She ran her fingers over her neck. "Hit me with an animal tranquilizer. When I woke up, I was in the dungeon." Amy shook her head. "I'm sorry. I mean, the bomb shelter."
Brennan nodded, encouraging her to continue.
"On the seventh night, he, um, he took me out. Up into the house. I had asked him to bring me things to bathe with in the sink down there, but he said he had a better idea." Amy frowned, blinking back tears. She looked away from the detective, down at her hands. "We ate dinner first. He was always bringing me food. Then, uh, he took me upstairs to shower."
Amy hesitated and wrung her hands together. She looked back up at the detective as the tears started to fall down her face. "Sorry," she whispered and swiped at her cheeks.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. Take your time."
"He made me undress and then shower in front of him. He watched the whole time. Wouldn't let me close the curtain."
"How did he stop you from running?"
"He always had a taser and a knife on him."
Brennan nodded.
"After... After the shower, we went into the next room. The master bedroom, I think. There was a pile of clean clothes in there, on the nightstand." Amy hesitated and started shaking again. "I walked towards them, but... he, uh... he had placed some nylon rope on top of the clothes."
Amy sobbed. "That's when I knew."
Detective Brennan reached for Amy's hand and held it. Amy clutched the detective's fingers.
"He forced me to get on the bed and he tied me up. I was still naked." She shuddered. "Then he... he undressed in front of me. I was... surprised to see that he wasn't... aroused," Amy whispered and met Brennan's gaze.
"He went to the foot of the bed and climbed up on top of me. I turned sideways as best as I could, trying to block him. I was so scared, I... I couldn't stop crying. I was fighting him. I'm..." Amy hesitated, unsure if it was necessary to tell the detective this, but, she decided that she might as well be completely honest. "This is probably surprising, but... I've actually never... had sex before. I didn't... I didn't want that to be my first experience. I knew it was going to hurt and I, just... I couldn't..." She stopped and started sobbing, bring her hands up to cover her face.
"It's okay." Brennan placed her hand on Amy's shoulder. "You're safe now."
Amy nodded and wiped at her face with the sleeve of her hoodie.
"I cried and I fought him. He wanted me to stop, but I couldn't. He got angry. We fought and I managed to bite him on his jawline." She touched her own jaw to show the detective where she had bit him. "That's when he backhanded me across the cheek." Amy pressed her fingertips to her bruised cheekbone tenderly.
"After that, I realized he... was still... flaccid, so I... made fun of him." Amy choked on a laugh-like sob. "I had gotten to the point where I didn't care... anymore. Didn't care if I lived. I just wanted to go out with a fight, you know?"
Brennan smiled at her. "You go, girl."
Amy huffed in amusement. "Yeah, well, it pissed him off even more. He slapped me." She moved her fingers down to the scab bordering her lip. "Then he climbed off of me and started pacing around the room, muttering to himself like a maniac. He was trying to masturbate himself. Then he grabbed his pants and went into the bathroom. I heard him... watching porn."
Amy sniffled. "I don't know what came over me, but I started laughing. I think I was... just... in shock. The adrenaline was leaving me and I just... lost it. He stormed back into the room and yelled at me. I thought for sure that I was done, but he... He untied me and told me to get dressed." Amy shrugged. "I don't think he anticipated having problems getting an erection. He seemed mortified. I think he just wanted me out of his sight. Honestly, I... I can't believe he didn't kill me then."
She paused, licking her lips and trying to gather her bearings. "He dragged me out of the house rather roughly. I fell and landed on my knee." She touched her left knee cap. "I don't think it's broken but I have a gruesome looking bruise."
She swallowed, wishing she had a bottle of water. She was parched.
"The closer we got to the bomb shelter, the more I panicked. I did not want to go back down there. When he bent down to open the hatch, I shoved him as hard as I could and took off running. I didn't get very far before he tackled me to the ground. We fought, before he managed to get fistfuls of my hair. He dragged me back to the door and made me go down through it. When he was coming down the ladder, I pushed it over and he fell. I picked up the ladder and started trying to climb it, so he... tased me."
Brennan sucked in a breath. "Ouch. That's something, isn't it?" She asked. "I had to do it during my training."
"Like a lightning strike," Amy offered and Brennan nodded in agreement. "I slid off the ladder. Got some bumps and bruises that way." She shuddered. "Then he managed to get me on the mattress and chained me up again."
Amy shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "After that, he left. We didn't have anymore physical contact until this evening when he saw you all coming on a camera. He must have gotten an alert on his phone. He panicked and unchained me and tried to take me with him. I fought hard. I was not going with him," Amy said with a steely look in her eyes.
"And you sure didn't." Brennan patted Amy's hand. "I'm going to ask you this question, just so I am completely clear on the matter." She paused, then continued in a low and soothing voice. "I know he sexually assaulted you, but you were not raped, is that correct?"
Amy shivered. "That's correct."
"I only ask because we would need to have the hospital perform a rape kit if so," Brennan murmured.
"No, I, uh, somehow managed to avoid that particular form of torture."
"You're a strong, resilient woman, Amy. I can see why Sheldon loves you so much."
Amy looked up at the detective, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Can we call him now?"
Brennan nodded. "He can meet us at the hospital. Do you want to make the call?"
Amy hesitated. "No, I... can you do it, please?" She whispered.
"Sure."
Detective Brennan pulled out her cell phone and dialed Sheldon's number. It rang four times and then went to voicemail. She hung up the phone with a frown. "No answer."
Amy's face crumpled. She leaned forward and started to cry.
"Hey, it's okay. He knew we were on our way to the house. I'm sure he was waiting for a call. Maybe he is on the line with my partner. Let me call him."
Brennan called Castle, but he didn't answer, either. She sighed. "No answer," she said again.
Amy turned into Detective Brennan's shoulder and the cop held her while she cried. Little did they know, the two men weren't answering their phones because they were in the middle of their own conversation with each other, back at Kripke's aunt's house.
Leonard pulled into the driveway of the address Howard had given them and was immediately stopped by a wall of police cars and an officer flagging them down. He tapped on the hood of the car and Leonard rolled the window down.
"You can't be here," he said, but Sheldon was already climbing out of the back seat.
"Sir, get back in the vehicle!" The cop ordered, placing his hand on his weapon at his side.
"My girlfriend is in there," Sheldon responded frantically. "Did you find her? Is she okay? Is she alive?" He felt his cell phone buzzing in his pocket, but he barely heard it.
Just then, he saw Detective Castle striding across the lawn with a stern look on his face.
"Officer Booth, it's all right," he called out. "I got this."
The officer nodded and stepped away, just as Castle reached Sheldon.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He spat out. "I told you to stay home." He looked in the car. "I told you to keep him home."
Leonard shrugged and managed to look chagrined.
"Did you find her?" Sheldon asked, ignoring the detective. "Is she alive? Is she okay?" He gripped the car door for dear life, knowing that the answer to his question could very well change the trajectory of his whole life.
Castle sighed, his demeanor softening. "Yes. We found her. She's okay. A little banged up, but okay."
Sheldon nearly fainted with relief. Penny started to cry.
"Where is she? I need to see her. Please," Sheldon begged.
"Detective Brennan went with her to the hospital. They left about five minutes ago."
"What hospital? Where?"
"San Dimas Community Hospital." Sheldon started to get back in the car, but stopped when the detective laid his hand on Sheldon's wrist.
"Sheldon... Kripke got away."
Sheldon's head snapped up. "What?"
"He had an escape plan and he was able to execute it. Our officers followed him, but he was too fast. He had a vehicle hidden and was able to get away."
"But—" Sheldon choked on his words. He didn't know what to say. "I... what... What does this mean?"
"It means you shouldn't be here. It means you should be careful. He's probably on the run right now, trying to save himself, but we can't be certain of that. He could come after you... or Amy again."
"What are you doing to keep her safe?" Sheldon asked immediately.
"Detective Brennan will stay with her and we have some more officers heading over to the hospital now. They will stay outside of her hospital room at all times. She's safe for now, but you need to be careful. He could be anywhere."
"I... Okay. We will."
"The same goes for you," Castle said, looking into the car at Leonard and Penny. "We don't know what all he's capable of. He could lash out at anyone that gets in his way." He looked back at Sheldon. "Stay alert."
"All right," Sheldon replied. He started to get back in the car when the detective's voice interrupted him.
"Hey... how'd you get the address for this place, anyway?" Castle asked. Then he held out a hand. "Wait! You know what? I don't want to know." He shook his head in amused bewilderment and then turned, walking back towards the house.
Sheldon watched him go for a moment, then got back in the car and shut the door.
"She's alive," he whispered and started to cry.
Penny nodded and reached back, squeezing his hand. She was crying right along with him.
Leonard pulled out of the driveway, already looking up directions for the hospital on his phone. He was going to get his best friend back to his woman as quickly as he could.
Sheldon burst through the emergency room doors and immediately hurried to the front desk. He tapped his hand on the desk nervously, waiting for the admitting nurse to look up at him from the form she was filling out. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore.
"Excuse me?"
"One moment," she said, and continued writing.
Sheldon rolled his eyes. "My girlfriend was brought in, Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, I need to see her."
The nurse looked up and was about to answer him, when he heard his name being called from the waiting room. He turned to find Detective Brennan walking his way. She had been expecting him after receiving a call back from her partner.
Sheldon rushed over to her. "Where is she? Can I see her? Is she okay?"
Brennan held out her hands. "Hold on, just calm down a minute."
"Calm down?" Sheldon exclaimed. "How can you expect me to calm down at a time like this?"
"She's being seen by the doctor right now. You need to let them do their job and once things settle down, I will take you back to her."
Sheldon groaned. "You expect me to wait?"
"Yes," she replied in a soothing voice. "Amy has been through a lot, Sheldon. She's overwhelmed. She wants to see you, but if you go barging in there, it's going to disrupt her care, which will in turn disrupt your reunion. She has some mild injuries that need taken care of—"
"Injuries?" He asked with eyes wide.
"Mostly bumps and bruises. She has a laceration on her arm that needs sutured. They need to check her over and run any necessary tests. The important thing is, she's safe and she's in good hands. You'll be able to see her soon."
"Sheldon?" Penny called out, walking up behind him with Leonard. They had dropped him off at the emergency room entrance before going to park the car.
He turned to them. "Penny, this is Detective Brennan. Brennan, this is Penny. You've met Leonard."
"Hi," Penny said.
"Yes, hello. I was just telling Sheldon that he needs to wait a little while before going back to see Amy. They are taking care of her right now and once things have settled down a bit, I'll take him back. We only just got here about ten minutes before you did. Would you two be willing to sit with him, keep him company while I go check on Amy?"
"Of course," Penny replied.
Sheldon stomped his foot but didn't argue.
"Thanks," Brennan said and started to walk away.
"Wait," Sheldon called out to her. He walked up to her and lowered his voice. "Was she…" He swallowed hard. "Was she raped?"
Brennan's eyes softened and she gave Sheldon the slightest of smiles. "I can't really talk to you about that without her permission. It's Amy's private medical information and you're not married. You'll have to ask her."
"But won't that just re-traumatize her?"
"Well… I wouldn't lead with that question. Just… take things slow. Give her time. You've got a long road ahead of you, Sheldon. Tread gently. She is going to need you more than ever."
He scrubbed his hand down his face and sighed. Then he nodded. "Okay," he murmured. "Thank you."
She returned his nod then slipped through the doors towards the examining rooms.
He turned back to see his friends waiting for him.
"You okay?" Penny asked.
"I'm… better than yesterday, but… I need to see her."
Penny nodded and wrapped her arm around one of his. She led him to the chairs in the waiting room. He sat without thinking about it. Leonard and Penny flanked him, sitting on either side of him, their presence comforting him.
And then he did what he'd been doing for the last twelve days. He waited some more.
End Note: I'm sorry for the cliffhanger! It had to be done! But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Our Amy has finally been rescued! You're going to LOVE the next chapter. :D