Robert had been teamed up with Joey to help in the warehouse searches and when Kerrigan told everyone they had been found, they changed direction and headed towards his location. They were close when they heard Kerrigan tell Bailey about the seizure and Robert's blood turned to ice in his veins. He went numb. Joey had tried to talk to him but everytime Robert opened his mouth to answer him, he had to fight the urge to scream. Joey pulled over and Robert opened his window and threw the walkie-talkie to the curb, breaking it. He couldn't do it. He couldn't listen to her die over the staticky airwaves of a walkie-talkie. They were too late. Damn Bailey, for giving him hope. For making him believe that Jessie would be alright.

"Get out," Robert said as he stared out of the window at the broken walkie-talkie.

"What?" Joey wasn't quite sure what he had said.

"Get out...get out of the car, Joey...now."

"But Robert...we should go...what about Jessie?...what if-"

"Get out of the car, now. I need to...I can't...he said she would be alright...I can't...just please get out...I have to go."

"Well, I'll go with you...you shouldn't be by yourself...I don't want to leave you by yourself."

"Go...I'll be fine."

"Robert-"

"Get out of the God damn car Joey!"

Joey got out of the car and stepped around to the passenger side. He leaned in the window. "Where are you going?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know...I need to...I can't breathe...I'm sorry I yelled at you." Robert slid into the driver's seat. "Go back to the penthouse and wait for Agent Malone and his team...whatever they need, make sure it happens, got it?" Joey nodded and Robert gave him a half-smile, but his eyes were full of unshed tears. "I'll...I'll see you...uh...later, okay." He put the car in drive and drove away. Joey ran to the nearest pay phone.

Robert wasn't sure where he was going to go, he just knew he had to go somewhere. To keep moving. He felt like he was suffocating. 'We were too late. She's dead. Jessie's dead.' Played over and over again in his head. He put his foot down, hard, on the gas pedal and wove in and out of the traffic. It felt good, going fast. Driving dangerously. He didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he couldn't stop. If he stopped his emotions would crush him.


They had gone over the warehouse quickly, but thoroughly, and were anxious to get to the hospital. Nathan was staying behind with Lt. Rummel to help with the clean-up and organization. Bailey and Kerrigan were going to swing by the penthouse to pick up George and head over to the hospital. They had just pulled away from the warehouse when Kerrigan's cell phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it, he didn't recognize the number. He shrugged and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Brian! It's me...Joey-"

"Where the hell are you two?" He looked over at Bailey. "It's Joey." He told him.

"Robert's with him?"

"He should be. Joey, is Bobby with you?"

"No, No. That's why I'm callin'. He told me to get out of the car and he drove away. My cell's in the car, that's why I'm calling from a pay phone. He got really upset when we heard about Jessie having a seizure. I think...I think, he thinks she's dead...that she died...Jessie's not, is she?...she can't be. He turned the walkie-talkie off...ya know afterward...then he threw it out the window...so we didn't hear anything else...God, what happened?"

"Jessie got through it...they're both at the hospital now..."

Joey took a deep, settling breath. "Thank God. What do we do about Robert? I don't know where he went...he turned his cell off...I called a couple of times and it goes right to voicemail."

"Hold on a minute," Kerrigan told him, then explained the situation to Bailey, who had been waiting, somewhat patiently, for Kerrigan to tell him what was going on.

"Have Joey go to the penthouse and pick up George...tell him to go to the hospital and let Sam and Grace know what's going on. We'll go look for Robert." Bailey told him.

Kerrigan nodded in agreement. "Okay Joey, listen..." He told Joey what to do and then answered any questions he had. "Take Jessie's car, you have a copy of the key don't you? Look inside Patrick's desk, there should be a spare there. Uh...yeah, you could probably do that...bring comfortable stuff, ya know...sweatpants...tee-shirts. I don't know, buddy, we'll have to wait and see. Yeah, I know you do. I'll see you at the hospital." He hung up with Joey and called Robert. It went right to voice mail. He left a message, for him to call back immediately, and closed his phone. "What the hell's wrong with him? Whether something had happened to Jessie or not...he should've been there..."

"He's been through alot...up until now he's handled it pretty well...it was just a matter of time before it caught up with him."

"How do we find him? Shit! He could be anywhere."

"Well, let's start at his place...and we'll keep calling his phone, he may snap out of it and turn it back on."

"Idiot!" Kerrigan slapped himself on the forehead, then looked at Bailey and said quickly. "I didn't mean you...I meant I'm an idiot. Joey's cell phone...he left it in the car with Robert. He may have turned his cell off, but he wouldn't turn off Joey's. Maybe if we keep calling it, he'll answer...it couldn't hurt." He tossed Bailey his cell phone, as he drove. "Speed dial five...don't stop until he answers."


'It's been almost twenty minutes...give up already!" Robert yelled, glancing over at Joey's jacket, lying on the passenger seat. His cell phone had been ringing constantly, with only a pause long enough for whoever was calling to get put into voicemail, hang up, and call again. There was a moment of silence, then it started again. "Son-of-a-bitch!" He reached over and dug through the jacket's pockets until he found the phone. He pulled it out. His first thought was to toss the damn thing out the window, but something made him look to see who was calling. 'Brian. What the hell is so important that he needs to call Joey non-stop for twenty minutes?' He flipped it open.

"Joey's at the penthouse, call there." He said angrily.

"Robert, it's Bailey-"

"Bailey? Bailey, what are you...I already know."

"You don't know anything, Robert. Jessie is not dead...she's at Boston General being treated...John's there too. They're alive...you hear me? Jessie is alive. Where are you?"

Silence.

"Robert? Robert, where are you?"

Robert had to pull over. He couldn't see, his eyes were blurry from unshed tears. He was holding his breath, trying to keep his composure. "Jessie's alive? Jessie's alive...she's not..."

Bailey gave him a couple of minutes to let what he had told him sink in. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I don't know...I was just driving...not paying attention to anything. I'm pulled over now...Jesus, Bailey, I'm sorry. I thought she was...I should have come anyway...I just needed to get away..."

"I understand...it's alright. Give yourself a couple more minutes before you start driving again, okay? We'll meet you at the hospital."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks, Bailey...I'll...uh...I'm on my way."


Robert got off the elevator ten minutes after Bailey and Kerrigan. He went to the nurse's station and they directed him to the Emergency Room waiting area. He walked through the doors and Bailey, Kerrigan, Sam, George, and Joey stopped talking and looked at him.

"Any news?" Robert asked joining them.

"Grace is back there with them, she hasn't come out yet," Sam told him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm better." Robert smiled, then guilt washed over his face. "Bailey, I'm really sorry about takin' off...there's was enough going on without you having to worry about me. I couldn't...I just couldn't stand the thought of losing-"

Bailey put his hand on Robert's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Hey, we didn't lose anyone, okay? I told you, before, it's alright. Don't give it another thought."

Robert nodded. "Yeah, okay...thanks Bailey."

"There's Grace," George said as Grace came through the E.R. door and walked towards them. She looked exhausted. She smiled, reassuring everyone.

"How are they?" Bailey took the lead, so she wasn't bombarded with dozens of questions at once.

"John's doing well. There's a laceration on his chest that's been cleaned and dressed...that didn't require stitches. He did require stitches on a laceration on his side...I stopped counting at 36, but the wound is clean...there was no infection. The wound on his thigh, though, that caused a lot of damage and it's infected. There's a lot of dead tissue that has to be removed and he may lose some muscle as well. He's very lucky...if they hadn't kept it somewhat clean the way they did, the infection could of went to the bone...and that may have led to amputation. He'll probably need a couple of skin and muscle graphs to help rebuild what he's going to lose and to help with the scarring, but that's nothing compared to the alternative. He has some bruised ribs, pneumonia in his right lung and is mildly dehydrated...but they've started treatment and he should recover from that fairly quickly. He lost a significant amount of blood and is in a lot of pain...he doesn't have the distraction of taking care of Jessie anymore, so it's all caught up with him. They have him on painkillers and they gave him a mild sedative, so he'll sleep...he's extremely exhausted...mentally and physically."

"Can we see him?" George asked, relieved that his friend was going to be alright.

"They'll be moving him to a room in an hour or so...they want to watch him for a little while, so you can see him then. Right now, he needs to be left alone to rest."

Bailey nodded in agreement. "If that's what he needs, that's what he'll get." He glanced over at Robert, he knew Robert wasn't going to ask about Jessie, he was too scared of what he might hear. "And Jessie?"

"She's struggling...but she's still fighting. The blood poisoning severely compromised her immune system...it brought about pneumonia, which is in both lungs, but it has not affected any other organs or systems...which is very good. They had to put in a chest tube to keep draining the fluid build up and to keep her lungs from collapsing. She has a minor head wound, which required six stitches and the lacerations on her wrist have been cleaned, stitched, and dressed...no ligaments or tendons were severed and they cauterized the nicked vein, so she will have full use after the initial recovery. The main concern right now is the fever. Cooling blankets are keeping it under control, but her temp is staying at a steady 105...she could seizure again at any time and in her current weakened condition...it's...well, it's not good. She's lost a lot of blood and is severely dehydrated, because of the fever, and her immune system is just not strong enough to handle everything going on right now. They have her stabilized and are treating the blood poisoning, pneumonia, and the dehydration...but if they can't get her fever down in the next half hour, they're going to put her in an ice bath."

"Jesus, they still do that?" George winced at the idea.

"Only in extreme circumstances...and in a half hour, if her fever has not gone down, it will be extreme. As bad as it sounds...it will help her."

"Is she awake?" Robert asked, his voice wavering a bit.

"She's still unconscious...but if they have to use the ice bath, that will definitely wake her. It will be painful and she'll fight it..." She stepped closer to Robert and put her hand on his shoulder. "She may need you to be there...to help her get through it...will you be able to handle that?"

Robert didn't know if he could or not, but if Jessie needed him, he would do whatever it took. He nodded. "Absolutely...whatever it takes."

"Well, I'm gonna head back and check on them. You should all go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat and drink...until they're in their own rooms, there's not much you can do. I'll call if they wake up or there's a change in their condition."

Bailey agreed and took the lead, again, by saying they would all take a break and go to the cafeteria. Grace waited until he had ushered them along towards the elevators and the doors closed around them before she went back through the E.R. doors.


Tbc...