Chapter Text
Both Jane and Lucy looked up in surprise when the door to the Waiting Room opened. In the doorway stood Commander Chase dressed in scrubs. The two agents rose in unison.
“I thought I would bring you some updates on Agent Whistler’s surgery,” Chase began. Noting the surprised look on the two women’s faces, she explained, “Ernie told me what happened, and I have credentials at Tripler. I thought I would check on Agent Whistler’s condition and as it turns out, I know the surgeon assigned to her case.
“From what I understand, Whistler was going into shock due to blood loss when she arrived. Depending on height and weight, the adult female body can hold between 4-5 liters of blood in their body. When that body experiences a thirty percent blood loss, it starts to cause issues – blood pressure decreases, loss of consciousness occurs, perhaps higher heart and breathing rates…”
At the horrified look on Lucy’s face, Commander Chase realized she was doing more harm than good with her medical analysis of Whistler’s injury. She reached out, took Lucy’s hands in both of hers, and smiled. “Sorry, force of habit. Suffice it to say that our friend is in good hands. She received blood and her stats returned to normal. The bullet missed all major organs and caused surprisingly minimal damage. They were just closing up as I left the observation room. She’ll be headed to Recovery in just a few minutes.”
Lucy sank back into her chair, the relief of Chase’s words overwhelming her. Chase gave her a knowing look before turning to Tennant and stating, “She’s not technically out of the woods yet, but knowing Kate Whistler and the aura she was presenting in the O.R., I have every faith that she will be fine.”
Chase left the Waiting Room to learn further updates.
Chase returned a half hour later, devoid of scrubs and in uniform, to let Lucy and Jane know that Kate was indeed in Recovery and would be for a while. Lucy rose and pulled Chase into a hug, finally finding the words to thank her that escaped her earlier. Chase reached into a pocket of her fatigues and pressed a small pull string bag into Lucy’s hand. Lucy opened it and glanced inside.
“They will help you heal,” Commander Chase explained softly.
Confused, Lucy asked, “You mean these are for Kate…to help her heal?”
“Oh no,” Chase explained, handing Lucy another small bag. “These are for Kate.”
Chase continued on, gently placing a hand on Lucy’s shoulder and looking her in the eye. “I noticed something when I spoke to you earlier. I see it still, Lucy. I know you don’t hold much stock in this sort of thing, but…your aura is off. Right now, I sense a muddy red mixed with some yellow. Anger, destructiveness, anxiety, doubt…you are angry at what happened and doubting yourself, as well as maybe blaming yourself. That road presents a perilous path for you. These stones will help heal you…put you back on the right path.”
Lucy had no words for what Chase had read in her aura. She didn’t know much about auras or healing stones, but Chase was spot on about the anger and doubt she was feeling. She couldn’t explain how Chase could know that, but she thanked her for the gifts anyway, secretly hoping that they would actually work.
After Commander Chase left, Tennant’s phone rang. She put it on speaker.
“Whistler’s in Recovery, Ernie. Tell us what you’ve got.”
“Maddie Kronin applied for NCIS after a 3-year stint with the San Antonio Police Department. Before that, a college degree in Criminal Justice from a small university in the area. Dabbled with some classes in criminal law. Before that she worked as a nanny in San Antonio where she was well-liked by the family. They wrote her an admissions reference for college and looked after her as if she was family. They even helped her put in for a name change from Magdelaine McCauley to Maddie Kronin…her grandmother’s maiden name. Oh, and the info she fed us on the people her brother killed? Lucy was right. She tweaked the files so we would not realize the targets had changed slightly. The man killed in Corpus Christi that the detective called her in on? That was Glen Morris…Junior. She left that out to purposely screw up the algorithm.”
“Jesse and Kai?” Lucy asked.
“She’d already cleared out of her hotel room by the time they got there. She’s in the wind.”
A frustrated groan escaped Lucy. She turned and, running a hand through her hair, walked to the opposite side of the room, placing the small bags Chase had given her in her pants pocket.
Hearing her frustration, Ernie quickly tried to appease it by letting her know that he was running a facial recognition protocol through public cameras all over the island.
“If Maddie Kronin’s still on the island, we’ll know,” Ernie assured them.
“Thanks, Ernie. Keep me posted,” Jane said before ending the call.
Lucy began her pacing again.
“We have to find her,” Lucy said as she passed.
“We will, Lucy.”
Lucy stopped, a frustrated look on her face as she turned to face Tennant.
“Will we?! Will we get to her in time?! Because I don’t think you get it!”
Jane narrowed her eyes at the insubordinate tone coming from her agent but chalked it up to the stress of worrying over a loved one who just got out of surgery.
“Lucy…”
But Lucy was having none of it. Cocking her head to the side, she continued, “No, I’m not over-reacting here! All along Kronin kept her hands clean…fed information to her brother and let him do the dirty work so she could protect her career. But now he’s dead and I’m still alive. The last person Maddie Kronin cared about in this world was taken from her and the target that would finish their revenge tour is the reason he’s dead. That’s not gonna sit well with Kronin. It’s personal now. In her mind I’ve caused the death of the one person she could trust in this world…the one who always loved her no matter what. She’s gonna want to avenge him. She’ll want me dead, but she’s proven that she will settle for something else…an eye for an eye…she’ll settle for the death of the person I care about most. And now…she’s got nothing to lose”
Lucy sank into a chair then, head cradled in both hands as she let the truth of the words she just spoke sink in. Tennant came up behind her and hugged her.
“We’ll find her before it gets to that, Lucy. I know we will.”