Jacob's Revenge

Chapter nine

"Deaq…why?…" Van managed to say as he tried to catch his breath. The bullet seemed to have knocked all the air out of his lungs making it hard to breathe. Why would his partner shoot him he wondered?

Deaq threw the gun down and rushed over to Van who lay on the floor gasping for breath. He looked at Deaq in stunned shock. The pain and shock of the shot had brought him out of his trance. He had no idea what had just happened, all he knew was that he was in a world of pain and it was because of his partner.

"Why Deaq…?" He winced in pain as he pressed his hands over the wound. "Oh God." He moaned softly as wave after wave of agony shot through him.

As Deaq reached out for him he tried to push himself away, his face filled with fear as he wondered if Deaq was going to finish the job.

"Damn it Van, why didn't you listen to me? Why didn't you put the gun down?" Deaq said as he knelt by his partner. He gently picked up Van's blood covered hands and moved them to the side, then using his own hands pressed down hard on the wound trying to slow the steady flow of blood. Van cried out in agony and tried to push him away.

"Why…Why ddddid you sssshoot me?" Van gasped for air as he shivered uncontrollably from both pain and shock.

Tears ran down Deaq's face as he saw the pain and fear in Van's eyes.

"I had to partner….God I'm sorry, I didn't want to…but I had to."

"I dddon't…I dddon't underssstand…" Van's breathing was getting worse and blood from his damaged lung started to bubble out of the corner of his mouth.

"I need help in here!" Deaq shouted toward the door hoping to attract someone's attention. He didn't want to take the pressure off of Van's wound to get to the phone. "Somebody call 911! I need an ambulance!" He could only pray that someone heard him.

Van looked into Deaq's eyes, his face etched with pain as he wondered what had caused his partner to turn on him.

"Van you got to hang in there. You got to hang with me partner."

"CCCan't… cccan't bbbbreathe…I can't…." Van's head rolled back and forth as he felt himself starting to black out from the lack of oxygen. "Oh God it's ssso ccold….I'm… ssso cccold." He said shivering.

"Please Van, don't do this to me. Don't you go leaving me." Deaq pulled Van closer trying to keep him warm. He looked toward the hallway. Where the hell was Billie? "I need help in here!" He shouted again. He had to get to the phone but every time he started to take his hand off of Van's chest blood would bubble out and his breathing would get worse. The fear in his partner's eyes was tearing him apart. What if Van died? What if he had fatally wounded his partner?

"DDDeag…why….I nnneed to know…?" It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe.

"Oh God Van I didn't want to." Tears from Deaq's eyes dropped down onto Van's face. "I'm so sorry."

"But why…?" Van looked up at Deaq with eyes he could barely keep open. "Ohhhh God it hurts." He groaned, then a few seconds later his eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp.

"Van! Van!" Deaq screamed. His partner was dying, dying because of him. "Damn you Van, don't you do this to me." He could see that Van's chest was no longer rising so he put his ear next to Van's mouth trying to hear if there was any sign of breathing at all, there wasn't. He tilted Van's head back and began giving him mouth to mouth, but every time he breathed into Van's mouth blood would bubble out. "Oh God no! Oh please God don't let him die!" He choked back a sob as he continued trying to force air into Van's lungs. "Breathe damn it! Breathe!"

As if in answer to his prayers Billie, a few cops, and a pair of paramedics rushed into the office.

"He's dying Billie!" Deaq sobbed as the paramedics pulled him away from his partner and began working on him. "I killed him Billie…I killed my own partner." He tried to stand but became light headed as the reality of what had just happened hit him like a brick and he swayed a little. Billie quickly rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug. She looked over his shoulder at Van. It didn't look good. He was lying in an ever growing puddle of blood. The paramedics were desperately trying to suction the blood out of his windpipe while pumping air in.

"We're losing him! We got to move!" One of the paramedics shouted to the other who ran into the hallway and got the stretcher. They loaded Van onto it and rushed him to the waiting ambulance.

Deaq tried to climb in with his partner but the paramedic shook his head. He could tell Deaq was about to lose it and if his friend didn't make it he didn't need him flipping out in the ambulance.

Billie and Deaq both wiped tears away as they watched the ambulance speed away. Van was dying or dead, they couldn't tell.

"I had to shoot him Billie…I didn't have a choice…He wouldn't put the rifle down."

"It wasn't your fault Deaq, you had no choice. You had to protect the public. You're a cop, you did your job."

"Well my job sucks!" He said spinning around to face her. "My partner is bleeding to death from a bullet from my gun. If he doesn't make it how the hell am I going to live with myself Billie, you tell me, how?" He held up his blood covered hands to her. "I have my partner's blood all over me." He swallowed hard as his voice cracked with emotion.

She could tell Deaq was devastated, she was too, but she had to stay strong, she might have already lost one man and she wasn't going to lose another.

"Deaq." She said gently. "You did what you had to do. You saved the ambassador's life. You didn't do anything wrong." She put her hand on his arm. "Now we need to get to the hospital, Van needs us." She hoped that was true and that Van wasn't already past the stage of needing anyone.

TBC