Chapter 19 – Hear My Soul Speak

After his impassioned plea, Vincent had one more chill shake him and then she was gone. Her voice, her presence, the scent of her… He hoped that was a good sign; that she had accepted his need for her to fight to come back to him.

Focusing on the flurry of activity in her room again, he noticed that Alex was no longer doing CPR, and that a fresh IV drip had been started, and a nurse was doing an IV push of some medication. Catherine had also been intubated. He sighed in relief. She wasn't out of the woods by any means, but at least she was still alive. This time as he reached into the void to find her, he was careful to project his presence toward her, instead of pulling her to himself. In his mind, he stood at the head of her bed, gently caressing her hair, whispering to her of his love and giving her tender reassurances that he was there and would remain so. It was faint, but he could feel the spark of life in her still hanging on.

Dimly he was aware of Evan's car screeching up to the entrance of the hospital, complete with a police escort that he had acquired en route. He was conflicted, though, when he saw Joe Bishop get out of the car as well. His didn't completely trust Evan yet to not spill the beans about everything Catherine was involved in to their boss. But he supposed if a detective had been the victim of two murder attempts in a 48 hour period, it would have looked more suspicious if Evan hadn't involved the Lieutenant. He hoped that they would be able to find some evidence of the man who had done this to his Catherine, but he wasn't holding out much hope. The whole thing reeked of Muirfield. Who else would want Catherine dead? Apparently word had filtered up the pipeline about her after all.

While keeping his mind primarily focused on his connection with Catherine, he scanned the windows of the hospital. He saw Evan and Cat's boss in conversation with Alex. Good, she would be filling them in on what had happened. He expected they would put a guard at her door at all times. The idea frustrated him, because he'd wanted to sneak in and spend the night with her, but now there would be no way for him to – unless… An idea began forming in his mind and he started contemplating it.

A sudden wave of panic flooded him. From some faraway corner of her mind he felt Catherine's fear of him being discovered. "Shhh," he whispered to her. "It'll be alright. I'll be careful. Nothing is ever going to take me away from you." He smiled to himself. It warmed any remaining cold, dark places he had left inside himself to see the way she rallied her strength the moment she thought he might be in danger. Never in his life had he ever dared to dream he could find a love as pure and unconditional as what his Catherine gave him. Not even when he was "normal". That she could feel this way about him in his current state left him more than a little awed.

After a few minutes he saw Alex leave Catherine's room, as well as the Lieutenant. It rankled him that Evan stayed in the room with her, but the rational part of him was glad that she was being watched over until a protection detail could be set up. He looked down in time to see Joe exit the hospital, already on his cell phone. Listening in, Vincent could hear him calling the precinct and giving orders for a uniformed officer to be sent to the hospital immediately.

When Alex appeared to be between patients, he called the hospital again and asked for her. He could tell she was still shook up when she answered the phone simply saying, "Hello?"

"Hey Alex it's me. Can you give me your cell # so I don't have to keep calling the front desk?"

She rattled the number off for him. Lowering her voice she asked, "Is it safe for you to be calling here?"

"I have a burner phone. I'll destroy it after today. How's Catherine?"

I'm fine, Vince, how are you? her snarky inner voice retorted. "Touch and go. I don't want to discuss anything more like this."

Vincent was oblivious to the edge in her voice. He was a man with a mission. "That's fine, because I have a plan. What time do you get off?"

Alex sighed wearily. "I'm pulling a double today. I won't get off until 11."

"When are you planning to take a break? I'll call your cell so we can talk."

He saw her check her watch. "Probably around 6. And I'll expect you to tell me just what's going on when you do." With that she slammed the phone into its cradle and walked away from the desk.

Vincent was a little shocked at her attitude for a moment, until it occurred to him how he'd been speaking to her. She was used to being not only his lover, but his friend and confidante; yet here he was basically barking orders at her. He made a mental note to apologize when he called her later.

The rest of the afternoon was spent keeping his rooftop vigil, watching over Catherine to make sure no one else came into her room and posed a threat to her. Once the armed guard arrived to be posted outside Catherine's door, Evan headed back to his car. As Vincent looked on, Evan opened the driver's door then pulled out his cell and pretended to speed dial.

"Dilaudid overdose," he spoke into it, hoping Vincent's super-soldier hearing could pick up his voice from that far away. "Barely caught her in time. Good call." With that, he flipped the phone closed, slid into his car and sped off toward the precinct. Vincent's appreciation for the man jumped several notches. He didn't have to be considerate of how Vincent would be worrying, but he had taken the time to let him know what was going on. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all. Vincent pulled out his cell and punched in JT's number to give him the latest news.

Harris and Reynolds sat in the back of an old white Chevy van across the street from the hospital. They monitored the comings and goings of the NYPD and knew that the poisoning attempt on Catherine Chandler must have been discovered. Perfect. If Vincent Keller was anywhere in the area, he'd know about it. They were banking, based on the information Ghostwalker had provided, that Keller would let his emotions rule his actions and be drawn out of hiding to watch over the beautiful young detective. Hopefully they would be able to kill two birds with one stone. Or bullet, as the case might be.

Reynolds took a sip of his coffee. Hot and black. Just the way he liked it. He slid a sideways glance at the other agent. "So what's up with you and Kelly?" he asked nonchalantly.

Harris almost choked on the donut he was scarfing down. "Kelly? Seriously? There is no "me and Kelly". What in hell ever gave you the idea there's anything but aggravation between us? She's like the kid sister I never wanted."

"Yep, you just keep telling yourself that," Reynolds told him with a knowing grin. "One of these days your hormones might just believe you."

"Shut the hell up, you moron. You know as well as I do that she's a royal pain in the ass."

"Oh I know. I'm just not the type of guy that's turned on by that sort of thing." Reynolds left the unspoken thought hanging in the air.

"And you think I am? Is that it? You know, just shut up. I don't give a damn what you think." Harris was clearly getting pissed.

Reynolds laughed out loud. "Are you listening to yourself? You ask me a question and then tell me to shut up before I can even answer. Man, this chick has gotten way under your skin. You're toast, buddy."

Before Harris could come back with anything the phone in the van went off. Instead of arguing with the senior agent, he pushed the button to accept the call. "Hey guys," came the chipper greeting. Regan Kelly, speak of the devil.

"What in hell do YOU want?" Harris barked at her. There was complete silence on the other end of the line right before the connection terminated.

"Nice going, jackass. What did that poor kid ever do to you, anyway?" Reynolds was starting to lose his humor with Harris's attitude.

Flinging open the sliding door of the van, Harris answered, "It's just none of your damned business."

"Where are you going? We're supposed to be watching for Keller. You can't just leave. "

"Watch me. Don't worry, I'll be back." With that he slammed the door shut and took off down the street, oblivious to the figure 6 stories above him who had been eavesdropping on their spat. Vincent smiled. Apparently they hadn't had a chance to update his files to reflect just how good his senses had become. Advantage: Keller.

Evan pulled his car up and parked behind the precinct. After he turned his car off, he just sat there in a daze for a few moments. It had been one hell of a day, that was for sure. He had too many things on his mind, not the least of which was worrying about Catherine. She'd had 2 attempts made on her life in as many days, and the second attempt had almost succeeded. He couldn't bear to think how close they had come to losing her. Add to that all the unanswered questions he had about just how far she had gone over the edge in her attempts to protect Vincent…

He leaned forward and dropped his forehead onto the steering wheel. And now he had to go back to the morgue and start analyzing DNA and pray that it didn't come back positive for Vincent. He wanted to believe that Catherine was a good judge of character and wouldn't be protecting him if he was a cold-blooded killer. He had trusted JT's claim that Vincent was drugged unconscious at the time this murder had supposedly happened. But now he wasn't so sure it wasn't just a cover to throw off suspicion.

Steeling himself, he climbed out of his car and wearily headed for the morgue. He wished he could be anywhere else right now, but duty called. He just hoped that the answers he found weren't going to destroy the lives of people he cared deeply for. He'd barely stepped inside his office when the phone rang. "Morgue," was his only greeting.

"Good, you're back." Joe. Evan squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing them with his thumb and forefinger. He was getting a headache already and he hadn't even pulled the body out of refrigeration yet.

"Barely," he answered with a weary sigh. "If you're calling about the autopsy, I was just about to get set up to start it."

"Ok, let me know as soon as you have anything." Joe paused. "How's Cat doing?"

"No change. She was still unconscious when I left. They're hopeful they caught the overdose in time, but she's apt to have a bit of a rough sled of it, even so."

"Evan, you're close to Catherine. Do you have any idea why all of a sudden every psycho in a 25 mile radius seems to be gunning for her?"

To lie, or not to lie… "Not a clue. But I feel it only fair to warn you that if we find the perp, I'm apt to go a little homicidal myself." At least that much is true, Evan thought.

"Duly noted, and completely understood. I may have to call in help myself. I'm not sure how objective I'll be. Call me when you get the results on that autopsy." Evan breathed a sigh of relief at Joe's standard dismissal.

"Right, will do." Hanging up, he turned to stare at the bank of cold chambers on the far wall. It was going to be a long evening.