CSI:New York : Who Are You? (Don Flack/OFC fanfic)

Cruel Twist Of Fate

It was just gone seven-thirty the next morning and the children's unit at St. Luke's Hospital was quiet, most of the patients still sound asleep. There was an energy, yet an ever present calm about the place. Brightly colored murals of rainbows, sunny skies and kites brought vibrancy to the plain whitewashed walls. It had an unusual calming effect as Olivia walked down the quiet corridors. The only sounds that could be hard were those of cardiac monitors beeping, ventilators hissing or the soft pitter patter of the nurses feet as they moved from room to room. She reached the central nurses station and waited for the nurse behind the counter to finish her phone-call. After a few moments the young woman hung up the receiver and smiled at Olivia.

'May I help you?' she asked in a soft voice.

'I'm Detective Cordukes from the New York Crime Lab,' Olivia replied, pulling back her jacket to show her badge. 'I'm here about Gracie Sheridan.'

The nurse's face immediately saddened as she nodded her head. Clearly she had seen the bulletins that were jamming up every news station across the entire state. 'You'll need to speak with Dr. Conrad. He's Grace's pediatrician.'

'I just need to know how she's doing.'

'Dr. Conrad will gladly answer any questions you have,' the nurse replied. 'I'll page him for you, if you'd just like to take a seat.' She gestured to a waiting area behind Olivia.

Olivia thanked her and made her way over to the bright blue sofas where she sat and waited for the doctor. She didn't have long to wait. Moments later, a tall middle-aged man wearing blue scrubs and a white do-rag appeared from a room just down the hall and began walking toward her.

'Detective Cordukes?' he inquired.

'Yes.' Olivia got to her feet and held out her hand to the weary, worn, dark-haired man.

'Felix Conrad,' he said and shook her hand once. 'You're here about Grace Sheridan,' the doctor nodded his head and there seemed to be an immediate downcast look to his gray-blue eyes. It didn't make Olivia feel very hopeful. He gestured for her to retake her seat and joined her on the opposite end of the sofa. 'It's a terrible tragedy,' he said slowly. 'The Sheridans are - ' He broke off and sighed, shaking his head. 'It sounds empty and so very clichéd, but they were wonderful people.'

Olivia nodded. 'What can you tell me about Gracie's condition?'

'Grace has Acute Myelogenous Leukaemia. She's been fighting the disease for two years now,' Dr. Conrad said. 'She's battled through round after round of chemotherapy and hasn't responded. The last relapse was a month ago and this time it weakened her immune system beyond repair. We've exhausted every form of treatment we can offer. After the last relapse the family insisted that they didn't want her set up for hospice care, that they would care for her at home.'

Although to the doctor it appeared that Olivia was taking the news rather well, that she was processing the information he had just given her and had it all together, inside she was actually falling to pieces. She had known little Gracie was sick, but not like this. 'So she's dying,' she said quietly, her voice somewhat flat.

Dr. Conrad nodded sadly. 'The only hope she has of a full recovery is a bone marrow transplant. As of yet, we've been unable to find a suitable donor.'

'Weren't her family tested?'

'Family is usually the best shot at a full match and usually from a sibling,' the doctor confirmed. 'But in Grace's case it wasn't meant to be.'

'I'm sorry...I don't understand.'

'While the whole family were tested for compatibility, her parents were her best chance of a match,' he explained. 'We knew it would be a huge risk, though. Full blown graph infections would only weaken Grace's already weak immune system. We weren't prepared to take that risk.'

'And her brother?'

'Jeremy wasn't the Sheridan's natural child, he was adopted as a baby.'

Olivia wasn't sure how or even if that information was useful, but she made a mental note to mention it to Mac. 'What are the chances of finding a donor outside of the family?'

The Doctor sighed and drew himself up. 'There are over five million donors in the national registry, Detective. So far we've had three matches, up to now none of them have been a perfect HLA match. On top of everything else, Grace has a rare blood type. The odds just keep working against us I'm afraid and the longer we have to wait...' His voice trailed off and Olivia didn't need him to continue. She got it. The longer the wait, the closer Gracie came to dying. What made it even more devastating was that the child was now alone. If a donor wasn't found, she was going to die alone.

Olivia cleared her throat swallowing down the painful lump. 'How is she now?' she asked.

'She has a bronchial infection and respiratory problems. It took a while to settle her down last night. After we administered medication, we had to give her a mild sedative, I think she would have been too frightened to close her eyes otherwise. And she needs to rest. More so now.' He sighed deeply, trying to come to terms with the tragic events of the night. 'She's a brave little girl,' he went on. 'She's fought hard these last two years. She doesn't deserve this, Detective. None of them deserved this.'

Nothing about this case made sense. Everything about this entire case was cruel and heart breaking. A little girl's entire family had been wiped out. And as if that wasn't enough Gracie was dying.

'Is she awake?' Olivia asked.

'I looked in on her before I came out to speak with you. Still sound asleep. Which isn't a bad thing.'

'Has anyone from the Police Department been in touch with you, Doctor?'

'Yes, there was a Detective here late last night. Flack, I think his name was. He explained that only medical and law enforcement were allowed to see her. There's an officer guarding her room 24/7.'

'We can't take any chances,' Olivia nodded.

'No,' the Doctor sighed, understanding perfectly that whoever had committed this heinous crime was still out there and could come after Gracie. 'It does seem rather odd, doesn't it?'

'What's that?'

'That he didn't hurt Grace. I understand she was hiding, but it doesn't make sense that the killer wouldn't look for her.'

Olivia had been thinking that very same thing since she had found the little girl cowering in the closet. 'I gave up trying to fathom people's minds a long time ago, Dr. Conrad. But we will find who's responsible for this,' she said a determined edge to her voice. Olivia got to her feet and held out her hand once more. 'Thank you for your time. I'll stop by later to see Gracie.'

Dr. Conrad stood and took Olivia's hand. 'She'll like that. Before she dropped off to sleep she asked if the pretty police lady was here. I'll tell her she's coming by later.'

Olivia and the Doctor exchanged warm smiles. Or as warm as they could muster given the situation and then she turned and left, the heels of her boots echoing down the still quiet of the hospital corridor.

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Copyright © 2006 [Debra Jay] All Rights Reserved