When I arrive to work, I make my way into the ICU. I am excited for Maria, my first official patient being a Doctor in a Hospital. I arrived, and I got thrown right into the OR.

"Knock. Knock." I say, actually knocking on the door. "Good morning, Maria." I smile, walking up to her head.

"Doctor McGuire!" Maria's parents say, smiling at me. Maria gives me a small grin, not looking too happy honestly.

"You excited for today? You are finally leaving this dreaded wing." I raise my eyebrows, trying to lighten the mood in here.

"But I can't go home," Maria says under her breath, reminding me of Phoebe.

"No, but you get your leg at the end of this week! And you start physical therapy. The days will fly by until you can go home." I smile, hearing a knock on the door. I look over, and it's the nurse with a wheelchair.

"Let's go to your new room." I excitingly say as I help Maria out of her bed and into the wheelchair. Once we get her in, I grab the blanket and cover her legs. She still doesn't like to show that her leg was amputated.

I decide to push Maria, following the nurses into her new room. It has a large window looking over New York City. It has a couch next to the bed, a big TV and a stack of good books the Nurses pulled together. I roll her to her new bed, helping her into it. Once we are settled, everything is being hooked back onto her. Since she is still recovering, she still needs to be monitored.

While I am hooking her IV bag, I get a page that I'm needed in the OR. I tell everyone goodbye for now and head upstairs. I put on the gear I need to wear past the thick red line on the hallway.

"What's going on?" I ask a redheaded Nurse exiting the room in covered protective gear.

"There was a shooting, and the bullet is travelling up this women's body. Strangest thing ever." The Nurse chuckles, walking away from me.

A bullet is what?

I go into the room, before the actual OR where I press the intercom. "A bullet is what?" I repeat to Doctor Leah Miller and all the other people in the room.

"Doctor McGuire, a bullet is travelling up her leg, into her abdomen and will enter her heart. We have to stop it before she dies." Leah says, hurrying to take another X-Ray.

I quickly put on a surgeon cap, tying the mask over my face and scrubbing my hands. I enter, and a nurse places a pair of sterile gloves onto my hands.

The bullet is in her vein, currently passing her abdomen. It is moving slowly, but not slow enough.

We open up her up, carefully looking for the silver bullet. We are so close to shopping it, but it bypasses Leah.

"Doctor McGuire, you have a call from a Phoebe." A nurse says behind me; I look up at her quickly. Then back into my patient's open abdomen.

"Let it go to voicemail," I say, getting a curious eye from Leah. "Don't start," I tell her, and she shakes her head.

After a long, tedious surgery, we were able to find the bullet and stop it before it entered the women's heart. Leah already fixed her leg where the bullet entered, and we were able to salvage the vein.

Leah closes up the patient as I make my way out of the OR and into the hallway. I disposed of everything covered in blood and grabbed my cellphone. I have one single voicemail from Phoebe. I press play, putting it up to my ear.

"Noah." Phoebe, let's out a breath, "I need you-" Phoebe's voice is shaking, but she ends the call there. I race out of the hallway, to the elevator, but the elevator doesn't work fast enough. I go to the staircase, almost breaking the door open. I race down the five flights of stairs in no time and make my way to the locker room, grabbing my keys and my jacket.

I tell the Nurse I have an emergency at home, and I rush to my truck. I am practically speeding in and out of traffic trying hard to reach Phoebe. I don't know what happened, but she isn't answering her phone now.

My truck almost slides as I park in front of the apartment and race into the building. I bypass the elevator climbing up more stairs and to my front door. I almost drop my keys trying to get them into the door, getting frustrated at how everything is too slow for me.

"Phoebe!" I yell, walking into a pitch-black apartment. I quickly turn on all the lights and make my way around the apartment. Nothing is out of place, except that I don't see Phoebe. I check the living room, kitchen, my room, and bathroom. I got into her room, and she isn't in bed. Where is she? Did she leave? Please tell me she didn't leave...

I close my eyes, taking in a long deep breath trying to relax. I open my eyes, scanning her room up and down. Everything is still here- I open her closet, and all of her clothes are hanging up. I turn around, and I look down at the floor, That's when I see her feet peeking out from the other side of the bed.

"Phoebe?" I ask, but she doesn't move. My heart almost drops, rushing down to her. "Phoebe!" I yell as I push my fingers up against her neck. A pulse... I grab onto her head, examining her all over. No blood anywhere- I look back at her face, rubbing my fingers on her cheeks and Phoebe's green eyes flicker open. She looks panicked, clearly out of it. When she sees me, her face lightens up, but then she starts to shake.

"Phoebe, what happened? Tell me what's wrong, and I will fix it." I ask, as she painfully sits up. Did she fall out of her bed? She looks down at her ankle and I do the same. It is extremely bruised and swollen. She closes her eyes, letting her head fall to the floor.

"I- I got a call from-" She is struggling, so I stop her. Her teeth starting to chatter, but it's almost eighty degrees in here. Why is she shivering?

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Let me get your pills, and you can tell me everything." I try to stand up, but she stops me. "Phoebe-"

"He-he called me, Noah." Phoebe looks me dead in the eyes, panicked. "He can't find me, Noah. Please. He can't find me." Phoebe squeezes onto my arms, forcing herself to sit up. The pain is etched on her face.

Instantly, anger boils in me at the thought of that piece of shit calling her. I'm angry at how terrified Phoebe is. I feel helpless right now... How did he have access to a phone? What did he say to her?

"Phoebe. I am going to pick you up and place you in bed." She shakes her head shivering, "Phoebe. You can't just lay on the floor."

"I- I don't want to be here, Noah." Phoebe shakes her head, eyes filling up with tears. It's like she is pleading with me, the Doctor in me immediately goes to suicide, but I dismiss that thought. "He- He will find me." She is gasping now, making me even more concerned. "Jay won't stop until I am dead!" She yells, saying that sentence clearly with no stutter and all in one breath.

"Phoebe." I pull her into my arms, holding onto her. "I promised, remember? I will not let him near you." I make her look into my eyes, and she shakes her head, closing her eyes. "But I need to pick you up and put you into bed. So on the count of three." I adjust my arms, one under her knees and one around her upper body, avoiding her ribcage. "One. Two. Three."

Phoebe screams in pain and a few tears fall from her eyes. I place her on the bed, laying her flat. I cover her with a blanket, quickly grabbing her pills and a bottle of water. When I get inside her room, I signal her to open her mouth, and she does, I place the two big tablets into her mouth and put the water to her lips. Phoebe swallows them graciously and puts her head back against the pillow. She is still shaking and it's not from being cold... She must be in shock from everything.

I try to sit down, but I can't help but pace around the room. I am angry, pissed... I want to beat the life out of that motherfucker! I grab my phone, and the card the Police Officer handed to us at the station. I call her, and within seconds she answers.

"Officer Hudges, New York Police Station how-"

"Officer Hudges, this is Doctor Noah McGuire. I am calling because of that motherfu- Jace Mathers."

"He is currently in jail awaiting his trial, Doctor McGuire..."

"Jace Mathers called Phoebe Marshall and threatened her, Officer Hudges!" I yell, pissed off. Phoebe looks up at me, unsure of what I am doing. "MY patient can't even recover because you don't watch your inmates. She has PTSD, Depression and even Anxiety because of that man. She won't even let people touch-"

"Doctor McGuire! I understand your concern, and I will do a full investigation into how Mr Mathers received a phone in jail. I will also look into the call he left Miss Marshall. But right now, I would just focus on Miss Marshall and her treatment."

I hang up, running my hands through my hair. "She will do a 'full investigation' on everything." I air quote the 'full investigation' part, looking into Phoebe's green eyes that are glazing over.

"Noah, come here," Phoebe whispers, still breathing funny. I grab the stethoscope from out of my pocket. I put the plastic pieces into my ears, listening to her lungs. They sound clear, so why is she breathing heavy. I listen to her heart and she is tachycardic. I go to say something, but she stops me. "I- I don't want him to hurt you." Phoebe grabs my hand, and I shake my head.

"Phoebe. He won't come near you or me." I squeeze her hand a bit, " But right now I am focused on you. Your heart is beating too fast, so I need you to take a long deep breath." I say, putting the stethoscope around my neck. She shakes her head, looking exhausted. "I know you're tired, but you need to do this. This isn't good for your condition. Plus, once you start breathing normally, I can examine your ankle.

"Please, no more pain. I- I can't handle it anymore." Phoebe cries, shaking her head at me. She grips onto my hands as I gently but firmly press onto the swollen area. I feel around the foot, pressing on her bones. I look back and forth from her face to her ankle examining it closely. I press on her ankle and she tries to pull away from my touch. I grab her leg and stretch it back to me.

"I believe it is just a sprain, but I can't know fully without an X-Ray," I say and she shakes her head. "I know, you hate Hospitals. But you need one."

"I- I'm fine," Phoebe says, making me give her a disapproving look.

"I know I can't make you do anything you don't want to do, but I am going to be a Doctor with you right now." I shake my head, "If your heart doesn't slow down, I am taking you to the Hosptial." I grab onto her wrist, feeling her fast pulse. "And you could have a hairline fracture- which could get worse."

Pheobe just looks at me, shaking her head. I run my fingers through my hair, frustrated at how stubborn she is.

"Fine," I give up, and I can almost see the pleased look on her face. "But if your heart rate doesn't slow down, I am dragging you out of here," I state, pointing my finger at her. "And don't fight me. I am going to keep a very close eye on you tonight." Phoebe nods her head and closes her eyes.

"Okay." Is all she says, as I leave the room and grab my medical bag, again. I pull out the portable machine, five lead heart monitors and a blood pressure cuff. I go back into her room and hook her up to the machine. I place an ice pack on her ankle, hoping the swelling will go down.

"Get some sleep," I say after she is situated. "I will be here all night." I give her a small smile, knowing that she feels safer with me. And that I won't let that motherfucker anywhere near her...

-

• If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a vote and answering the questions below. •

-

Hiya! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a long one for sure. But now, the good stuff will be starting soon. But I will be leaving for an eight-day cruise in four days, so I don't know when a new chapter will be posted!

Questions:

1. What do you think Noah will do about Jay?

2. Do you think McKinley and McKenna will find out about Jay?

Thank you, everyone!

- Anna