Hey! So, I'm not making that end of March deadline, so my new deadline is the end of April.

Enjoy!


CHAPTER 45

After a few seconds, Carlton called, "Beth? Beth? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." Beth gasped as she pushed Fred off, the knife clattering onto the floor. "He, he landed o-on my sore arm but at least the kn-nife missed me." She sat up and watched as Fred gasped for air and tried to stop the bleeding. "Is he going to be okay?" She asked Carlton.

Carlton sat up slowly and looked at Fred. "I probably hit a lung. He, ah, he needs immediate medical attention or his odds of survival are low." He groaned as he held his head.

"Can't we just let him bleed out?" Beth asked shakily.

"Could you live with yourself if you let that happen?"

She shook her head. "N-no. Why me?"

"Because I'm still feeling the affects of the Chloroform that he gave me. I need you to grab some plastic wrap and a towel."

Beth quickly got up and grabbed them. "Now what?"

"Pull up his shirt and, after wiping some of the blood away, place plastic wrap over the wound."

"Okay, what next?"

Carlton covered his mouth for a few seconds. "I need to call an ambulance."

"Juliet was sending a unit over and probably called an ambulance by now." Beth frowned as she looked at Carlton. "Doesn't chloroform cause unconsciousness or something?"

Carlton shook his head. "It depends on how much and for how long. Since it was a short exposure, I only passed out for a few seconds, but I've got one hell of a headache and am nauseous."

Beth was about to ask him another question when her arm was grabbed. She jumped and looked down at Fred. He was still gasping but looked right at her. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "L-let go of me, F-fred."

"I knew *gasp* you still loved *gasp* me."

She shook her head. "I don't. You're the one obsessed with me and can't take no for an answer. Now look what happened."

He lifted his hand and touched her face. "You're *gasp* so beaut-beautiful. *gasp* Shoulda married."

"Please stop." Beth whispered as a tear fell.

"T-tell Kevin *cough cough* I'm sorry."

"You should tell him yourself."

Fred let his hand fall as his breathing got worse. "No time."

She heard the sirens pull up to the house and pleaded "Please hang on, Fred! Help is coming."

"You ever *gasp* won-wonder what heaven's like?"

"Don't, don't talk like that."

Fred coughed violently before saying, "I th-think it's a beautiful, Bethie. But I don't think I'm going there."

Hearing someone enter the house, Beth yelled, "In the kitchen! We need medics now!" She looked down at Fred and said, "Of course you'll go to heaven. Jesus saves us all, you just have to repent."

"I l-loved you too *gasp* too much, but I'm not s-sorry *cough*."

The police barged in and started asking questions. One of them gently pushed Beth out of the way and checked Fred over. Beth scooted back to the cabinets and pulled her knees up. There was yelling and people talking, but she zoned it all out. It took a minute for her to realize that Carlton had moved next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him and let the tears come. "It's really over?"

"Looks like it. I'm sorry."

"Me too." She whispered as the medics finally arrived with a backboard and stretcher. When they started chest compressions, she turned away.

Carlton squeezed her shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"

Beth laughed and looked at him. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I'll be fine. What are you thinking right now?"

"That I don't want him to die. But if he does, then I won't have to worry about him coming after me anymore. Does that make me a bad person?"

Carlton shook his head, "No. It makes you human."

They looked over as the medics finally moved Fred out of the house. She shook her head, "God, I'm gonna live with this guilt for the rest of my life."

"Hey." Carlton waited until she was looking at him again before continuing. "It wasn't your fault. He came after both of us, threatening to kidnap and kill you. So I shot him. I was aiming for his arm, but because my head was groggy, I missed. Internal Affairs is gonna be on my ass for at least a week. And I can probably just forget about working the rest of the week. So after another week or so, we can put this behind us and continue our lives together."

"Together?" Beth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Carlton! Beth!" Juliet yelled as she entered the kitchen. She fell on the floor and hugged them both. "I'm so glad that you're both okay!"

"O'Hara! My ribs!" Carlton gasped.

"Oh, Sorry!" Juliet blushed as she pulled back. "Carlton, are you okay? Beth said that she saw you unmoving on the floor. What happened?"

He held a hand to stop further questions. "I'm fine. Just a bit of chloroform that was enough to incapacitate me; but I was only unconscious for a few seconds, a minute tops."

"Carlton, you know the protocol for being drugged is to get checked out at the hospital." Juliet said gently.

"I've been in enough hospitals for the past year to last me a lifetime." Carlton shot back, stubbornly.

"Carlton?" Beth asked quietly. When he looked at her, she smiled slightly, "Please go. For me? I'll drive you there and back home tonight. We won't stay overnight unless absolutely necessary."

Carlton studied her face for a moment, seeing the fear still there, before he nodded. "Fine, I'll go."

"Thanks." She squeezed his hand gently.

Juliet flashed a grateful smile at Beth. "Before you go, I need statements from both of you."