When a person wakes up in the morning, they usually take such a thing for
granted. They whine, they moan, they complain, and after awhile, they
eventually, sluggishly roll out of bed and drag their sorry selves to work.
Dee Laytner was one of these people who happened to take every morning for granted. He didn't have to go into work until noon today, but there were several errands that needed done, that he didn't particularly want to do. But, they did indeed, need done, and no one else was around to do them. Ryo said something about going in early to finish paper work, Carol and Bikky were at school. So, it was all up to him.
He laid in bed for awhile, somewhere between the brink of sleep and wake. His eyes were still closed, but his body and brain, much to his disappointment, were urging him to wake.
"Come on big boy, it's all up to you now." He muttered to himself, as if it were an inspirational speech to get him moving. It failed to work, but it was worth a try.
When he had finally gotten the will to open his heavy eyes, he slowly crawled out of bed into some clothing, which was either clean or dirty, he couldn't tell, and frankly, he didn't care. He tucked his blue shirt in, tried to zip up his pants and button them, (although this seemed to be rather difficult, considering his hands were so tired the seemed to be nothing but rectangular blocks of wood on his hands that kind of were supposed to be fingers) and then tried to button his shirt, but had realized that he had tucked it in quite sloppily before he could even button it.
It had taken him nearly an hour to fully wake (or, get dressed, as the case may be), and get a somewhat decent meal into his stomach. He sat at the table, munching at some Cream of Oranges Instant Breakfast that Ryo had bought. The clock on the wall sat across from him, ticking away as if to remind him that he had not more than a couple of hours to do his errands and get to work. He glared at the clock. It seemed to glare back, but as it turned out, that was only the second hand at such and angle to make the clock look as if it were frowning at him. He sighed, and finished up his meal, carelessly tossing the pastel blue plastic bowl into the kitchen sink.
He walked past the fridge, and checked to see if Ryo had left a shopping list. Shopping was one of the things Ryo had asked him to do, but he couldn't do it very well if he didn't know what Ryo wanted. There was indeed one, sticking to the fridge with the aid of some clever magnets that were made to look like tacks. On a flowery piece of stationary, was scribbled some demands in Ryo's delicate handwriting. It read:
"MILK, BREAD, EGGS, CREAMER, GROUND TURKEY.
TAKE TRASH OUT.
SEE YOU AT WORK. ~RYO"
Dee sighed, and shoved it into his pocket. The trash could wait; he didn't have time right now. He grabbed his jacket, and tossed it over his shoulder.
When he had left the apartment building, he was stunned with a somewhat extreme amount of sunlight and sickening cheeriness. Children were playing, Dogs were barking, bees were buzzing. A big red rubber ball bounced in front of him, but he took no heed, and watched an irregularly short blonde person run after it, squealing with delight.
He walked down to his car, which was parked on the side of the road where it normally took its spot every night. He smiled, wondering why he and Ryo didn't just move in together. They had been spending the past several weeks at Ryo's humble flat together, and Dee hadn't seen his house more than once a week, and that was usually to grab some more clothing for Ryo to worry about washing.
He unlocked his car, and flopped lazily into the driver's seat. He had a little more energy than he had beforehand, but it still didn't seem nearly enough. Lazily, he stuck the jagged key into the ignition, and waited for the quiet purr of his car's motor.
As he pulled out of the parking lot, he realized that he couldn't go shopping without money. He had spent all of the money from his last check, and had none left to spare. He cursed silently to himself, and pulled over, checking his wallet for his payment from yesterday. It was there, and that meant he had to go to the bank. He hated the bank. Once again, he cursed silently to himself. This would delay him a little, and most likely meant he wouldn't be able to run those extra errands for his benefit.
He sighed in exasperation. That meant he couldn't buy that movie he had on hold for the past week, the one that was almost impossible to come by, the one that sold out every time it hit the shelves.
The movie was Gunbladers #3, One of the most popular kid's cinemas. Ryo laughed that he loved it, but.. He did!! There was no denying it, and Ryo would just have to live with his silly obsession.
He sighed in exasperation, and felt he were on the verge of tears.
//No. it'd be silly to cry over a.. a friggin' kid's movie!!// Dee thought spitefully to himself. But still.
He pulled into the parking lot, and found a space next to an incredibly, if not ridiculously large black Chevy Suburban. The parking spaces themselves were huge, and he hit the thing with his door as he got out. He glared at it spitefully, and made his way into the building. Fortunately, there wasn't a line. He smiled gleefully. So maybe he plans would work out afterall!!
He skipped over to a bombshell blonde teller, who was typing something into her computer. She looked up happily, and smiled at him.
"Welcome to New York State bank, Sir. How may I help you?" She said quietly, with a voice that was a little too seductive for a woman in a tie. Maybe she was trying to come on to him.
He smiled, and shook his head. No one could resist Dee Laytner's charm, No one!
"Hey there. I need to cash this." he said casually. He put the check onto the counter. She picked it up, and asked for his identification. He handed his Driver's License and state I.D. without looking at her, to appear as if he were ignoring her relentless flirts, when in reality, he was letting them all soak into his already swollen ego.
She put something else into the computer, and then counted out his money, setting it out on the counter for him. He fetched it up, flashed her a quick smile of gratitude, and began on his way.
As he was leaving, something caught his attention. There was a lanky man, leaning over the counter, and talking quietly to a teller. The teller did not seem to be enjoying the man's company, and had had placed both of his hands on the counter, which was most likely something lanky man had demanded him to do. The first thing Dee thought was robbery, but there wasn't quite enough. commotion. And the man wasn't even masked or anything. He couldn't jump to conclusions.
He paced off casually to the side, to assess the situation from a more remote spot, which happened to be behind a plaster pillar, which was adorned with painted pink flowers. When he saw the man reach into his jacket and pull out a gun, he knew that his assumption had indeed been right.
He walked over quietly, pulled out his wallet, and tapped the man on the shoulder.
"Is there a problem over here?" He asked quietly, and showed the teller and the man his badge. The teller seemed relieved, until the lanky man spun around, stared at Dee for a moment, and then turned back to the teller and shoved the gun into his mouth.
"You bastard!!" He screamed. "I said we could go about this quietly, but no! You had to fucking signal the police!! I'll shoot your fucking brains out!!"
The bank froze around him. Some people tried slipping out quietly, to not draw the man's attention. He glared at the teller, spun around, and brandished his gun wildly.
"Don't any of you think about even leaving!! It looks like this is gonna be an old fashioned Lock down!! I didn't want it to be this way, but it looks as if we have no choice!" He laughed wildly, and spun around again, pointing his gun at Dee.
"You, well it looks like I'll have to take care of you first, seeing as you could bust me for this." He laughed. Dee was frozen with shock. This indeed, was not his division. He was more of a detective than a cop, and hadn't really been trained for this sort of situation. He shouldn't have interfered as soon as he did, but it was too late now. There was only one thing he could think of doing.
When he saw the man hesitate to pull the trigger, he took the chance and ducked quickly out of the life of fire. He rolled under his legs, tripped him, and pulled his own gun on him.
He hovered above the man, his gun pointed to his head. The other man lay prostrate beneath him, his small revolver pointed at his chest. Time seemed to have stopped.
Dee realized that he wasn't breathing, and neither was the other man. They were both too worried with who was going to shoot first.
The man glanced about wildly, and cursed to himself. This obviously, had not been in his plans. This hadn't been in Dee's plan's either, but it was sort of inevitable. It's not like anyone could pre-determine his or her day down to the last detail.
"Please, I am going to ask you once kindly, to drop your weapon sir."
"Like fuck I'm going to drop it!" He screamed, and spat at Dee.
Red and Blue lights flashed outside, and the loud wailing of police sirens could be heard. The man looked around in a panic, not sure what to do at this point.
They heard voices over a megaphone, but the man ignored it. It didn't mean anything to him now anyway; he was royally fucked no matter what he did. He could shoot his asshole and blow the brains out of everyone else in here, but that would make him a murderer. And now that the cops were outside, he couldn't very well get up and run. He's be shot down before he made it across the street. No point in listening.
Dee saw his finger shaking and time seemed to slow down. He saw the man pull the trigger. and it seemed to take an eternity for the bullet to leave the gun. Dee reacted and shot as well, hoping by chance it would somehow help him avoid the bullet headed straight for him.
Of course, this did nothing. He fell back when it hit, and felt as if he had just been knocked in the chest by a mace. He couldn't breath, and tasted blood on his tongue. He clutched at his chest, and stared at the ceiling with wide, frightened eyes. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak, he couldn't think. He only heard screaming. he thought maybe it was him, but it didn't seem like himself. It sounded like someone else screaming, but did it matter who was screaming?
It seemed an eternity for someone come over and try to save him. He stared up through them, as they ripped open his shirt, and pressed down on his chest in attempt to stop the bleeding. Their face seemed worried, but to him. they didn't seem to exist. They were nothing but a vision to him. The world had seemed to fall from his grasp, or rather, he seemed to be falling from reality, and fast.
People often ask, or rather, wonder what someone's last thoughts are before death. Do you think about your family, that bill that needed paid, or your kids? Dee didn't seem to be thinking of anything. his mind was a blank. He could only think about the pain, could only think about breathing. He wasn't thinking about the errands he should have run, the people who would miss him, the loose ends he never tied up to him. All of it seemed so trivial now. And for a brief moment, he wondered why. why were people born, if they were meant to live such a drab, pointless life? Why, when they would be soon forgotten in a couple decades or so? Their accomplishments, their mistakes, and everything else would soon vanish from memory. His vision went blurry, and everything started to fade. He didn't feel his eyes close but everything had gone completely dark. He realized that he didn't seem to have a need to breathe. The pain had gone numb, and he could barely make out what was in his line of vision. Everything, when so chaotic, had suddenly come to a complete stop, and come to utter nothingness.
And before he went out, he had a brief thought, one regret, one last image. The thought was of Ryo, the regret was that he had never told him his true feelings were more than mere physical infatuation, and the image was his smile, that sweet smile, his benevolent expression. Gods, he'd miss him.
Randy "Ryo" McLean was sitting at his desk, hunched over a stack of paperwork. Half of it was incident reports, mainly thanks to the carelessness of his partner, Dee Laytner. They weren't serious incidents, thank god, but there were traffic violations, temporary theft of vehicles... and a colorful array of other reports. He sighed in exasperation, and leaned back into the chair. He was already exhausted, and the day had barely begun!
The door to his office creaked open, and he saw one of his co-workers peek in. They seemed distraught and worried.
"Ryo, I think we need to talk for a minute."
"What? What's the problem?"
He sighed, and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. He wasn't sure how to say it.
"Your partner, Dee. he's."
Ryo felt his heart stop.
"What? What happened to Dee??" He asked almost desperately.
"He was hospitalized just about a half an hour ago. He's in surgery right now."
"What happened??!" he shouted, and jumped up from his chair.
The man looked sorrowful.
"He was at the bank and got caught in the middle of a robbery. he was shot in the chest."
Ryo didn't need to hear anymore. He bounded from his office, out to his car. First thing, he needed to get Carol and Bikky. Or he could wait. Gods, he didn't know what to do. He should go see Dee first. Yes, that would be best. He shouldn't worry Carol and Bikky until there was something to worry about. This was of course, something to worry about, but he had to be there for Dee. He'd contact Carol and Bikky later.
He had rushed to the hospital, and found to his dismay that he could not see Dee at the current moment. He had been in surgery for several hours, and many more hours were laid ahead to endure.
He didn't dread anything more than to wait in this stark white room for hours on end, only for the doctor to come out say that Dee wasn't okay. that Dee was.
No. he couldn't think that way. He just couldn't. Dee wouldn't die; he was too stubborn to die! It wouldn't be like him at all to die like this. He nodded to himself, sure that he was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. Dee was going to survive more than one lousy shot from a psychopath.
Comforted a little, Ryo got a sudden sense of regret. He shifted uncomfortably in the pleather seats (which proved to be quite uncomfortable), and realized that he. he did love Dee. As much as he hated to admit it, he loved the hot head. A lot. And he knew Dee loved him. he had said so himself. But he had never really seemed serious about it. Ryo was convinced he just wanted to get laid, or something. But now when he thought back, everything had pointed to it. He was jealous when Rose became commissioner, and Ryo couldn't help but stare admiringly at him every time he passed, with a slight blush to his cheeks. He had been so protective of Ryo, and had told him many times over that he loved him. He didn't know why he never took him seriously.
And then something else tugged at his thoughts. What if he couldn't tell Dee that he loved him? He couldn't live with that regret. he just couldn't. There was no way. But then there were Bikky and Carol to worry about. They had basically become his children. Not legally, but he acted as a father to them. Dee had always been more like the cruel older brother, who really does love them, and just can't admit it. Ryo smiled sardonically, and sunk lower into his chair. Dee had been so great to him, that if anything ever happened to him. he wouldn't know what to do.
He looked up, and saw J.J. running in, screaming like a maniac. He rolled his eyes, but he knew how J.J. felt. Couldn't he be less. vocal about it, at least?
Several doctors had to hold him back to keep him from running right into the middle of the surgery and shaking Dee like a rag doll, demanding to know if he was okay. They pushed him into a chair next to Ryo, and said rather sternly that they'd have to have security escort him from the premises if he continued to act in such a disorderly manner. J.J. pouted, and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.
Ryo looked to J.J., and had sympathy for the boy. Dee may not like him much, but Ryo personally didn't have anything against him. He was hard to deal with at times, and probably even stupid and annoying more than half the time, but if he did love Dee the way Ryo did, then well, he did feel sorry for him.
He pat him on the back sympathetically. J.J. looked up him, tears brimming in his big eyes. That made Ryo's stomach twist itself in grief, but he held back the tears for J.J.'s sake. There was no point in having a bunch of blubbering idiots sitting around and annoying the workers here. It must be hard enough working in this ward anyway. he imagined that there had to be a lot of deaths here. "Everything is going to be all right," he said quietly. J.J. stared at him a moment, and looked as if he were trying to comprehend these words. His lip quivered, and he fell into Ryo's chest sobbing. Ryo did his best to comfort, but found that he ended up crying as well.
So much for containing himself, thought Ryo.
It seemed an eternity for someone to finally come out. He had changed into a clean outfit (one that wasn't covered in Dee's blood), and he was holding a clipboard in his hand. His eyes conveyed no emotion of what the news was. Ryo didn't notice the man; he had his face buried in his hands. He was wide- awake, but really didn't know what to make of the situation. J.J. had long since fallen asleep, and was curled up into a ball, his head resting on Ryo's lap.
"Mr. McLean?"
Ryo shot upright, and saw the man. He looked cold, and he couldn't tell what he was about to say just by looking at him. He seemed completely devoid of emotion, and that put him on edge.
"That's. that's me." Ryo said, staring up with wide eyes at the man.
He began to talk, but it all seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Of course, he made it all sound better than it really was, with flowery words and explanations of why it had happened, but the bottom line was that Dee was dead.
Ryo fell back into his chair, and felt as if the life were being sucked out of him. Deep down, he knew that this would happen; he knew that Dee wouldn't survive. But he had prayed so hard that it wouldn't come to that.
At first he didn't believe it. He thought that maybe if he were there, Dee wouldn't be dead? Maybe he could wake him up.
Panic gripped him. And then he did something probably only Dee would have done. He bolted out of his chair and into the trauma room. There he saw Dee on the table, deathly white. The surgeons were just finishing stitching up his chest and cleaning up the blood, and talking to one another as if nothing happened in a competitive sort of manner, as if the man were nothing more than an animal meant for dissection. They didn't seem at all phased at the fact that there was a dead man lying on the table. They must have been used to it, he figured, but it angered him to see them taking this so lightly, taking something of such great importance, something that had made the last three years of his life better than any other. as if it were but a trifle.
Ryo stood in shock, not sure what to do. He couldn't touch him. he'd hurt him, wouldn't he? He looked as delicate as a porcelain doll, and if there was any chance of "waking" him, he was afraid that he would shatter at anyone's or anything's touch.
There were shouts from the lobby. Ryo spun around and heard a gunshot. He knew what it was: J.J. had sworn that if anything had happened to Dee that he would kill himself without hesitation. No one could do anything about it; it was too sudden and sporadic, just like him to do without a second thought as to how it would affect others. There was a thump of flesh to linoleum, a brief silence, and then panic.
Selfish boy.
Moments later, he saw a probably barely living, most likely dead, J.J. rushed by frantically on a stretcher. Blood was pooling under his head, staining the sterile white sheets. Everything, everyone was in panic. To Ryo, the walls seemed to be heaving, enclosing all around him. His world was falling apart, and there was nothing to do about it.
He felt faint, and tumble backwards, back out the doors, the surgeons not even noticing his presence at all. After a couple more steps of a drunken fashion fumble, he felt a pair of somewhat small hands catch him, struggling to hold him up. The hands were only able to let his weight fall to the ground and keep him in a sitting position. Ryo let his head tipped back, and he saw Bikky, eyes wide with wonder and concern. Carol hovered over, not sure what to make of the situation. Had they come in when J.J. had shot himself? He had certainly hoped not. That would have been a horribly traumatic thing to see as a kid his age.
He smiled half-heartedly, half bitterly, half. concerned, as his eyes welled up with tears of worry, frustration, sorry and anger that he had been holding ever since he got the news. He didn't know what the smile was for, but second after he drifted into an uneasy sleep right there on the lobby floor of the hospital, a sleep that seemed more like ill unconsciousness rather than sleep.
To be Continued..
~*~ So.. um.. whaddya all think? It was based off of another FAKE fanfic I found, that was wonderful. I just thought it would make a better, longer fic, and well, call me unoriginal, but I did it anyway. Please R&R!
Oh, BTW, I did review her fic, and ask if I could use her basic story. but she never got back to me. If she has a problem with it, then I'll take it down.
DISCLAIMER: FAKE does not belong to me. The characters, concept, and story do not belong to me, and I am merely borrowing them, for lack of inspiration to write anything original. ~*~
Dee Laytner was one of these people who happened to take every morning for granted. He didn't have to go into work until noon today, but there were several errands that needed done, that he didn't particularly want to do. But, they did indeed, need done, and no one else was around to do them. Ryo said something about going in early to finish paper work, Carol and Bikky were at school. So, it was all up to him.
He laid in bed for awhile, somewhere between the brink of sleep and wake. His eyes were still closed, but his body and brain, much to his disappointment, were urging him to wake.
"Come on big boy, it's all up to you now." He muttered to himself, as if it were an inspirational speech to get him moving. It failed to work, but it was worth a try.
When he had finally gotten the will to open his heavy eyes, he slowly crawled out of bed into some clothing, which was either clean or dirty, he couldn't tell, and frankly, he didn't care. He tucked his blue shirt in, tried to zip up his pants and button them, (although this seemed to be rather difficult, considering his hands were so tired the seemed to be nothing but rectangular blocks of wood on his hands that kind of were supposed to be fingers) and then tried to button his shirt, but had realized that he had tucked it in quite sloppily before he could even button it.
It had taken him nearly an hour to fully wake (or, get dressed, as the case may be), and get a somewhat decent meal into his stomach. He sat at the table, munching at some Cream of Oranges Instant Breakfast that Ryo had bought. The clock on the wall sat across from him, ticking away as if to remind him that he had not more than a couple of hours to do his errands and get to work. He glared at the clock. It seemed to glare back, but as it turned out, that was only the second hand at such and angle to make the clock look as if it were frowning at him. He sighed, and finished up his meal, carelessly tossing the pastel blue plastic bowl into the kitchen sink.
He walked past the fridge, and checked to see if Ryo had left a shopping list. Shopping was one of the things Ryo had asked him to do, but he couldn't do it very well if he didn't know what Ryo wanted. There was indeed one, sticking to the fridge with the aid of some clever magnets that were made to look like tacks. On a flowery piece of stationary, was scribbled some demands in Ryo's delicate handwriting. It read:
"MILK, BREAD, EGGS, CREAMER, GROUND TURKEY.
TAKE TRASH OUT.
SEE YOU AT WORK. ~RYO"
Dee sighed, and shoved it into his pocket. The trash could wait; he didn't have time right now. He grabbed his jacket, and tossed it over his shoulder.
When he had left the apartment building, he was stunned with a somewhat extreme amount of sunlight and sickening cheeriness. Children were playing, Dogs were barking, bees were buzzing. A big red rubber ball bounced in front of him, but he took no heed, and watched an irregularly short blonde person run after it, squealing with delight.
He walked down to his car, which was parked on the side of the road where it normally took its spot every night. He smiled, wondering why he and Ryo didn't just move in together. They had been spending the past several weeks at Ryo's humble flat together, and Dee hadn't seen his house more than once a week, and that was usually to grab some more clothing for Ryo to worry about washing.
He unlocked his car, and flopped lazily into the driver's seat. He had a little more energy than he had beforehand, but it still didn't seem nearly enough. Lazily, he stuck the jagged key into the ignition, and waited for the quiet purr of his car's motor.
As he pulled out of the parking lot, he realized that he couldn't go shopping without money. He had spent all of the money from his last check, and had none left to spare. He cursed silently to himself, and pulled over, checking his wallet for his payment from yesterday. It was there, and that meant he had to go to the bank. He hated the bank. Once again, he cursed silently to himself. This would delay him a little, and most likely meant he wouldn't be able to run those extra errands for his benefit.
He sighed in exasperation. That meant he couldn't buy that movie he had on hold for the past week, the one that was almost impossible to come by, the one that sold out every time it hit the shelves.
The movie was Gunbladers #3, One of the most popular kid's cinemas. Ryo laughed that he loved it, but.. He did!! There was no denying it, and Ryo would just have to live with his silly obsession.
He sighed in exasperation, and felt he were on the verge of tears.
//No. it'd be silly to cry over a.. a friggin' kid's movie!!// Dee thought spitefully to himself. But still.
He pulled into the parking lot, and found a space next to an incredibly, if not ridiculously large black Chevy Suburban. The parking spaces themselves were huge, and he hit the thing with his door as he got out. He glared at it spitefully, and made his way into the building. Fortunately, there wasn't a line. He smiled gleefully. So maybe he plans would work out afterall!!
He skipped over to a bombshell blonde teller, who was typing something into her computer. She looked up happily, and smiled at him.
"Welcome to New York State bank, Sir. How may I help you?" She said quietly, with a voice that was a little too seductive for a woman in a tie. Maybe she was trying to come on to him.
He smiled, and shook his head. No one could resist Dee Laytner's charm, No one!
"Hey there. I need to cash this." he said casually. He put the check onto the counter. She picked it up, and asked for his identification. He handed his Driver's License and state I.D. without looking at her, to appear as if he were ignoring her relentless flirts, when in reality, he was letting them all soak into his already swollen ego.
She put something else into the computer, and then counted out his money, setting it out on the counter for him. He fetched it up, flashed her a quick smile of gratitude, and began on his way.
As he was leaving, something caught his attention. There was a lanky man, leaning over the counter, and talking quietly to a teller. The teller did not seem to be enjoying the man's company, and had had placed both of his hands on the counter, which was most likely something lanky man had demanded him to do. The first thing Dee thought was robbery, but there wasn't quite enough. commotion. And the man wasn't even masked or anything. He couldn't jump to conclusions.
He paced off casually to the side, to assess the situation from a more remote spot, which happened to be behind a plaster pillar, which was adorned with painted pink flowers. When he saw the man reach into his jacket and pull out a gun, he knew that his assumption had indeed been right.
He walked over quietly, pulled out his wallet, and tapped the man on the shoulder.
"Is there a problem over here?" He asked quietly, and showed the teller and the man his badge. The teller seemed relieved, until the lanky man spun around, stared at Dee for a moment, and then turned back to the teller and shoved the gun into his mouth.
"You bastard!!" He screamed. "I said we could go about this quietly, but no! You had to fucking signal the police!! I'll shoot your fucking brains out!!"
The bank froze around him. Some people tried slipping out quietly, to not draw the man's attention. He glared at the teller, spun around, and brandished his gun wildly.
"Don't any of you think about even leaving!! It looks like this is gonna be an old fashioned Lock down!! I didn't want it to be this way, but it looks as if we have no choice!" He laughed wildly, and spun around again, pointing his gun at Dee.
"You, well it looks like I'll have to take care of you first, seeing as you could bust me for this." He laughed. Dee was frozen with shock. This indeed, was not his division. He was more of a detective than a cop, and hadn't really been trained for this sort of situation. He shouldn't have interfered as soon as he did, but it was too late now. There was only one thing he could think of doing.
When he saw the man hesitate to pull the trigger, he took the chance and ducked quickly out of the life of fire. He rolled under his legs, tripped him, and pulled his own gun on him.
He hovered above the man, his gun pointed to his head. The other man lay prostrate beneath him, his small revolver pointed at his chest. Time seemed to have stopped.
Dee realized that he wasn't breathing, and neither was the other man. They were both too worried with who was going to shoot first.
The man glanced about wildly, and cursed to himself. This obviously, had not been in his plans. This hadn't been in Dee's plan's either, but it was sort of inevitable. It's not like anyone could pre-determine his or her day down to the last detail.
"Please, I am going to ask you once kindly, to drop your weapon sir."
"Like fuck I'm going to drop it!" He screamed, and spat at Dee.
Red and Blue lights flashed outside, and the loud wailing of police sirens could be heard. The man looked around in a panic, not sure what to do at this point.
They heard voices over a megaphone, but the man ignored it. It didn't mean anything to him now anyway; he was royally fucked no matter what he did. He could shoot his asshole and blow the brains out of everyone else in here, but that would make him a murderer. And now that the cops were outside, he couldn't very well get up and run. He's be shot down before he made it across the street. No point in listening.
Dee saw his finger shaking and time seemed to slow down. He saw the man pull the trigger. and it seemed to take an eternity for the bullet to leave the gun. Dee reacted and shot as well, hoping by chance it would somehow help him avoid the bullet headed straight for him.
Of course, this did nothing. He fell back when it hit, and felt as if he had just been knocked in the chest by a mace. He couldn't breath, and tasted blood on his tongue. He clutched at his chest, and stared at the ceiling with wide, frightened eyes. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak, he couldn't think. He only heard screaming. he thought maybe it was him, but it didn't seem like himself. It sounded like someone else screaming, but did it matter who was screaming?
It seemed an eternity for someone come over and try to save him. He stared up through them, as they ripped open his shirt, and pressed down on his chest in attempt to stop the bleeding. Their face seemed worried, but to him. they didn't seem to exist. They were nothing but a vision to him. The world had seemed to fall from his grasp, or rather, he seemed to be falling from reality, and fast.
People often ask, or rather, wonder what someone's last thoughts are before death. Do you think about your family, that bill that needed paid, or your kids? Dee didn't seem to be thinking of anything. his mind was a blank. He could only think about the pain, could only think about breathing. He wasn't thinking about the errands he should have run, the people who would miss him, the loose ends he never tied up to him. All of it seemed so trivial now. And for a brief moment, he wondered why. why were people born, if they were meant to live such a drab, pointless life? Why, when they would be soon forgotten in a couple decades or so? Their accomplishments, their mistakes, and everything else would soon vanish from memory. His vision went blurry, and everything started to fade. He didn't feel his eyes close but everything had gone completely dark. He realized that he didn't seem to have a need to breathe. The pain had gone numb, and he could barely make out what was in his line of vision. Everything, when so chaotic, had suddenly come to a complete stop, and come to utter nothingness.
And before he went out, he had a brief thought, one regret, one last image. The thought was of Ryo, the regret was that he had never told him his true feelings were more than mere physical infatuation, and the image was his smile, that sweet smile, his benevolent expression. Gods, he'd miss him.
Randy "Ryo" McLean was sitting at his desk, hunched over a stack of paperwork. Half of it was incident reports, mainly thanks to the carelessness of his partner, Dee Laytner. They weren't serious incidents, thank god, but there were traffic violations, temporary theft of vehicles... and a colorful array of other reports. He sighed in exasperation, and leaned back into the chair. He was already exhausted, and the day had barely begun!
The door to his office creaked open, and he saw one of his co-workers peek in. They seemed distraught and worried.
"Ryo, I think we need to talk for a minute."
"What? What's the problem?"
He sighed, and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. He wasn't sure how to say it.
"Your partner, Dee. he's."
Ryo felt his heart stop.
"What? What happened to Dee??" He asked almost desperately.
"He was hospitalized just about a half an hour ago. He's in surgery right now."
"What happened??!" he shouted, and jumped up from his chair.
The man looked sorrowful.
"He was at the bank and got caught in the middle of a robbery. he was shot in the chest."
Ryo didn't need to hear anymore. He bounded from his office, out to his car. First thing, he needed to get Carol and Bikky. Or he could wait. Gods, he didn't know what to do. He should go see Dee first. Yes, that would be best. He shouldn't worry Carol and Bikky until there was something to worry about. This was of course, something to worry about, but he had to be there for Dee. He'd contact Carol and Bikky later.
He had rushed to the hospital, and found to his dismay that he could not see Dee at the current moment. He had been in surgery for several hours, and many more hours were laid ahead to endure.
He didn't dread anything more than to wait in this stark white room for hours on end, only for the doctor to come out say that Dee wasn't okay. that Dee was.
No. he couldn't think that way. He just couldn't. Dee wouldn't die; he was too stubborn to die! It wouldn't be like him at all to die like this. He nodded to himself, sure that he was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. Dee was going to survive more than one lousy shot from a psychopath.
Comforted a little, Ryo got a sudden sense of regret. He shifted uncomfortably in the pleather seats (which proved to be quite uncomfortable), and realized that he. he did love Dee. As much as he hated to admit it, he loved the hot head. A lot. And he knew Dee loved him. he had said so himself. But he had never really seemed serious about it. Ryo was convinced he just wanted to get laid, or something. But now when he thought back, everything had pointed to it. He was jealous when Rose became commissioner, and Ryo couldn't help but stare admiringly at him every time he passed, with a slight blush to his cheeks. He had been so protective of Ryo, and had told him many times over that he loved him. He didn't know why he never took him seriously.
And then something else tugged at his thoughts. What if he couldn't tell Dee that he loved him? He couldn't live with that regret. he just couldn't. There was no way. But then there were Bikky and Carol to worry about. They had basically become his children. Not legally, but he acted as a father to them. Dee had always been more like the cruel older brother, who really does love them, and just can't admit it. Ryo smiled sardonically, and sunk lower into his chair. Dee had been so great to him, that if anything ever happened to him. he wouldn't know what to do.
He looked up, and saw J.J. running in, screaming like a maniac. He rolled his eyes, but he knew how J.J. felt. Couldn't he be less. vocal about it, at least?
Several doctors had to hold him back to keep him from running right into the middle of the surgery and shaking Dee like a rag doll, demanding to know if he was okay. They pushed him into a chair next to Ryo, and said rather sternly that they'd have to have security escort him from the premises if he continued to act in such a disorderly manner. J.J. pouted, and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.
Ryo looked to J.J., and had sympathy for the boy. Dee may not like him much, but Ryo personally didn't have anything against him. He was hard to deal with at times, and probably even stupid and annoying more than half the time, but if he did love Dee the way Ryo did, then well, he did feel sorry for him.
He pat him on the back sympathetically. J.J. looked up him, tears brimming in his big eyes. That made Ryo's stomach twist itself in grief, but he held back the tears for J.J.'s sake. There was no point in having a bunch of blubbering idiots sitting around and annoying the workers here. It must be hard enough working in this ward anyway. he imagined that there had to be a lot of deaths here. "Everything is going to be all right," he said quietly. J.J. stared at him a moment, and looked as if he were trying to comprehend these words. His lip quivered, and he fell into Ryo's chest sobbing. Ryo did his best to comfort, but found that he ended up crying as well.
So much for containing himself, thought Ryo.
It seemed an eternity for someone to finally come out. He had changed into a clean outfit (one that wasn't covered in Dee's blood), and he was holding a clipboard in his hand. His eyes conveyed no emotion of what the news was. Ryo didn't notice the man; he had his face buried in his hands. He was wide- awake, but really didn't know what to make of the situation. J.J. had long since fallen asleep, and was curled up into a ball, his head resting on Ryo's lap.
"Mr. McLean?"
Ryo shot upright, and saw the man. He looked cold, and he couldn't tell what he was about to say just by looking at him. He seemed completely devoid of emotion, and that put him on edge.
"That's. that's me." Ryo said, staring up with wide eyes at the man.
He began to talk, but it all seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Of course, he made it all sound better than it really was, with flowery words and explanations of why it had happened, but the bottom line was that Dee was dead.
Ryo fell back into his chair, and felt as if the life were being sucked out of him. Deep down, he knew that this would happen; he knew that Dee wouldn't survive. But he had prayed so hard that it wouldn't come to that.
At first he didn't believe it. He thought that maybe if he were there, Dee wouldn't be dead? Maybe he could wake him up.
Panic gripped him. And then he did something probably only Dee would have done. He bolted out of his chair and into the trauma room. There he saw Dee on the table, deathly white. The surgeons were just finishing stitching up his chest and cleaning up the blood, and talking to one another as if nothing happened in a competitive sort of manner, as if the man were nothing more than an animal meant for dissection. They didn't seem at all phased at the fact that there was a dead man lying on the table. They must have been used to it, he figured, but it angered him to see them taking this so lightly, taking something of such great importance, something that had made the last three years of his life better than any other. as if it were but a trifle.
Ryo stood in shock, not sure what to do. He couldn't touch him. he'd hurt him, wouldn't he? He looked as delicate as a porcelain doll, and if there was any chance of "waking" him, he was afraid that he would shatter at anyone's or anything's touch.
There were shouts from the lobby. Ryo spun around and heard a gunshot. He knew what it was: J.J. had sworn that if anything had happened to Dee that he would kill himself without hesitation. No one could do anything about it; it was too sudden and sporadic, just like him to do without a second thought as to how it would affect others. There was a thump of flesh to linoleum, a brief silence, and then panic.
Selfish boy.
Moments later, he saw a probably barely living, most likely dead, J.J. rushed by frantically on a stretcher. Blood was pooling under his head, staining the sterile white sheets. Everything, everyone was in panic. To Ryo, the walls seemed to be heaving, enclosing all around him. His world was falling apart, and there was nothing to do about it.
He felt faint, and tumble backwards, back out the doors, the surgeons not even noticing his presence at all. After a couple more steps of a drunken fashion fumble, he felt a pair of somewhat small hands catch him, struggling to hold him up. The hands were only able to let his weight fall to the ground and keep him in a sitting position. Ryo let his head tipped back, and he saw Bikky, eyes wide with wonder and concern. Carol hovered over, not sure what to make of the situation. Had they come in when J.J. had shot himself? He had certainly hoped not. That would have been a horribly traumatic thing to see as a kid his age.
He smiled half-heartedly, half bitterly, half. concerned, as his eyes welled up with tears of worry, frustration, sorry and anger that he had been holding ever since he got the news. He didn't know what the smile was for, but second after he drifted into an uneasy sleep right there on the lobby floor of the hospital, a sleep that seemed more like ill unconsciousness rather than sleep.
To be Continued..
~*~ So.. um.. whaddya all think? It was based off of another FAKE fanfic I found, that was wonderful. I just thought it would make a better, longer fic, and well, call me unoriginal, but I did it anyway. Please R&R!
Oh, BTW, I did review her fic, and ask if I could use her basic story. but she never got back to me. If she has a problem with it, then I'll take it down.
DISCLAIMER: FAKE does not belong to me. The characters, concept, and story do not belong to me, and I am merely borrowing them, for lack of inspiration to write anything original. ~*~