The next day was Braxton's weekly appointment with his therapist. He considered cancelling as he did not want to deal with Brayden's attitude toward Marissa. He knew the psychologist would not approve of him talking to Gael and he was sure he'd be very disappointed in him for taking Marissa's sweater to bed with him.

He wasn't wrong. “How do you feel about your backsliding?” Brayden asked him when he told him about it.

“I'm not sorry”, Braxton replied, defiance in his eyes.

Brayden tried to hide his annoyance. He did not like it when patients went against his advice, but it was their right. “Didn't you come to me for help in getting over Marissa?” he asked.

“I did, but at that time, I thought there was no hope that I'd ever see or hear from her again. Things have changed.”

“Have they really? You still don't know where she is.”

“If I had got the message the day it was left, I'd have been able to talk to her. She disappeared the next night. I am hopeful that she will be found soon.” The last sentence was a bit of a lie - he was hopeful, but realistically, he didn't know what the chances were of Marissa being found alive.

Brayden decided to drop it for now and they talked about Braxton's decision to break up with Amber and why he'd been with her in the first place until their time was up. Braxton was glad to get out of there, and was considering stopping therapy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gael and Irene lay awake in their bed. They had had little sleep since Marissa had been kidnapped four days ago. None of the family had. Besides being restless with worry, they were being kept awake by Charlie's bawling. The poor steer was missing Marissa as much as they were, but he didn't have the capacity to understand what had happened. All he knew was that strangers had been there and she was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marissa drifted in and out of it. Dr Cardenas came to see her a few times and emptied her catheter bag. She was no longer able to drink, so he brought a bag of IV fluids and stayed while it ran into her, once again hoping that none of his bosses came down and saw it. He did this a couple times, but he had to take the IV cannula out each time just in case. He put it in her arm just below the crook of the elbow, so that it would be less likely that someone would see the needle mark. He wished he had tubing to put in her nephrostomy to drain her kidney but it was something that had never been needed here at the compound, so they didn't stock it.

He couldn't wait until he had a night off. He'd been on call for a week now, as the other physician had gone somewhere, presumably doing something for the Cartel. He hoped his colleague would be back soon. Marissa didn't have much time left if she didn't get advanced medical care in the next day or so.

Victor Cardenas had worked for another cartel for a number of years before he defected and came to work for this one. They kept him at the compound as his former bosses wanted him killed for leaving. This cartel treated it's people better than most of them did - as long as they co-operated and did as they were told. However, they could be ruthless when they were crossed or when someone ran away. He didn't like a lot of what he saw down there in the cells but he had to keep his mouth shut. He had earned the trust of the top tier in the organization and was free to move about in the compound. He was allowed to leave for short excursions, but he didn't do it often as he knew there was a risk of someone connected to the other cartel seeing him.

Victor hated working for the Cartel. He had allowed himself to get sucked into the first one when they promised him more money than he'd been making working in a hospital's ER. After the first beating victim he'd patched up, he asked to leave but was told that if he did, the cartel would kill his young daughter, who lived with her mother. But she and his ex wife had died in a car accident a few months ago and he had no other immediate family for the Cartel to go after. He was just looking for the right time to make his break. That time might be imminent as Marissa needed more intensive care than he could give her on the sly at the compound.

He had seen many people die in his 13 years with the cartels. He thought he would get used to it and he did become numb to a degree at the atrocities visited upon non compliant workers. However, he had never been asked to directly participate in killing someone, let alone a woman. This is where he drew the line. It was one thing to patch up people who'd been beaten or maimed, he had no direct involvement in inflicting anything on them. However, helping to kill someone, which removing Marissa's tube was doing, was a line he was not willing to cross. He needed to get her out of there, but he'd been on call and might be noticed missing if he slipped away to get her out. Even if he did manage to do it, he'd be the first suspect when the boss found out she was gone. If he took her out of there, he couldn't return. Doing it when someone else was on call would mean he wouldn't be discovered missing until the next morning. It would give him a good head start.

The sound of his phone ringing interrupted Victor's thoughts. “Victor”, said the voice on the other end. “It's Craig Little. What's happening with the broad?”

Victor cringed at his boss's rude word for a woman. “It won't be much longer - another day, two at the most.”

“I need her out of here tomorrow. Everyone will be here in a few days and I want her gone before they arrive.”

“What do you mean everyone will be here?”

“We have had quite a few mules and escorts go missing lately. They may have gone to the police. We've called all the supervisors to come here for a meeting and we will be giving everyone a lie detector test for loyalty, including the medical staff.” Victor gulped. “So I want that broad gone before they get here. What condition is she in now? Maybe I should go over there and see.”

Victor couldn't risk him seeing Marissa's catheter bag. Craig wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he thought he'd been disloyal. “She's out of it and lying in her own feces”, he lied, knowing that his boss was a germophobe.

“Never mind then. If she expires tonight, clean her up before you call me. If she is still alive tomorrow, I'll have you clean her up, then I will go over and finish her off.”

The conversation with Craig clinched it - he had to do this tonight if he wanted to save Marissa's life. But he had to wait until after midnight, when there wouldn't be anyone at the gate. It was unmanned from midnight to 6am and they had to use their pass cards to get in or out. Waiting until then would avoid the risk of being caught with Marissa in his car. He could put her in his trunk, but he didn't want to be seen leaving anyway. They'd find out soon enough that he was gone, but the later, the better.

He put a few things together in a gym bag that he didn't want to leave behind, mostly sentimental things and photographs. Now, to ensure that nobody noticed him missing during the night. He called the psychiatrist, Dr Alan Collins, and asked him to take call for him tonight, saying that he didn't feel well and didn't want to risk passing anything on to a patient. Dr Collins was an MD so he could take care of any medical needs that arose. Fortunately, Alan agreed to do it. Victor took the pager to him, making sure to act like he was sick. I should get an Emmy for this, he thought.

It seemed like midnight would never arrive, but it finally did. He waited a bit longer just in case the guard at the gate was kept past his normal quitting time. When he felt it was safe, he drove his car over to the building the cells were in. He turned it off, but left the key in the ignition. He got out and opened a back door, leaving it open just a crack, so it would be unnoticeable from a distance. Having it open just a little bit would make it easier to open it wider with Marissa in his arms. Inside the building, he used his elevator key to go to the basement. There was no guard at the guard post - he knew this was break time for the overnight watchman.

Victor found Marissa asleep on her bed. Her catheter bag was almost full - he'd given her two bags of IV fluids during the day. She should have filled the bag, but she was so dehydrated that her body was retaining more of the fluid than normal. He put her on her back and set the bag on the bed between her legs before wrapping her up in a blanket. She moaned.

“It's okay, dear”, he said in a soothing voice. “I'm getting you out of here.” He picked her up and carried her to the elevator, then out to the car when it got to the first floor level. Victor lay her on the back seat, then shut the door as quietly as he could. He got in and started the car, putting it in gear and pulling away, his heart pounding. He knew that if he got caught, it was game over for both him and Marissa.

At the gate, he inserted his pass card in the slot. Nothing happened. His heart stopped. Had his card been cancelled? He took it out to try again and noticed that he had it in the wrong way. He put it in again, this time the correct way and the gate opened. With a sigh of relief, he retrieved the card and drove off.

The compound was closer to Albany, but he headed for Syracuse, figuring the Cartel would look for Marissa in the nearest city. They knew that she was in need of medical attention, so when they figured out he'd taken her, they would figure that he'd taken her to a hospital. He didn't dare go any further, as he had to get her to a hospital as fast as he could. He sped all the way to Syracuse, fortunately without incident and talking to Marissa the whole time.

In Syracuse, he went to the best hospital he knew of. Victor found the ER entrance and pulled up to it, jumping out of the car as soon as he put it in park. He picked Marissa up from the back seat and carried her into the emergency room. A security guard approached him and he said that he was a doctor and had a woman needing immediate medical attention. The guard made a phone call and waved him through a door. On the other side of the door, a nurse brought a gurney up and he set Marissa down on it.

“My name is Dr Graham Shea”, he said, using his real name. He'd kept his licence renewed in his home state of Virginia throughout his tenure with both cartels. They didn't care if it was current or not, but he didn't want to lose his credentials. Now, it probably wouldn't matter, he was most likely done for as a doctor. “This young lady has a kidney infection and a blockage in her ureter. It's a long story and I need to speak to the police as well. Her name is Marissa Brennan. I don't know where she's from.”

“Come with me”, the nurse said. “The doctor may want more information.” She led the way to a bay where she lowered the gurney and asked him to help him transfer the patient to a bed.

“What do we have here?” a voice said as a middle aged woman approached.

“Dr Cantu, a female around 30 give or take, this gentleman says he's a doctor and that she has a kidney infection and a ureter blockage.”

“I'm Dr Layla Cantu”, the woman introduced herself.

“Graham Shea. It's a long story, I've just got her out of a situation where people were trying to kill her. It's the soonest I could get away with her without someone noticing me gone.”

“Why didn't you call the police?”

“That's next on my to do list. There's a reason I couldn't but right now my concern is Marissa getting medical care.”

“Did you put the catheter in her?” The nurse had unwrapped the blanket that the patient was wrapped in.

“Yes. She also has a nephrostomy, my boss made me take the tube out but I'd been trying to drain it as much as I could. I know what you are going to ask, please don't. Just take care of her.”

“All right, I will take your word for it. What are these bruises from?” The doctor was horrified at what she was seeing.

“She was beaten, not by me. I believe her left hand and maybe wrist is fractured. I immobilized it the best I could with what I had to work with. I've also been giving her IV fluids when I could but she needs more.”

Dr Cantu addressed the nurse “Brenda, please draw blood for a CBC, ACR, GFR.” She rattled off a few more tests, then said “Start an IV and give her Ringer's lactate. I'll do an ultrasound here as well as a portable x-ray on the hand. I'll order a CT scan as well.”

“What else do you know about her, Graham?” the ER doc asked.

“Not much. Just that her name is Marissa Brennan, I got that much out of her the other day. I don't know where she's from. She's somehow involved in a drug cartel.” The doctor and nurse gasped. “That's who wants her dead. I don't know why. It's also why I need the police. I'm turning those bastards in.”

Graham aka Victor went to the waiting room and called the Syracuse Police Department. He briefly explained why he was calling. The dispatcher said he would send an officer to the hospital right away. Five minutes later, Officers Jenny Piper and Cory Huff arrived. They were able to use a vacant room to talk privately in. Graham told the officers about the compound and Marissa. They listened intently and when he was finished, Officer Piper used her radio to ask the dispatcher to run Marissa's name. A minute later, the dispatcher asked her to call him on the landline. There was a phone in the room, so she used that. When she was finished, she told her partner that dispatch had gotten a hit on Marissa - she was listed as a missing person from Canada and the FBI had a file on her, but the info in the file was not accessible. The dispatcher was going to call the agent working the case and let him know where Marissa was.

Ten minutes later, dispatch asked her to call them again. “Agent Avery is in Buffalo and is on his way to the hospital. Ms Brennan is a witness in a case involving a drug cartel. He asked that you keep the informant with you at the hospital. If you need a more secure place for him, let security know. I'll call the hospital and speak to the guard and ask for his co-operation.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the ER bay, Marissa's hand had been x-rayed and a few fractures found. There was a fracture or crack between the pins in her wrist but the bone was not displaced. The pins would hold it until an orthopedic surgeon saw her, but Dr Cantu doubted the patient could withstand anesthesia right now so surgery was probably out. She'd set the bones in her hand and immobilize it again after she did the ultrasound.

She had tried to get Marissa to talk, but all she would say was “Please don't do anything. Let me die.” As the patient was in and out of it, she was not competent to make that choice, so the doctor proceeded with tests and treatment. The law stated that when the patient was not capable of informed consent and the next of kin were not known or were unreachable, they had to stabilize the patient until s/he was competent or NOK found.

Layla saw the stone blocking the ureter while doing the u/s scan. She also saw more stones and what looked to her like a tumour taking up about half the kidney. Damn, she thought. This poor woman can't catch a break. The tumour would have to wait, Marissa had far more pressing problems at the moment. The catheter in her kidney looked like it was still in place, so she got a tube and drainage bag and connected the former to the nipple so the urine could drain off.

She'd no sooner got Marissa's hand fractures set and splinted than porters arrived to take her to CT. While she was down there, her blood results came back. She had a rip roaring infection and it looked like sepsis was setting in. Damn. Layla sent an order to the pharmacy for three IV antibiotics - this had to be treated aggressively if the patient was to live.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gael was awakened by his phone. He looked at the display. Agent Avery. What was he doing calling in the middle of the night? “Hello”, he said groggily.

“Gael? This is Agent Rex Avery from the FBI. Marissa has been found.” Gael was instantly wide awake.

“Is she alive?” he asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

“Yes, but she's in bad shape. Someone claiming to be a doctor took her to an ER in Syracuse, New York. I'm on my way there now to interview him. Apparently, he works for the Cartel.”

“What do you mean by 'bad shape'? What's wrong with her?”

“I don't know, I've only spoken to the dispatcher at the Syracuse PD. He didn't have a lot of info.”

“All right. Irene and I will get there as soon as we can.”

“Can I give your number to the hospital in case they need to speak to you?”

“Absolutely. Please do.”

Irene was already up and getting dressed. Gael told her what Agent Avery had said. “I'm going to go to the office and look up flights on the computer, see how soon we can get down there.”

“I'll put the coffee on”, she said.

Five minutes later, Gael called from the office “Reenie, come here, please.”

“Shhhh.... don't wake everyone up”, she admonished as she entered the room.

“Sorry, darling, but I found a flight that leaves Edmonton at 7:15 this morning. There are layovers in Toronto and Chicago. We would get in at almost 9pm local time. We'd have to speed all the way to get to the airport, want to try to get there?” It was about 3:20am and the drive was 2 1/2 hours going the speed limit.

“Yes!”

“All right, I'll book the tickets. Can you pack for me?”

“Of course.”

Half an hour later, they were on their way, sipping coffee from their travel mugs. “Should we call Braxton, honey?” Irene asked her husband.

“Let's not wake him up. There's nothing he can do tonight anyway. I'll call him on our layover in Toronto”.