----
Police sirens ring through Brooklyn. Flack, Danny, Lindsey and Stella reach the brewery. They enter the huge wooden door into a dark corridor. They cautiously walk through the huge dark, eery container room then they reach a stop and two different corridors.
Stella takes command.
"Split up. Flack and Danny go left. Lindsey, you're with me."
"Got it."
Flack and Danny continue down the long passage way until they reach a large door. They stop. Flack nods and after 3, they burst in.
"Freeze. N.Y.P.D!"
John and the two larger men are sitting around a table. They put their hands up as there are no weapons they can use to retaliate.
"Don't you move!"
John smiles and chuckles defeatedly.
"Alright. You win, Detective."
Stella and Lindsey continue in the opposite direction. They also reach a large wooden door.
"You ready?"
Stella nods.
They burst through the door causing light from the corridor to shine through. They see a man lying in the corner.
"Mac!"
They run over to him. He is facing towards the wall and his hands are tied behind his back. They untie his hands and turn him over. The sudden increase in light causes him to raise a shaky hand over his eyes.
Stella reaches to him, but he flinches.
"It's alright, Mac. It's Stell."
"...St-?"
"Yes. You're safe now."
She notices he's trembling and freezing cold, despite being soaked in sweat and blood. Mac rests his head on Stella's hand. She smiles.
Danny can be heard calling out. "Lindsey?! Stella?!"
Lindsey replies. "In here. We got him!"
Flack and Danny run in. "We got John. My guys are bringin' 'em in now."
He sees Mac and approaches. He doesn't know what to say. He's never seen his boss, more importantly his friend, in this state before.
He then turns around and talks into his walkie. "We need an ambulance right now. Keegan's Brewery. Officer down. Repeat. Officer down."
Danny looks down. "Hey, boss. You alright?"
Mac tries to answer, but he can't speak. Instead, he coughs up blood.
Stella rubs his hair. "Don't try to speak, Mac. We're gonna get you home, okay?"
Mac manages to make a full word for the first time in days.
"Okay."
----
Stella, Lindsey, Flack, Danny and Hawkes are in the hospital waiting for the doctor. They've been there for a few hours now. Danny is walking up and down the hall, Flack is leaning against the wall, Hawkes is sitting beside Stella and Lindsey.
Nobody says a word.
The doctor enters the hall. Everybody stands up.
"Well?"
"Mr. Taylor has suffered a great deal of trauma, both internal and external. We examined him and on the surface he appears to have severe bruising around his abdomen and back. He has a large number of burns and lacerations on his torso. He has a number of marks on his temple resulting from blunt force trauma, thankfully not enough to cause any major damage."
Hawkes shifts a little. "How is he on the inside?"
"We've discovered five broken ribs, a severely bruised kidney, both of his ankles are shattered along with his left wrist..."
Stella and Lindsey can't believe it.
"...his right arm is broken, four of his back teeth are missing and he suffered quite a bad concussion."
There is silence for a moment.
Danny breaks it. "Well is he gonna be okay?"
"Due to his weakened state on arrival, he was finding it difficult to breathe on his own. We've put him on a ventilator for now, but we are optimistic that he will be off it in the next week or two. He's really fighting."
Everybody smiles.
"Thanks, doc." Danny pats him on the shoulder.
Flack asks. "When can we see him?"
"We must insist that you give Mr. Taylor a few days to rest on his own."
Stella nods hesitantly, but understandably.
The team reluctantly agrees to leave without seeing Mac.
The next few days are going to be tough.
TBC
