Blind Rage - Part Two

~*~*~*~*~

I woke up with an awful headache. I wanted to touch my forehead with my left hand, but something clanked on the rail and stopped my arm abruptly. I looked over to see what had stopped it, figuring I had my IV line hung up someplace. What I saw totally confused me.

I suddenly realized I wasn't in the same room I had been in. Brian wasn't next to me and the machines that were by my bed were no longer there. A lone IV pole was situated next to the bedside. There was someone that looked like a police officer dressed in a dark blue uniform sitting in the room next to an open door.

I looked for my call button and couldn't see one. I went to sit up and discovered that my right ankle was handcuffed to the bed.

"What the hell?" I mumbled out loud. "Hey! What the hell is going on?"

The policeman peered over the newspaper he was reading. "Settle down," he barked.

"Where's Brian?" I snapped as I was trying to figure a way to get free of the handcuffs.

"He's still in the ICU room you shared," the young police officer grunted.

I nodded, indicating I had heard, I then realized something was definately wrong.

"Where the hell am I then?" I demanded.

"You're in the hospital, in a secure wing, private room," he replied, not looking up from what he was reading.

"Then, what's up with this?" I asked as I pulled my left hand up and pointed at the handcuff with my right hand.

"Policy," was all he said to me.

"POLICY?!"

I was starting to get a little worried here. This guy was obviously not going to say a word to me about anything and now I was handcuffed like a criminal and he wasn't telling me what sick joke someone was playing on me.

"You owe me an explaination!"

The policeman lowered the newspaper and glared at me for a few moments, and I returned a glare that was equal to his. For some reason, he decided he was going to be a little more civil with me and he cleared his throat.

"It was a request by Ms. Miller's attorneys for her protection. They filed a motion to keep you restrained a the hospital until you could go to arrainment."

"Arraignment?! But I didn't do anything!"

As I panicked, I fought harder and harder with the restraints. The policeman started yelling at me and told me to settle down. Suddenly a team of nurses and orderlies and police officers filled the room. The orderlies took a hold of the arm and leg that wasn't chained to the bed and took leather restraints and wrapped them around my wrist and ankle and secured them to my bed rails.

"You have to calm down so you can get better and get discharged," a young nurse soothed.

"Dishcharged? Where the fuck to?"

"HEY! Don't talk to them that way," the police man reprimanded me.

I guess I was thrashing around too much in my attempts to be free because I suddenly felt a sting in my leg and dizzy. The next thing I knew was it went completely dark as sleep overtook me.

~*~*~*~*~

As I was waiting for my nurse, a new panic washed over me. It was becoming familiar now, but it still unnerved the crap out of me. It intensified for a few minutes until my stomach was clenched up so tight that it was almost unbearable. Then almost instantly it disappeard. That wasn’t very comforting either. Why the hell would it just go away unless he became unconscious. I hit the nurse call button again.

“Someone please.” I called out weakly.

“What’s wrong honey?” Sheila burst in, anxiously.

“What’s wrong with Nick?” My voice came out all beathy.

She knitted her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Something’s wrong. He’s upset. And it just went away.” I tried to explin. I felt like a dumbass. She was going to think I was a total fruitcake.

“I’ll see if I can find out for you okay?” She smoothed out my blankets.

I nodded. Then I remembered the source of my previous concern. “Sheila, where’s Kyung? And my parents?” The pain medication was wearing off and I was starting to hurt again. I didn’t want to be knocked out until I got some answers, though. I grimaced against the pain and she saw it.

“Sweetie, you need some more...”

“No! I want to know what the hell is going on! And also, who were those men in my room and why were they talking about my involvement with Kurt’s death?” I demanded.

“I can answer that.”

I looked up and one of those men were back. He was with a security guard. My heart automatically started to beat faster and that showed on the heart monitor.

“I’m not sure if you remember, but I am David Whise and I am Ms. Miller’s attorney. Considering the serious charges against you, there will be a security guard positioned outside your door for my client’s protection.”

“Yeah, you better protect that little bitch from me.” I muttered without thinking.

“Lizz, shhhhh!!” Sheila admonished.

“Keith!” He nodded towards the guard.

The guard, Keith, walked over to me and pulled out a bunch of handcuffs. Upon seeing those, I began to panic. “No!! What are you doing?!” I tried to inch away from him in my bed, but that made me gasp out in pain.”

“Hey!” Sheila demanded. “Why is that necessary?”

“You heard her threaten my client. All precautions must be taken to protect my client.” David stated simply and coldly. "Carter is getting the same treatment. We weren't going to cuff her, but she threatened my client. It's her own fault.

Keith was putting the cuffs on my wrists and my panic increased. Immediately I was slammed with flashbacks of the cage that I had spent so long in. Being tied down like an animal with Marcus and Kurt taking every opportunity to use that metal pole. I never used to be claustrophobic, until this.

“But she can’t even get out of the bed. Look at her!” Sheila exclaimed. She turned her attention to me and I could barely hear her try to calm me down, to no avail.

“Please! No more! Don’t tie me up! Please not again! Please!!” I desperately cried, my pathetic voice turning into an even worse wheeze. I couldn’t catch my breath! “Oh god...”

Sheila cursed under her breath and hollered out the door for some help. Her patient was gasping for air and not getting it. She was twisting all around, trying to escape the hell she she was reliving in her mind.

The room filled with more medical personnel and they managed to sedate Lizz and regualte her breathing again. She would be sore as hell when she woke up, but that was going to be the least of her problems.

~*~*~*~

A few days had gone by since I was moved from Brian and my room. Everytime I asked a question about his condition or Lizz's, I was basically denied information. It was as if I had no rights. AJ had placed a call to my attorney and he met with me and told me that I was being charged with bodily harm with intent to commit murder on Terri Miller.

My first question to him was who the hell is Terri Miller. My mind was becoming like swiss cheese lately and I was having trouble remembering things. The nurse reassured me that this was natural and would get better in time.

I did finally remember Terri, but I couldn't recall the specific events about throwing a rock at her and hitting her in the back. They told me that she was permanently paralyzed.

A fat policeman with a clipboard and a heavy set of keys approached my bed. Wordlessly, he uncuffed my leg first and then my wrist. He tossed a piece of bright yellow clothing onto onto the bed.

“Put this on,” he barked.

“Huh?”

“You’ve been discharged and you’re having your arraignment this afternoon, we’re moving you to the county jail infirmary, your injuries aren’t life threatening anymore. Now, start stripping Carter.”

~*~*~*~

Agnes met with the attorneys in Terri’s hospital room. She had just had her back surgery that morning and was still under sedation.

“You remember us telling you that the FBI found Kurt Sloan’s body at the scene two weeks ago, right?”

“Yes,” Agnes replied, not sure where this was heading.

“I doubt you’ll be surprised to hear that the autopsy results showed that Mr. Sloan‘s death was from blunt force trauma, consistent with the plane crash and not strangulation, which is what Terri kept saying that Lizz was guilty of.”

Agnes stood up and fussed with her daughter’s blankets, trying to buy time to come up with an answer.

“Well, um, I didn’t quite understand where she came up with that idea to begin with, I think she was despondent over his death and wasn’t thinking clearly. I’m sure she just hated Lizz because she was close to that Nick fellow and she just wasn’t thinking right with the drugs she’s on and all,” Agnes ran her words together, hoping the attorney was buying the story.

“Well, if what you’re saying is the truth---”

“Of course it’s the truth, I never lie,” Agnes smiled sweetly at the attorney.

“Then I need to get the police removed from that girl’s room and fast before she counter sues or something.”

With that said, the attorney left the room quickly and hurried down the hall towards Lizz’s room.

~*~*~*~

Dale and Marcus pushed Kyung into the old, rusted out suburban. Her knees were skinned and her pants torn. The hair she had once taken so much pride in, hung in her face, matted and dirty.
br> “Why do you keep running? They will find you,” Kyung spat angrily at her captors.

“If they get that close, they’ll never get us alive, I can guarantee, Missy.”

As Dale spoke, he smoothed the hair away from Kyung’s dirt streaked face. She tried to duck her head away from his hand, but he still managed contact. The touch made her skin crawl.

“So where are we going now?” Kyung asked.

“None of your damn business, just shut your mouth,” Marcus hissed.

“Just a question, don’t get upset over it,” Kyung shot back. She knew that she was playing with a loaded gun, but that was natural to her, when she was clearly agitated by something, she kept picking away at it until she got the answers she needed.

As Marcus raised his hand up, Kyung closed her eyes, waiting for the blow.

“Boy, put your hand down, it’s a waste of time, save it for Terri or your mom,” Dale reprimanded.

~*~*~*~*~

Jason Whise let himself into Lizz’s room. He was a little nervous at how she was going to react when he told her that she had been falsely accused of murder. What if she did sue? Almost to his relief, she was asleep. At least he wasn’t going to have to deal with her just yet.

“What are you doing in here?”

Jason jumped at the angry voice. He turned around and immediately recognized the woman standing there as Lizz’s nurse, Sheila. She was glaring at him.

“Some of our information was misunderstood and the charges against your patient have been dropped. You can remove the restraints.” He informed her, his voice cold and hard.

“Oh that’s nice!” Sheila spat. “The damage has already been done! Do you realize the severity of the situation? I seriously doubt that you even have the slightest notion so let me clue you in. This poor girl, along with her friends, was kidnapped and terrorizied. Someone beat the hell out of her and shot her. I can’t even begin to understand what she went through. She can’t talk about it. Anytime someone tries to ask her about it, she starts shaking. Not only is her physical health in very serious condition, but her emotional health is extremely fragile. Tying her down caused her to have a panic attack and she had to be sedated. When she woke up, she panicked again and had to be sedated again. And now you are telling me that we can remove the restraints?! Well how nice of you!”

“Oh spare me the sob story. My client went through equally as tramatic experiences. She lost her boyfriend and will probably be paralyzed for the rest of her life.” Jason retorted.

“You came down here to tell me that I could remove the restraints right? Well you did, now get the hell out of my patient’s room.” Sheila narrowed her eyes into angry slits.

Jason smiled cockily at her and left the room. Sheila sighed heavily and went to remove the restraints from Lizz’s wrists and ankles. Being under sedation still, Lizz didn’t even stir. Sheila brushed a strand of hair of Lizz’s face and sighed again. Lizz was so alone. Her best friend was still missing and everyone’s families that were involved were not allowed near the hospital. If they did, Kyung died. Sheila knew at this time that there were only three people that Lizz would let near her without panicking. She didn’t know anything about Brian’s condition and the last she heard about Nick was that he had amnesia. That was what they had said when he was admitted. Sheila left Lizz’s room finally, trying to come up with something.

~*~*~*~*~

“Damnit, I could kill her for screwing us like this.” Dale muttered as they drove down the winding dirt road. They seemed to getting further and further out in the middle of nowhere. He was driving and Marcus sat shotgun. Kyung was tied down in the seat behind them. The suburban’s heater was broken so the three of them suffered in the cold temperature.

The longer this went on, the more Kyung worried that she wasn’t going to make it out of this alive. Macus was growing steadily more angry with her as every hour passed. It was only a matter of time before he let all his anger go on her. Kyung’s thoughts drifted to Lizz, Brian and Nick. She was so worried about them and not knowing what was going on was killing her.

~*~*~*~*~

Nurse Laura Shelton hung a new IV bag on her patient’s pole. He had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past few days, but he had finally woke that morning. He was still very weak from surgery and the damage from the fluid that had built around his heart and, by the looks of the dampness of his hair, Laura suspected that he was running a temp.

“Nurse?” Brian called out weakly. His nurse obviously didn’t hear him so Brian tried calling out for her again. “Nurse?”

“Hi, what can I get for you?” Laura asked cheerily.

Brian attempted to clear his throat, hoping that would make his voice sound a little stronger.

“My friends?”

Laura nodded at Brian’s question. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t know too much about them right now. Do you want me to check for you?”

Brian managed a slight nod.

“Okay, I’ll do that, but first I need to check to see if you’re spiking a temp, your face looks pretty flushed,” the red haired nurse said as she placed a thermometer into Brian’s ear. Instantly, the beeper went off on the small, white device.

“Ah, just as I thought, 102.4,” Laura remarked as she looked at the reading on the thermometer. “Okay, let me tell your doctor about the temp and then I’ll check and see how your friends are, okay?”

As Brian watched his nurse leave the room, his thoughts went back to Nick and Lizz. The last he remembered was hearing a gunshot and a man carrying Nick’s body saying he accidentally shot him. Brian couldn’t remember anything after that and wondered how long he had been out of it.

~*~*~*~*~

The police officer’s voice had a harsh edge to it. I didn’t waste any time getting the hospital gown off and slipping into the boxer shorts and the bright yellow coveralls. I couldn’t help but notice the words LARGO COUNTY JAIL PRISONER in bold black letters across the back of the coveralls.

“Snap to it Carter, I don’t have all day,” the guard grumbled.

I started to speed up on putting my socks on, then something struck me as being odd and I stopped.

“What gives you the right to force me to jail? I haven’t done anything!” I insisted.

“You wanna play tough guy now woman beater?” The officer had a sick sneer on his face. “Guys in there lump you in the same category as a child abuser, they’re gonna have fun playing with your candy ass. Don’t make me have to call for back up cause we’ll drag you screaming from here if we have to.”

I still couldn’t understand why they were accusing me of hitting a woman, it made my head hurt trying to make sense of it. I sat on the edge of my bed and folded my good arm across the sling on the other one, I didn’t plan on moving for no one.

“Okay, then the fun begins Carter, you ass,” the guard said sharply before he pulled his walkie talkie off his belt. “Mike, we need six backup room 815, stat!”

Within a course of a few minutes, six uniformed state troopers entered the room. I tried my best to plant my feet on the ground, my body on the bed to no avail. Whether I wanted it or not, they were going to take me from the hospital to the jail.

Desperate, I started jerking my body up and down, tried to squirm away from their grasp. One officer grabbed deep into the shoulder that had been shot, I screamed out from the firey pain it produced.

I was oblivious to the stares and the flashes of light, which I assumed were camera flashes. I didn’t care I needed to get away from these people that were taking me away and had no right to do so.

Once on the elevator, they literally dropped my body to the floor.

“Now Carter, you can either cooperate or you can make an ass of yourself when we hit the main floor, your choice,” a short, fat county police office smirked.

“I’ll be good...... I’ll be okay,” I lied. I had better plans when we reached the ground floor.

“Just in case,” a policeman said as he wrapped a thick, heavy chain around my waist twice and then linked it through handcuffs and snapped them onto my wrists.

The door ringed as it opened up to the hospital lobby. I ducked my head and bolted past the policemen in the elevator, running as fast as I could towards the doors. I could hear the footsteps ensuing behind me as I ran barefooted across the tiled floor. People were standing off to the side, staring and gasping as I ran past them. They must have thought I was a murderer or some really bad criminal.

I set my sites to the exit doors, but to my dismay, it was packed with people standing in front of it either entering or leaving the hospital. I had no other choice as I lowered my head and took the large plate glass window next to the door....

~*~*~*~

My eyes flew open as I felt like a thousand needles were stabbing my body all at once. I had been awake for the past hour feeling incredibly uneasy. That clenched feeling that I had grown accustomed to had come back, full force. I knew that it had to do with Nick. I wasn’t having a full blown panic attack like I had done before so I just laid there and tried to stay calm. When this sudden explosion of pain hit me, I started to panic. I heard the beeps of the heart monitor get more rapid.

“Lizz? Sweetie, what is it? Shit!“ Sheila burst in the room. She took in the monitors and then her patient breathing hard, eyes wide with fear. “Lizz you need to calm down. What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Hurts...please...he...he...” I gasped.

“What hurts? Who?” Sheila pressed.

I couldn’t even reply to her. I couldn’t catch my breath. All I could picture was that something had happened to Nick and visions of Dale, Marcus, and Terri only heightened my panic. It was like we were all back in that basement.

“Lizz breathe!!” Sheila tried to remain calm herself. In her 7 years of being a nurse, she had never seen a patient react this way. She called in some help and once again, the only thing they could do was sedate Lizz. Lizz wasn’t doing herself any good by getting so worked up. Her injuries were already serious and they were playing with some kidneys that were on the verge of failing. Now these panic attacks were only adding to the danger. If this kept getting worse like this, they were going to lose her.

~*~*~*~*~

Brian’s nurse Laura headed downstairs to the main floor. She thought Nick Carter would have been on the same floor as Brian, but he wasn’t there. She tried to call down to admitting multiple times, but after being put on hold a half a dozen times, she decided to just go down and see for herself. As she exited the staff elevators and walked around the corner, her jaw dropped at the scene before her. A man in bright yellow prison garb was running through the lobby with six troopers and a couple of county policeman on his tale. Her shock doubled when she saw that the escapee was Nick Carter. He seemed to hesitate briefly when he saw the press of people up against the main doors. Camera were flashing at a blinding rate. Then seeing no other choice, he ducked his head and charged through the plate glass window. Everyone seemed frozen in motion as he let out a cry as the glass shattered upon impact. Laura gasped and raced over to him. The troopers were already surrounded him. A few more were trying to get the crowd to back up.

“Let me through! Let me through! I’m a nurse!” Laura cried, shoving past the people that stood in her way.

Nick was hunched over on the ground, covered with blood. She knelt down by him.

"Let me see, hun." Laura tried to get a look at where he was bleeding from. He was covered in tiny glass shards.

He shrank away from her touch, yelling out.

"I'm a nurse! I'm not going to hurt you. Let me see where you are hurt." She said softly, yet urgently.

He finally looked up at her. He was going to say something, but one of the officers cut him off.

"He did this to himself. The prison infirmiry will check him over." He said gruffly.

"Absolutely not! You don't have any idea how injured he is. He needs to stay here at least until we can make sure that he didn't do some serious damage." Laura argued.

"Forget it lady. He has already proven that he is a threat." The same officer snapped at her.

"What are the charges against him?" Laura demanded. "That's none of your..."

A short, fat officer cut off the first one. "He attacked two women. One of which is in critical condition and the other is a parapalegic now."

Nick's head shot up. He beat up two women? What the hell?! There has to be some mistake! He thought to himself.

Laura immediately noticed the look on Nick's face. It was of total confusion. He had no idea what they were talking about and he looked horrified that they would insinuate that he would do such a thing. That made her even more determined to help him.

"Whatever the case, he needs to be checked out first." She insisted.

"No can do." The troopers scooped him up and dragged him through the crowd of people toward the van that had pulled up alongside the curb. Camera flashes were going a mile a minute and Laura could see the tears of humiliation streaming down Nick's face. She stood there helplessly as the van pulled away. Almost immediately people started to ask her questions and she ignored them all as she ran back inside the hospital. There were a ton of security around now. Some were cleaning up the glass, but most were trying to control the crowd.

Laura couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened as she headed for the ICU floor. She just couldn't believe that Nick Carter would beat two women as seriously as they say he did. When she reached the ICU's front desk she asked to see Lizz's nurse. To her mild relief it was Sheila. Sheila had worked on Laura's floor before moving to ICU so they knew each other well.

"How are you doing Laura?" Sheila looked very tired and weary.

"Been better. How's your patient? Brian Littrell is my patient and he has been asking about her." Laura replied.

"Not so hot. I don't even know what to make of it. Her kidney's are on the brink of failure and she was beaten pretty bad. She's got punctured lungs, broken bones, the whole nine yards. I'm more worried about her mental state though. She woke up awhile ago calling for Nick. She said that something was wrong and then started having a panic attack. She had to be sedated. Then when she woke up, she was having another one and she kept repeating 'hurts' and 'he...he' over and over. She hyperventilated and had to be sedated again. Her lungs are already weak and this is making things a lot worse for her. She won't even talk to anyone. Whatever happened when they were kidnapped, she seems like she keeps reliving it. Or she is convinced that something is wrong with Nick Carter." Sheila explained.

Laura's eyes widened. "Do you know that he has been arrested for assault on the daughter of the kidnapper and also Lizz? A bunch of troopers were trying to escort him out and he tried to make a run for it. He ended up jumping through a plate glass window. I tried to insist that he be taken care of before he left, but they wouldn't hear of it. There wasn't anything I could do."

"What?! You have got to be kidding me! Is he okay? He wouldn't attack a woman though! Besides, remember what happened last spring? He and Lizz stayed really close friends after that!" Sheila exclaimed.

"Maybe that is why she keeps freaking out. You said she won't talk to anyone right? Still...I can't believe that either." Laura frowned. "Brian keeps asking about them. Shit! How the hell do I tell him that his best friend is in jail and his other friend is..."

"Getting worse? I don't know. How bad is Brian? I don't know who else that could reach her at this point." Sheila interjected.

Laura shook her head. "He's not in that good of condition himself. He's spiking a temp and he's really weak from the surgery."

"And what about Nick? Are the parents still being instructed to stay away? Where are the other band guys? Can they help?" Sheila asked.

"I don't know..." Laura rubbed her eyes.

"So, basically we're in trouble here..." Sheila sighed. "They are the only ones that know what is going on with each other and none of them can even help each other."

By the time Laura returned to Brian’s room, pulmonary services were already there giving him a breathing treatment. She thumbed through his chart and read the report that indicated that the pneumonia had settled into both lungs. His condition further complicated the pneumonia since Brian was unable to move around as of yet.

Brian’s eyes met hers and she knew exactly what her patient wanted.

“Just wait and relax and do the treatment, we’ll talk after that, okay?”

Laura laid his chart on the counter, her back to him. She was wondering how she’d be able to explain what was going on with Nick. This was going to be difficult no matter what she told him. She felt her body tense as she heard the final hiss of the medication going through the mask.

“You sound much better, I’ll be back in two hours to give you another one,” the respiratory tech stated to Brian as he placed his stethoscope around his neck.

“Thanks,” Brian replied, weakly.

Brian waited for the tech to leave the room.

“How’s Nick?” Brian blurted.

“Shhhh,” Laura said as she placed her stethoscop on his chest, preparing to chart his progress.

Brian waited anxiously for her to finish, he dutifully took deep breaths and let them out for her, coughing each time. After Laura finished writing in his chart, she walked over to his bed and sat down beside him.

“Okay, I’m not sure how to begin this, but I guess it’s just better to say it instead of beating around the bush,” Laura said. “Initially, Nick was in this room with you, do you remember that?”

Brian shook his head no, afraid of where this was leading to.

“Well, once Nick didn’t need ICU services anymore, you know, sort of like graduated from intensified medical care, they moved him to a private room towards the end of the hall on this floor,” she paused, making sure the information was registering.

“Okay, do you remember anything about possible charges being brought against Nick?”

Again, Brian shook his head no.

“Well, they placed him under house arrest, which was another reason why they moved him from this room to a new one.”

“Why?”

Laura shook her head. “I’m not totally sure, they were saying that he had beaten to women, one of them was Lizz and another woman was named Terri, who is permanently paralyzed because of the assault.”

“I don’t understand,” Brian stated slowly, struggling to breathe. “Nick didn’t.”

“I’m sure Nick’s lawyer is looking this over, try not to worry about his,” Laura said as she patted Brian’s arm.

“Can I see him?” Brian asked.

“Sorry, he was just discharged a little bit ago,” Laura apologized.

“Why didn’t he stop here?” Brian asked, softly.

“He, um, couldn’t, they have him in custody, remember?”

Before Brian could respond, AJ walked into the room.

“Hey Bri! Wow, you should see the lobby! Man, there’s broken glass and blood all over the place! They said some dude from jail tried to escape.!” AJ stated as he dragged a chair from the corner of the room over to Brian’s bed.

“Nick,” Brian said quietly, looking at his nurse.

Laura nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry, I tried to help, but they wouldn’t let me.”

“Holy shit, that was Nick that went through that window?” AJ asked. “He’s okay though, right?”

“From what I could see, he had a lot of cuts and scrapes, but they really wouldn’t let me go near him,” Laura replied.

“How’s Lizz?” Brian asked.

“Ironically, I ran into her nurse right after seeing the commotion in the lobby. She said that Lizz was holding her own, but was having setbacks of a possible kidney rejection and the panic attacks she’s been experiencing. I found out from her that when Nick has one, or when something happens to him, she feels it too.”

“Yeah, we know all about that,” AJ replied. “It’s kind of been a long standing thing between Nick and Lizz.”

~*~*~*~

“End of the road, Carter,” Officer Lamb stated as he opened rear door of the police car. “Hey, Steve, grab me some latex, he’s got blood all over him and everything.” The officer shot a look at me. “Sit tight for a minute.”

I waited quietly as the officer put surgical gloves on both hands. I felt lik some sort of animal with a deadly disease. He grabbed my by my good arm and steadied me once I was out of the vehicle.

“So, Steve, did you catch the end of the Knick’s game last night?” Officer Lamb asked as they walked me through the sliding glass doors on the entrance of the jail.

“Yeah, boy it sure was touch and go during the second period,” Steve replied.

As we walked in, the stale smell of the air in the building first caught my attention. I looked around the room quickly. There were dozens of people in police uniforms walking around the room. Long steel benches were on either side of the walls, big hooks jutting out from them. Two people on opposite sides of the room were sitting on the benches, one wrist handcuffed to the hook.

“Okay, step up here,” Officer Lamb pointed to a white line on the floor. “You can either co-operate with us or we can do this the hard way.”

As I stepped up to the glass window, Officer Lamb did a quick swipe on the side of my face, wiping up some of the blood that was dripping down.

“Hey Steve, I could sell this on ebay for some cash,” my arresting officer joked.

“Name?”

The clerk that sat behind the window barely looked at me, she sat and waited for my answer, fingers poised over the keys.

“Nick Carter,” I mumbled.

Officer Lamb jerked my arm a little. “Full name,” he barked.

“Nickolas Gene Carter,” I replied.

“N-i-c-h-o-l-a-s?” the woman asked.

“No, N-i-c-k-o-l-a-s,” I replied, cursing my mother’s decision to spell my name differently under my breath.

After they finished going over the info of my name, social security number, date of birth and address, I was led down the hall to another room with some more steel benches. Officer Lamb unhooked the handcuffs and then attached one to the hook on the bench as he directed me to sit down.

“Hey Beth, need for you to get this one done first, he’s going directly to the infirmary,” Officer Lamb stated as he tossed a chart down on the counter.

~*~*~*~

Kyung shivered as she listened to Dale and Marcus bickering in the front seat of the surburban. She was cold, tired and stressed out. Not a good combination for her. She ran a short fuse when she was stressed out and she was desperately fighting the urge to lash out at her kidnappers.

“Ya know, old man, you’re towing a thin line here. I’ve just about had it with you, I’m sick of you, sick of mom and especially Terri. To hell with all of this! I’m stopping at the next town and dropping your ass off. I don’t need your sorry ass dragging me down.”

“Think again boy!” Dale yelled as he jerked the steering wheel sharply towards the right.

Kyung barely had enough time to brace herself for the certain impact that was coming. There was yelling, swearing, tires screeching, the sound of steel crunching and then it was silent.

Dazed, Kyung found herself on the roof interior of the flipped over vehicle. As the smoke and dust started to settle, she quickly took inventory of her arms and legs, checking to see if everything was still in place and functioned. Moving her right arm caused a great deal of pain and Kyung decided that since it looked definately deformed, she must have broken it.

Getting her bearings, Kyung looked around towards the front of the overturned vehicle. Dale was laying half in and half out of the passenger side window, the fixed look in his eyes told Kyung that he didn’t survive the crash. Hearing moaning, Kyung looked for Marcus. She couldn’t see him from the inside of the car. She crawled towards the back and after kicking out the shards of glass from the broken rear window, she gingerly eased her body through.

She found Marcus laying on the ground, his body pinned underneath the surburban, only his upper torso exposed. There were short puffs of steam that escaped from his mouth, so Kyung knew that he was still alive and breathing.

Marcus turned his head from side to side, moaning loudly. His eyes finally fluttered open and then focused on Kyung.

“Bitch, get me out of here,” Marcus demanded.

~*~*~*~*~

Why is it that during the day there is nothing good on TV? I don't watch soap operas and I liked talk shows even less. They were all the same. Either the woman’s husband was cheating on her with her sister and then it ends up being a double cross because he was cheating on her with that sister’s husband or something gross like that. There was a knock on the door and I welcomed the distraction. “Come in!” I called out.

“I bet you thought you were rid of us didn’t ya?”

My blood ran cold as I looked towards the door. Dale was standing in the doorway and he had Nick in front of him, his arms pinned.

“No!” I gasped.

“Or how about your best friend here?” Suddenly Marcus appeared, carrying Kyung’s limp body in his arms.

“Kyung?” I whimpered.

“She isn’t dead, but she’s gonna be!” Marcus barked.

“Where’s Brian?” My eyes darted back and forth between them.

Marcus laughed. “We already took care of him.”

“No.” I whispered.

“See, we’re giving you a choice.” Dale began, releasing Nick’s arms. Surprisingly, he didn’t try to escape or anything. But then I saw why. Dale was holding a gun. At the end of the gun was a silencer.

“You get to choose which one we kill next.” Marcus continued, grinning sadistically.

“No! No! I can’t...You can’t make me...” I cried.

“Fine! Then they both die. Say goodbye Lizz!” Dale yelled.

“NOOOOOO!!!!” I screamed as the muted sound of a shot rang out. It as immediately followed by another and I started to struggle in my bed. Dale grabbed me by the arms and I knew I was next. I thrashed in attempt to tear free of his grasp, ignoring the pain I was causing myself.

“Lizz! Lizz, calm down!” Sheila tried to hold Lizz down. She was thrashing all around and was going to bust her stitches if she kept it up.

“LET ME GO!” I hollered frantically.

“Lizz you need to stop thrashing! It’s Sheila! Lizz!!” Sheila persisted.

Finally I opened my eyes and sure enough, Sheila was standing over me. Dale and Marcus weren’t anywhere to be seen. I sagged against the pillows behind me and let out a choked sob. “They...they were here...he shot...he killed them...my fault...all my fault!” I gasped between my sobs. The pain from moving around so much was starting to catch up with me.

“Shhhhh. There’s no one here okay? You’re fine now. I’m going to give you some Demerol for the pain, alright? I want you to concentrate on taking slow deep breaths. Can you do that for me?” Sheila soothed.

“Where are they? Where are my friends?” I choked out.

“Sweetie, you need to worry about yourself right now.” Sheila started as she pushed the pain medication through my IV.

“No! Don’t you understand? All of this is my fault. I need to know what’s happened to them! Is Kyung in the hospital too? And where’s Brian? They didn’t give him his meds and he got hurt in the plane crash. And what happened to Nick? Something’s wrong! I know it is. I can feel it.” My voice got more and more frantic.

“Shhhh. You need to try to stay calm sweetie.” Sheila rested her hand on my forehead. “You are really warm.”

I started to feel sleepy from the Demerol, but I didn’t want to sleep anymore. I wanted answers. I didn’t care how much pain I was in. I needed to know where my friends were. Sheila stuck that temperature thing in my ear and waited for the beep. I tried my hardest to fight the drowsiness, but it didn’t matter. The drug was winning and I barely heard her tell me I had a temperature before I fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~

“So you’re saying that Nick was taken to jail?” AJ demanded.

Laura sighed. “Yes. I tried to convince the state troopers that he needed to stay longer, but they wouldn’t listen.”

“He went through a window?” Brian whispered, still shocked at what he was hearing.

Laura immediately noticed the look on his face. “I don’t think he was seriously injured though. Just some cuts and scrapes from the glass.” She added quickly to allay his fears.

“Does he even know why he was taken to jail? He had amnesia.” Brian could feel tears stinging the back of his eyes.

Laura looked away from him. “I don’t think he did.”

“He’s gotta be totally freaked out.” AJ muttered darkly. “I wish I was in here when they tried to take him away.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you really would have helped matters.” Brian raised an eyebrow at AJ, knowing how he was around authoritative figures.

“I could’ve done something.” He insisted.

“What about Kyung? Is she okay?” Brian asked suddenly

. Laura flinched. She didn’t want to have to be the bearer of bad news once again. It occurred to her that he might have assumed that Kyung had been with Lizz this entire time. He didn’t know that she was still being held by the kidnappers.

~*~*~*~*~

“Excuse me?!” Kyung narrowed her eyes at Marcus.

“I said, get me out of here, bitch“ He repeated, putting emphasis on the last word.

“I don’t think you are in any position to be talking to me like that.” Kyung glared at him.

“I don’t care what position I’m in. Get your ass over here and get me out of this. What do you think you are gonna do, wander off and get help all on your own? We’re out in the middle of fuckin nowhere. You’ll die.” Marcus sneered.

“Oh is that right? Looks to me that I will have a better chance at surviving than you will, pinned under that suburban.” She retorted.

“If you don’t get me out of here...” He threatened.

“You’ll what? Shout more insults at me?” Kyung laughed bitterly. “My friends are probably dead because of you! Our plane fucking crashed and instead of giving up your vendetta against us, you continued on. You sick shit, I should leave you here to die. You deserve it!”

Marcus looked shocked at the amount of hatred that resonated from this girl’s voice. She wouldn’t really leave him here to die would she?

“You didn’t give a shit about Lizz when she was freezing to death in the snow. You didn’t care when Terri almost beat her to death. You only pretended to care about Brian being pinned against that seat, only to carry on that stupid charade. You freaked out when you shot Nick only because you didn’t want to go to jail. But then you proved that you didn’t give a shit when you had a chance to escape and you left him there to bleed to death. MY FRIENDS ARE PROBABLY DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!!” She screamed as she turned on her heel and started walking away.

A sense of panic started to creep over Marcus. “Kyung. Don’t leave me here. Don’t let me die.” His voice cracked.

Kyung halted midstep. As much as she wanted to leave him there, she couldn’t. She wasn’t like them. She couldn’t kill. She sighed loudly and turned back around.

~*~*~*~

After I was processed into the system, they led me to a small room telling me that I had a visitor. I was guided towards a plastic chair across from my attorney, Spencer Marshall and sat down.

“Take the cuffs off him!” Spencer growled.

The guard sighed and quickly snapped the hand cuffs from my wrists.

“Now leave the room,” Spencer ordered.

“Hey, I got explicit instructions to stay with this inmate during the interview,” the guard replied.

“I don’t give a shit about your instructions, I’m taking full responsibility for my client, now get the hell out of here,” Spencer demanded.

We waited until the guard had left the small room and then Spencer leaned forward, evidentally looking over the cuts and scrapes on my face.

“That doctor did a piss poor job stitching your forehead up,” he remarked as he brushed the hair away from my forehead. “That’s definitely gonna leave a nasty scar.”

I didn’t answer him, I didn’t care at this point about scars or anything else. Here I was stuck in a jail and I had no idea why or what I did.

After he pulled out a yellow legal pad and uncapped a pen, the attorney sighed and started asking me questions.

“Nick, do you have any idea of why you were sent here?”

I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head no.

“Do you remember being kidnapped?”

I tried to think but nothing came to me. My memory was still pretty fuzzy.

“You know who you are though, right?”

I laughed at the stupidity of his question. “Yeah, I know who I am.”

He didn’t seem to believe me, he stared at me over the top of his glasses that had slid down his nose.

“Nick..... Nick Carter, okay?”

“At least you have that figured out. I don’t understand why you can’t remember specific events over the past few months. For right now, I need to stall for time so we can gather a good defense for you. I’m going to request psychiatric evaluation to declare you instane and unable to stand trial. Don’t worry, it’s only to show that you’re mentally unable to defend yourself, not to have you committed.”

~*~*~*~*~

AJ, Kevin and Howie took a seat in the crowded courtroom, waiting for Nick to appear.

“I still am having a hard time believing they can pull this shit on Nick,” AJ whispered harshly to Kevin and Howie.

“I know, AJ, I know,” Kevin replied.

“I mean the guy has fricken amnesia for crying out loud. How the hell is he supposed to defend himself?”

A restless AJ kept shifting his weight in his chair and drumming his fingers on the armrests. “What the hell is taking them so long?”

Howie nudged AJ and pointed towards the doors that were opening. “Here he comes now.”

The threesome focused their attention to the opening doors. Nick slipped through, escorted by two uniformed county deputies. His hands were handcuffed together in front of himself. His face was scraped and red looking. The fat lip with the cut across the corner of his mouth didn’t help matters much with him looking like a trouble maker.

AJ wanted to get Nick’s attention, but he was walking with his head bowed, not making any eye contact with anyone or anything in that courtroom.

“All rise for the honorable Justine Briggs,” the baliff called out.

~*~*~*~*~

“I don’t know what the hell you expect me to do. Especially with a broken arm.” Kyung huffed as she stared at Marcus.

“I can feel my legs. They’re just trapped.” He replied.

“Too bad they aren’t broken.” Kyung muttered.

Marcus started to respond, but thought better of it. He didn’t want to run the risk that she would leave him.

Kyung leaned down and tried to lift the part of the suburban that was covering his legs. Of course with only one arm, she couldn’t budge it.

“What if you put that bar under here and then put your weight on it and maybe I can slide out.” Marcus gestured to a piece of the suburban that was broken off. It was as long as the bumper and had a similar shape. Kyung wondered what part of the car it came from. She could shove one end under the car and put something there to see-saw it. Then she could put all her weight on the other end and see if it was enough for him to get himself out.

After many failed efforts and frustrated words, Kyung finally managed to use that method to budge the suburban. It just barely slid a little, but it was enough. Marcus slid out and shakily stood up. Amazingly he didn’t have any broken bones. Only some scrapes and bruises.

“Nice job bitch, now lets go before we get caught.” Marcus smirked at her as he grabbed her good arm.

Kyung balked. “What the hell are you doing?! I just saved your life you asshole!” She yelled as she tried to twist out of his grasp.

“Yeah and thanks, but that doens’t change anything. So shut up before I get mad.” Marcus shrugged.

Kyung boiled with rage. “Fuck you!” She twisted around and kicked him, as hard as she could, between the legs. Marcus let out a high-pitched scream and dropped to the ground, curling into a ball and moaning. Kyung took that oppurtunity to escape. She started running as fast as she could. To her dismay, his angry voice begane to follow.

“YOU BITCH! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!” He screamed as he ran to catch up with her.

The lack of food, sleep, and level of emotional stress was taking its toll on Kyung. He was gaining on her and she couldn’t do anything about it.

~*~*~*~*~

Agnes walked brusquely towards Lizz’s room. She had been advised to stay away from her, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to make sure that she was suffering as much as her Terri. Agnes smiled at the thought of Nick in jail. He was going to get it in there alright! She wanted to pay a visit to Brian as well, but security around him was too tight. She had to settle on Lizz.

I was just starting to wake back up when I heard a knock at my door. Before I could answer, the door opened. Terri’s mother walked in and smiled at me. I felt my heart move to my throat.

“What are you doing here?!” I whispered. I didn’t want her to see that I was afraid.

“Oh I just wanted to see how you were.” She smiled sweetly at me.

“Bitch, liar.” I glared at her.

Her demeanor changed. Her eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a viscious smile. “Oh but I did. I just wanted to see if you were suffering as much as you should. I’ve heard you are having a rough time of it. Poor baby.” She sneered. “It could be worse. You could be missing still. Or you could be in jail.”

Oh god, what did she mean? What was she talking about?! I started to shake.

Her grin turned even more sinister. “Oh! You mean you didn’t know?!”

~*~*~*~*~

“What’s wrong? Is she...is she?” Brian didn’t want to finish the thought.

“No! Well, I don’t know.” Laura said finally. “The kidnappers still have her.”

Brian felt sick. “No.” He whispered.

“We haven’t heard much.” Laura said, somewhat apologetically.

“And Lizz...” Brian trailed off. “Who’s with her?”

Laura shook her head.

“Oh god. I have to see if she is okay.” Brian shifted his eyes back and forth between AJ and his nurse.

“No way. Not yet anyway. Not until you are in better condition.” Laura stated firmly.

“AJ will you go check on her?” Brian asked anxiously.

AJ nodded. “Just stay calm okay?”

“Nick, god, what do you think is happening with him?” Brian felt even more sick at the idea of his best friend sitting in jail for something he didn’t do.

AJ froze when he heard Brian remark about Nick’s predicament. He didn’t have the heart to tell him what had happen earlier in the afternoon in court.

“I’ll be back in a minute after I check on Lizz for ya,” AJ managed to call out as he left the room.

As he walked down the hall, AJ’s mind filled with the scenes of the court hearing earlier in the day. Nick never made eye contact with them, he just stood in front of the judge, his head hanging down. They had chains wrapped around his waist, connected to his wrists and they made a noise that AJ decided he would never forget for the rest of his life. He shuddered when the memory of the noise crept into his mind.

”Your honor, I wish to declare my client emotionally uncapable of defending himself. He was insane at the time the alleged events took place.”

”Nickolas Carter is remanded to Fulton State Emotional Rehabilitation Institution for observation and testing and if need be, treatment. Court is postphoned for a period of no less than thirty days and will reconvene at that time on 20 June, 2001.”

AJ squeezed his eyes shut as the door to the elevator closed. The last image he had was of Nick being led away to some state nuthouse and there wasn’t a damn thing any of them could do to prevent it. How could he tell that to Brian? That would kill him.

“Yes, your little perfect friend, or should I say your six foot tall friend has been arrested. I can’t believe you don’t know about that, it’s been on the news,” Agnes taunted as she turned on Lizz’s television set. “Oh, and don’t worry, he did put up a fight as they were taking him away from the hospital. You see though, Nick isn’t very bright, he jumped through a plate glass window on his way out instead of taking the door.”

Lizz narrowed her eyes at Agnes. “What are you talking about?”

“You again? What are you doing in her room?” AJ’s voice boomed from the doorway.

“She’s the one AJ, she did this to us!” Lizz cried out.

Agnes tried to laugh Lizz off. “Oh, the stuff they put these people on, makes their minds a bit crazy,” she made a circle with her finger next to her temple.

“AJ! Her name is Agnes and she kidnapped us! Her and her daughter and the rest of her freaked out family!”

AJ hadn’t moved from when he entered the room, his mouth hanging open. Anges laughed.

“See Lizz, see how farfetched your story is? I mean, who would think a fragile old woman like me would kidnap young and vibrant people like yourself? Even this boy has difficulty comprehending your story.”

Almost as if on que, CNN showed a video of Nick, in bright yellow prison grab, running in the hosptial lobby and then jumping through a window. Lizz gasped when she watched it.

“I think you need to come with me and talk to the police,” AJ finally spoke.

“You seem to be forgetting our deal here,” Agnes whispered harshly to him.

“Huh?”

“No one, no family or friends are supposed to be here at the hospital! You broke that and so now watch Brian or Lizz get their just rewards,” Agnes spat.

“Lady, you just admitted you are one of the kidnappers!” AJ glared.

“Tsk... tsk.... tsk,” Agnes reprimanded. “Now, be a good little Backstreet Boy and mind your own business or Brian could end up with a big ole injection of air in his IV line, that could foul things up really bad. You know that would travel to his heart and kill him in seconds.”

With that being stated, Agnes stormed past AJ, leaving him standing in the doorway, stunned.

~*~*~*~*~

I stared out the window at the huge brown brick building. FULTON STATE INSTITUTE was printed on a sign in the front. This was all a really bad dream and I couldn’t wake up from it. I stared at the man as he unhooked me from the heavy bolt on the floor in front of my seat.

“Okay, come along with me,” he said, glancing up as he handed a folder to me.

I glanced down at the big tan folder. It had my name and ID number written across it. It looked odd, Carter, Nickolas Gene, 360825246.

They led me to a windowless room, two chairs and a table was situated in it. The humming of the florescent lights made it sound like one of those interrogation rooms you see on police movies and stuff. As I sat down in a chair, a young woman with striking blue eyes and long dark hair entered the room. She was dressed in tan khakis and a dark blue shirt with the word Fulton embroidered on the left side of the shirt in white lettering. An indentification tag had her picture on it and the name Mandy.

“Please, you can take those stupid handcuffs and chains off of him, I’m sure he will behave,” Mandy said as she sat down in front of me.

She slid the folder away from me and opened it up, taking the papers out and placing them in front of her.

“Hi Nick, my name is Mandy, I’m one of the counselors here at Fulton,” she smiled.

I had a big lump in my throat and I knew if I opened my mouth to speak I would either start crying or nothing would come out. I kept quiet.

“Okay, looks like you’ve been recovering nicely from the accident you had in that plane crash, that’s good. You have no other medical history besides that, right?” Mandy spoke aloud to me as she read through the chart. “Oh, wait, you’re on meds for seizures? Okay, we’ll make sure you get those like you should,” she looked up and smiled.

There was something about her that made me feel at ease. For the first time in weeks, I found myself smiling. It wasn’t much but it was more than I had been doing.

“Okay, looks like these people can come and see you, that’s good, we encourage family and friends,” Mandy remarked as she continued to look through the papers.

“He’s not to have any contact,” the man that brought me here remarked.

Mandy shot her head up and gave the man a not-so-pleasant stare. “Why are you still here? He’s my patient and he’s in my care, go, your job is done now.”

I smiled again, I liked Mandy’s style...... a lot.

~*~*~*~*~

I barely noticed Agnes march past AJ. My whole focus was the television. They showed Nick running through the plate glass again and I flinched.

“That’s what I felt.” I said softly.

“What?”

I turned my eyes to AJ. He still looked stunned by Agnes’ confession. His gaze flickered from me to the television.

“A thousand needles stabbing my body all at once. It scared the hell outta me. Until now, I didn’t know what happened. It was him jumping through the window though.” I murmured. Her last words sunk in. “Where’s Brian? Oh god, AJ, you can’t let her hurt him.”

“I’m not letting her near him. Lizz who was that woman? She was involved in the kidnapping?” AJ pressed.

I nodded. “That was Terri’s mother. Remember, Terri is the one who sent the Enquiror pictures of Nick and I in here. She, her mom, dad, brother and boyfriend kidnapped us. They...they...” I stopped, my voice choking up. I shut my eyes, but that made it worse. Images of that basement, the cages, Kyung’s trance, Marcus carrying an unconscious Brian after he collapsed in the heat, Nick having a seizure, them whipping him when I tried to escape. Then the plane crash and when I first realized Nick had amnesia. How my heart sank when he thought I was the kidnapper. How he blamed me. And he was right. It was my fault. And now all this...I didn’t even realize I was crying until AJ put a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, shhhhh, don’t cry. It’s going to be okay.” He soothed.

“What happened AJ? Why is Nick in jail? Where’s Kyung? Where’s Brian?” I whispered.

He looked pained. I know he was afraid of my reaction and hell, I was afraid of what I was going to hear. I rested my hand on his arm. “Please, AJ, I need to know.”

~*~*~*~*~

There was a knock at the door and both Nick and Mandy looked to see who it was. One of the employees opened the door partway.

“Carter, you have a visitor.”

Mandy looked at Nick and he shrugged. “Well I am going to go make a few phone calls and I will be back alright?”

Nick nodded, wondering who his visitor was when he wasn’t supposed to have contact with anyone.

His question was answered when a scruffy man walked in and sat down. He didn’t speak, but waited for the orderly and Mandy to leave. The door was shut behind them and it was only Nick and the scruffy guy in the small room. He was wearing dirty jeans and a blue shirt that indicated that he worked at a car repair shop. There was dirt and grease underneath his fingernails. Nick stared at him, trying to figure out who he was. The man didn’t make him feel very comfortable. The stranger seemed to take notice of that and was amused by it.

“Trying to figure out who I am?” The man smirked. “Trying to trying to work through all those holes in your head to place me? Well, don’t worry, you won’t. You have never seen me and you are going to forget my face as soon as I leave here. I am only delivering a message for my sister. I guess it sucks to be sitting in this nuthouse and being on trial when you have no idea what you did.”

Nick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. What the hell was going on?! He wanted to jump up and shout at this person to leave, but he felt frozen to the chair. The man continued.

“You’re on trial for the assault of two women, huh? You don’t believe you did this right?” When Nick didn’t respond, the man barked, “I asked you a question!”

Nick’s eyes widened and he shook his head slowly.

“Well I don’t give a shit about this Lizz person, but you messed up my niece. Don’t think you are getting away with it.” The man snapped.

Nick’s mind reeled. His memory was trying to come back and he vaguely remembered the scene that had transpired in the snow before they were rescued. He remembered Terri dragging Lizz over in front of him and yelling like a crazed lunatic at the top of her lungs.

“ Here's your truth, Carter. Seven months ago you tried to kill yourself. Lizz here tried to stop you by saying she was going to drink some medicine that would kill her. Well she was too late. She didn't quite do the job because you still took the pills. You both ended up in the hospital. You both almost died. I would have made a shitload of money off of both of you selling information to the National Enquiror, but you and your stupid friends had to ruin that. See?! It is her fault. If she would have stopped you, none of this would have happened." Terri screamed.

Then she started beating the crap outta Lizz. Nick’s jaw dropped. He didn’t assault Lizz! It was Terri. He didn’t really remember Lizz, but he knew he wouldn’t attack her.

The man narrowed his eyes. “I just have a little advice for you, Carter. It would be in your friends’ better interest to not fight these charges. See, my sis is pretty upset about her daughter and you still need to pay. Both Brian and Lizz are in the hospital and from what I have heard, they are having a pretty rough time. Brian has pneumonia and as you know, he was shot. Not to mention the complications of missing whatever the hell meds he takes. And Lizz hasn’t been able to even get off the morphine yet. You should see her. Ha! Oh, I heard her body might be rejecting her kidneys now too. The best part is that has to be sedated every time she wakes up. I guess she is having a hard time dealing with this.”

“How the hell do you know all that?!” Nick demanded hoarsely. He hadn’t expected to hear any of this.

“Don’t ask questions Carter. Just know that if you are declared innocent, then you will make things a lot more complicated for your friends. Weigh your options carefully boy. And if I hear that you have told anyone of this conversation, either Lizz or Brian won’t be leaving the hospital.” The man smiled sadistically at Nick and let himself out.

Nick’s heart was pounding and the tiny room seemed to get smaller. He knew that Mandy would be back so he tried to get a handle on his emotions, but he couldn’t get past that man’s words. He felt like he was about to unravel.

~*~*~*~*~ “Marcus, why don’t you just give it up and turn yourself in?” Kyung sighed wearily. She was carefully holding her broken arm. Any sort of movement gave her chills, not to mention intense pain. Plus her face still stung from Marcus’ slaps when he finally caught her after she had kicked him. He was absolutely livid and he had let her have it good.

“Shut up.” He said sourly.

“Seriously, do you have any idea where we are going?” Kyung pressed. They had been walking for the past half hour into the middle of nowhere. It was very woodsy and Kyung was afraid they were lost.

“Shut up.” Marcus repeated.

“What happens when it gets dark and we are out here in BFE?! You don’t know where we are do you?!” Kyung continued stubbornly. God she was turning into Lizz.

“Shut up.”

“You ever think about expanding your vocabulary?” Kyung glared at the back of his head as she tried to keep up.

“Alright. Shut the fuck up.”

Kyung shook her head as they continued deeper into the forest. She knew it was pointless to try to escape, as she had gotten caught twice already. She was no match for Marcus and she knew it. She didn’t want to, but she let her mind drift towards her friends. Her eyes filled with tears and she wondered if they were alive and if they were would she would ever see them again?

~*~*~*~

I sat at the table, stunned. My best friend’s life was at stake and I was the only one that could save him. I didn’t hear Mandy when she came back into the room.

“Nick, I have your locker assignment and your room. There are a couple of things I need you to do first before I show you to your room,” Mandy stated as she sat back down at the table.

I must have been staring off into space because suddenly, her face was directly in front of mine.

“Nick? Are you with me?”

I straightened myself up in the seat. ’I gotta stay focused, Brian needs me to be focused.’ I kept coaching myself. “Oh, sorry what did you say again?”

“Okay, this is just a quick assessment to check your cognitive level,” Mandy said as she looked down at the chart. Okay, I need you to give me your full name.”

“Nickolas Gene Carter.”

“Okay, when’s your birthday?”

“January 28.”

“Year born and how old are you?”

“1980 and I’m 20.”

“Okay, who’s the president?”

I was beginning to get bored with all the questions, this was getting a little silly. It was almost like a mini interview. I hated those. “Bill Clinton.”

“Okay Nick, last question. Do you know what the date is today?”

That was a question I don’t think I could answer. Things had been mushed together from the kidnapping to the hospital stay. I honestly didn’t have any idea. With it being Florida, I definitely didn’t have a clue as to what time of year it was either by looking out the window.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you,” I replied.

“Fair enough, how about the year then?”

“2000.”

“Very good Nick, let’s take you down to your room now,” Mandy said as she walked over towards the door and held it open for me. “You seem to be okay to be on a level c18,” Mandy said as we stopped at a scale. “I need you to step up on the scales please.”

I did as I was told.

“Two twenty-eight,” Mandy said as she scribbled the numebrs into the chart. “Okay Nick, with you being a level C18, you get to wear these,” she said as she handed me a pair of dark green hospital scrubs. “you can change in this room here.”

Once I changed into the green scrubs, Mandy led me down to another room with a blue screen that was rolled down and a camera. “Nick, stand where the white mark is on the floor and look at me please. Smile?”

I didn’t feel like smiling. I was sort of shocked to think that she would even suggest it. Here I am, locked up in some mental hospital knowing that any decision I make will affect either my life or the lives of two other people.

Mandy held a laminated identification badge out for me to look at before she pinned it to my shirt. It was white with bold black lettering: PATIENT: CARTER,NICKOLAS G 1/28/80 4976851-C18. It also had a picture of me that she had just taken.

“You have to wear this at all times Nick, for your safety and for ours. Okay, now we get to go to your room. You are in the green section of the hospital. I forgot to tell you that our sections are in different colors for each level. You should be grateful you’re not in the purple section. Ah, here we are, room number G23.”

As we entered the room, I noticed there were two single sized beds with a brown dresser separating them. The room had white walls and dark green carpet. A narrow window that overlooked the parking lot was covered with thick steel bars.

“Nick, this is your room mate, Jalen. Here’s a list of rules and a layout of the building. I’m sure he can help you if you have any questions. Dinner is at six, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that stated, the door was closed and locked shut.

Welcome to my new world, this definitely was going to suck.

~*~*~*~*~

I waited as AJ shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t blame him. I was willing to bet he was familiar with my state of being as of late. He probably didn’t want to be the one to set off another panic attack. I was pretty upset with all this and I also had that familiar tense feeling. That, I knew, was Nick. I was used to that and it didn’t bother me so much. Ever since it started last spring he always apologized all over the place whenever it happened. I couldn’t say it enough. It wasn’t his fault and this happens for a reason. The only thing I hated about it is that everytime it happens, I know something is wrong. Nick is upset about something and there isn’t a damn thing I can do to make it better. I’d take it all away if I could, but at the same time, I’m sure he wouldn’t give it to me. “AJ, I need to know. Not knowing is worse than anything.” I urged.

“Okay, let’s start with Brian. He’s on a different floor, but it still treated like ICU. On top of missing his meds, and the injuries from the crash, he has pneumonia in both lungs.” AJ watched me carefully for a reaction.

I nodded. Pneumonia is bad. I’ve had to battle that on more than one occasion. “But he’ll be okay right?” I didn’t even want to think otherwise and I was relieved when he nodded.

“He’s going to be fine okay.” Even though he tried to sound reassuring, the worry in his voice was evident. “Nick...he’s in a state institution right now.”

I gasped.

AJ’s eyes widened. “Hold on, let me continue. His attorney wanted to stall for time so he could build up a good defense. Besides with Nick still having amnesia there is no way that he could stand trial and try to defend himself.”

I shook my head as the news settled in. “He can’t be there. Not a mental institute. You know what that’s gonna do to him on the inside? How that’s gonna affect him!”

“I know, but there isn’t much choice Lizz.” AJ shrugged helplessly. “I don’t like the idea any more than you do, but what other choice is there?”

I shook my head again, more vigorously. “AJ you don’t understand! You know what it’s like to not feel ‘normal’? It’s one of the worst feelings in the world. Being in that place, for whatever reason, is going to make it so hard. Whatever the reason.” My voice was reaching the point of desperation. What was going to happen when his amnesia started to wear off? It was something that I didn’t even want to fathom.

“Hey, you gotta stay calm okay? You won’t do yourself any good by getting worked up.” AJ tried to reason.

I took a couple deep breaths and winced at the pain it brought. I guess those saintly pain meds were wearing off. I didn’t want to freak out. If I did, they would sedate me and I wouldn’t hear the rest. “Where’s Kyung?” My voice was very small.

AJ sighed. “They still have her. We don’t know anymore than that. And your parents...none of you are allowed outside contact or harm could come to one fo you guys in here or Kyung. That was reported back from who has Kyung.”

Tears sprung to my eyes. “Dale and Marcus. They’re the only ones that are left. Oh god, what if she...if they...” I couldn’t finish the words. I never felt so alone. I pointlessly tried to fight the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. Agnes’ threat sprung to mind. “AJ you have to go make sure Brian is okay. You can’t let her hurt him again.”

He looked torn, but finally relented. “I’m going to get your nurse. I’ll keep you updated okay?”

I nodded, anxious for him to get back to Brian. Besides, I didn’t want him to see me cry. I hated when people saw me cry. I felt like my mind was in a whirlwind. It was torn between Brian, Nick and Kyung. They were all in trouble and I couldn’t help them. I pounded my fist down on the bedrail and then cried out when a sharp pain knifed through the lower side of my back. It was a pain I felt more than seven months ago. Same place. I bit my lip and reached my good arm back to feel the area. Every part of my body was sore from Terri’s beating and I was already tender to the touch. I pushed on the spot where my kidney was and tried not to gasp. This was bad. Very bad...

~*~*~*~

Before AJ went up to Brian’s room, he snuck outside near the hospital employee’s entrance to get a quick cigarette and to call Kevin and Howie and let them know what was going on at the hospital. After a few minutes of debating back and forth, Kevin and AJ decided it would be okay for Howie and himself to come up to the hospital.

“I seriously doubt that old lady even knows the rest of us guys, it was just dumb luck on my part or something and with her daughter being out of commission with her surgery, my theory is tht one of us can cover Brian and the other cover Lizz,” AJ stated to Kevin.

“Sounds like a good plan to me AJ. I’ll call Howie and we’ll be there as soon as we can,” Kevin replied.

AJ closed up his cell phone and too one more deep drag off his cigarette before flicking it to the ground.

“I gotta stop one of these days,” he sighed and then walked back towards the hospital.

~*~*~*~

I sat on the edge of my bed, facing this Jalen person. He looked like a bookworm, I didn’t know if he was crazy or semi crazy like me.

“So Nick, obviously Mandy didn’t formally introduce us,” he held his hand out for me to shake. “My name’s Jalen, but I perfer to be called Jay.”

Jay? God that name sounded so familiar to me but I couldn’t place it at the moment.

As I shook the hand that was offered, I couldn’t help but notice the tons of freckles that ran up and down his arm and hands. He had deep red hair, wore braces and was wearing glasses like the actor Drew Carey wore all the time.

“Oh, you like these?” Jalen asked. “I noticed you staring at them. They’re requisitioned here. You can’t have any things that belong to you here at the nut farm. Have you had your medical eval yet?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Medical eval?”

Jay let out a long sigh. “God, you know, medical evaluation?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “I dunno, she asked me some questions and stuff, wasn’t that it?”

Jay started to chuckle. “Oh not even close, you’re gonna hate every bit of it.” He looked at my face closer, pushing his thick glasses up with his finger. “You wear contact lenses?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Kiss them goodbye after tomorrow,” Jay laughed.

A ringing bell, similar to ones you would hear in a school building caught his attention. There was a strong buzzing noise and suddenly the door swung open.

“Dinner Nick, come on, green block goes first this week!”

I stayed planted on the bed. “You go on, I’m not really hungry.”

Jay stopped and stared at me. “You better go cause they watch everthing you do and I mean everything. If you don’t eat they’ll put you in the hole and force you to eat.”

I shrugged my shoulders and stood up and followed Jay to the cafeteria. I had a feeling this was going to be rough.

*~*~*~*~*

Agnes returned to her daughter’s room, her face flushed with anger. Her plans were starting to unravel.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Terri asked, she could tell by the look on her mother’s face that something was wrong.

Agnes sighed. “I just met that weird Backstreet Boy again,” she snapped her fingers, “the one with the tatoos on his arms.”

“AJ mama, it was AJ. Why is he hanging around here, I thought you told them no outside visitors.”

“Evidently this one isn’t too bright. I caught him in Brian’s room and Lizz’s room. I think I fixed it this time though, I told him I might have to inject air into Brian’s IV line,” Agnes grinned as she recalled.

“Better yet mommy find someone that’s dying of some disease and take their needle and stick it into both Brian and Lizz,” Terri plotted.

Agnes gasped at the thought. “You sure are the evil little one.”

“Just like daddy is,” Terri piped up.

“Speaking of, I have tried their cell number and it just keeps ringing, I’m starting to get a little pissed off at them,” Agnes stated.

~*~*~*~

Suddenly, the over head lights in the room flickered on.

“What the hell..” I mumbled as I took my pillow and placed it across my face.

“It’s six-thirty, rise and shine,” Jay mumbled.

“What the hell are we getting up for?” I questioned.

“Breakfast, therapy, med line and the most fun, work stations,” Jay replied as he pulled his scrub pants on.

I heard the distinct sound of keys rattling outside our door. Quickly the door was opened and Mandy entered our room, holding a chart.

“Nick, still not dressed yet? I need you to get dressed and follow me, you will have your breakfast during our evaluation. Hurry, I will wait for you outside this door,” Mandy cheerfully requested.

I slowly dragged my body out of bed and went over to the commode that was in the corner of our room, no doors to aid in privacy. I got dressed and quickly splashed water on my face and brushed my teeth and raked my hands through my hair. I definately was not looking forward to this medical evaluaton at all.

~*~*~*~

Officer Mallow sped down the long stretch of highway toward the station. He was pretty much in the middle of nowhere and his shift would be over by the time he made it back. He usually disliked patrolling this stretch because it was out in the boonies and he never got to see anything good. Today, however, he was relieved because that meant he would actually get off on time. He heard ESPN and a cold beer calling his name.

"What the hell?" He mumbled to himself as a very large object came to view in the distance. As he approached it he realized that is was a van. An overturned van.

"Shit." He cursed when he realized that this would prolong his shift. He could kiss that beer goodbye. He picked up his radio and called for backup. When he reached the vehicle he could see broken glass everywhere. He turned on his flashing lights and the strobe effect stood out in contrast to the darkening area. He finally pulled to a stop behind the van and caustiously made his way towards it.

"Police! Anyone injured?" He called out, shining a huge flashlight over the crash scene. He was met with silence. The van was turned so that passenger side was closest to him. When Mallow shined his light into the window he saw a man leaning half inside it and and half out.

"Shit! Sir? Sir?" Mallow carefully leaned over and put the pads of his fingers agianst the man's throat. It was cold to the touch and it was obvious that he had been dead for awhile. Mallow shined the light further and noticed that there was a lot more blood than there should have been for just one man. Mallow walked around to the other side of the mangled vehicle and shined his light around some more.

Damn it! Where is my backup?! He thought to himself. As he tried to peer inside the van, his light fell onto the victim's face.

Mallow gasped. He recognized him from the picture that had been flashed all over the news.

~*~*~*~*~

This was not something I wanted to deal with right now. There was far too much going on for my kidneys to decide to start failing on me. They hurt, but with everything that had happened to me recently, I was getting used to constantly being in pain. It was going to have to wait. I was going to go see Brian.

I pushed the blankets away and gasped at the sight of my legs. They were a mess of black, blue, and faded yellow. Terri's beating. Gross. I carefully edged them over the side of the bed, wincing as I did so. If I hadn't been on some pretty decent pain meds, there was no way I would be doing this. I could barely move as it was. Very slowly and deliberately I went into the long process of turning all the alarms to silent and removing the bloodpressure cuff and oxygen that was attached to me. Man, was I going to get it good when I got caught. Then it hit me that Kyung wasn't here to catch me and my eyes filled with tears.

"Not now!" I berated myself outloud.

I was very dizzy on my feet, but I held tight to my IV pole. I'd just put my weight on it. As I inched towards the door I caught my face's reflection in the dark window, almost as clear as an actual mirror. Wow. Sick. I already knew about the white bandage that covered the stitches above my eye. The black eye from Terri was starting to fade, but the rest of my face was still pretty bruised. I guess I wouldn't be winning any beauty contests any time soon.

The hallway was pretty clear and I barely missed a nurse disappear into someone's room. I walked unsteadily towards the exit to the ICU, trying to act like I was supposed to walking around. It worked. I made it to the ICU doors and went right through. Call it practice from years of sneaking around hospitals or call it dumb luck, but I made it through. I was so floored that I had made it out, that it seemed to give me a boost of adreniline. I was still unsteady and dizzy as hell, but I had made it further than I thought. The elevators were right outside ICU and I pushed the button to go up. When the doors opened I noticed only one person inside. As soon as she saw me, she turned quickly away. Okay, I know I looked bad, but sheesh! That was rude. I didn't even get a good look at her until the doors shut and we started moving.

"Well well..."

The blood froze in my veins. That voice. I looked up and Terri's mother stood in front of me.

"What a pleasant surprise." She smiled, menacingly as she hit the stop button on the elevator.

Shit.

~*~*~*~

By Marcus’s stupidity, he allowed Kyung to walk in front of him for the last hour of the hike. He had no idea where he was and was wishing that maybe Kyung would figure a way out of the mess they were now into.

Kyung’s heart caught in her throat when she thought she saw a disinctive flash of red and then of blue. She decided before Marcus noticed, she grabbed her bad arm with her good and started running down the path, the branches on the trees that hung across where beating unmercifully across her face.

“HEY WHAT THE HELL!” Marcus called out from behind. “I THOUGHT YOU WERE FINISHED WITH THIS DUMB ASS GAME!”

“I see a highway, maybe we can find help!” Kyung yelled over her shoulder. She fell down once into the soft dirt as she climbed the hill, grunting when she hit the ground.

“Take it easy,” Marcus hollered. He realized he was losing control of the situation.

As Kyung crested the hill, she started screaming. A state trooper’s car was parked alongside of the road, investigating an accident. She starting running blindly towards the car.

Marcus was about ready to yell at Kyung but stopped. He crested the hill in time to see her furiously running towards a policeman standing near an overturned suburban.... their suburban! He suddenly realized that they had been wandering through the woods in a complete circle. Marcus immediately did a quick turn around and ran into the dense woods, trying to put distance between himself and his hostage.

~*~*~*~

“Well, well, look what we have here,” Agnes glared at Lizz. “You look pretty sad and pathetic, I guess that Nick Carter really did a job on you.”

Lizz narrowed her eyes at Agnes. “Don’t play that shit on me! You forget, I’m not the one with trouble remembering things.”

Agnes laughed sarcastically. “Oh yeah, it slipped my mind. Well, you know what? We have things fixed up pretty good for your friend Nick and your friend Kyung too.”

Lizz felt her heart starting to beat faster, her chest was tightening.

“What do you mean?” she asked, trying to keep her composure.

“Well, Kyung is out in a cabin in the middle of the woods in Tennessee and as for your young friend Nick, we have him convinced that the only way to save his friends is to take the guilt and spend the rest of his life in prison. He’s accepted it and he will be talking to a judge before the week is done. You can kiss any chance of seeing him again in oh, about forty to sixty years from now.”

“He won’t,” Lizz gasped, unable to get air into her lungs.

“Ah but he has to. You see, we told him if he screws with us Brian gets it. Brian is his best friend and it will be easy to do him in unsuspectingly. A little puff of air in his IV line and,” Agnes snapped her fingers, “poof, bye bye Brian.”

Agnes pushed the button on the elevator to start up again.

Lizz was clinging onto the IV pole, trying to keep from falling over as a full blown panick attack was building. By the time the elevator stopped on a floor, Lizz was now doubled over, coughing and hyperventilating.

“Oh dear lord, somebody please! Someone help her! Help!” Agnes barely yelled out as the doors opened. As she stepped out, she ran head on into a man. She appologised quickly and then looked into the face and gasped.

I couldn’t catch my breath. God, I hope Nick isn’t feeling this. My heart was threatening to pound out of my chest and my legs were shaking so bad that I could barely keep standing. I heard Agnes start hollering for help and then apologize when she ran into someone. When I heard the reply, my head shot up at the familiar voice.

“YOU?!” Brian glared at Agnes as she stood there, looking uncomfortable. He was out on physical therapy rounds. The therapist was hovering behind him since he wasn’t very steady on his feet. He was ghostly pale and looked exhausted, but determined. His eyes shifted to mine and his jaw dropped.

“Brian.” I choked out, stumbling towards him. I started to fall, still gasping frantically, but his therapist caught me before I hit the ground.

“Easy now. Just try to breathe.” She urged. “Hey we need some help over here!”

Brian very slowly and carefully knelt down in front of me. “Lizz what’s wrong?”

“Brian...she...can’t...she...can’t...” I couldn’t even get the words out. I was totally panicking and everything was spinning around me.

“Shhhhh. Lizz, breathe!” Brian said softly, trying to calm me down.

“No! You...” I clung to him, determined to keep Agnes away. The frustration of not being able to get any air was too much. I was so afraid that Agnes was going to do something to Brian.

“Lizz, just take it easy. You’re gonna be fine. Take deep breaths.” He coaxed.

Meanwhile other nurses had appeared, one with an oxygen tank. I felt someone put a canuala on me and it got a little easier to breathe. The PT looked at Agnes.

“What exactly happened here?” Marilyn had a bad feeling about that woman that was standing there. The look of horror on her face when she ran into Brian was odd. It wasn’t fear of what was happening with this girl, but a fear of Brian’s reaction.

Agnes shifted her feet and wrung her hands nervously. “I...I don’t know. She stepped on the elevator and suddenly started freaking out. She doesn’t even look like she should be up and around.”

Brian looked up and glared at her. He was about to open his mouth to inform the small crowd that this woman was lying, but he stopped when he felt Lizz grip his arms harder. He looked at her questionably and she shook her head vehemently. Her eyes were wide with fear.

“What did you do to her?” Brian demanded angrily.

Agnes looked shocked. “What do you mean? I don’t even know her.” The last part was said with a hint of malice. None of the nurses seemed to notice it, but Brian heard it and obviously Lizz did because she began to tremble.

“Brian, please.” Lizz said softly, pleading.

The look in her eyes was desperate and he finally relented. Agnes smirked at them. How pathetic. She thought to herself.

Marilyn noticed the look on Agnes’ face and grew uncomfortable. Her patient looked furious and the girl that was clinging to him was obviously terrified for some reason. Two of the nurses began to lift Lizz onto a gurney so they could take her back to her room. They covered her up with a blanket and attended to the IV pump which began beeping shrilly.

“No! You can’t make me go back! Please!“ Lizz cast a pleading look towards Brian.

He watched helplessly. She needed to go back to her room, but he also wanted to know what had happened. He was totally spent and Marilyn noticed.

Let’s go back to your room okay?” She said softly, taking his arm.

He nodded and turned back to Lizz. He wanted to tell her it was going to be okay. That he would figure something out. She was already being pushed down the hall though, her voice softly carrying through the hall. He glared at Agnes, wanting to say something. The look that Lizz had given him stopped him though. He needed to find out what was going on first. She smirked at Brian and went back to talking to one of the nurses.

Brian sighed in frustration. His stomach hurt and he felt so tired suddenly. Too much had happened so fast. He and Marilyn walked slowly down the hall and upon turning the corner, he was relieved to see the familiar face that rushed towards him.

~*~*~*~*~

I was so disoriented. Things seemed to spin in and out of focus around me and every fiber of my being hurt. Was I ever going to get better? Probably not if I kept causing myself this damage. At least I accomplished something by doing this; I found out Agnes’ little scheme. My eyes filled with tears. I needed to warn them, but how did I do that without endangering their safety?

“Oh sweetie, I’m so glad you are okay. You sure gave me a fright!” Agnes suddenly appeared alongside the gurney and my chest immediately tightened. Damn it, I was just finally being able to breathe. I glared at her, but didn’t say anything.

She leaned close and whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry, you’ll be getting a nice visit later. Brian too. Too bad, he was the least annoying of all of you. Tsk tsk...You’ve already lost Kyung and now Nick, very soon Brian will be gone too.” She patted my shoulder and then walked down the hall.

Shit. Shit. She wasn’t going to do this. I couldn’t catch my breath all over again.

“Lizz? Lizz?” Their voices were a blur and I couldn’t stop the spiraling darkness.

~*~*~*~*~

“Help!!! Please!!! Help me!!” Kyung screamed frantically.

Mallow jumped a mile, dropping his flashlight, when he heard the sudden noise from the woods. “What the...” Ghosts? Surely not...

Kyung stumbled up to the accident site and dropped to her knees in fatigue. Her broken arm was throbbing her, but she didn’t care. She found someone. “Please, help me!” She cried.

Mallow retrieved his flashlight and shined it towards the young girl’s voice. His eyes bulged when at what the beam of light revealed. A young Oriental girl, not more than her younger twenties, smeared with dirt and blood. Her tear-streaked face was etched in a mixture of fear and relief. Realization dawned on him, it was one of the girls that was kidnapped. The one that hadn’t turned up. Until now.

“Miss? Shit, are you okay?” He mentally smacked himself for such a dumb question as he rushed towards her. She was shaking and crying.

“He...he’s out...there...” Kyung gestured over her shoulder into the woods.

“Who? Who’s out there?” Mallow demanded.

“Marcus...kidnapped...” She stopped and started to sob. Mallow took his jacket off quickly and wrapped it around her. She looked like she was going into shock.

“Miss? Look at me okay? Can you look at me?” Mallow tried to get her attention to no avail. Her sobs started to subside, but she had begun to rock back and forth, staring blankly ahead.

“Shit.” He reached for his walkie talkie. “I need backup!!”