Ian had been working late on Michael Spencer's case and had decided to check up on Ramsey's progress with the blood work. Chris was adamant that he supervise the child's blood work so that none of the results would be "leaked" to the media.
He walked down the hall towards the lab and chuckled at the "shift change" taking place in front of Michael Spencer's room. One set of immaculately kept men were relieving the other set of immaculately kept set of men of "duty". They were guarding not just Michael, but AJ, Carly and Taggart too technically, seeing as the man had made no move to leave the reception area . Some of the nurses had taken pity on him and given him a blanket, and a pillow to use on one of the couches. And Ian had to admit, for such a burly guy, he really did look very different when he was asleep.
Some of the men nodded politely as he passed, others smiled knowingly; for who could resist coming to the aid and protecting an innocent child?
When he reached his destination he opened the door with out knocking. Which caused a very drowsy, not to mention the fact that he was on the verge of falling asleep, Chris Ramsey to jump to his feet from his slumped over position over a stack of files and test results and look around in a rather panicked, rather disheveled manner.
"Huh? Huh! I'm awake, I'm awake!" He sputtered, rubbing his eyes and the making sure that none of the mounds of paper work on his desk tumbled.
Ian chuckled. "Did I disturb you?"
Chris shot him a look to kill. "Oh, SHUT UP!" She shot back. "Lil help please?" He asked sharply as the papers began to tumble.
"Sorry about that, I should have warned you." He apologized as he helped keep the papers from flying willy-nilly.
After the papers were settled Ian poured Chris a strong cup of his personal blend of coffee.
"Thanks, Thornheart." He mumbled after his first sip, he smiled. He liked Thornheart's personal blend. With his first dose of caffeine Chris took a moment to give Ian a once over. He was wearing a jogging suit with a black t-shirt underneath it. "Going home, Thorny?"
Ian nodded. "Aye, but before I do, I wanted to see if you had gotten back the prelim's back from young Michaels drug tests."
Chris sat up a little straighter in his chair and his eyes lit up like Christmas trees. "I'm waiting for the end results as they'll be more conclusive, but so far..." His voice trailed off as he jumped to his feet with renewed energy and ran over to the desk and retrieved the prelims and handed them to Ian. "... So good." He whispered excitedly. "First look at the right hand margin. It specifies any and all the damage done to his blood: toxins, infections...."
"STD's?" He asked in shock.
Chris sighed heavily. "We had to check Ian. You saw for yourself the damage that was done to him..."
Ian nodded sadly. "But look Ian." He said pointing to the results.
Ian's eyes grew as big as saucers as he read that there was very little damage done to his blood, no STD's; which made him breathe a little easier, and no damage that couldn't be reversed.
"I'll be bloody damned." He breathed.
"Ain't it something?" He asked in awe. "But that's not what will bowl you over." He said as he pointed to the left hand margin. "That's a list of all the drugs we could identify that was in his system."
Ian's jaw went slack, and his face went pale. "Are you saying..." He paled further when Chris nodded.
"Look at the mother fucking list Thornheart! Some of those drugs haven' even been approved for testing on ANIMALS, let alone a human CHILD." Chris sputtered angrily, his face turning read. "And there's no telling what drugs they gave him that have already left his system or the drugs that we couldn't fucking IDENTIFY are just waiting, like ticking time bombs, to go off inside his body."
Ian nodded solemnly. It would be a while before Michael was taken home, that was for sure. "Let's just pray that these results are accurate."
Chris nodded. "Tomorrow, after he bathes, Karen and I are going to explain what an EEG and an EKG and an MRI are so that he know what they are doing. We're going to allow his parents to be with him through out every step for his own benefit as well as ours. The last thing we need is for Michael to be afraid of us."
Ian nodded again. "But what about a CAT." He queried.
Chris nodded. "We'll get to that point but do you remember his reaction to doctors?" Ian closed his eyes as he recalled the look of pure terror in his eyes.
"I've been trying to forget." It was hard to forget his heart rate sky rocketing and his pulse rate going through the proverbial roof. "The poor lad was mortified of the white masks and the needles and such."
Chris sighed heavily. It was an image that was ingrained his memory for life. "Whatever those bastards did to that kid they ensured that doctors scared him shitless, that's for sure." Chris paused. "I just can't get over how anyone could use such a small innocent child as their own personal guinea pig." Ian looked at the list of drugs again with disgust.
"You do realize that it's a bloody miracle that that boy survived not only the physical trauma, but the bloody drugs they gave him... I mean....DAMMIT RAMSEY!" He threw down the file in frustration.
"You keep picturing Daniel in that bed, don't you?" He asked quietly.
Ian put his head in his hand and muttered. "Every time I picture him panic stricken and begging I just keep visualizing Danny in his place..." His voice trailed off.
Chris nodded, but changed the subject quickly. "How exactly, are we going to explain to AJ and Carly that Michael doesn't just have the long physical recovery ahead of him, but that he has a long emotional and psychological recovery ahead of him as well... Between the broken leg and arm and the physical therapy and he's going to need extensive counseling. I mean, it's a miracle that he survived, Ian. A fucking miracle!"
Ian nodded as he thought for a second. "First, we ask if they believe in Angels...."
Christ chuckled. "This is true..."
*~*~*~~*~*~
Alcazar stared at Sonny with the rage of a thousand burning suns in his eyes. "How does it feel to make the child you supposedly love as your flesh and blood scream in horror?" Sonny said nothing.
"What the HELL did you do to him!?" Sonny made no reply.
"For a man that allegedly loves him so much you sure are keeping quiet." He was goading him, and he knew it. But he was furious and had to take his anger out on SOMEONE.
Out of frustration he grabbed through the bars and drug Sonny so that his face was right between the bars. "Tell me! What the happened!" He seethed.
"I, owe, you , nothing." Sonny said slowly.
"But you owe me." Came the soft reply from behind them.
They both spun around and saw a very irritated Brenda and a very angry Jason standing in the holding area door way.
"What the hell?" Sonny muttered at seeing Jason sans hand cuffs.
"I'm free Sonny." He stated with a double meaning. He reached into his pocket and showed them Sonnyt's cell phone. "You won't mind if I borrow this for a little while, will you?"
"Why you..."
"What Sonny? Go ahead. Call me whatever want. Because I don't care about you or whatever you think anymore. You've manipulated and blackmailed me for the last time. I'm free. And as soon as we find Dakota I'll be free forever."
"You'll never be free of me."
"The HELL he won't! You can't own people, Sonny. It doesn't work that way." Brenda said from behind them.
"You can't just walk away from me." She said this time sharper.
Jason charged the cell and glared at Sonny with all the pent up resentment and frustration that had been boiling up inside of him for so long. "SCORPIO!!" He hollered.
Mac came around the corner with a confidant swagger. "Ye-es?"
"I want in."
"Sure," he shrugged, taking out his keys, unlocking the door and letting Jason into the cell without question, but with one request. "If your going to pummel him, which I have no doubt in my mind he deserves, all I ask is that wait until I've turned the corner." He asked, smiling,. Jason nodded curtly and then Mac left unceremoniously as he had come.
Jason took a step forward but first turn around and handed Brenda Sonny's cell phone. "I'm trusting you with this." She nodded, she knew how much it meant for Jason to trust her. She stepped back, clutching the phone to her chest as Jason locked himself into the cell.
"I'm giving you a chance now Sonny, before this goes any farther, to tell us what that day you searched for Michael." He asked calmly.
Sonny shook his head. "Never."
Without warning Jason punched Sonny in the stomach. Sonny doubled over in pain. "Now?"
Brenda jumped a little at the velocity of the impact. Luis wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.
"Now?"
Sonny though about it long and hard for a moment. He knew that Jason could beat the crap out of him and not give a damn, so it would be easier to just get it over with.
"Fine, fine." He groused, moving to sit on his cot. "A week after Michael disappeared I went door to door down the block that where there had been an alleged sighting of Michael..."
Flash back:: Narrative in bold
"After I got about half way down the block... this greasy hippy type answered the door."
"Hey man, what can I do for ya?" He asked only opening the door enough for his frame to block Sonny's view inside.
"Have you seen this boy?" Sonny asked showing the most recent picture of Michael he owned. It was taken a month before his disappearance, they had been at the park, Michael was sitting on a swing and smiling brightly.
The salt and peppered haired man studied the picture carefully. "Nope, never seen the kid... Hey, is that the missing Spencer kid?" He asked, curiously.
Sonny's face colored. "His last name is Corinthos." He snapped pointedly. "I'm his father. As you can probably guess we are all very worried about my child." He leaned in closer. "And if there were to be any information you hear and could supply me or my associates with, especially if it leads to his rescue, would be greatly appreciated and graciously compensated." He added in a conspiratorial tone.
The man brightened. "I'll keep my ears open sir!"
Sonny smiled and was just about to thank him when he heard a soft yelp. "What was that?" He asked.
The man jumped a little, and closed the door, shoving Sonny back a little so that he couldn't force his way in. He kept his hand firmly on the door knob. "Dumb dog." He chuckled nervously. He peaked his head inside and hollered. "KEEP THAT DAMNED DOG IN YOUR ROOM!!"
"Your kid?"
"No, more like live-in..." his voice trailed off awkwardly.
"Ooooh..." He drawled out as clicked. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." He added quickly
"Yeah, yeah" he shrugged, "Let's move over to the side walk just in case the dog gets out... Ya know..." Sonny nodded as they moved away from the house.
"We moved away from the house, stood on the side walk by the road, and just talked for a few minutes. Nothing important" Sonny shrugged. "He slapped me on the back a few times because of a funny story I told."
"As I turned to leave I waved and I thought I was a red headed little boy in the window. But when I did a double take the only person standing there was the guy's lover."
::ENDFLASHBACK::
"That's all!" He insisted, but could tell by the grim looks on the others faces that they weren't convinced in the slightest.
Brenda turned around to the door. "MAC!!" She called out loudly.
Mac came back in leading a half stumbling, half beaten, scraggly guy by the scruff of his shirt. "Look familiar?" Mac asked in obvious disgust.
Sonny paled.
"So, I take it that this is the man that you thought you saw in the window, right, Sonny?" Luis asked disdainfully.
"Ye-yes." He answered quietly.
Mac pulled back on the prisoners collar, forcing him upright. "Take a good look, are you sure?" He asked.
"YES!" He shouted adamantly. "That's the man that was looking outside the window as I walked away!!!" Fear gripped him. What weren't they telling him?
"Why don't you tell Mr. Corinthos here what you're in jail for?" The man hesitated. "NOW!" He barked jerking his collar sharply.
The man couldn't help but smirk. "The rape, sodomy, molestation, kidnapping and torture of Michael James Spencer." He said, sounding almost as though there were a degree of pride he felt.
Luis took Brenda into his arms as she gasped and began to shake. The horror of it all was almost to much for her to bare to hear.
Mac yanked on his collar once more. "And who did you work for?"
The man sniggered.
"Coleman Kincaid."
TBC...
chapter ten
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