Here's Chapter 5. Of note I have just been typing away my ideas and now have 8 stories of Lou, the crew and their journey. I have no idea if they will be loved and read but I love that I have a way to get them out. :)

Several thoughts were flooding her all at once as the men in front of her told her what had happened her first day in the hospital. "She said she was my grandmother?!" She struggled to sit up straighter while hugging a pillow, the doctor and visitor helped her with out-stretched hands.

"Yeah," Hank sighed, "That's why you've been in the lock-down ward. She came with two men who were arrested because they had guns." Her eyes bugged out of her head. "Turns out they were PI's but, yeah."

"I gotta get out of here." She said with a panicked look on her face. "I got to go somewhere that's not here and where no one knows where I am at." She struggled more, rolled, and sat up on the side of the bed that simple action making her short of breath with pain. "I can't stay here." She attempted to stand only to have Hank gently push her back down to sitting position.

"Louise, take a breath. You can barely stand so there is no way you're gonna go somewhere." He instructed.

Hank knew that she wasn't going to take the news well but she had a right to know. "So, what better plan do you have?" she asked with more than a small amount of sarcasm.

This is where Dr. Brackett came into play, "We're gonna discharge you early." Her jaw dropped, "Here we have hundreds of nurses, orderlies, doctors, interns, and ancillary staff I can't even begin to count. At Captain Stanley's house you have his family, firefighters, and paramedics you already know. So I genuinely feel it's safer for you there and I will be stopping by twice a day to check your recovery." She nodded knowing it was the best logical route for her to take, even if she didn't like it.

"Ok, let's begin."

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Hank steered the wheelchair carefully toward the emergency waiting room, grateful for the two security guards that flanked them. They had done the discharge quickly and quietly knowing that if they informed the rest of A-shift or even Emily there would be a lot more visitors and more visitors would mean more attention to them. He parked the chair assured she was safe, and left through the ambulance bay doors to go pull his truck around.

Lou looked around her almost dismayed about the security guards that followed them down, she begun to hatch a plan the instant they told her that her father and mother had found her. She wasn't going to be the reason her adopted family was put in danger. She began to wonder how she could distract the two men when a shout from the hall of exam rooms drew the attention of the two men and they ran off to help the nurse and doctor that was wrestling a very inebriated combative patient. Hugging her pillow tight she stood and rallied strength she didn't know she had to walk out the emergency room public entrance, scanning the parking lot quickly her eyes landed on the vehicle she knew was there for her. She shuffled quickly, sidled up to the Caprice, and knocked on the window. The men looked shocked and the passenger rolled down his window.

"I understand you're looking for me." He nodded, "Well don't just sit there help a girl in." The man scrambled out and opened the back door and helped lower her in. Just as the passenger got back into his side and the driver began to drive away she heard Hank shouting her name. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, she knew this wasn't gonna end well but this was greater than her.

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Hank almost hated to leave his young charge behind but she was with two security guards that knew to only release her to him. He got into his truck, pulled around to the ambulance bay he backed in and ran through the door. He briefly looked to the right as there was a wrestling match going on between a few people but stopped dead when he saw the empty wheelchair. The security guards were no longer there, he looked behind him one more time to see that two of the people who were scuffling were the men that were supposed to be protecting Lou. He felt his heart drop, he started searching quickly for any clues and saw a small slip of paper in the wheelchair, he snatched it up and reading the six words on it he ran. He watched as a man put the woman in a dark color Caprice and pull away.

Oh god no! "LOU!" He ran after the car till it ran a stop sign and pulled off quickly toward the highway. He fell to his knees out of breath and in shock. He was vaguely aware of people around him but all he could see and hear was his paramedic being taken away.

"Captain Stanley! Are you here with me!" He numbly looked at the Doctor that was shouting in his face and nodded. "What happened?!" He handed the doctor the paper who read it paling.

"She's gone."

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"Ms. Werner, I can assure you we mean you no harm." David looked over at his PI partner Dave and saw the nervousness reflected that as well. "We are the David and David PI firm, and your grandmother hired us to find you and keep her updated on your whereabouts and status. She cares for you deeply." The woman in the back snorted derisively

"She may have told you that, but that is not my grandmother, my grandma died fifteen years ago. You don't know it now, but you are driving me to my prison." The men looked at each other again as investigators and former officers they had heard both truth and lies and their passenger had such a strong conviction in what she was saying they almost felt like they were doing the wrong thing. "Keep going, I made my choice." She rubbed her tear swollen eyes and quirked an eyebrow. "David and David? Are you all brothers because I feel the need to tell you that one of you may have a different father." She looked from the dark-skinned driver to the passenger who was paler than she used to be. Both men laughed.

"No, I'm David Thomas," The driver said, "Any my partner is David, or Dave, Miller. We were partner detectives on the force, and we retired together five years ago to do this. More autonomy and we help more people this way."

"So you're good guys doing good things." She 'hmmmmmmed' and sighed, "Since you're driving me to my incarceration tell me stories of your cases." She leaned back to get comfortable, she knew they were in for a long ride and somehow she bore no ill will toward the men, they had no idea that they were with the enemy. Plus, she wanted some more stories to help fill her mind as she knew she would never be allowed to see the light of day again.

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Hank looked into his wife's eyes and he could see her heart literally breaking, he was sure his reflected the same. "So she just decided to leave us with this?!" She held up the xerox copy of the note that was found in the wheelchair, the police had taken the original along with some other small bits of evidence all of which weren't very helpful. The man even had trouble of looking at the copy he looked down at his feet.

The rest of his crew was there along with nurse McCall and Dr. Brackett. They had all read the note at least half a dozen times and they knew she had made this choice, but it didn't make the sense they wanted it to. He closed his eyes and could almost hear the woman saying the words that were printed, I love you all, I'm sorry.

The crowd in the room flinched when Emily slapped the doctor's desk. "This is utter and complete bullshit!" Her face flushed in anger, "She would never do this! I don't care what the police said about her going willingly she just wouldn't...she couldn't." Hank stood and hugged his wife tightly as angry tears threatened from the woman.

Marco said quietly, "I think the other day she finally realized how much we care for her. She's never really had that, and she would do anything to protect it."

"And us," Johnny added. "She has always been fiercely protective of us, I can't tell you how many times she has put herself between us and someone who was less than happy." He thought to the many times people would get upset or even angry that they didn't just grab a patient and run. How they didn't understand that the few minutes they were stabilizing the patient could literally spell life and death. She always seemed to see the danger before even the men who had such dangerous jobs. Most of the time she could defuse it but sometimes not, she had been slapped and punched a few times and she did it all to protect them.

"It's still not fair!" Emily shouted. "We still got to find her."

"Emily, that's what we're gonna do." Dixie said, "I have some friends in the department and they are actively look for her as best they can. That's why we're all here."

"We need to know everything you know about her past," The doctor requested, "Everything. Even if you think it's insignificant at the time. That will be a starter."

The group began to ponder about their female co-worker and the conversations they have had with her where details were divulged. Hank had already done this and he was starting to feel claustrophobic so he left the small office to pace the hall of Rampart's ED. About the fourth time he paused to study the evacuation route map an idea sprung. Dixie is not the only one with friends. He stopped at a payphone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello, Chief."

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Their charge in the backseat had smiled and even giggled at a few of their stories in their car ride to Santa Monica. When they stopped though at the apartment building her whole demenor changed you could literally see her retreat into herself, it was like she became a different person.

"This is not what I expected." She whispered as she looked up at the luxury apartments. "Why didn't they have you take me to the estate?"

David was confused by this, they had never been to an estate in this case only apartments. The woman they were working for said she owned the building along with a few others. They had been to a few different apartment buildings during their search for the last six months but never an estate. "Ms. Werner we have always met at an apartment."

"And in Santa Monica, not Atherton?" She remembered a few times she was invited to go to different cities further south of the affluential town and her parents nearly flipped their lids saying only scum lived outside Atherton. She thought she had more time of freedom but the car ride, even with traffic, was only about an hour.

Dave spoke up this time, "Yes, your grandmother owns a few apartment buildings here, all luxury, but she lives in the penthouse of this one. Once we park I'm going to go up and come back down with a wheelchair so you don't have to do too much walking." The woman smiled her gratitude, it was short lived though as David parked and shut off the car and the nervousness creeped in, a few more unprompted tears escaped her eyes as she watched the light skinned passenger hurry out and into and elevator.

"You two have been very nice to me and I want to thank you for the stories." She said with such genuine feeling, Dave almost felt guilty for completing this job.

As his partner returned with the wheelchair the dark-skinned driver got out and helped the woman into it. She held on tight to the pillow and her breath quickened. She knew she was doing the right thing, sacrificing herself so that then men and women she had grown to love as a real family could go on living unharassed by her awful parents. As the elevator reached the top floor, she shut her eyes tightly; memories coming fast of laughter, crooked smiles, pranks, and comradery filling her heart.

"Oh my god, it really is her! Lou look at me."

She looked up startled at the voice she hadn't heard in nearly ten years, the man before her had a striking resemblance to her father but he had always been kind and caring, it was hard to fake that. He also wasn't as muscular and his ever present thin rimmed bifocals were present.

"Uncle Charlie?!"

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Hank pulled his truck into the drive, his wife getting out of the passenger side but he remained seated. She walked around to the driver side and knocked on the window he looked over at her, he really didn't want to do this, but they had to and they were going to do it together. He held her hand as they entered the front door. His daughters hadn't a clue of the events of the day and they bounced down the stairs to greet them.

"Mom, dad! How's L..." Hannah's sentence stopped short at the expression they wore, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh god!"

Danielle look just as stricken. "What happened?!."

The couple sat them down and told them what had happened. The girls, while relieved that their friend was alive, grieved at the fact they would never see her again. They cried well into the night skipping dinner and going to bed tear stained and headaches present.

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Marco found himself at his mom's door, he didn't know how or why but he was knocking on autopilot before he realized it. Once his mother answered he held out Lou's St. Michael medal that was left behind and felt himself hugged tightly.

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Johnny sat on Roy's deck, beer in hand that had long ago gone warm. There were no conversations or jokes, even the kids took the hint and stayed away. JoAnne couldn't even bring herself to cook and they ordered pizza but the adults didn't eat they just stared and moved by muscle memory through the night.

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Mike held his baby boy and smiled at him as he wiped away the food that stained the baby's face.

"Little Louie," The baby returned the smile, "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. I know you don't understand me but you truly, really are." He stood and walked around with young man talking softly about his day and 'big Lou' about how she was a hero and all the things she had done for them.

Rebecca watched as her husband mourned his coworker in his own way, she hadn't been able to stop crying for very long that night. Every time she would be able to stop, something else would remind her of her friend and she would break down all over again. She knew it wasn't just due to today events as she placed a hand on her lower belly. She had just found out last week she was pregnant again and had a plan to tell Mike on his birthday in two weeks. Lou was the one who was helping plan the surprise, but now she didn't know how she was going to tell her husband. The tears renewed as she thought of how quickly things had changed, it almost didn't seem fair to have something happy happening while there was so much pain and sadness now.

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Dixie McCall and Kelly Brackett retired wearily to his bedroom no romance in mind, just comfort, as she lay down and began to sob while he held her close and kissed the top of her head trying to comfort her.

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Chet was stinking, nearly blind, drunk as he continued to guzzle the Paddy's cheap Irish whiskey, the burn causing his eyes to water. He was alone and he wanted it that way, right? He knew that over the first five years with 51's he didn't really make friends with his crewmates always playing jokes and just being a nuisance. It was easier that way to not make friends, the few he had in the service and when he graduated from the academy had ended in sadness and death. Lou was different though she had pulled him out of his own shell and become his best friend. They shared a similar parental past full of alcohol and abuse, becoming a firefighter and a paramedic to leave a better legacy behind.
Their friendship had, in turn, the side effect of him becoming less of nuisance and casual co-worker and more of friend to the others. He took another swallow grateful for the pain that let him know he was still alive. Was Lou? They had zero idea what her parents had in store for her but given her recent surgery and illness unless they had an environment of caring, which they knew wasn't happening, she wasn't long for this world.

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David and Dave watched the scene in front of them knowing they had done the right thing. The young woman held tight to the man who had greeted her as he rubbed her back and laughed his joy at holding his niece again. There were tears again but this time they were happy.

David elbowed his partner, "Feels good to do the right thing doesn't it." Dave returned the sentiment with a smile.

The woman who had hired them had stayed back a bit, watching the exchange, but couldn't hold out any longer.

"Lou, Lou?" The woman looked up and let go of her uncle, "Look at you, all grown up." At first the woman in the wheelchair looked wary and unsure but then the older woman said, "Salvare capre e cavoli."

Lou's face lit up with more joy and recognition as she responded with "Buonanotte al secchio."

Both women began to laugh loudly at the short Italian phrases they had used when she was younger. Her uncle looked confused at the nonsense phrases but if it made them happy who was he to question.

Lou made to stand and then held her belly tightly. "Ouch." She had been some time without a pain killer and when she was discharged the plan was for just a short car ride and then being promptly put to bed, this had pulled on her surgical site quite a bit.

The four people around her rushed to her side offering help in some way. Her uncle picked the woman up and carried her to the spare bedroom while her grandmother thanked the PIs and paid them all they were due plus, her gratitude pouring forth in her parting words. Once they left she spun on her heel and went to tend to her now found granddaughter. Charlie had laid her in the bed and put a few pillows under her knees and head to take pressure off her abdomen.

"She is in pain, but she reassured me she's ok." He looked very uncertain.

"She is also one to downplay things, always has been even since she was a kid." Elizabeth responded back to her son, "Call Dr. Thomas." He left quickly to call his mother's doctor.

"I don't always downplay things." The woman protested, pouting like a child causing her grandmother to laugh again. Oh, how she missed her granddaughter. "I don't need a doctor."

"I am sure you don't, but let me fuss over you and when the doctor gets here, you behave." She smoothed the covers on the bed and held the woman's hand. The older woman blamed herself for everything that had happened to the precious soul that was her granddaughter. Her happiness quickly turned to sadness and she felt the tears track down her cheeks. "I am so sorry." Lou started to try and sit up to give comfort to the older woman only to be stopped by her raising her hand in a 'stop' motion. "I have so much to say."

While they waited for the doctor to arrive, Elizabeth and Louise talked about everything they could think of. Her uncle Charlie sat and just listened to his niece's story anger within him growing.

A bit about the Italian phrases, these are used for greetings and while they don't make sense in English they do to native Italian speakers. So below is the translation and what they mean when used in greeting.

"Salvare capre e cavoli."-To save goat and cabbages-To find a solution to a tricky situation without compromising any positive outcome

"Buonanotte al secchio."Goodnight to the pail-And that's that, it's all over