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Mistaken Identity

Chapter 3

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"Hey wait up Doc!"

Doc cleared the dark stairwell two steps at a time making his temporary partner strain at having to catch up to him.

"If you can't keep up, give me your equipment and go back to the damn bus!" Doc shouted still running up the stairs.

His partner, Al Feldman, was a bit taken aback by Doc's words but continued to follow him. After all, he still had a job to do and just because he didn't get along with Doc didn't mean he wasn't going to do it.

Plus he had their backboard tucked under his arm.

Al had been called in to the firehouse after a medic didn't show up for work. He was having a good day until he and Doc had to go on this run. Doc seemed to be in a much crappier mood than at the beginning of the shift.

Doc on the other hand couldn't care less what first impressions he made on his partner or what Feldman thought. He adjusted his equipment bag on his shoulder as he reached the fifth floor, slowing down as he forced the staircase door bar open. The muscles in his legs were already burning after running up five flights of stairs. The hall was noisy from someone's loud music system. Doc was already on edge and the loud rock music was no help to him.

"What apartment is it?" Al asked trying to catch his breath. For an older guy, Doc was in great shape.

Doc didn't answer him and continued down the hall until he reached an apartment two doors from the end. The door was already wide open and Al followed Doc into the doorway.

"Sully!" Doc yelled.

"We're in here!" Faith answered.

As Doc headed through the living room he noticed that it looked pretty torn up. He noticed a side table knocked down with its' glass top shattered on the ground. A pair of shoes and jackets were splayed on the ground convincing Doc whatever happened wasn't a slip and fall. Doc was even more sure when he saw Bosco looking at the ceiling while shaking his head. Doc took a fleeting glance upwards and noticed the unquestionable indentations of bullet holes. He felt his heart throb faster when he saw Faith and Sully huddled by the couch. Someone was laying on the floor between them but he couldn't make out who it was yet. "How bad?" Doc asked breathlessly just as he reached the two of them.

"I don't know. He opened his eyes for a moment but he passed out again." Faith said while Sully just crouched their beside Ty looking numb.

Doc knelt down beside him and took a deep breath as he saw what condition Davis was in. Doc had suspected at the most a gunshot wound but was stunned looking at all of the bruises on the young man. Most of the skin Doc could see was black-and-blue.

"Doc!" Faith shouted getting his attention.

Doc shook his head and called out Davis' name as he crouched down. "Ty? Wake up. Come on time to wake up." He pulled his penlight out of his pocket and shined it into his eyes still not getting any response. "Pupils sluggish but reactive." Doc announced to his partner who didn't yet know that the man on the floor was a friend of everyone there.

Doc balled his hand into a fist and rubbed his knuckles roughly onto his sternum. "Davis! Wake up!" He shouted bending down closer to his ear.

******

Pain flared across his chest making him groan in pain.

"Davis wake up!" A voice ordered.

'I'm tired.' He thought. He just wanted to stay still and ignore the pain but it was too much. He finally opened his eyes looking into the face of Doc.

"There we go. Stay up this time." Doc ordered placing on the cervical collar with numb fingers. "How long was he awake before I got here?" He said looking around at Faith and Sully.

"Maybe a few minutes. I-I don't know." Sully said shaking out of his stupor and looking down at his partner. Seeing all the bruises made it hurt just to look at him.

"Davis do you where you are?" Doc asked.

"Huh?" Ty groaned. 'What was Doc talking about?'

"You're at your apartment. Someone assaulted you but you're going to be okay." Doc saw the words register on his tired face and looked at a loss. "Can you wiggle your feet and fingers?"

"Yeah." Ty said as he slowly moved his legs and fingers. 'Why did Doc ask me that? Am I hurt that bad?'

"That's good. I'd be worried if you couldn't." Doc said trying to put the younger man at ease.

The other paramedic looked at Faith. "Any sign of that other roommate?"

"That other roommate your talking about is a paramedic, my partner!" Doc nearly yelled scaring his temporary partner back to work. He knew in the back of his mind that Carlos wasn't there when Bosco gave him 'the look' when he first arrived. He just did not want to believe it. 'Just focus on keeping Davis alive.' Doc thought inserting an I.V. with numb fingers. He looked back down at him seeing that he was still awake. "Davis how are you doing?"

"Not good." He simply said barely coherent as he blinked his eyes slowly. Everything on his battered body seemed to hurt but his chest hurt so much that he only took quick and shallow breaths. He was helpless to do anything when Doc had put the c-collar on and it only hindered him from breathing.

Doc's partner had taken note and quickly put on an oxygen mask. Feldman heard Davis mumble something before he watched Ty start to squirm as he tried to rip off the C-collar with his arm. "Off, off." He panted.

"Ty calm down. You have to let them work. It's there to help you." Sully said slowly holding his partners hand down. Ty looked at Sully in hesitation but stopped when he saw the worry in his eyes and reluctantly tried to calm down. Ty forced himself to breathe slowly finally getting enough oxygen.

"His pressure's pretty low Doc." The paramedic said quietly.

"Just give the I.V time to work." Doc replied. "Any better Davis?"

Ty could only manage to shake his head which almost went unnoticed by everyone around him. He still felt like hell.

Sully looked desperately at Doc. "Can't you give him something?"

Doc shook his head. "He likely has a head injury. He has to wait until we get to the hospital."

"Well what are you waiting for?!"

"We're working on it." Al cut in. He and Doc were working to stabilize him first.

Sully turned away from Doc and the other paramedic for a minute realizing they were too busy to answer his questions. He caught his partners attention by grabbing his hand and decided to see if he could get some information on what happened. "Ty, what happened here? Who did this to you?" Maybe he could get some information on what happened.

'Did what?' Ty looked at Sully more confused than ever. He seemed to struggle for a moment before finally getting the words out. "I don't-I don't know."

"What about Nieto? Do you know where he is?" Sully asked optimistically. He had seen the blood on the carpet, the bullet holes, and knew someone had gotten the short end of the stick. Doc looked at Sully for a moment before returning to help Davis.

"Carlos? He's not here? Something happen?" He asked anxiously looking at the faces looming above him.

"It's alright Ty. We were just asking." Faith cut off Sully from asking another round of questions with a stern look. 'Not now.' She mouthed. Ty really didn't need anymore stress on him.

'Carlos?' Ty's mind flashed back to earlier and saw Carlos and a gun but all his thoughts seemed jumbled up. He did remember a man in front of him who punched him hard in his stomach. He moved his hand over his stomach grimacing.

Doc looked up from splinting his arm and at Davis who was feebly moving his good arm to his abdomen. "What's wrong?"

"My stomach." Ty complained sounding like a little kid complaining to his mother. It was a dull pain that had been there since he woke up and it wasn't going anywhere.

Doc pulled up his shirt to see most of his stomach was covered dark bruises. "Son of a Bitch." Sully cursed while Faith diverted her eyes away. "I don't believe this."

Doc echoed their exact thoughts in his own mind but didn't allow himself to say it out loud. Doc felt his stomach making Ty groan.

"Sorry, Sorry." Doc apologized. It was pretty swollen already and Doc put two and two together and quickly put away his equipment. "Why didn't I check abdomen first? Damn it."

"What's going on?" Sully asked seeing Doc's hastiness.

"His pressure's dropped!" The paramedic said putting his stuff away also.

"Don't go to sleep on me Davis." Doc ordered seeing his friends eyes at half mast.

'Easy for you…..' Ty thought slowly. He was starting to feel a little lightheaded but he was sure Doc knew what he was doing.

Doc looked at Sully and shook his head. "I think he's bleeding internally. We got to go. Now."

"I'm going too." Sully said looking up. He wasn't there for Ty the other night but he would be today.

"No. You can follow behind us." Doc said keeping his answer short so he wouldn't have to delve into any details. He was sure he would need all the room he could get. "Let's go."

*****

The train roared over the tiny neighborhood shaking the foundations of the small wooden houses. It was a poorer part of town but two men in one of the many un kept homes anticipated their luck to change very soon. Their home was just below the noisy tracks but the men couldn't care less. This was only temporary until they got enough money to leave.

"We shouldn't have left that paramedic Rich. He might have saw something." A man said who was clearly over six three and very pumped. He ran a hand through his short black hair. "What are we going to do?!" He asked.

Rich was pacing the living room floor holding a wet dish towel over his bicep. "Don't worry. I got it all figured out Lou."

"Well what?" Lou shouted.

Rich was always the smarter of the two brothers. He'd gone to college while Lou worked menial jobs not doing much of anything with himself though he had the body of a football player. He passed on sports and decided drugs were something he was naturally good at.

"We're going to act normally. Like nothing happened. We don't need to let anyone get suspicious. You keep going to work and I'll be here watching our bait. It's not like I can go anywhere now." Rich said looking at his arm wound.

"Duh. You've been shot! By a paramedic no less!" Lou said looking at the now soaked bloody dish rag. He reached for another one that was hanging on the refrigerator and handed it to his brother. "Well we're still going to kill him right?" Lou asked looking at the man in the corner.

Rich shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Depends if we get the money we want for this cop." They both were looking in the corner at the back of the room where a man sat gagged and tied up.

Carlos heard every word they had just said and was nearly hyperventilating in fear. 'Kill me?! I'm the paramedic not the cop.' He tried to twist his sweaty hands out of the tape as he heard laughter.

"Aww look Rich. It's startin' to dawn on him. I think he needs to learn the same lesson his friend did." Lou threatened advancing on Carlos.

"Hey the News is coming on. Bring him over." Rich said wanting his captive to see the headlines.

"You're real lucky buddy." Lou sneered putting down his fist. Carlos cringed as the man lumbered closer and grabbed him by the back of shirt. "Get up." He growled.

'A little hard when you're tied up.' Carlos thought as he was forced to stand.

"It's on." Rich said. Carlos was pushed roughly to the ground in front of the small TV set and struggled to turn on his side and watch.

"The facts are still sketchy but the police are searching an apartment building on hopes of finding clues about this mysterious case. A police officer was found assaulted in his apartment and taken to a local hospital where he is still in surgery. We'll bring you the details as we get them." Carlos felt the eyes of his captors on him as he watched the news report. The news had to be talking about Ty.

His ID picture flashed on the screen. "But the most disturbing fact is that his roommate Carlos Nieto, an FDNY paramedic, is missing at this hour. We-"

Carlos couldn't hear the rest of the report because he was yanked to his feet and face to face with an angry Lou. "You're a paramedic?! Not a cop?!" He ripped the tape off his mouth. "Answer me!"

"What did you do to Ty!" he shouted brazenly back. He was brought back to earth as he felt something cold at the base of his neck. He registered instantly that it was a gun as he heard a voice behind him.

"Answer him." Rich said flatly.

"Yes." Carlos said swallowing hard. He heard low laughter behind him as the gun was pushed harder into his neck. "I don't believe this shit Lou. He was going to sit there and watch me bleed to death and he's a paramedic."

"Me either." Lou growled. He was angry they got the wrong man and didn't grab the cop. Carlos flinched at the pressure of the gun getting harder and Lou getting closer in his face. "Were you going to let my brother die?"

'Uh-yes?' He thought but kept his mouth closed and looked directly at Lou.

"Yes or no!?" Lou shouted. Carlos didn't answer feeling that any answer he gave would be wrong one. He felt Rich pull the cold steel away.

"We can still get plenty of money for an FDNY member." Rich said tucking the gun into his belt. He turned Carlos around and pointed to his arm. "Never mind the question. Just patch me up paramedic."

*****

It was late at night when Lou and Rich went onto the back porch to talk. Every normal person was fast asleep in their beds not looking out the window for two kidnappers. Lou quickly lit up a cigarette tightening his cheap coat around him. He heard a gunfire in the distance and sirens and briefly wondered if they were for him. He relaxed once he heard them disappear in the night.

"We did it man. We're about to get paid!" Lou said nearly shouting. It felt so good to know he'd soon never have to work again.

"Cool it. We don't need to let no one onto us. Only you and me know what happened last night."

"Right, right." Lou took a long drag trying to relax. "I'm thinking we should send a little gift to that officer. I think it would cheer him up. Don't you think?" He said changing the subject.

"I think it would help him on the road to recovery. Who doesn't just love flowers?" Rich smiled. "But I think we should include a nice photo message just for him. Just to keep his spirits up."

"We'll do it later on this week. Just a little tease." Lou laughed. "Just think. In a week, we'll be filthy rich."

"Yeah all because of this medic." Rich thought. They had him in the spare bedroom that was bare of anything except spider webs and dust bunnies. Rich rubbed his injured arm and wished he had something to numb the pain but all they had in the house was aspirin. He turned to his younger brother who was still puffing on his cigarette and sighed. "Those things will kill you. Put that thing out and lets call it a night."

Lou reluctantly threw down his cigarette and stomped it out before following Rich into the house. "I'm still going to use them."

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Interested yet? Write a review! This should make up for the previous short chapter.