THE REASON
By Missy
(missy@lexicon.net)
The characters that you recognise from ER are the property of Michael Crichton, Warner Bros,
Constant Productions and Amblin Television and to the actors who so marvellously portray
them. Many thanks must go to my editors Clotho and Carolyn Delaney for their tireless and
marvellous editing. Season 6 spoilers.
Spoilers up to The Peace of Wild Things or thereabouts. This story is rated R due to its content.
It contains rather disturbing descriptions and is probably best read during daylight hours. My
editors have informed me that it is rather chilling, creepy and does evoke some of those thoughts
about things that go bump in the night and one of my editors has knicknamed it "The
VeryScaryFic".
From now on in, events will jump to being covered every few days but you can forget mainly
what has occurred in the show as I'm only dealing with the events of this story. Previous parts
and other stories may be found at: http://www.geocities.com/missyliannem
Part 11A/14
{November 17, 2000}
Rain danced against the window, droplets of water running in rivulets down the clear glass to
pool against the bottom on the window pane. Kerry leaned against the edge of the living room
window, a glass of ice water in her hand, using the coolness emanating from the double glaze window
to cool her still overheated body. She listlessly watched pedestrians scurrying down the street
underneath multi-coloured umbrellas in the late afternoon downfall.
It had been four days since she had been outside in the cold, late Fall air. Four days since
Elizabeth Corday had ordered her home after she had finally collapsed at work under the strain of the
flu. From what Carter had mentioned, her illness had been at the beginning of what was looking to be
an epidemic striking the city.
While Kerry knew what had been the real cause of her initial bout of nausea, the virus had been
lurking in the background and over the next two days had reared its head and taken hold. Her lack of
sleep and diminished appetite since her attack had left Kerry without her usual defences to fight the
rapid onslaught of the infection.
Today was the first time that she had been able to stand without dizziness assailing her.
Tiredness still hit her in waves. Using her crutch to pull herself up straight, Kerry was about to head
back to the comfort of the duvet when something caught her eye outside. It was a familiar shape, an
unwanted memory.
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, her hand coming to rest against her mouth in
fear. She looked away from the figure and then back again with intense scrutiny, ensuring that she
wasn't hallucinating his presence. The nearby street light provided enough illumination to confirm her
fears. Kerry wished that it was just the virus plundering her body, playing havoc with her psyche. But
when she looked again, *he* was still there, unmoving in the cold rain.
She froze as memories of that night flashed through her mind, the terror that had gripped her
when he had intruded into her life. He had divested her of any sense of privacy, leaving her feeling
detached and secluded, a prisoner within her own home. There was an annoying whimpering noise in
the room and Kerry turned around, expecting him to be there even though the house was locked up
securely.
Kerry realised that the sound was coming from her own throat. Looking back outside, she
found that he was still standing there, watching. There was no fear or worry in his demeanour as he
stood comfortably watching her house.
She clenched her jaw tightly, her teeth aching under the tight pressure. Anger surged through
her, restoring some energy into her lethargic body. She was enraged by his confidence, the way he
appeared to feel it was his right to stand there, observing her every move. Heading across to the
telephone, she dialed quickly, unconsciously keeping an eye on her living room door and listening for
any sound of an attempted break-in.
"Can I speak with Officer Jack Daniels?"
"Officer Daniels is on patrol at the moment. You can leave him a message," the sweet-voiced
receptionist offered helpfully.
"It's Dr. Kerry Weaver. He investigated a break-in a couple of weeks ago at my house. The
intruder is here again." Her voice wavered as she finished.
"Is he inside?" Kerry could almost hear the woman sit up and pay attention to her call, the
voice losing it's sugary-sweetness and becoming business-like.
"No. Outside." Kerry cursed the fact that her phone was not cordless so that she could keep
an eye on the man. "He's just standing there watching my house. Please, get someone to come and
arrest him," she begged.
"We'll have a unit out to you right away. What's your address?"
Kerry rattled off her address, praying that they would get there quickly. She put the phone
back down tentatively, not wanting to break her contact with the outside world. The thought of it just
being her and him made her shudder.
Moving back to the living room window, she watched him as he stood there. He hadn't moved
at all, his eyes still focussed on her townhouse. All of a sudden she knew he knew she was watching
him. She pulled back involuntarily as she watched him and caught the leer of enjoyment that flashed
across his face. He was enjoying the fear that he was sending through her. Kerry pulled the drapes
closed, cutting herself off from his invasive gaze.
As she sealed herself off from the outside world, she had the urge to turn on both the television
and stereo to escape the noises that were amplified in the silence. The trickle of the water down her
windows, the scrapes of the tree branches against her building and the thud of feet on the concrete
pavement.
Startled, she opened the curtains once again. A trio of boys ran together through the rain, their
feet beating down heavily on the wet pavement. Relief flooded through her as she caught sight of her
intruder still motionless beneath the tree. It was better that she could see him and face him down with
the relative safety of her home as a barrier between them. Shutting him out only served to intensify her
fear.
Pacing back and forth across the window, she wondered what was taking the police so long.
Glancing down at her watch, she noted that it was already more than five minutes since she had made
her call. She looked back at the man as he stood there and a look of anger flashed across his face. He
seemed to grow larger before her eyes, pulling himself upright and his shoulders back. The breadth of
his shoulders reminded her of the wrestler she had treated six months ago. However, the demeanour of
the intruder was an exact opposite of the good-natured Mr. Kornberg. There was no doubt in her
mind that this person would never go out of his way to help others; he did what he did to serve his own
needs without thought of how it affected anyone else.
She finally heard the rise and fall of the police sirens. Their pitched wail filled the street long
before the car turned the corner. Kerry watched her intruder look left and right, unsure of which way
to run. He hesitated before taking off down the street, giving a long look at Kerry's townhouse. She
could not see the expression in his eyes, but she imagined the sheer hatred filling them. It was a hatred
that was fully reciprocated. Kerry could feel the tension building inside her as the sirens droned on and
on without any sign of a patrol car. It frightened her that he was going to get away again, to continue to
haunt her day and night.
As the intruder ran away, his large feet hit the ground heavily, water splashing up and outwards,
the water catching the bottoms of his black sweat pants. His gait was ungainly in the heavy rain, his
steps awkward as he sought a firm purchase on the wet ground. The intruder tried to stop and turn, his
dark runners slipping on the icy ground when he found that he was running in the direction that the
police cars were coming from. His large body hit the pavement heavily. Scrambling to his feet again,
he was about to take off up the street when two police cars turned the corner, their lights flashing and
sirens blaring. He froze in position, the sight of the vehicles ceasing all function and he was like a deer
caught in the lights of an oncoming vehicle; certain capture was coming and he gave no fight to free
himself from the danger.
Kerry watched as the police cars pulled to a halt haphazardly. Car doors opened wide and
officers jumped out, pulling out their guns and setting him in their sights. One officer called out clearly to
the intruder to freeze and put his hands above his head. In the midst of the flashing lights and rain,
Kerry watched as the man raised his hands in the air.
She couldn't make out what else was being called out as the wind stole away their words. But
she saw his response to the instructions obviously being given. Her intruder went down on one knee
and then the other, keeping his hands behind his head, before he lay face first on the cold pavement, his
hands spreadeagled as three officers kept their guns trained on him as another patted him down for any
hidden weapons.
As they handcuffed him and put him in the patrol car, Kerry let out a sigh of relief. It felt like an
oppressive cloud of darkness had been removed. She hadn't realised that she had been breathing
shallowly during the whole episode, the worry that *he* would get away again frightening her.
Kerry closed the drapes, cutting off the flash of red and blue lights illuminating the street. It was
a sealing of another chapter in her life; the removal of the beast who had made the last few weeks a
living hell.
End Part 11A/14