Two days later…
Amanda comes to the doorway of Mark's room. She finds him asleep,
and she also finds Steve asleep in the chair near the bed. She
walks into the room, and Steve wakes up. "Oh, Steve. I'm
sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"Oh that's alright," Steve sits up and yawns. "I
didn't even realize I was so tired."
"How is he doing?"
"He's doing pretty good. He was up and walking a little bit
this morning. Dr. Campbell said that he could leave once he could
walk fifty feet.
"That sounds great. I'm glad he's doing so well. Well, hey,
I'll see you later. I've got to pick up the kids and relieve
Jesse. The three of them together alone means nothing but bad
news." Amanda walks out and Steve leans back reflecting on
the past few days.
***************************
"You're kidding," Amanda laughed as she and Jesse sat
at a table in the doctors' lounge.
"No, I'm not. She went in there and held his hand. She was
still in there when I came back an hour later. But this time she
had her head next to his hand and she was asleep. I just decided
to let her stay there."
"I had no idea things were so serious between those
two."
"Who did. They only met about a week ago," Jesse got up
to get some coffee. "I would have thought he of all people
would take things slow.
"Does Steve know about this?" Amanda questioned.
"Not from me he doesn't. I don't know if Mark's told him or
not."
"Poor Steve. Will he be shocked when he finds out."
"That's the truth."
"Where is Steve anyway? He wasn't in Mark's room
earlier."
"I think he went home again."
"That's good. That's what only three times he's been out of
this hospital since Mark has been admitted."
"Yeah, probably."
***************************
A week later…
"Steve, are you sure you packed everything?" Mark asked
sitting on the side of the bed.
"Yes, Dad. I'm sure. Would you please not worry about
that," Steve replied as he put a magazine in a bag.
"Alright, alright. Where is Jesse with that wheelchair? I'm
ready to get out of here."
"He said he it would take a few minutes. He'll be
here," Steve said as he walked into the bathroom to assure
his father that he had packed everything.
Jesse walked into the room and innocently closed the bathroom and
pulled the wheelchair in front of it, "Where's Steve?"
"Jesse, I'm in the bathroom." Steve said annoyed as he
opened the door and knocked the wheelchair into Jesse.
"Ouch. Steve, that hurt."
"Oh, I am so sorry. Did the baby get a boo-boo?" Steve
said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh, just leave me alone," Jesse said as he pushed the
wheelchair closer to Mark. "Mark, you ready to go?"
"Yes, I'm ready. I've been ready."
"Well, alright. Let's get you in the chair, and then you're
a free man." Mark complies and sits in the chair.
"Steve, do you have the bag?"
"Yes, Jesse. You know I think I can remember to pick up a
simple bag."
"Well, seeing that you're usually the one going out in the
wheelchair, it's something that you never had to worry
about," Jesse said trying to get back at Steve for hitting
him earlier with the wheelchair. However, Jesse's triumph was
soon demolished when Steve smacked his head as they walked out
the door.
"Hey," Jesse said rubbing his head.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Jess. I guess my hand slipped."
*************************
One week later…
The beach house early in the morning…
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay home with you for a
couple more days?" Steve asked as he put on his
jacket."
"Steve, I'll be fine. I don't need you to keep watch over me
like I'm a 5 year old."
"Dad, I just want to make sure you're going to be
okay."
"Steve, I'll be fine. Now go. You'll be late."
Steve walked to the door, "Call me if you need
anything."
"I will, now go."
"Bye, Dad."
"Bye, Steve." Mark said as he shut the door. He then
proceeded to go to his bedroom. He took off his robe and lay down
in bed. He soon dozed off. He soon awoke to the sound of the
phone ringing. He managed to wake up enough to answer.
"Hello," he answered groggily.
"Dad, it's me. I was just checking to make sure that you're
doing okay."
"I'm doing fine, Steve. I've been asleep since you
left."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Well, I need to get
going. I'll see you at home tonight. Bye, Dad."
"Bye, Steve." Mark hung up the phone and lay back down.
He took a deep breath, and realized he didn't want to sleep
anymore. He looked at the clock and he couldn't believe it was
already 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon. He got up and went to the
kitchen to fix him something to eat.
He was sidetracked when the phone rang again, "Hello."
"Mark, it's Debbie. How are you doing?"
"I'm doing pretty good. I wish they would let me go back to
work."
"Well, Mark. You do need your rest."
"Yeah, I know. If I tried to go back to work, Steve would
probably tie me down."
"Those kids can be over-protective, can't they?"
"Yeah, they can. Would you like to have lunch
tomorrow?"
"Do you feel up to it?"
"Yes, I feel fine."
"Well then. How about I meet you at your house around
noon?"
"That would be great. See you then."
"Bye."
He hung up the phone and walked to the kitchen. After he finished
his lunch, he was washing his lunch dishes when he heard a knock
on the door. "I'll be right there." He opened the door
and the man outside rushed inside the house and stuck a gun at
Mark's head.
"Listen here, Doc. You don't say a word; you don't make a
sound, alright?"
Mark just nodded. The gunman put a piece of paper on the desk and
then forced Mark out the door and into the parked car by the
curb.
********************
"Dr. Travis, you have a phone call on line one," the
loudspeaker bellowed.
Jesse picked up the phone, "Dr. Travis."
"Hey, Jess. It's Steve."
"Hey, Steve. What do you need?"
"Have you heard from Dad?"
"No. Why?"
"I've called the house several times, and he's not
answering."
"Well, maybe he's asleep."
"I thought of that too, but he was asleep earlier and I woke
him up with a phone call; he still answered it."
"Well, hey. I'm off in about 15 minutes. I'll go see if he's
at home."
"Thanks, Jess. I would go, but I can't get off work until
later tonight. Believe me, I've tried everything."
"No problem. I'll call when I get there. Bye."
Steve hung up the phone, but he had a feeling that something was
wrong. And no matter what he tried to do, his mind kept drifting
back to his father. He couldn't concentrate on his work, and he
was anxious to hear from Jesse.
*******************
Jesse pulled up to the driveway, and walked to the door,
"Mark," he called as he knocked. He got no answer so he
turned the doorknob and to his surprise, it opened. He entered
the house carefully, "Mark, are you here?" Again he got
no answer. He checked the bedroom, the kitchen, and even Steve's
apartment. He found no one. He walked to the phone and dreaded
making the phone call to Steve. He slowly dialed the number, and
when Steve answered, he solemnly told Steve, "You probably
need to come to the house. He's not here, but his car is. And the
door was unlocked when I got here…" Jesse was just
talking into thin air because Steve had already hung up the phone
and started home.
Steve squealed his car to a stop and rushed inside the house.
Cops were already on the scene. He marched straight into the
living room looking for Jesse. "Hey Steve," Jesse
spotted Steve, "come look at this."
"What is it?"
"It's a letter I found on the desk right after I hung up
from talking to you."
Steve took the letter and read it. His expression changed as he
made his way down the length of the letter.
To anybody who may care,
I have the old man. The so-called great doctor. He couldn't help
my father. My father died because the good doctor couldn't help
him, so the old man must die too. You see, in two days it will
have been exactly one year since my father died. I thought it
fitting that his supposed healer die on the anniversary of his
death. However, I will make it fair. You have two days to find
him. But at 10:09 a.m. on Wednesday, the old man dies. Good luck.
Jesse watched as Steve read the letter. Jesse could see the pain
etched in Steve's eyes, but Jesse was sure that was all that
would ever show.
"Jess," Steve started, "how far back does the
hospital keep patients' records?"
"Well, the hospital keeps the records for 1 year. And then
after a year, the records are sent to a storage building right
off Main Street. Why?" Jesse asked, not yet knowing what
Steve was thinking.
"Well," Steve said as he walked to the phone, "in
order to find my dad, we have to have some idea as to who
kidnapped him." Steve paused with his hand on the phone,
"Do you have access to patients' files?"
"Well, if they were my patients I do, but I can't get other
doctors' files."
"Well, then we must get a warrant," Steve picked up the
phone and dialed a number. He waited for someone to pick up. He
said a few words and then hung up. "Jess, I've got to go to
the judge's office to get the warrant. Want to come?"
"Of course I want to come," they headed out the door
and got into Steve's car.
****************************
A couple hours later at the hospital…
Amanda walks up and sees a couple of police officers going
through some filing cabinets. She sees Jesse going through a
couple of files and goes over to him, "Jesse, what's going
on? Why are all these cops here?"
"Oh, Amanda, haven't you heard?"
"Heard what?"
"Mark was kidnapped from the beach house a few hours
ago."
"Oh, God. Where's Steve? And why is everybody looking
through the files?"
"I think Steve's in the next room looking at some patient
files in there. And the reason we're looking through all the
files is because of this letter," Jesse hands Amanda a copy
of the letter and she reads it.
"Have you all had any luck finding the file of the
man?"
"Not yet. I never realized how many patients Mark saw last
year. It would really help if these files were in numerical order
instead of alphabetical order. And to complicate things more,
some of the files may have already been sent to the storage
place."
"I'm going in to see how Steve's doing," Amanda walked
into the next room and sees Steve sitting at a table which has
numerous files spread over it. "Steve?"
Steve looks up, "Hey, Amanda." He continues working
through the files.
"How are you doing?" she asks as she sits down next to
him.
"This is so damn frustrating. I don't know where to look
next. There are so many files and the admitting person doesn't
know if those files were sent to the storage company or not. We
have to look in both places, and I don't have much time
before…" Steve stopped, but Amanda knew what he was
thinking. She put her hand on his back and to let him know she
was there for him.
They both start looking through the files. Steve threw another
one in a box when they heard a voice from the other room.
"Lieutenant, we've found something."
Steve all but jumped from his seat and ran into the other room,
"What have you got?"
"We found a file that fits the description. A man by the
name of Ben Stuart."
Steve takes the file and begins to read it, "Great. Keep
looking though because there could be some more files."
Amanda came up next to Steve, "Steve, why do you think there
would be more than one death on that day?"
"Because, according to this file, there was a multiple car
accident that day. Several trauma patients were sent to Community
General, and Dad was the attending doctor to several of those
traumas. Jess, will you continue looking while I go check this
man's relatives?"
"Sure, Steve. No problem." Jesse finished as Steve
walked out of the room.
Debbie came up to Amanda. "What's going on?"
"Oh, Debbie. Mark has been kidnapped. It's related to a
patient's death."
"Oh, God. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I guess you can help me look through these files."
"Sure." Debbie sat down with Amanda and helped sort the
files.
******************************
Meanwhile…
A rough-looking man stood in front of Mark. Mark asked,
"What do you want with me?"
"Listen here old man. I despise you and what you have done
to my family."
"What do you mean? I don't even know you."
"You don't remember me? Well the day you told me my father
had died, you seemed like my best friend. You said if there was
anything you could do, all I had to was ask. You told me you and
your colleagues had done everything you could do. Well, let me
tell you something. You didn't do everything you could do. If you
had of my father would still be alive."
"Look, I'm sorry I don't remember you. I don't know every
family member of any of my patients. But I am absolutely sure
that we did everything to help your father."
"I doubt it."
"What was his name?"
"George Morris. There was an accident that day. A 12-car
pile-up. My father was the middle car. One of the worst injuries
of the accident. The paramedics said that your hospital was one
of the best. So that's where they took him. But you completely
destroyed my life when you came out and told me and my family
that he had died."
"I remember that now. I remember him. We lost several that
day. Your father's injuries were so severe that nobody could have
helped him. And even if someone could have helped him, he would
have had problems the rest of his life. Probably been in a coma
until he died."
"But you killed him. You let him die."
"Do you think your father would have wanted to live in a
coma the rest of his life?"
"You didn't know my father."
"No, I didn't. But I don't think I know anyone who would
want to spend 10 years in a coma, unable to communicate with your
loved ones and unable to care for yourself."
"But I wasn't ready to let him go."
"No one usually is."
"I need him."
"Who doesn't need a parent. But think about it-would you
want to live your life like that?"
"Listen," the angry man said, "I don't need some
doctor psycho-analyzing me. You are going to die on the year
anniversary of his death. I thought that would be fitting. Don't
you think?"
*************************
Steve's walking outside a building talking on a phone,
"Jesse, I don't think this is our guy. His father did die in
that accident, but there are three witnesses who say he's been at
his store all morning."
"Yeah, well, we're still looking. We haven't found anything
yet."
"Please keep trying, Jess."
"We are Steve. What are you going to do?"
"I'm coming back to the hospital to help find more
files."
***************************
Back at the hospital.
Steve is sitting at a table reading a file. Jesse is sitting next
to him. "Why are these files not on computer?"
"Well, if a patient dies, there are not a priority for
getting them in a computer."
"Jess, tell me something. Will my dad be okay? I know he
knows how to handle himself in most cases, but he just had a
heart attack and major surgery."
"Steve, he should be. He was real strong when he left the
hospital, and he had a couple days of recuperation at home."
Steve laid his head on the table, "I hate this."
"I know Steve," Jesse didn't know what else to say, so
he just put his hand on Steve's shoulder and continued looking
through the files.
"Steve, Jesse, come here," Amanda called from the next
room.
Steve lifted his head and he and Jesse ran to the next room. They
spot Amanda and Debbie looking into a file, "What is it,
Amanda?"
"We've found another file. George Morris. Steve, I remember
him now that I've seen the file. I was helping in the ER that day
because of the amount of traumas that were coming in. I did his
autopsy later. His injuries were severe; he didn't have a chance.
I remember when Mark went to tell the family. One of them went
ballistic. I guess it was the son. He didn't take the news well
at all."
"Thanks, Amanda. I'm going to check this guy out, see if he
has a criminal record. And then I am going to find out where he
is."
"I'm coming with you."
"Jess…"
"No, Steve. I'm coming."
Steve just shrugged and the two walked out the room.
"Oh, I hope they find him," Debbie said as she sat down
in a nearby chair.
"I'm sure they will. Steve would never let anything happen
to his father."
************************
"Are you sure this is the place?" Jesse asked looking
at a run-down house.
"Yeah, this is his home address. We've already searched the
place where he works and the sister's house. She hadn't seen him
in months; at least that's what she said. He came to her and
asked for some money. She wouldn't give him any, and that was the
last she's heard of him."
"Did he have a record?"
"A few robberies. Nothing as big as this, though."
"Well, are you going to go in?"
"Yeah, I was going to wait for backup, but they're taking
too long. I was thinking they could get a better shot if there
were more of us. But, I've waited long enough. Let's go,"
Steve and Jesse walked towards the house. They found an open
window and decided to go in there. They climbed through as
quietly as they could. Steve went in first and helped Jesse climb
in after him. They walked slowly through the house trying not to
make any noises. They stopped when they heard voices. They walked
a little further and they could see the man and Mark.
******
"Well, Doc. Looks like nobody's going to get here in time.
They've only got 2 more hours. Maybe they don't really care about
you."
"That's a lie. They are looking for me."
"Well, I guess you should believe what you want."
******
"Steve, what are we going to do?"
"I don't know. I'm trying to think of a way to sneak behind
that guy and knock him to the ground. But he has a gun. It could
go off and hit my dad," Steve said as he continued looking
for a way to get his dad out of there.
"Well, like the guy said, we do have two hours."
"Do you really want to believe someone like that. I don't
want to take any chances," Steve paused, "look, Jess, I
can go through this way and be able to get behind him."
They heard a noise coming from outside. They looked out a window
and saw several cop cars pulling up. The man in the next room
heard the noise also and went to a window to look out. Steve and
Jesse ducked behind a door so the man wouldn't see them.
"Well, Doc. It looks like they have been busy."
"Damn," Steve quietly cursed.
The man, who was naturally paranoid, walked towards the door
where Steve and Jesse were hiding. As he got closer, Steve pushed
Jesse lower. When the man was in the doorway, Steve pushed the
door open with such a force that it knocked the man to the floor.
Steve and Jesse raced from behind the door to face the guy.
Unfortunately the man kept his grip on the gun. He pointed the
gun at Steve and Jesse. He stayed on the floor and Steve could
tell the man was hurting. "Get over there next to the old
man." Steve and Jesse didn't move. "If you don't go,
I'll shoot you. I have no problem with doing that." Steve
and Jesse reluctantly complied and walked towards Mark.
The man struggled to get up. Steve looked for an opportunity to
tackle him, but the man never put down the gun.
Meanwhile, the cops were making their way into the house. The man
seemed to have forgotten about them, but he instantly remembered
when he heard a door creak open. He didn't know what to do, so he
just started shooting towards the sound. Then he heard a voice
telling him, "Put the gun down. We've got the whole house
surrounded. There's no way out."
The man yelled back, "Listen, I've got three hostages in
here. I know you won't shoot because you don't want to kill the
hostages."
Steve was looking around the room to find some way, any way, that
he could help his father and his friend. He noticed the man had
two more guns sitting on the floor near the back wall. He knew he
couldn't get to them without making a commotion. The man seemed
totally engrossed in trying to figure out how to battle the cops
all by himself. Steve walked slowly towards the man. Mark grabbed
at his arm, his eyes begging him not to do anything. Steve
ignored the look and walked slowly towards the man. Steve was
within six feet of the man when the man turned around. He aimed
his gun at Steve's head, but Steve jumped right before the man
pulled the trigger and hit the man, causing both men to tumble to
the floor. The gun went off, and the bullet went into the
ceiling. The man kept his grip on the gun, and both men
struggled. He tried to shoot Steve again. The gun went off, but
Steve managed to knock the gun out of the man's hand right after
he pulled the trigger. Steve was able to get in a few punches.
The man lay completely still. Steve yelled to the officers
outside, "I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan. I've got the gunman.
I've unarmed him."
The police carefully made their way in and handcuffed the gunman.
Steve went over to Mark to make sure he was okay, "Dad, how
do you feel?"
"Better now."
"Well, Mark, I want to take you to the hospital just to get
checked out. I don't want to take any chances."
"Alright. I don't feel like arguing."
"Come on. I'll drive." Mark walks out the door,
"Steve?"
"Yeah, Jess."
"Your arm. It's bleeding."
"Yeah, I think that last bullet grazed me."
"Here let me look."
"No, let's get my dad to the hospital and get him checked
out."
Jesse nodded and walked to his car. Mark had already sat down in
the passenger seat. Steve tried to hide his arm from his father.
He knew Mark didn't need to worry about him right now. They
arrived at the hospital and Jesse led Mark into an exam room.
Steve tried to follow, but Jesse pointed him to another room.
Jesse walked into Mark's room and examined him. When he was
finished, Jesse went to Steve's room.
****************
Meanwhile, Debbie walks slowly into Mark's room,
"Mark?"
"Hi, Debbie. Sorry about standing you up for dinner the
other night."
"I think I can get over it," she smiled as she walked
to him, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. So about that dinner… How about
tomorrow night?"
"Sure. And this time you better not get kidnapped
again."
"I'll try not."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that."
"So, I'll pick you up about seven tomorrow night?"
"Sounds good to me. See you then."
***********************
Jesse walked in the door and was immediately bombarded with
questions from Steve.
"How's my dad?" Steve asked from the edge of the bed.
"He's fine. I'll let him go home in a couple of hours. Now
let's take a look at your arm," Jesse moved closer and
lifted the bandage from Steve's arm. "Steve, you're pretty
lucky. Just a graze. Hell of a lot of blood, but nothing serious.
You don't even need any stitches. I'll put this bandage on it,
and you need to change it once a day, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I know all about how to do that."
"You should."
"Shut-up, Jess. Can I go see my dad now?"
"Yes, you can," Jesse said as he finished.
Steve got up and walked to the room where his father was. He
opened the door and found his father sitting on the edge of the
bed. "Hey, Dad."
"Steve," Mark started as he noticed Steve's arm,
"what happened to your arm?"
"One of the bullets grazed me."
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. It's nothing. Jesse fixed me up."
"I wish he would let me go home already. He said he was
going to keep me a couple of hours."
"Yeah, just to make sure you're alright."
"I'm fine," Mark paused, "Steve, how did you find
where I was?"
"Let's just say that somebody in the filing department has a
long job ahead of them."
End
Disclaimer - These characters are not mine. They belong to
CBS, Viacom, or whoever else. But they are not mine, and I am in
no way making a profit from this story.
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