Dead Ringers; Chapter 16

I can't breathe. Elliot in the hospital seemed bad enough, but for them to have called me. . .

"Miss Fullin? Miss Fullin are you still there?" Grace asks, her voice jump-starting my brain.

"Yes, sorry, I'm still here. Is he alright? What happened?" I ask.

"I'm sorry, but I can't say. All I know is that it was requested that I contact his emergency contact. Are you able to come in tonight, Miss Fullin?"

I nod, "Yes. Yes, I can come in tonight. I don't know how fast I can get there-"

"That's perfectly alright. I need to make a few more calls, so I have to go now. Have a good evening, Miss Fullin." With that, the line goes dead.

I lower my phone, trying to keep my brain from running through worse case scenarios. My eyes land on Lennox who still stands there.

He raises an eyebrow. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm sorry. It was nice meeting you, but I have to go." I don't wait for his response before I start walking. "Have a wonderful evening," I call over my shoulder.

I wade through the crowd towards the door. Laci. I should call Laci and let her know. Was there anyone else? No. Laci and I were all Elliot had.

"Winter!" My mind registers my name being called just before the hand catches my arm. I grit my teeth. I didn't have time for this. I turn around to face a concerned Micaiah.

"Micaiah." I had completely forgotten about him. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Is it another double?"

I shake my head. “No. Elliot was just admitted into the hospital. I need to go make sure he's alright."

"Which one?"

"What?"

"I'll drive you there."

"No. I couldn't ask-"

"You didn't, I offered. Besides, I drove you here and if your friend is in the hospital, you shouldn't have to worry about a cab."

I sigh, shaking my head. "Fine. He's at Mercy River."

xXxXx

I sit staring at the blank wall as my foot bounces on the ground. My eyes flick towards the hall again. What was taking them so long? They said it was a routine operation. It was supposed to be in and out. Had something gone wrong?

My head snaps to the right at the sound of someone sitting down. Micaiah holds out a bottle of water. I reach out to accept it. "Thank you." He nods. We sit in silence. I glance over at him. He sits calmly. "You don't have to wait. Laci is on her way."

"Are you saying you don't want the company?"

I look back at the wall. "I'm not much company right now."

"I don't mind sitting in silence."

We fall back into silence. I hear the automatic door open, admitting someone into the waiting area.

"Winter?" Laci's voice calls.

I'm on my feet in an instant, turning towards the entry. "Laci."

Laci stops in front of me, worry written in every line of her face. "Has there been any update? Is Elliot alright?"

I shake my head. "I don't know. All I know is that they had to do an operation to seal the wound."

"Oh god, I hope he's alright." Laci's eyes shift to the chairs as she quickly composes herself. "Hi, you must be Micaiah."

Micaiah easily stands, offering a hand, "And you must be Laci."

Laci takes his hand. "I'd say pleasure, but. . . yeah," she gestures towards the waiting room.

Micaiah nods. "Understandable." He looks towards me. "Well, I'll be off. If there's anything I can do, let me know."

"Of course, thank you."

Micaiah nods to me before turning and leaving. Laci and I stand in silence, watching him leave.

"If it weren't for the circumstances," Laci says, "I can think of a few different comments I'd make."

I chuckle, turning to sit down in a chair. "Of course you can."

Laci sits down next to me. "How much longer do you think we'll have to wait?"

I shrug. "Hopefully not much longer though."

I feel a hand on mine. I look over to find Laci's hand on mine. She smiles gently. "It's probably taking so long because Elliot won't just shut up and stay under."

The laugh bursts out from my mouth. "I hate that that is perfectly reasonable for Elliot."

"Miss Fullin?" A voice calls.

I stand, turning to face the hallway where a doctor now stands. "Yes?"

He walks over to stand by us. "I apologize for the wait. There was a little more internal bleeding than we thought there would be, but Elliot is all patched up. His fore-arm was also broken. We decided to get it set while he was still under the effect of the medicine; that's also why it took us a little longer. He's sleeping it off in the room right now, but you're welcome to go see him."

xXxXx

"Laci, what are you doing?" I ask her as I re-enter the room.

She doesn't even look up from where she stands bent over Elliot who was still out cold on the cot. "Signing his cast before he wakes up."

"What are you doing? Writing out your lecture to take it easy while he's recovering?" I walk over to the other side of the bed to peer at the cast.

"Nope. Something he'll hate even worse." She's writing her name down the length of the cast with two filled-in hearts between each repetition.

I roll my eyes. "Wow. So mature."

"Thank you. So, what's the details?"

"They're going to keep him under for the night to give him extra time to recover from the blood loss. He'll be stuck in here for at least a week. They'll release him if they think the healing will continue properly on its own. They're estimating two months before the cast can come off."

Laci stands straight, having finished. "That's good news."

I nod, reaching down to take my heels off. "The stab wound was pretty deep, but he's lucky it wasn't any closer to his mid-line. It would have done some serious damage then."

Laci suddenly jumps to attention. I follow her eyes to the door of the room, blinking in surprise. "Chief O'Brien? What are you doing here?"

"I was going to have to stop by Rider's room later, but when I heard you two were still here, I figured I'd drop by now. Why don't you two sit down while I fill you in."

I walk over to the chairs in the room, a bad feeling settling in my stomach as I sit. Laci sits down next to me as Chief O'Brien runs a hand through his hair, sighing.

"What kind of case did he decide to take?" I ask.

Chief O'Brien looks at Elliot. "He was on duty, but he wasn't working his case." He looks at me. "Did Masters or Rider inform you about what was occurring at the station today?"

I shake my head.

Chief O'Brien nods. "Well, since you were going to be working your case from Nigh Division, it was requested that the bodies be transferred. The transfer was arranged for tonight."

"Are you saying someone attacked the transfer?"

"The bodies never even began transit."

"What?"

"The bodies had just been loaded for transfer when they were stolen."

I stare at Chief O'Brien. The bodies had been stolen? Why?

I hear Laci gasp. "Are the other officers okay?"

Chief O'Brien nods. "For the most part. Their eardrums were burst but outside of that they were unconscious for the entire attack."

Laci looks at me. I know what she's thinking. I shake my head. "Elliot's hearing is fine. You'll be able to lecture him when he wakes up."

Laci nods. "Well, the cameras will have caught whoever did this on tape, so we'll get them soon."

Chief O'Brien makes a face. "Not exactly. The cameras went down just before the attack."

"So, no suspects. Just the officers who witnessed the attack and Elliot for witnesses."

"The officers were out before the attackers made their appearance."

"So, Elliot is the only witness," Laci amends.

Chief O'Brien's face remains set. I sigh. "What haven't you told us yet?"

"We have a potential suspect. . . A potential traitor in the force."

Laci straightens in her chair. "Elliot would never-"

"Rider is not the suspect."

"Then who?"

Chief O'Brien is silent for a moment. "Perhaps we should finish this discussion tomorrow."

I shake my head. "If it's all the same to you Chief, I'd rather get all of the surprises out of the way tonight."

Chief O'Brien sighs, shaking his head. "Alright, fine. The suspect is the M.E., Masters."

I stare at Chief O'Brien, unsure of how to process his words. "Jeb? Jeb is the suspect? You honestly think Jeb would betray Day Division?"

Chief O'Brien shrugs. "That was my initial response, but the last thing the cameras caught was Masters heading back inside. According to his story, by the time he got back outside, the attackers were gone."

"All of that is circumstantial and most likely just coincidence and you know that!" I fire back.

"You think I'm any happier with this? Our main evidence is missing, I've got a dozen injured officers, one detective seriously injured in the hospital, my best medical examiner is in custody, and I have to give an account for why something like this has happened on my watch," Chief O'Brien shoots back. I force myself to keep my mouth shut. Chief O'Brien sighs, "Look, just focus on the case. Masters is being fully cooperative. If anything, he blames himself for what happened seeing as he was the M.E. in charge of the bodies. So go home, get some rest, come in tomorrow and set the record straight for Masters so he can get back to work."

"And what about Elliot?"

Another sigh. "What about Rider?"

"Whoever took the bodies knows that he saw them. That's why they stabbed him. They must have thought that he would have more time to bleed out before someone found him."

"You're point being?"

"While I disagree with the who, I don't necessarily disagree that there could be someone who is feeding whoever planned the attack information."

"And you think they may send word that Rider isn't dead."

"Or finish the job themselves."

Laci gasps. "You can't be serious."

"Let's just say what happened is only confirming my suspicions that whoever is pulling the strings to this has a lot of pull," I state.

Chief O'Brien nods. "Fair enough," he turns towards the door, "I'll arrange a watch for Rider."

"No."

Chief O'Brien stops, turning just enough to look at me. His expression is dark, one eyebrow raised. "No?"

"The case is under Night Division's jurisdiction. That makes Elliot their witness, ergo, their responsibility. Besides, Day Division has enough to deal with for tonight."

Chief O'Brien blinks, expression softening. "Of course. I will see both of you tomorrow then."