Cold
By Alyssa
Disclaimer: "I, Alyssa, do solemnly swear…." Turns briefly to look behind her at the man holding a gun to her back. She clears her throat and continues, "That I do not own any of the characters from the hit show 'ER'." Apparently having finished her job she feels the pressure of the barrel leaving her back.

IMPORTANT!!!!! This story starts out going backwards in time. You read one scene, and then the scene that came before it (anyone ever seen Memento?). Later though it will go forward in time starting from right here, the 'beginning' of this story. You'll understand later.



Cold; extrememly cold. But from what? Oh, snow. Where was he? Dark: night. Cold, windy, and dark.

~~~

"I said, get down on the ground!" The man was yelling, keeping a steady hand on the gun.
"This is useless, what is this supposed to solve?" Dave asked softly, trying to keep the fear from gripping his voice.
"We already went through this, and I don't want to explain myself again!" The man yelled. He stared at Dave threatingly. "Now get onto your knees." Dave reluctantly moved onto one knee, and then the other.
"You don't want to do this. I know you don't." Dave pleaded more than stated.
"You don't know what I want to do." The man snarled. "This is exactly what I want to do."
"Aren't you afraid someone might hear?" Dave tried. This wasn't supposed to be the end, was it?
"Not really, no. But I wasn't planning to shoot you, not unless I have to."
"What are you planning to do?" Dave asked. His eyes pleaded for the man to let him go, to just disappear into the night.
"I'm planning to knock you out and let you freeze to death." The man spat vicously.
"You don't want to do this Mr. Sturgeon. I know you're not a killer." Dave tried to keep the sobs from affecting his voice.
"No, I'm not the murderer. YOU are!" Mr. Sturgeon cursed, his hand swingly violently towards Dave.
"No!" Dave managed to move his head to the side, but wasn't able to dodge the blow. It connected with the back of his head and he fell into the snow.

Cold; extrememly cold.

~~~

Dave slowly escalated into conciousness. He tried to shake the haze from its firm grip on his brain, but he couldn't. Ah, yes, the halodal. He couldn't see, was he blind? He tried to move his hands to examine his face, but he couldn't. He was tied up. "Ahhh…." Dave stifled as his head hit the roof of the trunk. He tried vainly to shake the blindfold off, and struggled with his tied hands. Then it hit him; he was going to die. He had only thought that once before in his entire life, and now was just as frightening.

Where was Mr. Sturgeon taking him? Whatever the answer, Dave knew that he was serious. This was too sick to be a joke. If someone had told him earlier that day, that he would be killed by a patient's father, he would have laughed it off. Dave wasn't laughing now. He wondered briefly how long they had been traveling, but what did it matter where he died. Dave thought of all there options, and it wasn't hard, because there wasn't many. He began to kick out the taillights of the car; he could only hope that a cop would pull them over. Dave managed to get one light out, but he couldn't reposition himself to get the other one. He relaxed resignedly. There was nothing he could do but wait.

He didn't have to wait long. He felt the car move over to the side, and then heard the car door open and close. Suddenly a key was in the trunk lock and then Dave's whole world exploded. There he was; Mr. Sturgeon, smiling insanely.
"You're only getting what you deserve!" Mr. Sturgeon muttered brutally. Dave couldn't find an answer to that, so he remained quiet. Stunned by what was happening, he stayed limp as Mr. Sturgeon pulled him out.

Dave saw that they were in an open, snowy field. There was nothing and no one in sight. Dave fought to keep the tears from coming. He was filled with immense pain. There was so many things he still had to do: places to go, people to visit, apologies to be made. Now, he would die as he had lived: a nobody. Finally Mr. Sturgeon stopped, apparently pleased with their distance from road.
"You're going to die for what you did to my son." Mr. Sturgeon said in his deep, throaty voice.
"It's what he wanted. I only did it because it was what he wanted." Dave tried to correct.
"He didn't want to die! I would have known if he wanted to die!" Mr. Sturgeon lost control of his voice.
"It was what he wanted. He was in end-stage Mr. Sturgeon." Dave said softly, trying to sound comforting. Mr. Sturgeon shook his head, he still refused to believe it.
"Get down on the ground." He commanded calmly.
"What?" Dave asked, he didn't understand what was happening.

"I said, get down on the ground!" The man was yelling, keeping a steady hand on the gun.
"This is useless, what is this supposed to solve?" Dave asked softly, trying to keep the fear from gripping his voice.

~~~

Dave happily erased a name on the board. Today had been a long day. Needlessly long, and he deserved to be off. He walked contentedly back to the lounge to grab his stuff. Carter was just clocking in, and he smiled at him.
"Rough day?" Carter asked.
"You can't even imagine." Was all Dave could say in explanation.
"You going to tell me about it?" Carter asked.
"I have a feeling you'll hear from everybody else. I'm going home, see you later." Dave closed his locker; that was such a beautiful sound.
"Yeah, bye." Carter answered.

Dave pulled his coat collar up around his ears as he prepared to step into the chilly winter night.
"Have an uneventful night!" Randi called. Dave turned and gave her a smile, then continued on. The icy wind bit into his face the second he stepped out the cold; he was so glad he wasn't homeless tonight.

He hadn't taken two steps when he felt a jab in his arm. He turned instinctively to see what had hurt him.
"Mr. Sturgeon?" He gasped. Then he looked to see what Mr. Sturgeon was dropping, "Was that halodal?!?" Dave demanded as he saw the syringe nestle deeply into the snow.
"You're going to get what you deserve. You…." He heard Mr. Sturgeon say before the world turned black.

Dave slowly escalated into conciousness. He tried to shake the haze from its firm grip on his brain, but he couldn't. Ah, yes, the halodal.

~~~