When he got to me, he kissed me, then hugged me tight. “Everything will be okay, Doc”, I said to him.

“Darn right it will”, he said and faster than you can think about it, he reached down with one arm and put it under my knees, keeping the other around my back. He picked me up and started down the hall.

“That was a dick move!” I said as I tried to get free.

“Oh, well - as you would say.”

“Let me go, Doc!” He held on tighter.

He stepped through the open doorway in the hall. I turned my head and saw a stairway. We had been told there was no basement.

“Go on down”, Dana said. “I’ll follow.”

“Doc, you can’t carry me down a flight of stairs!”

“Yes, I can.” He started down. When we got to the bottom, he turned around. Dana was on her way down. The door was shut. “Is the door locked again?” Doc asked her.

“Yes.” He set me down on the floor.

“I ought to slap you for that!” I said to him.

“In front of an officer of the law?” he asked innocently. Dana laughed. Then he laughed. Finally, I saw through my anger and I laughed, too.

“He did that because he loves you and doesn’t want you to come to harm”, she said to me.

“Yes, I know. I just can’t take this much longer and needs it to end.”

“It should end today, but we’re getting you away just in case. Let’s go, we can take these.” There were 3 UTV type vehicles by the wall. Each had two seats. Dana handed Doc his medical bag and got into one. “Can you drive these?”

“I can”, I said.

“I’ll go with Meredith”, Doc said. We got in and I started the UTV - the key was in the ignition. We followed Dana down a corridor. It seemed to go on forever. Finally, after about 10 or 15 minutes, we came to the end. There was another set of stairs. We turned the vehicles off and got out. Dana led us up the stairs. She did something at the top like she had done at the beginning of our underground trek - I assumed she was using a fingerprint scanner. The inner door opened and she unlocked the outer one with a key.

We walked through the door and into another house. Dana took us to the living room and we all sat down. “This house is owned by the department, but we don’t use it as a safe house, except when we need to get someone away clandestinely. An officer lives here full time. She took her phone out of her pocket. “Randall should be calling shortly.”

We made small talk until her phone rang a half hour later. “It’s him”, she said looking a the display. She talked for awhile, then said “We’ll be waiting.” Dana turned to us. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is they got the people in the Hummer. All were taken alive. The bad news is Jane wasn’t one of them. The female they thought looked like her is just that, a look-a-like. None of them are talking. So, we will continue on with the plan, which is to get you two far away from here. A helicopter will be coming in about an hour and will take us to the Vancouver Airport, where we will board a charter plane that will take us out of province to another safe house. I’m sorry. I thought this nightmare of yours would end with this, but it hasn’t.”

I sighed. “Dana, let me confront her. I can’t take another safe house. I need for this to end.”

“No, Meredith”, Doc said to me. “That is not an option.”

I looked at Dana. “He’s right, Meredith. It’s not an option.”

“You may not be able to set that up, but you cannot keep me here.” I got up and headed for the door clutching Julie, the stuffed horse.

Doc said “I *knew* she was going to be trouble once she no longer had to use crutches!” I pretended I didn’t hear him and opened the door and stepped out. I didn’t know where I was going to go, but I had to get away. I went down the steps and headed for the road. Looking back, I was surprised that Doc wasn’t right behind me. I kept walking, then I heard him call “Meredith! Stop right there!” I turned around again and he was running across the lawn. He’s gonna be pissed at me for making him run, I thought.

I crossed the road and headed for a field as fast as I could go. Which wasn’t as fast as I usually could run due to the boot on my foot. Of course, Doc caught up to me. He grabbed me from behind and picked me up. “Let me go!” I tried to get out of his arms.

“Meredith, stop that or I will give you a sedative!”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would. It’s already drawn up and in my shirt pocket.” I looked at his pocket and could see a syringe. So that’s why he didn’t come after me right away, I thought. Reaching over with my outer hand, I took it out and put the cap in my mouth. Holding the syringe in my hand, I pulled it out of the cap, then held it down by my other hand and pushed the plunger until all the liquid was out. It got on my pants and Doc’s shirt, which was going to piss him off even more, but at that moment, I didn’t care. How dare he!

By this time, we were crossing the street. “I have more of that in my bag, Meredith.”

“You have to catch me again, Doc!” I had almost wrestled free of him, my feet were on the pavement and I was trying to get my upper body out of his arms. I had just managed to do so when I heard a car. I looked and it was almost upon us. I pushed Doc out of the way, he’s bigger and heavier than me, but I think the shock of the car coming and me pushing him cause him to falter and fall out of the way. The car swerved to try to miss me, but hit me as it went by. I fell down.

Doc was on me in a nano second. “Meredith, are you okay?”

“I’m okay, Doc. I think.” I clutched my side.

“Don’t move, hon.” Dana had just gotten to us. “Please go get my bag”, Doc said to her. “I’ll get her off the road.”

“Where’s Julie?” I asked as he picked me up and set me down in the grass.

“I don’t know, Meredith.”

“Find her!”

“Later.”

“No, now! Please!”

“On one condition, Meredith. That you settle down and do as I say.”

“You play dirty pool, Doc.”

“Will you?”

“Okay!” He left my side and was back in a moment with my stuffed horse. He handed it to me and I checked it over. None the worse for wear, thankfully.

Dana came out with Doc’s bag. She was almost to us when suddenly, there was a huge explosion and the house blew up. She was knocked off her feet. Doc lay down on top of me.

Things are a bit of a haze after that. I was in and out of consciousness. Eventually, I was in an ambulance with it’s sirens going. “Where’s Doc?” I remember saying.

“I’m right here, hon.” He came into my line of sight.

“Are you okay, Doc?”

“Yes, Meredith. The debris missed me.”

“What about Dana?”

“She’ll be fine. Some of it hit her in the back, she will need stitches but it could have been so much worse.”

“Doc, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For being such a bitch.”

“Meredith, your obstinateness saved all of our lives.”

“What do you mean, Julian?”

“If we had been in that house, we’d all be dead.”

“Oh my God.”

“You also saved my life when you pushed me out of the way of the car.”

“I need to get her blood pressure again”, a voice said. I turned my head and there was a paramedic with us.

“I’ll take it”, Doc said. “Can you give me my bag, please?”

“Here, use my stethoscope.” Doc inflated the cuff that was around my arm and listened as he slowly deflated it. “90/60” he said to the paramedic.

“Why am I going to the hospital?” I asked.

“Because you were hit by a car, silly. You have a big gash on your leg, your knee is the size of a cantaloupe and you are experiencing pain in your side. The one you had surgeries on recently.”

I groaned. “Please tell me I don’t need any more surgery, Julian.”

“I won’t know that until you are assessed, hon.”

“I won’t let anyone but you do it if I do.”

“We’ll talk about that at the time, Meredith. I don‘t have privileges here and I can only do gynecological surgery, so it probably won‘t be possible.”

“We’re five minutes away”, the driver said to us.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We’re going to the same hospital you had that culture taken at.”

Five minutes later, we pulled up to the ER doors. The paramedics unloaded me and took me in. I was taken right to a room, with an entourage of police officers following - both uniform and plain clothes. Most of them stayed outside the room, but Randall followed us in.

“How’s Dana?” I asked him as I was transferred to a bed.

“She’s fine, Meredith. She just needs some stitches, that’s all.”

“What happened? What caused the house to explode?”

“We don’t know. Investigators are on the scene. It could be something unrelated to this case like a natural gas problem, or it could be Jane’s work. We don’t know at this time.”

“I need to see my patient”, I heard a voice say. “Could you step back please?” Randall moved away from the bed and a doctor approached. “Hi, Meredith. I’m Dr. Lena Alvarez. How are you doing?”

“I want out of here.”

“I need to see what your injuries are. Maybe you can go home in a bit.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Meredith.” Doc said.

“Please don’t discourage my patient”, Dr Alvarez said to Doc.

“She doesn’t need false hope.”

“What makes you think it’s false hope?”

“She was hit by a car. She’s in pain in the upper left quadrant. There’s most likely internal injuries, probably a torn spleen.”

“And you are …?”

“Dr Julian Richards. I’m her common-law husband.”

“Dr Richards, you may be right, but my patient wants to leave. I need to convince her to at least allow me to assess her. Your way, she may just get up and go if she feels overwhelmed.”

“It’s okay, Dr Alvarez”, I interrupted. “Julian is just looking out for my best interest.” Doc looked amazed. “Let’s get on with it.”

The ER doctor stepped aside while a nurse took my vitals. I saw her talking to Doc, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. When the nurse was done, she approached the bed again. Doc went around to the other side and held my left hand. The paramedic had put an IV in my right hand. I didn’t remember it, but presumed Doc had told him that I’m left handed.

“Where do you hurt, Meredith?” Dr Alvarez asked.

“Is all over an answer?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay to laugh”, I said. “I’m not offended.”

“What hurts the most?”

“Here.” I pointed to my upper left abdomen.

“Under the ribs?”

“Yes.”

She pulled my top up and palpated around a bit. “That’s a nasty looking scar”, she said, referring to the scar from the cyst problems. “What happened?”

“I had a ruptured ovarian cyst and then I fell out of bed and tore some stitches open, so I had to have another surgery.” I didn’t tell her that Doc had done the surgeries or that he was my ob/gyn. He could volunteer that info if he wanted, but I didn’t want to cause him any grief.

“When did this happen?

“About a month ago.”

“Where else do you hurt?”

“Down here.” I pointed to the centre of my body just above my pubic mound. The doctor undid my pants and palpated around a bit. I winced from the pain.

“I’m going to get an ultrasound of both areas. Where else?”

“My leg and foot.” She removed the bandaging from the cut on my thigh.

“You have a pretty nasty gash there. The bleeding has stopped, fortunately. I’ll clean it now and then either stitch it up after your ultrasound or they can do it in the OR if you need to go up there.”

“No surgery”, I said. “I won’t consent.”

“Let’s see what the ultrasound shows. Do you have a broken leg?” she asked, referring to the air cast boot.

“Ankle. I got into a fight and broke my ankle and got punched in the pelvic area, which ruptured my cyst.”

“I’ll get an X-ray of your ankle to see if it’s been damaged further. Are there pins in it?”

“Yes.”

“Your knee looks pretty banged up, too. Can you bend it?” I tried, and with great effort, managed to do so. It hurt like a son of a bitch. “I’ll get a radiograph of that as well. And of your pelvis.”

I sighed. Could I have any worse luck? I thought. Doc held my hand in both of his. “Dr Alvarez, she was in and out of consciousness after the blast. Her pupils were responsive and no sign of neurological damage at the scene.”

“It could be a minor concussion. I’ll get a CT scan, too.”

“I guess my care is paying your day’s salary”, I quipped.

“Be glad you’re in Canada, it’s all covered.” I didn’t tell her I could well afford it if we didn’t have universal health care. “All right. I’ll go order the tests. I’ll get the portable machines brought in so you don’t have to go anywhere, though you will have to go downstairs for the CT scan. A nurse will come in to get blood drawn for labs, then I will attend to that wound.”

“Here we go again”, I said to Doc after she left.

“You sure keep life interesting, hon. But I wouldn’t trade you for anything or anyone, you know.”

“Doc, surely you must be longing for a normal life.”

“Yes - a normal life with *you*, Meredith.”

Just then a nurse came in to draw blood. Dr Alvarez followed and began to clean up the cut on my thigh. I sucked in my breath as she poured antiseptic solution over it. “Sorry, Meredith.”

“It’s okay, Doctor, I’d rather you do that than get an infection.”

“When was your last tetanus shot?”

“Last September when I got thrown from my horse and had a few cuts, one of them pretty bad.”

“Ok, you don’t need one now. Did you have any other injures?”

“Broken right leg.”

“You’ve had some bad luck lately.”

“I’m very accident prone. Having horses guarantees injuries.”

The door opened and someone pushed the ultrasound machine in. She introduced herself as Layla. After verifying my name and birth date and getting the machine ready, she pulled the gown I’d been changed into up and squeezed gel on my abdomen. “I’ll try and be quick”, she said “I know it’s not pleasant when you are in pain.” Doc continued to hold my hand while she pushed the transducer down over and over again on my upper left quadrant.

Doc watched the screen. “You probably won’t be able to see anything in that”, Layla told him.

“I’m a physician”, he said. “It’s not my area of specialty, but I can read an ultrasound.”

“What is your specialty?” she asked him.

“OB/GYN.”

“Oh, you get the good stuff like delivering babies.”

“That’s one reason I chose it. Lots of happy events.”

Once she was done with my upper left abdomen, she pulled the blankets down a bit and squeezed the gel just above my pubic area. Again she moved the transducer all over, including my right and left ovary areas. Seeing the scar, she asked how old it was.

“About a month.”

“I’ll be as gentle as I can with it.”

“That is appreciated.”

When she was finished, she wiped up the gel with a towel before packing up the ultrasound machine and exiting the room. “Best of luck”, she said to me.

Doc wouldn’t tell me what he saw, no matter how hard I tried to get it out of him. That scared me. “Come on, Doc. You’re scaring me more than if you just told me.”

“I can’t tell you, Meredith. I’m not a radiologist. I could get into trouble for telling you. And what if I’m wrong? Then I’ve upset you unnecessarily.” That did not reassure me.

He was interrupted by the X-ray tech coming in with the portable radiograph machine. Everyone coming in was first checked out by the cops at the door. Andre was a lot quieter than Layla had been. He only spoke when he needed to ask me to turn my leg a certain way. I was so glad when he finished and was gone.

Dr Alvarez came back in shortly after the X-rays were taken. “Meredith, I need to do a vaginal and a rectal exam. The ultrasound shows a tear in your bladder. I have to see if there are injuries to your reproductive organs or colon.”

“No”, I said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“I said ‘no’. I will only allow Julian - Dr Richards - to examine me down there.”

“Meredith, I can’t. I don’t have privileges here.”

“Then get them.”

“You need the exam now. I couldn’t get privileges that fast.”

I looked him in the eye. “Julian, I’m sorry but I … I just can’t do it.”

“Okay, hon”, he rubbed my hand. “Dr Alvarez, may I have a word with you?” They went off to the corner of the room. I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

When they came back to my bed, the ER doctor said “I’m going to go talk to the Chief of Staff, if he’s still here. We’ll work something out.”

“What did you say to her, Doc?” I asked him after she’d left.

“I briefly told her of your trouble with Watters and Eric. And of having permission from the College for me to be your ob/gyn. She was very understanding.”

“What happens with a tear in the bladder?”

“I don’t know, hon. They may fix it surgically or just put in a catheter and see if it will heal by itself.”

“Surgery vs. catheter. I’m not sure which I’d rather. Probably surgery.”

“Even with surgery, you’d have a catheter, Meredith.” I groaned. “The bladder needs rest in order to heal.”

“For how long?”

“Don’t quote me, but I think a couple weeks.”

“Aw, crap. I just had one for a couple weeks.”

“I know, hon. It’s rotten luck.”

Dr Alvarez came back and said that the Chief of Staff was getting emergency privileges for Doc. She needed to see his identification. Fortunately, he had his wallet with him. My purse was still at the safe house. I’d forgotten to take it with me when we left so suddenly. When we first got to the hospital and I didn’t have my health card, Randall said he would arrange for my purse to be brought to me.

She turned to me. “You also have a ruptured spleen. We’re taking you up to surgery very soon. They are getting the OR ready right now. I don’t have your X-ray results yet. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I turned my head so Doc wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes. “What’s wrong, Meredith?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, Doc. Just feeling sorry for myself.”

“You have every right to.”

“I’m so sick of surgeries. And my lungs don’t cope well with anesthesia.”

“I know, hon. It can’t be helped, though. You absolutely need this one, just like you had no choice with the ruptured cyst.”

Dr Alvarez returned and said Doc now had temporary hospital privileges. He went to the sink and washed up, then Dr A showed him where everything was. He put gloves on and approached the bed. She asked me if she could help with positioning. I said yes. She pulled the sheets down and asked Doc what position he wanted me to be in.

“Try frog leg, if her knee can handle it.”

She told me to put my feet flat on the bed with my knees bent. I tried but I could not bend my left knee without immense pain. “Put a pillow under her”, Doc said. “We’ll do it that way.”

Dr Alvarez got a pillow and Doc helped her lift me up so that she could slide it under me. “Another one, I think”, he said to her. When it was in place, he said that was good and to just get my legs apart as far as was comfortable for me. He changed gloves, sat down on the bed and picked up the tube of lubricant. After squeezing a bit onto two forefingers, he inserted them into my vagina and began the exam. Dr Alvarez held my left hand in support.

“Okay, Meredith”, he said after feeling inside me for a moment. “I’m going to push down on you with my other hand. I’ll try to be as gentle and fast as I can.” He palpated my right ovary, then the left. “Don’t hide any pain from me”, he told me. “I need to know if it hurts.”

“It’s not bad”, I said. “The pain up here is a lot worse.”

“Ok, now I’m going to do the rectal. I’ll do it in this position as I don’t want to move you around any more than necessary.” He changed gloves, then put some lubricant on his index finger. “Take a deep breath in and bear down on my finger, just like in my clinic.” Thank God he didn’t slip and say ‘just like at home’, I thought. His finger went in easily, thanks to the plugs he’d introduced me to. After a moment, he pulled it out and said “No blood, that is good.”

He stood up and took his gloves off before washing his hands again. “It looks good”, he said to Dr Alvarez. “I didn’t find any evidence of other pelvic or colon injuries.”

“I’ll need you to write a note in her chart.” She went out to do something while Doc cleaned me up and took the pillows out from under me. He pulled the covers up just as she was coming back in. “The X-ray results are in. Your foot is fine, the pins are in place and no new breaks. Your ankle isn’t quite healed yet. There are no pelvic fractures, fortunately. There is a crack in your knee. You’ll have to stay off that leg for a few weeks.” I groaned.

“Meredith, are you okay?” Doc asked.

“Yes, Julian.”

“I know you are in pain. Is that why you’re moaning?”

“Just not happy about being off my leg again.”

Dr Alvarez interrupted our exchange. “You’ll be going up to surgery in a few minutes. I was going to get a CT scan of your head, but you seem okay and your spleen can’t wait.”

Doc went out with her to do his entry in my chart. Someone came in wearing scrubs. “Hi, Meredith, I’m Dr Aaron Hunt. I’ll be doing your surgery tonight.”

“Hi, Dr Hunt.”

“I was just reading your chart and the medical records that were faxed over from the hospital in Williams Lake. You’ve had quite a time of it lately.”

“If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”

“Let’s hope that streak ends after this.”

“I’d drink to that if I was allowed to drink.” He chuckled.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

“Are you operating on both my spleen and bladder?”

“Just your spleen. We’re going to put a catheter in while you are under and the hope is that with rest, the tear will heal by itself.”

“Are you taking my spleen out?”

“It depends on how bad it is. If I can stitch it up, I will. But if I can’t, you can live without your spleen, though you will be more susceptible to illness and infections since it is part of your immune system. You will just have to make sure your immunizations are up to date and stay away from people who are sick with anything that can be transmitted. We‘re going to take you upstairs in a minute or two. The anesthesiologist will talk to you up there and get the info she needs.”

Doc and Dr Alvarez returned. “There are no porters available, so we’ll take you up ourselves”, Dr A said to me. “Can you help?” she asked Doc.

“Sure.”

She unhooked the heart monitor I was on and took the IV bag off the pole and asked Dr Hunt to hold it up. Then she pulled the bed out from the wall and got behind the head. Doc would pull the foot.

Just then, we heard a commotion outside the door and what sounded like a gunshot. The door burst open and a woman entered. It was Jane. She was holding some sort of rifle, maybe an automatic or semi automatic. There were a couple men with her, each held the same type of weapon.

Randall didn’t even have time to draw his weapon. She motioned for him to give her his gun. He refused. Cops are trained to not give up their weapon, regardless of the consequences. One of the men moved behind him and clocked him on the head with his gun. The officer who had been so good to us fell to the floor.

Everyone else had frozen in place. My shock turned to anger and I found my voice. “What the fuck do you want, Jane?”

“You know what I want. Or rather, who I want.”

“Julian doesn’t want you, Jane.”

“That’s because you are in the way.”

“I’m not holding him to me.” I looked at Doc.

“She’s right”, he said. “I love Meredith and I have no intention of leaving her. That is my choice. Now, she needs to go up to surgery ASAP or she may die. Get out of our way.”

“You aren’t going anywhere.”

“Jane”, I said, throwing off my covers and swinging my legs over the bed. “Put the gun down and fight fair.” I tried to get up, but Doc got onto the bed behind me and he grabbed my shoulders and held me down.

“Let her go, Julian”, Jane said. “She wants a fair fight, I’ll give her one. Stand up, Meredith.”

“I’m not letting go of her.”

Jane pointed her weapon at the ceiling and fired once. “See? I’m not afraid to use this.”

“Julian, let go. It will be okay”, I said. “Don’t risk your life over her. Or anyone else’s.” He let go of my shoulders.

“Jane, you bitch, drop your gun”, I said as I stood up. It made me dizzy and I coughed. I heard someone else cough. Jane set her gun on the floor and kicked it away. The men who’d come in with her had their weapons on the room. Randall was still out cold. Then I remembered something. I took my ring off and handed it to Doc. I was tempted to leave it on, but I knew he wouldn’t want that. And I didn’t want it to be taken by the police again. I could see scars on Jane’s right cheek from our last fight and thought “Good!”

“I have a score to settle with you, you witch. You caused me to have to have two surgeries in as many days. I had an infection. My lungs took a long time to recover from the anesthesia as did my bladder. I had a catheter for two weeks. And now I have to have surgery and a catheter again. All thanks to you. Even if you didn’t cause the explosion, the reason we are here and not at home is because of you.” I coughed again. Someone else was coughing.

Jane took a swing at me and I ducked. Unfortunately, I was unsteady due to my knee and foot and I fell down. She was on me in an instant. Sitting on my abdomen, she put her hands around my throat. The pain in my abdomen was unreal. I was dizzy and felt faint. I tried to cough again but couldn’t because of the constriction on my throat. I put my hands on hers and tried to pry them off of me, but my strength was low. I heard more coughing in the room. It seemed to be foggy.

“That’s enough, Jane!” I heard Doc call out. I found out later that he was coming around the bed. I heard a gunshot and he cried out.

“The next one will not be in your leg!” a voice said.

I tried to say something to Doc, but couldn’t get any words out. There was more coughing and the room was getting foggier. Then everything went black.