Disclaimer: In first chapter.
Author's note: Phew...this chapter took me a WEEK to plan the plot out for it. I was also signing up on Deviant Art website, so if anyone wants to see my work, just look for my penname. Anyway, this has to be the one that is the most dramatic I've ever written, tell me what u think...
Chapter Five: Broken
The traffic junction in the 27th precinct was in a state of chaos. Cars were piled in traffic and by-standers, officers and passer-byes were in suspense at the scene. They found a sandy haired young man with bloodshot eyes, aiming a pistol at any officer nearing him. The negotiator was holding his arms in surrender, talking to him with a professional calm voice to coax the man to surrender.
"Listen, we're not gonna hurt you, okay?"
"No! I'm gonna shoot all of your asses down to hell! You took him away from me!"
"Shh, shh, just calm down, look, see, I'm gonna put my gun here, right here..."
The young man was breathing shakily, still gripping the gun tightly like his last lifeline.
"James..." he whimpered softly, "I need you, why did you leave me?"
Dee and Ryo raced out of the car first to find Ted, Drake and JJ standing by. Hu Tieh struggled as she pushed through the ever-growing crowd.
"Anything yet?" Ryo asked as he tried to catch his breath.
Drake shook his head, "We could only hope that the negotiator can make him drop the gun."
"Michael! Where's Michael!" Hu Tieh's voice sliced through the crowd.
"What the hell is she doing here!" Ted broke out in a shocked expression, "Miss Hsiao, it's too risky for you to be here!"
"What the fuck!" Drake cursed, "Why did you guys bring her here!"
"You do not understand, please!" she cried out, "I need to talk to him! He needs to learn the truth about James!"
"Let her through, Drake!" Dee shouted, "We'll tell the whole story once this is over. Call back the negotiator and let her do the talking."
Drake swallowed thickly, "But-"
"Everything will be cleared once she is allowed to pass, call back the negotiator, now!"
Drake motioned to JJ who hesitantly went to the front. Dee and Ryo spoke to Hu Tieh.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Ryo whispered.
Hu Tieh was trembling, taking deep breaths to try to relax, "I don't know what I'm doing either...but I have to do this..."
"Be careful..." Dee said, "We'll be behind you."
Michael swerved left...then right...then left again. He wouldn't let anyone near him. He's gonna shoot them all, they took his lover from him and that stupid girl! His eyes were burning with anger, hatred, sadness and heartbreak, a deadly combination to cause emotional mayhem. They were all the same, all these heartless bastards. He would show them...he would show them alright...
He observed the negotiator, he was suspicious when he was retreating, taking the gun with him.
"Michael! Michael!"
The crowd had parted and he snarled when he saw a familiar face coming through.
"You!"
"Michael! Don't do this!"
"You made him die, Hu Tieh!" Michael accused her, "You'll pay! All of you!"
Hu Tieh shook her head frantically, "Don't take out your anger onto these people! You must deal with me! Leave them out of this!"
"They could've stopped him!"
"Michael, you're causing us more pain when you're acting like this!" Hu Tieh's sore eyes were once again filled with tears, "James wouldn't want you to act like that!"
"Then why did he break up with me!"
"What!" she gasped softly, "He broke up with you?"
"Don't you fucking understand! You're just too innocent for your own good! He left me because he's fucking still loved you!"
"That's not true!" she shouted back, "He's still in love with you and only you! It said so in this suicide letter, it was addressed to both of us!"
"You're a liar! You're a liar, a whore and a slut!"
"Then shoot me for all I care, Michael!" she bared herself.
Thunder and lightning blasted in the air and a drizzle of rain fell, pittering and pattering like little peas as it grew stronger.
Michael gasped, "Wha-"
The crowd gasped with horror. Ryo and Dee were about to rush forward to protect the young woman, drawing their guns but they were held back by the Chief, who shook his head.
"Have faith, Latyner, Maclean."
"But, Chief!"
"Stand down!" the Chief barked.
"Fuck!" Dee gritted his teeth while Ryo only prayed for Hu Tieh's safety.
"Since you're determined to vent your anger by shedding blood, do it on me!" her voice was loud and desparate, her eyes lifting defense. She was trembling fiercely but she stood on her ground, "You always told me to stand up to my fears and problems and now...here I am..."
"Fine! I will do it!"
A gunshot roared in the dead silence but they found Hu Tieh still standing. Her stringy wet hair had been blown to one side, a large scratch marking her left cheek where the bullet had narrowly missed. Fine trails of blood trailed down and mixed with her tears and rain, marking a sharp contrast with her pale skin.
Michael ventilated, this wasn't supposed to happen, he was supposed to kill her for taking him away. Instead, he missed.
"It's my turn to talk, Michael! The truth!" Hu Tieh cried out, "James was dying of prostate cancer!"
"It's all a lie!"
"What I speak is true, Michael!" she swallowed her throat, trying to remember the contents of the suicide letter, "He was cutting himself because he felt guilty! He was guilty for breaking my heart and that you're hurting me because of him, but most of all, he felt that he had let you down because of his weakness of his heart. He loves you to bits, Michael...more than he did for me. He broke up with you because he was suffering and he didn't want to burden you with his pain."
"Why didn't he tell me!" he lamented, his pain fueled by betrayal, "I could've helped him! Why did he leave me! Didn't he love me!"
Fresh tears blurred her vision when she came to a painful revelation, "He wanted to end the pain himself...he was selfish...as much I hate to admit. But all I know is that he still loved us. Mainly you...you were the world to him as he was to you..."
His anger was overrode with pain.
"Damn you, James! You selfish bastard! Didn't you care! I loved you! I loved you so much!"
"Michael..." Hu Tieh whispered, approaching cautiously to him, "Please...let's go home..."
"I don't have a home to go to! James was all I ever need!" he cried, backing away. He clicked his gun at her again, "Stay back!"
"Don't do this, I beg of you!" she pleaded, "Let me help you!"
"Why should I let you help me, you bitch!"
She sobbed, the hurt intensified but she braved herself, "Don't you remember those times in high school? When we were best friends? You helped me a lot as I did for you. You're so happy with James, I was happy for both of you, yet you pushed me away. What happened to all the promises you made for me as a friend?"
She placed a hand on her heart.
"It hurts in here, Michael. I truly never wanted to take James away from you and I never was the cause of his suicide. I loved him but he loved you more. Please...live on...do it for me...do it for him...but most of all...do it for yourself..."
Silence reigned. The officers and the crowd were in trepidation on the outcome of the encounter between these two young people.
"I can't hold this out any longer..."
Ryo spun his head to find his partner trembling with restraint. He breathed heavily when he saw helplessness and fear in his eyes. A sight that didn't suit Dee at all.
"Dee..." Ryo whispered and touched his arm.
"I'm scared, Ryo...I've...I've never felt this intense before...letting her go in like that..." Dee murmured, "I can't stand here and do nothing."
"I'm scared too, Dee," Ryo admitted softly, "But she made the choice to do it."
"Not when it involves emotional pain..."
Ryo brought the younger man close, embracing him tightly and kissed his cheek soothingly.
"Damn it...cops aren't supposed to cry too..."
Ryo only watched helplessly as his younger lover's clenched closed eyelid began to spill a tear.
"Michael..." by that time, He Tieh was near the distraught man and laid her hand on his cheek, suddenly unafraid, "Think of him...James would've wanted you to keep on living...let's go home..."
"Home..."
"Yes, come on, put the gun down...we can share our pain...preserve James's memory..."
"I can't..."
"Michael?"
"I just can't."
A gunshot rung in the air. The man pushed her and Hu Tieh was violently thrown back with a scream as she clutched her left arm, a pool of blood forming underneath her.
"Hu Tieh!"
Dee broke loose from Ryo, sprinting fiercely to the fallen woman. His green eyes were blazen with anger and regret as he gathered her in his arms. She whimpered as the pain intensified at the moment. Ryo followed soon after, horrified at the damage as he knelt down beside Hu Tieh.
"Michael...no..." she tried to reach out for him but her exhaustion refused her to move.
"You fucking son of a bitch!" Dee hollered, "What the hell were you thinking!"
"My world is nothing with him around...I'm going to join him," Michael placed the gun against his temple and closed his eyes, his tears mingling with silvery rainwater, "Farewell..."
In slow motion, Dee, Ryo and Hu Tieh watched in horror as the trigger was pulled and Michael collapsed bonelessly to the ground, blood pouring from his temple. The gun dropped from his lifeless hand, sliding to Ryo, who opened in and checked. There were no more bullets left...
"Michael!" Hu Tieh winced and cried as she struggled in Dee's strong arms, "Michael! No! Not you too! Michael!"
"Hu Tieh!" Ryo joined Dee. With a strangled yell, Hu Tieh broke away, throwing herself over the dead man. Ryo sniffed heavily, "My God...why did it have to end this way...why?"
"Get an ambulance now! Get a paramedic!" the Chief, having recovered from the shock of the outcome, hollered to the rest of the officers.
"What the fuck are you people staring at!" Dee hollered angrily out at the crowd that seemed interested in the new scenario, "Get out of here! Scram!"
Hu Tieh was oblivious to the pain burning that was spreading in her body as she cried against his chest. The blood stained their clothes. Ryo winced at where the bullet path through her arm. She quivered as each sob was strangled from her throat.
"Why...why...why..." she murmured brokenly over and over again, "I'm alone...I'm all alone..."
Ryo found himself pulling the distraught woman away, cradling her in his arms. He brushed her stringy hair, tucking her head underneath his chin. He was frantic with worry as she stiffened, gasping and hyperventilating. She was shockingly paler and her breathing pattern was slow.
"Why does it hurt?" she whimpered, shaking her head, trying to block the pain that was overriding her senses.
"Dee!" Ryo panicked, "She's loosing a lot of blood!"
"Shit!" Dee rushed over and threw aside his trench-coat, quickly undressing his dress shirt, "Don't let her go into shock!"
The taller man hissed as the cold rain pelted his bare chest and shoulders. But he paid no heed and covered the bullet wound on Hu Tieh's arm with the shirt. He pressed firmly, making her jerk.
"Michael...James..." she whispered to herself, making Dee and Ryo gaze at her with worry, "Alone...so alone..."
"Shhh..." Ryo shushed her, "The paramedic will be here soon. Just hang on, okay?"
But Hu Tieh paid no attention, instead she continued to murmur to herself as she pressed herself against Ryo's chest. Ryo shuddered, closing his eyes. His heart broke, another life lost...all because of a suicide. He felt like crying as the young Asian trembled in his arms. Ryo felt a thick cloth covering his shoulders: Dee's coat.
"Ryo...baby..."
Dee's arm found its way around the smaller man's shoulder, pulling them both in his warmth. Dee gently kissed Ryo's forehead. Ryo hugged Hu Tieh close as he pressed his face against his shoulder, hot tears and raindrops dripping down his cheeks.
Dee continued to hold the both of them, shielding them from the rain until the paramdics came and took Hu Tieh into the ambulance.
To be continued...
Author's note: I know...this is depressing, isn't it? But u have to admit it, the world is unfair and cruel. Not everything ends with a fairy tale ending although a sliver of hope shines through. The next chapter is the last and in the process of writing and it should tie up the loose ends as to what happens to Hu Tieh and how Ryo and Dee help her cope in the aftermath.
C u!