Invisible Killer

Chapter 7

As soon as the gang headed into town, they arrived at the Sun Valley Lanes bowling alley. It was located on 321 Victory Lane, and the store hours were 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The teens slid out of the truck and entered the building. They approached the counter and rang the bell for the employer's attention. With an instant, the manager walked out of the Personnel office and approached the front desk.
"Welcome to Sun Valley Lanes! My name is Chester Dunn, and I'm the manager. What size?" he introduced himself.
Rachelle and Lyndsay lowered their eyebrows and looked at each other with discouragement.
"Excuse me?" remarked Lyndsay.
"What size?" Chester repeated. Lyndsay puffed out her eyes and bared her front teeth with offense. Chester sighed. "What size shoe?" he rolled his eyes.
"Oh...okay," mumbled Lyndsay with relief. She looked at Chester with generosity. "We're not here to bowl..."
"Okay. Well have a good day," he interrupted as he began to walk back into his office.
"Wait a minute!..." Lyndsay stopped him. He turned back around, sighed, rolled his eyes, and reapproached the counter. "We still need to talk to you."
"Okay...," Chester mumbled.
Lyndsay pulled out the bowling ball that was used to hit Rachelle. "Do you know anything about the girl who owns this particular bowling ball? Anyone with the initials 'V.D."?" She showed the piece of evidence to him.
Chester put on a pair of gloves and carefully handled the ball. "Oh yes...this is her personal bowling ball. She only uses this ball whenever she comes in."
"We weren't able to catch any fingerprints on it. Does she happen to wear gloves when she bowls?"
"Yes ma'am. She wears a white golfing glove on her left-hand. I think that she refers to it as her 'lucky glove'. Every time she wears it, she constantly scores strikes," answered Chester.
"So she's left-handed?" asked Ryan.
"She's most definitely left-handed."
"Good to know, good to know." Ryan wrote down some bullet points on his notepad.
"Bowling is basically her stress reliever, because she comes in here every time she's stressed. It usually happens at least once every week," Chester added.
"Can you give us any physical descriptions about her?" questioned Lyndsay.
"Uh...I've never really had the chance to get a good look at her."
"Really? She's been coming in here every week, and you don't even know what she looks like," Lyndsay smarted off.
"Hey, she comes in and does her thing. I'm either in the back or helping with the other customers. I don't really encounter with the girl," said Chester.
"Right...," groaned Ryan.
"So I'm guessing that you don't even know her name?" asked Lyndsay as she crossed her arms.
"All I knwo is that her initials are 'V.D.' I've never really caught her name," replied Chester.
Lyndsay directed her unattractive glare towards Ryan. Ryan raised an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders. Lyndsay sighed and rolled her eyes back to Chester. "Well...we really appreciate you taking some time out of your shift to answer some questions. I guess that we'll be going now," she informed. Her and her friends softly smiled as they each shook Mr. Dunn's hand. Seconds later, the gang left the counter and headed outside.
"Hey guys, I think that I'm going to go ahead and head on home," reported Troy as the gang was outside of the building.
"Yeah, me too," Rachelle joined in.
"Alrighty. We'll catch up with you two later," said Lyndsay. Her and Ryan waved to Troy and Rachelle. Before too long, each pair headed off into opposite directions. Before Troy and Rachelle separated from each other, Troy stopped to grab her attention. "Rachelle?...," Troy mumbled as he grabbed her hand. Rachelle turned to face Troy. "I want you to be careful on your way home," he reported as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Rachelle rolled her eyes and slapped his hand away. "Don't you think that I don't already know that?" she hissed at him.
"Rachelle, I just don't want anything else to happen to you."
"I can take care of myself, thank you very much." She huffed, turned around, and began on her way home. Troy shook his head in despair as he watched her walk away.
On her way home, Rachelle decided to walk through Antelope Park. While walking on through, her poison ivy reaction immediately began to act up. It bothered her so much that she began to ferociously scratch. Across from her was a skater girl. She was several feet away from Rachelle, carrying her skateboard and talking on her cellphone. She was walking past the nearest swing set when she suddenly tripped over a tree branch. She fell onto her stomach, and her skateboard rolled its way into Rachelle's direction. With Rachelle not paying attention to where she was going, she stepped on the skateboard and began to roll out of the opposite entrance of the park. She screamed at the top of her lungs with fear. Without a moment too soon, Rachelle frantically began to ride down into town. Getting halfway into town, Rachelle came across a construction site. The construction workers were revamping the roads in order to give them a smoother surface. As Rachelle rode closer towards the construction, her eyes widened up when she saw a ramp up ahead. Without any caution, the moving skateboard led her up the ramp and suddenly left the bottom of her feet. Rachelle left the end of the ramp and began flying in the mid-air while still screaming with fear.
A few blocks away from the construction site, Troy approached his truck and proceeded to climb in. He attached his seatbelt, put the key into the ignition, and suddenly saw Rachelle fly across his windshield.
"Rachelle...," he gasped. He immediately switched the gear into drive and followed her down the street. He followed her all the way to the other side of town. Rachelle stopped flying and eventually landed sideways on her ankle. When the side of her ankle rolled onto the concrete, Rachelle frantically heard a snap. She reluctantly held her ankle in tragic pain, screaming in agony.
Troy found Rachelle sitting on the sidewalk and rushed towards her. "Ray! Are you alright? What happened?" he hesitated with a rapid heartbeat.
"Let's just say that I tripped over a skateboard and landed wrong on my ankle. Oh my gosh, it hurts so bad," replied Rachelle, breathing heavily. "It's swollen, and I can't feel it." Troy kneeled down on one knee, placed a hand on Rachelle's shoulder, and looked at her ankle. He took a look at her ankle and saw black and blue bruising running down to the sole of Rachelle's foot and her toes.
Seconds later, the same skater girl approached the pair to grab her skateboard. "Hi! My name is Vanessa, and I am so sorry for dropping my board. I guess that I need to pay more attention to where I'm walking," she introduced.
"It's okay. I need to watch where I'm going too," answered Rachelle, holding her foot in agony.
"Well...I think that you should be more careful..." Vanessa picked up her skateboard, deviously winked at Rachelle, and rode off into the neighborhood. Rachelle became slightly suspicious. Her and Troy looked at each other after they witnessed Vanessa's strange remark.
"We need to get you to the hospital. Can you stand up...or walk?" asked Troy.
"Does it look like that I can do either of those things?" snarled Rachelle with sarcasm. Troy sighed, rolled his eyes, and didn't say another word. He hurried to his truck to grab his first-aid kit. He hurried back to Rachelle in order to deliver some assistance. He opened up the kit and pulled out an ice pack. He placed in on Rachelle's ankle and wrapped her ankle with a cloth medical bandage.
"There...," Troy softly mumbled.
"Thank you," Rachelle mumbled back. Her and Troy softly smiled at each other. Troy picked up his first aid kit and held it in front of Rachelle. "May you hold this for me?" he asked politely. Rachelle grabbed the case from Troy and held onto it for him.
Troy leaned in closer to her. "Okay, put your arm around my neck," he insisted. Rachelle wrapped her arm around Troy's neck while holding onto the first aid kit with her other hand. Troy carefully slid his arms under her and lifted her up from the concrete. "Let's get you to the hospital," he encouraged. He carried her to the vehicle, carefully placed her in the passenger seat, and immediately drove her to the emergency room.
They arrived at the hospital. Troy parked the car and rushed Rachelle into the emergency room. With Rachelle in his arms, Troy approached the front desk. "Excuse me, nurse? My friend hurt her ankle. It's pretty swollen, and she's experiencing a lot of pain," he announced.
"Okay, follow me," said Nurse Andrea. She led the teens into the available examination room. Troy carried Rachelle into the room and carefully laid her down on the bed. He then grabbed an extra pillow and used it to elevate Rachelle's ankle.
"Dr. Baxter will be in shortly," reported Nurse Andrea.
"Thank you," said Troy. Andrea smiled at them and exited the room.
As soon as the teens were alone, Rachelle suddenly began to panic. "What if I broke it? What am I going to do?" she freaked out. Troy placed a hand on her shoulder to show his support. Rachelle became concerned as she looked up at him.
"Why are you here? Every time that something happens, why are you always there?" she hissed.
Troy deeply sighed as he pulled his hand away. "Because I'm worried about you. I don't want you to die, nor can I let you die. You're my best friend, Rachelle. I can't take the chance of losing you."
Rachelle became disgusted. "Oh really?..." she snarled, becoming angry. "Then how come you're not helping us track down the one responsible? Why aren't you helping us by capturing the criminal who's trying to kills me?"
"Rachelle, I'm pretty sure that all of this is just a part of your imagination."
"What!" Rachelle screamed.
With seconds to spare, Dr. Baxter entered through the door. "Hello, Rachelle! I'm quite shocked to see you in here for the third time," he introduced.
"I didn't think that I'd be back in here, but here I am," Rachelle joked.
"Well, let's begin with a regular physical examination." Dr. Baxter began by checking her vital signs. All of them were normal. Her blood pressure was 120 over 80 exactly, her heart rate was 60 to 100 beats per minute, her respiration rate was 12 to 16 breaths per minute, and her temperature was exactly 98.6 degrees. Dr. Baxter used a stethoscope to check Rachelle's heart and lungs. He finally checked Rachelle's throat, tonsils, ears, and nose. Luckily for Rachelle, everything was completely normal.
"Well everything looks normal," began Dr. Baxter as he placed the stethoscope around his neck. "Now what am I seeing you for this time?"
"I tripped over a skateboard and landed on my ankle wrong. It's bruised, swollen, and it hurts like crazy," said Rachelle.
"Wow! You're just not having any luck, are you? It almost sounds like that someone's trying to kill you."
Rachelle agreed with the doctor's remark and flashed Troy an envious grin. Troy rolled his eyes in disagreement. "So what are you planning on doing?" he asked Dr. Baxter.
"I see how bad your ankle looks, but I'd like to ask you a list of questions about the pain. Your answers will help me to figure out what's going on," Dr. Baxter informed to Rachelle. Rachelle nodded her head in agreement. "To begin, how long ago did your injury happen?"
"It literally just occurred five minutes ago," answered Rachelle.
"Does your knee, shin, or foot hurt too?"
"No sir."
"Did your ankle turn in or out?"
"I don't think that it did. I know that I just landed on it sideways," said Rachelle.
"Did you hear a crack or a pop?" asked Dr. Baxter.
"I did feel and hear a loud snap."
"Were you able to walk immediately after your injury?"
"No sir. It was too swollen."
"Can you walk now?"
"Not really..."
"Do you have any numbness or tingling in your legs?"
"My ankle and foot are both tingling and quite numb," said Rachelle.
"Have you had any previous ankle injuries?" the doctor asked.
"No sir," Rachelle responded.
"Hmm..." Dr. Baxter placed his pen into his coat pocket. "Well based on your responses, I'm going to suggest that we have an X-ray done on your ankle in order to make sure that it's nothing serious."  Rachelle nodded her head in response. Dr. Baxter shook their hands and exited the room.
A few minutes later, Nurse Lexi came into the room. "Hello, Ms. Rachelle. I'm here to take you down the hall for your X-ray," she introduced.
Rachelle smiled and hobbled out of bed to the wheelchair. Nurse Lexi pulled the pedals under Rachelle's feet. She began to roll Rachelle out until Rachelle stopped her. Rachelle pulled out her cellphone and handed it to Troy. "I need you to call my parents to tell them what happened," she informed.
Troy grabbed her phone and began dialing. "You better call them, because they'll be worried about me," smirked Rachelle.
"Don't worry, I will call them-along with Lyndsay and Ryan," said Troy.
"How can I be so sure that you're actually going to do it?"
Troy began to grunt. "Ray? Serious? They're your parents, and they need to know what happened."
"Well duh...," hissed Rachelle. "Troy, I'm not stupid. I mean, that how can I be so sure that you're actually going to call them? I'm pretty sure that you won't since you think that all of this is a part of my imagination."
Troy sighed with depression. He then flicked his hand at the door to tell the nurse to take Rachelle. "In other words, they better be here when I get back," snapped Rachelle as the nurse rolled her down the hall to the X-ray room. Nurse Lexi rolled Rachelle out of the room, and Troy began dialing on the number keys of Rachelle's phone. He called Rachelle's parents, Lyndsay, and Ryan.
Around 30 minutes later, Rachelle was rolled back into the room. She saw her parent's, Lyndsay, and Ryan in the room waiting for her. "Mom! Dad!" she mumbled quietly. Nurse Lexi helped Rachelle onto the bed and elevated her foot with a few pillows.
"Rachelle Lynn, what happened?" asked Mrs. Truman.
"Long story short, I tripped over a skateboard, rolled into town up a ramp in the construction, and landed on my foot wrong," answered Rachelle. She looked over to Troy. "You did call them."
"Well duh...they're your parents, and they need to know what had happened," responded Troy.
"Thank you." She half smiled at him.
Mrs. Truman squeezed Rachelle with a big hug. "Oh my goodness! I'm so glad that you're okay. What did the doctor say when y'all got back here?" she asked.
"He didn't say much. He just did the physical exam, checked out my ankle, and suggested that I got an X-ray done to make sure that it's not broken," answered Rachelle. Her parents hugged her tight.
"I'm sorry!" mumbled Rachelle.
"Honey, it's not your fault. I just wish that I knew what was happening," said her mother.
"Someone is trying to kill me."
"What?" Her parents quickly became worried.
"Oh great! Here we go agin!" snarled Troy as he crossed his arms.
Suddenly, Lyndsay and Ryan rushed into the examination room.
"Rachelle!" they cried.
"Lyndsay! Ryan! Boy am I glad to see y'all," cheered Rachelle.
Lyndsay approached the foot of the bed. "What happened?" she asked with hesitation.
"I was walking through the park, and I somehow tripped over a skateboard. While on the skateboard, I rolled all the way into town. I flew up a ramp during road construction and landed on my ankle wrong," explained Rachelle.
Lyndsay gasped. "Oh no! You didn't break it, did you?"
"I don't know yet. I just got back from getting an X-ray to make sure that it's nothing serious."
"How did you trip over a skateboard?" asked Ryan.
"I have absolutely no idea. I don't know where the skateboard came from," answered Rachelle.
"Okay...what is this about that someone is trying to kill you?" Mrs. Truman interrupted the conversation.
"Who's the criminal? I'll shoot him!" said Mr. Truman.
"Dad, you're not going to do that, nor will I let you. Also, I don't know who; we're trying to figure it out. I know that the initials are 'V. D.', but I don't know anyone by that name," said Rachelle quite anxious.
A few seconds later, Dr. Baxter returned to deliver the results. "How's my patient doing?" he softly asked with a sympathetic smile.
"I'm just in pain from my foot," answered Rachelle.
Mrs. Truman joined in on the conversation. "Hello, Dr. Baxter. We're her parents. What did the X-rays show?" she introduced as her and her husband shook his hand.
Dr. Baxter straightened out the wrinkles in his lab coat and took a deep breath. "Rachelle Truman, I'm afraid that your ankle is fractured...," he reported in a gloomy tone. Rachelle gasped. Her mother held her hand, and her dad placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's nothing too serious. It's just that when you landed on it sideways, you damaged the tissue that keeps your ankle bone in place. With that tissue becoming damaged, it caused the bone to shape," the doctor added.
"So what happens now? Y'all can fix it through surgery, right?" asked Jenny Truman.
Dr. Baxter sighed in misery. "I'm afraid that I can't perform a surgical procedure. A fractured ankle has to have time to heal on its own."
"What?" Rachelle freaked.
"Don't worry, Rachelle. It will be okay," muttered Troy as he patted her on the shoulder.
She gave him a disgusted expression. "Shut up!" she grunted. She threw his hand away looked down with an unattractive frown.
Ryan approached the side of the bed to try to cheer her up. "Hey...," he began. Rachelle looked up at him. "At least it's not broken." Rachelle sighed in depression.
Jenny laid her hand on Rachelle's shoulder. "So what do we do to help her ankle heal quicker?" she asked the doctor.
"I don't guarantee that the pain is going to go away just like that...," he began as he snapped his fingers. "Your ankle is going to have to have some time to heal completely. So in the meantime, I recommend that you don't put absolutely any weight on your ankle. That way it can give the swelling some time to start going down."
"So what do we do right now?" asked Mark. Truman.
Dr. Baxter crossed up his arms. "As for right now, we're going to have to put you in a boot in order to keep any weight off of your ankle. Also, we're going to have to keep you overnight for a couple of days, just for any further observations."
"What? No!" Rachelle freaked again.
"Honey, it's for the best," mumbled her mother.
"No, you don't understand. I can't stay here. Someone is after me, and they're going to kill me."
"You can trust us, Ms. Rachelle. We have security cameras everywhere, and all unauthorized people will not be able to get in without proper identification," said Dr. Baxter.
Rachelle displayed a disgusted expression. "I don't know..."
"Will it make you feel any better if we were to have one of your security guards stand outside the door for the night?"
"I guess that will work..."
Dr. Baxter smiled and stepped outside to call for security. Seconds later, a guard walked into the room. "Rachelle, this is Officer Jay Brown. He's our top security guard. He will stand watch in the hallway, and he won't let any suspicious people enter unless your friends and parents," he introduced.
The guard held out his hand and shook everybody's hand. "Officer Brown," he greeted. "I can assure you that nobody's going to kill you while I'm on duty."
"Thank you," said Rachelle. Officer Brown tipped his hat and left the room. Dr. Baxter shook everybody's hand and left the room behind the officer. Unfortunately, Rachelle was still feeling discouraged about being alone.
Ryan saw the nervous look in Rachelle's eyes and became concerned. "Ray, what's wrong?" he asked.
"I still don't feel comfortable staying here, especially for a few days," she answered.
"I think that it's a good idea," smirked Troy.
Everybody's mouth dropped with shock.
"What?" they all gasped.
"Yeah...," Troy began. "Because then that way, you'll realize that nobody is trying to kill you, and you were all worked up over nothing." Rachelle immediately became agitated as she leaned towards his direction on the left in order to attempt to strangle him. Lyndsay and Ryan were on the opposite side, holding Rachelle down to keep her calm and steady.
"Rachelle, it will be okay," encouraged Lyndsay. "You can trust all of the employees. This is a fantastic hospital."
"Well...," Rachelle still felt discouraged.
"Rachelle honey...I promis you that there's nothing to worry about. You can always call the nurse, your friends, and even us," said Mrs. Truman.
"Okay...," mumbled Rachelle as she was soon convinced. Her parents smiled, kissed her on the forehead, and left the room. Rachelle then hugged Lyndsay and knuckle-punched Ryan as they left the room. Eventually, Troy noticed that it was just him and Rachelle left in the room. With enough courage, he tried to correct his previous statement.
"Ray...I can...," he began.
"Leave? Yes you can...Goodbye!" hissed Rachelle as she waved at him.
"Ray, please...," he begged.
"Why? Let me guess...you want to dig your thought even deeper to where it makes me sound like a psychotic freak?"
"That's not it at all!"
"Well that's waht it sounds like to me..." A few seconds later, Nurse Lexi popped into the room. "Mr. James? The visiting hours are over. You have about five minutes to leave," she reported. Troy nodded his head with a soft smile, and the nurse reentered the hallway.
"Ray, please...," Troy tried to beg Rachelle again.
"No, Troy!" grunted Rachelle as she crossed her arms. "It's time for you to leave." Troy bowed his head in guilt and walked out the door with Nurse Lexi holding it open.
"If you need anything, just push the 'call' button," said Nurse Lexi. Rachelle nodded her head to understand. The nurse smiled and slowly closed the door.
Later on through the night, Officer Brown was snoozing in a chair outside Rachelle's room. He was snoring with his arms crossed when someone tried to open the door to Rachelle's room. The creeking sound of the door immediately woke the guard up. He jumped up from the chair onto his feet and pulled out his baton. "What did you think you're doing? You can't go in there!" he grunted in a deep tone.
The mysterious person pulled out a knife and stabbed Officer Brown in the chest. The sharp sting caused him to fall to his knees, becoming unconscious. While the stranger had a chance, they made a run for it. Seconds later, Nurse Michelle walked around the corner and became startled when she discovered the dieing security guard.
"Officer Brown!" she gasped. She tried to help him up from the floor. Without a moment too soon, the stranger grabbed the telephone cord from Michelle's desk and strangled her with it. Michelle instantly fell to the floor, completely dead. The stranger stole Michelles uniform, put it on, and took the keys from the nurse's pocket. "The keys to the medicine cabinet," the stranger mumbled. She then walked away, leaving the two dead bodies in the middle of the hallway.
The stranger approached the Nurse's Station and announced that it was time for her "patient" Rachelle's medicine. Nurse Lexi nodded her head with a smile, rose up from her chair, and directed the woman to the authorized medicine cabinet. Watching Lexi type in her code, the stranger entered the facility and became excited to see all of the different bottles of medicine. She was halfway into the facility when she came across a sleeping pill.
"Xanax, just what I'm looking for," she mumbled as she grabbed it from the shelf. "She won't be able to wake up for a long time." She slid the bottle into her pocket and exited the medicine cabinet. The stranger thanked the head nurse and proceeded to Rachelle's room.
She quietly entered the room and introduced herself. "Hello, Rachelle. I'm Nurse Vickie. It's time for you to take your pain medication. This medicine is a stronger dose for the pain in your foot," she announced.
"I don't know," began Rachelle with doubt. "I think that I need to speak with the doctor before I take a different type of medication."
"Okay...I'll go ask him." Nurse Vickie sarcastically left the room and pretended to go talk to the doctor. Seconds later, she reentered the room. "I just spoke with your doctor, and he suggested that you start on the stronger does." Rachelle, scrunching up her nose, doubtfully went along with Nurse Vickie's plan.
"Great...," mumbled Vickie, deviously. She had the medicine pack in her hand. She pulled out her pocket knife and used it to begin opening the package.
"Shouldn't you be using a pair of scissors to open it?" questioned Rachelle, becoming worried.
"It will be fine; don't worry about it." Nurse Vickie was able to open the package and proceeded to approach the bed. She moved closer to the bed and pretended to trip over something, causing the knife to stab Rachelle in her right thigh.
Rachelle screamed bloody murder once she felt the knife's point pierce through her skin. She looked at the nurse in disgust. "That's why you should've used a pair of scissors. Knives are dangerous!" she grunted.
"It slipped...," said Vickie in an envious tone. Rachelle grunted her clenched teeth in pain. "Here, why don't you take your pain medication? It will take the pain away from your thigh too." Instead of Vickie administering the normal dosage, she dumped the whole pack of pills into Rachele's mouth. She then opened a bottle of clear liquid and gave Rachelle a drink.
Rachelle took a drink and pulled her head away. "Okay, thank you," she said politely.
"No, no, sweetie. You need to drink the whole bottle in order for the pain medication to kick in," remarked Vickie. Rachelle looked up at her with discouragement. Vickie clenched Rachelle's bottom jaw open and made her chug the rest of the liquid that was left in the bottle. "You need to take in every last sip."
Rachelle drank the whole bottle and began to feel even more discomfit. "There we go...," began Vickie as she placed the cap back onto the bottle. "The medicine should start to kick in very quickly." She threw away the plastic bottle and immediately left the room. On her way out, a random wadded up piece of paper fell out of her pocket and fell onto the floor.
After a short period of time from Vickie's visit, Rachelle suddenly began to feel funny. Sitting up on the bed, she could feel discomfortness all throughout her body. She began to feel dizzy, she was experiencing stomach aches, she had dryness in her mouth and throat, and she began to feel a stinging sensation in her hands and feet. Without a moment too soon, Rachelle suddenly started to puke up a pool of blood.
The sound of Rachelle vomiting gained Lyndsay's attention. She left the waiting room and rushed to Rachelle's room. She rushed into the room and saw Rachelle vomiting up so much blood. "Huh! Oh my God! Rachelle!" she cried. Lyndsay left the doorway and scurried to the Nurses's Station to get help.
"Nurse!...Nurse Andrea!" called out Lyndsay, running out of breath. Rachelle's authorized nurse approached the desk.
"Ms. Schafer! What's wrong?" Nurse Andrea immediately became concerned with hesitation.
"It's Rachelle Truman! She's in trouble...she's in her room puking up blood..."
"Oh dear!..." Andrea turned around to call for backup. "Girls? We have an emergency. A patient is vomiting up blood. Get the doctor, stat!" Her, a couple of colleagues, and Lyndsay rushed towards Rachelle's room.
"I'm going to need you to wait out here in the hallway," Andrea reported to Lyndsay.
"Please, Andrea...Rachelle's my best friend. I need to be in there," begged Lyndsay as her tear ducts began to overflow.
"Trust me, Lyndsay. It's best if you wait out here. Don't worry; we are not going to give up on her."
"Please do everything that you can to save her." Lyndsay watched Andrea enter the room and witnessed the whole process through one of the windows.
All of the nurses, with the doctor in the center, huddled around Rachelle try to clam her down. One of them immediately took Rachelle's blood sugar and blood pressure. "Her blood sugar is normal, but her blood pressure is decreasing," they reported. Rachelle suddenly began to shake and lose the strength in her body.
"We're losing her!" cried Dr. Baxter. Rachelle instantly began to experience a seizure as her body plopped on the bed unconscious. Lyndsay was watching everything from the window and was getting worried.
A few seconds later, Ryan approached Lyndsay from behind. "Hey Lyndsay, what's going on?" he asked.
Lyndsay turned out and became surprised to see Ryan. "Ryan? I thought that you went home already."
"Oh no...I just went to the cafeteria to get something to eat...," Ryan began as he was eating a bowl of cereal. "I was starving. So, what's wrong with Rachelle?"
"I had only left the room to sit in the waiting room. While I was in there, I heard a weird noise coming from Rachelle's room. I came in here to check on her, and she began to vomit so much blood. Now, I think that she's having a seizure. I'm afraid that this time could be it for her...I'm scared..."
The nurses tried to perform CPR on Rachelle a couple of times, but there was no result. "Let's try the electric shocks," suggested Dr. Baxter as he entered the room. "Clear!...," he said each time he performed the technique. He tried the technique a couple of times, but Rachelle still wasn't responding. Her seizure was acting up as her body kept on shaking. Lyndsay began to cry out in the hallway.
"Lyndsay?..." mumbled Ryan as he started to get worried. There wasn't a response. He dragged her head to where she was facing him. "It's going to be okay."
"How do you know that?" wondered Lyndsay with tears running down her cheeks.
"They're professionals, and they will do everything that they can to save her."
"But what if this is it? I'm going to lose my best friend. We've been best friends ever since Kindergarten." She buried her head into Ryan's chest. "I don't want to lose her!"
Ryan pulled Lyndsay away. "It's going to be okay. She'll get through it," he said.
"What makes you think that?" whimpered Lyndsay.
"Because she made it through all those other times."
"Yeah but this time, she lost nearly more than half of the blood in her body."
"Lyndsay, she's tough, and she's going to make it." Lyndsay looked into Rachelle's room.
"Don't you trust me?" asked Ryan. Lyndsay looked back at Ryan.
"I'm so glad that I have you," she muttered with a soft smile. Ryan wrapped an arm around her, and they sat down on a bench across from Rachelle's room. Lyndsay then laid her head on Ryan's shoulder.
Rachelle still wasn't responding, even with the electric shocks. Dr. Baxter then injected a needle into Rachelle's left thigh. The needle containked Keppra which was used to stop the seizure completely. After the medicine was administered, Rachelle was able to finally settle down. Her heart beat even went back to normal. Lyndsay and Ryan were in the hall waiting when Dr. Baxter approached them.
"Okay, she's taken care of," he reported. He removed his gloves and threw them in the trash. Lyndsay and Ryan perked up.
"How is she?" asked Lyndsay. "Is she going to be okay? Please tell me that she's still alive!"
"As far as I know, she's still alive. She didn't respond to any of the CPR attempts, so we tried to do some electric shocks. Unfortunately, she didn't respond to any of that, and she was still having her seizure. Luckily, I was able to inject some Keppra into her thigh and that seemed to calm her down. We're having to give her a few bags of blood through her IV because of how much she has lost."
"I told you that she was going to be okay, didn't I?" uttered Ryan as he nudged Lyndsay in the arm.
Lyndsay smiled at him with innocence. "Thank you, doctor! How is she?" she asked him.
"She's out cold right now, but she should be awake in a few minutes. You're more than welcome to go in and be with her if you'd like," answered the doctor.
"Thank you!" said Ryan.
"Just let me know if anything else goes wrong." Lyndsay and Ryan smiled at the doctor and entered the room to check on Rachelle.
Rachelle was still asleep, so they waited. They pulled a couple of chairs next to the bed. A few minutes later, Rachelle slowly began to wake up.
"Ryan, she's waking up...," announced Lyndsay. She moved closer to the bed and grabbed a hold of Rachelle's hand. Ryan approached the bed on the opposite side from Lyndsay.
"Lyndsay?" mumbled Rachelle as she slowly opened her eyes.
Lyndsay instantly began to cry tears of joy. "Rachelle! You're okay!" She hugged her best friend tightly. After they released their hug, Ryan shared a hug with Rachelle too. "How are you feeling?" asked Lyndsay as she wiped away the tears from her face.
Rachelle was barely able to move. "I feel okay, just in so much pain," she quietly responded.
" Do you know what happened? If you're able to remember anything?" asked Lyndsay.
"There was this nurse...Nurse Vickie. She came to give me a stronger dosage of my pain medication. I took it, and then she made me chug a big bottle of water. She even 'accidentally' stabbed me in the thigh with a knife. She said that it 'slipped'. The next thing I knew, I was randomly puking up blood."
Lyndsay displayed a sly smile as she looked down on Rachelle. "I'm sorry that that happened." She squeezed Rachelle's hand a little tighter. "And I'm sorry that I wasn't here to stop it." Lyndsay began to cry again.
Rachelle placed her other hand on top of Lyndsay's. "Lyndsay, it's not your fault, nor is any of this your fault. I'm not blaming you for anything. Don't you worry about it. I still love you," said Rachelle calmly. She reached her arms out. The girls hugged again as Lyndsay cried even more.
"What about me?" smirked Ryan with sarcastic jealously. Rachelle threw out her left arm into his direction and let him join in on the hug.
After they released the hug, Lyndsay and Ryan stepped back from Rachelle's bed. Lyndsay then found a wadded up piece of paper on the floor. "What's this?" she mumbled as she's bent down to pick it up. She sat back down in her chair and began to unravel the piece of paper. Rachelle and Ryan immediately became concerned.
"What do you have there, Lyndsay?" asked Ryan as he crossed up his arms.
Lyndsay opened the paper and became speechless for a little bit. "It looks like a receipt for acetone and sodium hypochlorite bleach," she reported.
"Who would want to buy acetone and sodium hypochlorite bleach?" wondered Ryan.
"And why?" asked Rachelle.
"Well...the good news is that now we have another piece of evidence that can lead us to our criminal," said Lyndsay.
"Up top!" cheered Rachelle as she threw up her arm. Ryan and Lyndsay high-fives her.
A couple of seconds later, Nurse Andrea entered the room. "Good evening, Rachelle! How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Mentally? I guess that I feel okay. Physically? I'm still in so much pain," answered Rachelle.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully that new pain reliever will kick in pretty soon. Do you remember anything from what had happened?"
"A nurse came in to give me some kind of medication and some water. She made me chug the bottle of water and it tasted funny. The next thing I knew, I'm throwing up blood. That's actually all that I remember," explined Rachelle.
"Do you remember the name of that nurse?"
"I think she said that her name was Vickie."
Nurse Andrea froze in shock. "Nurse Vickie?" she repeated in a mumble.
"Yes ma'am."
"What's wrong?" asked Ryan.
"Unfortunately, we don't have anybody on our staff that goes by that name," said Andrea.
"What?"
Andrea used her fingers to name all of the staff members. "All we have are Michelle, who apparently was murdered at the same time as Officer Brown, Alison, Lexi, and Teresa. That's it. But what I came to tell you is that that wasn't water that you drank. It was hydrogen peroxide."
"What?" freaked Lyndsay.
"I thought that it tasted funny," Rachelle sarcastically joked.
"But where did the hydrogen peroxide come from?" wondered Ryan quite confused.
"My guess would be that she could've broken into our medicine cabinet and stole it. She then would've poured it into an empty plastic bottle to make it look like water," explained Andrea. Rachelle, Lyndsay, and Ryan all stared at each other with blank emotions.
"Hey Lyndsay! May I see that receipt?" asked Rachelle as she held out her hand. Lyndsay passed on the suspicious receipt. Rachelle examined it thoroughly and immediately had a light bulb pop in her thoughts. "Hey! This purchase was made at Walgreen's," she reported as she pointed to the top of the receipt. "Lyndsay? Do you think that you can hack into the Walgreen's system online and trace this receipt? Like to find out who made this purchase?"
"Oh you bet I can," replied Lyndsay with eagerness. Rachelle handed her the piece of paper. Lyndsay then pulled out her laptop and proceeded to do her business.
A few minutes later, Lyndsay found a match. "I got something!" she cheered.
"Who made the purchase?" asked Rachelle with hesitation.
"Bruce Kensington...," muttered Lyndsay with disappointment.
"What?"
"That dirtbag again?" grunted Ryan.
"Are you kidding me?" moaned Rachelle.
"Rachelle...I traced this receipt through the Walgreen's system and his address was the result," said Lyndsay. "That means that he was the one who purchased the acetone and hypochlorite bleach."
Rachelle moaned in depression. "Are you sure that you didn't have any previous confrontations in the past? Like any to where it made him want to kill you?" asked Lyndsay.
"No. The only previous confrontation that I had with him was when I went with you guys to ask him some questions," answered Rachelle. Lyndsay sighed as her and her friends stared at the computer screen.
"So now what? What do we do now?" questioned Ryan with a new conversation.
"The only thing we can do. Go to his house and demand more detailed answers on why he wants Rachelle dead," answered Lyndsay.
"Okay...," began Rachelle as she tried to get up. "Just let me get myself out of bed."
Lyndsay immediately pushed Rachelle back down to the bed. "Rachelle, you need to stay here."
"Why? I'm perfectly fine. "What's wrong?" hissed Rachelle.
"Rachelle, you can barely move your legs," Ryan pointed out.
"Hello? That's what a wheelchair is for."
"Rachelle, we need you to stay here. We don't want anything else to happen to you. Besides, we won't be gone very long. Okay?" said Lyndsay.
"Fine...," moaned Rachelle as she moved up on the bed.
"Good girl." Lyndsay grabbed her laptop. "We'll be back in a couple of hours."  Her and Ryan exited the room, left the hospital, and headed to the Kensington household.