Chapter 12

He'd never felt one before, never even held one before, but he was absolutely positive it was a gun in his neck. His heart stopped beating for a brief second, then started racing as his mind tried to process what was happening. He was frozen in a half bent over position, bleeding on the ground, in agony at the pain his stomach muscles were in, with a gun pressed tightly to his neck by someone.

He started to panic. The men in the pavilion, the ones who'd beaten the police officer. They could have his gun; it wasn't in his holster. And maybe they'd seen him in there. Or maybe they'd seen him leaving. They might kill him just so he couldn't id them. Not that he could anyway, he'd only seen them from the back and side. But they didn't know that. So they shot Officer Davidson, probably aiming for Josh, and now they were here to shoot him.

"Put your hands on your head!" the person shouted from behind him.

He did, slowly, and he felt his left arm being brought around to his back and the now familiar feel of handcuffs being placed around his wrist. His right arm was brought around next, and he wondered if he should fight. He'd never get away from them if he were handcuffed behind his back. He was barely able to move when they were cuffed in front of him earlier. But the gun being pushed even further into his neck reminded him that he was far from in charge, and however they'd gotten the police officer's things, they had them and he was the prisoner.

He wanted to shout 'I didn't see you!' but he knew that would only negate his statement. They'd never believe him. The question was, what were they going to do about it?

He heard shouting again from behind him, but this time not to him. "I've got an officer down. We're about thirty yards northeast of checkpoint. Officer is unconscious."

A police officer? He turned his head, trying to see the man who'd cuffed him. Thank God, he thought when he saw the badge and blue uniform, dismissing it immediately. Police officers today had been nothing but bad news.

"Is he breathing?" he heard the person on the other end of the walkie-talkie shout.

"I don't know," the officer shouted back.

"He just passed out," Josh yelled. "He's been shot in the leg." The officer leaned over his shoulder and looked at Officer Davidson on the ground.

"Gunshot wound to the right thigh!"

"On our way."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Matt stared at the officer talking to him for what felt like a lifetime. He tried to speak, but he couldn't quite form words, so he just stared at him. Finally, he tore his eyes away and looked over at Donna. He stared at her for several seconds before looking back at the officer.

"Sir," the man yelled to him.

He continued staring at him, finally opening his mouth and speaking. "I…" He shook his head slightly from side to side.

"There's a large gash on his head," the man yelled.

He nodded. He remembered the gash. Remember thinking it looked bad. Remembered thinking he'd need stitches.

"When we got to him, he was unconscious in the building," he continued. "There was grey matter coming from his head."

"Grey…" he lost his voice once again. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening. He just had to wait in there until they pulled him out.

"I'm not a doctor, Sir, but the paramedics were… not all that hopeful."

He stuttered, trying to speak. "S…Skyline, r… right?"

"Yes," he shouted, nodding.

"Where… How… I… I don't know where that is," Matt managed to get out, looking back at Donna.

"Go back out to 95 north." Matt looked back at him and nodded. They'd been on I-95 three times already that day. "Take the 79th Street exit. It's six blocks down on the left."

"79th Street, six blocks," he repeated as if in a trance. "Got it. Thank you."

"Good luck," he heard the man yelled as he turned away and towards Donna.

He took a few steps, finding it hard to actually move his feet. He should've let her get in the ambulance. He should've let her say goodbye. He'd probably be dead by the time they got to the hospital and she wouldn't have gotten to say goodbye. He looked at her, wondered what the last thing they'd said was the last time they talked. He hoped it was something nice. Hoped it would be enough. Hoped she'd be able to find some comfort in it.

She told him. Told him Josh needed her. Told him Josh would be ok if she were there. He didn't really believe that, but she did, and he'd prevented her from getting to him and now Josh was going to die and she wasn't going to get to say goodbye. She'd blame him, he was sure of it and fine with it, but she'd blame herself too. He'd stayed in that park because of her. Refused to leave until she was safe, and now he was going to die.

He shook his head. Maybe it was better than she wouldn't see him like that. Grey matter, whatever that looked like, seeping from his forehead. Maybe they'd clean him up before they let her see him and she'd be able to remember him the way he was before.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and it startled him. He looked at the caller id and the first tear slipped from his eye as he saw 'Helen' on his display. He was such a lucky man. "Helen?" he choked out into the phone.

"Matt? I can't hear you."

"Helen," he said louder, desperation in his voice.

"Matt, what's going on? I just saw you on TV; did the police arrest Donna?"

"Helen, I love you so…" he trailed off, trying to keep from crying. He looked at the ground and squeezed his eyes closed.

She was quiet for a minute. "Matt, did something happen?" she asked slowly.

"Josh… it's bad."

Silence again. "How's Donna?"

He looked up at her, still being held awkwardly by Ned. "I haven't… she doesn't know yet."

"What can I do, sweetheart?"

He watched as Ned tried to console her, tried to hold her from running after an ambulance she couldn't see anymore. He didn't know how to do this. "Can you get in a cab and go to Skyline hospital? We're going there now. She might need…"

"I'm on my way."

"Thank you," he whispered.

"I love you too, you know."

He wiped his eyes. "Yeah."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"Mike, you have news?" the President asked Mike Casper, motioning him inside the oval office where CJ, Leo and Toby stood waiting for him.

"A little Sir."

"Good news, I hope." Mike just looked at him and shook his head.

"Josh?" Toby asked.

"Yes," he said, looking away from the President and over to Toby. "Two paramedics and three police officers went into the pavilion Josh was in, where they found a bleeding, unconscious police officer. Josh wasn't there."

"What?" CJ asked, confused.

"Where is he?" the President asked.

"We don't know, Sir. The only one inside the pavilion was the officer."

"So, they're looking for Josh."

"At this point, they're clearing out the police and waiting for the riot team. They should be there in three minutes."

"But Josh will get caught up in that mess," Leo said.

Mike nodded. "Yes, probably. But at this point, it might be the best thing. They'll use tear gas and the riot will be broken up in just a few minutes. Then they can look for Josh."

"Donna's there too. So is Congressman Santos," CJ said.

"What?" the President asked loudly. "I thought he got her out of there."

"We thought so too Sir," Toby said. "But we just saw them on the news."

"For crying out loud, Toby. What the hell…"

Mike cut him off. "Donna and the Congressman are behind the barricades. A blonde woman ran into the crowd and the Congressman chased after her, but the police got them out of there."

The President nodded. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" Leo mumbled.

"As far as they know, Josh is ok?" Toby asked quietly.

Agent Casper looked at the ground and then back up at Toby. "The police officer was badly injured. They don't expect him to make it to the hospital. If Josh was involved in whatever took place in there, he could be injured."

"Josh would never hurt a police officer," the President spit out.

"No Sir, but whoever did that to the officer…"

"Might have done the same to Josh," CJ replied quietly.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

She felt his arm on her shoulder and jerked away from him, furious that he'd kept her from getting into the ambulance. Ned let go of her and she looked up, wondering if he'd been holding her for comfort or to just keep her from running away.

"How is he?"

He was quiet for a few seconds before answering. "I didn't talk to a paramedic, just an officer. He didn't have details. We'll find out more at the hospital," he yelled over the noise.

"Was he conscious at all?"

He shook his head. "No."

She wiped her eyes and looked hard at him. "What aren't you telling me?"

He ignored her question. "We need to go to the hospital. They gave me directions."

Without waiting, she started walking quickly back towards the street the minivan was parked on. After about ten feet, she broke out into a jog, and didn't look back until she was standing by the familiar side door.