Post by rsafan on Mar 29, 2007 5:32:31 GMT -5
Chapter 64
Shawn arrived a minute before the paramedics. He stormed into the apartment, switching on the lights automatically as he opened the door. “Victoria!” he called as he raced to Zach’s room.
The door was locked and no sound came from the other side, he tried Rex’s room but it was empty and ran back to the living area of the apartment, all the while calling her name getting no response. He was about to head upstairs when he saw the blood. The Kitchen! His mind screamed and he entered it apprehensively.
“Oh God!” he said as he ran towards her. She was huddled up in a corner leaning against the kitchen cabinets gripping the handset of the phone in her right hand. “It’s okay Tory; everything’s going to be okay.” As he tried to assess how badly she was injured. The pool of blood she was sitting in was his greatest worry.
“Zach’s okay.” She whispered, “I locked him in.” she shoved the key into his hand. By then the paramedics had arrived and were asking him to move. “Get Zach.” she said. He stood aside, watching the medics deal with his sister and the growing red spot that was forming around her. Understanding what she wanted, he left the kitchen and went to Zach.
By the time Shawn came out of the room, the apartment was swarming with people, the police, paramedics and family. Zach, who had woken during all the commotion, reached for his mom as soon as he saw her.
“Hey sweetheart.” Mimi said as she hugged him to her, glad that he was okay, “did all the noise wake you?”
He nodded his head against her breast. Mimi walked with Zach out of the apartment; right now she didn’t want to be in there, didn’t want to think of Victoria sitting in the kitchen covered in blood or about what might’ve happened to Zach.
“Mommy sad.” Zach commented, lifting his head to watch the tears course down her face.
“Yes baby, Mommy’s sad.” She kissed his forehead and smiled at him when he almost split his face with a massive yawn, “and Zach’s tired.”
“You can take him to the room if you want, you’ll have some quiet there if you close the door.” Hope informed her as she stepped out of the apartment herself. She wasn’t crying, but the tears were there and her eyes were so sad, it made Mimi want to cry all over again.
“Thank you.” she said as she moved back to the door, then she turned back to Hope, “Is she okay? Are you?”
Hope nodded, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes, “She’s going to be fine; they’re just getting her statement before they take her off to the hospital to be examined properly.”
“Shouldn’t they wait till after she’s been examined?” Mimi asked concerned. She’d seen the blood; all that blood meant Victoria’s wounds obviously weren’t all superficial.
“She insisted,” Hope smiled at the image of her daughter refusing to be taken to the hospital until she’d given a full statement, weak as she was she’d been adamant, “she didn’t want them to wait, in case she needed surgery or was ‘drugged up’. She wants them to get this guy sooner rather than later.” She had also wanted them to know at the very beginning that Luc had not been responsible for the attack, though he might have been the reasoning behind it.
“If there’s anything I-”
“Go take care of your son, that’s what you can do.” Mimi did as she was ordered, walking back into the apartment, she made sure to block Zach’s view of the crime scene. There was a policeman standing outside Zach’s room and he opened the door to let her in, closing it gently behind her. Mimi went to sit in the rocking chair with Zach, singing and rocking. It wasn’t long before Zach was asleep and not too long after before she too closed her eyes and entered a world far away from the reality outside the room.
“Ma’am I think you need to-” the paramedic who had just checked one of Victoria’s more serious wounds, was abruptly cut off by a glare form the young woman.
“I’m almost done, would you stop hovering around me? The sooner I finish, the sooner you can get me to the hospital.” Victoria informed him. Then turning back to the police officer she asked, “Now where was I?”
“He’d said-”
“Oh yes, he said that I was to tell Lucien that he, James, had paid me a visit. He said, ‘I’m keeping you alive just long enough to inform your husband. If you die before help gets here, it’ll only serve as a warning. He’ll know who sent it.’ And then he left. As soon as I heard the door close, I crawled to the phone and called my brother. I knew he was on speed dial.”
“Thank you, that’ll be all for now.” The policeman said; then addressing the medic, informed him, “You can take her to the hospital; we’re done here.”
Hope went with Victoria, Shawn chose to stay behind but he did encourage Belle to go home and relieve the sitter who was watching Claire. Patrick came storming in minutes after Victoria had been wheeled away. “I just heard.” He said breathlessly, which indicated that he’d opted to take the stairs as opposed to waiting for the lift. “Is Mimi okay?”
“Yes, Mimi wasn’t home at the time.” Shawn informed him.
“Where is she?”
“She’s in Zach’s room.”
Patrick marched to the room and flung the door open. On the way over, he’d been scared out of his mind that Victoria hadn’t been the only victim. He didn’t know why she had been there but it wasn’t surprising since she was friends with both Rex as well as Mimi. Luc was already on his way to University Hospital, where they had taken Victoria, Patrick had come to the apartment to check on Mimi. To find her sleeping in the rocking chair, both relieved as well as angered him. How dare she sleep while he’d been worried out of his mind about her? He walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder. “Mimi, wake up.” He ordered.
She took her own time doing it, but eventually her eyes were open and focused on him, “Patrick, what are you doing here?”
“Never mind that, go and pack some of your things, I want you out of this place, tonight.” Patrick ordered.
“Patrick…” Mimi started to protest.
But Patrick was hearing none of it, if they could attack Victoria, there was nothing to stop them from going after Mimi, “You are in danger here Mimi, and more to the point, Zach is. Now either you move in with me or Shawn.”
“I hate you.” she said as she got up and went to place Zach in his crib.
“I know, but you’re still not staying here.”
*****
Hope sat alone in the hospital waiting room, awaiting news on Victoria’s condition. Bo was at the station and would come over as soon as he could; it seemed to Hope though that she was to spend time here every year worrying about a child’s safety, wondering if she was ever going to see them again. The experience was one she had hoped to never repeat but here she sat, a year later, hoping and praying that her baby would be okay.
“Have you heard anything yet?”
Hope, who had had her face buried in her hands, looked up to see if the person had been talking to her. Seeing Luc standing in the doorway, she knew he was and shook her head.
“Do you mind if I waited here with you?” he asked politely, understanding that she might not want that, “Just till we know how she is.”
“It’s a public area; you can sit anywhere you like.” Hope said indifferently.
“Was it bad…what I meant was…”
“Look Lucien, I may not object to your staying here, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to engage in conversation with you. Right now I’m waiting to see how my daughter is doing after suffering from a premeditated assault conducted by one of your ‘business’ associates, so you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not really in a talking mood right now.”
“What do you mean my ‘business’ associates?” Luc asked, hearing this for the first time. All he’d known was that Victoria had been attacked and was being taken to University Hospital, to think that he might be responsible…
“You mean your ‘sources’ haven’t informed you yet?” Hope sneered.
Just then, Bo came rushing in, “Hope have you…What is he doing here?”
“Bo don’t-”
“I’m sorry,” a nurse interrupted, “are you Victoria Dimera’s family?” They all nodded, “I’m going to need next-of-kin to fill out these insurance forms.”
“I’m her husband.” Luc said at the same time that Hope responded, “I’m her mother.”
The nurse looked from one to the other and handed the forms to Luc. The doctor walked in minutes later, having been informed by the nurse where Mrs. Dimera’s family was; he addressed Luc as he entered the room, “Mr Dimera?” Luc looked up from the insurance forms.
“How is she?”
Though it was Hope who asked, the doctor addressed Luc, “Your wife is going to be fine. Most of her wounds are superficial; the cut to her leg though just nicked the femoral artery, there was no extensive damage. We’ve managed to stem the blood flow and she’s received several stitches.”
“Are you keeping her in?” Luc asked; if they were, he wanted Victoria to receive the best possible care and the most comfortable room this hospital had to offer.
The doctor shook his head, “There’s no reason to, unless she won’t be able to rest at home. She’ll be a bit sore over the next few days and her movements will be limited with the leg injury but she’s ready to go home and we have no reason to keep her overnight.”
“Are you sure I mean…” Hope asked, she too wanted the best for Victoria and if it was in her best interests to stay at the hospital; that was what she wanted.
“She’s insisting on going home, I’ve written out a prescription for antibiotics and painkillers.” He handed these to Luc, “The antibiotics she has to finish, the painkillers are to be taken when necessary. No over exertion, her body will be telling her that, but she needs someone to reinforce it. She needs to rest.” The tone of the doctor’s voice said he knew Victoria was going to be a tough patient.
“Is she really okay?” he asked, unable to hide the slight tremor in his voice as everything that had happened tonight finally caught up with him.
The doctor nodded, “She’s absolutely fine.”
Luc turned to Bo and hope as soon as the doctor left, “She can’t stay with Shawn; she’s going to need constant supervision over the next-”
Bo interrupted him, “Luc, allow us to know what’s best for our daughter. We’ll take proper care of her; there really is no reason for you to be here.”
“If there’s anything she needs-” he tried again, but once again Bo interrupted him.
“We’ll see to it, we won’t come knocking on your door for anything.”
Luc nodded, knowing Bo’s words were the truth, they wouldn’t ask him for anything. And given their understanding of his past with their daughter, any help he offered would be looked upon as nothing but suspicion. He’d come here to see that Victoria was well and taken care of properly, she would be and as such, he had no other reasons to hang around. He walked out, taking the completed insurance forms to the nurses’ station and then left the hospital. There was no need for Victoria to ever know he’d been here; no need for her to know how worried he’d been for her safety. Once he was safely back in his car, he took out his phone and called Patrick, his tone of voice brooked no arguments as he ordered Patrick, “I want you at the house in twenty minutes.” He was going to find James and he was going to make him pay for what he’d done. He wouldn’t kill him, though he wanted to with every fibre in his being, Victoria wouldn’t like that. She believed in the system, the one her family was an integral part of, he’d simply find James and hand him, very much alive, over to the authorities; of course he’d dish out his own punishment first.
“I don’t need to be in the wheelchair you know.” Victoria protested as she was wheeled into the elevator by Bo ten minutes later, “I’m sure there are plenty patients in this hospital who need it.”
“Sorry, doctor’s orders.” Bo said in reply. That had been his standard argument since Victoria had started voicing her opinions. She wanted to stay at the loft with Shawn, doctor’s orders were that she be somewhere she’d get constant supervision, namely her parents’ place. Hope organised to have a few personal days and insisted that she’d take care of her daughter herself, though Tory did get a promise out of her that she wouldn’t do any of the cooking herself. And so it was with much protest that she was finally settled into her own room, which had been the guest room, and Bo had Shawn bring over some of her things to make her recuperation more comfortable.
Shawn arrived a minute before the paramedics. He stormed into the apartment, switching on the lights automatically as he opened the door. “Victoria!” he called as he raced to Zach’s room.
The door was locked and no sound came from the other side, he tried Rex’s room but it was empty and ran back to the living area of the apartment, all the while calling her name getting no response. He was about to head upstairs when he saw the blood. The Kitchen! His mind screamed and he entered it apprehensively.
“Oh God!” he said as he ran towards her. She was huddled up in a corner leaning against the kitchen cabinets gripping the handset of the phone in her right hand. “It’s okay Tory; everything’s going to be okay.” As he tried to assess how badly she was injured. The pool of blood she was sitting in was his greatest worry.
“Zach’s okay.” She whispered, “I locked him in.” she shoved the key into his hand. By then the paramedics had arrived and were asking him to move. “Get Zach.” she said. He stood aside, watching the medics deal with his sister and the growing red spot that was forming around her. Understanding what she wanted, he left the kitchen and went to Zach.
By the time Shawn came out of the room, the apartment was swarming with people, the police, paramedics and family. Zach, who had woken during all the commotion, reached for his mom as soon as he saw her.
“Hey sweetheart.” Mimi said as she hugged him to her, glad that he was okay, “did all the noise wake you?”
He nodded his head against her breast. Mimi walked with Zach out of the apartment; right now she didn’t want to be in there, didn’t want to think of Victoria sitting in the kitchen covered in blood or about what might’ve happened to Zach.
“Mommy sad.” Zach commented, lifting his head to watch the tears course down her face.
“Yes baby, Mommy’s sad.” She kissed his forehead and smiled at him when he almost split his face with a massive yawn, “and Zach’s tired.”
“You can take him to the room if you want, you’ll have some quiet there if you close the door.” Hope informed her as she stepped out of the apartment herself. She wasn’t crying, but the tears were there and her eyes were so sad, it made Mimi want to cry all over again.
“Thank you.” she said as she moved back to the door, then she turned back to Hope, “Is she okay? Are you?”
Hope nodded, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes, “She’s going to be fine; they’re just getting her statement before they take her off to the hospital to be examined properly.”
“Shouldn’t they wait till after she’s been examined?” Mimi asked concerned. She’d seen the blood; all that blood meant Victoria’s wounds obviously weren’t all superficial.
“She insisted,” Hope smiled at the image of her daughter refusing to be taken to the hospital until she’d given a full statement, weak as she was she’d been adamant, “she didn’t want them to wait, in case she needed surgery or was ‘drugged up’. She wants them to get this guy sooner rather than later.” She had also wanted them to know at the very beginning that Luc had not been responsible for the attack, though he might have been the reasoning behind it.
“If there’s anything I-”
“Go take care of your son, that’s what you can do.” Mimi did as she was ordered, walking back into the apartment, she made sure to block Zach’s view of the crime scene. There was a policeman standing outside Zach’s room and he opened the door to let her in, closing it gently behind her. Mimi went to sit in the rocking chair with Zach, singing and rocking. It wasn’t long before Zach was asleep and not too long after before she too closed her eyes and entered a world far away from the reality outside the room.
“Ma’am I think you need to-” the paramedic who had just checked one of Victoria’s more serious wounds, was abruptly cut off by a glare form the young woman.
“I’m almost done, would you stop hovering around me? The sooner I finish, the sooner you can get me to the hospital.” Victoria informed him. Then turning back to the police officer she asked, “Now where was I?”
“He’d said-”
“Oh yes, he said that I was to tell Lucien that he, James, had paid me a visit. He said, ‘I’m keeping you alive just long enough to inform your husband. If you die before help gets here, it’ll only serve as a warning. He’ll know who sent it.’ And then he left. As soon as I heard the door close, I crawled to the phone and called my brother. I knew he was on speed dial.”
“Thank you, that’ll be all for now.” The policeman said; then addressing the medic, informed him, “You can take her to the hospital; we’re done here.”
Hope went with Victoria, Shawn chose to stay behind but he did encourage Belle to go home and relieve the sitter who was watching Claire. Patrick came storming in minutes after Victoria had been wheeled away. “I just heard.” He said breathlessly, which indicated that he’d opted to take the stairs as opposed to waiting for the lift. “Is Mimi okay?”
“Yes, Mimi wasn’t home at the time.” Shawn informed him.
“Where is she?”
“She’s in Zach’s room.”
Patrick marched to the room and flung the door open. On the way over, he’d been scared out of his mind that Victoria hadn’t been the only victim. He didn’t know why she had been there but it wasn’t surprising since she was friends with both Rex as well as Mimi. Luc was already on his way to University Hospital, where they had taken Victoria, Patrick had come to the apartment to check on Mimi. To find her sleeping in the rocking chair, both relieved as well as angered him. How dare she sleep while he’d been worried out of his mind about her? He walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder. “Mimi, wake up.” He ordered.
She took her own time doing it, but eventually her eyes were open and focused on him, “Patrick, what are you doing here?”
“Never mind that, go and pack some of your things, I want you out of this place, tonight.” Patrick ordered.
“Patrick…” Mimi started to protest.
But Patrick was hearing none of it, if they could attack Victoria, there was nothing to stop them from going after Mimi, “You are in danger here Mimi, and more to the point, Zach is. Now either you move in with me or Shawn.”
“I hate you.” she said as she got up and went to place Zach in his crib.
“I know, but you’re still not staying here.”
*****
Hope sat alone in the hospital waiting room, awaiting news on Victoria’s condition. Bo was at the station and would come over as soon as he could; it seemed to Hope though that she was to spend time here every year worrying about a child’s safety, wondering if she was ever going to see them again. The experience was one she had hoped to never repeat but here she sat, a year later, hoping and praying that her baby would be okay.
“Have you heard anything yet?”
Hope, who had had her face buried in her hands, looked up to see if the person had been talking to her. Seeing Luc standing in the doorway, she knew he was and shook her head.
“Do you mind if I waited here with you?” he asked politely, understanding that she might not want that, “Just till we know how she is.”
“It’s a public area; you can sit anywhere you like.” Hope said indifferently.
“Was it bad…what I meant was…”
“Look Lucien, I may not object to your staying here, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to engage in conversation with you. Right now I’m waiting to see how my daughter is doing after suffering from a premeditated assault conducted by one of your ‘business’ associates, so you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not really in a talking mood right now.”
“What do you mean my ‘business’ associates?” Luc asked, hearing this for the first time. All he’d known was that Victoria had been attacked and was being taken to University Hospital, to think that he might be responsible…
“You mean your ‘sources’ haven’t informed you yet?” Hope sneered.
Just then, Bo came rushing in, “Hope have you…What is he doing here?”
“Bo don’t-”
“I’m sorry,” a nurse interrupted, “are you Victoria Dimera’s family?” They all nodded, “I’m going to need next-of-kin to fill out these insurance forms.”
“I’m her husband.” Luc said at the same time that Hope responded, “I’m her mother.”
The nurse looked from one to the other and handed the forms to Luc. The doctor walked in minutes later, having been informed by the nurse where Mrs. Dimera’s family was; he addressed Luc as he entered the room, “Mr Dimera?” Luc looked up from the insurance forms.
“How is she?”
Though it was Hope who asked, the doctor addressed Luc, “Your wife is going to be fine. Most of her wounds are superficial; the cut to her leg though just nicked the femoral artery, there was no extensive damage. We’ve managed to stem the blood flow and she’s received several stitches.”
“Are you keeping her in?” Luc asked; if they were, he wanted Victoria to receive the best possible care and the most comfortable room this hospital had to offer.
The doctor shook his head, “There’s no reason to, unless she won’t be able to rest at home. She’ll be a bit sore over the next few days and her movements will be limited with the leg injury but she’s ready to go home and we have no reason to keep her overnight.”
“Are you sure I mean…” Hope asked, she too wanted the best for Victoria and if it was in her best interests to stay at the hospital; that was what she wanted.
“She’s insisting on going home, I’ve written out a prescription for antibiotics and painkillers.” He handed these to Luc, “The antibiotics she has to finish, the painkillers are to be taken when necessary. No over exertion, her body will be telling her that, but she needs someone to reinforce it. She needs to rest.” The tone of the doctor’s voice said he knew Victoria was going to be a tough patient.
“Is she really okay?” he asked, unable to hide the slight tremor in his voice as everything that had happened tonight finally caught up with him.
The doctor nodded, “She’s absolutely fine.”
Luc turned to Bo and hope as soon as the doctor left, “She can’t stay with Shawn; she’s going to need constant supervision over the next-”
Bo interrupted him, “Luc, allow us to know what’s best for our daughter. We’ll take proper care of her; there really is no reason for you to be here.”
“If there’s anything she needs-” he tried again, but once again Bo interrupted him.
“We’ll see to it, we won’t come knocking on your door for anything.”
Luc nodded, knowing Bo’s words were the truth, they wouldn’t ask him for anything. And given their understanding of his past with their daughter, any help he offered would be looked upon as nothing but suspicion. He’d come here to see that Victoria was well and taken care of properly, she would be and as such, he had no other reasons to hang around. He walked out, taking the completed insurance forms to the nurses’ station and then left the hospital. There was no need for Victoria to ever know he’d been here; no need for her to know how worried he’d been for her safety. Once he was safely back in his car, he took out his phone and called Patrick, his tone of voice brooked no arguments as he ordered Patrick, “I want you at the house in twenty minutes.” He was going to find James and he was going to make him pay for what he’d done. He wouldn’t kill him, though he wanted to with every fibre in his being, Victoria wouldn’t like that. She believed in the system, the one her family was an integral part of, he’d simply find James and hand him, very much alive, over to the authorities; of course he’d dish out his own punishment first.
“I don’t need to be in the wheelchair you know.” Victoria protested as she was wheeled into the elevator by Bo ten minutes later, “I’m sure there are plenty patients in this hospital who need it.”
“Sorry, doctor’s orders.” Bo said in reply. That had been his standard argument since Victoria had started voicing her opinions. She wanted to stay at the loft with Shawn, doctor’s orders were that she be somewhere she’d get constant supervision, namely her parents’ place. Hope organised to have a few personal days and insisted that she’d take care of her daughter herself, though Tory did get a promise out of her that she wouldn’t do any of the cooking herself. And so it was with much protest that she was finally settled into her own room, which had been the guest room, and Bo had Shawn bring over some of her things to make her recuperation more comfortable.
