Chapter 5 - Dishonesty
"You're too late! Everyone's alive. In that hotel, every single person is alive! What you didn't know? You failed, JACK!"
He could still hear her patronizing voice in his head.
"It's all her fault," he croaked, his voice still throaty and strained. It was because of her that he had failed. It was because of her that Sonny was going to make his life hell. And it was because of her that he'd be stuck in this job forever... The anger he felt for her burned steadily inside of him but the need for vengeance slowly faded into reality. Nothing could be done from in here.
He was stuck.
So close, he thought helplessly. I was so close... He gave a dejected sigh as he stared aimlessly at the ceiling. Still stuck in this hospital bed with the feds just a few feet outside his door, Jackson weighed the few options he had left.
Jump out the window...and fall to his death.
Bust through the door...and possibly be shot to death.
Or surrender...
As much as he hated admitting defeat, as an alternative to death, it didn't look too shabby...
Maybe it won't be so bad, he mused, the morphine making him feel loose and airy, At least it'll all be over in jail...I'll be finished.
It was a nice thought, but the rational part of his brain knew that if he didn't face Sonny soon after failing the job, he really would be finished... Besides, he thought, he was Sonny's favorite. Everyone knew it. Maybe he could reason with him...but in order to do that, he had to get outta here, and soon. Jackson knew the only option he had was to escape, no matter what the cost.
Just then the door creaked open and a young doctor stepped into the room. He walked over to the side of Jackson's bed carrying a clipboard and pushed the rim of his glasses past his nose.
"Mr. Rippner?" he said, his voice loud and steady. "I see your awake...my name is Dr. Ryan, I've been taking care of you during your stay here."
Jackson opened his mouth to say something, but the doctor held up his hand in protest.
"No, don't try to talk. You've punctured your windpipe. Nothing too severe, it should heal in time, but I suggest you try not to strain your voice." He eyed the dangling IV tube and narrowed his eyes at Jackson. "You really shouldn't have ripped that out."
He inserted the tube back into Jackson's arm before returning his view to the clipboard. Jackson's eyes were glazed as he looked up at the doctor. Swallowing hard, he opened his mouth to speak. "Doc?"
Dr. Ryan was scribbling furiously when he looked back towards Jackson. "Please, Mr. Rippner, don't talk."
"Doc..." he said again, his voice a little stronger. Sighing, the doctor let the clipboard fall to his side.
"Yes?"
Jackson's eyes seemed distant and far away. "...You're not afraid of me?"
Dr. Ryan seemed a little alarmed at the question and hesitated. After a moment, he only shrugged. "Your room is heavily guarded. The morphine we gave you isn't going to allow your body to try anything unwise. You've sustained two gunshots, one to the chest, one to the abdomen, you were stabbed in the leg, your throat is obviously punctured...your body has taken quite a beating, Mr. Rippner. We're only keeping you here another night or so and then you'll be spending the rest of your days in jail...so no. I'm not afraid of you."
Returning to his clipboard, Dr. Ryan continued scribbling as Jackson stared up at him. Jackson seemed to reluctantly agree with this logic and slowly closed his eyes. Then he whispered something under his breath, causing the doctor to eye him curiously.
"What was that, Mr. Rippner?"
Eyes still tightly shut, Jackson whispered it again.
The doctor sat his clipboard on the bedside table and leaned in closer. "Say again?"
Opening his eyes wide, Jackson spoke loudly in his raspy tone. "You should be."
The blow to the head was unexpected as the doctor's feet gave way from under him, Jackson grabbing the collar of his shirt to keep him from falling to the floor. Sprawled on the side of the bed, the doctor was out cold. Jackson felt woozy as he grabbed his head and groaned. He really needed to find a different way to knock people out.
The headbutt just happened to be the most effective...
"Save you a seat?"
Jackson smiled as he watched her cheeks turn pink and she flustered with her words, chuckling as he spoke. "Yeah, you know, that was...I just thought since we're on the same flight, I didn't mean to invade your personal space..."
Wouldn't dream of it...
"No no--" Lisa started, but a voice interrupted her.
"Ma'am? I can take you over here?"
Whipping her head back around to face him, she let yet another lie push quickly past her lips. "I just, I have a few calls to make..."
You're such a liar, Lise...
"Sure, I understand," he said, trying to conceal his disappointment. "Go ahead. Have a good flight."
"Okay, you too."
Jackson stared after her as she walked off, so eager to get away. He had hoped that it would be a little easier for him to gain her trust, but indeed, her excuses were still piling up. Ah, Lise...if you could only take a chance...
He watched her walk away from the service counter, her eyes stealing one last glance at him before disappearing into the crowd. The connection he felt with her was still clear in his mind as another clerk called him up. Approaching the front desk, he couldn't help but feel a little dejected. Even though he'd seen her make up every tired excuse after another in the past, he had been so convinced that she would actually let her guard down this time. As much as he hated to admit it, her rejection had been disappointing for him. Watching her for so long had instilled a bond in him, however confusing and contradicting it may be, and he had to remind himself once again that it was only one sided...
After taking care of tiresome airline business, he sauntered off towards the Tex Mex and sat on a bar stool. The bartender came up and Jackson slapped down a ten dollar bill on the counter.
"Jack and coke, no ice, and an order of nachos, thanks." The bartender nodded and Jackson turned his gaze towards the crowd, his eye out for Lisa. No sign of her.
Who am I kidding, he thought.
He let out a defeated sigh. So much for this delay working out in his favor...he checked his watch for the fifth time that day and wondered if he would be so lucky as to not have to go through with this job. So many things could go wrong, and he was almost surprised to find himself hoping they would. A cancellation would complicate things...you always had to worry about clearance...maybe their business partners would change their mind about this assassination...
The more he thought of Lisa the more he hoped this would be...
Just then the bartender plopped down a stack of nachos and a drink in front of him. Jackson reached for a nacho before hearing a loud crash behind him.
"Oh! Oh my god! I am so sorry!"
Jackson turned his head to see what all the commotion was about and had to supress a chuckle in finding Lisa standing several yards away from him, covered in a frozen latte. As he watched with amusement the exchange between the drenched Lisa and the woman who ran into her, he thought about all the times he'd seen her act just as clumsy; getting her heel stuck in a grate, banging her head on a cupboard, tripping over the force of her dog Max...
As he watched her head for the bathroom, his smile slowly faded as a sudden realization fell upon him.
He actually found her clumsy nature almost endearing...
Before he could dwell on the thought, the vibration of his cell phone broke his concentration and he quickly pulled it up to his ear.
"Yeah? No, I'm still waiting...right. You got confirmation? When? ...Oh. Good." Jackson could feel the disappointment gnawing inside him at hearing the frozen cases of salmon had passed clearance and were well on their way to the marina by Lux Atlantic. Yet another aspect of the plan to go off without a hitch...at this rate, it would soon be up to him...
"Okay, thanks for letting me know...yeah. Alright."
He hung up the phone slowly and sighed. Now all he had to do was pass the time until he was up in the air. Drumming his fingers on the counter, he reached for his glass and took another sip of jack and coke. As he set it down, he was pleasantly surprised to find Lisa standing before him, latte stained jacket no where to be seen. She looked determined, if not a little nervous, and he couldn't stop the smile that so easily crept past his lips.
Will wonders never cease..
"Oh," he said brightly, "Hi."
"Hi," she replied, a bit timid in her approach. She motioned towards the chair beside him with her eyes. "Um...is this taken?"
That's it, Lise. Baby steps...
With a gesturing hand, Jackson smiled. "No, it's all yours."
"Thanks."
As she took the seat across from him, a knowing smile danced on his lips and he decided to play off his secret knowledge of her in the most subtle of ways.
"So," he began slyly, "Did you get your...calls made?"
Nodding nervously, he could see the shame in her eyes as they darted back and forth. "Yeah, no more calls.."
You mean no more lying, Lise?
"Good. What will you have?"
Grapefruit Seabreeze.
A little taken aback, Lisa only shook her head. "Um, no it's--I'm okay."
"If I can guess?"
Charmed, Lisa reluctantly agreed with a nod of her head. "...Okay."
Grapefruit Seabreeze.
"Um, I'm feeling vodka," Jackson began, smiling at the pleased nod Lisa gave him. The answer sat on the very tip of his tongue as he played his own secret game with her, she herself unaware of her own participation. "Definitely sweetened...um, Cosmo?"
Lisa grimaced as Jackson grinned.
"No, way too common," he remarked, noting the crimson hue of her cheeks. "Um...Screwdriver? No?" Laughing at the sour look on her face, he shook his head. "No, way too boring...so that leaves me with the simplicity of the grapefruit...or...the complexity of the pineapple..."
Grapefruit Seabreeze.
She gave a hinting grunt as he paused to respond with complete confidence.
"Grapefruit Seabreeze," he said with finality.
You're just not that complex, Lise.
Lisa gave him a sly glance before turning her head mischievously to one side. It was then that he noticed the look in her eyes, one that told him she was actually playing a little game of her own...
Leaning across the counter, Lisa ordered her drink.
"Could I have a...Baybreeze?"
...What are you up to...
"Ahh..." Jackson feigned disappointment as he continued to watch the lies pour out of her.
"It's an impressive talent, though," Lisa assured him with a smile, "Very close."
It took a moment for Jackson to realize what Lisa was pulling. It was a typical girl thing, he couldn't believe how he'd missed it in the first place. She was purposely changing her drink preference to get one over on him...to not seem so predictable...to flirt with him...whatever it was, he still managed to look at it as another lie on top of the overflowing compost heap and he wasn't sure if he liked the new spun rules of the game...
"You know," he said with a shrug, "it breaks the ice."
They both shared a quick laugh as the conversation began to pick up. He started to learn more about her than he ever could by only watching her, such as the extent of her relationship with her grandmother, and Jackson was surprised to learn that the enigmatic Lisa actually seemed to have a sense of humor. Even after watching her all this time, he'd never seen her speak so animately or so much about her personal life, and now that she was actually opening up a little more, and to him of all people, the familiar feelings of infatuation began to surface. He found her company extremely enjoyable and this perplexed him.
He didn't want to enjoy her company..
Soon the bartender plopped an iced Baybreeze in front of Lisa, and Jackson watched her knowingly as she sipped delicately from a straw, her face contorting in bitter protest.
"That taste okay?"
Lisa swallowed it down hard and nodded. "It's fine."
Liar.
"You sure?" he asked as she set her glass back down. "Cuz we can always get you that Seabreeze."
"You sound like my dad," Lisa said, giving him a look as he let out a small chuckle. "You know, I say 'I'm fine,' he says 'Are you sure'...I'm sure."
It was then that Jackson realized he could never break Lisa from her lies, never get inside that pretty little head of hers and see what makes her tick. He'd enjoyed his time spent with her, but that's all he'd have to settle for.
He was here to do one job, and one job only.
"Okay, I believe you."
No, I don't.
Officer Brigance sighed heavily as he surveyed the hall. He'd been here all afternoon guarding this stupid room instead of out there doing actual policework. It was a disgrace to stand guard outside a man's room who'd been shot, stabbed, and was currently too pumped full of morphine to try anything remotely dangerous. It felt pointless to Jeff Brigance, a newbie officer who felt that he should be doing something a little more important for the department than waiting around for something that would never happen.
Not to mention he was starving...
He'd been at his post 6 hours straight, watching the doctors go in and out, the patients go back and forth, same old same old. It was tiresome, not to mention boring.
Screw it, he thought. Nothing's gonna happen if I leave for a few minutes...besides, the doctor's in there to watch him, it'll be fine.
Scanning the halls quickly, he moved fast. He ran through the stairwell, two floors down to the vending machine and stuffed his creased dollar inside the slot. After several tries he was finally able to get a bag of potato chips and quickly ripped it open, stuffing the chips hungrily in his mouth.
As he turned to go back up the stairwell, a doctor shoved past him in a hurry and the chips flew out of his hand.
"Hey!" he yelled, turning to face the doctor, but he was already hobbling away at a fantastic speed. Shaking his head at the mess on the floor, he turned to go back up the stairs but stopped short as he hit the first step.
That face. He recognized that face.
But from where...
Suddenly his eyes grew wide. Oh no.
"OH, SHIT!" he yelled, grabbing the cb radio off his holster and slamming his fist against he fire alarm. He began to run as fast as he could in the doctor's direction, the alarm blaring through the hospital.
"Code Red!" he yelled into the radio, "Grant Hospital! Code Red! Suspect proceeding on foot! White lab coat, dark hair, 5'9, walks with a limp! I need backup now!"
Bursting through the hospital doors, Officer Brigance's eyes darted back and forth across the outside entrance for anyone that fit the description, but to no avail.
Jackson Rippner had escaped.
My longest chapter yet, mainly because of conversation. I hope you didn't get too bored rereading stuff they've already said. I tried to make it a little different with thoughts behind words and things...but anyways, please review! I also wanted to give you a lil gift with this update, which is another Red Eye video that you can watch at my site (check my profile).
I did it to "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" by Relient K. It's a more fluffier look at L/J so I hope you enjoy that.
But thanks to everyone who has reviewed, it's kept me going with this silly story :P