Chapter Seventeen: Survival
Fitz rang Olivia's doorbell once again, wondering where she was. She hadn't said anything about making any plans for the afternoon. He'd stopped by her favorite Taco food truck and gotten her dinner. Fitz had been stopping by a lot lately. At first, he had come by the house because Olivia was on bed rest and she needed help around the house. But now that she as off bed rest and could do things herself, Fitz was still coming by every night. Sometimes he even spent the night in the guest bedroom.
He wanted to say it was because Olivia still needed some help around the house and he was just being nice. But that wasn't true. He was still coming by, because he missed Olivia. He hated being alone in his apartment, it was too quiet. Olivia's place was never quiet even though there were only two people living there. He even missed Sophia when he went home. He didn't know when it had happened, but Soph had found her way into Fitz's heart. He cared for that little girl. She was too sweet not to love. Even the way she said his name was cute Fee.
Since she wasn't answering her door, Fitz deduced that she wasn't home. He thought she might be at Erika's place, so he walked over to her house. He called Olivia as he walked, but the phone just rang until he got her voicemail. He knocked on his sister's door, and was surprised, when Harrison answered the door.
"Fitz. Hey."
Fitz was quiet for a moment, caught off guard that a shirtless man was answering his sister's door. He had to take a moment to remember that Erika was a grown woman. "Harrison." Fitz walked in the house. "Where's Erika?"
"E! Baby your brother's here."
Erika came barreling down the steps a few moments later. She looked disheveled. Hair in disarray and in only her robe. "Fitz hey, what are you doing here? Harrison was just-"
"Save it, don't make it weird." Fitz cut her off. "I just came by to see if Liv was here."
"No. Why?"
"I was just at her house, she wasn't home. And when I tried calling her, the phone just kept ringing until I got her voicemail."
"Well she's probably just out."
"Yeah." Fitz didn't feel right. He didn't know what it was, but something wasn't right. He took his phone out once again, and called Adelle. He got some relief, when Adelle told him that Olivia was with Althea getting massages. He then called Althea's phone, and that relief vanished. "Thea hey, can I speak to Liv? I wanted to let her know I stopped by with dinner."
"Liv isn't with me."
Fitz's alarm started back up. "But I thought she was with you getting massages."
"Yeah she's supposed to be. I've been waiting for her." Althea sounded worried. "She texted me earlier saying she was on her way. She had some errand she was finishing then she was coming my way. That was almost forty minutes ago. I starting to get worried now, she isn't answering her phone."
Erika could sense the change in her brother, she knew something must have been wrong. "Fitz? What is it?"
"Liv isn't with Althea. She hasn't seen her since this morning."
"Where is she?"
"Thea did she say what she was doing?"
"Yeah, She said she had to pick up a dress she had tailored, but she didn't say where."
Fitz knew where. Olivia only used one tailor. "I know where she went. I'm going there now to look for her."
"Okay, I'll meet you there."
X
It didn't take long for Fitz to arrive at the little shop he knew Olivia had her alterations made. Erika was worried when Fitz got off the phone with Althea, so she and Harrison rode with him to make sure Olivia was okay. They drove passed the shop and didn't see Olivia's car, but Harrison thought to look in the parking garage.
Fitz pulled in, but didn't see Olivia's car on the first level. He drove on up and was almost to the third level, when Erika spotted Olivia's car parked in a spot with the trunk wide open.
"Wait Fitz, there. That's her car."
Fitz stopped the car, and hoped out the car. He was for sure blocking a few cars in, but he didn't care. He immediately noticed no one was in the car, and Olivia wasn't anywhere around. "Where the fuck is she?" His heart was beating faster and faster.
"Is this her purse?" Harrison spotted a bag on the ground, it was obvious someone had gone through it. All her things were scattered on the ground, her wallet was beside it wide opened and you could tell it had been messed with.
"That's her purse." Erika said. "Oh my God, do you think she was mugged?"
"If she was mugged then where is she?" Fitz said. "She would've called."
"Uh guys." Fitz and Erika looked down at Harrison, who was currently kneeling on the ground trying to get something form under Olivia's car. He pulled out Olivia's cell phone in one hand and an empty syringe in the other. "I don't think she was mugged."
X
Althea was in her car when Fitz called her back, telling her something had happened to Olivia. Althea immediately thought he worse. She was in a car accident, she had another panic attack and passed out. But in reality, it was a whole lot worse.
She didn't know how fast she was driving, nor did she care. She had to get to that parking garage. When she finally made it, she couldn't even drive into the garage, because there were police cars blocking the entrance. When she explained who she was, they led her up to the second level of the parking garage.
"Fitz!" He was the first one she saw. Thea was already hysterical, she didn't even know how she'd made it here in one piece. "What happened where is she? Where is my sister?" Fitz wasn't sure what to say, because he didn't have the answers.
"Ma'am I'm office Ballard, this is my partner Officer Montgomery. Who are you ma'am."
"Althea Payne. I'm Olivia's sister." Althea spoke through tears. "Do you know where she is?"
"Ma'am we've only began our questioning-"
"Why are you talking? My sister is missing! You need to be out looking for her. Put out a missing person report on the news!"
"Ma'am Ms. Pope is an adult. It's only been an hour since anyone has last heard from her. We like to run through all the possibilities before we file a missing person's report."
"All the possibilities?" Fitz said. "She didn't just run away you idiot! Her purse is scattered all on the ground, she left her phone behind, her wallet! There's a fucking syringe right there! And you think she just ran away? How dumb do you have to be?!"
"Sir I'm going to have to ask you to calm down." Officer Ballard said.
"Oh fuck you! It's not your family that's missing! And you're not doing a damn thing about it."
"Sir there are cameras all over this parking garage. We have officers checking the footage now. Soon we'll know-"
"How long does it take to looking at some videos?!" Thea yelled.
Just then, another officer wearing a yellow coat came over and spoke quietly to Officer Ballard and Montgomery. They only nodded their heads and when they looked back and Fitz and Althea, they wore no expressions on their face.
"We're going to have to ask you all to come down to the station."
X
"Fitz!" Olivia woke with a start. She had a terrible headache, and she felt like a slab of cement was just laying on her body, she felt so heavy. Her vision was a little blurry as she blinked a few times to clear it up. When she could finally see her surroundings, she began to panic. She was laying on a cold concrete floor in what looked like a shed of some kind. There were no windows and no one around. There was only a single light right above Olivia that kept flickering on and off and giving off a steady humming noise.
"Who's Fitz?"
Olivia got startled by the voice of another person. But when she tried to see who it was, she found that she couldn't move. What? She struggled to move her limbs, but they just weren't working. She could only tell who the person was, when they walked into her view.
"Who's Fitz?"
"Nora?" Olivia didn't remember anything when she first woke up, her mind was scrambled. But now everything came back to her all at once. "Nora what the hell are you doing?"
"I've already told you what I'm doing Olivia. I'm just glad you're awake now. You've been out for quite a long time. I didn't think it would make you sleep that long."
"Nora what are you doing? Why am I here?" Olivia cried. "Why can't I move."
"Well that was a lot of question Olivia." Nora laughed. "I've already answered the first two. And as to why you can't move, well you have these to thank for that." Nora was talking about the handcuffs around Olivia's wrist and ankles bolted to the concrete floor. "They're more of a backup really. That syringe was full of some goodies I found online. And it's the real reason you can't move. You're paralyzed from the neck down. But don't worry, it's only temporary."
"Nora why are you doing this?"
"I've already told you Olivia. You have my baby, I want it back."
"Nora please listen to yourself, you're not making any sense. How can I have your baby inside of me?"
Nora laughed. "Look I know this sounds crazy, I know. But I am not crazy. Everyone likes to think I am, but I'm not! Now I don't know how, but you stole my baby girl and she's not trapped in there." Nora rested her head on Olivia's belly. She kissed it softly and whispered. "Don't worry sweetheart. Mommy's going to get you out of there."
"What do you mean Nora." Olivia asked, she was scared out of her mind. Nora didn't answer her. "Nora what are you doing?"
"I'm going to get my baby out of you."
"What? Nora you need to stop, this is not your baby. What are you going to do cut it out of me?!" Olivia was getting upset, and she needed to calm down. She knew that. She would only make things worse if she upset Nora.
"That's exactly what I'm going to do." Nora smiled sweetly.
"What? Nor-"
"Shush shush, no more talking for now, you've asked enough questions." Nora got up off the floor and went a little rusted table in the corner of the room. She came back with a roll of duct tape and a rag. "Now I have to run in the house to get somethings before we can begin. This is to make sure you're a good girl while I'm gone." Nora kneeled back down on the ground. She shoved the rag in Olivia's mouth and put a piece of duct tape on top. "I'll be right back."
X
"Oh my God!" Erika cried. She, Fitz, Althea and Harrison had just watched the security tapes from the parking garage. They sat in fear and astonishment as some woman approached Olivia, they spoke and then the woman jabbed Olivia with what they assumed to be the syringe they found under Olivia's car. Fitz watched in horror and anger as the woman then drug Olivia's lifeless body into her car and sped away.
Jake backed the video up, and paused on the woman's face. "Do any of you recognize this woman?"
"I've never seen her before." Althea answered, and everyone else just shook their heads no.
"Well I'm afraid this is all we have to go on right now. There wasn't a license plate on the car. We lifted some prints off the syringe, but they're not in the database. We don't have anything else that might tell us where Olivia is."
"So that's it? You're just giving up?"
"I didn't say that. Right now-"
"I need to speak with someone in charge right now!"
Everyone turned, when they heard Adelle's loud voice roaring through the precinct. No one had thought to call Adelle and Curtis, until they got to the precinct. Adelle was more than furious that she was just finding out that some lunatic had taken her baby.
"Who is in charge?!" Adelle had Curtis, CJ, Jason and the kids in tow. They didn't have time or the patience to call a babysitter.
"Adelle." Fitz called her over to where they were.
"Why didn't you call me sooner?"
"I'm sorry."
"Do they know anything yet?"
"They have security camera footage from the garage, but none of us know who the woman is."
"What video? Where is it?" Curtis asked.
"Mr. And Mrs. Pope. I'm officer Jake Ballard, I'm taking lead on your daughter's case. I'd like to show you a video, no one else seemed to know who the woman is, but perhaps you will." Jake showed the video again, and stopped on the woman's face.
"I have never seen her before."
"We have our techs trying to run facial software on the image. But the video isn't clear or perfect. It may take some time to clear it up and then even more for the image to run through the system."
"We don't have time!" Curtis yelled. Everyone was on edge, and for good reason. "You saw the video! There's no telling what that bitch is doing to my sister!"
"Listen everyone you need to be patient."
Everyone yelled all at once. "Patient!"
While everyone was all yelling at Jake, Fitz walked away the hall. He needed to be alone. He couldn't believe this was happening. Olivia just got out of the hospital after nearly dying and now she'd been kidnapped by some psychopath. How much bad luck can one person have in a lifetime.
He couldn't lose her. Not like this. Not ever. Things were going well with them for the first time in years. They may not have been together, but Fitz felt they could get there. Things were fine, they were happy, they were having a baby. Two. This was not how their story was supposed to end. She couldn't die. He couldn't handle it if she did.
Fitz felt helpless, just sitting there doing nothing. He tried to think of something, anything that could help find Olivia. He couldn't think of a single person that hated Olivia this much and was crazy enough to kidnap her. This wasn't real life. This was the kind of thing you saw in TV shows and movies. This didn't happen to ordinary people like them.
Just when he thought he'd racked every part of his brain and came up empty, he remembered the conversation he had with Olivia just a few days ago. The patient. The woman Olivia was sacred of. He remembered what Olivia said, but he couldn't remember her name.
He walked back into the room where everyone was still yelling and talking over each other.
"I think I might know who she is." Fitz spoke loud enough to be heard in the room. When everyone looked his way he spoke again. "A few days ago, Olivia told me about this patient of hers. She said she had a very strange feeling about this woman. She said she felt she was obsessed with her in a way. Olivia was afraid of her."
"Do you remember her name?"
"I can't think of it. Anna or Rhonda." Fitz took a second, he closed his eyes and tried to put himself back in Olivia's room during that conversation.
"Please Fitz, we need you to remember." Adelle pleaded.
"Nora." Fitz finally said. "Nora her name was Nora."
"Last name?" Jake asked.
"I don't know Olivia didn't say."
"Is she the woman in the video?"
"I don't know. I've never seen her before, I only know what Olivia told me. That she was afraid of a patient of hers named Nora." Then Fitz had an idea. "But Daniel should know."
"Who's Daniel?"
"Daniel Buchanan. He's Olivia's assistant. He handles everything for her at the office. He knows who all her patients are."
"Jake walked to the door, and poked his head out. "Montgomery, I need you to find a Daniel Buchanan. He's Ms. Pope's assistant. I need him here now."
X
"Okay Olivia, I'm back. Are you ready to do this?" Nora came back in the room, carrying a tray that would normally be topped with a tea kettle and some cute china cups. Now, it was carrying several pieces of surgical equipment. Nora had changed her clothes as well. She's changed out of the floral print dress she was wearing and into some light blue scrubs with a scrub cap on her head and booties on her feet.
Nora sat the tray on the ground beside Olivia. "Do you like it?" Nora did a 360 twirl. "I got it all off amazon." She laughed. "Can you believe it? And it was on sale too at a steal. Only forty bucks for everything." Olivia still had the rag in her mouth, so she couldn't speak. Nora kneeled on the little mat she had for herself beside Olivia. She pulled the tea tray closer to her, so Olivia could see. "Now these, I had to special order and let me tell you, they were not as cheap. But you would be amazed what someone can find on the internet if you just know where to look. Like that little surprise in the syringe."
Olivia started moaning, trying to get Nora to take the rag out of her mouth. "You want me to take it out?" Olivia nodded. "Alright, but if you start screaming, it's going right back in." Nora took the rag out of her mouth.
"What was in the syringe?"
"Oh you don't need to worry about that. But it is a potent little bastard huh? You still can move a muscle can you?"
"Nora please don't do this." Olivia begged. "I know you remember what happened to your baby."
"You want me to say my baby died? Is that what you want to hear?" Nora was flipping through some papers she'd printed off the internet.
"That's what happened."
"No. You couldn't have your own baby, so you took mine. That is what happened."
How did she know I couldn't have a baby? Olivia thought to herself, but Nora must've read her face. "I told you. You'd be surprised what you find on the internet. You just need to know how to look for it." Nora leaned over to talk directly into Olivia's ear. "I'm not as dumb as everyone thinks." She laughed.
"Nora. You only had a baby girl. I'm having two boys." Olivia wasn't sure what her babies were yet, but she'd say anything if it convinced Nora that these weren't her babies.
"I know how this must sound, believe me I do. But I believe this is my baby. And what kind of mother would I be if I allowed you to just take my babies away from me?"
"Nora. I know you think this is your baby. But I think they're mine too. I've felt them growing inside of me for months. I feel the pain in my back every day that they grow. They make me sick in the morning, I can't eat eggs because they make me sick. I've felt them Nora. I love these babies and so does their father. And I know you love them too. So I know you don't want to hurt them right?"
"No, I don't."
"Okay. Then how about we don't do this. Okay. Because if you try to cut them out of me, you're going to hurt them. I'm only five months pregnant Nora. They're not ready to come out yet."
Nora put her hands on Olivia's belly, slowly caressed it. It Nora wasn't holding her against her will Olivia would actually appreciate the soft massage. "I do love my baby. But I can't wait any longer. I've been without her for too long."
"Nora. Please don't do this. Not right now."
"Not right now?" Nora laughed again, Olivia was getting sick of that laugh. "What do you think I'm going to let you go and then come back they'll let me have my baby? I've attacked you. I drugged you and kidnapped you. You think they're going to let me have my baby after all that? Come one. You are smarter than that." Nora patted Olivia's cheeks.
"Nora please."
"Shut up."
"Nora!"
"Shut up!" Without thinking about it, Nora swung at Olivia connecting with her nose, effectively shutting her up for the moment."
X
"Daniel." Fitz spotted Daniel walking in with officer Montgomery.
"Mr. Grant what is going on?"
Jake spoke next. "Are you Daniel Buchanan? Ms. Pope's assistant."
"Yes. But-"
"We don't have time for questions. Jake rushed Daniel into the room. I need you to watch this video and tell me if you recognize this woman." Jake played the video, and Daniel sat and watched in shocked horror as the woman drugged Olivia and dragged her to her car. "Do you recognize this woman?"
At first Daniel couldn't tell who it was, because the footage was so fuzzy. But after Jake paused it, Daniel begin to recognize her. "Wait. Oh my God that looks like one of Olivia's patients."
"Name. What's her name?"
"Nora. Nora Trenton. She's been Olivia's patient for a few months now." Officer Montgomery was already out the door and typing Nora's name into a computer. Now that they had her first and last name, it would be easy to find her through DMV records. They'd have her home address in no time.
"What is Ms. Trenton being treated for?"
Any other time, Daniel would never break patient confidentiality, but this was different. Olivia was in trouble, confidentiality be damned. "She was in a horrible car crash that killed her husband and baby girl. Nora was the only one to survive. She became depressed and had a nervous breakdown. She was referred to Olivia, after she tried to kill herself."
"So Olivia's pregnancy could be a possible motive?"
"I guess. Last time she was in the office, Olivia was worried that Nora might end up hurting someone. I guess she was right."
Just then, the door opened back up and officer Montgomery poked her head in. "We got an address. Nora Trenton has an apartment about fifteen minutes away, patrol is already on the way."
Fitz stood up, about to follow the officer out the door. But Jake stopped him. "No, absolutely not. You and the rest of your family is going to stay right here."
"I'm not just going to sit here on my ass and do nothing."
"Mr. Grant this isn't a TV show. You need to let us do our jobs." Jake left out the door, leaving everyone else behind.
X
Jake arrived on the scene, about twenty minutes later, lights flashing. He got out his squad car, tightening the straps on his vest. "What do we got?" He asked the officers set up outside the apartment complex. They had already evacuated the apartments on the floors above and beneath Nora's. And set up a perimeter, surrounding the building on all sides. No one was getting out without them knowing.
"Apartment is on the second floor. We got both front and back exits blocked off. There are only two windows into the apartment, and we don't have a visual from any one."
"So she might not be in there."
"We won't know until we hit it. I've got the TAC team set to go."
"Alright do it."
Jake stood back and watched on the little camera on a screen in front of him. One of the men was wearing a body cam so they could see the footage. They line up in an expertly precise line. Moving through the apartment complex in a unified fashion. They climbed the steps, until they reached the second floor. When they got to her door, one man put thing cord with a small camera underneath the door. They didn't see anyone in the areas that were visible.
With a three count, another officer used a battering ram to force the door opened. Then they threw in a stun grenade. Only seconds later, an there was a flashing light and a loud bang. Then the officers rushed in. They searched every room, closet and crevice of the apartment looking for anyone. When they came up empty, they informed the officers still outside.
"Shit." Jake grumbled as he made his way into the apartment building.
"There's no one here sir. But we did find something you should see."
Jake followed the man into the kitchen. On the table, was a lap, and a bunch of papers that looked to be online receipts.
"She's made some recent purchases on a few different sites lately. She spent a large sum on surgical supplies, equipment, clothing."
"The hell does she need that for?"
"She's also been researching a lot about c-sections and looking up how-to videos on the internet. We found these on the desk." Jake took the papers. "It's a print out of step-by-step instructions on how to perform a cesarean section. And lastly, she bought a crib."
"Jesus Christ. She's gonna cut that baby right out of her."
X
"Oh my God Olivia. I am so sorry!" Nora frantically dabbed at Olivia's nose with the rag she had previously stuff in her mouth. "I didn't mean to. Really."
"Nora."
"Let's just get this over with okay."
"Nora."
"Shh. The sooner I do this, the quicker you can go back home."
"Nora. How do you think I'll be able to go home? I'm going to die. If you do this, if you cut me I'm going to bleed out and you're going to kill me."
"You'll be okay."
"Nora you're going to kill the babies. They're not ready to come out yet. They can't even breath on their own yet, their lungs aren't developed. If you take them out now, without the proper equipment they are going to die. Nora you don't know what you're doing."
"Yes I do. I've been reading all about it. I've watched at least twenty videos on YouTube. And I've printed out the instructions, just in case I forget a step. Look." Nora showed Olivia the instructions she'd printed off the internet.
"Nora! Watching some fucking YouTube videos doesn't make you a fucking doctor!" Olivia had lost it, she couldn't keep calm anymore.
"You know, you should really be nicer to me. Especially now that I'm holding a scalpel."
"Nora put it down now!"
"You are not in charge here Dr. Pope. This isn't your office, you don't get to make the rules. I do. I'm in charge. And right now I need you to shut up so I can focus."
"Nora!"
Nora ignored her, and proceeded to cut Olivia dress from the hem. She cut it all to right under her breast and moved the pieces out of the way. She then took a bunch of surgical pads and placed them around Olivia's belly. Olivia was still pleaded with her to stop, but she didn't listen. She grabbed the scalpel and brought to Olivia stomach.
"Nora stop!" Olivia couldn't feel where Nora had the scalpel, but she knew she could see that Nora was way too high up. "You're up too high. If you cut there, you could cut the babies."
"You're lying."
"I'm not lying. Why would I lie to you? I don't want you to cut my babies."
"They are my babies!"
"No they're not you crazy bitch!"
"That's it." Nora got the rag she'd stuffed in her mouth before, that was now covered in Olivia's blood, and put it back in her mouth. "That was just uncalled or Olivia."
Olivia was trying to get the rag out of her mouth so she could scream out to someone, anyone. All you could hear was muffled moans and screams. Olivia was just praying that someone would find her in time. All she could think about was Fitz bursting through that door and saving her. Olivia gave up. She stopped trying to scream, no one could hear her. She closed her eyes, causing her tears to run down into her hair. She couldn't feel the pain, but she felt the pressure and tugging as Nora cut into her stomach.
X
"Is she in there?" Fitz rushed to where Jake and the other officers were standing. "Is she here?"
"How the hell did he get here?" Jake asked his partner. Shortly after Jake left with the other officers, Fitz slipped out of the room behind them and followed them to Nora's apartment.
"Mr. Grant you need to leave now."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"I wasn't asking."
"Officer Ballard! We got something." A female officer came rushing towards them. "We found this with the rest of the papers on the kitchen table. It's the receipts for the surgical equipment."
"The what?!" Fitz shouted, but no one paid him any attention.
"We didn't notice it before. But the shipping address is different from the apartment address. It's to a house out in Santa Clarita."
"Well what the hell are we still doing here?" Jake hurried back to his squad car, shouting orders as he went. "Get the sheriff on the line, tell him we need agents and EMS at that location now. Let's move people."
Jake took off so fast, that he'd forgotten that Fitz was standing beside him. Fitz had seen the address on the paper the officer had, and walked away without anyone noticing. Fitz sped off in his car, but Jake was right behind him in his own car. They were speeding down the highway, so it wouldn't take forty minutes to reach the house, but they were still at least twenty or thirty minutes away from Santa Clarita, and that was assuming there was no traffic. Jake had already called ahead, and had officers headed to the house, hopefully they would get there in time.
X
When the officers got to the scene, they immediately forced their way into the house. They didn't wait. They had been briefed on the situation and knew they needed to be swift. They searched the house thoroughly and didn't find anything. Some of the officers outside, began checking the perimeter of the house and discovered the shed in the back. The door was already opened wide, and they could clearly see inside.
"I got her!" one man yelled while another yelled for the paramedics to come. After checking that no one else was inside, the officer checked on Olivia. "Ma'am. Miss can you hear me?"
Olivia was slightly out of it. She'd lost a large amount of blood. "My babies." Was all Olivia could manage to say before her eyes closed. The paramedics got there not even a second later. One of them checked for a pulse on Olivia, he got one and quickly put an oxygen mask on her. The other one was checking her stomach. He obviously saw the cut on her, but he also noticed that she wasn't fully opened, meaning Nora hadn't gotten far enough down to reach the babies.
"We gotta move! She needs an emergency c-section now." They used one of the officer's keys to uncuff Olivia from the floor and they quickly put her on a stretcher.
Fitz got there just as they were pushing the stretcher to the ambulance. He got out of his car so fast, that he didn't even put it in park. It slowly rolled forward, but luckily there was a tree in the way to make it stop. "Olivia!" He yelled, trying to reach her.
Jake was still behind him, and got there just after Fitz did. Jake was getting tired of Fitz interfering. "Mr. Grant." Fitz ignored him, so Jake had a few officers restrain him. They had to tackle him down to the ground and cuff him to get him to settle down. "Put him in your car." Jake said, right before he walked to the ambulance. "How is she?"
"Unconscious, she's lost a lot of blood. We gotta get her to the hospital for an emergency cesarean."
"She's still pregnant?" Jake was shocked.
"Yes! We have to go." They closed the doors, and the ambulance took off to the hospital.
His partner came to his side. "Nora got away."
"What?"
"They only found Ms. Pope chained to the floor in the shed out back. Nora must've heard the sirens and made a run for it. There's fresh foot prints leading to the woods. We've got men searching, but so far nothing."
"Alright keep me informed. I'm going to call the Mr. and Mrs. Pope, tell them we found their daughter."
X
"Fitz, where is she?" Adelle raced down the hall with the rest of the Pope clan following behind her. She was having a case of déjà vu, thinking about the last time she was racing down a hospital hall to get to Olivia. After Jake called him captain, and he then told them that they found Olivia and she was being taken to the hospital, they were on their way. They also called Gerry and Carol and told them what happened, and they were on their way to the hospital as well.
Fitz was sitting in a waiting room, with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. After he'd calmed down, the officer let him go and he went to the hospital. The ambulance arrived well before he had, and when he got there, Olivia was already in surgery. All they would tell him was that Olivia was having an emergency C-section, and they would update him soon. That was almost an hour ago.
"Fitz what's happening?" Adelle asked again, once she'd reached him. He still had his face in his hands, and hadn't answered her. Adelle sat in the chair beside him, and gently took one of his hands from his face. "Fitz?"
Fitz finally lifted his head up. His face was red and his eyes was redder, he'd been crying for some time now, he wasn't even sure. "I don-." He cleared the frog out his throat. "I don't know anything. All they would tell me was Olivia was in surgery for and emergency C-section."
"Oh God."
"Does that mean Nora didn't-"
"Not for lack of trying. I saw Liv when they took her in the ambulance. They had her covered up, but… there was too much blood."
"I can't believe this is happening."
"You know, if there was ever a time to pray." Curtis said. He didn't know what else he could do for his daughter. "I believe now would be it." Curtis stood up and held his hands out. One by one, they all connected their hands, forming a circle in the small waiting room. When the circle got around to Fitz, he was still sitting down. He wasn't a praying man, he was barely a religious man, he couldn't remember the last time he was in church. When he an Olivia were together, she had him in church almost every Sunday. And now, although he wasn't a praying man, just like Curtis had said, there wasn't a better time than now to start.
X
Okay, so Nora didn't get the twins out, but she did try. And now she's on the loose. You'll learn Olivia's, Nora's and the babies fate in the next chapter.
Until Next Time..