Chapter Eleven, Part B

Casteel saw to it that Jack was safely ensconced in her room, before she talked to the Doctor in charge, Haspid.

"Will she live?" she asked directly.

"Most certainly, unless of course she gets an infection. But we have state-of-the-art equipment here, and the chances of her coming into contact with any contaminants are slim. The bio-filters are top of the line. The last thing we need in a facility like this is a rampant virus or infection killing our patients." Doctor Haspid took her arm and led her away from Jack's bed.

"You need not worry about her dying. It won't happen under my care. You did the right thing bringing her here." He squeezed her arm gently, "now, how are you?"

Casteel looked up at the doctor, surprised by his concern, "I-I'm fine. Thank-you," it wasn't often that people actually asked about her own health. She was a Merc and she was supposed to be invincible.

Doctor Haspid didn't seem to be convinced. He moved his hand slowly to her jaw, not wanting to provoke her into hitting him. He poked at the dark bruise lightly forming there and she flinched, "it could be broken," he said, turning her head and examining her jaw line. "An x-ray will determine that, were you injured else where?"

"No," she said, but then reconsidered, she didn't want anything hampering her in the next few days. "Well nothing that hurts like my jaw does. But I did get clobbered in the stomach-"

"Well, I think that we should get you checked out then, we have a-" he was stopped by the sound of a beeper, Casteel's.

She sighed at what she saw and put her beeper back in her pocket. "Well, Doctor, I'll have to get that check-up another time. I've got somewhere to be."

"You won't forget, will you? Your injuries could be serious."

"I won't forget. I'll come back and you can examine me until you're blue in the face, but right now, duty calls." She left him standing in the hall scratching his head., "Merc's. Always put their health last and people wonder why a lot of them end up in places like this," he said, dumbfounded, before he too turned and walked away..

It was an hour after Riddick had stabbed the boy guard that Casteel turned up. Riddick watched as she emerged from a taxi and trotted up the steps of the hospital. She was let in immediately.

*It won't be long now,* he thought smugly.

Casteel learned a lot in her five minutes talking with the Doctor's and security at Falstone. It seemed Riddick had decided to become pro-active. He'd stabbed the guard that she had caught sleeping earlier and it didn't please her one bit. It seemed that he wanted to force a confrontation. She was sure too that the stabbing was also a warning - he meant business. Casteel just wished she knew what his business was.

When Casteel walked out of the hospital twenty minutes later and jumped into a taxi, Riddick was prepared. He'd hot-wired a vehicle from the hospital car park and he was now parked across the street, the engine idling sweetly. As the taxi pulled out onto the road, Riddick moved to follow. The taxi weaved skilfully through the building traffic and despite his superior dexterity, Riddick had a hard time keeping up with out 'keeping up'. But eventually after many back tracks and sudden turns, the taxi stopped outside of a hotel opposite the Northvilla.

He watched as Casteel paid the cabbie and entered the hotel. He got out of the car right there in the middle of traffic and jogged up the steps of the hotel, ignoring the obscenities being shouted at him and the many blaring horns. He saw her through the closing elevator doors and waited patiently for the floor indicator to tell him what floor she had gotten off on. 12. He took the stairs two be two and headed up. His senses would tell him just what floor she was on.

He passed the door to level twelve, his nostrils flaring. She had taken the stairs like he had thought. Only he had expected her to go down and not up. He followed the trail up the stairs, passing 13, 14 and 15.

On level 16, he hit pay dirt. She had definitely come through this door.