I Love You
Author's Note: My first Standoff fic. I'm not sure about the characters yet so…
Disclaimer: The author of this story (me) does not own the respective characters. She intends no copyright infringement.
-Standoff-
0950 hours
Emily Lehman sighed and glanced at her watch for the fifth time in the last half-hour. She had to be back to work by twelve and still had to stop by the bank and grocery store, before her apartment. She wanted to make a nice dinner for Matt.
Her appointment had been for 0920 hours.
Finally, the hygienist came to the door. "Ms. Lehman? Sorry we've been busy and we're short-staffed."
"Oh," Emily answered, not in the mood for small talk.
"Yes," the hygienist continued, oblivious. "We've been having problems making ends meet since Dr. Karkoff left to start her own practice. I'm going to take some x-rays. Is there any chance you could be pregnant?"
Across town, at the FBI building, Matt Flannery sat doing paperwork. Personally, he hated paperwork and tried to get out of it.
Emily had the morning off, though, and Matt knew he could not continue letting her do all of his work. He sighed and glanced at his watch. 1000 hours. Emily was not due back at the office until twelve. It was going to be a very long two hours.
"Flannery," Frank greeted coming in. "What, no Lehman today?"
Matt shook his head, "She had to go to the dentist; she'll be back at twelve." Frank helped himself to Emily's chair and the two men began a discussion about football.
Cheryl came to join them a while later. The look on her face warned them immediately that something was wrong. "What dentist does Emily use?"
Matt was already out of his seat. "What happened?"
"We have a report of gunmen taking hostages at Johnson Dental," she explained, "I need you over there. If Lehman is in there, you can't negotiate this."
Matt felt his heart stop. He looked at his watch: 1030 hours. "Her appointment was a nine-twenty," he said as he ran for his car.
Frank turned to Cheryl, "I guess you got your answer."
His heart racing, Matt squealed to a stop outside the dentist's office. He did not wait for Cheryl or Frank before rushing to a cop. "What's the situation?" he demanded.
The very young man he had screamed at backed up about five steps. Quickly he answered, "A gunwoman has a hygienist and the dentist trapped in the bathroom."
"Anyone else?" Matt's voice was still harsh.
"No, sir," the scared cop replied.
"Then why isn't she answering her damn phone," he asked no one. Matt pulled his phone out and hit the buttons to redial. This was the fifth time it went straight to voice-mail. He didn't bother leaving a message. "She's not in there," he told Cheryl. "Any problem with me taking this?"
Cheryl shook her head, "No. You couldn't reach her phone?" Matt had already answered the phone; connected with the gunwoman. "I'll try calling her. She needs to get in."
1230 hours
Cheryl Carreara was not a person to panic. Usually, she could keep her head; she was not SAC of CNU for nothing. Now, however, Cheryl was headed for panic mode.
Emily was not irresponsible. If she couldn't make it in, she would call; if she realized she had missed twenty-five calls, she would call back. Now, at 1230, Cheryl got worried.
Matt was almost finished with this negotiation; in another hour, he would have this guy out. "Frank, call hospitals. Something's wrong: Emily hasn't checked in."
Frank pulled out his cell phone. "You gonna tell Matt."
Cheryl shook her head, "Let's find something first. I want him focused on this negotiation." Frank headed in a direction that took him for away from Matt as Cheryl walked closer.
Matt was talking, getting the gunwoman to tell him about how she had been let go; couldn't make ends meet anymore. Cheryl wanted to tell her there were worse things. Matt was calm, but he wasn't fully functioning. He kept glancing at his cell phone, no doubt hoping for Emily to call.
1300 hours
Half an hour dragged by as they waited. Finally, Frank singled Cheryl. She walked over; already knowing it was bad news. "Well?"
"She's in the hospital. St. Vincent's. She was on the way to the grocery store when she got in a car accident. Drunk driver at ten in the morning. She's still in surgery," Frank explained.
Cheryl turned to look at Matt. "Send someone over there. Make sure Matt doesn't hear anything until this negotiation is over. I want this finished nicely."
Still listening to the former employee bitch, Matt watched Cheryl and Frank talking. They knew something and from the look Cheryl shot him, it wasn't good. Matt glanced at his phone. 1315 hours. Emily was over an hour late for work, and she had not answered her phone or returned his calls. Matt forced himself to listen to the woman on the other end.
"You can get another job," Matt told her. "I'm sure you're great at what you do."
She laughed, "You just want me to let these people go. Well, I'm not."
"Look, lady," Matt started, "you think you're having a bad day? At least you have a degree. You're still alive; you can turn your life around. You should be thankful you're not dead yet. I'm having a bad day too. My girlfriend is missing, my boss knows what's going on, but she won't tell me. And, instead of being able to help her, I'm stuck here listening to you bitch."
Carol, the woman who had taken her former employer hostage, fell silent. "Yeah, but you have money and can afford to help her. I can't take care of my kids!"
"There is such a thing as welfare. You might want to consider it. If you can manage to stay alive and not get life in prison," Matt explained. "See, if you were to come out and give yourself up without hurting the hostages, the courts would be lenient. If they die or we have to get you out, you'll never see your kids again." Matt could see this was the best way to get her out: let her know she may never see her children again.
She was thinking about it. "I want to come out."
1355 hours
Matt spun on Cheryl. "Where is she?"
Cheryl closed her eyes; took a deep breath. "St. Vincent's," she said. "She was in a car accident this morning."
Matt was already running for his car. Frank stopped him, "I'll drive."
1500 hours
Beep… Beep… Beep… Matt closed his eyes. Took a deep breath and released it. He squeezed Emily's hand. She looked tired but so peaceful with her eyes closed like that.
The doctors said she would be fine. Nothing had been seriously injured in the crash. Matt wasn't ready to believe it until she woke up. "Come on, Emmy, you know I hate hospitals. Wake up so I can get out of here," he begged-even though he knew he wasn't going anywhere until they kicked him out. He looked at her again, just watched her.
"When you didn't call me back, I was so mad. I was worried about you, and you couldn't call me back? …God, Emmy…I thought you were a hostage. I couldn't think. Why do I keep missing these opportunities? I won't miss this one. I know how I feel now, I've known for a while. Emmy, come on…"
Her head was foggy. For a few seconds, Emily thought she heard matt say he loved her. That he was going to tell her, if she would just wake up. Suddenly it came back to her.
She had just pulled through the green light when the car came straight down the road. Her car had spun. She came to the conclusion that she had been in a car wreck quickly. Emily realized that she was in fact in the hospital. This made her further conclude that Matt may well be telling her he loved her and wanted her to wake up.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, "I love you too."
-Standoff-
A/N: So, how was it?
Edited: 28 December 2008