One By One – 10
Matt couldn't sleep. He lay in bed thinking about everything that had happened in the last few days: Elizabeth's murder, the attack on C.J., Steve Otto, Jesse Mercer.
He glanced over at his friend glad to see she had drifted off to sound sleep. It gave him some peace of mind knowing she was getting the rest she needed.
Maybe it was a good thing he couldn't sleep. He had to be on his guard. He agreed to her compromise so he had to fulfill his end of the bargain. Yes, she had put a name to her attacker but he couldn't let his enemies win this contest. Too much was at stake.
He must have drifted off for only a second when he felt a presence in the room. He opened one eyelid slowly, hoping it was a nurse.
All of a sudden he felt a hand grab him around the throat.
Matt forcefully pushed the hand away, but the man attached to the hand held onto him as he did this, causing Matt to land on top of him as they propelled to the floor. A struggle ensued as they fell against pieces of furniture, causing a series of disruptive noises.
C.J. started to stir. She opened her eyes, trying to get her bearings. What were these noises she heard amongst exclamatory grunts?
And then it hit her.
Matt struggled with the man but the man was much stronger and pelted him with his fists. One of those blows hit him square in the temple, causing Matt to lose consciousness.
C.J. looked towards the source of the noises to see a very large man in a ski mask approaching her.
She reached for her gun with her good arm, planted discretely under her pillow. But the man quickly grabbed her arm and climbed on top of her.
He brought her bad arm above her and pinned both of her arms down, causing her great discomfort. He lowered himself closer to her much to her horror, all the while she cried in pain. It was obvious he was looking for a bonus to his assignment.
He released one hand off of her and clasped her two hands together above her head as she screamed. Then he held both of her hands down with one hand while his other hand went to loosen his belt.
Now would be a good time for Matt to wake up, C.J. thought. A really good time.
The man fumbled with the button on his pants waist as she tried to kick him as hard as she could with her legs. But he was heavy and had her pinned down. Her heart beat more rapidly than it ever had, praying, hoping that her worst fears were not coming true as she grimaced from the unfathomable pain she was enduring.
The pain was so excruciating that for a moment – a fleeting moment – she wished he'd killed her and end the pain.
But no, she thought. It was time for her survival mode to kick in.
She screamed, then screamed again louder, trying to alert anyone. There had to be hundreds of people in the hospital. Someone would hear her!
Matt was starting to rouse. He blinked several times trying to get his bearings, feeling the effects of the man's fists on his face. When his vision field cleared, he couldn't believe what he saw.
"NO!" he screamed a he clamored to his feet as the man turned towards him for a moment.
"C.J., get him!" exclaimed Matt, noticing the prime opportunity.
She reached under her pillow and retrieved her gun, noticing Matt approaching to the right behind the man. No, she couldn't hit the wrong target. She had to nail the bastard ... but he wouldn't hold still!
Matt climbed on the bed behind him and wrapped his arm around the man's neck trying to at least distract or stall him. With his adrenalin running high, he managed to set him off-balance enough to push him off the bed.
Matt went tumbling onto the floor with him. He tried to put some space between them. He wanted to give C.J. the opportunity for a clear shot.
It looked like her only choice was to fire when the man was on top of Matt.
She aimed and pulled the trigger, but the bullet missed her target.
"Again! Again!" Matt called out.
She aimed a second time, pulled the trigger … and fired ... this time wounding the man in the back of the neck.
Blood spattered in every direction as the man fell to the floor. Matt scrambled to get out from underneath the man's mass.
He used his foot to turn him over and pulled off his mask, not caring if he was injuring him more.
"Steve Otto," he confirmed between breaths.
Otto grabbed for the back of his neck while he struggled to breathe. And then he gasped once, twice … and he was dead.
C.J. kept a firm hold on the gun, ready to fire again if need be as security personnel ran into the room.
"We heard gun fire!" one of them exclaimed.
Matt nodded towards C.J. as he made his way to her.
"C.J., it's okay. You got him. You can put the gun down."
She finally pulled her eyes off the bloody carnage on the floor and looked at Matt. She still hadn't lowered the gun so Matt reached over and gently did it for her.
"It's okay. You did good. You got him."
She watched as Matt's hand guided the gun downward and put the safety on it. She turned and looked at Matt.
"Is he?" she asked in between labored breaths.
Matt nodded. "Your plan worked. It's over."
The phone rang. A curious Matt picked it up.
Before he even said hello, a voice on the other end declared, "You may have won the battle but you haven't won the war, Houston."
Click.