Forever With You

Chapter Twenty

Fessler motions for Erica to enter her office and sit down. Before hanging up the phone, she points to the door and Erica closes it. Fessler drags out the call, with small talk, just long enough to see the discomfort start to settle in to Erica's body. 'Good. Bout time you were in the hot seat.' She smiles before ending the call and folding her hands on the desktop. "I thank you for coming in at such short notice. How are you today Erica?" Erica shifts in her seat. "I'm doing as good as expected, I guess. You?" Fessler smiles and holds up a thumb drive with one hand. "We need to talk." She says as she pushes photos across the desk with the other hand.

The doctor touches Alan's shoulder, gently waking him from his sleep. "Mr. Doyle. I'm Dr. Matthews. I operated on your daughter Francesca." Alan cringes at the name, knowing Franky does NOT like to be called that. "Please, just call her Franky. Is she going to be okay?" Dr. Matthews sits down in the chair next to him. "We've cleaned and stitched up the gash on her head and reset her shoulder. There isn't much we can do for the fractured ribs other than tape them. Our main concern was the internal bleeding. We've stopped all that we could find, and managed to save most of her organs..." Alan stops him from continuing. "What..." He can't find the words to finish. "The metal rod that she was impaled with pierced her spleen, stomach, colon and both intestines. We removed her spleen and the damaged sections of the colon and small intestines that couldn't be repaired. She's currently in the ICU awaiting further testing." Alan wipes the tears forming in his eyes. "When can I see her?" The doctor stands and places a hand on his shoulder again. "It'll be a few hours before we can test again so soon after surgery and we are waiting for some of the swelling to go down from the head trauma. Why don't you go home for a bit and we'll call you when you can see her...or if anything changes."

Bridget wakes up on the couch with Vera holding a cold compress against her forehead. "What happened?" She asks. Vera frowns. "You passed out when I relayed the message from Alan. Franky is in the hospital." Bridget gets up and pushes Vera aside. "I think I'm going to be sick." Bridget rushes into the kitchen and just makes it to the sink before emptying her stomach contents. Vera walks over and gently rubs her hand on Bridget's back. "She'll be alright. She's one tough woman." Bridget dry heaves before wiping her mouth against the back of her hand. "It's all my fault..." She starts to say as tears fill her eyes.

Joanne leaves the hospital cursing under her breath. She has four days to fulfill her Aunts' wishes before succumbing to whatever torture she has in store for her. 'She's not allowed visitors at this time.' If she's lucky, her Aunt will make it quick and unexpected. But from what she has witnessed in the past, she knows there is no way that'll happen. She's about to get into her car when she is grabbed and pulled into an alley. "Who are you working for?" Says a distorted voice from behind a ski mask. She doesn't respond at first; silence and denial being the first things taught to her by her Aunt when being confronted by police. She feels her arms being pulled tighter behind her by another person. The pressure in her shoulders builds and she lets out a faint whimper.

"You had me followed?" Erica asks in surprise. Fessler frowns. "I had Franky and Bridget followed. You just happened to be there." Erica blushes. "What about the audio?" Fessler taps her fingers against her desk. "I had Franky's phone bugged. Couldn't take any chances. I have a copy of her phone records as well..." Erica holds up a hand. "What do you want?" Fessler leans back in her chair, watching Erica contemplate her options. She knows she could face charges for attempting to drug someone, not that it worked. "I want you to fix this mess. I don't know if you paid Kim Chang to spike Franky's drink Friday night or not, but your actions in the bar and the eventual consequences of the drugs have ruined the relationship between Franky and Bridget. You need to come clean or at least pay for reparations. Especially if Franky doesn't make it." Erica's jaw drops to the floor. "What do you mean, 'if Franky doesn't make it'?"