Jacob's Revenge

Chapter ten

Later at the hospital

Deaq and Billie sat in the waiting room, both lost in their own thoughts. Deaq sat with his elbows on his knees, his face buried in his hands. He might have killed his partner, and he didn't know if he could live with that. Billie had asked if he wanted to wash the blood off of himself, but he couldn't, he couldn't just wash his partner's blood down the drain. The image of Van lying on the floor looking at him in disbelief was burned in his mind. It broke his heart to think that his partner might die knowing that he had shot him, but without knowing why. He thought back to when Van had told him that he couldn't get Jacob out of his mind and that he thought he was watching him. Why had he just brushed it off thinking that Jacob was long gone? Why hadn't he listened to Van? If he had, he might have been able to get Van away from Jacob before any of this had happened. He wondered where Jacob was now. He knew Billie had sent officers to the location of his hideout but they hadn't heard anything yet. Jacob had said he had a lot of people under his control. Who Deaq wondered? He also wondered if Jacob would manage to pull another escape if he was captured. If he got away this time Deaq swore he'd hunt him down himself and kill him. Finally he raised his head and looked at the clock. It had been three hours since Van had been brought in to the Emergency Room. What was taking them so long? He would have thought that by now Van would have been taken up to the operating room. He looked over at Billie and she looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She sat with her eyes downcast staring at the floor.

"Van's going to pull through this Billie. He has to." He said trying to comfort her. It was strange he thought usually she was the one trying to comfort him when his partner was injured.

She looked up at him and he was taken back by the sadness in her eyes. She simply nodded, too emotional to speak.

"I tried…I tried to get him to put the rifle down Bille, but he wouldn't. Then I tried to shoot it out of his hand…but he wouldn't drop it." Deaq stood up as his eyes filled up. "Oh God Billie, I had no choice…" He wiped angrily at his tears.

"I know that Deaq…Hey, I know there was nothing you could have done differently." She said gently.

"Damn it Billie. If Van dies…" He couldn't finish.

"He's not going to die Deaq. He's young, strong…he'll pull through."

They both prayed she was right.

A half hour later

After what seemed like an eternity the doctor finally walked into the waiting room. Billie reached out and grabbed Deaq's hand as they both stood up.

"I'm sorry but I don't have very good news."

Deaq shut his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath as Billie tightened her grip on his hand waiting to hear the worse.

"He was losing so much blood that we had to open him up in the ER. The bullet entered his lung, traveled through him and ended up near his spine. We don't think his spinal cord was damaged but we won't know for certain till we get him to the OR and run some tests. Our main concern was trying to stop the bleeding. It was coming out as fast as we were pumping it in. We finally managed to clamp off the artery and get it under control. We also took blood tests and put a rush on the results. It seems he has a powerful drug in his system. It is a hypnotic type drug which is used by behavioral psychologists in order to control violent offenders. It makes them highly open to suggestions. It is also a highly addictive drug and he's going to have to be weaned off of it. He also looks like he got hit by a train. Three of his ribs are cracked and he has contusions over his entire chest and abdomen. The good news is that you got him to us in time. If he would have gotten here a half hour later, he'd be dead.

"Is he awake?" Billie asked.

"He's in and out of consciousness."

"Can we see him?" Deaq asked.

"Maybe you want to wait till he's in recovery. It's not a pretty sight in there."

"We really need to see him." Deaq said.

"Alright but keep it brief. I must warn you to watch your step though. The floor's covered in blood and it's very slippery. He also has a chest tube in his side to drain the blood out of his lung. So if you can't handle it, I'd advise you not to go in. One more thing, he's in a lot of pain. We can't give him anything for the pain because with all the drugs in his system the medication could react with it and cause an overdose."

"He needs to see us, to know that we're here for him."

"Okay, but like I said, keep it brief." The doctor said as he led the way to the ER then stepped aside and left them enter.

Van lay on a blood splattered table covered only by a sheet. His lips had a bluish tint to them as he lay shivering in pain and from the blood loss. A large tube drained blood from his damaged lung causing him to wince in pain with each breath he took. His eyes were open staring at the ceiling. Billie walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey buddy." She said softly blinking back tears as she looked at his beaten body. If only they had known.

He slowly turned his head toward her.

"Billie…" He said weakly.

"How are ya doing?" She asked as she smoothed his hair back.

"Okay…okay."

Deaq walked over and stood next to the table. His face etched with pain and concern as he looked down at Van. As Deaq approached him Van tried to push himself up on the litter. His eyes wide with fear.

"Hey partner." Deaq said reaching out toward Van.

"What's he doing here!" Van looked at Billie then turned back to Deaq. "Get out…get out of here!" Van shouted. As he moved the tube in his side moved also and the stitches holding it in place began to rip out causing him to start bleeding again. "Get him out of here!" He lay back, his face twisted in agony.

The doctor quickly led them away from Van and back into the hallway.

"Why's he so agitated?" The doctor asked.

Deaq swallowed hard as he watched his partner through the window of the door.

"Because I'm the one who shot him." He said as he turned and walked down the hallway.

The doctor watched him walk away in shock.

"I thought you said they were partners?" He said to Billie.

"They are." Billie said as she too watched Deaq walk away.

"Well then…" The doctor began.

"It's a long story." Billie interrupted him then quickly filled the doctor in on what had happened.

"Well why doesn't someone tell him what happened?"

"We just found out ourselves that Jacob had him under his control again." Billie watched as Deaq disappeared around a corner. "Excuse me." She said as she quickly followed him.

Deaq stood outside the hospital; he had to get away from all the pain he had caused.

"Deaq." Billie walked up behind him. "Van's confused, he doesn't understand what happened."

"What happened Billie is that I shot my partner."

"Because you had to, you had no choice."

"You don't understand Billie. Van had those bruises on him for a while. When I asked him about them he told me he had no idea how he got them. He was having blackouts Billie."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"He asked me not to. He wanted to finish the case. Damn it Billie I should have gone to you. Something was obviously wrong with Van, and I should have told you instead of trying to handle it myself. Maybe if I had…" He shook his head sadly and looked away.

"Yes, you should have come to me, but your partner asked you not to. You were just being loyal to him."

"And look where it got him. He's lying up there fighting for his life."

"You didn't know Jacob had him under his control again, no one did. Listen Deaq, Van's lying up there because of Jacob not you. He's hurt and confused; he doesn't understand what happened. He doesn't know why you shot him. When he does, he'll understand."

"If he lives to hear it."

TBC