I still don't own the Third Watch characters but I own the ones they don't.
This is the last chapter so I'll just say thank you one last time for the great reviews you all gave me. And for the ones I didn't get yet. (hint hint)
Chapter Nine
"Going With Her"
Daniels apartment is filled with cops. They are searching it for clues. So far they have found no evidence that Daniel had ever brought any of his victims here. No blood, and no signs of a struggle. While the detectives search, Bosco walks out into the hall and converges with Sully and Davis. They all look upset. They have a name, but they are no closer to finding Faith.
Sully asks, "What do we do now?"
Davis has a suggestion. "The super told me that this guy Finch drives a truck. He leaves his van on the lot where he works while he is away. Maybe the van is parked there. Faith may be in it."
Bosco says, "It's worth a shot...lets go."
They pull the super out of the crowd and take him to his apartment and make him call the office to get the information on where Daniel works. On their way out of the building, they run into Dale Martin, Tommy Collins and Pete Conti. They hurry over to Bosco and asks if they've caught the guy. Bosco says no. Then Martin asks if they found Yokas. Bosco tells him she wasn't in the apartment, but they are on their way to look for the van in hopes that she will be in it.
The three men tell Bosco they are going with him. Bosco says that one of them can ride with Sully and the other two can ride with him. Sully agrees with the plan. He feels that in the event that they find Finch, it will be good to have a lot of backup, however he worries that he is riding with a lynch mob rather than a police convoy.
They arrive at 'Gator Trucking.' Sully goes in to talk to the owner while the rest of them search the lot for Daniel's van. After talking to him, Sully radios them to meet him back at the car...he has new information. The owner of the company told Sully that Daniel is on vacation. He has a cabin somewhere in Jersey. That has to be where Faith is. They call in to central and have them run the information through the computer to find out where Finch's cabin is located, and within minutes they are en route to Daniels cabin. They notify the Jersey police and ACU to meet them there.
[At the same time]
Daniel arrives back at the cabin with a bag of groceries and a bag of charcoal. He takes them inside and puts the groceries away. He grabs the charcoal and gets a can of lighter fluid out of the cupboard and as he turns towards the door, he notices the blood stained key on the table.
He thinks of her out there in solitary confinement. He pictures the look on her face as he was closing the lid. He was planning to leave her out there until after dinner but he is too excited to wait. Excited to see how she felt out there. Excited because he plans to interrogate her and extract a confession from her. He is going to make her confess to what she did to him as a small boy. He grabs the spatula and the key and walks out the door.
Faith is breathing in short quick pants. She wants to take a deep full breath but it is too painful and there is very little air in the crate. She imagines how good it would feel to stretch out her legs. Thoughts and images keep rolling through her mind and she can't tell what is real anymore. She tries to think about escaping from him. She thinks about Fred and her children. She wonders if they are looking for her. And she believes that she will die here...that she will never get out of this coffin. She thinks of her friends finding her body.
She hears the key in the lock but it isn't until the top is open and the sunlight stabs at her eyes, that she realizes it is really happening. The sun is so bright that it stings her eyes making them tear. She briefly sees the silhouette of someone leaning over her before she squeezes her eyes shut. She begs whoever it is, to help her.
Daniel looks in the crate and a feeling of euphoria surges through him. It makes him shiver. He kneels down next to the crate and his eyes fill with tears. She understands now...he can tell. This is exactly how he used to look when she would come home and get him out of the oven. Her hair is wet with sweat and she is in tears, pleading frantically for him or anyone to help her, through short labored breaths. He knows the pain she is feeling. It is 'his' pain she is feeling.
Faith is barely conscious as Daniel lifts her out of the crate and carries her to the porch. She takes a deep breath of fresh air. Relief overshadows the pain that is stabbing her arms and legs as she tries to move. Her muscles are starting to relax and the cramps are subsiding. She moans.
Her mind can not process what is happening. She thinks she is being saved. Her eyes are still closed and she feels like she is floating through a dream. Her lips are dry and cracked, and in a horse whisper she says Fred's name, vaguely aware that she spoke out loud. She hears Fred answer her. He tells her that he has a surprise for her and he hopes she enjoys it as much as he is going to. She opens her eyes and sees Daniel's face, and passes out.
[Meanwhile]
Bosco, accompanied by Martin and Conti, is flying down the Jersey Turnpike with full lights and siren. Close behind him is Sully, with Davis and Collins. They are almost to exit 13A that leads to the hamlet of Portersville. About fifteen minutes behind them, is Cruz leading a convoy of unmarked ACU vehicles.
Just on the outskirts of town, in front of a small road that leads to the wooded hunting area, is a Jersey trooper, waiting for the New York cops to arrive. And farther down that road, are three more Jersey state troopers and two sheriff cars, blocking the dirt road that leads to Daniels cabin. The team of cops is studying the area and laying out a plan to surround the cabin as soon as the sharpshooters arrive.
All day they have been collecting information on Daniel Finch. Although he has no prior record, he has been in the system in foster care since he was seven years old. They found out that his mother was a cop at the 55th back in 1970 and in her record were several recommendations for her to receive psychiatric evaluations until 1974, when she was removed from the force because she was found to be mentally unstable. The day she was fired, she committed suicide, by shooting herself in the face. That was when they discovered that she had been inflicting horrible forms of abuse on her young son, Daniel.
Daniel was present when his mothers suicide was discovered, and he spent years in a mental institution afterwards. He didn't speak for two years. When he finally did speak, he had no memory of his mother or the ordeal she had put him through. His doctors thought it was in his best interest to leave the memories buried and move him out of the institution. So they declared him cured and put him into foster care.
The scars that the doctors had found on Daniel's body, from his mothers abuse, were consistent with the marks found on all of the dead cops. There is no doubt that they are after the right guy. They can only hope that they are looking in the right place...and that it is not too late.
[At the cabin]
Faith wakes up and finds herself sitting on the floor of the porch, with her back against the railing. Her feet are tied together and her arms are spread out crucifix style, with her wrists handcuffed to the railing cap. She is very cold. Her arms are exposed and she knows that he must have something planned for her. There is a small hibachi sitting on a table nearby and a charcoal fire has been started in it. She also notices a gun laying on the table next to it. Daniel is not in sight. Somehow she needs to get that gun before he returns.
She tries to slide over towards it, but the handcuffs are locked onto the rail in such a way that she can not slide them in either direction. She tries to use her legs to knock the table over, but it is just out of her reach. She looks around desperately for something, anything, but then Daniel comes walking around the corner of the porch. He is sipping on a bottle of pop. Her mouth is so dry that she can't swallow and she would give anything for just one sip, but she doesn't dare speak to him. He doesn't acknowledge her sitting there. He walks over to the fire and fans it. He almost looks like a normal guy on a picnic.
Faith thinks about all the training she's had on how to deal with troubled people. She was taught how to talk to suicidal and schizophrenic individuals. And she learned that if anything you say makes them violent, you just say nothing. She doesn't even know his name.
Obviously at some time in his life, he was treated badly by a cop. His affliction towards women must stem from his mother, and Faith guesses that probably she married a cop who beat him as a child. She had noticed that he has scars on his arms, he was probably abused. He hasn't given her any indication of what she can say or do that would make him more docile. It seems that he is not really trying to kill her, it 's more like he just wants to keep hurting her. And while he is hurting her, he seems almost...affectionate...in a twisted kind of way.
_____________________________________________________________
Soon, Bosco and the others arrive at the blockade, escorted by the State trooper. A few feet ahead is a clearing, and they can see the cabin with the black van parked out front. They haven't yet seen Daniel or Faith. There is a team of cops moving into position through the woods to surround the cabin. Finally, one of the troopers radios in that he can see Finch and his victim on the porch at the rear of the cabin. The victim looks injured but she is alive. They all breathe a sigh of relief.
_________________________________________________________
Faith is so cold that she is shivering uncontrollably now, and for the first time since this ordeal started she realizes that she hasn't eaten. She hurts all over, she is having trouble breathing, and she is getting weaker by the minute. She can't take any more. She has to do something before he kills her, so against all her training, she decides to try talking to him. If she can get his name or tell him hers, then the situation becomes more personal, maybe that will make it harder for him to want to hurt her. So she softly says to him, "My name is Faith...why don't you tell me your name?"
He reels around quickly and stares at her angrily. His left eye twitches and he barks at her, "What is this, some sort of cop trick?"
"No. I just thought..."
"Are you trying to say that you don't know who I am!" He screams at her.
"If you tell me your name I may remember..."
"You don't remember?" He is wild with anger now. "I'll make you remember. You'll remember!" His voice has become hysterical. He storms away and enters the cabin talking to himself loudly. He is livid that she doesn't know what she had done. All day they were connecting. She was feeling what he had felt. He thought that she understood. And now, just like then, she has hurt him.
___________________________________________________________________
There is about seventy five yards of open field between the cabin and the woods. The sergeant radios the officers in the woods and asks if they should try to cross it and position themselves against the front of the cabin.
"Negative" is the reply. "The target is moving. He is heading to the front of the cabin."
And now they see him come around the porch and go inside. Bosco gets up, planning to charge the cabin and get this guy, but the others grab him and wrestle him back. As they argue, Daniel comes back out of the cabin and again goes around back. Sully pulls Bosco aside.
"Bosco, I know how you feel but you have to use your head. You could have just made this situation much worse. If he sees us here, we'll have a hostage situation on our hands. We're not close enough to the cabin to reach her before he does. He may even kill her just so we can't save her." Bosco stops struggling with Sully. He hangs his head, knowing Sully is right, but he needs to do something. Sully continues. "You are too close to this. Let them handle it."
_____________________________________________________________
Faith knows she made a mistake. Possibly a fatal one. She looks around desperately for something to protect herself from his rage. She can not remember him. She knows that she has never seen him before. She is only the symbol of whom ever it is, that he thinks he's punishing. What can she say to him to calm him down? How can she make him see that she is not who he thinks she is? He is coming back. He is carrying a towel. He is consumed with rage now and he is ranting. He rushes up to her and kneels down straddling her legs and puts his face up close to hers. She can feel his breath on her face. She closes her eyes as if that may shield her from him.
She says to him frantically, "I remember now. I'm sorry, I do remember you now. Please...stop. I'm sorry."
He screams at her, "Remember this?" Then he grabs her head and yells, "Look at it. Do you remember this!" She opens her eyes and sees that he is waving a dish towel at her.
She says, "Please. I do...I remember now. Please...don't hurt me. I'm really sorry I forgot."
He says "You're lying."
"Please...stop." She begs, but he grabs her by the throat.
As she opens her mouth to get air, he slams his fingers, wrapped with the towel, into her mouth. She tries to bite him but she gags, allowing him to stuff the towel in farther. Because of the beating earlier, her nose is broken and she cannot breathe through it. He keeps stuffing the towel in farther, trying to force it down her throat.
Her tears are flowing hard now and she tries to shake him off her. He is within inches of her face and screaming, "Do you remember now? This is what it feels like to die from suffocating." She is struggling so hard against the cuffs, that both her wrist are bleeding. She is getting weak. Her body is starving for air, and she can feel the effects now. Her eyes are closing and she can't hear any sound. She can't even feel him on top of her any more.
_______________________________________________________________
The radio sounds off. "Target is assaulting his victim...waiting for instructions."
The sergeant grabs the radio and says calmly, "Take him out." Almost instantly a shot rings out. And in the same instant, Bosco takes off running towards the cabin.
Police are running out of the woods towards the cabin from every direction. The first ones to reach her, are the Jersey cops that were in the woods directly behind the cabin. Two of them approach Daniel, one holds his weapon on him, while the other checks for a pulse.
Daniel is laying sprawled on his back over Faiths legs. His eyes are open in a serene look as though he never saw or felt the shot, which was a direct hit in the dead center of his forehead. Two other cops are tending to Faith. One is un-cuffing her while the other, after having removed the towel from her mouth, is checking her neck for a pulse.
Bosco has reached the porch. As he rounds the corner, and surveys the scene, he sees the cop remove his fingers from Faith's neck and shake his head 'no' at the other. But...she can't be dead, Bosco tells himself...we got here. She has to be alright. We're all here now.
The two cops have removed the hand cuffs and are gently laying Faith on her back on the porch. Bosco runs up pushing one of the officers out of his way. He grabs her face in his hands. "Faith...look at me...Faith." He shakes her. "Faith...open your eyes! Look at me!"
He feels a panic erupting in himself. "Help me!" he yells to the other cops. Bosco starts giving her mouth to mouth. His mind is racing, as he tries to remember what they taught him about administering CPR.
He starts chest compressions, counting quickly to five. "One, two, three...Faith...stay with me!" He looks up at the cops, but they are just a blur through his tears. "Help me!" He yells desperately.
The two officers give each other a pained look and one of them says, "The EMTs are on their way...let them..."
Bosco starts mouth to mouth again, then cradles her face in his hands, hoping to see her open her eyes. But she doesn't. He cries, "Somebody help me!" His voice is raspy. He starts chest compressions again.
One of the officers grabs Bosco by the arm. "The EMTs are here...let them in." But Bosco shoves him away hard, knocking him backwards. Suddenly, someone has him by both arms, and he is being dragged away from her. He is trying to squirm away but he is wrapped up tight and shoved back against the wall. He tries to protest but he is crying and can't get the words out. And then through his tears he recognizes Sully. Davis has him in a bear hug, and Sully is trying to calm him down. Finally he stops resisting, and realizes the paramedics are tending to her.
They all watch in anguish.
The paramedics run up and kneel next to her. One listens to her chest, while the other starts taking her pulse as they exchange their medical dialogue. Bosco has heard it a million times...but it never meant anything to him before. He watches these strangers, wishing it was Doc and Carlos. They would not let her die. And if these morons let her...no....that can't happen. She has to be ok.
"No breath sounds." The first paramedic says as he quickly wraps the stethoscope around his neck.
"No pulse." Is the others reply back.
The first paramedic opens a kit, and begins setting up a defibrillator. Bosco watches as he pulls out the paddles and squirts them with a gel, rubbing them together methodically.
"Hurry!" Bosco yells. "Help her!"
The first one reports, "Charging to 200 Jules." They wait as the monitor gives off a high pitch squeal.
"Charged..." Then he says forcefully, "Clear!"
Everything pauses as he hits the buttons, sending a surge that makes Faith's body jump, giving the appearance...for only a second, that she is alive. But then she falls limp.
The second paramedic takes her pulse and shakes his head.
The first replies, "Charging to 300." The machine charging, is the only sound that can be heard, as all of the officers, twenty in total, watch in silence.
"Clear!" then 'whump', sounding and looking like Faith was hit in the back, as her body leaps in a quick convulsion...and then lies limp again.
Checking her pulse, he shakes his head again.
"Charging to 360." His voice now has a little more urgency in it.
"Do something...help her!" Bosco screams, his voice sounding throaty.
Not one of the officers look at him...all of them are looking nervously at the ground.
As the monitor whines up one more time to the dead silence, the paramedic says once again... "Clear!" Then the painful sound of, 'whump'.
In the tense silence...they hear, "We got her..."
The paramedics are now animated in a series of procedures, but the rest of their conversation is lost in the officers chattering sounds of relief.
Sully squeezes Bosco's shoulder, as Bosco grabs the wall for support. He looks around, almost in shock, as he wipes his eyes hard with his fingers. He catches a glance at Martin, expecting him to look happy like everyone else, but then he notices that Martin is staring at Faith, with a look of a man that has been cheated. It looks to Bosco as though Martin was feeling, that if Faith did not make it...Lucas' death would somehow be justified.
Bosco yells, "Hey...what the hell are you looking at...you stop looking at her!"
Sully grabs Bosco by the shoulders and tells him to let it go. Martin just turns and walks away without looking up.
The paramedics have started bagging Faith and after a few seconds she starts coughing. Her eyes are open but she is very disoriented. Her hands try to slap away the oxygen mask as the paramedics fasten it over her face. They try to reassure her that she is ok but she doesn't understand. They hold her arms down, trying to get her vital signs which makes her more frantic. The paramedics finally get a line in and give her a sedative to calm her down.
After the ordeal she went through, Faith is still in shock. She is not yet aware that they are trying to help her. They are trying to assess her injuries, checking over her broken hand, and trying to bandage her wrists. They try to put a dressing on the wounds in her side. She is pleading with them to stop. They have rolled Faith onto a back board, but all she is aware of is that they are hurting her. She doesn't even realize that Daniel is dead.
They decide it would be best to just transport her. Several officers lift her to a stretcher, to be loaded in the bus. Bosco can hear her panic...he can see she is struggling against the paramedics, and turns his attention back to her.
"It's ok Faith. I'm right here. You're gonna be alright." He turns to the paramedics and says, "I'm riding with her." He says loudly, hoping for Martin to hear him. "She's my partner ...and I'm going with her."
He climbs into the back of the bus with her and takes her hand. Her eyes finally fill with recognition when she sees him, and then tears of relief, as she realizes that she is safe now, and this nightmare is over.
~The End~
I want to give a special thanks to my nurse friend for making sure my paramedics knew what they were doing, and a very special thanks to Lisa for convincing me the story was good enough to post, and for taking it upon herself to register the story with the WGAE, so if Third Watch wants to use the storyline, they have to put my name in the credits. How cool would that be!
This is the last chapter so I'll just say thank you one last time for the great reviews you all gave me. And for the ones I didn't get yet. (hint hint)
Chapter Nine
"Going With Her"
Daniels apartment is filled with cops. They are searching it for clues. So far they have found no evidence that Daniel had ever brought any of his victims here. No blood, and no signs of a struggle. While the detectives search, Bosco walks out into the hall and converges with Sully and Davis. They all look upset. They have a name, but they are no closer to finding Faith.
Sully asks, "What do we do now?"
Davis has a suggestion. "The super told me that this guy Finch drives a truck. He leaves his van on the lot where he works while he is away. Maybe the van is parked there. Faith may be in it."
Bosco says, "It's worth a shot...lets go."
They pull the super out of the crowd and take him to his apartment and make him call the office to get the information on where Daniel works. On their way out of the building, they run into Dale Martin, Tommy Collins and Pete Conti. They hurry over to Bosco and asks if they've caught the guy. Bosco says no. Then Martin asks if they found Yokas. Bosco tells him she wasn't in the apartment, but they are on their way to look for the van in hopes that she will be in it.
The three men tell Bosco they are going with him. Bosco says that one of them can ride with Sully and the other two can ride with him. Sully agrees with the plan. He feels that in the event that they find Finch, it will be good to have a lot of backup, however he worries that he is riding with a lynch mob rather than a police convoy.
They arrive at 'Gator Trucking.' Sully goes in to talk to the owner while the rest of them search the lot for Daniel's van. After talking to him, Sully radios them to meet him back at the car...he has new information. The owner of the company told Sully that Daniel is on vacation. He has a cabin somewhere in Jersey. That has to be where Faith is. They call in to central and have them run the information through the computer to find out where Finch's cabin is located, and within minutes they are en route to Daniels cabin. They notify the Jersey police and ACU to meet them there.
[At the same time]
Daniel arrives back at the cabin with a bag of groceries and a bag of charcoal. He takes them inside and puts the groceries away. He grabs the charcoal and gets a can of lighter fluid out of the cupboard and as he turns towards the door, he notices the blood stained key on the table.
He thinks of her out there in solitary confinement. He pictures the look on her face as he was closing the lid. He was planning to leave her out there until after dinner but he is too excited to wait. Excited to see how she felt out there. Excited because he plans to interrogate her and extract a confession from her. He is going to make her confess to what she did to him as a small boy. He grabs the spatula and the key and walks out the door.
Faith is breathing in short quick pants. She wants to take a deep full breath but it is too painful and there is very little air in the crate. She imagines how good it would feel to stretch out her legs. Thoughts and images keep rolling through her mind and she can't tell what is real anymore. She tries to think about escaping from him. She thinks about Fred and her children. She wonders if they are looking for her. And she believes that she will die here...that she will never get out of this coffin. She thinks of her friends finding her body.
She hears the key in the lock but it isn't until the top is open and the sunlight stabs at her eyes, that she realizes it is really happening. The sun is so bright that it stings her eyes making them tear. She briefly sees the silhouette of someone leaning over her before she squeezes her eyes shut. She begs whoever it is, to help her.
Daniel looks in the crate and a feeling of euphoria surges through him. It makes him shiver. He kneels down next to the crate and his eyes fill with tears. She understands now...he can tell. This is exactly how he used to look when she would come home and get him out of the oven. Her hair is wet with sweat and she is in tears, pleading frantically for him or anyone to help her, through short labored breaths. He knows the pain she is feeling. It is 'his' pain she is feeling.
Faith is barely conscious as Daniel lifts her out of the crate and carries her to the porch. She takes a deep breath of fresh air. Relief overshadows the pain that is stabbing her arms and legs as she tries to move. Her muscles are starting to relax and the cramps are subsiding. She moans.
Her mind can not process what is happening. She thinks she is being saved. Her eyes are still closed and she feels like she is floating through a dream. Her lips are dry and cracked, and in a horse whisper she says Fred's name, vaguely aware that she spoke out loud. She hears Fred answer her. He tells her that he has a surprise for her and he hopes she enjoys it as much as he is going to. She opens her eyes and sees Daniel's face, and passes out.
[Meanwhile]
Bosco, accompanied by Martin and Conti, is flying down the Jersey Turnpike with full lights and siren. Close behind him is Sully, with Davis and Collins. They are almost to exit 13A that leads to the hamlet of Portersville. About fifteen minutes behind them, is Cruz leading a convoy of unmarked ACU vehicles.
Just on the outskirts of town, in front of a small road that leads to the wooded hunting area, is a Jersey trooper, waiting for the New York cops to arrive. And farther down that road, are three more Jersey state troopers and two sheriff cars, blocking the dirt road that leads to Daniels cabin. The team of cops is studying the area and laying out a plan to surround the cabin as soon as the sharpshooters arrive.
All day they have been collecting information on Daniel Finch. Although he has no prior record, he has been in the system in foster care since he was seven years old. They found out that his mother was a cop at the 55th back in 1970 and in her record were several recommendations for her to receive psychiatric evaluations until 1974, when she was removed from the force because she was found to be mentally unstable. The day she was fired, she committed suicide, by shooting herself in the face. That was when they discovered that she had been inflicting horrible forms of abuse on her young son, Daniel.
Daniel was present when his mothers suicide was discovered, and he spent years in a mental institution afterwards. He didn't speak for two years. When he finally did speak, he had no memory of his mother or the ordeal she had put him through. His doctors thought it was in his best interest to leave the memories buried and move him out of the institution. So they declared him cured and put him into foster care.
The scars that the doctors had found on Daniel's body, from his mothers abuse, were consistent with the marks found on all of the dead cops. There is no doubt that they are after the right guy. They can only hope that they are looking in the right place...and that it is not too late.
[At the cabin]
Faith wakes up and finds herself sitting on the floor of the porch, with her back against the railing. Her feet are tied together and her arms are spread out crucifix style, with her wrists handcuffed to the railing cap. She is very cold. Her arms are exposed and she knows that he must have something planned for her. There is a small hibachi sitting on a table nearby and a charcoal fire has been started in it. She also notices a gun laying on the table next to it. Daniel is not in sight. Somehow she needs to get that gun before he returns.
She tries to slide over towards it, but the handcuffs are locked onto the rail in such a way that she can not slide them in either direction. She tries to use her legs to knock the table over, but it is just out of her reach. She looks around desperately for something, anything, but then Daniel comes walking around the corner of the porch. He is sipping on a bottle of pop. Her mouth is so dry that she can't swallow and she would give anything for just one sip, but she doesn't dare speak to him. He doesn't acknowledge her sitting there. He walks over to the fire and fans it. He almost looks like a normal guy on a picnic.
Faith thinks about all the training she's had on how to deal with troubled people. She was taught how to talk to suicidal and schizophrenic individuals. And she learned that if anything you say makes them violent, you just say nothing. She doesn't even know his name.
Obviously at some time in his life, he was treated badly by a cop. His affliction towards women must stem from his mother, and Faith guesses that probably she married a cop who beat him as a child. She had noticed that he has scars on his arms, he was probably abused. He hasn't given her any indication of what she can say or do that would make him more docile. It seems that he is not really trying to kill her, it 's more like he just wants to keep hurting her. And while he is hurting her, he seems almost...affectionate...in a twisted kind of way.
_____________________________________________________________
Soon, Bosco and the others arrive at the blockade, escorted by the State trooper. A few feet ahead is a clearing, and they can see the cabin with the black van parked out front. They haven't yet seen Daniel or Faith. There is a team of cops moving into position through the woods to surround the cabin. Finally, one of the troopers radios in that he can see Finch and his victim on the porch at the rear of the cabin. The victim looks injured but she is alive. They all breathe a sigh of relief.
_________________________________________________________
Faith is so cold that she is shivering uncontrollably now, and for the first time since this ordeal started she realizes that she hasn't eaten. She hurts all over, she is having trouble breathing, and she is getting weaker by the minute. She can't take any more. She has to do something before he kills her, so against all her training, she decides to try talking to him. If she can get his name or tell him hers, then the situation becomes more personal, maybe that will make it harder for him to want to hurt her. So she softly says to him, "My name is Faith...why don't you tell me your name?"
He reels around quickly and stares at her angrily. His left eye twitches and he barks at her, "What is this, some sort of cop trick?"
"No. I just thought..."
"Are you trying to say that you don't know who I am!" He screams at her.
"If you tell me your name I may remember..."
"You don't remember?" He is wild with anger now. "I'll make you remember. You'll remember!" His voice has become hysterical. He storms away and enters the cabin talking to himself loudly. He is livid that she doesn't know what she had done. All day they were connecting. She was feeling what he had felt. He thought that she understood. And now, just like then, she has hurt him.
___________________________________________________________________
There is about seventy five yards of open field between the cabin and the woods. The sergeant radios the officers in the woods and asks if they should try to cross it and position themselves against the front of the cabin.
"Negative" is the reply. "The target is moving. He is heading to the front of the cabin."
And now they see him come around the porch and go inside. Bosco gets up, planning to charge the cabin and get this guy, but the others grab him and wrestle him back. As they argue, Daniel comes back out of the cabin and again goes around back. Sully pulls Bosco aside.
"Bosco, I know how you feel but you have to use your head. You could have just made this situation much worse. If he sees us here, we'll have a hostage situation on our hands. We're not close enough to the cabin to reach her before he does. He may even kill her just so we can't save her." Bosco stops struggling with Sully. He hangs his head, knowing Sully is right, but he needs to do something. Sully continues. "You are too close to this. Let them handle it."
_____________________________________________________________
Faith knows she made a mistake. Possibly a fatal one. She looks around desperately for something to protect herself from his rage. She can not remember him. She knows that she has never seen him before. She is only the symbol of whom ever it is, that he thinks he's punishing. What can she say to him to calm him down? How can she make him see that she is not who he thinks she is? He is coming back. He is carrying a towel. He is consumed with rage now and he is ranting. He rushes up to her and kneels down straddling her legs and puts his face up close to hers. She can feel his breath on her face. She closes her eyes as if that may shield her from him.
She says to him frantically, "I remember now. I'm sorry, I do remember you now. Please...stop. I'm sorry."
He screams at her, "Remember this?" Then he grabs her head and yells, "Look at it. Do you remember this!" She opens her eyes and sees that he is waving a dish towel at her.
She says, "Please. I do...I remember now. Please...don't hurt me. I'm really sorry I forgot."
He says "You're lying."
"Please...stop." She begs, but he grabs her by the throat.
As she opens her mouth to get air, he slams his fingers, wrapped with the towel, into her mouth. She tries to bite him but she gags, allowing him to stuff the towel in farther. Because of the beating earlier, her nose is broken and she cannot breathe through it. He keeps stuffing the towel in farther, trying to force it down her throat.
Her tears are flowing hard now and she tries to shake him off her. He is within inches of her face and screaming, "Do you remember now? This is what it feels like to die from suffocating." She is struggling so hard against the cuffs, that both her wrist are bleeding. She is getting weak. Her body is starving for air, and she can feel the effects now. Her eyes are closing and she can't hear any sound. She can't even feel him on top of her any more.
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The radio sounds off. "Target is assaulting his victim...waiting for instructions."
The sergeant grabs the radio and says calmly, "Take him out." Almost instantly a shot rings out. And in the same instant, Bosco takes off running towards the cabin.
Police are running out of the woods towards the cabin from every direction. The first ones to reach her, are the Jersey cops that were in the woods directly behind the cabin. Two of them approach Daniel, one holds his weapon on him, while the other checks for a pulse.
Daniel is laying sprawled on his back over Faiths legs. His eyes are open in a serene look as though he never saw or felt the shot, which was a direct hit in the dead center of his forehead. Two other cops are tending to Faith. One is un-cuffing her while the other, after having removed the towel from her mouth, is checking her neck for a pulse.
Bosco has reached the porch. As he rounds the corner, and surveys the scene, he sees the cop remove his fingers from Faith's neck and shake his head 'no' at the other. But...she can't be dead, Bosco tells himself...we got here. She has to be alright. We're all here now.
The two cops have removed the hand cuffs and are gently laying Faith on her back on the porch. Bosco runs up pushing one of the officers out of his way. He grabs her face in his hands. "Faith...look at me...Faith." He shakes her. "Faith...open your eyes! Look at me!"
He feels a panic erupting in himself. "Help me!" he yells to the other cops. Bosco starts giving her mouth to mouth. His mind is racing, as he tries to remember what they taught him about administering CPR.
He starts chest compressions, counting quickly to five. "One, two, three...Faith...stay with me!" He looks up at the cops, but they are just a blur through his tears. "Help me!" He yells desperately.
The two officers give each other a pained look and one of them says, "The EMTs are on their way...let them..."
Bosco starts mouth to mouth again, then cradles her face in his hands, hoping to see her open her eyes. But she doesn't. He cries, "Somebody help me!" His voice is raspy. He starts chest compressions again.
One of the officers grabs Bosco by the arm. "The EMTs are here...let them in." But Bosco shoves him away hard, knocking him backwards. Suddenly, someone has him by both arms, and he is being dragged away from her. He is trying to squirm away but he is wrapped up tight and shoved back against the wall. He tries to protest but he is crying and can't get the words out. And then through his tears he recognizes Sully. Davis has him in a bear hug, and Sully is trying to calm him down. Finally he stops resisting, and realizes the paramedics are tending to her.
They all watch in anguish.
The paramedics run up and kneel next to her. One listens to her chest, while the other starts taking her pulse as they exchange their medical dialogue. Bosco has heard it a million times...but it never meant anything to him before. He watches these strangers, wishing it was Doc and Carlos. They would not let her die. And if these morons let her...no....that can't happen. She has to be ok.
"No breath sounds." The first paramedic says as he quickly wraps the stethoscope around his neck.
"No pulse." Is the others reply back.
The first paramedic opens a kit, and begins setting up a defibrillator. Bosco watches as he pulls out the paddles and squirts them with a gel, rubbing them together methodically.
"Hurry!" Bosco yells. "Help her!"
The first one reports, "Charging to 200 Jules." They wait as the monitor gives off a high pitch squeal.
"Charged..." Then he says forcefully, "Clear!"
Everything pauses as he hits the buttons, sending a surge that makes Faith's body jump, giving the appearance...for only a second, that she is alive. But then she falls limp.
The second paramedic takes her pulse and shakes his head.
The first replies, "Charging to 300." The machine charging, is the only sound that can be heard, as all of the officers, twenty in total, watch in silence.
"Clear!" then 'whump', sounding and looking like Faith was hit in the back, as her body leaps in a quick convulsion...and then lies limp again.
Checking her pulse, he shakes his head again.
"Charging to 360." His voice now has a little more urgency in it.
"Do something...help her!" Bosco screams, his voice sounding throaty.
Not one of the officers look at him...all of them are looking nervously at the ground.
As the monitor whines up one more time to the dead silence, the paramedic says once again... "Clear!" Then the painful sound of, 'whump'.
In the tense silence...they hear, "We got her..."
The paramedics are now animated in a series of procedures, but the rest of their conversation is lost in the officers chattering sounds of relief.
Sully squeezes Bosco's shoulder, as Bosco grabs the wall for support. He looks around, almost in shock, as he wipes his eyes hard with his fingers. He catches a glance at Martin, expecting him to look happy like everyone else, but then he notices that Martin is staring at Faith, with a look of a man that has been cheated. It looks to Bosco as though Martin was feeling, that if Faith did not make it...Lucas' death would somehow be justified.
Bosco yells, "Hey...what the hell are you looking at...you stop looking at her!"
Sully grabs Bosco by the shoulders and tells him to let it go. Martin just turns and walks away without looking up.
The paramedics have started bagging Faith and after a few seconds she starts coughing. Her eyes are open but she is very disoriented. Her hands try to slap away the oxygen mask as the paramedics fasten it over her face. They try to reassure her that she is ok but she doesn't understand. They hold her arms down, trying to get her vital signs which makes her more frantic. The paramedics finally get a line in and give her a sedative to calm her down.
After the ordeal she went through, Faith is still in shock. She is not yet aware that they are trying to help her. They are trying to assess her injuries, checking over her broken hand, and trying to bandage her wrists. They try to put a dressing on the wounds in her side. She is pleading with them to stop. They have rolled Faith onto a back board, but all she is aware of is that they are hurting her. She doesn't even realize that Daniel is dead.
They decide it would be best to just transport her. Several officers lift her to a stretcher, to be loaded in the bus. Bosco can hear her panic...he can see she is struggling against the paramedics, and turns his attention back to her.
"It's ok Faith. I'm right here. You're gonna be alright." He turns to the paramedics and says, "I'm riding with her." He says loudly, hoping for Martin to hear him. "She's my partner ...and I'm going with her."
He climbs into the back of the bus with her and takes her hand. Her eyes finally fill with recognition when she sees him, and then tears of relief, as she realizes that she is safe now, and this nightmare is over.
~The End~
I want to give a special thanks to my nurse friend for making sure my paramedics knew what they were doing, and a very special thanks to Lisa for convincing me the story was good enough to post, and for taking it upon herself to register the story with the WGAE, so if Third Watch wants to use the storyline, they have to put my name in the credits. How cool would that be!
