The Hostage
Chapter four
The paramedic, Chris Rockford, arrived within half an hour and was briefed on everything that had happened. Deaq put on the uniform of a Michael Ludwig, Rockford's usual partner.
"You go in, take care of any of the injured, and then get out of there. No heroics. We don't need any more hostages." Hadley explained.
Rockford nodded as Billie looked at Deaq.
"Deaq, I want you to keep your emotions in check. If Van doesn't make it I don't want you going ballistic. The hostage's lives depend on you staying calm." Billie said her eyes glistening. They had both been watching the live feed and hadn't seen Van move for quite awhile. Neither one of them wanted to believe it but Van might already be dead. Judging from the amount of blood, if he wasn't, he would be soon without some kind of medical intervention.
"I'll be cool Billie." Deaq reassured her even though he himself didn't know how he would react if they lost Van. Right now all he could think about was that he had to get to his partner's side. He had to be there for him.
"You ready?" Hadley asked.
Chris and Deaq both nodded.
"Okay, contact the bank." Hadley said to Reed.
The same man they had talked to earlier finally picked up the ringing phone. They assumed he must be the leader.
"Yeah."
"We have a pair of paramedics ready to enter."
"Only one comes in."
"Sorry, but they work in pairs. Each is trained in different medical procedures."
"Okay, but if we find any weapons on them, or they try anything, they're dead, plus a hostage dies with them."
"No weapons, you have my word."
"Ok, but if they try anything, their deaths will be on your hands………..Go ahead and send them in."
The Bank
Deaq and Chris walked out of the command center and over to the bank door which was slowly opened by Winston. As soon as they entered they were immediately searched for weapons or transmitters. Then they were forced to take care of the injured gunman, Clark, before checking on the others. Deaq had started to protest but a quick look from Chris silenced him. They had to play it cool or they might not get to check on the other injured, including Van. After cleaning and bandaging Clark's arm, which was only grazed, they headed over to the hostages. They couldn't let on that they knew about Van or the gunmen would realize they were being watched. Deaq glanced around the room trying to act like he wasn't looking for anything in particular when he finally located his partner. Van had been pulled partly behind a desk, only his legs were slightly visible. Deaq hissed in a breath when he saw all the blood and he immediately ran over to Van with Chris following.
"Don't worry about him." Clark said as he walked over.
"This man has been hurt bad." Chris laid his bag down beside Van while Deaq knelt by his partner's side.
"Let them check him out." Gibson said. "What's it going to hurt?"
"But that son of a bitch shot me!"
"Yeah, the only good cop is a dead cop." Winston spoke up as he too walked over and pointed his gun at Van.
Deaq moved till he was between Winston's gun and Van. There was no way he was going to let them hurt his partner again. He glanced over at Chris. How did they know Van was a cop, he wondered? He could have identified himself when he pulled his gun but Deaq didn't think so and he hadn't heard him on the tape. Then it occurred to him that maybe one of them recognized Van from when he was working with Andre.
"We might need him to negotiate with." Gibson pushed Winston's gun away with his hand. "They're going to think twice about coming in here with guns blazing if they know one of their own is in here." Gibson looked back at Deaq and Chris. "Go ahead."
Van lay on his side in a pool of blood, barely conscious but alive. His face was covered in sweat and his breathing very shallow, a large bruise covered the left side of his face where Winston had kicked him. Together, Deaq and Chris gently rolled him onto his back then Chris pushed Van's jacket to the side, but when he tried to lift his shirt Van began to groan.
"No……..no don't…..it hurts." Van moaned softly, his eyes still closed. He pulled his knees up and began tapping his foot on the floor trying to ease the pain.
"I'm a paramedic, I need to get a look at this."
"No. No don't………..." Van's face was wrinkled in pain as he moaned and tried to cover his wound with his hand.
Deaq gently picked up Van's hand.
"My partner needs to check out your wound."
Hearing Deaq's voice Van slowly opened pain filled eyes. He blinked his eyes trying to bring Deaq into focus.
"De……..Deaq?" Van said softly, confused. What was Deaq doing here? "Deaq………I'm sssso cccold……..so ccccold." He said shivering.
Deaq squeezed Van's hand and shook his head slightly. Somehow he had to let Van know not to give him away.
"We're paramedics, we're here to help you." He said as he removed his jacket and put it over Van's legs.
"Oh………….okay……. okay." Van nodded his head slightly to let Deaq know he understood what was happening. He was not to let on that he knew him.
Deaq fought to keep his emotions under control. Van looked terrible. He had lost a tremendous amount of blood and his breathing was very labored. He also had a large bruise near his temple where he had been kicked, which in itself could be dangerous. Deaq winced in sympathy as Chris pulled back Van's blood saturated shirt. Above his belt buckle and slightly to the left was the bullet hole. Chris gently turned him to the side to see if there was an exit wound, there wasn't.
"The bullet is still in him." Chris said to Deaq then looked up at Gibson. "This man needs to get to a hospital immediately."
"He stays."
"He needs blood, he's going to bleed to death without it!"
"Do what you can for him, but he stays."
Deaq looked up glaring at Gibson. He knew his partner would die if he didn't get to a hospital soon.
"I heard your partner say he was a cop. If he dies you'll be up for murder one."
"Well you're here to see that he doesn't."
Chris opened his bag and took out a bag filled with antibiotic liquid. He poured it over the wound to clean it. Van hissed in pain and tried to pull away but Deaq held him steady. Next he took out a clean gauze bandage and pressed it hard against Van's wound to try to stop the bleeding. The pain was unbearable and Van cried out in agony.
TBC
