The moment the car screeched to a halt, Cassie, Kaden, Bella and Steve, all four of them, unlatched their seatbelts and jumped out. They raced into the emergency department. They skidded to a halt at the reception desk, panting hard.

"Ella Mckade!" Cassie shouted. "Where is she?"

The woman blinked at her, not amused by her tone,but Cassie couldn't care less. "Where is she?"

"Mom." Will called from the stairwell. They all whipped around and ran to her.

"What's going on?"

"Is she okay?"

"What happened?"

"What did the doctor say?"

"Can we see her?"

They fired questions at Will,who looked a bit shaken,but was trying his best to hide it.

"She's in the ICU."

Cassie felt the blood drain from her face in horror. "ICU?! " That was bad- beyond bad- people died in the ICU.

"Yeah. They're taking care of her in the Intensive care." He lied through his teeth.

Cassie felt her legs give out.

"Whoa!" Kaden caught her. "Steady Cassie, she'll be fine."

Cassie finally found her strength and ripped herself away from Kaden's arms. She sprinted up the stairs, vaguely aware of the rest of the family following her and cling her name. She didn't stop until she burst into the room.

Her steps faltered at the sights of the doctors and nurses moving in a flurry of activities. One nurse was pulling a white sheet over Ella's pale and still body. Her voice darted to the heart monitor where flat lines ran across the screen.

She knew what happened then.

"No!" Cassie cried as she ran forward, shoving the nurse out of the way. She grabbed Ella's cold hand in hers and began to pepper her pale face with kisses.

"Ella,please. Don't go." She sobbed. "You still have to take care of Aggy and Tina. What about me? Are you going to leave me alone? William too. He loves you El. Please wake up."

"Mrs. Mckade." A doctor grabbed her arm but withdrew when her elbow hit him in his gut.

"Ella!" Cassie grabbed her face and tried to blow air into her pale lips. Then kissed her closed eyelids. "Ella? Ella,please! Don't die. Don't leave me like Beatrice did! I would never be able to go on without you."

Kaden subtly wiped his own eyes as he stepped up to his wife. "Baby, come let the doctors do their job."

"No, Kade. She's not dead. She's not." Cassie went to meet William who was also crying. "She's not dead,right? It's- it's just a prank. S-she's alive,right?" Then she went to meet Arabella. "Mother. . . mother! She's okay,right? Father,she's alive. This is all a dream. A dream. And I w-will wake up and see that Ella's fine. She's- she's not dead."

"Oh,dear." Arabella sobbed. "Cassie, Ella's gone."

"No!" She ran back to Ella's side. "El. Wake up! Don't do this,please. I'll die if you do. Do you hear me?!"

Suddenly, loud beep sounds filled the room,startling everyone present. They were pushed backwards forcefully as a group of doctors and nurses rushed around Ella's bed. Cassie fought against Kaden's hold as she was being pushed towards the door.

"Ella! Please, Ella!" She felt strong hands encircle her waist and drag her backwards. Cassie kicked and yelled,trying to get free.

"Cass!" Kaden yelled in her ears. "We've got to get out of the way!"

"No, Ella. . ." She fell backwards through the doorway, Kaden only just managing to keep her upright. Cassie stopped fighting and stared at the bed. The nurses were talking and unrolling wires. Cassie's vision blurred.

"Don't you dare fucking leave me. . ." She whispered and then broke down in Kaden's arms.

Through the window, a nurse started to administer medication into the IV another nurse had set up. Another nurse was cut through Ella's hospital gown as a doctor in blue scrubs placed two paddles on her mocha skin of her chest.

"Charging to two hundred! . . .Ready! . . . Clear!" A popping sound was accompanied by a sickening crunch as Ella's back arched off the bed. But the alarm kept ringing. The doctor ordered another shot of adrenaline.

"Charging! . . . Clear!" Ella's back arched again, but the alarm kept ringing.

"Charging! Clear!" The alarm continued. The doctor let out a frustrated sigh. "Increase the adrenaline shot to two hundred and fifty."

"Charging two hundred joules." One nurse called to the doctor. "Clear!"

"Ready to shock, clear!" Ella's back arched again but the beeping continued mockingly. "Increase it by one measure. Charging, clear!" Ella's back arched again.

"Increasing the adrenaline." A nurse called.

"Come on, Ella." Cassie begged. "Please, fight for your life! Don't do this!"

One of the attendants was performing chest compressions. The doctor readied the paddle again.

"Charging again!... Clear!" Ella's back arched  again but the beeping refused to stop.

"We're at maximum dosage." the nurse advised. The doctor nodded grimly and readied the paddles once more. "Charging!. . . Clear! " Ella's back arched again.

Come on. Come on. Come on. William chanted, trembling from head to toe.

The doctor put the paddles down and pulled out a light own and stethoscope. After a few minutes of listening to Ella's chest and flashing the light in her eyes, the doctor said, "Change the time of death. I'm calling another time of death of-"

"No!" William shrieked. "No! One more time,please! Just one more time. Please! He rushed forward and grabbed the doctor's coat pleadingly. "Please just one more time."

"I can't-" He started to say.

"Please quickly. Just one more time. I beg you please!"

"She's still showing a low tachycardia rhythm. " The nurse murmured. "Came back to shocks ago."

The doctor looked torn.

"Please," William sobbed. "Please one more try."

"I could loose my job..."

"I won't tell!"

The other doctors, attendants and nurse shook their heads.

The doctor sighed as he raised the paddles. "Charging two hundred Joules." The machine whirred and William scrambled backwards. "Ready to shock. Clear!" Ella's back arched again.

All eyes flew to the heart monitor. Come on. Come on. William pleaded. He couldn't see the green lines,since his eyes were blurred too much. But he could hear the alarm beep.

"No!" Cassie whispered in a broken voice behind him.

Seconds dragged into minutes yet nothing changed. The attendants looked down at their feet.

"No!" William screamed.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "I'm calling time of death at three forty-five pm. Wrap up the body."

"Yes,doctor." The nurse went to remove the IV needle from her wrist.

"Mr. Mckade. I'm sorry. We did-"

Blip!

Everyone froze. William remained silent.

Blip!

Very slowly, as if controlled by invisible hands, all heads turned towards the heart monitor.

Blip!

Six mouths dropped open as the green line rose in a bumpy sign and fell again. That was impossible, or was it? William thought. Ella's heart didn't just start on it's own again. Could it? He had to be hallucinating . . . Was desperate to think logically.
He knew he was shaking and crying,but he didn't care. He just stared hard at the heart monitor, moving closer, daring it to bleep again.

Blip!

"No fucking way!" The doctor finally breathed as William went weak in the knees- like someone had just pulled him back from jumping off a bridge.

The attendants turned to gape at the doctor, but he ignored them, scrambling around the bed to grab the monitor. He stared at it hard, his nose nearly squished against the screen.

"That's not possible." He said again shaking his head vehemently.

Blip!

"Patient has resumed normal sinus rhythm." The nurse announced unnecessarily.

"That's not possible," The doctor said again. "It's not medically possible. It has to be a joke!"

William wanted to say something along the lines of, "Shut the fuck up! It's a freaking miracle!" Instead, what came out was a choking sound, which could have been a laugh , a cry, or even a scream.

Next thing he knew, his vision was going dark.

°     °     °

Kaden let out a breath through his lips as he made his way to the car in the parking lot. The nanny had called to tell him that Canishia was running temperature and was crying inconsolably, which seemed to trigger the younger children.

All in all it was a complete disaster.

He was still a bit weak in the knees after what Ella put them through. Cassie refused to leave Ella's bedside afraid that she would flat line again if she left, while their parents had gone to check on the still unconscious William. Poor guy had to see his wife die twice in one day. It was a lot to take in.

He almost got to his car when two men fell in step with him, one on each side. "Mr. Mckade?"

"Yes?"

They showed him their FBI badges. "We'd like to ask a few questions."

"Now?" He asked incredulously. "In case you didn't know, my sister in-law barely escaped from death's grip and my family is still vulnerable."

"We know," one said. "We're sorry about that. Even though this is an inconvenient time, Mr. Mckade, we'd still like to talk to you."

"Since you've got me surrounded, what choice do I have? But do you mind if we move a little further away from the middle of the parking lot?"

"Not at all."

When they reached his car, he rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "You have already arrested Dr. Stevenson and Grace Kelly. And you have the hospital report."

"That's not why we are here." One of the agents said.

"No?" He said taken aback and puzzled. "Then what's this about?"

"Ansela Mckade."

"What? What did my sister do?"

"For starters, where is she?"

"I don't know. The last time I spoke with her, she was in West Mercer, why?"

"She's wanted for questioning about the death of one Mrs. Meredith Sheldon and a dog named brown eyes."

"What?!" Kaden glared at them. "Annie would never hurt a fly."

"We aren't sure if she's the one or nor, but the fact that her whereabouts is unknown is suspicious enough." Agent one said. "And the neighbours claimed to have seen Ms. Mckade with the deceased few times last week."

Kaden felt dizzy. "I don't know where my sister is. But what I do know is that she'll never kill anyone."

Agent two exchange glances with Agent one. "Fine. But if you get in contact with her don't hesitate to let us know."

"I will."

They thanked him before heading towards their sedan. They'd barely made it to the sedan when a car, a black Mercedes, pealed down the parking lot towards him.

Kaden saw the person in the passenger seat hold his hand out the window, and caught a quick flash of silver and ducked the same time a loud boom went off.

The bullet grazed his arm and then echoes of gunshots rang out through the parking lot.  It was then realization dawned on him. Ella's almost-death. Mrs. Sheldon and the the dog's death. The police looking for Annie. . . Everything that happened so far wasn't a coincidence.

No.

Someone was out to destroy their family.