Forever Blue Story Chapter Three

Excerpt from Ch 2

Eliza stood next to the window and watched as rain once again fell from the sky. It wouldn't have bothered her, only it was coming down rather hard. That made her nervous, as she had no way of knowing whether her cousin had reached either the hospital or police station yet.

"Been a while since it rained this badly, glad it's finally letting up-again." Jim said as he and Pete drove away from a house they'd been called to-in order to investigate some disturbance coming from a loud party. Thankfully, the participants had been good enough to lower the music without fighting them.

"Tell me about…" Pete started to say only to put his foot on the brake as a red pickup truck sped through the red light. Before he had time to put on his siren, the pickup had crashed into an orange vehicle. Needless to say, Pete wasted no time going to the scene of the accident while Jim called it in.

Pete practically flew out of the squad car, saying he'd check on the passengers in the truck if Jim checked on the driver in the other vehicle. By the time they reached the vehicles, Ed and Jerry- who were temporarily partners- had only been a block away when they received the call to go and assist-came around the corner just as Pete and Jim had reached the wreck. Soon they had parked their squad car behind Pete and Jim's and were redirecting traffic.

"Sir," Pete looked in the driver's window and started to ask how the man was only he quickly realized the stranger was dead-as his chest was motionless. As well built as the truck seemed to be, Pete could only guess that force of the accident and actually broke the man's neck. He shook his head and ran around to the passenger's side. By this time two ambulances were driving up to the scene. "Driver of this vehicle is dead only the passenger seems to be alive!" He called out to the paramedics. He might have moved away from the door-as two medics were heading his way – only he saw a wallet, laying open, on the floor of the truck. The driver's license in it was as clear as the noon day sun. Pete's heart skipped a beat. Though, he had to wait until the paramedics had taken the injured man out of the truck before he retrieved the wallet.

"Other driver is alive, but unconscious," Jim walked up to Pete, instantly concerned as he hadn't seen his partner looking so unsettled in a long time. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Pete said nothing as he handed the wallet to Jim. When Jim took the wallet and looked at it, his face paled as well. "It's Mac's! What were they doing with it?"

"I don't know." A hard and determined look appeared in Pete's eyes. "Only I am going to find out."

~oOo~

Mac opened his eyes; the sun had set. The only light was coming from a battery operated lantern that Dr. Parker had set in the window seal-along with the light of the moon that could be seen through the window. He felt slightly guilty as he saw the woman who had been caring for him lying on a blanket that had been laid out on the floor. However, before he could say anything, Eliza was sitting up.

"Good to see you awake again," Eliza stood up and walked over to the bed.

"How long have I been asleep?" Mac asked, wondering just how much sleep the good doctor had had.

"I'd say a good four hours." She glanced towards the window, successfully keeping the worry she felt for her cousin out of her voice-though, it did no good. Mac still saw it in her eyes.

"He should have been back here with help. That's what you're thinking, isn't it?" Mac looked towards the window and the darkness, and then back to Eliza.

"Yes, but worrying about it won't do any good. I still have plenty of food in a box, in the 'closet'-as I actually planned on staying here by myself for awhile longer. After all, I figured I could always hike out. I'll get us something to eat and …" she hesitated before saying, "And figure out how to handle other matters."

Mac didn't ask what she meant, as he knew full well what she was implying. "Thanks."

As Eliza retrieved the box from the closet, Mac again tried to remember something, anything, about the past-especially the two men he'd been told had abandoned him in the middle of what felt like nowhere at the moment. "What did those men look like? The ones who wanted me dead for some reason?" He asked after Eliza handed him a sandwich.

"I'd say somewhere in their twenties, suppose they could be a bit older." Eliza sat on the corner of the foot of the bed. "One was blonde-haired, the other dark black. I can't give you an exact height due to where I was standing when I saw them only, I dare say, they were just under six feet. Don't ask for any distinguishing marks for the same reason I can only guess at their height."

"Your family doesn't mind you being in a ghost town, by yourself?" Mac didn't know why he asked the question only he did.

"My parents live back east, as do most of my siblings. My sister who lives here in the west lives in Nevada. I was married once, for a very short period. To this day I don't know what happened only he asked for a divorce. I didn't want it only I wasn't going to fight him either. He got what he wanted-and I took my maiden name back. I came close to remarrying once." She shrugged her shoulders. "It turns out we didn't value the same things like I thought we did. I'm just glad I found out before we exchanged any vows."

"How long have you been a doctor?" Mac asked before taking another bite of his sandwich.

Eliza couldn't help but allow a grin to spread over her face. She'd seen the way he'd been observing her-and guessed he was a bit skeptical on the title of doctor. "I am older than I look. While I can't prove I'm telling you the truth at the moment-it's not like I carry my medical credentials with me while on vacation-I finished high school and all other schooling, plus my residency, shortly after I turned twenty-four." She couldn't keep back a bit of laughter at the shocked look that appeared on Mac's face. "How long I've been practicing does not matter at the moment. Only, I promise, I'm not close to being a rookie."

Mac felt shock waves go through him-though, he didn't know why. Well, except for the fact that he-somehow-knew that the term 'rookie' was something he'd heard many times before.

"Mac?" Eliza grew instantly concerned by the troubled look that she saw appear in his eyes. "You remember something?"

Mac sighed as finished his meal. "I don't know. That term 'Rookie'...I...don't know if I know it because of whatever my profession is or just because people use the word for many things." He again looked towards the window. "I hope help arrives soon."

"Me, too." Eliza finished her own food, all the time keeping an eye on Mac, wondering exactly why the term 'Rookie' had given Mac the feeling it had.