Here's the next chapter! Hope you're all enjoying it so far!
Kai grabbed the guard by the throat. Slowly, he tightened his grip. Feeling the man go limp, he let go hurriedly, not wanting a dead body on his hands. Okay. So, he knew where the door was. Unfortunately, it was guarded by seven burly security guards. Or, six now. Well, if the idiotic man hadn't tried to shoot him… He fingered the rip in his top where the bullet had gone through, checking for injuries. A minor graze, nothing to worry about. He fought down a wave of tiredness and began systemically searching for another door. He found one a few seconds later, almost invisible against the wall. He placed a hand against it and pushed. It didn't move, sealed by something. Kai took a few steps back, then charged at it.
"What about this one, Ray?" Ray pulled hard on the handle, not expecting anything. He shook his head.
"Nope." Max stirred in Tyson's arms and moaned softly. Tyson said encouragingly,
"It's okay Max, we'll get you out. Promise!" He angrily wiped away a tear that threatened to spill. Ray's head suddenly spun round to face the door, eyes wide, pupils fully contracted, cat-like.
"Get back!" he yelled. Just as they retreated to a safe distance, the door buckled, almost flying off its hinges. Another almighty crash rang out and the door fell forwards.
Kai picked himself shakily off the ground. God, that was one stubborn door! He didn't see the rest of the team staring at him until Ray limped forwards. Nodding in acknowledgment, Kai allowed himself to be helped up. His sharp eyes travelled round the group, taking in their general shell-shocked appearance, and Max. He dug Hillary's mobile out of his pocket and threw it at her.
"I don't think I landed on it…" he said quickly. Hillary smiled tensely and without any hesitation, keyed in three numbers.
999
"So…" said Ray, trying to break the silence that had fallen after everyone had seen what Hillary had keyed in. "What happened to you?" He indicated Kai's beaten-up state. Kai shrugged non-committedly.
"Had an argument with a security guard. I won." He showed Ray the bullet hole. Ray whistled in amazement.
Tyson snorted derisively. Kai stiffened in anger and he pulled himself upright, glaring at Tyson. Tyson was shaking with a mixture of pent-up anger and exhaustion as he stared at Kai. Equally angry, Kai took a couple of steps forwards, fists clenched. He saw Ray out of the corner of his eye, shaking his head ever so slightly. Casting a last look at Tyson, Kai saw the look in his eyes. He turned his back on him, trying to appear unconcerned, and strode over to Ray.
"Ray!" he hissed urgently. "What the hell happened in there?" Ray looked away.
"Later," he said quietly.
"No, now!" Kai snapped. Ray turned on him, amber eyes blazing.
"No, not now, Kai! Tyson's just seen a part of himself he's having trouble coming to terms with. He'll tell you when he's ready. For once, Kai, you're not going to get what you want exactly when you want. Think you can cope with that?" he snarled, lips drawing back to reveal his dangerously sharp canines. Kai smirked, brushing himself down unconcernedly.
"Well, well, the kitten has a bite after all!" he commented dryly, ignoring the look of hatred Ray was giving him. He remembered Ray's limp and looked quickly. A wound spread from his ankle to his knee. Dried blood covered most of Ray's leg. "Thomas decided he'd try to use a knife on me." Ray said flatly, laughing humourlessly. "He regretted it afterwards. Oh boy, did he regret it!" He folded his arms and looked away, indicating that no more conversation was available. Kai did the same. If Ray wanted to throw a strop, that was fine by him.
Kenny lifted up his head and sighed in relief.
"There's the ambulance!" he called.
"Thank God!" breathed Hilary, wiping sweat from Max's forehead for the sixteenth time in two minutes. She froze. Max was flat and unmoving. Biting the back of her hand to stop herself panicking, she quickly checked Max's breathing. Nothing. "R-Ray?" she called tremulously.
"What!" came Ray's bad-tempered reply.
"Can you make the ambulance get here any faster?" Everyone looked at Hilary. Biting her hand again, she mentally slapped herself for saying it so loudly. Tyson saw the look on her face and started to shake, grabbing Max's limp hand. Hillary looked at Max and knew the ambulance wouldn't get there in time. She knelt next to Max and began resuscitation.
Twenty seconds later, Hilary straightened up, eyes wild with panic "It's not working!" she choked out. Tyson pushed her roughly aside, leaned forwards and tipped Max's chin up. When he let go, Max jolted slightly, then his chest started rising and falling again, face losing its blue pallor. Hillary could've kicked herself for missing such a simple thing. Something had been blocking Max's airway, probably his tongue. It was the first thing you learnt in any first-aid course. Check the patient's airway. But, what was making her lip tremble, despite her best efforts, wasn't annoyance or humiliation. It was because of the look Tyson had given her. Contemptuous. Hard. Sneering. "You're pathetic!" it said. Pathetic.
I'm not…Am I?
The ambulance finally roared up. Hillary sat still, eyes squeezed shut, as the paramedics loaded Max onto a stretcher, had a brief argument with Ray about his leg, then another with Tyson when he joined Max in the ambulance, another with Kenny when he joined Tyson, then tore off, sirens wailing.
Kai called her tensely. "I need the phone-"
"Hil?" Ray's concerned voice said. And suddenly, Ray's strong arms were around her and she was sobbing into his warm, comforting body. Neither of them noticed the strange look on Kai's face as he watched them.
"Ow-Hilary is this really-ouch-necessary-argh!"
"Stop moaning Ray, it's not my fault it hurts! Only…two…more…There! Done! And, if you will fight someone with a knife, what do you expect? You should be glad it only went through flesh! Now, don't you dare put any weight on it!"
"Isn't it supposed to-ouch-stop hurting now?" Ray moaned.
"Oh, god, Ray, stop acting like Tys-" Hilary cut herself off in mid-word. Ray narrowed his eyes.
"What?" he asked. A thought hit him. "What did Tyson do?" he demanded. "Come on Hil! Tell me!"
Hilary told him.
"Ouch! Damn leg, damn-ouch-stitches, damn Thomas-ow! Damn flipping knife!" Kai looked up as a whey-faced Ray hopped into the lounge and flopped down onto a chair. He couldn't help his lips curling upwards in a grin. Ray looked so comical, sitting there panting, cursing everything from Thomas to the hotel manager for having the knife in the kitchen!
"I take it next time it's a choice between the hospital and Hilary with an ice cube and a sewing needle, you'll choose the hospital?"
"Not…on…your…life! And don't mention…needles!" panted Ray. Kai face darkened.
"I know what you mean." he said quietly. He looked away for a second, then pulled himself together. "So, you said you wanted to talk?" Ray nodded stiffly. The two of them had called a temporary truce to their argument, mainly because Kai couldn't find out what had happened if Ray wasn't talking to him.
"Yeah… first, where did Sarah go?"
"Who? Oh, Sarah! Well, I rang up Judy and told her most of what'd happened, except for the bits I don't understand, like why Max was ill to start with, and she said that she'd sort it all out after she'd seen Max. And she said not to ring her again for a while because she was trying to reach Max's dad. She also said that we were all to try and get a few hours sleep, especially me. Don't know what she was talking about. I'm fine."
Hearing the edge in his team mate's voice, Ray looked properly at him. Kai had dark shadows under his eyes and exhaustion was slurring his voice ever so slightly. No you're not, Kai. Ray said silently, then got down to why he'd pulled himself off the sofa in the first place.
Ooh, what's wrong with Kai? Review to find out! Next chapter is coming up in three review's time!