Dying in Your Arms Tonight - Chapter Eight
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Joey slowly sat up and shook his head a little. So much for trying to fight them. He wearily turned his head like a man that had just had a bad day, not a man robbed of his freedom and life.
He sadly stared at Chandler and squinted his eyes as if he was trying to figure something out. This could be blamed on so many different people. The guy for picking a fight, the mexicans for bringing guns into the club, the bouncers for not checking close enough, the mexicans for holding them hostage and deciding to make things violent.
But out of all the people, Joey blamed himself. He shouldn't have come here in the first place, and he certainly shouldn't have brought his best friend with.
Chandler. He looked so lifeless, Joey feared that it was too late to save him. He knew that he was still alive by the shallow rise and fall of his chest, but he didn't know if he'd ever open his eyes again.
He had been thinking his plan in his head over and over again. The other hostages were standing by, waiting for Joey to set it into motion.
He said one last prayer for Chandler and himself before whiping away one lone tear and lifting himself off the ground.
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Left...or right. Left...or right.
I angrily stood up and paced the room. I didn't know what to do. Maybe I would just stay in here forever and see if anybody came to get me? Did all people have to go through this? Was this the supposed 'crossroads'? I thought a long lost loved one was supposed to come to you here and help you out?
I paused and thought for a second. I couldn't remember any people that I really cared about that had died.
I shook my head, realizing that no amount of thinking was going to bring me an answer or help me figure which door to walk thorugh. I took a deep breath and one last look around my personal view of the city I loved and grabbed on to the door handle of my destiny.
Who ever though destiny would have a door handle?
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Detective Murray walked back over to them with another man a few steps behind.
"This is Detective Banner, my partner. We just need to ask you a few questions," Detective Murray pulled out a notepad and pen.
"What are the names of the hostages you know about?" Detective Banner asked.
"Chandler Bing and Joey Tribbiani," Rachel answered, nervously wringing her hands together. Murray wrote the names down on his pad.
"How old are they?"
"They're both 29"
"What time did you contact them tonight?"
"I think it was a little after one a.m."
"What did they say?"
"Chandler said that he had been shot and that there were cops outside. I didn't really have a lot of time to talk to him before he cut out."
"Why aren't you guys doing anything? Why aren't you going in there? It's just a few guys," Ross yelled.
"We're trying to do this as peacefully as possible. Our swat team is getting access to the security cameras and we're working hard to get in communication with the suspects," Murray replied, looking up from his pad.
"Thank you for your time, you guys can go have a seat on those benches over there if you'd like," Banner said before walking away.
"We're doing everything we can to get your friends our of there," Murray said, also walking away.
Several shots rang out from the inside of the building and a swarm cops ran to get in place and aim their weapons.
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Joey crawled over to the bar on his hands and knees. One of the men had put their gun down on the bar several minutes ago and was now just on the other side.
Nathan, one of the other hostages, crawled over to the end of the bar and waited. Mike, another hostage, crawled to the gap in the bar that waitresses used to come in and out of.
Joey lept up and grabbed the gun, quickly aiming it between the three men. Nathan popped up from the end of the bar and tackled one of the mexicans to the ground, his gun was knocked away and slid several feet away from the two men. Mike reached under the bar and grabbed one of the mens legs and pulled them back. The man went crashing to the ground, also dropping his weapon in the process.
Joey shakily kept his aim on the giant and waved him to get out from across the bar. Nathan and Mike continued to wrestle with the other two men on the ground as the swat team stormed into the club through the front doors, guns aimed. "Freeze! Drop your weapon! Hands in the air!" They yelled, getting closer to the the bar.
Joey threw his weapon to the ground and flung his arms in the air. "It's ok! I'm a hostage!"
Nathan and Mike were torn away from their fights and thrown to the ground.
"Down on the ground, now!" An officer yelled at Joey as he slowly laid down on his stomach.
He was cuffed and dragged out of the building unwillingly by two men, Chandler was still in there, he couldn't leave him. "Wait! You have to help my friend!"
Mike and Nathan were brought out behind Joey. Monica, Ross, Rachel, and Phoebe spotted Joey and raced towards him.
"Joey, oh my God, you're ok!" Rachel screamed, throwing her arms around him.
"Rachel, tell them to take these cuffs off me! I need to help Chandler!"
The cops shoved Joey in the back seat of a police car and rolled the window down before slaming the door and running back inside.
The four friends ran toward the building entrance but were stopped by another young cop.
"You can't go in there!" He yelled, blocking the doorway with his body.
"Chandler!" Monica screamed, spotting him lying on the floor surrounded by paramedics.
"Move!" Ross yelled, shoving the cop out of the way and running over to Chandler.
"Oh my God," Monica cried and knelt down by Chandler's head.
"I can't find a pulse," one of the paramedics said, removing his hand from Chandler's neck to begin chest compressions.
The other paramedic covered Chandler's mouth and nose with a mask and started squeezing the the bulb it was connected to.
"Chandler, please don't die. Wake up, baby, wake up," Monica cried softly, brushing back his sweat soaked hair.
The second paramedic put his fingers to Chandler's neck. "I got a pulse, it's weak, but it's there, let's move him."
The two men proceded to lift Chandler on a stretcher and haul him off to an ambulance.
"I'm going with you," Monica said, climbing in the back with them.
"We'll get a taxi," Ross said. "What hospital are you taking him to?"
"Beth Israel," the first paramedic replied before reaching out to grab the doors and pull them shut.
"Come on!" Phoebe yelled, running past several buildings to get to the main street and hail a cab.
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Sorry this chapter was kinda short, but I got it up within five days! Go me! I'm gonna be really really busy for the next few days (driving test on monday baybee!) so I don't know how much of the story I"ll be able to get typed up and posted. I'll try my best though!
Thanks for reading, please review!
