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These characters are not mine, and I make no profit from
their use in this story. Before I start, I’d like to again thank Elizabeth for all
her help. I’d also like to thank S.B.J and Amanda for archiving my series. The lyrics
used in this story are from the song “Healing Hands” by Marc Cohn. You can find
it on the ER soundtrack! While each of the stories in my series can be read separately, I
strongly suggest you read Eye of the Storm, otherwise this one won’t make much sense.
This story is number seven in a series. Previous stories:
1. Streets of Philadelphia
2. Lost and Found
3. A New Day
4. Feels Like Home
5. Piecing Things Together
6. Eye of the Storm
Previously in this series…
Anna woke up in darkness, sweating and shaking. She turned around in bed to find John
looking at her, concerned.
“What’s the matter?”
“Bad dream I guess.” Suddenly Anna felt sick and she ran to the bathroom. A few
minutes later, she came back into the bedroom.
“I feel awful.”
Carter smiled. “It’s called morning sickness, remember doc?”
“No,” she said as she turned off the light, ”This isn’t morning
sickness.”
*********
Max walked into the County General ER in some of his old scrubs. He knew he had to get
Anna’s address, but how? He then found the answer, in the form of a ten year old
seated at the reception desk.
“Hello there, young lady.”
The girl turned around. “Hi.”
“I’m Dr McGrath, I’m from Neurology. I need to look up a file on one of the
patients. Can I use the computer?”
“Sure.”
Rachel resumed her homework, and Max went to the computer. He got a pen and paper, and
looked up Anna’s information. Within seconds, he had Anna’s address and was on
his way.
*******
Carter was tired. He wanted to go home. He thought he would fall asleep right there at the
desk. He heard the familiar sound of the paramedics push a gurney through the door. Susan
ran to it.
“What’ve we got?”
“27 year old female, attack victim-”
Susan was within sight of the patient now, and she was shocked by what she saw.
“OH MY GOD!!! ANNA!!!”
And now, here’s Healing Hands!
Tonight I cried the tears of a child
Who knows what fear runs deep and wild inside
But the river’s in flood tonight…
Carter stared off into space, not believing what had happened that night. Just a few hours
ago, Anna had been her normal, wonderful self. Now she was a victim, just like any other
patient in the ER, really. He looked at his watch. The police should be here soon, he
thought. He wondered what kind of sick person could do this. Was it just a random act? Or
was there something else going on that he didn’t know about? Come to think of it,
Anna had acted very strange the day of the attack. There was the nightmare, followed by
her distracted appearance during the day. Anna was one of the most, if not the most
focused doctors he had known. It was strange to see her act so strangely. He leaned back
and watched her sleep. She looked so peaceful for someone who had just gone through such
trauma.
And then there was the baby. Was it OK? The doctors had been very
careful during the trauma, but was that enough? Her neighbor had said she fell down the
stairs. What effect would that have? All of his medical knowledge suddenly became
insignificant to him. He didn’t want to have to give the answers, he wanted someone
else to tell him what was going on. Someone opened the door and light streamed into the
room. He turned around to see Weaver walking into the room.
“Carter, you really need to get some sleep.”
He rubbed his eyes. “I can’t yet. I need to find out what
happened. Shouldn’t the police be here right now?”
“We couldn’t find you when they came. They should be back in
a few minutes.”
“Do they know anything?”
“I don’t know. They need to talk to Anna, she’s the only
who knows what really happened. Anyway, get ready, the police will want to talk to you
when they get here.” Weaver walked out and quietly closed the door.
Carter looked down at Anna. “Come on Anna, what happened?” he
whispered. Reluctantly, he got up and walked out of the room.
*******
“So Dr. Carter, this shouldn’t take too long. We just want to ask you a few
questions,” said the police officer.
“Sure, go right ahead.”
The cop shifted in his chair. “Did you notice anything strange about Dr. Del Amico in
the days leading up to the attack?”
“She seemed really nervous and distracted yesterday. She had some sort of nightmare
the night before, and it seemed to trouble her all day.”
The officer wrote something down on his pad, then looked up. “Usually in these cases,
the victim knows the attacker. Can you think of anyone who would do something like
this?”
Carter paused. “Anna had an old boyfriend in Philadelphia, Max Rosher. He had a lot
of drug problems when they were going out, that’s the reason they finally broke up.
From what Anna tells me it sounds like he was very angry about that. The thing is, Anna
never told Max that she was moving back to Chicago. They used to work together, but Max
stole drugs from the hospital and lost his license to practice medicine. None of
Anna’s friends would have told him she was here, so I can’t see how he would
have found out she was here.”
“Could you describe this Dr. Rosher?”
“I’d say he’s about 5’9”, light brown hair, chipmunk teeth. I
don’t remember too much else. I’m sure Anna has a picture of him somewhere. They
went out for five years.”
The officer looked at his watch. “Thank you Dr. Carter, this is very useful
information. Can you wake up Dr. Del Amico?”
“Sure,” said Carter.
*****
I laid down and the light streamed across my face
I felt the beauty of some deeper grace and I’ll try
To find my way to the other side
Anna woke up in incredible pain. Her whole abdomen felt like someone had stuck a knife in
it. She pulled her knees to her chest, hoping to reduce the pain. She wanted to scream
out, but the pain was so intense she couldn’t talk. She hoped someone would come
soon.
Carter walked around the corner with the police officer, stopping outside Anna’s
door. “I’ll wake her up,” said Carter. He pulled the curtain that was
around her bed, only to see her in the fetal position and in incredible pain. “Anna,
what’s wrong?” He ran to get Dr. Lewis, stopping to tell the cop that now was
not a good time. Carter ran to the front desk.
“Susan!” I need you right now. Something’s wrong with Anna!” They ran
to the room together. Susan went up to Anna.
“Anna, where does it hurt?” Anna motioned to her stomach. Carter and Susan
looked at each other.
“You don’t think..?” started Carter. He stopped. He didn’t want to
consider the possibility of what could be happening. Susan lifted the blanket.
“She’s spotting.”
Carter’s stomach lurched. Susan put her stethescope around her neck. “How far
along is she?”
“Three weeks.”
“Too early to tell with an ultrasound. We’ll have to do an exam.” Anna
suddenly became alert, and looked very worried.
“Everything’s ok, right?” she asked.
Susan began to prep for a pelvic exam. “We’ll see.”
The three of them were silent during the exam. Carter stood behind Anna, rubbing her
shoulders. Susan was deep in concentration. She got a look on her face, as if she had just
found the answer. She looked up at Anna and Carter, and she appeared very serious.
“I’m sorry…”
******
Later that night, Susan sat in the lounge, staring into her cup of coffee. Miscarriages
were depressing enough when it was a complete stranger. But Anna and Carter were two of
her best friends. Carol came into the lounge. It was the beginning of her shift, and she
looked confused.
“Hey Susan. Wow, everyone’s acting kinda strange. Anyway, there’s something
I have to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
“I wanted you to be the first to hear. I’m pregnant.”
“Congratulations.” Susan continued to stare off into space.
“What’s with you, anyway?”
“You didn’t hear?”
“No, why what’s going on?”
“Anna was attacked last night.”
Carol sat down. “Oh my---“
“They lost the baby. They just found out. I had to do the exam. So I think right now
might not be a good time to tell them your news.”
“No, you’re right, I won’t tell them. Do they know who did it?”
“No, but Carter does. The police still haven’t talked to Anna.”
“Who do they think it is?”
“Some ex boyfriend of Anna’s…Max something.”
“Rosher?”
“You know him?”
“He worked here for awhile, before Anna left. He was the reason she moved back to
Philly.”
“I thought there was something more to this.”
“I think there’s more we don’t know.”
******
And I feel your skin as smooth as silk
Drunk like a baby on his mama’s milk
Take me down under the wishing tree
And lay your healing hands on me
Only you…
Anna and Carter were devastated. As if the attack alone wasn’t enough, now they had
lost their child. Carter had an instinct within him. He was sure he knew who did this, but
he didn’t know why or how. He wanted answers.
“Anna, who did this to you?”
“You know already, don’t you?”
“I had a pretty good idea. It was him, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“But how? Why?”
“How? I don’t know. I have no clue how he knew I was here. I took every
precaution. I did everything in my power to make sure he would never find me.”
“But why were you running?”
“Why? That’s a tougher question to answer. There’s something I need to tell
you.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, I guess I should start at the very beginning…”
Anna began to speak. It was all going to be out in the open now.
“As you may have guessed, my heart never really was in my decision to move back to
Philadelphia. Max was the one who wanted me to go back there. I don’t know why I
agreed. I used the lack of a pedes ER at County as my excuse, because doing that made me
feel better about the move.
“It wasn’t until we were on the plane that I knew I had made a mistake. I
realized I was being pushed around by a man I didn’t really love. I was certain that
he stole the Percocet, I just didn’t have proof. So I wasn’t too surprised when
he got in trouble with drugs again. This time it was worse than ever. I tried to get him
to detox, but he wouldn’t do it. His problems grew so severe that he got angry. He
lost his license to practice medicine. He was living with me by then, and his whole life
became this big downward spiral. One night, I told him he had to go to detox, or it was
over. He got really angry, and began to hit me. That was how it started. At first he only
hit me when I made him mad. Then he would do it all the time. I went to the hospital a few
times. I never went to the hospital where I worked, Max made sure of that.”
The last attack was the worst. When I had that nightmare, that was what the dream was
about. I don’t even remember going to the hospital. One of my neighbors found
me.”
“Didn’t they know what was going on?”
“No, they never knew until then. My last visit to the hospital, the doctors caught on
to what was going on. They saw my files, all the times I had been in for
‘accidents’. They finally gave me the courage to do what I needed to do.”
“Which was---?”
“I ran. I ran as far as I could. I moved across town and got a new apartment. I
started work again. Everything was going okay, but one night when I was in bed I was
convinced I heard Max trying to get into my apartment. I was scared. I needed someone to
talk to…”
Suddenly Carter remembered the mysterious message on his machine.
“So anyway, as you may recall, I left a message on your machine at 4 AM. Every friend
I had in Philly was tied to Max in some way or another. I needed to talk to someone I
completely trusted. So I called you. I’m sorry if I woke you up.”
“That’s OK, I was already awake.”
“But obviously Max tracked me down somehow. This was the worst attack yet, and
I’m sure it would have been worse had he the opportunity. But he was scared and ran
away. Just think, if you hadn’t gone to that conference I could be dead in
Philadelphia somewhere.”
Carter sat back and took all of this in. “You need to talk to the cops. I just
can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this.”
“Oh come on. You wouldn’t believe that he could do that.”
“No,” said Carter as he walked out, “I’m the only one who would
believe he could do that.”
******
A long time riding this deserted trail
There’s no messiahs out here baby, but I’ve found the holy grail, all right
Cause I’m lying in your arms tonight
Morning had come, and the new shift was beginning. “Hey Doug, you on now?”
yelled Mark from across the ambulance bay. Rachel followed behind him, looking very
sleepy.
“Yeah. For twelve fun-filled hours. Let’s just hope it’s not too
hectic.”
They walked in the double doors to find no one at the desk. “Doesn’t anyone
watch the desk anymore?” yelled Mark to no one in particular. Doug followed him,
looking on the board. “Let’s see, we got Prescott, Walker, Smith, Del Amico,
Long…”
They stood there for a moment, then stared at each other in disbelief.
“Del Amico??”
Mark want to the lounge. “Where’s Susan, she’ll know what’s going
on.”
He opened the door and Susan was in there.
“Sus, you were on last night, what happened?”
“Anna was attacked. Right outside her apartment.”
“Who did it?”
“They think it may have been her ex boyfriend. All I know is that if it was a random
attack, I need to worry. I live across the hall from her. The attack was right outside my
door.”
“You’re not going back there. You and Susie are staying with us. Where is Susie,
anyway?”
“Upstairs in day care.”
“I get off at 7. Whatever you do between now and then, don’t go home.”
“Okay. And Mark?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
*****
And I feel your skin as smooth as silk
Drunk like a baby on his mama’s milk
Take me down under the wishing tree
And lay your healing hands on me
Only you…
Carter and Anna were talking when a police officer entered the room.
“There’s no sign of Mr. Rosher anywhere. It’’s likely he left town
after the incident. Dr. Del Amico, Mr. Rosher knows your address, so It would be in your
best interests if you moved. Do you have someplace you can stay until you find a new
apartment?”
“Yes”
“Good. Don’t go back to your own apartment alone. We’ll keep looking for
him.’
The cop left. Anna began to cry again.
“He’s taken everything from us. I don’t want to be afraid, but now I have
to be,” she said.
Carter put his arms around her. “I’m scared too. But they’ll find him,
I’m sure.”
“He knows where you live too, I’m sure. Maybe we should both move.”
“We’ll find our own place, and he’ll never hurt us again.”
“I hope you’re right.”
******
“I don’t ever want to be a patient at that hospital again,” said Anna as
she and Carter entered his apartment. She had been released two days after she was brought
in, and she was scheduled to have surgery next week to repair the scarring on her face.
She wandered around the living room, running her hands over the counter. Her hand stopped
on a book on the counter. It was a baby names book John had given her when they found out
she was pregnant. She picked it up and put it in a cabinet. She wouldn’t be needing
that for a while. She didn’t notice Carter come up behind her. She had tried to be
strong through this whole ordeal, but it was getting too hard. He put his arms around her
waist and kissed her cheek. She finally let go and began to sob. Carter tried to stay
strong, for her.
“We’ll get through this,” he said, “Somehow.”
And I feel your skin as smooth as silk
Drunk like a baby on his mama’s milk
Take me down under the wishing tree
And lay your healing hands on me
Lay your healing hands on me
Lay your healing hands…
Lay your healing hands on me
Lay your healing hands…on me
