"What exactly are you talking about?"
The pitch in Mike's tone of voice made Gifford stop in the middle of stretching her free arm toward Steve's, then glance up at him sheepishly.
"We gotta cut off this IV.", the reporter explained matter-of-factly and resumed her task of reaching for his partner's left elbow by lying on her side, her tied up arm stretched to the max, "We can't just pull it out. The good doctor would notice that. But we could…we could try to block the flow of fluids coming from this IV. So the next time he tries to administer more sedatives, they won't reach Inspector Keller."
For a lack of a better plan, Mike nodded halfheartedly and watched Gifford grab the sleeve of Steve's plaid blue dress shirt, before pulling it up high enough to expose the needle stuck in the vein of his inner elbow.
"I actually read about this in a military book many years ago. It talked about two soldiers being held captive by insurgents and they were trying to drug them to get them to talk about the American outposts. One of the soldiers was able to free himself and manipulate the IV line of his partner, then his own, all the while pretending to be under the influence of mind altering drugs. It took them four long days until the time was right to flee, but once they were both fully coherent, they managed to escape unscathed."
Glancing down at his raw and bleeding wrists, Mike grunted, frustrated at the fact that neither his physical nor his mental strength were enough to get him out of the current situation this time around. As a matter of fact, relying on a reporter to solve part of their growing list of problems felt wrong on quite a few levels.
Regardless though, he watched Gifford use two fingers of her free hand to hold down the needle, and then slowly manipulate the tubing close to it, trying to bend it over. The result was a small trickle of blood coming from the injection site, not lost to either one of them.
"If I can just bend it enough to stop the flow of liquids and then hide it again under his shirt sleeve, that might be enough to accomplish our goal…"
With a heavy sigh, Gifford continued to manipulate the tubing for several long moments, failing at getting the thick plastic to cooperate.
"Just don't…don't hurt him…"
Mike wasn't sure why he'd said that other than the fact that his nerves were growing tired from the continuous onslaught of chaotic scenarios they somehow managed to get themselves into. Paired with the fear for his partner's life as well as his own; his emotions were readily visible, laying bare for the conspicuous audience to feed their thirst for drama on, unable to keep up the professional façade under the circumstances any longer.
"You really care deeply for him, don't you?", Gifford asked between failed attempts, too nervous to look up at him at the face of a question so personal he would never be willing to answer it under any normal situation.
"We're partners…", Mike answered dryly, his eyes fixated on Steve's still form, "Best friends even. I don't think anybody can even begin to imagine what we've been through together; what we've seen in our time on the force."
There was a long pause after he said that, and Gifford used the time to keep working on the plastic tubing, leaving Mike to ponder on the question some more.
"When everything is all said and done, people only see are the highlights, the good moments, the successes. But truth of the matter is that for every success, there are failures. For every closed case there are other murders that never find closure. For every good day, there's a bad one, a downright ugly one that makes you wish you'd chosen a different career path. For every vile criminal we put behind bars there are others who get away. But we keep coming back to the same job day after day, knowing that there're guys out there who would love to see us dead; that the press is hungrily waiting for us to make a mistake so that they can rub our faces in it…all the while dealing with a public that has grown weary and doubtful of the police force, almost willing to block our efforts to solve a case for some strange, police-hating agenda I can't quite understand. This is a high risk job and what accolades we may achieve come at a high price. Stephen understood that. And so did I. It helped us bond. And unless you have ever been in a situation where you were willing to give your life for that of your best friend, you honestly wouldn't understand. But that doesn't matter because…well…because Steve and I get that. We deal with it day in and out. And we don't need some newspaper to trample all over the things we hold dear for some greater need to engage the public."
Without a clear visual of what exactly Gifford was doing, Mike was left to stand by and wait, his eyes never leaving his stricken partner even when he saw the reporter move, then release a deep sigh.
"Those are some of the most beautiful and genuine words I have ever heard from somebody in a position such as yourself, Lieutenant. I can see why your partnership with Inspector Keller is dubbed legendary amongst my kind of ranks. I guess…I guess without experiencing the type of life you guys live every day, it's hard for normal people to understand and emphasize with you. They just don't get the depth of unconditional trust and caring that needs to go into a partnership like this. And I have to admit…I guess I didn't understand either."
"You mean to tell me that you're…what is the word I am thinking of…that your stereotypical description of our characters over the past few months was rather…premature? That there's a deeper meaning behind all this that you missed?"
Although he hadn't meant for his words to sound harsh, Mike could tell that Gifford was growing more secluded and hurt as their conversation carried on, undoubtedly at a conflict of the curiosity that was part of her job description versus general human decency and common sense.
"If you feel that was the case, you can rest assured that this was certainly not my intention.", Gifford countered and pulled back from Steve's position, but not without squeezing the young Inspector's elbow, "And while it is obvious that you find my way of reporting to be an intrusion into your privacy, I just wish that you'd…that you'd see what an amazing impact you have had on the citizens of San Francisco…beyond your…your police work. People are learning from your example, understanding that showing affection, even weakness at a time of great emotional duress is completely understandable…as a matter of fact, people are once again learning to appreciate the meaning of a deep friendship, thanks to what little I have been fortunate enough to witness going on between the two of you. Whether you want to admit it or not, you are not just a legend, you are almost a celebrity in this town. People love you and they are changed by your example. As such, they can't get enough of your adventures."
With clenched jaws, unwilling to keep arguing about mistakes of the past, Mike pointed his chin toward the locked door ahead.
"Adventure is not what I would call this right here. How far did you get?"
"I was able to bend the tubing enough to restrict, if not completely block the flow of liquids going through and into inspector Keller's veins. I tucked the fold underneath the sleeve of his shirt and used the bandaid for the needle to hold it down. That should pretty much hide it. So even if this Doctor Chong injects another dose of sedatives into the tubing, it shouldn't reach him."
"Good…thank you."
The unexpected words of gratitude made Gifford glance up again, her eyes reflecting what little light there was from a dusty bulb up above.
When a tense silence settled between them once again, the reporter shifted nervously, leaning her back against the pipe and playing with the seams of her sweatpants.
"I know you guys must go through something like this quite often but I would…I would lie if I said I wasn't the least bit scared. When these…these men showed up at my apartment and dragged me to their car and beat me, I thought…I thought I was going to die."
Stifling a sob, she ran a shaky hand across her face, careful to avoid the bruises.
With his back beginning to hurt from the strain of fighting the ropes, Mike shifted to the right a bit, taking some weight off his hip and knees while keeping an eye on the door and Gifford sitting next to it.
"I can assure you this is not an everyday occurrence for us either…", he tried soothingly and watched the reporter nod ever so slightly.
"Well…depending on how this plays out…and I won't pretend that I am expecting a good outcome at this point…I just…I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't lying when I said I am your biggest fan, Lieutenant. I have admired your work since I first started with the Telegraph almost twenty-five years ago. Word about your good deeds carries across town a lot. Your partnership with Inspector Keller has been the most intriguing and complex relationship I have ever witnessed and it's been a privilege to be able to watch you two interact with each other the way you do. It's nothing short of awe-inspiring."
At her words, Mike's eyes drifted back to his unconscious partner, using the slow rise and fall of Steve's chest as a sign of hope he dearly needed. They weren't dead yet and Chong had clearly left them alive for one haunting reason or another, giving the rest of San Francisco's Homicide squad valuable time to intercept.
And yet, the footfalls approaching their room off in the distance were a somber reminder that time indeed was the one thing they were mercilessly short on.