Jacob's Revenge

Chapter eleven

Billie put her arm around Deaq.

"Let's go back in Deaq."

Deaq shook his head and looked down sadly.

"You know Billie, Van's like a brother to me…" He blinked back tears. "And he's in there not knowing why I had to shoot him, only that I did. Do you know how that hurts? If he dies…not knowing that I had no choice and that it killed me to have to pull that trigger…" He squeezed his eyes shut and a tear ran down his face as the memories of that moment came vividly back to him.

Billie drew Deaq into a hug.

"He's in pain Deaq, he's confused, he's scared… Once we tell him what happened, that you had no choice…"

"But what if he doesn't make it Billie? What if he dies and he never knows why I had to do it, that I didn't have a choice. How am I suppose to live with that? Did you see the look on his face when he saw me? He was scared of me Billie, his partner. His partner who he thought he could trust."

"Deaq we have to think positive, Van is going to make it. We're going to get to tell him why. And you know Van, he'll make some lame joke about him owing you one. He loves you too like a brother, he'll understand."

"I hope so Billie. God I hope so."

She left go of him then took his hand.

"Let's go in Deaq, Van needs us."

He allowed her to lead him back into the building.

Later

Van had already been taken to the OR when they returned and they were once more forced to sit in the waiting room. But at least now they knew that Van was still alive and hopefully would stay that way.

As they waited in the silence of the room Billie's ringing cell phone startled them out of their thoughts.

"Chambers." She answered and then listened for a while frowning.

"Were any of our guys injured?...Okay…Okay I want a complete search of the area…. Okay, keep in touch."

She looked at Deaq who had sat forward in his chair listening to her end of the conversation.

"Jacob wouldn't surrender…he blew up the warehouse. They're not sure how many people were in it but they said no one could have gotten out of there alive. The entire building is gone."

"Any officer's hurt?"

"A few of them have minor injuries, nothing serious. They hadn't been able to get close to the building , they were held back by gunfire."
"There were a lot of important people in that building betting on the fight. The city will be in shock when they learn their names."

"Well let's hope it's over now, and that Jacob's finally out of our lives."

Three hours later

The doctor came out of the OR and told them everything had gone well. The bullet had not damaged his spinal cord, and as long as there were no complications he should make a full recovery. He would be very weak for the next few weeks and would need to rest but then he should be fine and able to return to active duty.

"He's going to be in a lot of pain though. We numbed him the best we could for the exploratory surgery but we can't administer any pain medication until his system has been fully flushed of the drugs that were in him."

"Can we see him?" Billie asked.

"He's in recovery right now. Once he's moved to intensive care you can go in for a few minutes." The doctor looked over at Deaq. "Maybe its best if she goes in alone after what happened last time. I'm sure once he understands the circumstances he'll be fine, but right now all he's feeling is pain and all he knows is you're the cause of it."

Deaq only nodded. It broke his heart to think that his partner no longer trusted him.

"How long will he have to remain in intensive care?" Billie asked.

"He'll be in there for a few days so we can keep an eye on him and make sure we get all of the drugs out of his system. Then if all goes well he'll be moved into a room."

"I want him in a private room and I'm going to place an officer outside his room just for precaution."

"I understand. Well, I better get washed up; I have a few more surgeries scheduled today. I'll have a nurse inform you when he's ready to see you." The doctor walked away.

Deaq shook his head sadly.

"My partner hates me." He said simply as he flopped down on the sofa in the waiting room.

"He'll come around Deaq, he's just confused. Jacob really did a number on him."

"Yeah." Deaq could feel the anger in him grow as he thought of what Jacob had done to his partner. Having him fight to make money, the liquor store holdups where he could have been killed and then telling him to commit suicide after he assassinated the ambassador. God how he hated the man and prayed that he was dead.

Intensive Care Unit

Van remained in the ICU for two days. Most of the time he was delirious as his body fought off an infection and the effect of the drugs Jacob had been giving him. He had to be strapped down, his wrists tied to the bed rails. Billie was allowed in to see him but Deaq stood off to the side of the room just out off Van's view. He watched in sympathy as his partner struggled to free himself. It was like watching someone go through the agony of withdrawal from heroin and knowing you were the cause of part of the pain he was feeling. Sweat covered Van's body as he screamed in pain and the frustration of being tied down. He cursed his partner who he still thought was the reason for all his misery. Billie tried to talk to him but he wouldn't listen. His only thought was that he had failed Jacob and nothing else mattered.

Four days later

Finally Van had recovered enough to be moved to a private room with a guard stationed outside the door. The restraints were removed and though he was extremely weak it appeared that they had gotten the drugs out of his system. Billie sat beside him explaining what had happened over the last week and why Deaq had been forced to shoot him. When she left the room she walked over to the waiting room where Deaq was sitting on the sofa. He hadn't been in to see his partner since he started to come off the drugs figuring Van didn't want to see him.

"He wants to see you Deaq." She said smiling.

Deaq stood up.

"Billie…I don't know. I don't want to get him worked up again."

"I explained everything to him and he understands. He's very weak and a little confused but the doctor said that will pass with time. Go on Deaq, he's waiting."

Deaq got up and nervously walked into Van's room. He walked over to his bed and swallowed hard as he looked down at Van's pale face.

"Hey partner." He said softly not wanting to wake him if he was asleep.

Van slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey."

"How're you feeling?" Deaq asked not quite knowing what to say.

"Like I've been shot." Van gave a little laugh.

"Yeah well, I'm sorry about that." Deaq smiled "You really didn't give me a choice."

"Yeah, Billie told me what happened." He gave Deaq a weak smile. "I won't hold it against you, but you're definitely going to owe me one."

"You got it partner." Deaq smiled, his partner had said exactly what Billie said he would.

Van suddenly turned serious.

"Billie told me about the warehouse. She told me they found a lot of bodies burned beyond recognition. Do they think Jacob was one of them?"

"We don't know. They're doing DNA tests on the ones they can't identify but since we don't really know who Jacob really is…well we can't prove one way or the other whether he was in the building at the time. All we know is that according to the officers on the scene no one came out of the building while they were there."

"Then they're pretty sure he's gone?"

"We're all hoping so partner. But don't you worry, this time Billie is having your blood tested at different labs to make sure all the drugs are out of your system. Before apparently someone in the lab was working for Jacob and lied about the results. You were being fed drugs the entire time you were in the hospital and once you were out, this Wendy character kept giving them to you. You appeared normal until you heard Jacob's voice then you went right back under his spell again." He saw the worried look on Van's face. "But never again partner. The drugs are gone and Billie's going to get the best psychologist in the state to examine you to make sure Jacob will no longer have any influence on you."

Van was quiet for a few seconds then he looked up at Deaq and changed the subject.

"Billie told me I was really nasty to you this last week…I'm sorry. I guess I was …screwed up."

"Hey, no problem…Anyway I got back at you." Deaq said grinning.

"What do you mean?"

"I shot you."

"Oh yeah, there is that." Van grinned back. "So then I guess we're even."

"Guess so."

"Then you and I are cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool."

Three days later

Deaq walked down the hallway smiling to himself, he couldn't remember when he had ever felt this good. In his hands he carried a small portable CD player and a Neil Diamond CD of his greatest hits. He knew Van had a thing for Neil Diamond songs. He smiled at the nurse at the nurse's station.

"Well you certainly are chipper today." She said returning his smile.

"Hey, what can I say? My friend is alive and well and according to the doctor will make a full recovery."

"Yes I heard he was very lucky."

"How's he doing today?"

"Still a little weak but we had him up walking the halls this morning. He's anxious to go home."

"Has he hit on you yet?"

"Well, he did ask what I would be doing next weekend."

"Then my boy's back to normal." Deaq said as he headed toward Van's room.

"Oh, excuse me." The nurse called to him. "His sister is in with him right now and wanted a few minutes alone with him."

"He doesn't have a sister." Deaq said as he threw down the CD player and pulled out his gun.

He ran to Van's door and noticed the guard was not at his station. Deaq threw open the door and was horrified by what he saw. The guard lay on the floor unconscious as Wendy stood at Van's bedside pressing a pillow over his face. Van had just given up struggling and Deaq watched as Van's arms fell to his side and he lay motionless.

"Get away from him you bitch!" Deaq screamed as he ran over to the bed, grabbed Wendy by the arm, and threw her across the room. He tossed the pillow aside and shook Van by his shoulders.

"Van! Van!"

There was no response so Deaq quickly buzzed for the nurse as he tilted Van's head back and began breathing for him.

"Come on partner! I'm not losing you now!" He screamed into Van's face between breaths.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wendy coming towards him holding a knife. He quickly spun around and punched her hard in the face. She flew back against the wall then collapsed onto the floor unconscious. He turned back to his partner and continued breathing for him. Finally after a few breaths he began to stir.

"That's it buddy breathe." Deaq held Van's head between his hands, looking into his face.

"Ohhhhhhh…" Van moaned softly then suddenly his eyes flew open and he weakly put his hands up thinking Wendy was still attacking him.

"It's okay, it's okay. I took care of her." Deaq said as he grabbed Van's arms.

"I thought…I thought she was dead."

"So did we partner."

"How did she…?"

"I don't know." Deaq knew what Van was thinking, he was thinking the same thing. If Wendy managed to survive the inferno, had Jacob also? "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just…need to catch my breath."

The nurse stood at the door her eyes wide as she looked at the bodies on the floor then at Deaq.

"Call Miss Chambers and get a doctor in here." Deaq said as he stood up and went over to the guard. It appeared he had been hit on the head and knocked unconscious. He moaned softly as he started to regain consciouness.

Epilogue

Deaq and Billie questioned Wendy in a private room in the hospital then took her to the police station and questioned her again there. She wouldn't tell them anything useful. They could only hope and pray that Jacob had perished in the fire and would no longer be a threat to Van or them. She was arrested and later convicted of a variety of charges.

It took two months but Van slowly made a full recovery from his injuries. Deaq had told Billie that Jacob had bragged to him about all the people he had under his control, so they really didn't know who to trust anymore. Billie would continue to have Van's blood tested at several different labs off and on throughout the year to make sure the drugs Jacob had given him were definitely out of his system and that no new drugs had been administered to him by one of Jacob's followers.

The warehouse fire completely destroyed the building incinerating most of the bodies inside. It would never be determined just how many people died that day and a few would never be identified.

A highway on the outskirts of L.A.

A lone hitchhiker glanced back at the city smiling as he climbed into a truck that had stopped for him.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"Just drive." The man replied. "I'll tell you when we get there."

The End

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