Ellen’s eyes stayed on Bobby’s gun for several seconds before she turned her attention to his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Her voice was shaky from her obvious fear. “I don’t know any Eric.”

“Doctor, let’s not play this game,” Bobby warned. “I want your friend. Matt / Eric, it’s all the same and you’re going to tell me where he is.”

“I already told you, I don’t know where Matt is.”

“Well, I have a feeling that if I stay around you long enough, you’ll be able to find out.”

The elevator came to a stop and opened on the first floor.

“Walk slowly,” Bobby told her, “and don’t even think about trying anything.”

With Bobby following closely behind, Ellen stepped out of the elevator and was immediately approached by her mother.

“Hi, honey. I had a few minutes before my checkup with Dr. Quartermaine and I thought I’d come by and say hello. I hoped maybe we could have some coffee, decaf for me, of course,” Alice said with a smile.

Ellen would have liked spending some time with her mother, but with a crazed gunman on her heels, now was just not a good time. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I was just on my way out with Bobby. He has an emergency that needs my prompt attention.”

Alice’s disappointment was evident. “Oh, okay. Maybe when you get back?”

Bobby pressed the barrel of the gun into her back.

“We’ll see,” Ellen said with a tight smile. “I really have to go now.”

With the gun still pressed against the small of her back, Ellen proceeded out to the parking lot where Bobby told her to get into her car.

“Now what?” Ellen said once they were inside the automobile.

With the gun still pointed at her, Bobby gave his directions. “Drive to where you live, and then we wait.”

“Wait for what?” Ellen asked.

“For Eric to call or someone to call you for him. Either way, I have a strong suspicion we’ll be hearing from the good doctor very soon.” Shaking the gun at her. “Let’s drive.”

~*~

“Did you reach the marshals?” Mike asked, after Matt hung up the phone.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “They said they should arrive around nightfall and that I should stay put until then.”

“That’s several hours away. I could call Ellen, and she could…”
Matt brushed his hand through his short-cropped hair and sighed loudly. “Mike, we’ve talked about this. I can’t handle another goodbye.”

“Okay, fine. Can I at least tell her you’re okay?”

“Yes, but don’t tell her where I am, just tell her I’m okay.”

Mike picked up his keys and put on his jacket. “I need to run by the Recovery Room for a while, so I’ll stop by the hospital when I’m done. Is there anything you need while I’m out?”

“You and I both know what I need, but I can’t have that, so, no, I’m fine.”

“If something happens or you need to reach me, I have my cell phone,” Mike explained.

“I’ll be fine, Mike.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“You don’t have to come back,” Matt told his well-meaning friend. “You’ve already done so much for me.”

“I’ve done nothing, and I want to come back. I’ll see you in a while,” the older man assured him.

Alone in the empty warehouse, Matt’s thoughts drifted back to his final moments with Ellen. He brought his fingertips to his lips as he remembered the kiss they shared. So much had finally been said between them and so much was still left unsaid, per his request. She didn’t have to say the words for him to know she felt the same way he did. She loved him. That knowledge would sustain him; keeping her away would sustain her. Matt shook his head and sighed. Doing the right thing sure hurt like hell.

~*~

“Grace, I was looking for Ellen, have you seen her?” Mike asked as he approached the nurse’s station.

“Are you looking for Matt, too?” Grace remarked.

“I’m sorry?”

“Matt left the hospital today. No one seems to know where he went. If your intention was to ask Ellen, you’re wasting your time. She couldn’t care less.”

“Actually, no, I wasn’t going to ask about Matt, but I’m sure if Ellen’s not concerned there’s no reason for anyone else to be.”

“I thought you would be different, Mike. Don’t you care?”

Mike was losing his patience. “About what, Grace? Matt is a grown man. The last time I saw him, which was earlier today, he was fine. If a medical professional like Ellen isn’t concerned about him, who am I to be?”

She shook her head in disgust. “Forget it, okay. No, I don’t know where Ellen is. The last time I saw her she was on her way to get something to eat. That was right before Matt’s friend Bobby had come by to see him.”

Mike did a double take. “Wait a minute, what friend of Matt’s named Bobby?”

“Now you’re concerned?” Grace mocked.

“Just answer the question!” he barked.

Grace recoiled from the manner of his speaking but she went on to answer the question. “As I was reporting to work I overheard this guy, Bobby, asking about Matt. He said he was an old friend and heard Matt worked here. I explained Matt was a patient and showed him to his room. It was then we discovered he was gone.”

Mike was getting a bad feeling. “Did Ellen speak to this guy?”

“Well he was at the nurse’s station when I asked her about Matt.”

“Oh boy,” Mike groaned as he combed his fingers through his hair. “And that was the last time you saw her?”

“Yes.” Grace nodded.

“And this Bobby, when did you last see him?”

“I saw him talking to Chris, after Ellen went into on-call room. Why? What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Do you think you can have Ellen paged for me?”

“I don’t understand why you’re so concerned about Ellen, she’s not the one who’s been fighting an infection the past couple of days.”

“Just do it, Grace.”

Fifteen minutes after the page, Ellen still hadn’t shown up on the floor or called in. The bad feeling Mike had was getting worse by the second. He stopped the pacing he had been doing and turned to Grace. “If you see Ellen, tell her to call me on my cell phone as soon as possible.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have time for this, Grace. Please, just give Ellen the message.”

“Ellen’s not back from her emergency, yet?” Alice inquired, after hearing the last part of Mike’s statement.

“Hi, Alice. How are you doing?” Grace cordially inquired. She wasn’t too fond of Ellen, but her mother always supported her relationship with Matt.

“According to Dr. Quartermaine, I’m doing much better, thank you, Grace. Mike, I heard you asking about Ellen.”

“Yeah, I needed to talk to her about something. You mentioned an emergency she had,” Mike prodded, as he guided her a few feet away from Grace.

“I saw Ellen leaving when I came in for my appointment. I had hoped we could sit down and catch up before my checkup but she was in a rush. She was with some man named uh, Bobby. Yeah, she said his name was Bobby. Apparently, there was an emergency she had to take care of with him.”

“How did she seem?”

“In a hurry,” Alice answered. “We barely spoke for a minute. I didn’t really question it, she’s a doctor and we’re not exactly close, but we’re trying to get there. I thought it weird she was heading out, but I guess some doctors still do house calls.”

“And that was how long ago?”

“Right before my appointment. Dr. Quartermaine ran a few tests so I guess it was about 2 hours ago. Is there something wrong?”

God, I hope not. Mike gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Nah, I’m sure everything is fine, Alice, don’t worry. Do you need a ride home?”

“No, Winston will be here soon,” she told him. “Are you sure everything is okay with Ellen?”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about,” Mike relayed. “I’ll see you.”

~*~

Back in his car, Mike phoned Ellen’s apartment.

The call was answered on the second ring. “Hello,” Ellen said nervously, as Bobby held the gun to her head.

“Ellen, it’s Mike,” he said.

She knew this was not the time to play fast and loose with her life, but she had to do something to alert him of the trouble she was in. “Mother, hi.”

“Is Bobby with you? Is he alone?”

“Yes on both counts, but I can’t get away right now,” she explained, trying to sound as casual as possible for Bobby’s sake.

“Does he have a gun?” he asked.

“You know that’s right.”

Mike released a short breath. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay,” he assured her.

“How is that friend of yours doing?”

“Matt is fine, he’s safe, as you will be. I’m going to go now, but you’ll be fine. Just play it cool, help will be there soon.”

“Okay, good bye, Mother.”

Bobby laughed sinisterly as Ellen hung up the phone. “Baby, who do you think you’re kidding?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” Ellen replied, as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders, in as much of an attempt to keep herself from shaking out of fear as it was to keep warm from the chill of Bobby’s cold, hard, lecherous gaze.

He approached her and dragged his thumb against her cheek. “Come on, sweetness. If that was your mother on the phone, I’m the pope. I suspect I’ll be seeing my dear baby brother even sooner than I thought. See, I knew I could count on you,” he grinned evilly.

~*~

Mike floored it all the way back to the warehouse.

“Did you see Ellen,” Matt asked the older gentleman when he entered.

“No, I didn’t see her.” Mike sighed deeply. “There’s a problem, Matt.”

“What do you mean there’s a problem.” Dread washed over Matt. “Is something wrong with Ellen?”

“Not yet, but there could be soon. There’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just say it.” Mike took a deep breath and released it. “Bobby has her.”

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