AN: Well, here goes my first attempt a multi-chapter story. Try to bear with me and we'll see where this goes, eh? Also, this had very little planning in advance so I have no idea where exactly it's going to end up. A nice blank slate. Now for the disclaimer! I do not own the Patriot, or the characters... sadly... but I have twisted this little plot just for me and anyone who wants to read it. If there are any similarities between this story and any other, it was not intentional and I'm sorry. Now go ahead and read!!
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Friday night had come quickly, and with it the same routine that had been carried out almost every Friday night since I had my thirteenth birthday party. A pizza was ordered and an On Demand movie was rented. Sara, the closest of my friends, came over at the designated time and the fun began.
The doorbell rang as I dropped the paper plates onto the Dominos box, and I didn't need to look at the clock to know that it was 8 o'clock sharp. Sara never showed any earlier and she never showed any later. I headed to the door and twisted the broken knob, adding an extra jerk for good measure. The door opened with its usual creaking and I was greeted with an exhausted looking nineteen year old red-head. Her arms were loaded with buckets of paintbrushes, different jars of paints and dozens of scrolls and canvases.
"Fix that damn door sometime, I didn't think I was going to make it." Sara grunted as she shuffled past me and fell to her knees just inside the small apartment. She released her load, setting everything carefully into little piles as not to crush anything.
"You couldn't leave all that in your car?" I asked raising an eyebrow as I watched her, shutting the door.
"Are you insane?!" She instantly barked at me. "This is hours, I repeat hours of work! Not to mention these are professional grade brushes that cost me several pay checks! I'm not going to risk them being stolen!"
I had to press my hand firmly over my mouth to prevent the hysterical laughter that wanted so badly to burst out. Her reaction reminded me of an animal protecting its young. Hostile to say the least.
"Oh yes," I finally answered. "I can see why you'd be worried. I know how dangerous it is to leave paintbrushes out and unprotected. They're as valuable as flat screen TVs and Mercedes.." I tried to sound as serious as possible. She turned around and glared daggers at me.
"You don't understand, Amy. Just pretend that my art supplies are your medical tools. Can you see the importance they hold?" She explained, softening her tone as she sat back on her heels and stared lovingly over her equipment.
I sighed and walked to stand beside her, looking down at the organized clutter. "Yes, I can understand. Now can we please get started on the movie? I really want to see that Lindsay Lohan flick. The one where she has the twin sister or something."
Sara looked up at me and grimaced. "The Parent Trap? Didn't that come out when we were like... in the middle of birth?"
I rolled my eyes and shoved my hands into my sweater pockets. "No, loser. The one that's supposed to be scary. She has like a twin or an identity crisis and she thinks she's a stripper. It's called... uhm... I Know Who Killed Me. I think that's it."
Realization dawned on her features and she smiled. "Oh! I know what you're talking about. Is the pizza here?"
"Can't you smell it?" I asked, looking in the direction of the coffee table that held the heavenly food.
"Excellent, help me up." She extended her arms and bent her knees.
"You really that lazy?" I asked, grabbing her hands and pulling her from the floor.
"No, I'm weak from trudging up those damned stairs with that ton in my arms. I feel faint and I need to eat."
There was a rather large set of stairs outside my house because of it's position on a hill. I grinned as I strutted over to the couch and flopped down on the middle cushion. "I still think you're lazy."
She dropped like a brick onto the love seat and stuck out her tongue. "I think you need to shut up. Start the movie." She leaned over and grabbed the box of pizza, placing it on her lap. I knew that I wouldn't be getting any.
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The movie ended about an hour and a half later and we stared at the credits, giving our opinions.
"That was... interesting. I like her better as a red-head, though." Sara yawned as she stood and stretched out her arms. I wondered if her own hair color left her biased. Crumbs fell from her bunched up sweat pants and I groaned, stretching out my legs as I leaned over the arm of the couch.
"You're going to vacuum my carpet!" I complained. "You get crap everywhere. Like a twister... only messier."
She stared at me for a heartbeat and then ran her hand over her thigh in a swift, quick motion, purposely knocking the rest of the crumbs onto my floor.
"Whore." I sighed, yawning as well as I dropped my feet to ground and stood up.
"You know it. I'm gonna head home now. I want to get there before the rush." She slipped her feet into her flip-flops and adjusted her t-shirt as she trudged to the door. "Be a good friend and help me get all this back to my car."
I followed closely behind her and zipped my sweater. "What rush is there at 10 o'clock?"
"You know.. Cars and stuff. Whatever. Chances are if there's an old person parade I'll get behind them so let's goooo." She bent down and picked up the buckets, along with a basket of jars. I grabbed all the paper and canvas and together we struggled to open the door.
A few minutes later I shut the same stupid door behind me and looked out the window as the ancient Cavalier pulled away from the curb. My apartment was so old it didn't even have a parking lot. I kicked off my shoes and dragged myself to the TV, popping in my Blades of Glory DVD. I was tired and that was just the thing to help me into a good night's sleep. Falling back onto the couch, I pulled the quilt from the back and draped it over me, using the DVD remote to skip to the first scene.
By the time Chazz was getting stoned with the woodland fairies I could hear heavy raindrops pounding into the roof. As Sara and I were loading her things into her car, it had begun to sprinkle, a storm clearly defined in the clouds. Not a bit of the moon was visible and the wind was almost violent. Sara had nearly hyperventilated as she crammed her work to safety and again I had to deny myself the opportunity to laugh. Really, I looked forward to a good storm. It hadn't rained in nearly a month and the grass wasn't looking too good. By the time Chazz and Jimmy were in jail, the storm had become violent and I had fallen asleep.
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I was suddenly awake, and I didn't even realize it until I heard the loudest crack of thunder that I had ever heard in my eighteen years of life. The room was pitch black, and not even the cable box held light. It was obvious that the power had gone out sometime earlier and I jerked slightly as a bright blue-ish light filled the apartment like the flash of a camera. Again, there was a booming crack of thunder and I had to force my heart to slow down. I had always found thunderstorms beautiful but ones like tonight also scared me. I fell onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, trying to find a happy place of sorts in my mind that would help me back to sleep.
The thunder only got louder and the lightning only got brighter and I realized that I had never witnessed a storm that intense. The thought wasn't comforting. I wondered whether or not if I should check the TV for any tornado alerts but when I remembered that the power was out, I was forced to stay where I was. It took nearly twenty minutes but I finally managed to fall back to sleep, though it was anything but peaceful.
The next time I opened my eyes, a blinding light was directly aimed at my pupils. I hissed and rolled over, pushing the tips of my fingers to my eyelids as the pain faded away.
"Dammit.." I groaned, sitting up. I slowly and carefully re-opened my eyes and took a look around the room. Everything was exactly the same as it had been the day before. I guessed that there hadn't been a tornado. I stretched my arms above my head and looked to the cable box, reading the time. It was almost 7 o'clock. Almost. I yawned and debated shutting the blinds and going back to bed but a part of me told me to stay awake.
I reluctantly stood up and picked up the empty pizza box and paper plates, carrying them to the kitchen garbage. After I had finished that task, I turned on the radio and tidied up the rest of the livingroom, folding the quilt and fixing the couch pillows. After I vacuumed Sara's dinner mess I headed to my room, picking out some clean clothes. I took a hasty shower and dressed, pulling my hair into a small pony tail. As I was preparing to go grocery shopping, my phone rang.
I walked over to the cordless and lifted the black plastic phone from the receiver, pushing it to my ear.
"Hello, Amy speaking." I didn't have even a second to prepare as a high pitched scream rang through the line. I jerked the phone away and winced on reflex. "Sara, what's wrong? Stop screaming." The yelling was instantly substituted with quick and indiscernible speaking. I was used to Sara's episodes but this one had me worried. "Sara, hun, you have to slow down. I can't understand you."
There was a sudden pause and everything went silent. I heard her take a deep breath and as calmly as she could force, she spoke again. "Get out here, now. I need your help." Then there was a series of odd breathing sounds and squeaks.
"Okay, fine. Where are you? Are you hurt?" I asked, running to the door and stepping into my shoes.
"No. I'm fine. For now I'm fine but I may not be soon." She said before pausing and taking a few deep breaths.
"Where are you?" I asked again, plucking my keys from the wall hook.
"I'm outside your apartment." She said completely calm. I was caught off guard and I pulled back the curtain, looking outside. Sure enough, she was parked across the street at the curb.
"I'll be right there." I clicked off the phone and dropped it before struggling with the door. Once outside, I hustled down the stairs to the sidewalk. When the traffic cleared, I crossed the street and ran to the little gray Cavalier.
When I reached her, Sara was flat against her steering wheel, knuckles as white as her face. She quickly rolled down the window and looked up at me as though she was going to throw up.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I asked, opening her door. I froze at the sight of red smeared across her shirt and shorts. "Tell me that's paint!"
Her knees were shaking violently and she shook her head. "N-no. I think I killed someone!"
I looked over her, alarmed. "You what?!"
"I didn't mean to! I saw a man leaning against my car and I thought that he wanted to steal my brushes, you know I left them inside because of the rain, so I grabbed my broom and ran out, yelling at him. Then I hit him with the handle and he fell to the ground. Then he didn't move, so I rolled him over and he was passed out and bleeding! I didn't mean to kill him! I'm going to jail!!" She began to bawl hysterically and I wondered how she had the breath.
I grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly. "Where is he?" I asked as softly as I could manage.
"The back seat." She cried, burying her face in her hands. I looked over her shoulder, hoping above all hopes that she was wrong. I could settle for delusional, but not for murderer. Instead, I saw a pair of legs.
I screamed and jerked back, hitting my head on the top of the door frame. She began to scream too and I covered my mouth, shutting my eyes and trying to calm my heart before we both had panic attacks.
I walked around to the other side of the car and opened the passenger side door, pushing the seat forward to get access to the back seat. Even though I had seen his legs, it was still shocking to see the rest of him. I could see where he was bleeding and I slowly leaned forward, pressing shaking fingers to the side of his throat. I nearly cried when I felt a pulse.
"Sara.." I said above the sound of her sobs. When she didn't stop I cleared my throat. "Sara! He's not dead. You didn't kill him.." It felt relieving to even hear myself say it. She began to cry louder and I turned around, slapping her between the front seats. "Calm down, take deep breaths. We need to get him to a hospital." I instructed, crawling back out of the car and pushing the seat back to it's original position. I sat down and shut the door.
"The..the hospital? Can't you fix him? Like.. You're a doctor basically!" She tried to persuade me, twisting her shirt in her fingers nervously.
"What? No I can't fix him! He's lost a lot of blood and he needs medical attention, now. So drive!" I ended in a yell when she made no move to even start the car.
"Fine!" She yelled back, jamming her keys into the ignition with shaky fingers. The car was started and she pulled away from the curb without even checking for oncoming traffic.
She drove like a mad woman and I was wondering if we would all three need to see a doctor when we finally got there. We were both silent for most of the drive, both afraid of what would happen. Would he die? Would Sara be arrested? When the thought flashed through my mind I wondered whether or not if I should have driven. Who knew if she would bail at the last minute and drive to Mexico instead?
"Amy... Is he breathing?" She asked, finally breaking the silence. I waited several seconds before turning around in my seat to check. I was scared to look. I was afraid I would have to say no.
I held my fingers out and closed my eyes when I felt the side of his neck, breathing a sigh of relief when I felt a pulse. It was weak, but it was still there. Opening my eyes, I slowly moved my gaze upward, taking in his face for the first time. He had lovely features, with amazing bone structure and a strong nose and chin. It was terrible to see such a face covered with such ghostly skin. I moved my hand up and rested my fingers under his nose until I felt a light breeze.
"Well?" Sara asked worriedly, turning slightly in her seat.
"Yes. He's breathing. But he really doesn't look good at all..." I bit my lip and looked down at the source of the blood. There was a dark circle in the bottom of his chest. It was still bleeding and I was concerned that he would bleed to death. I reached out and put pressure to the spot, grimacing when the blood covered my fingers.
Shortly after our check for life, the large hospital came into view. We both gave a relieved sigh and there was a break in the tension. Sara turned onto the Emergency Room lane and pulled up behind a parked ambulance. She stomped down on the break and there was a loud screech, catching the attention of several people. She immediately jumped from the car, waving her arms.
"We need some help!" She yelled to one of the staff members.
I pushed open my door and shoved the seat forward, leaning over the man again to check his pulse. It was even weaker than before and I reached up, feeling for the faint breath. It was there, but I wasn't sure how much longer it would be. After only a few seconds more staff appeared behind me, pulling a stretcher with them. I stepped aside and Sara joined me, leaning her head against the back of my shoulder as we watched the workers carefully pull the man from her car. One of the men turned to us, looking calm and professional.
"What happened?" Was his simple question that neither of us wanted to answer.
"I hit him." Sara answered in a shaky voice. "I hit him with a broom handle because I thought he was going to steal my... car..." She made only a minor change to her story when she realized how ridiculous she would sound fearing for her paint brushes.
"You hit him with a broom handle? That's what put him in this condition?" He asked, eyeing us as though we were crazy.
"Well..." Sara mumbled, wondering why he didn't believe her. "He did fall when I hit him... I guess he hit something." She bit her lip and crossed her arms. We both watched as the man was removed and set carefully on the stretcher. For the first time I took in his full appearance. He was dressed in some kind of red uniform with green trim, boots and some kind of sword sheath at his side. Who the hell was he?
Deciding not to argue it, the staff man moved to different questions. "What's his name? Is he allergic to any kinds of medicine?"
Sara and I looked at each other, shaking our heads. "We don't know his name. We've never even seen him before. I thought he was trying to break into my car!"
"Well sometimes angry spouses or ex-partners may steal personal property to get back at the other person-" the man started to explain.
"He's not my spouse! I hit him with a broom!!" Sara yelled, invoking several stares from the smokers lingering nearby.
I reached over, rubbing her back lightly and whispering softly. "He has to ask, Sara, try to calm down." I could tell that she was freaking out from the mix of fear and anxiety.
The man in the red was wheeled into the hospital, the staff already taking care of him. After a few more questions, Sara and I decided that we wouldn't be able to stop thinking about him even if we tried so we hung out in the waiting room to see what happened. After about 25 minutes of waiting in silence, a thought played in my mind. Sara thought he was going to steal her brushes, so she ran out and hit him with a broom. A broom. I didn't realize I was smiling until Sara nudged me.
"What's so funny?" She asked, eyeing me curiously.
"Nothing." I answered. "It's just... you... you hit him with a broom." I felt the urge to laugh but I didn't want to upset her. "Is it possible to hurt someone with a broom?" For the first time I had thought clearly enough to realize that she obviously wasn't what had hurt him.
She stared straight ahead for several seconds, almost as if replaying the event in her mind. Suddenly her lips twitched up and I felt it was okay to let out a small giggle. The giggle turned into a light chuckle and joined with Sara's, turned into a large, loud, amazing tension releasing laugh. We laughed ourselves to tears, both smiling for the first time that day. It was hard to believe that only an hour or so before I was upset over crumbs on the floor.
After waiting for about an hour, we both fell into exhausted naps where we slept away another hour. I was awake maybe 15 minutes before Sara woke up, and we had to wait another 15 minutes before one of the doctors approached us.
"Amy and Sara?" He asked, drawing our attentions.
"Yes? How is he doing?" Sara asked, once again twisting her shirt.
"Well, it wasn't the broom that injured him, it was just the final blow. It appears that he was stabbed with some kind of odd blade, when is undetermined. He had a bandage around it to slow the bleeding but its still amazing that he didn't bleed to death. I'm guessing that he was looking for help when you... found him." He finished with a light cough. "But we do have him stable. He's on some antibiotics and he'll have to stay until his blood levels are back to normal. There's an infection but it should disappear with the meds. We didn't find any identification, are you sure you have no idea who he is?"
We both shook our heads. "Sorry but no."
He nodded and dropped his hands into his pockets. "Thank you for bringing him in. I think another hour may have even done him in." Even though it was a doctor saying it, the truth was difficult to believe. "The medicine will keep him asleep at least the rest of the day, but other than that, he should be fine."
The doctor left, leaving Sara and I to sit in silence once more. After a few minutes we decided to leave, spending all day there wouldn't change anything.
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The ride home was quiet for the most part, though the mood was much different than it had been the first drive. There was no erratic swerving, no panic, no worry, no rushing adrenaline... just disbelief. It was hard to accept all that had happened in a matter of hours, that the day could have been so eventful all before lunch. Neither of us allowed ourselves to look in the backseat for we knew that the stains would be there, as surely as they were on Sara's clothes. I was lucky enough to have soap and water but she wasn't that fortunate. We decided that we weren't hungry and once we reached my apartment, I didn't even want to get out of the car. Home seemed too normal for that kind of day. But we couldn't stay parked there all day so I climbed out, we said our goodbyes, and I watched her drive away.
When the door shut behind me, I looked around at the empty space, wishing someone was there to just sit with me. I went to my room and changed my clothes, then spent the remainder of the day playing Mario Kart on my old Nintendo 64 and doing loads of laundry. By the time 10 o'clock rolled around, I was tired and the nagging in my stomach had me ready to flip out and do something crazy. I decided to go to bed instead of acting on my irrational thoughts. The last thing I needed was to eat half the tub of Cookies n' Creme ice cream that was sitting nicely in my freezer next to the Reese's Cups. That was simply insane. But perhaps I needed insane... No. Sleep would do just fine.
I let my head drop to the pillow, pulling the sheets to my chin and stared at the shadows that danced across my window. The nagging in my stomach wouldn't let me sleep and the harder I tried to not think about the man in the red uniform, the more I actually did think about him. It was infuriating to say the least. Finally giving in, I sighed and rolled over.
"I'll visit him tomorrow." I mumbled aloud to myself, instantly relieved when the nagging feeling disappeared. Yes, that's what I would do. "I'll visit him tomorrow."
AN: Well there you have Ch. One : It took forever to type up and not very long to read. I'm a fan of short chapters myself haha. R&R maybe? Also, I'm sorry that a certain sexy colonel wasn't exactly active yet, but I promise that he will show up very, very soon. Xo