The Warehouse

The next chain of events unfolded in slow motion for Oliver, as if he was in some sort of horrible nightmare. He watched Paul pull the trigger and saw his hand fly back from the force of the bullet leaving the gun. He saw Lisa's eyes grow wide in terror and then squeeze shut as she braced herself for the impact.

He then watched in amazement as Joseph seemed to appear out of nowhere and come to the rescue. He pushed Lisa out of the way, getting grazed on the arm by the bullet in the process. Lisa fell sideways to the ground in a daze and Joseph knelt down on his knees about a foot away from her, holding his injured arm.

"No," Paul cried out in defeat. He raised his gun and aimed it at Lisa again, vowing that his next shot wouldn't miss, but suddenly all three doors burst open and about a dozen police men ran in wielding guns.

"Freeze," an officer that had entered through the front door yelled, pointing his gun straight at Paul. "Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air."

Reluctantly, Paul threw his gun down to the ground and lifted his hands in the air. The guards raised their hands as well. The officers immediately seized anyone that they did not recognized as regular Hootervillians and began to lead them away. Oliver took notice of none of this. All he could see was Lisa standing at the opposite side of the warehouse, staring at him.

At first, Oliver was too overcome with joy to move. Finally, he regained control of his limbs and immediately ran toward Lisa. He wrapped his arms around her and spun her around with joy. He then set her down on the ground and gazed into her eyes. Oliver could see tears of joy brimming within them, and he was sure that his eyes held the exact same thing.

"Hello dahling," Lisa said softly, no longer able to contain the tears. They flowed freely down her cheeks.

Oliver gently wiped away one of her tears and smiled. "Hello, my love," he said sweetly.

"Oh Olivah, I missed you so much," Lisa exclaimed as she hugged him tightly. "I vas afraid I was never going to see you again!"

Oliver returned the hug and felt tears beginning to spill over his cheeks. "I missed you so much too," he said in a husky voice. He then gently lifted up Lisa's face and leaned in toward her. They shared a deep, tender kiss.

"I hate to interrupt," Oliver heard a voice from behind him say. He reluctantly pulled away from Lisa and turned around to see an officer standing behind him. "But is this gentleman one of your wife's kidnappers," he asked, gesturing toward Joseph at his side.

Oliver looked into Joseph's pleading eyes and then turned his attention back toward the officer. "No…well, I mean, he was involved, but he was forced into it by that man over there," he said, pointing to Paul, "and he saved my wife's life. I don't think there is any reason to press charges against him."

"Well then, neither do I," the officer said. He turned toward Joseph and smiled. "Congratulations, you're free to go." With that, the officer walked away. Oliver opened his mouth to say something to Joseph, but the officer that was leading Paul away passed by. Oliver and Joseph positioned themselves protectively in front of Lisa, but Paul just raised his voice so he could be heard.

"This isn't over, doll face," he yelled as the officer lead him past them. "I'll get out and come after you and your precious husband, you wait and see!"

As soon as Paul was out the door, Oliver turned his attention back to Joseph. Joseph could see the anger flashing in his eyes and braced himself for what was coming next.

"You," Oliver seethed. "Because of you my wife could have gotten killed!" Joseph winced at these words, but relaxed when he saw the anger melt away from Oliver's eyes and get replaced with a look of gratitude.

"But because of you, she's still with me right now. I owe you everything and I don't know how I could ever thank you enough," Oliver concluded, tears once again brimming in his eyes.

Joseph smiled, feeling tears in his own eyes. "I think you just did," he replied. Then he and Oliver did something that Joseph never would have expected…they embraced each other.

When they parted, Lisa once again had tears of joy streaming down her face. She embraced Joseph and kissed him on the cheek.

"I don't know how I could ever thank you either," she told him.

"Do the same thing to the other cheek and that will be thanks enough," Joseph replied jokingly. Despite himself, Oliver joined Joseph in his laughter. Lisa laughed as well and kissed him on the other cheek. Suddenly, she realized that Joseph's right arm was bandaged up from where the bullet had grazed him.

"Oh, Joseph, I'm so sorry you had to get hurt like that," she said sadly as she gently touched the bandaged. "Does it hurt," she asked.

"No, not really," he admitted. He smiled tenderly at Lisa and she returned the smile. She then joined Oliver by his side and wrapped her arms around him. Oliver gladly returned the favor.

Suddenly, Oliver and Lisa heard a great commotion from behind them. They turned around to see the men who had joined in the rescue come running toward them. The all gathered around Lisa, saying all at once how glad they were to see that she was safe. Lisa giggled at their enthusiasm.

"Thank you for your enthusiasm, gentlemen," she said, raising her voice so she could be heard over their excited talk. "But if you don't mind, I vould like to continue this conversation elsevhere," she said. Oliver saw a shadow of fear pass over her face as she looked around the warehouse again. He knew that he needed to get her out of their and fast.

"How about we all gather at Drucker's store, call the rest of our friends, and have a small welcome home party," Oliver asked quickly. The rest of the men agreed and they all quickly exited the warehouse and piled into the vehicles. Soon they were all on their way home.

On their way back to civilization, everyone began talking excitedly about the party at Drucker's store. Oliver listened but stayed quiet, preferring to concentrate on the feel of Lisa leaning her head against his chest instead. He looked down at her to tell her something, but realized that she was fast asleep.

"Um, gentlemen," he said quietly so as not to disturb her. "I think the party's going to have to wait until tomorrow."

The men looked up from their conversation and realized what he was talking about. They lowered the voices and made plans to throw Lisa a welcome home party the following day.

Before Oliver knew it, Mr. Haney's truck pulled up in front of the Douglas Farm and come to a gentle stop. Eb and Joseph hopped out of the truck, bid Oliver good night, and immediately went to bed, too exhausted even to change their clothes. Oliver gently scooped Lisa up in his arms, told the men he would see them tomorrow, and carried her into the house.

He carried her into the bedroom, delicately laid her down in the bed and covered her with the blanket. Oliver then changed quickly and climbed into bed next to her. He sighed with sheer contentment as he snuggled close to her. Soon, Oliver fell into the most relaxing sleep he had had in weeks. He now knew that the nightmares were finally over.