Second Chances Ch. 02

Caleb was finally allowed to go see Xandy, but he hesitated at the door of her room. He wasn't sure if she would really want to see anyone. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to see her.

"Come on in." She said softly, when she heard someone at the door.

Caleb took a deep breath and stepped in the door. A curtain was drawn around her bed, and he peeled it back, holding his breath.

"Caleb." She opened her closed eye. "You're still here." She sounded relieved.

"Of course. I said I would stay." He pulled a chair closer to her bed and plopped down in it.

"I'm glad." She said. "Thank you for saving me." She gave him a small smile. Her face hurt too much to smile like she normally would have.

"I wish I would have taken the trash out sooner. I could have stopped him!" Caleb said fiercely. She shook her head slowly.

"He probably would have attacked you too. You'd be in the bed next to me." She said softly.

"I could have stopped him!" Caleb insisted. "I could have done something!"

"You did." She grabbed his hand. "You found me, and got help. That is enough." She insisted.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered. She looked so...broken.

"Nothing for you to apologize for silly." She said. "The police will catch the bastard."

"I hope so." He said...he hesitated. "We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to." He was absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over her fingers.

"Good." She smiled. "There are a lot more interesting topics to discuss, like how silly you look in hospital scrubs with your hair all messed up." They gave him a new shirt when they got to the hospital. His had been covered in her blood.

He gave a hoarse laugh. "Oh...make fun of the hero huh?"

She giggled.

"I can't believe your laughing." He mused out loud.

"They gave me some nice happy drugs." She said..."I feel kinda like I'm floating."

"They must have." He said laughing with her, shaking his head. "I should let you get some rest." He said, standing.

"Don't go yet, you just got here." She pulled him back down in the chair.

"Ok." He sighed. She was laying there looking calmly at him. Her dark hair was brushed away from her face, and her swollen eye was bandaged. Her pale skin was mottled dark purple and black. She was covered in abrasions, some bandaged, some not.

"How are you doing? What did the doctors say?"

"They did what doctors do best. They did tests. They poked, they prodded, they asked questions and didn't answer mine. They bandaged me up and gave me some pills, and sent a counselor in here, and then they gave me something in the IV...it's making me goofy." She said.

"Well, goofy can be a good thing." Caleb grinned. "Just go with it." He took her hand and squeezed it. "I was on morphine once, it was great stuff."

"Really?" She asked, "Why?"

"I was in a car accident a few years ago. I was so high on morphine I didn't even know my own name. I loved it." He said. "Until it wore off."

She nodded. "That sounds good right about now." She said softly.

"Morphine?" He asked.

"Not remembering." She said, sleepily.

Caleb squeezed her hand gently. "Memories are a tricky thing. Sometimes we keep the ones we don't want and forget the ones we should keep."

"How do I forget this?" She asked, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Caleb frowned, and gently wiped the tear away with his thumb. "I don't know." He whispered. "I don't know how to forget the bad things either."

Xandy felt the tears rolling down her face, and gasped for air as she started sobbing. Caleb's gut tightened, watching her fall apart like that. Holding her hand wasn't enough. He walked around her bed, and situated himself next to her on the bed. He felt her stiffen a little when he pressed his chest to her back. "It's ok...your safe...It's ok." He whispered softly against her ear. "I won't hurt you." Slowly she relaxed into the warmth of his body, letting the tears fall. With both of them on their sides, he could hold her as she cried. He wrapped his arm under her, cradling her head, and placed the other gently over her belly, hugging him to her.

He held her like that, softly crooning in her ear, sometimes words, sometimes just soothing sounds, until he began to softly hum a song he had written, until she calmed. He felt her take a big breath, and sighed as she drifted off to a medicated induced sleep. Even when his arm began to tingle and fell asleep, he did not move. He simply laid there, quietly listening to her breathing, remembering the last time he laid like this in a hospital room. Quietly he began to cry too, until he drifted off to sleep too, his arms wrapped around a traumatized stranger.

*

Banning sighed, staring at the pile of paperwork threatening to bury his desk. He rubbed his eyes, wincing. "Damn contact lenses." He growled. His coffee was cold. There were no real leads to go on, and CSU hadn't gotten back to them yet with any fingerprints. They had his DNA from the rape kit they did at the hospital, but no results yet. They got the sketch out to the local news, but so far, no one seemed to have seen the guy. If nothing comes up...the best bet was to wait and see if the guys slips up again. The criminal psychologist had been interviewing Alexandria with him. From what she had said, they both knew it is very likely they were dealing with a serial rapist.

"Frank, man...go home. Kiss your wife, hug your kids..." His partner, Daniel Sampson said. "I will stay a while. We both know I don't have a life outside this place." He joked.

Frank chuckled. "We got to get you one Danny, really. Go find yourself a nice girl."

Danny laughed. "God willing." He said. They went round and round about it for years. Danny was a professed Christian, and not married. He believed if God wanted him to marry, He would bring Daniel a wife. Frank thought it was a nice thought, but told him that God couldn't give him a wife if he never went out and met any women to begin with.

Danny always laughed and said, "God's timing is perfect."

"Well Danny...pray we catch this guy quick, before any more girls get hurt." Frank said as he walked out the door.

"We're on it." Danny said, smiling. "Justice will prevail." Danny always prayed over the cases they got. It was no coincidence they closed almost every case that came across their path. Conviction rates were high. Danny knew they had help from on high. Some of the other cops rolled their eyes and joked about it, but Danny didn't mind most of the time. They all came to him for prayer when crisis struck. He was the "Prayin' Policeman" on the street and in the jail. He had people's respect, even if they didn't like God, they liked Danny. He loved people, and the homeless and hookers, runaways and gangsters loved and respected him for it. When he wasn't on duty he was just a regular guy, who treated them like human beings.

"Lord...please protect the women of this city from this evil man." He said softly. "Lead us down the right path to find him. Shine Your light into the darkness like a spotlight straight on him. Lead us to find him quickly, Father. Help us to capture him safely, and bring him to justice, In Jesus's name, Amen." He stared at the mans picture and laid his hands on it as he prayed, feeling peace wash over him. He smiled softly. They would find this man.

*

A little while later, a nurse walked in to check on her. She was surprised to see Caleb asleep next to the patient, his dirty shoes hanging off the end of the bed. She smiled as she checked the monitors and scribbled something on the chart. Caleb was snoring softly into her hair, she was breathing softly, curled up next to him.

"They look so cute together." Ellen whispered to the nurse as she walked in the room.

"They do, don't they?" The nurse said.

"Is he hurting her by touching her like that?" Ellen asked.

Sara shook her head. "I doubt it, if she let him. It's awful what happened to her. It's nice to know her boyfriend is so willing to be with her through it."

"They aren't dating." Ellen whispered. "He's the one who found her." Ellen continued. " He found her outside our store. I'm his boss. I told him to stay with her as long as she needs."

"They just met today?" The nurse said, watching them sleep.

"Yes, a few hours ago." Ellen said.

"The bonds formed from trauma can be pretty strong." The nurse said. "It looks like they have bonded pretty quickly, under the circumstances."

"So how is she doing?" Ellen asked.

"We have to wait to get the results from her brain scans to check for head injuries." The nurse said. "She said the guy slammed her head into a brick wall. So we are monitoring her closely, and keeping her medicated for pain."

"She had lots of cuts." Ellen said.

"The doctor stitched the worst ones, and bandaged the others. She's strong and otherwise healthy, and if she doesn't develop complications, she will be released in a few days."

"That's good to know." Ellen said. "I think I am going to leave a note for Caleb and get myself home. It's been a long day."

The nurse left the room with her, and went to locate a cot for Caleb to sleep on for the next few days. She had a feeling he wasn't planning on leaving the room, no matter what hospital policy was. In some cases, they let the visitation rules slide a bit when the doctors didn't voice objections. She slipped back into the room unnoticed and set it up beside the patient's bed. Sara went back to the nurses station to tell the others about the handsome knight in shining armor sleeping in room 1307.