Recovery

Recovery - Ch 24

Recovery - Ch 24

Rick paced back and forth in the small area between the prosecution table and the row of seats directly behind it. Every few minutes, he'd sit in the seat behind Lesley's chair at the table only to pop up and move around again a minute later. "Are you sure you didn't hear her leave?" he asked Amy for the fifth time.

"No!" Amy said as she shook her head emphatically. "I saw her note on my nightstand this morning."

The fact that Lesley had left notes all over the house to make sure he would see them did nothing to calm Rick's nerves. The brief,

"I'm with Joe. I'm fine... I promise. I'll see you in court. Don't be angry with me.

I love you, Lesley"

if anything, just made him more anxious.

When he'd woken up to find Lesley's side of the bed empty and cold, Rick's initial thought was that she was still downstairs in the kitchen or sitting on the couch with a cup of tea, until he saw the note on her pillow, and on the nightstand. He grabbed his robe and jogged down the stairs as soon as he read it, calling her name as he went. There was another note on the fireplace mantle, one taped on the door to the kitchen, on the refrigerator and then one more propped up between the two pies. He had pushed back out of the kitchen and opened the front door to see if her car was there even though the note had clearly said that she was with Joe. Seeing her car parked exactly where they'd left it the night before didn't do a thing to ease the fear that was curling around in his stomach. Rick was just reaching for the phone to call Rose when Amy came bounding down the stairs with yet another note in her hand saying that she'd found it on her nightstand.

Rick called Rose to ask if Joe was there. Rose said that she'd heard him leave about 4am and he hadn't been back, but that she was sure Lesley was fine if Joe was with her.

Rick had slowly hung the phone up and asked Amy if she was sure she hadn't heard Lesley leave. Amy shook her head, "why would Les leave in the middle of the night? Why wouldn't she have told you? You don't think anything has happened to her, do you?? I mean those two guys in court yesterday...." her voice had trailed off when she saw the look on Rick's face.

"I'm going to get dressed," he said and ran up the stairs. Rick had barely managed to stop himself from slamming the door as he entered the bedroom. The cold fear that had already started to curl in his belly, became a whirlwind at even the thought that Lesley could be with Pete and Charlie, that they had showed up and somehow taken her...that they'd forced her to write that note...... "No," he finally said out loud to himself, "she's fine.... she's with Joe just like the note said. The note sounds exactly like Lesley, and if she were forced to write it, I'd know." Taking a deep breath, Rick reached for the first dress shirt, suit coat and pants he touched in the closet and hurriedly got dressed.

A few minutes later he was jogging back down the stairs to find that Alice had arrived, "where's Dr. Webber?" she asked...." I found this note...."

"Didn't we all," Rick answered and reached for the phone again to call Laura on the off chance that Lesley had called her or had shown up at her place, but Laura said she hadn't seen or heard from her since the night before. "Dad, you don't think anything has happened to her, do you?"

"No honey, her note said that she was with Joe and was fine," Rick reassured her even as his own fear was mounting. "I'll see you at the courthouse."

~

"Dr Webber," Judge Carlson said, "I need to ask if you're sure about this. I don't need to tell you that what Travis did to you was a crime and you have nothing that you need to feel guilty about. I've never had a rape vic...survivor," he amended quickly, "come to me and ask what you're asking."