Here it is! I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but I don't know why. Please vote and comment. I'd love some constructive criticism :-D



Chapter Eleven

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(Eli's POV)

I think we make it to St. Peters in record time. Ash holds open the doors for me as I carry Dani into the hospital. A nurse spots us straight away and heads toward us in what I can only explain as a walk run. I got sidetracked as I thought, 'It's not really a walk or a jog. What would you even call that?' I'm snapped out of my thoughts when Ash hisses, “Eli! Get it together.”

“Sorry.”

The nurse looks at us sympathetically and asks, “What happened, sir?”

“She had a panic attack and passed out, but we couldn't get her to come around. We tried salts, but it didn't work.”

“Ok, let's put her on a bed and I'll have someone page a doctor. How long has she been like this?”

“About a half hour.”

“Ok. Just rest her here. I'll need you to come with me and fill out some forms.”

Ash shot me a sympathetic look, as he said, “I'll wait with Danica.”

I nod grimly, not wanting to leave her, but knowing Ash would never be able to answer any of the questions. The nurse handed me a clipboard and said, “The doctor is on his way down. If you could just fill out these forms it will help us to rule things out. Is there any chance she's pregnant?”

My eyes widen at the thought. I have no idea. Could that be why she doesn't want anyone near her? The nurse touches my hand and prompts, “Sir?”

“Sorry. Er, I don't know. I don't think so, but I don't know. I haven't known her that long. Only about 8 months. She hasn't put on any weight since I've known her. In fact, she's lost a lot of weight in the last few weeks.”

“Ok. Sorry, I had to ask. We'll run some tests and find what's going on. I should probably ask, is she a cop? I can see that you and your friend are in uniform, so...?”

“Oh, no ma'am. She's part of our technical team.”

“Thank you. I'll give this information to the doctor and I'll send your friend out. There's a waiting room just through there. I'll bring you some information as soon as I have something.”

I have to tell her; I can't not tell her. I hesitate and then say, “Ma'am? She doesn't like people near her. If or when she wakes up, she'll panic. I can calm her down, but I just thought you should be aware.”

“Thank you. I'll pass that on to the doctor.”

I nod and look at the form. I actually have no idea about most of these questions. I don't know her blood type, if any health problems run in her family, if she's allergic to anything, or even if she has insurance. I just answer what I can and put my details down for when they need to take payment.

As I hand the form back to the main desk, Ash appears at my side. “They're running tests or whatever now.”

I just nod, not really knowing what to say.

“Eli, we need to call the Captain.”

“Not yet.”

“She won't be in tomorrow, he has to know what is going on.”

“Exactly why we shouldn't call him. We don't even know what's going on. How can we answer any of his questions? Let's just wait to see what the doctor says and then I'll call him.”

I'm silent for a little while and then I whisper, “What if it's serious, Ash? What am I going to do?”

“Now's not the time to panic, Eli. We'll deal with that if or when it happens. Hold it together just a little bit longer. You really like this girl, huh? I've never seen you like this.”

“She's different. I can't explain it, but I just feel a connection with her. It can't be a coincidence that she tolerates my company...”

Despite the situation, Ash laughs. I look at him like he's lost his mind, so he explains, “Tolerates your company? That doesn't sound like the making of a firm relationship right there.”

“You know what I mean. If it was anyone else, then it would be different, but...”

“I know, I know. She is more comfortable with you. It is noticeable, and that's definitely saying something. What happened anyway?”

“I caused this. I asked her if she had been eating properly. She said she couldn't remember, so I questioned her about it. She freaked out and I couldn't calm her down. The rest you know.”

“Short version, huh? Is it possible that she actually didn't remember? I mean, she has been a little off since you've been away. Well, I say off, what I actually mean is less like how she usually acts; more panicky and jumpy. Maybe she just hasn't been herself and she doesn't remember what she's eaten. Is that possible?”

“I guess. I'm gonna tell you this under the strictest confidence, and that's only because you're my best friend... She doesn't sleep, only an hour or two a night...”

“Lack of sleep causes memory problems and concentration problems. Maybe that's all it is. Sleep deprivation.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know why she doesn't sleep?”

“Not really. She doesn't talk about it much.”

“Ok.”

We fall silent for a little while and then Ash whispers, “Eli? Do you know her parents are dead?”

My voice is croaky from not talking as I say, “Yeah, I know.”

“Do you know how?”

“No.”

“Do you want to know?”

I sigh, “Yes and no. I want her to tell me, not find out from someone else and have her feel like I've betrayed her.... Do you know?”

“Yeah. I did some digging.”

“Did you find anything else?”

“Yeah, a little. It's all pretty normal; too normal if you ask me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't know. Like it's been made to look normal I guess.”

“Don't, Ash. Just don't say anything more. I don't want to know.”

“Just be careful, Eli. I don't want you to get hurt.”

“Really? You look at Dani and think I'm the one who's going to get hurt?”

“You can both get hurt, man. Just be careful, that's all I ask.”

Silence falls again and it feels like hours before the doctor appears. I stand up and ask, “Is Dani ok?”

“Which one of you is her boyfriend?”

My cheeks turn a barely noticeable shade of pick when Ash looks at me. I know that look. It means I have some explaining to do later.

“I am. How is she?”

“I'm Doctor Trent. Miss Romanov is suffering from sleep deprivation and malnutrition. What have her eating patterns been like recently?”

“I've been away for a few weeks, so I'm not sure how she's been eating. Before that she was eating fine, normal meals, normal portions. Could this have happened in only a few weeks?”

“If she was eating nothing, then yes, it could. Has she suffered from any eating disorders in the past?”

Both Ash and I were shocked. I managed to choke out, “Not to my knowledge. Eating hasn't been a struggle for her. In fact, she actually quite enjoys her food.”

“And she doesn't vomit after eating?”

“No sir, not at all.”

“Ok. Maybe it is just because you were away. I'll have to give it the benefit of the doubt as there is no clinical history to present such a case. We have her sedated and are giving her glucose to balance her body's levels. Once we bring her out of sedation, we'll make sure she can eat properly and then Miss Romanov will most likely be discharged.”

“Can I see her please?” I just have to make sure she's ok, even if it's only for a quick glance.

“Yes. You can sit with her for a little while. The nurse will let you know when visiting hours are over. I'll take you to Miss Romanov now.”

Both Ash and I breathe a sigh of relief as we thank the doctor.

When we enter Dani's room, she looks so pale and fragile. Almost like she's barely alive. We sit on either side of her bed, realising just how bad it could have been. After a few minutes, Ash says, “I'm going to head home, unless you need me for anything?”

“No, it's cool. Thanks for your help, man.”

“Any time. Call the Captain. I'm not asking either.”

“I will. You think I can use my cell in here?”

“Try it. They can only say no. Besides, who they going to call? The cops?”

We share a small chuckle and then he's gone. I pick up my cell and find the Captain's number. I'm not looking forward to this call.

When the Captain picks up, he says, “Eli? What's wrong?”

“How do you know something's wrong?”

“You're calling at 10pm; something's wrong.”

“Dani's been hospitalized. Before you go crazy, she's ok. She's being treated for sleep deprivation and malnutrition. The doctor thinks she'll be released in a day or two. I just wanted to let you know because she won't be in tomorrow but won't be able to call you herself.”

“Wow, I didn't expect that news. She did seem a bit off keel earlier. Are you at the hospital now?”

“Yes sir. I'd like to stay with her, if that's ok with you.”

“You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow night, so go ahead. Make sure they treat her right, Eli. I'll visit tomorrow at some point to check in.”

“Ok. Thank you sir.”

I sighed with relief after I hung up. That wasn't as bad as I thought. I honestly thought he was going to rip me a new one. Maybe I shouldn't get too hopeful; that might come later on. He'll want to know what happened.

I only remember thinking how tired I suddenly was, before drifting off to sleep.

I don't know how much time passed, but I awoke to the sound of Dani speaking another language. I jumped up to find her still asleep, but thrashing around like she was in distress. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but I could tell she was scared, petrified even. I honestly don't know what to do. I take her hand, hoping that it'll calm her down, but she snatches it away. I can see the tears streaming down her face and her heart monitor is off the charts, beeping like an explicit movie.

It sounds like she's begging with someone in another language, it sounds like Russian. I make a judgement call, and rush to find a nurse.

END of Eli's POV

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I'm scared, so scared, standing on a stage in front of what feels like 100 men. I'm dressed in a school uniform, like it's some sick joke. The man standing next to me says in Russian, 'What will you bid for this pure little thing? Come on, she's worth at least $30,000. She's never even been touched before.' I hear a gruff voice answer, 'I'll pay $60,000.' The man next to me smiles, a wicked smile, with his eyes twinkling like a demon. He says, 'Sold. I'll show you to a nice little private room.' My stomach fills with dread. This can't be happening. It's not real, it's not real. I keep repeating this to myself as I'm taken to a little room at the back of this dingy building. I hear the lock click shut from the outside and I know there's no escape. The man with the gruff voice looks me over hungrily and says, 'You can call me Petrov.'

I didn't want to call him anything. I just wanted out of this horrible room. The man, I refused to call him by his name, makes his way towards me with a sickening smirk on his face. He reaches for my clothes and pulls them off, before picking me up and throwing me onto the bed..

I woke up screaming, and I mean absolutely screaming bloody murder.



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(Eli's POV)

Dani shot up screaming like someone was trying to kill her. I jumped back at first, and then I realized all the doctors and nurses were going to make things a million times worse. I pushed through all of the people and stood in front of Dani.

I whispered, “Shhhh, Dani, it's me. It's Eli. Shhhh, please just listen to my voice. It's ok, baby. Count with me....”

I hear her choke out, “I.... can't....”

“You can, sweetheart. Just listen to my voice, ok? We'll count together. You gotta calm down or you're going to hurt yourself.... Please Dani?” I start counting, in the hope that she will hear me. While I'm counting, I think, 'The doctor should have waited for her to calm down before he brought her out of sedation... She's really not calming down...'

Doctor Trent walks over to Dani, which only makes her worse. Her eyes are wide, like the size of dinner plates, and they are completely wild. She scans her surroundings, scoots further up the bed and scrunches herself up into a ball. Then she seems to notice the IV's in her hands and boy does she freak out. She rips the needles from her shaking hands and sobs the most heart wrenching sobs. My heart breaks a little more and I say to the doctor, “Doc, I appreciate that you're a medical professional, but you're going to make things worse. Trust me, I know my girl and you will only make her worse. Just back off and give me a minute to calm her down.... No, I mean really back off. Trust me, you're not going to get near her like this. Please?”

Doctor Trent sighs and nods in defeat. I slowly make my way closer to Dani's bed, softly whispering so she knows where I am. I look at the doctor and nurses and see their worried looks before deciding I can't hand Dani my gun. Instead I have to just try to calm her down by talking to her.

I take a deep breath and whisper, “Dani? Sweetheart? It's Eli. Can you look at me? No, really look at me. Not at everyone else..... Good girl. Just keep looking at me. Can you count with me?”

She shakes her head violently, so I take another deep breath and start to sing Gravity to her. I have to sing the whole song and then the chorus at the end a couple extra times before she whispers through her sobs, “Eli?”

It's like she's just noticed it's me. “Yes sweetheart. It's me. I'm sorry you had to go through that.”

She sobs again. It's like she's too afraid to talk above a whisper as she asks, “Where am I?”

“St. Peters. You passed out and I couldn't wake you up so I had to bring you here. I'm sorry.”

I see something like even more fear flash through her eyes and she looks like she's tossing up something before she mumbles, “What did they give me, sir?”

“Some sedation and glucose. I think that's it. Why? What's wrong? Are you allergic to something?”

She shakes her head.

“What's wrong?”

“Later.”

I nod, just that word alone meant there would be some form of explanation following. That was definitely progress.

“Dani? The doctor has to check you over...”

“NO! No, no. I'm fine. I need to go home now. Please, I need to go. Please?”

I didn't actually think my heart could hurt any more for this poor girl. She is completely petrified. She's shaking and crying. She looks like a wild animal caught in a cage.

“He has to make sure you're ok, sweetheart. You can't go home until they know you're going to be alright.”

“Please Eli.... Please.... Don't let them near me.... I can't.... You can't.... Please?”

How can I say no to her pleas? I know the doctor needs to check her, but she's just so scared.

I turn to the doctor and ask, “What do you need to do?”

“I need to check her blood pressure, heart rate and I need to put those IV's back in.”

“I'm not being funny, doc, but her blood pressure and heart rate are going to be through the roof right now, so is her breathing. If I can keep her calm and get her to eat and drink something, can the IV's stay out?”

Doctor Trent tosses my idea up and eventually he says, “Ok, but only because I'm worried us interfering will cause more harm to Miss Romanov. You will need to make sure she eats and drinks properly though.”

“Thank you. And I will. Bring in whatever you want her to eat and I'll make sure she has it.”

I turn to Dani and shoot her a smile. “Relax, Dani, they're not coming near you. But you need to do everything we say before you can get out of here. Ok?”

“No more drugs?”

“No ma'am. As long as you eat and drink properly and try to keep calm.”

She nods slightly.

As Doctor Trent leaves the room, he says, “I'll send some food in. See that she eats it all and I'll check in with you before my shift ends. You must be one heck of a negotiator for your team.”

“Thank you and I'll make sure she eats and drinks.”

I let out a huge sigh of relief once everyone else has left the room. I take another look at Dani, and I notice that she is completely broken, like her whole world has come tumbling down around her.

“Dani? Can you look at me?”

She glances at me and then looks back at her hands, running her fingers over the needle marks.

“Can you tell me why you're so worried about what they gave you?”

She sighs and I can hear her trying to get her sobs and breathing under control. Eventually she whispers, “I was an addict...”

I frown at the thought. “How come? What got you into it?”

“Not by choice.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, sir.... Eli?”

“Yes sweetheart?”

“I can't sleep here.”

“They can sedate you, you know?”

“No, it's not safe.”

This shocked me. She let another truth out and I tried to press further, “What's not safe? I'll stay with you and protect you.”

“You can't, sir.”

“I won't let anyone in here; no one will be able to hurt you with me here.”

“You can't protect...”

She hesitates and then changes what she was going to say. “You just can't, sir.”

“They won't let you home, Dani. You're suffering from sleep deprivation and malnutrition. They're not just going to let you go when you haven't recovered.”

“I can discharge myself, even against their wishes.”

“You'd do that?”

“I have to get out of here, Eli. I can't stay here.”

I nod; not really in agreement, more out of resignation. I know she won't sleep unless they sedate her again. She won't let anyone near her to do that, so she won't recover in here. I sigh deeply and then say, “I'll go have a word with the doctor and see what I can do.”

END of Eli's POV

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After Eli leaves the room, I briefly close my eyes. I can't believe I actually told him that. I'm having a battle between my head and my heart again. My head is screaming that I shouldn't trust Eli, but my heart knows that he's different; that this can't go on much longer. I scold myself, “He took you to the hospital, Danica. He waited to make sure you were ok. He's done nothing but help you.”

It's all so confusing. I'm scared because I like Eli, but I'm also scared because I don't want to get hurt. As much as my heart wants to like Eli, my head wins for now. It's yelling, 'They're all the same.' Except this time my heart whispers, 'Aren't they?'

Eli and the doctor appear at the doorway to my room. I jump and scoot further up the bed. I can feel myself shaking and I curse myself for being so weak.

Eli whispers, “It's ok, Dani. It's just me. The doctor just wants to talk to you.”

“Miss Romanov, Mr Ramirez here tells me you want to discharge yourself. Is that correct?'

I manage to squeak out, “Yes sir.”

“I must stress that it is completely against my advisement. You need rest and proper nutrition. I can't guarantee that you will receive this at home. I must point out how important I think it is that you stay here...”

“I have to go home.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes sir.”

“And you will rest and eat properly?”

“Yes sir.”

Eli pipes in, “I'll make sure of it, Doc.”

The doctor sighs and eventually agrees. “Right. I'll prescribe some sleeping pills and something to help with the anxiety. I'll have the nurse fill the prescriptions and bring them to you. Your clothes are in that cupboard over there.”

I gasp and look down. I didn't even realize I was in a gown. My eyes fill with tears and my mind goes through all the possibilities. Eli screeches my mind to a halt when he says, “Dani, I'm going to get the prescriptions from the nurse while you change. I'll be right back, ok?”

I nod gingerly and wait for him to leave before I get out of the bed. My legs are weak and they nearly give in, but pure determination keeps me from buckling. I grab my clothes and go into the bathroom to change. I feel groggy, it must be from the sedation. I don't like that feeling, so I splash cold water on my face to try to shake it. I hear someone come back into the room, and I rush to finish changing. I find Eli sitting in the chair with his eyes shut. It's then that I notice he looks tired and worried. I clear my throat and he quickly opens his eyes. He shoots me a dazzling smile, just like he always does, but it never seems fake. And trust me, I've seen more than a million fake smiles in my time. I'd know the difference any day of the week.

Eli snaps me out of my thoughts, “You ready to go? My car is outside. It's a good job I drove to the airport, huh?”

“Yes sir.”

We travelled in silence and Eli followed me into my apartment. He asked, “Do you mind if I crash on the couch? I don't know if I can drive home.”

I hesitate, so he continues, “The doctor wants me to keep an eye on you for the next couple days. It was one of the conditions of your release.”

“Ok, sir. I'll grab a pillow and blanket.”

I make sure he has bed clothes and the I head to my room. This is going to be a long night, even though it's nearly 4am.