FIRE & BLOOD • EVAN 'BUCK' BUCKLEY / 9-1-1

55.

Victor is talking to Dr. Rose in the lounge room when I find him. Dr. Rose was staring at him not once glancing anywhere else. She seemed very intrigued by whatever he was saying and judging by his furrowed eyebrows, it must be serious. I knock on the door before letting myself in. Both of their eyes looked up to find me standing at the doorway. Dr. Rose raises an eyebrow at me, giving me a small smirk as her eyes glance back towards Victor.

"Moore?" Victor gives me a waiting look.
"Sorry to interrupt. Can I have a moment, Dr. Russell? I won't take up much of your time"

"Oh, I was just leaving dear. I need to go check on a patient" Dr. Rose stood from the couch, gave long glances between me and Victor before leaving us two alone in the lounge room. Before she closed the door behind her, she threw one last glance towards me. A small smile played on her lips and her eyes gleamed with amusement before she shut the door behind her. What was that about?

Victor gestures to the spot where Dr. Rose had been sitting on only a few seconds ago. "Do you want to sit down?"

"Umm no" I say at first. "I needed to talk to you about Savannah." His eyebrows shot up as he sat there nodding his head quietly. On second thought, I decided I may want to sit down. I walked over to the couch and sat to Victor's left.

"So you do need to sit down" he chuckled. I breathed out a laugh.

"Yeah maybe I do because I had quite the conversation with her just minutes ago, actually."

"Oh?" Victor leans forward as I have his full attention. He rests his chin in his palm, looking at me as if to say go on.

"I think we need to call the police."

His grin quickly fades away and is replaced with a frown. "The police?"

"Yes. I believe Savannah is in danger. Her and Lily. The woman who snuck into the NICU was sent by someone Savannah knows."

"Savannah knew who sent the shooter?" He was sitting upright now. I nod my head in response. "So why the hell hasn't she contacted the police??" His voice came out throaty. Victor's voice is normally so deep when he talks casually but when he is angry his voice drops to a shockingly low tone.

"She doesn't think they'll be able to help but I think she's too scared. That's why I came to you. Maybe you could talk to her and convince her otherwise."

Victor studied me for a moment. His brown eyes lingered over my face as he thought to himself. I shifted under his gaze, wishing he would say something.

"I'll try" he finally says. "But you and I both know she's stubborn."

"Trying is better than not doing anything." He gives me a half smile and I can't help but think back to our conversation we had the day of the shooting. We hadn't talked about it since. It's as if we said what we needed to say and kept going forward. But for some odd reason that doesn't feel entirely true.

Before anyone one of us could break the small moment of silence, Victors phone goes off. He pulls it out from his pocket and squints at the screen before bringing it up to his ear. "Harrison?" He answers. I sit there watching as his features harden. His eyes shift towards me catching me staring. He lets out a long breath. "I'll be right there." He looks down at his screen as he ends the call.

"Something happen with a patient?" I ask him. He shakes his head into his hands. For a second I find myself wanting to reach my hand out and rub his back to comfort him.

"It's Savannah. She's missing and she's left a note. She addressed it to you."

Without thought I shot up from the couch and rushed towards the door. I could hear Victor calling my name behind me but I ignore him and continue to rush towards the elevator. My hand smashes against the up arrow impatiently. I grunt out in frustration as the elevator doors couldn't open any faster. When the soft bell of the doors opening sound, I rush into the elevator box. Victor was on my heels and presses the button for the second floor. We were the only two people in here.

All I could think about is Lily. Did she take her with her? Where did they go? What if they're found in a few hours dead?

"We need to stay calm" Victor says. I shake my head.
"This never ends does it? It's always one thing after the other."

He opens his mouth to say something but the doors open and I slide past him before he could manage to utter a word. I rush down the hall and nearly lose my balance as I take the turn too sharp to the left. My name is called out from behind me and again I ignore it.

Dr. Harrison is standing at the corner of Savannah's bed accompanied by two other nurses who looked anxious. Their eyes seemed to be popping out of their socket at how scared they looked. Dr. Harrison turned around to me, his eyes only falling on me for a millisecond before shifting to my right where Victor stood.

"Dr. Russell, I wasn't aware Miss Moore was with you-"

"Where's Lily?" I blurt out. The nurses look to each other and shook their heads. I rush towards the bed and find a piece of paper folded neatly on top of the pillow. Written on the face of it was my name in cursive. I snatch up the note and my fingers tremble as I struggle to open the note without ripping it.

Please don't come looking for me or any more answers. It is best I figure this out on my own. Alone. I'm sorry. She's safer without me.

I read the note over twice. She left Lily behind. My eyes shoot up at the nurses. They don't meet my gaze. "How could you let this happen?"

The nurse with fiery red hair lifts her chin up. "We were only gone for a minute-"

"And that minute is all she needs to slip past you guys."

"Why are you mad at us? We were only doing our jobs and you're also only an intern so I'm not sure why you think you can-"

"What does it matter if I'm an intern or not! You were clearly not doing your job well enough!" I snap.

"That's enough" Dr. Harrison warns. He turns his head towards me and looks at me with an unreadable expression. "There's something else you need to know."

The sound of his voice gives away that this something is not good. I look to Victor who was already staring at me. I held his gaze as I waited for Dr. Harrison to speak.

"Savannah has appointed Evan Buckley as Lily's legal guardian."

******
(Will Savannah ever quit with her games?...)