Hey ya, I'm back! Did you miss me...oh please, don't answer it! So hey,
thank you so mush for your reviews and support and everything! It's so
great! And still special thanks to Wuemsel, the one and only "Brain", to
Regina, the dancing queen and Anna, my tall stuff!
All disclaimers apply and then there is still the thing with the song: The song "One Of These Days" is not mine, but was sung and published by LeAnn Rimes on the album "I Need You". And I don't own the programme "ER"! (double duh!)
Read 'n' enjoy...
Wish someone would tell me when
I won't think of you again
I'll get past the emptiness and
Let a little happiness back in
Pretending that you came
Leaves me half way there
One of these one of these days
I'll be completely over you
Heaven knows how long it will take
And one of these one of these days
I'll find somebody who'll love your memories away
One of these days
One of these days
Some how some way
Ever since you've been gone
Time has a way of dragging on and on
Friends drive by for company
But i'm not much company for long
Oh i'll get past the what was
If i live long enough
One of these one of these days
I'll be completely over you
Heaven knows how long it will take
And one of these one of these days
I'll find somebody who'll love your memories away some way
One of these days
One of these days
Some how some way
One of these one of these days
Steve rubbed his face and and looked desperately at the mess on the table in the doctor's lounge. It was covered with files, biographies, photographs, with everything that he had got from the LAPD and was related to Susan in any way. There were files about Greg Hutchens who Jesse and Susan had met some years ago and who died shortly after they had figured out that Greg was hiding a fortune from the tax bureaus. There were formulars from nursery school and the UC Santa Cruze where Susan had studied, files from the police departement in Santa Cruze though there wasn't much in them apart from some unpaid parking tickets. Steve shook his head. Where it was hard to reconstruct the life of a person by the official traces that person had left somewhere in parking tickets and college formulars, it was even harder to find out what all that had to do with a murder, an attempted murder and a kidnapping. Jesse's car was still in the parking lot and the owner nowhere to be found and considering the circumstances, they assumed the worst.
"I gotta admitt I just don't get it...", Steve mumbled.
"I don't either, but it must be in here somewhere. Whoever kidnapped Jesse, probably tried to murder Susan and already murdered Robert Bakins", said Mark, reading the files interestedly.
"Oh, that makes me feel better! Not only we don't have that guy, we also know that he doesn't hesitate to kill people!", retorted Steve.
"I know you're worried, but you won't help him by going crazy. Try to think logically!"
"But that isn't logical!", exclaimed Steve. "Why should anybody try to kill Susan? Or Jesse? Why them?"
"I have the feeling that only Susan can tell us that, which isn't possible as she still is in a coma. So we must figure it out ourselves!", Mark tried to convince Steve of finally putting aside his incoherent behaviour and think like a cop. The matter was that Steve thought like a brother at the moment and Mark couldn't blame him for that.
"Why are you sure that he was kidnapped anyway?", inquired Johnny who was leaning against the doorframe, munching unidentifical hospital food.
"Because he is nowhere to be found!", Steve barked impatiently.
"I was just thinking...". started Johnny, but was harshly interrupted by the lieutenant.
"Do me a favor and stop thinking!"
"I only wanna help!", mumbled Johnny, mouthful of pudding.
"By raiding the hospital cantine?!"
"I can think better when I've eaten something..."
"Haven't I just told you not to think?!"
"Ok guys, that's enough now!", Mark cut in, sounding quite unnervedly. He hated it when he had to get resolute, but at this moment there seemed to be no other possibility. Normally he would have chuckled about his son behaving like a big child towards someone he should actually be an authority for, but right now he didn't appreciate that childish behaviour at all. He had the terrible idea that something had happened to Jesse which would lead to horrible consequences if they didn't do anything...fast...
A guilty silence filled the air, both Johnny and Steve stared absent-minded into the room, inside feeling slightly emberrassed once they had realised that they were really behaving like two big kids.
"Sorry..." Mark heard two boyish voices and nodded satisfiedly.
Steve took a deep breath. "We must find out if anybody has seen anything around here. It's impossible that a man can just vanish without anyone noticing it."
"The security cameras...", murmured Johnny.
"Oh, great idea! You don't really think the kidnapper parks his car in the parking lot of the hospital! We live in the twenty-first century, that guy can't be so stupid that he doesn't know that security cams are installed almost everywhere!", Steve replied, but suddenly doubted his own statement when he saw his father's eyes sparkle which was a typical sign for Mark having an idea.
"Wait Steve...maybe that idea really wasn't that bad..."
Jesse slowly drifted back to consciousness and opened his eyes, blinked once and when that didn't seem to help, twice. But everything remained dark in front of his eyes and a dull pain washed over his head. As soon as he was fully awake a heavy cough shook his whole body, bringing back the blurred memories into his dizzy mind within a second.
He meant to smell sedatives and suddenly was convinced to feel someone pressing a chloroform-soaked cloth onto his mouth. Panic rose again in his body, tensed every muscle and made him reach out his hand in order to defend somehow against that invisible attacker who seemed to be hidden in the endless dark.
But slowly Jesse got aware of the fact that no one had a hold on him, that there was no one around at all, only darkness which just wouldn't vanish no matter how often he blinked, struggled, rubbed over his eyes with his hands. He came to the final conclusion that he had to do something, move in some way and so Jesse backed up on his ellbowes.
He only didn't get far. After he had lifted his head only a few inches, it smashed against the ceiling of the hell-knew-what it was he was lying in. With a painful moan and among several curses Jesse sank back to his former position like nailed to floor and once again tried to get a view at anything. But he just couldn't see!
Cautiously he reached out his hands, trying to get a grib at any of his surroundings, but earned nothing more than the awareness that the room he was kept in was barely bigger than himself. He couldn't stretch out his full body length, couldn't sit up, not to mention stand. 'I wanna see Steve in here...', he thought almost gleefully before he concentrated back on that thing that was his jail, but also realized that it was becoming more and more difficult for him to breath.
A new wave of panic stroke him as his last attempt free himself from this swallowing darkness failed. He was caught, wherever he was, he couldn't get out.
Again he drew a deep breath, but the air in this room was stuffy and hot, not any kind of air his lungs demanded to breath in so urgently. Jesse now noticed that he had made a big mistake by moving so much while knowing that it wouldn't help him because it had cost far too much energy and -more important- too much oxygen.
The young doctor had learned about signs of heavy dyspnoea and once that those were gaining the upper hand of his already shaken weak system he decided that he it was even worse that he had imagined. As a doctor you stop at a certain point thinking about pain and how it makes you feel and just treat it. But pain could be so different. It could burn you up, pierce you, tear you or just nag on you without you noticing it yourself.
Parts of his body started to get limb while others were already completely numb, he sweated like hell and nausea swept over him from time to time. The only thing that he wanted to do was close his eyes, give in to the urge to faid but on the other hand he was too afraid that if he now driften away, he would never be able to return. However, he knew that he was suffocating and had basically no chance left to fight against it any longer.
Jesse just hoped that they would find him..in time. And though his friends surely would never have let him down, he wasn't sure if they, unintentionelly of course, wouldn't be able to help him now. 'Probably not this time...', was his last thought before he lost consciousness.
"Here it is!", Johnny held up a tape as he entered the lounge, grinning triumphingly.
"Great, so you could convince them to give it to you!", Mark looked happily, quite sure that on that tape was the key to what they were hoping to find.
"Actually I could convince Sheila...she is one of the security guards, looks really sexy in uniform, I can tell ya..." Johnny started overexcitedly, but when he earned a more than sharp glance from Steve he grew serious again. "So..erm...did you find out anything?"
Steve shook his head. "Not really..." then he looked at his father who was about to push the tape into the recorder that Dawn's predecessor had generously donated for the poor under- paid and over-worked docs who could now relax in the lounge while watching all ER-Seasons that were already released on video.
Mark, however, believed that what they would find on that tape, if they did find something, it wasn't all to their happiness.
Steve sighed and threw is dad a reproachful glance. "Now won't you let me die stupid! Where is that tape from and how will it help us to find Jesse?..."
"That would have been my question, too!", Johnny interrupted.
In the meantime Mark had settled on a chair and at Steve's and Johnny's curious eyes, then started to explain:"I told you earlier that I went looking für Jesse and was actually believing to find him near the emergency exit..it's a very good place for hiding..."
"Yeah and don't forget that's it's even better for letting yourself being kidnapped since no one will ever find a trace of you there!", Steve added sarcastically, nagging his lip furiously. He would never forgive himself if he didn't find his best friend.
Mark ignored his son's remark and went on:"You know, near that exit is a car park, but it's also hardly ever used. That's why years ago the administration decided not to have a cam installed there."
"But let me guess, they did now...", Steve asked mischieviously.
Mark grinned at his son. "Exactly...but that was not long ago, so there are still the shields which say that there is no camera taping...on that tape is everything, from the time Jesse was last seen in ER 'till the moment I found Susan's passport...let's see if we're lucky..."
He switched on the television and the recorder and soon a zoom over the mainly empty car park appeared on the screen. In fact, only a few minutes had passed until a black car drove slowly into one of the parking spaces and a man got out. But instead of going towards the main entrance of tha hospital he chose another direction, to the park behind the CGH.
Another few minutes passed until he came back, but...Steve, Johnny and Mark gasped in shock. The man was pushing something next to himself what looked like a very limb body.
"That's Jesse, to hundred percent!", Steve mumbled.
The stranger didn't exactly treat the obviously unconscious Jesse like what one would call cautiously. He pushed and dragged with pure violence until the weak form was lying on the back seat of the black car.
Steve had seen enough. "Okay, I will take that thing to the station and have it worked over digitally. Then we should be able to make out the car registration number!"
They were able to indeed. About half an hour after they had sent the car registration number of the black Rover into every police car in LA they really got a hint.
Steve turned the wheel heavily to the site, and made a emergency break as his car impended to crash into the police cars which were already parked on the scrapyard in the 4th street. Johnny sighed relievedly. If he had thought that he had one wild way to drive, he knew better now. The lieutenant scanned his protegès pale face and almost had to grin:"Everything okay?"
Johnny breathed in deeply. "Y-yeah...I think so..." He shyly removed his hands from the seat, his fingers had cramped tightly around the edge. "Apart from the fact that my stomach and my liver changed places, I guess..."
"You'll get used to it!", Steve loosened his seat belt and got out of his car. Mark had just got out of his as also Johnny came to his feet, stumbling. They walked over to a man who seemed to be responsible for this yard and who, to their relief, was too stunned and excited by being interrogated by the police that he was really more than willing to give information. "He was right over there!", he shouted even before Steve could show his bandage.
"Yeah, you know, I had just went looking how my new employee was doing his work at the scrap-press and when I returned I saw that man and he saw me and then he jumped into his car and drove away...", the excited man said.
"Was there someone else in the car?", Mark inquired.
The man thought and shook his head. "No, I don't think so..."
"What did he do here?", questioned Steve.
The yard keeper again shook his head. "I don't know. Of course, I went looking if he had done any damage, but there wasn't any...not at the first sight at least. Then I called the police...you know, just in case...and your colleagues told me that you're looking for that car..."
"Thanks", Steve smiled friendly and the turned to Johnny and his dad. "Great? But where is Jess?", he whispered.
"If he wasn't in the car and is not here...then...", Mark's brain was already running on wheels.
"The car trunks!", Johnny suddenly exclaimed.
"What?" Mark and Steve asked in unison.
"You know, in a book I once read there was that guy...and...I don't know what he did, but he locked that other guy in a car trunk on a scrapyard...", explained Johnny.
Steve rolled his eyes. "Lovely! But tell me that book didn't say how he was found by any chance. Because I don't know if you noticed it, but here are hell a lot of cars and hell a lot of trunks!"
Johnny hung his head. "Nooo, as far as I can remember that guy wasn't found at all..."
"But maybe we'll be luckier...", Mark held his hands up appeasingly as he saw how Steve was near exploding. "Those cars here are covered with dust...when we go looking for a car which was touched recently, we should be able to find..." he didn't even have enough time to finish the sentence when Steve already had ordered the police officers to search for such a car and also Johnny made his way towards the area that the keeper had shown them.
Steve and Mark remained standing where they were for moment.
"And what if that's all rubbish?", Steve whispered, not daring to let his worries come into his tone. "If he isn't here at all, then...we're just wasting our time..."
Mark nodded merely and gave his son an understanding look. "I know Steve...but if he really is here, we may be rescuing his life..."
Johnny had been strolling along the coutless lines of old broken cars, looking carefully at each of the vehicles when he noticed the trunk of an old blue Mercedes that was clean in some places. It could've been the print of a hand, though Johnny wasn't too sure about that. "Lieutenant! Mark! Here is something!", he called while already trying to open the trunk. "What's up?", panted Steve, coming to stop next to Johnny, his dad right behind him.
"There are fingerprints, I think!", Johnny was already trying to force open the trunk, but it was jammed.
'God bless the pocket knifes...' thought Steve when he pulled his out of his pocket and stuck it into the lock. He turned it to the left and to the right and suddenly they heard a click.
Steve opened the trunk with shivering hands and by the time it was open He, his dad and Johnny gasped even heavier than when they had as they had watched the tape from the security cam.
Before them was lying Jesse, crouched, with pale, almost blue skin as Steve noticed horrorfiedly and sweat covered body, a big bruise over his temple. A movement of his chest was hardly noticable and for a moment Steve wasn't sure if his friend was dead or alive.
At the moment he saw his friend Mark's heart stopped. As cowered as he lay there he reminded him of a small child, sleeping peacefully, but from the lifeless expression on Jesse's face you could tell that it wasn't a nap on the couch, but a walk on the line between death and life.
After something that wasn't more like two seconds of shock which seemed to be an eternity for all of them, they reacted quickly. Steve carefully lifted his friend out of the car. He had almost hoped to be beaten while trying that, hoping for any signs of Jesse being alive, for him realising what was happening to him, but Jesse's small form remained still in his arms and also when he lay him onto the ground.
Mark knelt down next to his friend and gently slapped whose cheek. "Jesse...can you hear me?..." Then he suddenly froze. Where there had been a small movement of the chest, however, hardly to see, there was know nothing.
"Steve he's stopped breathing, we gotta start CPR!", Mark commanded plainly, already pressing down his hands onto Jesse's chest.
Steve reacted fast, put his lips onto his friend's, simply praying that they hadn't been too late. "C'mon, Jess, breath! Don't leave us here like this, please Jesse, just breath in!", he muttered while staring at Jesse's face pleadingly before he started the next breath.
Their hearts raced, even Johnny's who had only been watching, stunned, astounded and scared at the same time. And also he sighed in relief there was finally the long awaited gasp.
Jesse coughed and winced heavily and tried to free himself from Mark's and Steve's firm gribs which were hurting actually. Once more he drew a deep breath.
Father and son wiped the sweat off their faces and looked at each other, smiling satisfiedly at the regular lifting and sinking of Jesse's chest.
"He really scared the hell outta me!", Steve admitted once he had found his voice again.
Mark nodded and answered under breath:"Me too, son!...Me too!"
All disclaimers apply and then there is still the thing with the song: The song "One Of These Days" is not mine, but was sung and published by LeAnn Rimes on the album "I Need You". And I don't own the programme "ER"! (double duh!)
Read 'n' enjoy...
Wish someone would tell me when
I won't think of you again
I'll get past the emptiness and
Let a little happiness back in
Pretending that you came
Leaves me half way there
One of these one of these days
I'll be completely over you
Heaven knows how long it will take
And one of these one of these days
I'll find somebody who'll love your memories away
One of these days
One of these days
Some how some way
Ever since you've been gone
Time has a way of dragging on and on
Friends drive by for company
But i'm not much company for long
Oh i'll get past the what was
If i live long enough
One of these one of these days
I'll be completely over you
Heaven knows how long it will take
And one of these one of these days
I'll find somebody who'll love your memories away some way
One of these days
One of these days
Some how some way
One of these one of these days
Steve rubbed his face and and looked desperately at the mess on the table in the doctor's lounge. It was covered with files, biographies, photographs, with everything that he had got from the LAPD and was related to Susan in any way. There were files about Greg Hutchens who Jesse and Susan had met some years ago and who died shortly after they had figured out that Greg was hiding a fortune from the tax bureaus. There were formulars from nursery school and the UC Santa Cruze where Susan had studied, files from the police departement in Santa Cruze though there wasn't much in them apart from some unpaid parking tickets. Steve shook his head. Where it was hard to reconstruct the life of a person by the official traces that person had left somewhere in parking tickets and college formulars, it was even harder to find out what all that had to do with a murder, an attempted murder and a kidnapping. Jesse's car was still in the parking lot and the owner nowhere to be found and considering the circumstances, they assumed the worst.
"I gotta admitt I just don't get it...", Steve mumbled.
"I don't either, but it must be in here somewhere. Whoever kidnapped Jesse, probably tried to murder Susan and already murdered Robert Bakins", said Mark, reading the files interestedly.
"Oh, that makes me feel better! Not only we don't have that guy, we also know that he doesn't hesitate to kill people!", retorted Steve.
"I know you're worried, but you won't help him by going crazy. Try to think logically!"
"But that isn't logical!", exclaimed Steve. "Why should anybody try to kill Susan? Or Jesse? Why them?"
"I have the feeling that only Susan can tell us that, which isn't possible as she still is in a coma. So we must figure it out ourselves!", Mark tried to convince Steve of finally putting aside his incoherent behaviour and think like a cop. The matter was that Steve thought like a brother at the moment and Mark couldn't blame him for that.
"Why are you sure that he was kidnapped anyway?", inquired Johnny who was leaning against the doorframe, munching unidentifical hospital food.
"Because he is nowhere to be found!", Steve barked impatiently.
"I was just thinking...". started Johnny, but was harshly interrupted by the lieutenant.
"Do me a favor and stop thinking!"
"I only wanna help!", mumbled Johnny, mouthful of pudding.
"By raiding the hospital cantine?!"
"I can think better when I've eaten something..."
"Haven't I just told you not to think?!"
"Ok guys, that's enough now!", Mark cut in, sounding quite unnervedly. He hated it when he had to get resolute, but at this moment there seemed to be no other possibility. Normally he would have chuckled about his son behaving like a big child towards someone he should actually be an authority for, but right now he didn't appreciate that childish behaviour at all. He had the terrible idea that something had happened to Jesse which would lead to horrible consequences if they didn't do anything...fast...
A guilty silence filled the air, both Johnny and Steve stared absent-minded into the room, inside feeling slightly emberrassed once they had realised that they were really behaving like two big kids.
"Sorry..." Mark heard two boyish voices and nodded satisfiedly.
Steve took a deep breath. "We must find out if anybody has seen anything around here. It's impossible that a man can just vanish without anyone noticing it."
"The security cameras...", murmured Johnny.
"Oh, great idea! You don't really think the kidnapper parks his car in the parking lot of the hospital! We live in the twenty-first century, that guy can't be so stupid that he doesn't know that security cams are installed almost everywhere!", Steve replied, but suddenly doubted his own statement when he saw his father's eyes sparkle which was a typical sign for Mark having an idea.
"Wait Steve...maybe that idea really wasn't that bad..."
Jesse slowly drifted back to consciousness and opened his eyes, blinked once and when that didn't seem to help, twice. But everything remained dark in front of his eyes and a dull pain washed over his head. As soon as he was fully awake a heavy cough shook his whole body, bringing back the blurred memories into his dizzy mind within a second.
He meant to smell sedatives and suddenly was convinced to feel someone pressing a chloroform-soaked cloth onto his mouth. Panic rose again in his body, tensed every muscle and made him reach out his hand in order to defend somehow against that invisible attacker who seemed to be hidden in the endless dark.
But slowly Jesse got aware of the fact that no one had a hold on him, that there was no one around at all, only darkness which just wouldn't vanish no matter how often he blinked, struggled, rubbed over his eyes with his hands. He came to the final conclusion that he had to do something, move in some way and so Jesse backed up on his ellbowes.
He only didn't get far. After he had lifted his head only a few inches, it smashed against the ceiling of the hell-knew-what it was he was lying in. With a painful moan and among several curses Jesse sank back to his former position like nailed to floor and once again tried to get a view at anything. But he just couldn't see!
Cautiously he reached out his hands, trying to get a grib at any of his surroundings, but earned nothing more than the awareness that the room he was kept in was barely bigger than himself. He couldn't stretch out his full body length, couldn't sit up, not to mention stand. 'I wanna see Steve in here...', he thought almost gleefully before he concentrated back on that thing that was his jail, but also realized that it was becoming more and more difficult for him to breath.
A new wave of panic stroke him as his last attempt free himself from this swallowing darkness failed. He was caught, wherever he was, he couldn't get out.
Again he drew a deep breath, but the air in this room was stuffy and hot, not any kind of air his lungs demanded to breath in so urgently. Jesse now noticed that he had made a big mistake by moving so much while knowing that it wouldn't help him because it had cost far too much energy and -more important- too much oxygen.
The young doctor had learned about signs of heavy dyspnoea and once that those were gaining the upper hand of his already shaken weak system he decided that he it was even worse that he had imagined. As a doctor you stop at a certain point thinking about pain and how it makes you feel and just treat it. But pain could be so different. It could burn you up, pierce you, tear you or just nag on you without you noticing it yourself.
Parts of his body started to get limb while others were already completely numb, he sweated like hell and nausea swept over him from time to time. The only thing that he wanted to do was close his eyes, give in to the urge to faid but on the other hand he was too afraid that if he now driften away, he would never be able to return. However, he knew that he was suffocating and had basically no chance left to fight against it any longer.
Jesse just hoped that they would find him..in time. And though his friends surely would never have let him down, he wasn't sure if they, unintentionelly of course, wouldn't be able to help him now. 'Probably not this time...', was his last thought before he lost consciousness.
"Here it is!", Johnny held up a tape as he entered the lounge, grinning triumphingly.
"Great, so you could convince them to give it to you!", Mark looked happily, quite sure that on that tape was the key to what they were hoping to find.
"Actually I could convince Sheila...she is one of the security guards, looks really sexy in uniform, I can tell ya..." Johnny started overexcitedly, but when he earned a more than sharp glance from Steve he grew serious again. "So..erm...did you find out anything?"
Steve shook his head. "Not really..." then he looked at his father who was about to push the tape into the recorder that Dawn's predecessor had generously donated for the poor under- paid and over-worked docs who could now relax in the lounge while watching all ER-Seasons that were already released on video.
Mark, however, believed that what they would find on that tape, if they did find something, it wasn't all to their happiness.
Steve sighed and threw is dad a reproachful glance. "Now won't you let me die stupid! Where is that tape from and how will it help us to find Jesse?..."
"That would have been my question, too!", Johnny interrupted.
In the meantime Mark had settled on a chair and at Steve's and Johnny's curious eyes, then started to explain:"I told you earlier that I went looking für Jesse and was actually believing to find him near the emergency exit..it's a very good place for hiding..."
"Yeah and don't forget that's it's even better for letting yourself being kidnapped since no one will ever find a trace of you there!", Steve added sarcastically, nagging his lip furiously. He would never forgive himself if he didn't find his best friend.
Mark ignored his son's remark and went on:"You know, near that exit is a car park, but it's also hardly ever used. That's why years ago the administration decided not to have a cam installed there."
"But let me guess, they did now...", Steve asked mischieviously.
Mark grinned at his son. "Exactly...but that was not long ago, so there are still the shields which say that there is no camera taping...on that tape is everything, from the time Jesse was last seen in ER 'till the moment I found Susan's passport...let's see if we're lucky..."
He switched on the television and the recorder and soon a zoom over the mainly empty car park appeared on the screen. In fact, only a few minutes had passed until a black car drove slowly into one of the parking spaces and a man got out. But instead of going towards the main entrance of tha hospital he chose another direction, to the park behind the CGH.
Another few minutes passed until he came back, but...Steve, Johnny and Mark gasped in shock. The man was pushing something next to himself what looked like a very limb body.
"That's Jesse, to hundred percent!", Steve mumbled.
The stranger didn't exactly treat the obviously unconscious Jesse like what one would call cautiously. He pushed and dragged with pure violence until the weak form was lying on the back seat of the black car.
Steve had seen enough. "Okay, I will take that thing to the station and have it worked over digitally. Then we should be able to make out the car registration number!"
They were able to indeed. About half an hour after they had sent the car registration number of the black Rover into every police car in LA they really got a hint.
Steve turned the wheel heavily to the site, and made a emergency break as his car impended to crash into the police cars which were already parked on the scrapyard in the 4th street. Johnny sighed relievedly. If he had thought that he had one wild way to drive, he knew better now. The lieutenant scanned his protegès pale face and almost had to grin:"Everything okay?"
Johnny breathed in deeply. "Y-yeah...I think so..." He shyly removed his hands from the seat, his fingers had cramped tightly around the edge. "Apart from the fact that my stomach and my liver changed places, I guess..."
"You'll get used to it!", Steve loosened his seat belt and got out of his car. Mark had just got out of his as also Johnny came to his feet, stumbling. They walked over to a man who seemed to be responsible for this yard and who, to their relief, was too stunned and excited by being interrogated by the police that he was really more than willing to give information. "He was right over there!", he shouted even before Steve could show his bandage.
"Yeah, you know, I had just went looking how my new employee was doing his work at the scrap-press and when I returned I saw that man and he saw me and then he jumped into his car and drove away...", the excited man said.
"Was there someone else in the car?", Mark inquired.
The man thought and shook his head. "No, I don't think so..."
"What did he do here?", questioned Steve.
The yard keeper again shook his head. "I don't know. Of course, I went looking if he had done any damage, but there wasn't any...not at the first sight at least. Then I called the police...you know, just in case...and your colleagues told me that you're looking for that car..."
"Thanks", Steve smiled friendly and the turned to Johnny and his dad. "Great? But where is Jess?", he whispered.
"If he wasn't in the car and is not here...then...", Mark's brain was already running on wheels.
"The car trunks!", Johnny suddenly exclaimed.
"What?" Mark and Steve asked in unison.
"You know, in a book I once read there was that guy...and...I don't know what he did, but he locked that other guy in a car trunk on a scrapyard...", explained Johnny.
Steve rolled his eyes. "Lovely! But tell me that book didn't say how he was found by any chance. Because I don't know if you noticed it, but here are hell a lot of cars and hell a lot of trunks!"
Johnny hung his head. "Nooo, as far as I can remember that guy wasn't found at all..."
"But maybe we'll be luckier...", Mark held his hands up appeasingly as he saw how Steve was near exploding. "Those cars here are covered with dust...when we go looking for a car which was touched recently, we should be able to find..." he didn't even have enough time to finish the sentence when Steve already had ordered the police officers to search for such a car and also Johnny made his way towards the area that the keeper had shown them.
Steve and Mark remained standing where they were for moment.
"And what if that's all rubbish?", Steve whispered, not daring to let his worries come into his tone. "If he isn't here at all, then...we're just wasting our time..."
Mark nodded merely and gave his son an understanding look. "I know Steve...but if he really is here, we may be rescuing his life..."
Johnny had been strolling along the coutless lines of old broken cars, looking carefully at each of the vehicles when he noticed the trunk of an old blue Mercedes that was clean in some places. It could've been the print of a hand, though Johnny wasn't too sure about that. "Lieutenant! Mark! Here is something!", he called while already trying to open the trunk. "What's up?", panted Steve, coming to stop next to Johnny, his dad right behind him.
"There are fingerprints, I think!", Johnny was already trying to force open the trunk, but it was jammed.
'God bless the pocket knifes...' thought Steve when he pulled his out of his pocket and stuck it into the lock. He turned it to the left and to the right and suddenly they heard a click.
Steve opened the trunk with shivering hands and by the time it was open He, his dad and Johnny gasped even heavier than when they had as they had watched the tape from the security cam.
Before them was lying Jesse, crouched, with pale, almost blue skin as Steve noticed horrorfiedly and sweat covered body, a big bruise over his temple. A movement of his chest was hardly noticable and for a moment Steve wasn't sure if his friend was dead or alive.
At the moment he saw his friend Mark's heart stopped. As cowered as he lay there he reminded him of a small child, sleeping peacefully, but from the lifeless expression on Jesse's face you could tell that it wasn't a nap on the couch, but a walk on the line between death and life.
After something that wasn't more like two seconds of shock which seemed to be an eternity for all of them, they reacted quickly. Steve carefully lifted his friend out of the car. He had almost hoped to be beaten while trying that, hoping for any signs of Jesse being alive, for him realising what was happening to him, but Jesse's small form remained still in his arms and also when he lay him onto the ground.
Mark knelt down next to his friend and gently slapped whose cheek. "Jesse...can you hear me?..." Then he suddenly froze. Where there had been a small movement of the chest, however, hardly to see, there was know nothing.
"Steve he's stopped breathing, we gotta start CPR!", Mark commanded plainly, already pressing down his hands onto Jesse's chest.
Steve reacted fast, put his lips onto his friend's, simply praying that they hadn't been too late. "C'mon, Jess, breath! Don't leave us here like this, please Jesse, just breath in!", he muttered while staring at Jesse's face pleadingly before he started the next breath.
Their hearts raced, even Johnny's who had only been watching, stunned, astounded and scared at the same time. And also he sighed in relief there was finally the long awaited gasp.
Jesse coughed and winced heavily and tried to free himself from Mark's and Steve's firm gribs which were hurting actually. Once more he drew a deep breath.
Father and son wiped the sweat off their faces and looked at each other, smiling satisfiedly at the regular lifting and sinking of Jesse's chest.
"He really scared the hell outta me!", Steve admitted once he had found his voice again.
Mark nodded and answered under breath:"Me too, son!...Me too!"