Author's Note: I couldn't leave you hanging all day so here is the next chapter. It's funny - but leaving a cliffhanger always serves to motivate ME to write more, sooner. :) You know what to do - read and review!

Sarah's brain seemed to be stuck. All she could think was oh my God, oh my God. Todd had backed her across the room toward the bed, using his foot to shut the door behind him. One hand was over her mouth and the other gripped her left arm. He was smiling. His eyes were wild, the pupils dilated, and his face was covered in a sheen of sweat. His breath was foul, like the bottom of a garbage can.

"I finally found you, Sarah," he said, grinning. "I was waiting outside your apartment building and a man came. He went into your apartment; I could see the lights on inside. When he left, I followed him and he led me to you." Sarah could feel the hand over her mouth twitching. The back of her legs bumped into the bed and she dug her heels into the carpet to keep from sitting down. Todd pressed up closer to her and she thought she might throw up. His breath was awful. "I missed you so much. You kept running away from me. I think it's time you stopped playing hard to get." He moved his hand away from her mouth, gripping the back of her head instead.

"Get away from me," Sarah said, her voice trembling. Todd was moving his face closer to hers, intending to kiss her, his fetid breath filling her nostrils. She thought she was going to gag. The oh my God litany in her brain finally ceased. SING popped into her head instead. Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin, now! Her right hand balled into a fist and she hit Todd in the stomach. He gasped and lost his grip on her neck. She stepped on his instep as hard as she could as she aimed a fist at his nose. He stumbled backward, letting go of her as he cupped his bleeding nose and she snatched up the lamp from the bedside table, crashing it into his head as hard as she could. A shard from the ceramic base lodged in her hand but she didn't notice the pain. Todd dropped to the floor and Sarah hurried past him, running out of the hotel room as fast as she could.


Thirteen paced the office. She didn't like the way Sarah had ended their call so abruptly. House's cell phone was still in her hand. She thought about trying to call Sarah again and then remembered seeing "Lucas" in the contacts listing; it must have been programmed into his old phone and gotten transferred over to this one. She scrolled through to the number and hit "Send."

"This is Lucas."

"Lucas, it's Dr. Hadley. Is Sarah with you?"

"No, I haven't found her yet. I'm checking some hotels out by the interstate."

"I just spoke to her. She saw you at her hotel."

"Are you sure?"

"She saw someone matching your description. I told her who you were and that House had sent you. When she hung up, she said someone was at her door."

"Alright. I'll go back to the hotel I just left. She must be there."


Sarah ran down the hall away from her hotel room. She charged through the lobby and out into the parking lot. When she reached her car she realized that her purse, coat, and car keys, were all still in the room. She stopped by her car, breathing heavily, and got her first good look at the vehicle. Both of her rear tires were flat. She wasn't going anywhere in this thing. Her right hand was throbbing and she looked down to see a two-inch shard of ceramic sticking out of it. She winced, feeling light-headed, and leaned back against her car. Now what do I do she asked herself. Todd had obviously disabled the car before coming inside to find her.

A car pulled into the hotel's parking lot, the headlights sweeping across Sarah. She pushed herself off of her car, trying to prepare herself to run, but her legs felt like jell-o. It was all she could do to stand. The car came slowly toward her, coming to a stop a few feet from her. She heard a window slide down.

"Sarah Kelly?" asked a male voice. "I'm Lucas Douglas. Dr. House sent me to find you." Sarah took a step toward the car, the light-headedness increasing. She was starting to see static, like a tv that was tuned to a dead channel. She heard a car door open as her knees buckled and then there were arms around her. "Ok. Ok. Take it easy. I'm going to get you to the hospital."


Thirteen was pacing in the office again. Lucas was going back to the hotel to find Sarah, but who had been at Sarah's door? She stared at House's cell phone, willing it to ring. The conference room door opened and a sleepy-looking Chase stumbled in, Maggie in his arms. Thirteen moved quickly to get the dog from him.

"What are you doing?"

"One of the nurses kicked me out. Actually, she kicked Maggie out." Chase led the way into House's office, dropping into his chair and putting his feet up on the footstool. Thirteen put Maggie into his lap.

"I talked to Sarah," she said. "Lucas was at her hotel, trying to find her. I told her who he was and that House had sent him but then someone was knocking on her door and she hung up."

"Lucas?" asked Chase.

"I called Lucas and he had left the hotel and was going to check another one. I sent him back to where he'd been. I don't know who was at Sarah's door."

"Shit," Chase said. "Do you think the crazy guy found her?"

"I don't know. I just…" Thirteen stopped talking as House's cell phone started ringing. This time the song was "Somebody's Watching Me." The caller id showed it was Lucas.

"Hello?" Thirteen said.

"I've got Sarah. I'm bringing her there. I should be there in ten minutes. Can you meet us in the ambulance bay?"

"Is she alright?"

"She cut her hand up pretty good and she almost fainted on me."

"Ok. I'll meet you there." Lucas disconnected the call.

"He found her?" asked Chase.

"He's bringing her here. He said she cut up her hand and fainted. I'm meeting him in the ambulance bay in ten minutes."

"I'll come with you."

"Someone has to stay with the dog," Thirteen said. "You're exhausted. Sit with Maggie. I'll let you know what's going on as soon as I can." Thirteen didn't wait for Chase to answer before she hurried out of the office to go down to the Emergency room.


Sarah sat in the car, keeping her eyes aimed straight ahead. She could feel the man, Lucas, shooting glances her way as he drove. Her left hand was wrapped around her right wrist, holding onto the towel that he had wrapped around her right hand. She didn't want to look at it. The first time she'd closed her eyes, she'd seen Todd, blood running from his nose, bleeding from his head where she'd struck him with the lamp. She kept her eyes open now, even when headlights from on-coming cars hit them.

When her knees had buckled in the hotel parking lot, Lucas had put his arms around her to keep her up. He'd helped her get into his car, telling her he was going to take her to the hospital and that she was going to be alright. He'd found the towel in his trunk and wrapped it around her hand, leaving the shard in place for the emergency room doctors to remove. He hadn't asked her any questions.

She heard him make a call and hoped he was talking to Dr. Hadley. She wasn't ready to face Greg. She knew that she should tell Lucas what had happened at the hotel. Todd probably needed an ambulance and the police would want to know where he was, but she didn't want to tell this stranger about what had happened. Maybe she would tell Dr. Hadley.

"We're almost there," Lucas said quietly. "Thirteen… Dr. Hadley, is going to meet us in the ambulance bay. She'll take care of your hand. You're going to be alright." Sarah wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure her or himself. I should say something, she thought. He's probably worried that I'm passing out over here or something.

"Ok," she said finally. It was such an effort to get those two syllables out.

"Ok," he repeated, sounding relieved. "We're almost there."


It was a quiet night in the ER. There were several patients but no serious injuries. Thirteen alerted the attending about Sarah's injuries and that she was being brought to the ambulance bay.

"You're treating her?" asked the attending.

"She's a friend of a … friend," Thirteen said. "If you want your people to handle it, that's fine. I just want to make sure she's ok."

"Fine. Take Beck with you. Hey, Beck!" The attending bellowed across the room, summoning a pretty red-head. "Dr. Hadley's got a hand lac coming in. Take care of it." The red-head nodded, turning to Thirteen.

"ETA?" she asked.

"Three minutes," Thirteen said. "All I know is that she cut her hand and she almost fainted. They're coming to the ambulance bay."

"I'll meet you there with a gurney." Thirteen nodded, helping herself to some gloves from a box on the counter and heading to the ambulance bay. The red-head turned up with a gurney just as a car pulled in to the bay. Thirteen hurried out to meet Lucas as he climbed out of the driver's seat.

"There's a shard – something ceramic – in her hand. I didn't want to make the bleeding worse so I just left it there," he said, hurrying around the car with Thirteen at his heels. "She hasn't said much but she's conscious." He opened the car door and leaned in. "We're here now. C'mon." He helped Sarah get out of the car.

Sarah's face was white. Her dark eyes seemed huge in her pale face. A towel was wrapped loosely around her right hand and Thirteen could see blood spatters on her jeans.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I… smashed a lamp," Sarah said, her voice so low that if Thirteen had been on the other side of the car she wouldn't have heard it. "Over Todd's head. He's … he was just lying there, on the floor." She shuddered.

"She's going down," Lucas warned, tightening his arms around Sarah. Dr. Beck hurried up with the gurney and the three of them managed to get Sarah onto it.

"Let's get her inside," Dr. Beck said and Thirteen stepped up to help move the gurney.

"I'm going to move my car," Lucas told her. "And then I'd better call the police and tell House that I found her."

"Stay away from House," Thirteen said. "I'll talk to him." They went through the doors into the hospital, leaving Lucas by his car.