Absolute Zero (56 page)

“That was touching, Anne. Truly. Now, let’s get set up here,” he dismissed both of them as he placed the bag on a small table near the cage and began pulling things out.

“Shit,” she blew out, her nerves causing her stomach to drop.

*****

“God, I hate driving in America,” he muttered, swerving once again once again to the wrong side of the road. His agitated state wasn’t helping his driving ability; that was for sure. Luckily, the GPS was guiding him; the soothing voice speaking to him was ironic, especially when his nerves were close to snapping.

What if they weren’t there? What if this was some false lead? Where could she be? What the hell was going on?

Questions bombarded his brain as he tried to concentrate on the darkened road before him.

And what the hell was he going to do if they
were
there? He didn’t have a weapon, just a couple of fists that would be more than happy to pound Rand to a bloody pulp if he hurt her in any way.

But why on earth would he have any reason to hurt her?

He blew out an irritated sigh as he swerved to avoid yet another car after turning onto what appeared to be a much less traveled road.

“You need to release my hands too,” she lifted them in front of her. A span of about one foot of chain dangled between her wrists.

“No can do. I’m not
stupid
.”

“What if she moves? I need mobility in both hands.” Anne reasoned.

“I’m holding her down. Trust me, she’s not going to move,” he stated confidently.

His head jerked up and his eyes scanned above her head for a moment.

“What was that?”

She looked at him in confusion. “What was what?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled, his ears listening carefully for another sound.

*****

He passed by the mailbox and listened to the GPS voice bitch about recalculating before he settled the car to a stop and parked on the side of the road, effectively shutting her up.

At least he had enough common sense to do that. Once outside of the car, however, blanketed in darkness, he once again berated himself for his woeful lack of anything. Flashlight, weapon, you name it.

Certainly not the most intelligent thing he ever did, he thought as he used his cell phone screen to try and shed some light on where he was walking.

Moments later, his eyes confirmed both his worst fear and his biggest relief.

Rand’s car.

Parked in an outbuilding behind the darkened house. Adrenalin coursed through him as he turned back toward the small dwelling.

“What are you doing here?” he heard right before a bright white light shone in his face, blinding him to the person beyond.

“Hands up.”

He immediately complied, his pulse pounding in his head.

“Who are you?” the deep male voice asked.

“Ian McClellan.”

“What are you doing here,
Ian McClellan
?” the voice asked.

“I…he swallowed quickly, “I…Frank…Sergeant Merkel… said this wouldn’t be a high priority, I thought I’d check it out myself,” he answered honestly.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Thankfully the light dropped, yet his vision was still blurred with strange green splotches. He quickly blinked to no avail.

“His car’s here,” Ian stated quietly.

“Stay put. We’ll check it out. Just…stay put,” the man commanded.

*****

“Mark it.”

He handed her a small, black marker. “And make sure I can see what angle you’re using.”

“You can’t possibly be suggesting that I show you how to inject this. You’re not qualified to do this.”

“Pre-Med. I know enough to be dangerous,” he replied calmly. “Do it.”

A loud moan emanated from Shelby, causing Anne’s hand to start shaking.

“I…”

“Hurry the fuck up!” he grated out, causing her body to jolt. The chain connecting her wrists clinked loudly as her eyes focused on the small shaved area of Shelby’s head.

Her fingers pressed the area before her other hand drew a small, completely misshapen circle on her prepped skin.

“What’s the matter with you? Hours ago you were bragging about your steady hands,” he commented hotly.

“I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this,” she mumbled before lifting pleading eyes to him.

Another moan rumbled up from the body beneath her.

The chain tinkled once again causing her eyes to flit down to it and back to him.

“I…if she moves…could you…put your knee on her back? Hold her down from behind her? I’m just worried she’s going to jerk…”

“Fine.” He stated and shifted his position from in front of Shelby’s head to the back. He raised his knee up to place it on top of her body and as soon as he did, Anne dropped the marker and used the only weapon she had.

The weapon he inadvertently gave her.

She only hoped she had the strength to use it.

*****

Ian stood in the dark, staying put, like the state trooper commanded. The house was bathed in darkness; overgrown bushes surrounded the back of the house barely visible to him from the light of a half-moon above.

He took a tentative step toward the house as the beams of light swept around from either side of the house. Wouldn’t it alert Rand that someone was there – shining high powered flashlights into the windows? Was this actually a
smart
thing to do? He took several steps toward one of the troopers to ask him just that when he heard it. A series of thumps, a loud bang, a muffled scream and a yell before his feet flew toward the back of the house.

*****

Anne reached her arms up and over Rand’s head, pulling both hands back quickly as the chain engaged his thick neck. She immediately leaned all of her weight back, using her knees leveraged up against him as a choked gurgling sound escaped his throat. His hands were flailing wildly, grabbing for the chain, swinging back toward her, his fist making contact with the side of her head before grabbing the chain once again.

She pulled with all the strength her muscles could exert before her body was lifted with his and slammed against the wall of the cage repeatedly. The sound of screeching metal and loud screaming filled the room, echoing off the stone walls. She could feel the cage behind her giving away with each slam of her body against the metal links. She was falling, falling until her back hit something hard, causing her vision to erupt in a thousand pricks of light surrounded by an inky darkness. The heavy mass of Rand’s body slammed down into her, causing her breath to whoosh from her lungs. Her spent arms were being lifted and she was powerless to pull them back.

He was choking, yelling something before coughing violently. Shelby’s screeching joined his unintelligible words as Anne rolled to the side, searching through blurry vision for the door of the now upended cage.

She ignored the stinging sensation of her hands and knees as the rough floor and the distorted metal pierced her skin. She was crawling, trying to distance herself before something clamped on her ankle and gave a yank. Her other foot pushed back; the heel of her shoe making contact with something that caused a loud wail to erupt from Rand. Her other foot was grabbed and both shoes were yanked from her feet and tossed somewhere. She continued to kick out before both ankles were dropped abruptly, allowing her to search for her only other weapon.

One of the shoes was close enough to grab.

She crawled and grabbed it before a loud bang erupted and something like hot piercing fire spread from the back of her shoulder, down her arm. The force caused her body to spin and land on the opposite side, her eyes lifting in shock toward the source.

Movement within the cage caused her to momentarily forget the excruciating pain in her shoulder, focusing on Shelby and Rand. She had wrapped the cord that extended from her restraints around his neck and from the look in his bulging eyes; she was doing a far better job of strangling him than Anne did. The gun in his hand was shaking as he continued to point it at Anne before it dropped with a thud on the floor. The strangest gurgling sound filled the room accompanied by odd grunts from Shelby. His bulging eyes were fluttering closed as Anne watched with morbid fascination.

His body slumped and his torso hit the floor as Shelby’s chest heaved and a wheezing sound came from her throat. Their eyes connected briefly before Shelby stooped down, her hands searching for and grabbing the gun that had fallen from Rand’s slack hand. He was twitching violently, odd sounds attempted to escape from what had to be a severely damaged throat.

Shelby stood above him, her hands fidgeting with the object in her hands as she studied it calmly and pointed it at him before studying it again. His leg was moving, causing her to aim it again, her face masked in confusion before the finger of one hand pushed the hammer down and her other hand extended the gun toward him awkwardly.

A loud bang filled the room, followed quickly by another as Anne’s eyes squeezed shut and opened quickly. Shelby was staring at Rand’s still body. His face was…gone. Bile rose up as Anne turned her head and a small choked sound burst from her. Her eyes wandered back to Shelby as something loud sounded from the floor above.

She slowly raised the gun toward Anne, her face portraying a mix of sorrow and confusion.

The sound of something cracking filled the small house from above and Anne wondered briefly what that could possibly be before her focus returned solely on the gun that was pointed in her direction.

“It’s Ok,” she whispered in a shaky breath.

This was it. She closed her eyes and held her breath.

“It’s Ok,” she whispered again for no known reason other than to placate herself.

Banging from up above, pounding…closer and closer…

Her eyes fluttered open to see Shelby with the gun now firmly pressed against her own temple. “Haaa….” She breathed out.

“Shelby?” A familiar voice asked, the tone basked in utter confusion. Anne’s eyes couldn’t move from the scene before her, yet her body seemed to calm slightly after hearing Ian’s voice.

“PUT THE GUN DOWN!”
a much louder male voice commanded.

“Haaaaa….” She responded, her eyes still locked on Anne.

“Please no…” Anne whispered, her eyes pleading with Shelby’s.
I can’t see this again
, she thought.

‘Shelby…no…” she stated in a stronger voice before her eyes widened and her body jolted from the bang.

Movement. A body falling, feet stepping over her and around her as her vision began to darken.

Someone was yelling in the distance, someone was saying something in a soft voice much closer to her. Something gently touching her face…”Annie?” she could hear before she slipped away into complete and silent darkness.

“She’s awake.” Those two simple words caused him to practically spring from the chair. “Wait.”

His eyes searched the Doctor’s as he stood after what seemed like at least a full day and night waiting.

Actually it was, if he would have checked his watch. The questions in his head had been his constant companions throughout the wait, making time seem inconsequential. Too many questions and absolutely no answers. He had sat in stunned stupor for the majority of the time, trying desperately to make sense of what he saw.

Shelby. Alive all this time. Until the bullet put an end to something he still couldn’t comprehend. Rand. Deceiving everyone for two years, his body lay lifeless on the dirty floor of the basement. Anne…

Why was she chained? Why did he do that to her? What did she have to do with any of it? He shook himself back to the present as he walked on numb legs toward the Doctor.

“Is she all right? The surgery…?”

“The surgery went fine. No issues. More of a flesh wound and I expect she should have full mobility in her arm. That’s not the issue,” he stated in a serious tone. “She’s…” a distinct look of concern flashed on the older gentlemen’s face as he paused.

“What?
What?!
She’s…” Ian prompted impatiently.

“She’s unresponsive,” he added softly.

“What does that mean? I don’t…”

“I’ve called a specialist. I’m not sure…” the Doctor started before Ian took several steps toward him.

“Can I see her? I need to see her,” he pressed.

“Mr. McClellan, are you family? Technically, we would only allow members of the patient’s immediate family… its’ hospital policy,” he started.

“Someday, yes. Right now, she has no family. I’m all she has. I have to see her.” he looked down at the smaller man, giving him the full blast of an intimidating stare. If that wouldn’t work, his next one would be pleading. If that didn’t work, he would simply toss the little man aside and go to her, hospital policy be damned.

“I…just…I’m really not sure what we have here, maybe PTSD…” his tone of voice mirrored the confused look on his weathered face.

“I won’t upset her, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Ian stated gently, schooling his features into a much softer visage.

“I don’t know if you can. That’s not what I’m worried about,” he stated in a grave tone before sighing loudly. “All right. Just don’t be…surprised. I’ve never quite seen this before,” he admitted before he turned.

*****

His eyes immediately locked on her as soon as he walked into her room. Her face was swollen slightly on one side, the skin mottled purple on one cheek and the temple on the other side. A clear tube was taped to either side of her nose. Angry red scrapes had begun to scab over on her arms and yet she never looked so beautiful to him.

Relief washed through him at the sight of her, safe in the confines of a hospital bed. It took a moment for him to realize that she was staring at the ceiling; her eyes never wavered from it as he took tentative steps into the room, his gaze never leaving her. He walked to the side of the bed, wanting nothing more than to gather his in his arms and hold her tightly to him.

“Annie?” he whispered, hoping she would turn her eyes to him. She continued to stare, completely transfixed, or so it seemed.

The hand lying next to her was free from IV tubes unlike the opposite side. His hand reached out to touch it, the crisscrossed scrapes marring the delicate skin of her finely boned hand. Her fingernails were jagged, at least the ones visible to him. Two other fingers were bandaged in gauze. His eyes swept back to her face as he gently traced an unmarked portion of her hand, expecting a look in his direction or at least some indication that he was with her.

Nothing.

“Annie, I’m here, darling. Can you look at me?” he asked softly.

“I’m not sure if its’ shock, maybe trauma to her head, I don’t know. There’s no indication…” the Doctor’s voice broke in from somewhere else in the room. He hadn’t realized he was there.

“She’s done this before,” he murmured as he stared at her face, she wasn’t even blinking.

“She has? When? How long did it last? What brought it on?”

“A couple days ago. She has cancer, or she
did,
I should say,” he started
.
“She received a letter from an Oncologist stating some abnormal test results. I found her in her shower, staring …just like this. She was unresponsive then, too,” he added without looking at the other man.

“How long did it last?”

“I don’t know. Over an hour? I’m not sure…”

“Well, what made her snap out of it? Do you remember?”

A small smile formed on his lips before he answered. “Someone she didn’t like very well was in the room, it sort…set her off,” he replied.

“Hello.” For the first time since he stepped into the room, his eyes lifted to someone other than Anne.

“I’m Dr. Michaels,” the woman stated as she wandered over to the opposite side of the hospital bed. “You wanted me to…oh…” she said softly as she looked down at Anne.

“How long?” She asked.

“At least two hours. It’s not the anesthetic,” the Doctor replied.

She wandered around the bed, coming to a stop beside Ian. She carefully lifted Anne’s hand and raised it slightly before removing her own hand.

Anne’s small hand remained in the air, supported by nothing. The female doctor pushed it back down to the bed’s surface. She immediately pulled a pen light out and shined it into Anne’s eyes. She didn’t blink, he noticed.

“Is there a history of schizophrenia?” she asked as she continued to the other eye.

No answer was forthcoming from either of the men in the room.

She looked up at Ian.

“I…don’t know,” he answered after a moment. “Why?”

“It might explain this. I know she witnessed a traumatic event, which could explain the tonic immobility, but people with schizophrenia are more prone to this behavior,” she stated before looking back at Anne.

“She saw something like this before,” Ian stated, “When she was a teenager,” he added before recounting everything that she had told him.

*****

The call was picked up on the second ring before a female voice burst through so loud, he had to pull Anne’s phone away from his ear. He could still hear every word clearly; she was
that
loud.

“It’s about time! I’ve been calling and calling. What the hell is going on with you? Have you been hanging with Roddy McHottie? Is he keeping you too busy to call me back?”

“Roddy McWho?” he asked in confusion.

A moment of silence on the other end.

“Hello?” he asked again. “Is this Beth?”

“Y…Yes?”

“Hello Beth, this is Ian McClellan, I’m not sure if Anne has mentioned me?”

“Ahhh…yeah,” she drew out.

“Beth, the reason I’m calling…there’s been an…incident. I was wondering if I sent you a ticket, could you fly here? As soon as possible?” he asked before the onslaught of questions he expected sounded through the phone.

*****

This feeling was something he could honestly say he never felt before as he sat and watched her, almost expecting her to turn her head to the side and tell him to stop. She would do that, and she would laugh when she said it. Except she wasn’t doing anything other than staring in the same spot. All day, every day. The whole situation was humbling. No amount of money was going to fix this. No medication had really improved anything other than the fact that she was blinking on a regular basis.

The bruises and the swelling on her face had faded over the past few days. The oxygen and the IV were gone and her coloring was back to normal. Her friend Beth had come and gone with the promise to be back for a few days the next week. She had said that prior to moving into the Foster home they shared, Anne had gone through a similar period of catatonia when she was institutionalized briefly after the murder suicide. She called it ‘floating’ when she told Beth about it. It had lasted for 4 months before she finally came to.

Even Irene had come, hoping for perhaps some of the answers locked away in Anne’s brain; answers the Police and Shay wanted also. And Ian…

Sitting in the room with her silent, unmoving form gave him time to think. It was all so confusing, and the main question running through his head was ‘why’?

Did Rand tell her? Would they ever truly know if he didn’t?

There was only one way to find out. Nothing he said seemed to spark anything. He held her hand, touched her face; begged her to come back to him but…nothing.

“It’s time,” he heard before his eyes lifted to the nurse that had wandered in, a wheelchair in front of her.

She was moving today.

The hospital was ill-equipped to handle her case and they insisted she be moved to a Psychiatric Hospital.

Dr. Michaels recommended a local hospital located only an hour away. She would be able to continue to work with Anne and for that, he was grateful. All except one thing. The visiting hours were much more prohibitive. Leaving her every night was killing him. No amount of bribery seemed to sway the hospital personnel but that didn’t stop him from trying. Now he would only be able to visit in two windows of 3 hours each day. The thought was completely distasteful to him. He couldn’t keep the scowl from his face.

He watched as two male nurses entered the room, easily maneuvering her into a seated position before picking her up and setting her into the wheelchair. Her body would freeze in that position until it was manipulated into a different position by human hands. It was the oddest thing. All the while, her eyes would stay fixed, no outward reaction to anything happening around her. It had been like that for the past four days.

He stood woodenly, following a short distance behind as the female nurse pushed her chair down the long corridor. It would be the last time he would see her for two days. They wanted her to assimilate to her new surroundings without any outside influence, telling him it was best. What did they know? She certainly didn’t seem cognizant of anything around her. What difference would it make? His arguments fell on deaf ears. If he had his way, he would find a hospital or some other place that would allow him to be with her constantly. He would pay any amount. He still hadn’t given up that idea.

“Mr. McClellan?” he heard next to him as he watched one of the nurses settle her into a seat before securing her.

He stood staring at the woman he loved more than anything on earth. They were taking her away and he was powerless to stop it.

“Wait,” he ordered quietly as the door was shutting.

He took a few steps forward, leaning into the van.

“Mr. McClellan…” he could hear behind him, the tone was a bit more forceful, maybe slightly displeased? He didn’t care. He leaned in further and kissed her cheek gently.

“I’ll see you soon, darlin’,” he whispered. “I love you, Annie,” he added before reluctantly stepping back, allowing the door to be closed. He stood immobile, staring at her profile through the glass until the van pulled away, taking his heart with it.

*****

“Where is she?”

“You need to see something. She just started doing this. Come with me,” the Doctor turned and walked down the hall toward the back of the building.

It had been almost a month to the day that she was brought to this hospital and there were slight signs of improvement in her mobility but no improvement to her ability to communicate. Her eyes could follow an object at least but awareness to her surroundings was still questionable.

It had become a routine for him, spending his days with her. He even set up an area in the corner of her room to work. He still had a business to run and one to sell, leaving only when absolutely necessary. At first, it seemed to perplex the staff but now he had become a fixture in the facility. Every once in a while he would look up from his computer and find her staring at him. Her face was expressionless but it was obvious she knew he was there. At least he would tell himself that.

“Look,” the Doctor stated as they came to the end of the hall and stood at a large picture window overlooking a landscaped courtyard.

His eyes searched the area, some patients sat on benches; others were seated in their wheelchairs among the bushes and flowering shrubs in the center. A flash of light blue caught his eye. A woman was running on the path that ran around the perimeter of the yard.

Anne.

His eyes fastened on her as she continued to run around the relatively small space. Around and around at a decent clip.

“She was sitting on the bench this morning and just popped up and started this. She’s been running for two hours. We were waiting to see if she would stop on her own, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. I think she’s changed from stupor to excited catatonia,” the Doctor stated as they both continued to watch her. “Patients tend to favor repetitive motion. I noticed that last night. She was opening and closing her door over and over until we had to send in an orderly to put her back in bed. I hate to do this, but we may have to restrain her at night now,” the Doctor stated on a drawn out breath.