Chapter 2: They Never Taught Negotiation Skills in Med School…

Hank and Divya arrived in the living room. The first thing that Hank saw was a young man in his early thirties lying on the couch. He had the same dark brown hair as his brother and the same hazel eyes that darted around the room when Hank and Divya entered. He was moaning in pain and had his arms crossed against his stomach.

"Who are you?" he mumbled.

"I'm Dr. Hank Lawson," said Hank, "and this is my associate Divya. Your brother Daniel called us, said you cut your hand on some glass?" He nodded. "Okay, can you tell me your name?"

"Michael," he whispered.

"Okay," said Hank. "Let me just see your hand and see what we have here…" Hank grabbed Michael's arm and pulled it, to look at the hand. The right hand was cut up but that's not what got Hank's attention. That would have been the small bleeding hole in his abdomen.

Divya stood next to Hank, horrified, "Is that what I think it is?"

Hank nodded. Michael had a bullet wound. Why had Daniel taken his brother to a hospital? Or why he mentioned it to Hank on the phone or when they arrived? Hank felt his heart stop when he suddenly remembered that his own brother was alone with Daniel in the kitchen.

Hank grabbed Divya's arm and started pulling her towards the door. "We need to go get Evan and then get out of here."

"I'm afraid that I can't let that happened," said Daniel. Hank felt his heart stop when he saw Daniel come around the corner, holding Evan in a chokehold and a gun pressed against his head.

"I remembered where I saw Daniel before," chocked out Evan, "I saw him on the news. He and Mike robbed a bank this morning."

"SHUT UP!" said Daniel as he pushed the barrel of the gun harder against Evan's skull. Evan grimaced.

Hearing his brother in pain, Hank felt his blood boil. "Let him go, Daniel!"

"And why the hell would I do that?" asked Daniel. "So you can what? Call the police? I don't think so. Put your cell phones out on the table." When Hank and Divya didn't move, Daniel tightened his arm, causing Evan to choke, "DO IT NOW!"

"Okay, okay!" said Hank. He pulled out his cell phone. Divya did the same.

"Turn them off," said Daniel. Hank hit the power button on his cell phone. His heart sank as he heard the little beeping sound indicating the phone was turning off and watched the screen go black. He then walked over to the little table and set his cell phone down on it. Divya did the same, setting her cell phone down on the table.

"Now, step back over there," said Daniel. Hank and Divya walked back over to where they were standing, hands up and moving slowly so not to startle Daniel.

"My cell phone is my pocket," said Evan. He pulled it out and showed it to Daniel. "See?"

"Oh, that's a very nice phone, "said Daniel. "Drop it on the floor."

"But I love this phone!" protested Evan.

"Evan, just do what he says!" said Hank. Evan saw the look on Hank's face. It was the "don't mess with me" big brother face. Evan sighed and dropped the phone. Daniel stepped on it until the phone broke into several small pieces.

Evan looked up from his broken cell phone to his big brother, "You're buying me a new one."

"Your brother was shot," said Divya. "He needs a hospital and an OR."

Daniel laughed. "Yeah, sure. It's not like our picture isn't all over the news. My brother will be arrested before he even gets through the door." And then he smiled, tightening his grip around Evan. "And besides, Hank, you're already here and I've heard so many good things about your little practice. I would hate to put a black mark on your record."

Hank frowned. He was trying hard to figure a way out of this. "Let Evan go and I'll help your brother."

"No," said Daniel. "Why do you think I ask you to bring your nerdy accountant little brother along? He's insurance to make sure that you do what I want you to do. Unless, you want me to kill him right here right now." His finger began to squeeze the trigger…

"NO!" shouted Hank. "Don't hurt him! I'll do anything you want! Tell me what you want me to do!"

"How about a trade?" asked Daniel. "One brother for another. You patch up Michael and then I'll let Evan go. Sound fair?"

"Let Evan go first," demanded Hank.

"Nope," said Daniel, "you really don't get the point of this hostage thing, do you, Hank? For a doctor, you are sure a slow learner. First Michael, then Evan. Your brother is not in danger, at least not at the moment. Unless you don't do what I want."

Hank was about to interject, when Evan spoke, "Just do what he wants, Hank."

Hank was shocked, "Evan-"

"He's right," said Evan, "So far, this guy hasn't hurt me-except for a slight choking. But Michael has been bleeding for God knows how long. He can't hold out much longer. He needs your help now, Hank. I'll be fine."

Hank nodded, "Okay, Daniel. But at least let Evan out of the chokehold."

"That seems fair," said Daniel. He walked Evan over to a chair by the door. "Sit!" he commanded, forcing Evan down into the chair, still keeping the gun trained on Evan. "Now, get to work."

Hank nodded. He turned to Divya, "Get me a pair of gloves, scalpel and some gaze." Divya nodded and reached into the bag for those things.

"Scalpel?" asked Daniel, "Not sure I want you having a sharp knife, Doc."

"You do, if you want your brother to live," said Hank, sharply.

Daniel frowned. "I think we need some rules, Doc. First," he paused and taking the butt of the gun, struck Evan on the temple with it. Evan's head snapped to the side. Stars clouded his vision and he felt himself falling into darkness. Somewhere in the distance, he thought he heard Hank calling out his name.

"EVAN!" shouted Hank. He watched Evan's head snap and knew that wasn't good. Evan started to fall forward, and Hank rushed towards him. Daniel grabbed Evan's shoulder with his free hand and pulled him back, with the gun now pointed back at Evan's head.

"First rule, no smart talk," said Daniel.

"Okay," said Hank, holding up his hands. He turned to Evan, "Evan, you okay?"

"I'm fine," mumbled Evan. His head was throbbing. He brought his hand up to his forehead. He felt wetness and brought his hand back down to see red. He swallowed. He been around Hank to know that was not good.

Hank also saw the blood and felt his veins turn to ice. He stepped forward, "Let me check him out first."

"No," said Daniel.

"He could have a concussion!" Hank shouted. "He needs medical attention!"

"First, you take care of Michael and then you can take care of Evan," said Daniel.

"Hank, for goodness sakes, listen to the man!" said Evan. He looked up and meet Hank's gaze. "I'm fine. It's nothing a bottle of aspiring won't cure, I promise."

Hank nodded. He was pretty sure that Evan was lying but for now, he would let it go. He meet Evan's gaze and pointed at him, "You tell me immediately if your vision blurs, you feel nauseous or your headache gets worse, got it? And whatever you do, don't fall asleep! " he told him in his most threatening big brother voice.

Evan rolled his eyes, "Yes, Mom," he said sarcastically. Hank smiled.

"Here you are, Doctor," said Divya. She handed him a pair of gloves. Hank put them on. Divya then handed him the scalpel and some gaze. She turned to Daniel. "Is it alright if I give Evan some gaze and an ice pack for his head?" She held up her hands to show the two items to Daniel.

"Fine," said Daniel. "Just don't try anything." Divya nodded. She walked slowly across the room. She handed the gaze and ice pack to Evan, who immediately put them both against his forehead.

"Thank you Divya," said Evan, "You're a lifesaver."

Divya nodded, "Your welcome." She then walked back over to assist Hank.

Hank had been listing to Michael's heart beat, breathing and had just finished taking his blood pressure. "Breathing and pulse are normal," he said, "BP is a little low, so let's get an IV and a bag of saline solution started."

Divya nodded and the proceeded to dig in the bag for those items.

"What are you doing?" asked Daniel. Hank picked up on the fear in his voice.

"Your brother's blood pressure is a little low," explained Hank. "Most likely, he has suffered some blood loss from the wound. We are starting a bag of saline solution to help bring his blood pressure back up and replace the fluids he has lost."

Daniel nodded. "Okay."

While Divya set up the IV, Hank turned to Michael, "Michael, I need to get a better look at your wound. This may hurt a little bit, okay?"

Michael nodded. Hank examined the wound. He felt for an exit wound and curse softly when he could not find one. That meant that the bullet was still in there. Hank could not remove the bullet without knowing where it was. This meant he was going to need an x-ray. The x-ray machine was out in the car.

"How are you doing, Evan?" Hank asked, looking at Evan.

"I'm fine," replied Evan. In reality, he wasn't. His head was killing him, and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep. But he knew if he told Hank otherwise, Hank would mostly likely have a heart attack.

Hank could clearly see that Evan wasn't doing well. His face was pale and he was taking deliberate, deep breaths in attempt to control his breathing. His eyes were glazed over and Hank could tell that Evan was having a hard time staying awake.

Hank cursed softly under his breath. Evan was going downhill quickly. He needed to finish treating Michael so he could move on to treat Evan.

"Divya," said Hank, "can you grab the inhaler from the bag?"

Divya nodded and started digging through the bag.

"What do you need an inhaler for?" asked Daniel. "Is his breathing okay?"

"Michael's breathing is fine," said Hank. "Evan's isn't. When you had him in the chokehold, you caused swelling of his airways, which is now blocking his airway. The medication in the inhaler should reduce some of the swelling and help his breathing."

"Now Doc, what did I say earlier? First you treat Michael then you can move on to your nerdy brother," said Daniel.

"Michael is stable at the moment, "said Hank. "Evan isn't. He needs this inhaler or he will pass out and he could go into respiratory arrest." Hank paused and crossed his arms. "If my brother dies, so does yours."

"You're not in a position to make threats, Doctor," said Daniel, venomously, "You wouldn't let a patient die."

"Right now, I have two patients," said Hank, "Michael and Evan. I don't want to choose between my two patients but I will if you force me. And we both know who I'll choose. You can either get out of my way or let me do my job and you can force me to choose which life to save. Your choice."

If looks could kill, Daniel could have killed Hank with the glare he was giving him. "And what if I just decide to Evan right now?"

Evan swallowed hard, "I really hope you don't," he mumbled.

"Then I guess you'll just have to shot me too," said Hank.

"Hank!" hissed Evan.

"And me too," said Divya. She had been working on treating the cuts on Michael's hand but she had been listening to the interchange between the two men. She set down Michael's hand on his chest and stood up to stand beside Hank.

"Divya!" said Evan. Had everyone suddenly gone crazy?

"Divya, you don't have to do this," Hank whispered in her ear.

"Yes, I do," Divya whispered back. "We're in this together, Hank. All three of us."

Hank nodded. He turned back to Daniel. "So then what? You have three dead bodies to deal with and your brother still needs medical treatment. "

"Fine," said Daniel. "But I want her to do it."

"Daniel," said Divya, "I am the middle of fixing your brother's hand. And I am much better at that than Hank is; trust me you want me to do it," she paused, "besides, until you let Hank examine and treat Evan, he's not going to let up."

"I can do this all day," said Hank.

"Fine," said Daniel. "Just make it quick, Doctor."

Hank nodded. He grabbed the inhaler and walked across the room to Evan and Daniel. He wanted to run, but he decided that was probably a bad idea. It would show how scared he was. And Daniel didn't need to see that.

He stopped in front of Evan. Evan tried to smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace than anything else. Hank didn't even ask before he shoved the inhaler into Evan's mouth and pushed down.

"Just breathe, Evan," said Hank, as he pushed down on the inhaler again.

Evan felt the choking sensation begin to disappear. The pain in his chest began to easy up and his head stopped spinning and his vision cleared.

Hank removed the inhaler, "Feel better?"

"Yeah," rasped Evan. "Thanks."

Hank smiled. He put the inhaler into Evan's hand. "I want you to hold onto this. If you begin to feel light headed again, use this again." Hank began to examine the bruises on Evan's neck. They were dark purple. Hank felt an anger rising up in him, but he decided to ignore it for now; he could kill Daniel later.

"How is it?" asked Evan, breaking Hank from his train of thought.

"It's quite a bruise," said Hank. "There is still some swelling, but that should go away in a couple of days, along with the bruises. How's the head?"

"Fine," said Evan. Hank ignored Evan and examined the head wound. It had stopped bleeding and Hank could make out the array of colors that would make up the bruise in a day or two.

Hank pulled out his flashlight, checking Evan's pupils. "Pupils are normal size. It looks like a minor concussion. How's your chest feeling?"

Evan's eyes opened wide. "How did you know?"

"I went to medical school, ya know," said Hank.

"It feels fine now," said Evan. "And Hank, thanks. For you know…"

"I know," said Hank. He did something he had never done before. He pulled Evan into a tight hug. "You don't have to ask, Evan. Just try to stay out of trouble until I can get us out of here."

"Okay," said Evan. "Hey Hank?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Love you too, Evan."

Hank stood up and turned to Divya, "How's the hand?"

"Good," said Divya. "It should heal quite nicely. No permanent damage."

"Daniel," said Hank turning back to Daniel, "Is Michael allergic to any medication?"

Daniel shook his head, "Okay," said Hank, "Divya, give Michael an injection of antibiotics." Divya nodded and gave Michael a shot of antibiotics through the IV.

"Michael has been shot in the abdomen," started Hank. "There is no exit wound, which means that the bullet is still inside. I need to remove it."

"Then remove it," said Daniel.

"I can't," said Hank. "There's no way to know where the bullet is and if I just start cutting, I could cause serious damage. I need an x-ray."

"An x-ray?" repeated Daniel.

"Yes," said Hank, "The bullet will light up on the x-ray and tell me exact where it is so I know exactly where to cut."

"And how to do you exactly plan to get an x-ray?" asked Daniel.

"We have a portable x-ray machine," said Divya.

"And where is it?" asked Daniel.

"In the car," said Hank. "We didn't think we'd need it, so we left it in the car. We need to go get it."

"I see," said Daniel. He looked at Hank, "Is there no other way?"

"No," said Hank.

Daniel turned to Divya. "Is he lying?"

"No," said Divya. "Your brother needs an x-ray. It's his best chance."

"Fine," said Daniel. "Doc, you can go out and get the x-ray machine."

"It's quite heavy," said Hank. "I would need Divya to help me carry it."

"I see," said Daniel. "You want me to let the two of you go outside so you can what, escape?"

"No," said Hank. "I wouldn't leave-" He stopped. He had said enough.

Daniel however heard more than enough, "You mean, you wouldn't leave Evan behind. You don't need his help carrying it?"

"It's a very heavy and expensive machine," said Hank, coolly, "Evan has a concussion. He shouldn't be carrying anything."

"I see," said Daniel. "How do I know you wouldn't leave Evan and go get help?"

Hank swallowed. "I wouldn't do that."

"And why not?" asked Daniel.

"Because I would never do anything to risk Evan's health," said Hank.

Daniel studied the two of them before nodded, "Fine. You can go get your x-ray machine. But if you're not back in ten minutes, I'll shoot him. And if I hear any sirens of any kind, I'll shoot him. Understand?"

"Perfectly," said Hank. "C'mon Divya." Hank and Divya started to walk out of the room. Hank stopped right in front of Evan and Daniel, allowing Divya to go in front of him.

Hank looked Evan right in the eyes and said, "I'll be right back."

Evan nodded, "I know."

Hank smiled. He walked to the doorframe and paused. He turned back to Evan and said, "Stay out of trouble."

"Oh you know me," replied Evan. He watched sadly as Hank and Divya walked out the door without him. He knew beyond the doubt that Hank would be back. He just didn't like the idea of him behind left alone with Daniel.

"Hurray back," shouted Evan.