The Cabin Now…
Long moments passed before Billie realized she was still alive and breathing, the bullet having whizzed past her. She immediately opened her eyes and looked to her left where Rousseau had been standing. There was a bullet hole in his chest which both hands covered as blood seeped out profusely. He dropped to his knees, his eyes flicking from Van to Billie before his face finally hit the hardwood floor.
Billie ran over to her partner, kneeling down to catch Van as he slumped over, exhausted. He looked up at her and smiled weakly. "I warned him, if he tried to screw us over, I'd kill him," Van rasped before her broke out in a fit of coughing.
For a moment, Billie thought he was delirious, but one look into Van's muted eyes told her he wasn't. She smiled back at him and reached over to the discarded pile of close that lay less than a meter away and grabbed her parka. She wrapped it around his upper body, being extremely careful with his shoulder. "Come on," Billie said as she helped him to his feet, "We're going home." She led him out the door to the Hummer, which still had the keys in it.
Billie was beyond relieved when she started the engine and it roared to life. The big SUV handled easily, pulling through the snow without much effort down the long winding driveway and onto the main snow covered road. A laugh soon escaped her lips as she pressed down on the gas pedal, not having a clue where she was going.
The long, winding road opened up, and soon signs appeared, telling Billie how to get back on the highway that led to Aspen. She wanted to cry out in sheer joy, but looking at Van and seeing him slowly lose consciousness gave her good reason not to. He needed to get to a hospital fast. Since Billie had no idea where any hospitals were in the area, she headed straight back to the hotel. Her instincts told her to look for a cell phone in the center consol and glove compartment to call ahead for an ambulance, but not finding one, she put her mind and eyes back on the road.
Billie reached over with her right hand and grabbed Van's, squeezing lightly as she said, "We're almost there," the moment they hit the city limits. Forest gave way to posh homes and apartment complexes as Billie floored the accelerator all the way to the hotel.
In the lobby, Deaq sat comfortably on an antique chair sipping a cup of coffee. Having not slept in several days was taking its toll on him, not to mention the awful pain stemming from his broken leg. His hopes of finding Van and Billie had dwindled after crews searching the area around the warehouse found nothing. They were now going door to door to the residences within a five mile radius of the place.
He closed his eyes, inhaling the delicious smell of the wonderful coffee until his ears picked up the commotion coming from the front door. Deaq looked up and saw a woman with dark hair and covered in blood rush through the door screaming for someone to call an ambulance. It took a moment for his mind to register that it was his boss.
"Billie!" Deaq shouted as he stood up, his broken leg completely forgotten as he limped towards her.
Billie heard the familiar voice calling her name and looked sharply in the direction it came from. She immediately saw Deaq hobbling towards her. "Oh, my God, Deaq!" she sighed with relief as she ran to him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders while she buried her face in his soft sweater. They hugged for a while as tears of joy and relief streamed down her face.
Deaq could feel the heat radiating off Billie's body, realizing she was probably running a high fever. He pulled her away and held her at an arm's length, studying her pasty features and seeing the sweat drip from her forehead. She looked like hell, or, better put, like she'd just escaped from hell. Whatever had happened to her and Van the last couple of days probably wasn't good. That's when he realized his partner was nowhere to be found. "Where's Van?" he asked, fearing her answer.
Grabbing his arm, Billie pulled Deaq out the door to the Hummer parked outside. "He's not doing so well," she finally said, opening the door to reveal their partner. Van was unconscious, beads of sweat dripping down his ashen face.
"Damn," Deaq grumbled as he put two fingers to his partner's neck and felt a weak pulse. In the distance, the sound of sirens screaming down the road filtered through the crowd that gathered around the Hummer. He pulled out his badge, which he'd taken from the Candy Store vault after being assigned to desk duty, and shouted, "LAPD! I need you all to back up and make room for the paramedics."
The ambulance quickly pulled up behind the SUV and two paramedics rushed out with their gear, a third walking up a few moments later with a stretcher. "He's been shot and he's sick," Billie instructed, not thinking about her own wellbeing for a second as she watched the two men lift Van out of the car and place him on the stretcher. A fresh set of tears began to stream from her eyes as she watched them work on him. Her legs became weak and she started to waver until finally her body had had enough.
Billie would have dropped, but Deaq's strong arms quickly caught her before she hit the ground. "Hey, I need some help here!" he called to the paramedics. One of them glanced over in his direction and immediately came to help. "Billie, stay with me," Deaq said as he gently lowered her to the pavement. He cradled her in his arms as the paramedic took her temperature.
"She's very sick," the man said, looking at the digital thermometer readout. Deaq gave him a "duh!" look, but he didn't even notice. "Her temperature is almost 103. We need to get her to a hospital immediately."
From behind them, the other paramedic working on Van shouted, "He's going into shock!"
Billie's heart almost stopped. "What?" she frantically asked, trying to claw her way out of Deaq's grasp as he looked up, horrified.
"You and Rich start heading out. I'll stay here with her and radio for another ambulance," the paramedic kneeling beside Billie instructed his partner.
"No," she desperately whispered, her voice beginning to go. "I wanna… I need… to go… with him." She tried to get up again, but both Deaq and the paramedic held her down as the ambulance pulled away from the hotel, its sirens screaming wildly as it raced down the street towards the hospital. "Don't let him die! I love him!" Billie hysterically cried out as sobs overtook her body. She slumped down into Deaq's arms, unable to fight any longer.
He stared at her for a long moment, his brown eyes widening in bewilderment, wondering if she'd actually said what he thought she said. Did Billie Chambers actually admit she was in love? WITH VAN! Deaq thought for a moment that she was probably delirious from the fever. But the sheer fact that Billie was crying like she'd only cried for Alexa made him think otherwise. That was the only time she'd ever cried. 'Holy shit!' Deaq thought, his jaw dropping as he looked down at his boss.
"Whoa, hold up, did you just say you loved him, Van Ray, your employee?" he finally asked out loud, still unable to wrap his mind around it. But Billie was too far gone to be able to answer him. She just stared up at his face, her blue eyes sad and empty. This was no time to be joking with her. A straight answer would do him just fine, but it appeared he wouldn't get one as the sound of more screaming sirens filled the air.
Another ambulance pulled up and two paramedics came rushing towards them before Deaq even got close to an answer. He and the other paramedic that had stayed back to take care of her helped pick up Billie and delicately place her on the stretcher. They raced her to the ambulance and loaded her up with Deaq sitting next to her, holding her hand. He wasn't about to let go. She been through enough, and having someone there just to say things would be okay was the only solace he could give her. Deaq would get the rest of the details about what had happened those last three days after Billie recovered. There was no use in asking questions now. He was just glad that it was all over and Van and Billie were alive.
It's time to CELEBRATE! My finals are done and over with and I wanna thank you ALL for helping me reach a milestone, 100 reviews! DAMN! That's more than I've gotten with my Witchblade stoires! OMG, I can't be more thankful to you guys. That was way beyond what I was expecting. Thank you soooooo much!
prplerayne: There's your answer to who shot first and who ended up dead. Thanks for sticking with me through this story. And thanks for being my beta. You rock, chica!
fan4fastln: To tell you the truth, I had most of my design finals done when I posted that last chapter. It was the other finals (science, TEAM) that I was worried about. But science went well... Can't say the same for TEAM cuz we're still trying to finish the first version of our project. I definitely used Dosed as my inspiration for this chapter. Billie had to kick some serious ass, which she did! I'm glad you thought that part about Van thinking Billie was his mom was funny. I just had to put that in there. Well, now you know who shot first. Anyway, thanks for reviewing my story. I really appreciate it.
FoxyWombat: Well, at least the wait is over. Hope that satisfied your craving for another chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Avillie: I'm so glad my story was the highlight of your day! I know all about really bad weeks. Hell, the last two weeks have been a total bitch for me, schoolwise and otherwise. I hope everything is working out well for you. Hope the finals are done and over with. Glad you got your internet back. And did you get those emails I sent you? Just wondering. Thanks for sticking with this story. I really appreciate it.
ackeberlynn: Thanks for reviewing! I appreciate it!
Shalimar: You must be psychic! You knew exactly what I was going to do before I did it. LoL! That's just too funny and too weird. Hehe. I hope this chapter was just as good as the last. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate it.
The Unsigned: THANK YOU TOO! I don't care if you've reviewed or not, you're important too! Thanks for reading!
Okay, only two chapters left of this story. I know, tear. But don't worry, I've already got an idea for my next fic. Thanks, y'all, for giving me the inspiration to write what I have. You are all wonderful!
More story coming soon!