Author's Note, 12-17-02: Are ya still with me? Hope I didn't keep you in
too much suspense (well, ok, yes I do :). Lemme know what you think.
Working on Chapter 10 now.
Chapter 9
"Breathe"
*************
Help. Abby knew she should say it, yell it, scream it- anything besides just standing there in a frozen silence. But her voice wouldn't cooperate. Her feet wouldn't move. The nightmare that had plagued her for nights on end since the attack was now standing merely inches in front of her, taller and more intimidating than she remembered. She hugged Carter's coat tightly like a protective shield.
"Earth to Abby..." Brian waved her jacket around then dropped his arm heavily to his side when she didn't move a muscle. "Fine." He tossed the garment into Abby's open locker, pushing shut the door that was the only divider between him and the petite woman.
"Did anyone ever tell you you're not very friendly?"
Abby didn't even bother trying to make sense of what he was saying. She was working up the courage to breathe.
He sighed and moved on. "You know, security around here isn't very tight. Looks like anyone could get in if they play sick."
Through the jumble of thoughts swirling around in her head, Abby realized Brian was probably Conni's mystery patient. She wondered how long he had been here, watching her, hovering in the shadows and waiting to pounce. It sent chills up her spine.
"Not gonna talk to me, huh?" Brian continued in a taunting voice, taking a step towards her. He had her path to the exit blocked.
Another step closer was enough to snap Abby from her frightened trance. She widened the distance between them, backing up till her bottom bumped into the edge of the table. She put her hand on the wooden surface to steady herself, legs as unstable as Jell-O beneath her. Some of Jake's army men, still lined up for battle, tumbled to the floor.
"Too bad. I actually started to miss that smart mouth of yours." His roving eyes traveled across her figure as he reached out to touch her. "And that great little-"
Abby shoved his hand away.
"Oh, now we're getting somewhere!" Amused, Brian reached for her again, his hand pressing right against her unbearably sore rib. Whether it was on purpose or not, he had just managed to send pain shooting through every inch of her body. If he noticed, it didn't show. "That's what I like about you, Abby. You were good. Feisty. Joyce could get so... boring."
Breathless from the aching in her side, Abby's sentence was broken into fragments when she finally spoke. "Is... th-that why... you... killed her?" She almost dropped to her knees with relief when he removed his hand from the injured spot. An eerie silence followed and she chanced looking him in the eye.
"That wasn't supposed to happen," Brian said emotionless at first. His anger mounted as he continued. "I was just trying to talk to her. She wouldn't listen. She left that shelter to come back to ME, but all she would talk about was that rubbish YOU put into her head about getting us 'help.' Going on and on about Abby said this and Abby said that..."
While the man fumed, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger, Abby closed her trembling fingers around the knife that lay amongst Jake's trinkets that she had spread out a little while ago. Her hand had stumbled upon the sharp weapon moments before when she grabbed the table for support, but Brian had been too focused for her to make a move for it. His distracted tantrum gave her the opening she needed, and she took it, concealing the blade just behind Carter's coat. It was a knife suited for a hunter or a fisherman. The thick handle felt odd and frightening in her clammy hand. She had to force herself not to drop it. Brian had suddenly stopped speaking and glared at her like he knew exactly what she was hiding. Her heart pounded furiously.
"...I had to make her shut up, Abby. But it was an accident. I didn't mean to kill her," Brian insisted, fists clenched at his sides. "I loved my wife."
Abby fixed a hateful glare on the man, the knife giving her a bit more bravery than she actually possessed right then. "Bullshit," she snapped. "You don't know how to love anybody. You were just pissed off that for once she was smart enough to leave you."
"She left because of you!" Brian pointed an accusing finger in Abby's face, coming too close for comfort. She flinched, clutching the knife tightly.
"She came running back as soon as she didn't have you there to fill her head with a bunch of lies. I can't believe she was actually worried about you! Said you weren't answering her calls and we should check on you," Brian scoffed. His tone lightened as he shrugged and added, "I said I hoped you were dead."
Tears brimmed in Abby's brown eyes, threatening to spill until she blinked them away. She did not want to cry in front of him and appease whatever sick pleasure he derived from it. The guilt over not being there for Joyce nagged at her, though, confirming that she had failed. "What are you doing here, Brian?" she ventured, fearing she already knew the answer. "You got what you wanted. You won. Please... just leave me alone."
The man didn't speak, his gaze bore hard into hers. For a fleeting moment Abby thought he was actually going to step out of her way. Or maybe she only wished for it.
"I can't do that." Brian sounded almost apologetic as he grazed the backs of his fingers across her cheek, his hand drifting further down till the pads of his fingers traced a path along her smooth throat. "You should have just stayed out of it, Abby."
His touch made her shudder. She edged sideways, ready to break free and run for the door, an eerily similar escape as the one that had failed in her apartment. The knife would have been so easy to use, but it wasn't in her to stab someone, even if it was Brian. She saved lives, she didn't take them.
Brian's powerful hand tightened around her neck, preventing any further movement. Abby gagged and fought to pull away, but it was like a Chinese finger trap: the more you tugged the tighter it closed around you. Her lungs begged for oxygen, her mind screamed for her to do something. Anything. How ironic that Carter, who barely ever set foot in her apartment building, should be there right at the moment she needed saving, yet here in the hospital where he and a handful of coworkers were right outside the door, no one was coming to the rescue. No Carter to wake her from the nightmare this time. She was on the verge of losing consciousness when his coat slipped from her grasp. Suddenly Brian jolted, his features twisted in surprise as he unleashed Abby, the pale skin on her neck now red as fire and practically branded with his fingerprints. The horror in his eyes was mirrored in hers as she felt his warm blood seeping between her fingers, making the knife handle slippery. She let go as he staggered back a few steps and looked down at the half of the object that protruded from his stomach. It took a while for it to register in both their minds that she had stabbed him.
"Abby?" Brian looked bewildered, his complexion ashen, as the dark spot on his clothes rapidly began to spread. He pressed his hands around the wound like it might push the blood back in.
Woozy and panting for air, Abby swayed precariously with her first step forward. She knew she needed to run before Brian could regain any composure, and she came close to getting past him untouched until he caught her around the waist and nearly brought her crashing down with him as he fell to his knees. She struggled out of his grasp, slamming into the counter but staying on her feet. He was trying to get up when the room filled with a blinding light that made them both squint. Abby's attention snapped towards the doorway where Kerry, ready to check out and go home, stood gaping like an open-mouthed statue. The bloody scene triggered flashbacks of a certain chilling Valentine's Day discovery the red-head had made, ironically enough, two years ago this month.
"Somebody call security!" Weaver barked the order into the hall, causing a stir among the medical staff and patients who waited in chairs. She propelled herself forward with her cane, going straight to Abby. The man, still on one knee and grunting with his effort to stand, was obviously injured, but Kerry couldn't tell if the nurse was or not. "Are you hurt?" she asked, looking for a source of the blood that was on Abby's hands and clothes. When the woman shook her head, Kerry hurriedly guided her away from the hand that swiped at them as they moved around Brian. They nearly collided with Carter as he burst through the lounge door.
"Get her out of here," Kerry demanded, ushering Abby into the stunned man's care. His eyes darted over her shoulder to the man that suddenly hollered a threatening curse in Abby's direction.
Carter recognized Brian, a face he was sure would forever be imprinted in his memory, right next to the image of Paul Sobricki. He pushed Abby behind him protectively, a fierceness hardening his usually gentle features. Kerry stood in his way and didn't give him a chance to act on whatever rash impulse might be going through his brain right then.
"Carter. Go!"
Reluctantly obeying, Carter turned and led Abby into the hall and through the crowd of onlookers. Weaver waved Jerry over to stand watch at the door and called for a gurney.
"What happened? Did he hurt you?" Carter's concern was wrapped up in Abby now. She looked dazed and didn't answer at first. The blood made him anxious.
"He tried," she finally responded in a hushed voice. Her bottom lip trembled as she turned her face up to him. "I stabbed him, John. I- I didn't want to... but I couldn't breathe." The memory of how easily the blade dug into Brian's skin made Abby shudder and she inadvertently burst into tears, burying her face against Carter's chest as two of the security guards Weaver had requested rushed by and pushed their way into the crowd around the lounge. The doctor put his hand against the back of her head, not wanting her to turn and see that an immobile Brian was being wheeled down the opposite side of the hall on a gurney. He wanted to yell for them to just let the son of a bitch die; for Abby's sake he didn't. She was still crying into his white doctor's coat when the sound of police sirens, their red and blue lights flashing wildly as they pulled up outside the ER's automatic doors, filled the air.
Chapter 9
"Breathe"
*************
Help. Abby knew she should say it, yell it, scream it- anything besides just standing there in a frozen silence. But her voice wouldn't cooperate. Her feet wouldn't move. The nightmare that had plagued her for nights on end since the attack was now standing merely inches in front of her, taller and more intimidating than she remembered. She hugged Carter's coat tightly like a protective shield.
"Earth to Abby..." Brian waved her jacket around then dropped his arm heavily to his side when she didn't move a muscle. "Fine." He tossed the garment into Abby's open locker, pushing shut the door that was the only divider between him and the petite woman.
"Did anyone ever tell you you're not very friendly?"
Abby didn't even bother trying to make sense of what he was saying. She was working up the courage to breathe.
He sighed and moved on. "You know, security around here isn't very tight. Looks like anyone could get in if they play sick."
Through the jumble of thoughts swirling around in her head, Abby realized Brian was probably Conni's mystery patient. She wondered how long he had been here, watching her, hovering in the shadows and waiting to pounce. It sent chills up her spine.
"Not gonna talk to me, huh?" Brian continued in a taunting voice, taking a step towards her. He had her path to the exit blocked.
Another step closer was enough to snap Abby from her frightened trance. She widened the distance between them, backing up till her bottom bumped into the edge of the table. She put her hand on the wooden surface to steady herself, legs as unstable as Jell-O beneath her. Some of Jake's army men, still lined up for battle, tumbled to the floor.
"Too bad. I actually started to miss that smart mouth of yours." His roving eyes traveled across her figure as he reached out to touch her. "And that great little-"
Abby shoved his hand away.
"Oh, now we're getting somewhere!" Amused, Brian reached for her again, his hand pressing right against her unbearably sore rib. Whether it was on purpose or not, he had just managed to send pain shooting through every inch of her body. If he noticed, it didn't show. "That's what I like about you, Abby. You were good. Feisty. Joyce could get so... boring."
Breathless from the aching in her side, Abby's sentence was broken into fragments when she finally spoke. "Is... th-that why... you... killed her?" She almost dropped to her knees with relief when he removed his hand from the injured spot. An eerie silence followed and she chanced looking him in the eye.
"That wasn't supposed to happen," Brian said emotionless at first. His anger mounted as he continued. "I was just trying to talk to her. She wouldn't listen. She left that shelter to come back to ME, but all she would talk about was that rubbish YOU put into her head about getting us 'help.' Going on and on about Abby said this and Abby said that..."
While the man fumed, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger, Abby closed her trembling fingers around the knife that lay amongst Jake's trinkets that she had spread out a little while ago. Her hand had stumbled upon the sharp weapon moments before when she grabbed the table for support, but Brian had been too focused for her to make a move for it. His distracted tantrum gave her the opening she needed, and she took it, concealing the blade just behind Carter's coat. It was a knife suited for a hunter or a fisherman. The thick handle felt odd and frightening in her clammy hand. She had to force herself not to drop it. Brian had suddenly stopped speaking and glared at her like he knew exactly what she was hiding. Her heart pounded furiously.
"...I had to make her shut up, Abby. But it was an accident. I didn't mean to kill her," Brian insisted, fists clenched at his sides. "I loved my wife."
Abby fixed a hateful glare on the man, the knife giving her a bit more bravery than she actually possessed right then. "Bullshit," she snapped. "You don't know how to love anybody. You were just pissed off that for once she was smart enough to leave you."
"She left because of you!" Brian pointed an accusing finger in Abby's face, coming too close for comfort. She flinched, clutching the knife tightly.
"She came running back as soon as she didn't have you there to fill her head with a bunch of lies. I can't believe she was actually worried about you! Said you weren't answering her calls and we should check on you," Brian scoffed. His tone lightened as he shrugged and added, "I said I hoped you were dead."
Tears brimmed in Abby's brown eyes, threatening to spill until she blinked them away. She did not want to cry in front of him and appease whatever sick pleasure he derived from it. The guilt over not being there for Joyce nagged at her, though, confirming that she had failed. "What are you doing here, Brian?" she ventured, fearing she already knew the answer. "You got what you wanted. You won. Please... just leave me alone."
The man didn't speak, his gaze bore hard into hers. For a fleeting moment Abby thought he was actually going to step out of her way. Or maybe she only wished for it.
"I can't do that." Brian sounded almost apologetic as he grazed the backs of his fingers across her cheek, his hand drifting further down till the pads of his fingers traced a path along her smooth throat. "You should have just stayed out of it, Abby."
His touch made her shudder. She edged sideways, ready to break free and run for the door, an eerily similar escape as the one that had failed in her apartment. The knife would have been so easy to use, but it wasn't in her to stab someone, even if it was Brian. She saved lives, she didn't take them.
Brian's powerful hand tightened around her neck, preventing any further movement. Abby gagged and fought to pull away, but it was like a Chinese finger trap: the more you tugged the tighter it closed around you. Her lungs begged for oxygen, her mind screamed for her to do something. Anything. How ironic that Carter, who barely ever set foot in her apartment building, should be there right at the moment she needed saving, yet here in the hospital where he and a handful of coworkers were right outside the door, no one was coming to the rescue. No Carter to wake her from the nightmare this time. She was on the verge of losing consciousness when his coat slipped from her grasp. Suddenly Brian jolted, his features twisted in surprise as he unleashed Abby, the pale skin on her neck now red as fire and practically branded with his fingerprints. The horror in his eyes was mirrored in hers as she felt his warm blood seeping between her fingers, making the knife handle slippery. She let go as he staggered back a few steps and looked down at the half of the object that protruded from his stomach. It took a while for it to register in both their minds that she had stabbed him.
"Abby?" Brian looked bewildered, his complexion ashen, as the dark spot on his clothes rapidly began to spread. He pressed his hands around the wound like it might push the blood back in.
Woozy and panting for air, Abby swayed precariously with her first step forward. She knew she needed to run before Brian could regain any composure, and she came close to getting past him untouched until he caught her around the waist and nearly brought her crashing down with him as he fell to his knees. She struggled out of his grasp, slamming into the counter but staying on her feet. He was trying to get up when the room filled with a blinding light that made them both squint. Abby's attention snapped towards the doorway where Kerry, ready to check out and go home, stood gaping like an open-mouthed statue. The bloody scene triggered flashbacks of a certain chilling Valentine's Day discovery the red-head had made, ironically enough, two years ago this month.
"Somebody call security!" Weaver barked the order into the hall, causing a stir among the medical staff and patients who waited in chairs. She propelled herself forward with her cane, going straight to Abby. The man, still on one knee and grunting with his effort to stand, was obviously injured, but Kerry couldn't tell if the nurse was or not. "Are you hurt?" she asked, looking for a source of the blood that was on Abby's hands and clothes. When the woman shook her head, Kerry hurriedly guided her away from the hand that swiped at them as they moved around Brian. They nearly collided with Carter as he burst through the lounge door.
"Get her out of here," Kerry demanded, ushering Abby into the stunned man's care. His eyes darted over her shoulder to the man that suddenly hollered a threatening curse in Abby's direction.
Carter recognized Brian, a face he was sure would forever be imprinted in his memory, right next to the image of Paul Sobricki. He pushed Abby behind him protectively, a fierceness hardening his usually gentle features. Kerry stood in his way and didn't give him a chance to act on whatever rash impulse might be going through his brain right then.
"Carter. Go!"
Reluctantly obeying, Carter turned and led Abby into the hall and through the crowd of onlookers. Weaver waved Jerry over to stand watch at the door and called for a gurney.
"What happened? Did he hurt you?" Carter's concern was wrapped up in Abby now. She looked dazed and didn't answer at first. The blood made him anxious.
"He tried," she finally responded in a hushed voice. Her bottom lip trembled as she turned her face up to him. "I stabbed him, John. I- I didn't want to... but I couldn't breathe." The memory of how easily the blade dug into Brian's skin made Abby shudder and she inadvertently burst into tears, burying her face against Carter's chest as two of the security guards Weaver had requested rushed by and pushed their way into the crowd around the lounge. The doctor put his hand against the back of her head, not wanting her to turn and see that an immobile Brian was being wheeled down the opposite side of the hall on a gurney. He wanted to yell for them to just let the son of a bitch die; for Abby's sake he didn't. She was still crying into his white doctor's coat when the sound of police sirens, their red and blue lights flashing wildly as they pulled up outside the ER's automatic doors, filled the air.