Author's Note: Wow, chapter three. This chapter is the big transition into the climax of the story, so hopefully nothing will interfere with writing the next chapters!

This chapter actually has a lot of Jordan in it (for me, anyway), so if you're a big fan of Jordan, congrats. :D This chapter was very difficult for me to write, but I hope it's not too disappointing at least. It went through a lot of plot revisions nearing the end and had a lot of different transitions to the ending…but I finally stuck to one for this chapter, so hopefully it isn't horrible.

By the way, I finally settled with the remainder chapter titles. 8) In my opinion, it doesn't give away much so I'm not spoiling anything badly for you that you won't find out in this chapter, so read on! :P

Chapter Four – Tribulations

Chapter Five – Revelations

*realizes the last three kind of rhyme, wasn't intended*

Friday, the day after we had lost Ms. Conner bitterly to a heart attack due to an attempted murder, I was walking down the hall and spotted Jennifer with a chart, most likely headed for a patient's room. I was still shocked by Newbie's sudden change of heart with Barbie, as he seemed to have been avoiding anything to do with that Brian guy. "Newbie, why on earth did you cover for Blondie's shift last night when you have clea-HEER-ly shown through your obvious retort against her little boy toy that you are still not over her and in fact, despise him like every other guy she has ever dated? It doesn't seem like the typical and selfish Cordelia I mega-loathe," I said as I followed her down the wing of the hospital, carrying several charts along with me.

Newbie looked at me in almost a trance from not getting enough sleep and responded irritably, "I guess I wanted to be nice, that's all."

"Fair enough. Now," I started, not at all satisfied with his answer, "have you seen Dr. Barbie this morning? Her shift started thirty minutes ago," I stated absentmindedly, looking over the charts I had been given by Carla to pass on to her.

Newbie slowed his pace briefly and looked surprised, "You know what? I haven't seen or heard from Elliot at all since she left after Ms. Conner's passing," he stated dejectedly with an expression painted on his face that was clearly of undisputable worry.

"Not that I care or anything, because I don't, but what on earth has crawled up your ass so much as to effect the quality of your work the last day or so, because you've been even more detached from the real world and moodier than usual since Barbo started dating her Romeo," I mocked, but not enough to sound completely uncaring, because I was…a little.

We both stopped in the middle of the hall as other staff passed by us. Newbie looked at me with those puppy dog eyes of his and lowered his chin slightly, hesitantly answering. "I'm worried about her. I don't know, I've never met the guy, but there is just something about him that makes me uncomfortable," he began, really catching me off guard as his thoughts started syncing with my own, "and because of this serial killer, you know, I just don't know. How can we really trust this guy? I mean, he just showed up out of nowhere in a coffee shop, and you know, it seems a little fast, not to mention he won't even come to the hospital to meet anybody. I'm not saying he's the murderer everyone's been talking about, but what if his intentions are wrong towards her? " he said, clearing the lump in his throat. "I tried calling her this morning before I went to work to ask how the movie went, but she never answered. I even called again, so I don't know what's up and I'll admit, I'm very worried," he said fretfully.

I gawked at him, taken back by his assumption. I couldn't believe it, Newbie, who had never met this guy in his life, could almost sense what I sensed at the bar that afternoon. I knew he'd worry about her but…the same feelings? Also, what's with her not answering the phone? That's odd, even for that princess.

"Dr. Cox, what is it?" he asked troublingly, but then almost immediately he snapped, "…and you've been acting strange too! You don't trust this guy either, do you, Dr. Cox?" he gleamed with relief for no longer being the only one feeling the way he had been feeling.

Could I really let Jasmine get by with thinking that I was almost as concerned and bothered as she was about the situation? "Look Newbie, I'm not going to say that I think he's a threat, but all I know is that when I met him at the bar—"

"Bar?" he asked peculiarly.

"—yes, the bar, the day before yesterday when I took a few hours off, I happened to run into him there and we got to talking—"

"What was he like and what did he say?"

"—STOP INTERRUPTING ME, RHONDA!" I bellowed furiously, completely and utterly annoyed by him.

He stared at me, speechless and terrified, mumbling, "Sorry," as he lowered his head and looked away.

Calming down, I continued. "Anyway, I can't quite describe it, but the vibe I got from that guy wasn't very pleasing and basically cold, despite the fact that he was very polite, considerable and practically guy smiley. I don't know, all I know is that it rubbed me in a way I can't quite explain…," I trailed off lethargically, lost in my own train of thoughts.

"How weird," he muttered quietly, covering his feelings with a blank but tired expression. He finally looked me straight in the eye and mumbled, "As much as I hate to do this, I gotta go check up on a patient…tell me if Elliot shows up, alright?" he affirmed dolefully as he began walking away.

"Sure thing, Newbie," I replied weakly, lowering my head and begun walking in the opposite direction, aggravated and befuddled as I put my hands behind my head and sighed.

I walked up to the nurse's station nearly fifteen minutes later to luckily find Carla and not Laverne there for once this week. "Has Blondie come in yet? I'm really getting tied up with her patients. We just can't be babysitting them for her every time she's out on one of those fantasy escapades of hers," I asked, being my usual, caustic self.

Carla looked up at me deeply and almost angrily, and replied, "She has a name you know, and no, I haven't seen her," but suddenly her glance extended beyond me as her eyes widened. "Elliot! Where have you been?" she shouted frantically.

I turned around quickly to see Barbie walking up behind me. She appeared very exhausted, albeit smiling, looking as though she had, had a sleepless night.

Softly, she responded, "Yeah, I'm sorry guys, I overslept. I'll take my patients now," she mumbled hurriedly, quickly snatching the charts out of my hands.

For a brief moment, I wondered why she was in such a rush until I saw her wrist—it was bruised severely. I also took notice to the fact that she was trying to hide it by a thick, black watch. I felt slightly sick to my stomach as every single thought rushed through my head all at once. Flicking my nose, I asked austerely, "Barbie, please tell me that guy didn't do this to you, did he?"

Carla also saw what I was talking about as her eyes bulged out. "Elliot…," she mumbled grimly.

Blondie staggered, jerking back, realizing I knew, she immediately reacted and recomposed herself. Smiling lightheartedly, she uttered, "Oh, that," she started as she rolled her eyes, "I fell last night into the door as Brian was leaving, clumsy me," she ended by nodding her head and giggling.

It had become apparent to me that she was clearly hiding something, and I had a sneaking feeling I knew what. Then again, maybe she actually did fall into the door…that didn't seem to farfetched for that graceful princess. I could also assume that and forget the first idea, but with her reaction just then and the feel of that guy, there was no denying something did happen last night and that injury was not caused by Barbie's smoothness, that was for damn sure.

Carla also didn't seem too convinced from the look on her face, but she apparently bought it anyhow. "You need to be more careful, Elliot, and watch where you're walking," she scolded as she began going through paperwork and files.

I looked back at Barbie as she began walking away and I placed my hands behind me head. I wanted badly to get the truth from her, but I knew she'd just deny it. Something inside me told me that bastard did that to her, and if that's true, then why the hell is she acting like it's not a big deal when it certainly is a big deal? No. No, I knew he did it. There isn't any getting around it. There isn't anything about it that makes me believe otherwise. But why in the hell would Barbie still be interested in him unless he claimed it was an accident or…? Before I could even let my mind wrap around it, Newbie approached me frantically.

"How's Elliot?" he asked bluntly, his nerves obviously getting the better of him, "she left too quickly for me to ask what happened and…"

"She seems fine, but that bruise on her wrist led me to believe otherwise."

Newbie reacted exactly as I expected him to—hurt, confused, anxious, and angered. I believe I may have even seen blinding rage swelling up, but of course instantly he seemed to have been trying to control that burning fuel behind his eyes.

"Would you check on her and ask her what really happened?" Maybe I sounded too concerned, but damn it all, I've seen things like this before personally with my own eyes, and it doesn't matter who you are, this shouldn't happen to anyone.

"Why would you care?" he asked me coldly as his legs danced slowly, anxious to leave.

"Curious is all," I lied as a lump began forming in my throat. Why did I care so much? It's not like I'm even friends with her or anything. "Check on her for me, will ya?" I caved, I couldn't do it.

Newbie seemed taken aback by that somewhat, but I think he understood that I did care for her as a human being. "Yeah, of course I will. Why wouldn't I?"

"Just let me know, alright, Wendy? I'm sure Carla would like to know, too," I stated in a softer tone of voice than usual.

Newbie had a puzzled look on his face, but he shook it off and nodded anyway, walking off. "Later, Dr. Cox."

"Yeah," I mumbled.

As I walked into the break room after a long and uninteresting morning, I saw Blondie getting coffee. I stopped in my tracks and stared at her stupidly, trying to gain the courage to even approach her and ask her for myself. It wasn't normal of me to care about others much at all or get involved, but this time was different. There was nothing she could say that'd make me believe he didn't do it.

"Dr. Cox," uttered that neurotic, whiney doll, facing me now.

"Hey, Barbie, look—"

"I know what you're going to say and you don't have to say it because JD already asked me," she started quietly whilst droning, "and I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him."

"Yeah?"

"Brian didn't mean to hurt me…," she started.

"But he did—"

"Listen for a sec! After Brian apologized, he told me why he did it," she screeched at a record breaking feat. Now, I just had to hear this, that is, if my eardrums didn't pop from the massive decibels she was producing before I heard it.

"—and he told me he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and he suffered from an anger disorder, and that something that happened earlier on that day had set him off that he was trying to hold back and he said that my voice got too high and set him off into mania and—"

"You're doing it…now," I informed her before my ears started to bleed out. That woman certainly had some impressive vocal chords—hell, she's her own personal dog whistle.

She stopped and gasped with her eyes protruded. She at last took a very deep breath and paused for only a brief moment to the comfort of my ears. "I'm sorry! See, that's what happens! When I start talking a long time, well, you know. I promised him that I wouldn't talk so long anymore, but then he said it was fine as long as he wasn't already aggravated or annoyed, or some form between those two and that he would try harder next time, and—"

"BARBO," I warned her as I threw my hands up, signaling for her to stop.

Immediately doing so, Barbie threw her hand over her mouth and looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "Oh God, I can't stop!" she shuddered and gasped.

I stared at her intently, sardonically saying, "Barbie, listen," I started slowly, "have you ever considered the thought that he might not be the guy for you that you have always fantasized about since you were twelve? Because clearly, he isn't exactly the kind of guy you want to spend the rest of your life with. Especially not for you, because you've been here for five years and you have yet to control that brain-rattling screeching of yours or the volume of its intensity to a reasonably human level. If that guy goes off on you every time you do that after him having a bad day, well, after being in the hospital for so long, you'll just stop getting paid for those non-work related days your prince charming gave you because you just couldn't leave him because he was oh, so kind and affectionate to you all those many days you were together before ending up here with bruises and broken limbs! Do you see what I'm trying to get at here, Blondie! This guy is wrong for you and I don't really know how to make it any clearer to you other than…you're just going to have to trust me on this! " I managed not to sound pleading, but I presented myself in a manner that I hoped would not cross her enough to be ignored, but of course, it did.

"Why should I have to listen to you when you don't even know Brian?" she started somberly, but I immediately interrupted.

"You, Barbie, barely know the guy yourself," I mocked.

"You know what? I'm sick and tired of all your ranting and raving and acting like the 'big cheese' around here because guess what? You're not and no one's buying it. If I have to stand here and listen to you telling me something pointless and annoying like I'm some eight-year-old who can't decide and fend for herself, I might as well just leave because you're not going to change my mind about him," she declared acrimoniously, not once taking her gaze from mine, something that astonished me the entire time. The girl had more balls than Newbie did.

Before I could get a word in edgewise, Barbie stormed past me in a whirl of blonde rage and frustration that nearly knocked me off my feet.

As I watched her walk from my sight, I couldn't help but to wonder if she was in some sort of trouble, whether she knew of it or not. I've never in my entire life have had more paranoid and anxious feelings than I did with her boyfriend, Brian. There was something about him that day that had me in some sort of uncomfortable mindset that seemed to hide heavily beneath his eyes—something that wasn't trustworthy, something that wasn't…good. I didn't know if my judgment was being hindered by sheer ignorance or logic, but something inside of me told me to try and convince Carla or one of her friends at least, to get her to understand that this guy is trouble whether she's happy with the idea or not. I could also be taking this way overboard, but it just seemed too suspicious to me for it being more than a temper tantrum he had once in a while.

Dear God, I've gotten myself way too involved in Barbo's life.

I was on-call that evening when I realized I'd be seeing Newbie along with Juliet again. I did my best to avoid Barbo especially, but Newbie was like a bad itch that wouldn't go away.

"Dr. Cox—"

"Look, Gretel, whatever you have to say about Blondie, save it. I have more important things to worry about than—"

"I was just going to ask if you've seen Turk anywhere, he's supposed to be on-call tonight too, but obviously you have other things on your mind…," he mumbled while looking at me intently, suddenly looking at a file in his hands and just as quickly, looked back up at me warily.

"Does it look like I keep track of your seemingly straight gal pal there, Lucinda? Oh, and for that little comment," I paused as I took one of the Janitor's cleaning utensils on a cart next to me and sprayed it on his face, not particularly caring about its toxicity. "That'll do."

"Careful, that's highly potent dissolving chemicals there," said the Janitor approaching from behind Newbie, then smiling, "oh, wait. It's Scooter. Nevermind then," he laughed as he carried on with his mopping of the linoleum floor.

Aggravated, I turned around towards the on-call room to leave the wailing Newbie to himself and to the Janitor's dry, witless humor as he reeked his havoc upon Gloria, but God, was it ever so refreshing to hear her pain and misery every once in a good while.

While walking down the hall, I noticed Barbo talking on her cell phone, most likely chitchatting with her bipolar Romeo who she probably is setting up another date with.

"Why don't you just come to the hospital?" she asked curiously of Brian. Pretending like I was doing something, I went to a coma patient's bedside and began checking his vitals.

"If you're experiencing abdominal pains, dizziness, and lightheadedness, you should at least…," she trailed off, obviously being interrupted, "it could be something serious, possibly an Abdominal Aneurysm!" she frantically whined in almost a whisper. Pausing for a several moments, she finally gave in to his demand, "Yeah, okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm on-call so I'll do what I can, okay? Just give me the address and I'll see if I can schedule you into at least a clinic, alright?" she assured him gently, her voice tapering off from evident exhaustion. "Love you, too." God, I could throw up.

In the on-call room, I laid and rested for a while as I thought about what Barbie was thinking. Could she really be that enthralled by him enough to consider the fact that it's odd, even for a person with a hospital phobia, not come in on what could have been something serious? What did she really think she was going to do, use her magic breasts on him?

Suddenly, I heard the sound of my ex-wife's expensive heels approaching. "Hark, Jordan, the Queen of Serpents arrives. To what do I owe this horror?" I said boringly, my usual facet drained from a long day of work whilst watching TV.

"Don't work so hard, you'll pull a muscle flipping through channels so much," she teased. Why, God, why?

"What now, woman?"

"I'm bored," she uttered plainly, "pants down and no eye contact, got it?"

I sighed and rubbed my temples, "Like I have a choice in the matter. Let's make this quick," I mumbled in anguish.

"You always do."

Damn that sexy bitch.

Lying on the bed as Jordan buttoned up, I looked out at the moon, unable to really see the stars because of the city lights. It was a lot less horrible out there than it was in here, and that was for damn sure.

"You okay, honey? You seemed a little bit distracted during sex more than usual, is everything alright?" she said in almost a sincere and genuine voice of concern.

"Eh, just tired is all." It was the truth, today we were swamped with patients and I've been at it for a good eighteen hours now.

"Oh yeah, I don't know why, but that reminds me," she started interestingly, "that serial killer has been linked with several men that were reported to have last been with his victims, and they all seemed to have disappeared as well and there wasn't any record of them at all," she said as I turned my head towards her in interest, "the guy apparently changes his appearance each time as to not be indentified and has gone to great lengths to disguise himself. Each of these men appeared somewhat similar, but the actual guy they think looks quite a bit different," she paused for a moment, looking at me plainly.

I had to wonder though, seeing as though I forgot to ask her, "Why are you so interested in this guy anyway?"

She glared at me dully for a moment and sighed slightly, "Someone I knew from high school went missing a few weeks ago and was found in an abandoned cellar a day later. I wasn't close to her nor did I even talk to her, but it was interesting to find out what happened to her, I guess anyway," she ended as she crossed her arms. "I have a copied picture from a wanted poster of the guy that one of the victim's was with, you wanna take a look?" she asked inquisitively.

Without thinking, I nodded my head as she took her purse out from under her feet and dug through it, finally taking out a black and white copy of the photo. "Here," she said as she handed me the picture.

Although somewhat hard to make out, I examined the picture and the man's face. As I looked closer, I noticed something very familiar off the bat, and that was his distinctive round face. To my surprise, that wasn't what really caught my attention. It was his eyes. The same eyes as…

"Jordan."

"What is it?"

Brian Summers.

"I have to go, now."

"Perry, what's the matter?" she asked frantically.

Oh God, no. Please, no.

"You need to tell me now," I demanded as I grabbed her shoulders firmly, staring her straight in the eye without blinking, "Are you sure this is the guy?"

She looked at me dumbly and almost fearfully at my grave expression and responded, "Yes! Perry, let me go!"

"Jordan…this guy…this guy is Brian Summers."

"Blondie's boyfriend?" she exclaimed, baffled as I let go of her.

No, Barbie, no. Why didn't I follow my instinct? Why the hell didn't I see this coming?

"He's going to kill her, Jordan, oh God…," I staggered as I put my hands behind my head in desperation. "The third day…it's the third day, Jordan. He's going to kill her," I angered as my voiced started to crack.

"That bastard—he's going to kill her."

Pretty soon she'll figure out what his intentions were about…

Author's Notes: So that sums up the chapter with a pretty bad cliffhanger, darn it. I'm pretty sure each and every one of you are going to kill me the next chapter and I assure you, I am going to try killing myself too.

Oh God, the end was really emotional for me, and speaking of, I can start by saying that the next chapter will probably be longer and it will take longer to write, so please be patient and don't jump the gun just yet on any assumption, cause this could really surprise you. I'm sure you've probably already figured out who the killer was before this chapter anyway. xD;

I really tried getting Dr. Cox to stay in character while being in distress as anyone with that kind of guilt on their conscious would act, but it was hard. -.-; I actually saw this ending in my head before anything while remodeling this dream into a story, because I felt that it was the backbone of the story. This story probably flows better than any I've ever written, mostly because it was plotted out and edited and thoroughly thought through on a piece of paper in EKG…xD; Boy, I'm an overachiever.

Anyway, I need to get into bed so I'll start writing the fourth chapter tomorrow, goodnight and take care!