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Disclaimer: Jarod, Parker, Broots...Own them? I wish! That ingeniusness goes to NBC, though. Also, the song's by Sarah MacLauchlan. Thanx for not suing.


History Repeats, Love Endures
Part I
by Oriana Lemke



1/7

The Centre
Blue Cove, DE

A small child sat on the small gray cot, staring blankly at the drab stone walls. The young girl's blue eyes were reddened from crying, and her one-shiny blonde hair now hung limply. She wanted to cry, to yell, to beg to see her mommy and daddy, but she was simply too weak. They had been doing those awful tests on her again--it seemed like each day grew longer and longer.

A thin smile appeared on the child's face as she heard a familiar scraping in the air vent above her. When a man crawled out of the vent into her cell, the smile grew into a large grin. Giggling, she eagerly hugged Angelo.

~~~~~~~~~

Sydney and Broots stood chatting in his office. They both were laughing at some joke, but the familiar sound of heels clicking wiped the smiles off their faces. The door opened, and Miss Parker entered the office. Knowing what his boss would want, Broots automatically reached for box wrapped in brown paper.

"Another gift, another chance for him to rub it in my face that he got away. Again," Miss Parker muttered. She snatched the package from the balding man, impatiently undoing the wrapping. Empty.

"What kind of moronic joke is this?"

"What's inside?" Broots asked, reaching for the box. Parker grabbed the box off the desk and threw it at Broots, but missed entirely. Somehow, this just made things worse.

"Why in the hell would Wonder Boy send us an empty box?!"

"Calm down, Miss Parker. You know Jarod--he'll put clues anywhere. My guess would be the box is our clue." Sydney had a point, as usual.

"Broots, find out whatever the hell you can on the box." Parker ordered. Broots nodded agreement, and walked out. Parker leaned against Sydney's desk, and began to rub her temples. It was obvious that this was just going to be one of those days.

~~~~~~~~~

The little girl sat in the middle of her cot, staring forlornly at the air vent. She wished Angelo didn't always have to go so quickly. At least this time he had brought her a gift. The girl looked down at the small box in her hands--she could already read, but the little cartoon boy and dog on the front were familiar enough. Cracker Jacks were her favorite snack.

She turned around on the small bed, so that her back was to the door and camera, and opened the box. She was greeted by the scent of the food, but ignored it and immediately started to dig for the prize. She always looked for her prize before eating. After a moment, her small hand came upon the feel of paper, and she lifted out the tiny package. A small lump was visible in the middle, and the girl eagerly tore off the top of the papery envelope. Inside was a thin gold metal ring, with a plastic crystal-looking heart attached. Her face lighted up at her new treasure.

As she looked at her ring, the girl began to hear a low buzzing in her ears. Confused, she looked around. Her vision started to blur and she felt even weaker than before. She tried to stand, and immediately fell to the floor, unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~

Her headache refused to go away. Miss Parker sat in her office with every light off, but she still couldn't shake the pain. Parker's doctor had given her some pills to help with these ridiculous migraines, but she'd downed the last of them just last night, while finishing up some work at home.

Miss Parker vaguely recalled a bottle of aspirin in her desk, and eagerly reached for the top drawer. Compared to the meds she was used to, aspirin seemed a little primitive, but at this point she really didn't care. Unwilling to suffer the increased pain that came with lights, Parker opted to grope around the drawer blindly instead. She soon had a grasp on the plastic container, and lifted it out. The moment she felt the light weight of the bottle, she knew she was doomed. Sure enough, no sound came when Miss Parker shook the bottle.

"For the love of..." Sighing in self-pity, Parker pushed herself away from the desk and headed for the door. They did, after all, have an infirmary at the Centre, and this was an emergency, as far as she was concerned.

~~~~~~~~~

The surgical room was alive with sound. A dozen doctors were busy hooking up machines and shouting orders. At the center of their attention was a small blonde child lying on an examination table.

For a moment, she managed to open her eyes. She was very tired, and people were running around. It was confusing. She was too tired to try to comprehend what was happening. Holding her eyes open made her feel even weaker. She was just so tired...

"We're losing her!" The heart monitored began its shrill warning, and the doctors began to swarm around her.

~~~~~~~~~

Miss Parker made her way into the infirmary, ready to shoot out the glaring ceiling lights. Looking around, the place seemed deserted, but at this point Parker didn't feel like dealing with some imbecile doctor, so it didn't really matter. She headed straight to the back, in search of relief for her migraine.

She had just spotted a glass cabinet of small boxes and bottles when a man dressed in hospital scrubs came speeding out of a nearby door, nearly knocking Parker down. He raced on, oblivious of the near-collision, and quickly touched the code into a panel next to a set of tinted glass doors. They slowly slid apart, as the doctor impatiently squeezed through. Before she even realized what she was doing, Parker ran through the doors just before they closed. She stood, in shock from the scene she faced and unable to say a word. All color drained from her face.

Half a dozen monitors were blaring, while doctors ran around, filling syringes and screaming orders to each other.

What had caught Parker's eye was the patient. Lying limply on the surgical table was a small girl, no older than five. Her face was flushed, and her moist hair stuck to her face. The tubes and wires stuck to her made Parker sick. She had no idea how long she stood there, just staring in disbelief. The same question was running through her mind over and over: What was a child doing here, so close to death? The answer flew through her head once, but just once, before she pushed it away, because she wouldn't -couldn't- believe that the even the Centre was capable of such evil.

For the first time since her mother's death, Parker was faced with a situation she knew she couldn't handle. She stared at the poor girl as tears welled. Unable to take anymore, Parker ran out, through the infirmary and into the elevator. As the doors closed behind her, Parker clutched her hands, bit her lip and pushed away the tears. She had to stay in control. She had to.

~~~~~~~~~

With childlike curiousity, Jarod looked eagerly into the candy shop window. The scent of fudge was like a magnet, and his brown eyes reflected the colorful display of lollipops and hard candy. At first, not even the promise of prowling the counters was enough to tear Jarod away the window. Then, he spotted the bin of PEZ dispensers...

That night, Jarod lay on his bed, eagerly sampling the different sugary treats he'd bought at the candy store. The TV was on, now tuned into the news. The reporter was standing outside an abandoned warehouse, filling viewers in on what had occurred earlier that day.

"...no one has step forward, Dr. Hillen claims he was forced into his confession, which was recorded and sent to the police. As we mentioned earlier, the warehouse where Dr. Hillen had allegedly killed his partner from the medical center, is the building behind us. Dr. Aheim, who found out about the falsified birth records being stored here, left behind a wife and two young children. It's unlikely Dr. Hillen will have the option of bail..." A proud grin spread across Jarod's face, and he triumphantly bit off half of a Twinkie. He gave one last look to the red notebook on the bedside table, then reached for the remote control. "Channel surfing," as he had learned to term it, had become one of Jarod's favorite activities. It never ceased to amaze him the number of different shows one could find on any given night.

"And now, back to our "I Love Lucy" marathon." With a feeling of satisfaction, Jarod relaxed, ready for a night of junk food and red-headed antics.

~~~~~~~~

Miss Parker glanced to the grandfather clock in her living room, and glared at the time. It was nearly one o'clock, and she still couldn't bring herself to go up to bed, despite how weary she was. The thought of sleeping... the dreams, nightmares really, she knew would come... grimacing, Parker reached for the silver cigarette case always within reach. She lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag, allowing the the calming effect of the nicotine to settle her nerves. After a few more inhales, she smashed the remains into an ashtray, and reluctantly got up from the couch. Miss Parker walked to her room, grateful for the numbness that came with sleepiness. At this point, the less she thought, the better.

The empty peace of mind didn't last long. The dream came, like it did every night.

She was a young again, and in the Centre. Her ears stung from the loud gunshot. Mama was dead.. .there was blood, she was screaming, and were men pulling her away. She could hear Jarod somewhere, yelling at someone to let him go... Daddy's voice was echoing, coming down on her like a death sentence, "It's time for my angel to shine."...Flashes of memories...

Tonight, however, the nightmare didn't end there.

Parker stood in the surgical room, now so hollow without the doctors and noise and chaos. The little girl was there, her face no longer flushed with fever. She was crying, though, and looking to Parker for help...then silence, suddenly pierced by the sound of a heart monitor flatlining.

She woke up with a start. The sheets were twisted around her legs, and her body was covered in a cold sweat. Throwing back the covers, Miss Parker went to her closet, taking out the first outfit her hand came upon.

Ten minutes later, at three in the morning, Parker was on the road, driving to the Centre

~~~~~~~~~

There was no sign of the girl. Miss Parker had looked through a dozen rooms, but each was as empty of life as the last. What was she doing here at this time of night?

"I'm getting as nuts as Jarod," she muttered. Nonetheless, she continued down the hall, the clicking of her heels echoing down the hall. Soon, her eyes caught a small sliver of light outside of a closed door up ahead to her left. Parker sped up but, reaching the door, she hesitated. Once she walked through that door, Parker knew she would become involved in whatever new terror the Centre had dreamed up. Holding her breath, she turned the knob, pushed open the door and walked inside.

The room was lighted by a small lamp, placed next to the hospital bed. A small form was visible under the blanket. The only sound was the periodic beeping of the monitor next to the bed. Parker stood next to the bed for a moment, trying to fight her conscience. Finally, she slowly and carefully pulled back the blanket a few inches, revealing the rest of a face Parker recognized instantly.

A small moan escaped the child's lips as her sleep was disturbed. Blonde bangs were still pasted to her forehead and her lips were chapped, but her face had settled from red to a light pink. Parker was relieved to see that the girl was better, if only a little. She felt unsure of what to do, but anything seemed better than just standing there, so she knelt down beside the bed. It turned out to be a difficult balancing task with her heels, so Parker impatiently slipped off the shoes. For a moment, she just watched the girl sleep, then reached for the tiny hand with a looked of uncertainty. The small hand was warm to the touch and locked in a tight fist. Miss Parker felt tears rising in her eyes again, but forced them back. This wasn't the time to lose control.

The girl slowly opened her eyes. A pretty lady was next to her. Her hand felt soft and cool. The girl managed a small smile. Miss Parker's eyes met the child's, and she smiled back.

"Hi," Miss Parker whispered. The girl didn't respond, but Parker hadn't expected her to. As sick as this poor girl was, even waking up seemed miraculous.









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