Two weeks later…

"Your blood pressure is fine, ma'am." Jo said to the woman as she removed the blood pressure cuff from her arm. They had been called to the First National Bank to check out this woman, who was complaining of feeling dizzy and faint. "It's awful hot today. Do you think you could've gotten too warm?"

The woman, who was in her sixties, considered this. "Maybe. You have a bit of an accent, girl. Where are you from?"

"South Carolina, ma'am."

"I thought so. You're not as twangy as some Southerners I know."

Jo smiled, "Do you want us to take you to the hospital so they can get you rehydrated?"

"No, I don't think so. I think I just need to rest."

"Want me to get you a cup of water?" Tyler offered, feeling somewhat useless. His partner had a way with older patients that he had yet to master.

The woman nodded, "That would be nice. Thank you, young man." She watched him head for the water cooler near the door, "He's got a bit of an accent, too. Where's he from?"

"Louisiana." Jo answered, surprised that the woman could detect the accent that Tyler hid so well.

"I thought so. I was raised in Alabama. …I hate to cause a ruckus."

"Oh, honey, you're no trouble at all. Truth be known, I don't mind calls like this as much as some of the others do."

Tyler returned with the water, which the woman accepted gratefully. "We can stay here until you're feeling better if you'd like." He hoped she would decline, but he didn't want her to have a heart attack the minute they walked away, either.

"That would be fine, I suppose. Unless you have something else to do." she added quickly.

"We're free right now." Jo stood from her crouched position in front of the woman and took the seat beside her.

Tyler had started to lean against the stretcher when two men with black ski masks over their heads burst into the bank, guns at the ready.

"Everybody FREEZE!" one of them shouted, firing a warning shot into the ceiling.

The various patrons and employees didn't need to be told twice. They stopped where they stood, barely breathing, afraid to do so much as blink.

The man who had spoken first continued, "I want everybody out but you," – he pointed one black-gloved finger at the closest teller before pointing at Tyler and Jo – "and you two. Everybody else can leave."

"Turn your radio off." Jo whispered from the side of her mouth.

"Why?" Tyler asked.

"Just do it."

He turned his radio off and watched as she set hers to the all-channels frequency and opened the channel. Realizing that she was broadcasting the situation to everyone with a radio, he grinned. Help would be here soon.

The second man held the door open as a rush of people flooded past him.

The woman that sat beside Jo looked worriedly at the medic, who nodded. She squeezed her hand before standing and exiting the building. The door locked behind her.

"What is this, a joke?" Tyler demanded.

"No, it's a bank robbery." the first gunman snapped before turning to his accomplice, "Watch them. The cops'll be here sooner once they find out we've got two ambulance drivers."

The second man nodded.

"You, teller, take me to the vault."

Trembling, the young girl nodded as she headed for the stairway beside the desk.

"You know they've already hit the alarm." Jo said, watching the man start after the girl. "By the time you get what you came here for, this place will be crawling with cops."

He chuckled, "I've got hostages; they're not gonna try anything. And if the hostages are wounded, they'll do exactly what I tell them to." He didn't wait for his words to sink in before he swung his gun in a wide arc, spraying bullets along the wall.

Jo cried out and dropped to the floor clutching her stomach as she curled into a fetal position.

Tyler dropped beside her, ignoring the searing pain in his right side as he rolled her onto her back and pried her hands away from the blossom of blood that was soaking into her black uniform shirt.

"Watch them." the gunman repeated before following the teller down the stairs.

"Crap." Tyler grumbled, going for the jump bag that sat on the stretcher.

Skittish, the second gunman snapped a shot off over his head.

"Calm the hell down, you moron!" Tyler yelled, grabbing the bag and returning to his wounded partner. For the benefit of anyone who might be listening to Jo's open radio channel, he added "Your trigger-happy buddy just shot my partner!" Grabbing the collar of her shirt, he ripped it open easily, sending buttons flying. He tore open her undershirt next and quickly assessed the damage. One bullet had hit her, but it wasn't a through-and-through. Grabbing a handful of gauze pads, he ripped off their paper coverings and pressed them to the wound, desperately trying to slow the flow of blood.

"You're bleeding." Jo managed through gritted teeth.

"I know." Just about everything he needed to treat a wound like hers was in the ambulance. Holding pressure on it wouldn't work forever. There was morphine in their bag, but he doubted if their captors would allow him to get to it and administer it. He needed to get her out of here and to the hospital before she bled out, which meant he needed to figure out a way to get past the second man.

"Tyler-"

"I'll be okay. It's just a graze."

"Give me some gauze and pull up your shirt."

"No. I'll be fine." He hoped he would be, anyway; he could feel his blood soaking through his undershirt into his uniform shirt and trickling down into the waistband of his pants. It hurt like hell, but he couldn't let Jo know that.

"Tyler-"

"I'll be fine. I'm a lot more worried about you right now." He had to get them out of here. The pain in his side was beginning to demand some serious attention.

Neither one of them noticed that the second gunman was standing behind Tyler until he spoke. "Tommy said we wouldn't hurt anybody." he half-whispered, voice shaking.

"If I don't get her out of here, she's gonna bleed to death." Tyler looked up at the masked man, "You have to let us go."

"I can't."

"You'll be charged with murder if she dies."

"Tommy said for me to watch you."

"I'm gonna ram that gun down your throat if you don't back the hell off and let us go!"

Angered, the gunman leveled his pistol with Tyler's head. "I'll kill both of you before you can turn around."

"Jason," Jo gritted, "put the gun down."

The man froze, recognizing her voice. He looked over Tyler's shoulder and gave a cry of surprise, "Aunt Jo!"

"What're you doin' here, Jason?"

Jason pulled his mask off and knelt beside Tyler. He was a handsome young man in his late twenties, and Tyler recognized him as the man that had been helping Jo move into her apartment. "I didn't see you, Aunt Jo, I swear." He reached for her, but drew back, trembling.

"Answer my question."

"I…" He faltered, "I got bills to pay."

"So do I, but you don't see me holdin' up a bank!" She inhaled sharply as a fresh stab of pain shot through her. "You've got a family, a wife and kids! What are you thinkin'?"

Jason hung his head, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it this time. Let us go, Jason. It'll be easier on you if you let us go."

He cast a worried glance at the stairway to the vault. The wail of sirens was drawing near. "If you hurry, you can get out."

"Pull that stretcher over here." Tyler ordered, preparing to pick up his wounded partner.

Jason clamored up to his feet and started for the stretcher.

"Jason, you idiot!" Tommy shouted, emerging from the stairway with a bag over his shoulder and the terrified teller in tow. "What're you doin'?"

"Tommy, you shot my aunt! We gotta let 'em go, man, please!"

"I oughta shoot you for blowin' our cover!"

"Just kill each other and get it over with." Tyler grumbled to himself.

Big mistake. His attention now redirected, Tommy turned his steely eyes toward the pair, furious that his plan had gone awry. He pointed his gun at Tyler, "Stand up." When Tyler hesitated, he said, "Stand up or I'll kill your partner."

Casting a worried glance at Jo, Tyler put her hand over the bloody gauze in an effort to keep pressure on the wound and slowly rose to his feet. "Tyler…" Jo pleaded as she watched him stand.

At that moment, time slowed to a crawl. He saw the flash from the gun, heard the thunder of the shot, felt the incredible pain as the bullet tore into his body. He was falling in the next second, propelled backward by the force of the bullet. Distantly, he heard Jo scream his name as he fell. The cold tile floor rushed up at him. Shock was milliseconds behind that. The pain was unlike anything he'd ever felt before; it was like his whole body was on fire. He couldn't breathe. The fire quickly turned to ice as shock began to take over. Jo's panicked face filled his rapidly-blurring vision. How she'd managed to get up, he didn't know. He felt both his uniform shirt and undershirt rip open, heard the tear of paper, and felt the pressure of gauze on his chest and side; she was trying to slow the bleeding.

Somewhere in the distance, there was another shot, followed by another scream and a thump. Jo hadn't made a sound that time, so it must've been the teller. As unconsciousness began to drag him under, Tyler heard Jo scream into her radio for someone to please get the hell in there and help them before she ordered Jason to stop standing around and hand her some fresh gauze.

"Stay with me!" she ordered, "Don't you dare close your eyes, Tyler Briggs!"

He tried to keep his eyes open, but he was suddenly so tired. The medic part of his brain told him that he was in full-blown shock and he needed to fight it. He wanted to fight it, but he was so tired and so cold. All he wanted to do right now was take a nap. The medic side screamed at him to keep his eyes open and stay awake. He honestly tried. It didn't work.

"Tyler, I swear, if you close your eyes, I'm gonna-"

Darkness.

/

Note: Tommy can also be added to my list of creations.