Chapter XX: Code Green, Code Purple
Hello again, loyal fans! I am up to chapter 20 of this story! Thanks to my reviewers this time, Invader101, Fleeting Illicit Delicious and Glimerofhope! As always, your reviews are appreciated and loved! As I stated at the beginning of this tale, I've been working on it for almost two years. This section of "The Jedi League of Duelists" is definitely rated T because there is going to be some violence and the death of a character. I have to thank the good people at Google and Wikipedia because I had to do some research to find out hospital codes for trouble. I discovered that Code Green refers to a situation where there is an armed person and Code Purple is used to divert ambulances when ERs are filled to capacity. Lisa, however, uses it here to divert incoming traffic to other hospitals in Domino for a very important reason.
First, Tom Clancy is the rightful owner of "Patriot Games," published in 1987 by Jack Ryan Enterprises, Ltd. Mokuba quotes the first chapter's title and I want to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Clancy is one of my favorite authors because his work is spellbinding and eerily prophetic. Secondly, I don't own any cable news networks. Third, I don't own "She's Got the Power"; that song is the property of Stan Bush. I do not, nor will I ever own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters. I just own the plot, Lisa Hammond and any characters that are not established in the Yugi-verse. Hold on to your hats, strangely growing hair and fashion accessories, everyone! It's going to be a bumpy ride! Author's notes, over five years later: I tweaked some flashback scenes and section breaks. Also, Lisa quotes Gandalf the Grey at one point.
Seto Kaiba and Lisa Hammond awoke at 6:00 AM. They had cuddled close to each other during the night, and so awoke in each other's arms. "Um," Seto yawned and slapped off the alarm. Lisa, still resting against his chest, yawned too, and blinked. "Good morning, Lisa," he said softly, giving her a gentle (yet deep) kiss.
"Mmm, I could get used to this," Lisa said mischievously, and then blushed. The two of them were very close to each other, and the contact was admittedly arousing. She pulled away a bit. "Honey, don't get me wrong. I like snuggling, but I don't want us to go too far yet."
Seto sat up as she did, and they both sat on the edge of the bed, side by side. "I understand, babe. I want our first time to be special, and… I've… umm…" He flushed a bit, gathered his thoughts and admitted, "I've been reading… books about… intimacy…" He coughed nervously and continued, "I… wanted to be sure that… umm… when we do get close, I do it so you feel good, too. I've heard and read that it hurts for women the first time."
Lisa gently put her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder. "It's so sweet of you, honey, to be so considerate of what I'm going to be feeling. Don't go to too much trouble, though. I want us to concentrate on our marriage." When he gave her a puzzled look, she said, "We can't worry about an event and how perfect it should be. We need to think about our life together. But we can talk seriously later."
"I agree. Oh, crap, it's 6:10!"
"6:10? Oh, yeah, I need to be on rounds at 7:30 and you need to be at school by 7:45!" She headed out of the bedroom and went to her room, while Seto quickly pulled his pajamas off. He tossed them into the hamper, charged into the bathroom, cursed when he stubbed his toe heading into the shower, scrubbed his body and shampooed his hair. He got out of the shower, toweled off, pulled on his Blue Eyes White Dragon boxer shorts, then his pants, white undershirt, white dress shirt, uniform jacket, white athletic socks and white sneakers with blue trim.
Lisa, meanwhile, ran into her room, stripped off her pajamas, tossed them in her hamper, grabbed a hairbrush and combed the tangles from her hair. She turned on the shower, got in and cleaned off quickly. She got out of the shower, toweled off and put some leave-in conditioner in her hair. Then she put some curl activator, end sealant and mousse into her hair, pulled out a hair dryer and blew her hair dry. She combed the hair out so it was fluffy and full, and then did her makeup. Lisa then got her clothes on, which she'd have to change out of into scrubs once she got to her locker room at work and her white sneakers with purple and black accents.
The teenage couple met downstairs at the kitchen. They each grabbed pieces of toast, their vitamins and then Lisa grabbed a glass of cranberry juice while Seto grabbed a glass of orange juice. He'd originally had coffee in the morning, but Lisa had convinced him that he needed to drink something else before the coffee.
"So what's going to happen today?" he asked.
"With any luck, nothing. Hopefully, Joey's dad will just go to the apartment and chill. I can do my rounds, and Liz and Serenity can relax."
"Do you really think Joey's dad will do anything, Lisa?" Seto asked, taking a bite of his toast and sipping his juice.
"That's what I'm afraid of. Bree said he does have a record, and with what he did to Joey, we know what he's capable of. The other thing… at some point, he's had guns. The police couldn't find a gun at the apartment, but they may have missed something. They'd need a court order to really search the place."
Seto nodded, understanding, and again noticed his love's fear. They'd each finished their breakfasts and he stood as she did. They placed their breakfast dishes in the dishwasher rather than leave them for the maid, and the teen boy took the opportunity to hug the teen girl. She hugged back. "Leese, babe, I'm with you." She nodded, face against his chest. They released and he held the hand that wore his ring. "You're going to be okay."
The two headed back upstairs, brushed their teeth and checked on the Wheeler women. Elizabeth and Serenity, too, had gotten ready for the day and were sitting watching TV while they enjoyed their breakfast. Seto quickly went over a safety plan with the two women, so if Jake Wheeler did what Lisa was afraid of, they would be kept safe.
Seto and Lisa got into a limo at 7:05 AM, along with Roland (Bryce was at the mansion with Elizabeth and Serenity while other security people were at Domino Children's on Seto's orders), and Lisa was dropped off at the hospital at 7:15. "Bye, honey. Have a good day at school," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Bye, babe," he answered. "I'll be here this afternoon." She ran into the hospital and to the locker room to change and started on her rounds a few minutes early.
Seto arrived at Domino High at 7:30, plenty of time to drop his street sneakers at his shoe locker (Domino High having been heavily influenced by the Japanese-American culture that had given the town birth) and get to his regular locker on the second floor, which happened to be right near his friends' lockers.
"Morning, Seto," Yugi said, pulling his American Government books from his locker. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Lisa's just a little worried about today." Seto dropped his voice to a whisper and knelt to Yugi's level. "She was upset last night, and she had a really bad dream last night. I just hope it doesn't happen the way she saw it."
"That bad, huh?" Yugi answered, looking at his friend. "Maybe it'll be okay… Oh, hey, guys!" The other members of the group had arrived at their lockers (Tristan was already in his Tai-Chi uniform), greeted Seto, and then the teen CEO and his dueling rival headed to class. So she's okay? Yugi sent, concerned.
Yeah, Seto answered, but the dream shook her up. I had some weird dreams last night myself, but they didn't end up that scary. The first one was something that happened when I tried to run away from Gozaburo, but instead of what happened, Lisa stopped him. And then… this is really weird. He could sense Yami listening in. Actually, Yami, maybe you'll know about this because it happened in your time. I dreamed I was in a burning village and a girl that kind of looked like Lisa was controlling the Blue Eyes.
Are you serious? the 5000-year-old spirit sent back.
Yeah, the almost sixteen-year-old sent. It was really strange, because it seemed like it happened to me before. He could almost see the spirit and the modern boy exchanging glances.
Let us know if anything like that happens again, all right?
Gotcha.
Y
Lisa got into her locker room about 10 minutes before she went on duty. Today, she pulled on a pair of raspberry pink scrubs and then started on her rounds. Her first stop was at the room of a little redheaded girl named Kazuza. The five-year-old had been at Domino Children's for a few days with an infected cut on her leg. "Hi, Dr. Lisa!" the little girl chirruped happily.
"Good morning, Kazuza! Did you have your breakfast already?" Lisa asked, taking a look at the small girl's chart, then manually checking her vitals.
"Yup! I got Fruit Loops!"
"Oh, that sounds yummy! Now I've got to check your boo-boo, okay? Oh, you're being so brave," Lisa praised as she removed the bandage to check. "Well, Kazuza," she said when she finished, "I think I can tell your mom and dad that you're going to be able to go home tomorrow. Does that sound good?"
"Yeah! I miss being home with my dollies," the five-year-old said, sparkles in her brown eyes. Lisa tucked the little girl back in bed, making her comfortable. Then the teen doctor continued her rounds.
At 9:40 AM, just as Lisa finished her rounds and was heading up to Joey and Mokuba's room in the elevator, her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Lisa, this is Bree. I thought you ought to know that Jacob Wheeler just posted bail. He wouldn't say a word to anyone, not even his lawyer. In fact, I won't repeat what he said about his lawyer."
"I don't think I want to know. So what's up?"
"We're not sure where he's going to go, so be prepared."
"We are. Thanks, Bree." They said goodbye, and Lisa exited the elevator, made a couple of phone calls and headed to her friend and future brother-in-law's room.
"Hey, guys," she greeted as she headed into the room.
"Good morning, Lisa," Mokuba said, holding up his arms for a hug and his morning kiss on the cheek.
"Morning, sweetie," she said. "Good morning, Joey. You're looking better this morning."
"Hey, Leese," Joey answered, sounding tired, but upbeat. "I feel better this morning. Doctor Rhodes is going to get my cast on tomorrow."
"That's great, Joey," Lisa said, checking his chart. "How does your chest feel?"
"I can breathe easier and it doesn't hurt so much. Hey, what's wrong?"
He'd sensed her nervousness. "Joey, your dad posted bail about five minutes ago. The DA called me, and I've made sure security is aware. They know he's not allowed anywhere near you. With any luck, he'll just go home and await trial."
"Okay, then," Joey said. "We had our breakfast and Nurse Regina gave us sponge baths. So I guess it's time for Moks and me to start readin' 'cause there's not much on TV right now." Lisa nodded.
"Lisa, could you move me over to Joey's bed so I can sit with him?" Mokuba asked.
"Okay, sweetie. What book are you guys reading?"
"If it's okay, Joey, I want us to read Patriot Games," Mokuba answered. Joey agreed to that, and Lisa picked the little boy up, book and all, and carried him over to sit with Joey. "Can you sit and read with us, too, Lisa?" Lisa nodded to her (as far as they were now concerned) little brother, and sat down in a chair next to Joey's bed. "All right," Mokuba said, opening the book, "Chapter one… 'A Sunny Day in Londontown.'"
Mokuba read for a few minutes, and then let Joey read. The older boy commented, "We've both nearly met the Man Upstairs and here we are readin' about terrorist attacks that kill people. Isn't there somethin' wrong with this?"
"Just read the book, Joey," Mokuba said, slightly disgusted. Lisa smiled at this, and listened as Joey read, relaxing for a brief moment, having a feeling she wouldn't have all that long to relax.
Meanwhile, Jacob Robert Wheeler left the Domino County Jail, fuming at what had happened. He had been angry the day that his pathetic ex-wife and weak little daughter had left six years ago. Until that day, he hadn't truly known loss of control in his household, but he vowed it would never happen again. He controlled Joey by bringing him into line with swift beatings when the boy disobeyed him even slightly. He didn't buy what that female lawyer from the public defense group had told him about Joey's injuries. They're all lying XXXXs, the lot of them, he thought in disgust. Against the lawyer's advice, he refused to make a statement to the press that gave even a modicum of sympathy to his son, and avoided the press when leaving jail.
Jake went to the supermarket, bought a large quantity of beer (as the 7-11 would no longer sell to him), and then headed back to the apartment. When he entered, he noticed the state of the place. The boy should've cleaned up this place! I'll bet he's laughing in that hospital! The furniture was slung about in the living room, and a glass table was broken with a nasty swath of blood on it, and blood drops went from the table to the door. But rather than think about how the blood splotches got there, Jake again let his rage take him. He opened a beer and gulped it down like water, then another and another. Then he went to his bedroom and to the closet where he did indeed have a gun concealed beneath a floorboard, hidden in an old cigar box. It was a Colt .45 pistol, which he loaded and holstered. After one more beer, Jake Wheeler left his apartment and headed to Domino Children's Hospital.
Y
At 11:10 AM, Lisa, Joey and Mokuba were still embroiled in Tom Clancy's "Patriot Games," having read for over an hour. Lisa was reading from a section in the book where the hero was in a hospital recovering from a gunshot wound he'd received while foiling a terrorist attack on Prince Charles and Princess Diana. And then Joey's eyes went wide.
"What the—?! Lisa!"
Lisa sensed what Joey sensed, laid the book down, and jumped to her feet. "Stay here, both of you!" She ran from the room, sensing anger and a horrifying sense of purpose from Joey's father. Mokuba, sensing the fear and anger, pulled close to Joey as he would Seto. Despite the pain it caused the older boy, Joey held Mokuba close as he had held Serenity when their mom and dad fought.
Lisa tore out of the room, heart pounding in her chest. Scout Rhodes saw Lisa, questions on the older doctor's face. "Scout, we have a Code Green and Code Purple!"
"Lisa?"
"Joey Wheeler's dad is coming and I think he's armed. Go!" Scout ran down the hall, knowing to trust the teen doctor's instincts. She informed security that an armed assailant was coming (Code Green) and that all ambulances and helicopters must be diverted to other hospitals (Code Purple).
"She's Got the Power" by Stan Bush
Lisa got downstairs and out to the front of the hospital. She, thanks to Joey, could sense Jacob Wheeler's presence and knew he was feeling murderous. The girl took a deep breath and mentally prayed. Dear Lord, help me to protect this hospital and all who are in it. Help me to possibly reason with Joey's dad. Give me strength and peace to accept what will come. Thank You for giving me my love, my friends and my family and give them Your peace if the worst should occur. Amen.
Lisa summoned her abilities and used them to create a shield around the hospital. She did it just in time, because the man she knew meant harm emerged from bushes and walked toward her. She stood tall, arms thrown out in a protective posture. You shall not pass, she thought.
Jacob Robert Wheeler strode from the bushes and saw the little XXXX that had made certain he was charged for just disciplining his son. She was his first target and he would take her down, then work on the rest. "Out of my way, you little XXXXX, or you'll regret it!" he shouted at her. "I'm here to see my XXXXXXX son!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wheeler," Lisa said, voice raised, "but I can't allow you to pass. You're charged with hurting Joey and you're not allowed to see him, sir."
"Get out of my way!" he growled, and then let loose with a string of epithets that would make a merchant marine blush.
"Do you eat with that mouth?" Lisa countered. "I'm still not letting you pass!"
It was then that Jacob Robert Wheeler pulled out his gun.
Oh, God, help me, please! Lisa prayed, hoping that the help wouldn't be in the form of Jake Wheeler being a good shot.
Y
At 11:30 AM at Domino High School, Yugi, Teá, Tristan, Duke, Bakura and Seto were in gym class. Today, Mr. Anderson had elected for the class to play dodge ball which allowed the Jedi teens an opportunity to practice using their telekinetic abilities. Yugi, Teá, Tristan and Duke used their powers to control the dodge balls that they threw at Seto (Bakura could only throw the balls) while the teen multibillionaire used his abilities to repel the balls without the teacher being the wiser.
And then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Attention, please. Yugi Muto, Seto Kaiba, Tristan Taylor, Teá Gardner, Duke Devlin and Bakura Ryou, report to the principal's office immediately. All other students and teachers must report to the auditorium." The six teens looked at each other and left the gym.
"Any idea as to what's going on?" Bakura asked curiously.
Seto reached out with his mind to his beloved. Lisa? The way was blocked. He could sense that she was alive and scared, but for some reason, she wasn't letting him into her thoughts. "Guys, she's not letting me sense her thoughts," he said, concerned.
"You guys don't think..?!" Teá asked, beginning to panic. The group broke into a run and got to the office quickly. Mr. Darby was waiting for them.
"Hi, kids. C'mon in," he said seriously as they went through the secretary's office, "you ought to know… There's a situation at Domino Children's." Elizabeth, Serenity, Mai, Roland and Bryce were in the principal's office with a TV on.
Roland moved closely to his employer. "Mr. Kaiba, Lisa is in trouble."
And then Seto saw the screen. "'Standoff,'" he read. "How long…?"
Serenity answered, "It's been about twenty minutes. They ran a couple of codes at the hospital and Lisa ran outside to stop him. Bryce got called, and he brought us here after we picked Mai up from her apartment."
"The news report started about ten minutes ago," Elizabeth said softly. "She's been standing with him holding that gun for fifteen minutes."
Meanwhile, back in Kirkland, Washington, Gigi Hammond had turned on the ABC affiliate's 11 AM news broadcast as she sorted her clean laundry and rolled towels when the news commentator said, "We're getting breaking news from Domino City. There is a standoff at their Children's Hospital." Gigi turned to the screen just as the camera showed the man with the gun and….
"Lisa!" Gigi grabbed the phone, quickly dialed and within seven minutes, her husband and son were home and glued to the TV set with her. Eddie, in particular, had dreaded a situation like this where he couldn't defend his sister. He remembered a conversation he'd had with her just before she'd left Kirkland over a year before…
Y
"Lisa, there's no way I can talk you out of this, is there?" Eddie asked his sister in his nonchalant way, hazel-brown eyes gazing at her, the sister who was nearly five years his junior and yet so brilliant, she was becoming an adult faster than he was. She was packing up her things to be shipped to Domino that June day in 2002. She would be starting a new job at Domino Children's Hospital as a public practice doctor and Edward Brandon Hammond was happy for his sister and yet he hated letting her out of his sight.
"Eddie, I've got to do this. It's like you playing soccer or doing artwork. You wouldn't be happy if you couldn't do those things, and I've got to go to Domino. It's a great opportunity for me and I need to do it."
"Now I know what Dad means when he says you're fourteen going on thirty," Eddie laughed, and then sighed. "But you're still fourteen, you know?" His expression betrayed his worry and Lisa gave her big brother a hug.
"Eddie, I know you worry about me, and I know you want to protect me…"
"Like I've always done a good job of that." Eddie was referring to when he was twelve and Lisa was seven and two occasions of their playing together had led to her badly breaking her leg in the spring and then in the fall. Lisa smiled as her brother smiled ruefully.
"Eddie, if it wasn't for those accidents, I wouldn't have gotten extra work credit on treating broken bones. Don't sweat that," she said happily. "You'll always be there for me, big brother, even if you're not right there with me…."
Y
Eddie clasped his hands together and prayed in his head, Dear God, please protect Lisa. Help her because I can't!
Back in Mr. Darby's office, the group of kids and adults watched the standoff and heard the running commentary. Since over half an hour had gone by, the press members had started repeating themselves because nothing had happened after Jake Wheeler had pulled his gun. Seto tried to contact Lisa again, but to no avail. So he reached out to Joey and his brother.
Joey? Mokuba? Can you two hear me?
Seto! Joey and Mokuba both sent.
Are you two all right?
Big brother, Mokuba sent, worried, what's happening?
Yeah, Seto, is my dad out there? Joey asked.
Yeah, he's out there and he's got a gun pointed at Leese. They've been standing like that for over half an hour.
What's she doing? Is she defending herself? Mokuba wanted to know.
I don't know what she's doing, but we'll see, little brother.
Seto kept light contact with his friend and his brother, and kept his eyes on the TV screen. Joey, meanwhile, kept holding Mokuba tight. "Mokuba, I'm gonna pray, all right?"
"Okay, Joey. Can I pray with you?"
"Yeah. Just close your eyes and stay close." He felt Mokuba nod, and so Joey crossed himself. "Dear Lord, please help Lisa stop my dad. Please don't let him hurt anybody…"
Y
Even though Lisa kept her thoughts shielded from her friends, she could sense all of them and her family willing their strength to her. It had been almost 45 minutes since Jacob Wheeler had first come and drawn his gun and Lisa had stood her ground. She wondered why he hadn't simply fired. So she tried talking to him.
"Mr. Wheeler, why not just surrender? And why do this when you have a chance in the courts?"
"You don't know, you little XXXX! You and your little XXXXs run the world. You're supposed to submit to men!"
"Why do you think that?"
"Men run the world, but they've given their control to little XXXXs!"
"Why did you hurt Joey, then? Were you trying to get him to submit?"
"He's a pathetic little XXXX who doesn't care! He's happy having XXXXs run his life!"
"None of us 'run his life,' Mr. Wheeler. We women are friends with him. And he's a nice boy."
She'd hoped that talking to him would maybe get Jake to lower the gun and surrender, but no such luck. And now, it was drawing to noon. Lisa knew that eventually Jacob Wheeler would tire of standing there with his gun and either shoot or drop it. She didn't contemplate other possibilities. It was at this moment she sensed her fiancé reaching for her. Please stay with me, Lisa… I can't lose you.
Seto was terrified of losing her, and so she temporarily lowered her mental shields and sent, I'm not going to leave you, love. Seto heard that thought, and in his mind's eye, saw Lisa standing in front of him with the Blue Eyes White Dragon surrounding her protectively. It was then that all heck broke loose.
Jake Wheeler had finally tired of pointing the gun at the girl that stood in his way. He'd thought she'd get the message that he meant business when he flashed the gun at her. Pity he didn't have an automatic weapon, he mused; otherwise, he would've heavily loaded the thing, killed her and then rampaged through the hospital. As it was, he had six bullets in that gun. At least one of those would silence this little XXXXX, and then another bullet would silence his son. And then, he would silence himself. He'd never get a fair trial because chances were he'd get a female judge. But to make his plans work, he had to get through this doctor first. "C'mon, little girl," he said, effecting a smooth voice, "you can't keep me outta there forever."
Lisa looked at the man, noting how much in certain ways that Joey resembled him. Physically, anyway. He had Joey's blonde hair and brown eyes, but the eyes didn't have Joey's humor or warmth. She took a deep breath and said, "I can keep you away, Mr. Wheeler. I will not let you into this hospital and you will not harm my patients!"
"Well, if you feel that way about it," the drunken man said, grinning nastily. He fired his gun.
"Shots have been fired! The doctor has been hit!" Commentators all over the country shouted as one. Lisa's family gasped in horror.
"Lisa!" Seto screamed.
"Big sister!" Mokuba cried out, and Joey hugged him close. "Moks, don't let go," Joey said, keeping his voice calm.
Lisa had been hit. She felt a burning sensation on the upper part of her left arm and then a most unpleasant wet sensation. She also registered that her sleeve was torn. The wound stung, and it focused the teen Jedi girl. "Yes, I do feel that way, Mr. Wheeler," she answered, her eyes glowing like blue flame and her hair fluttering like it was being blown by a breeze. She summoned the same powers she was using to shield the hospital, but now used a small amount of it to repel. "Jedi Strike!" she shouted, blasting the man off his feet.
"What in the world?!" commentators yelled. "The assailant has been knocked backward and the source of the power that knocked him back appears to be Lisa Hammond! How did she do that?!" They had seen a sort of blue wave moving toward Jake Wheeler which had emanated from Lisa, and then he'd fallen down.
"What the—?!" Mai yelped.
"Great Scott!" Bakura exclaimed. "How did—?!"
"It's her powers," Seto said, eyes wide.
"Now what?" Yugi asked.
Lisa stood tall as Jake Wheeler regained his footing. He took several strides toward her until he was fifteen feet away from her. Lisa could smell the rank odor of cheap beer on him, and he was looking at her. Jacob Robert Wheeler looked like a hellish older version of Joey, his eyes wild. And then Lisa got a horrible, sinking sense of déjà vu. "Mr. Wheeler," she said calmly (though she definitely didn't feel it), "why don't you just surrender? Stop this before it gets worse."
But his eyes took on a madness that Lisa would see forever in her nightmares. "You wanted to stop me?!" he snarled, turning the angle of the gun to himself.
"No, don't!" Lisa shrieked, knowing what would happen before it happened, yet being powerless to stop it.
"You'll stop me!" he shouted, placing the gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. The back of Jacob Robert Wheeler's head blew away in a pink cloud and his ruined body sank to the ground. The news commentators gasped in shock at this development. Lisa, for her part, sank to her knees in shock. No…
The world began to spin, and Lisa Angela Hammond felt blackness at the edge of her vision. She gave in, and mercifully passed out in front of the entire world.
And that's the end of chapter twenty. I made Joey's dad really mean. From what I've gathered, he isn't a nice guy. I hope this was realistic enough. And now, Lisa's powers have been revealed to the world. She's an emotional mess. So what will happen next? Well, it will be interesting…
Read and review… please?