Chapter Twelve

Lisa had awoken three hours later from passing out. Jackson was at her side with his laptop reading furiously. Once Lisa was coherent enough to put together words, she immediately starting cursing Jackson again for being selfish and for "doing this to her."

"I'm going to get a doctor out here tomorrow morning, ok?" Jackson rebutted, stressed beyond all comprehension.

"MORNING? I need one NOW, Jackson."

"Nonsense, if you were in dire need of one, you would not have been able to fall asleep. You're only in your latent phase."

"What?" Lisa was past exasperated at this point. Her contractions were mild, but starting to come more frequently.

"The latent phase. It's the longest part of stage one of your labor. You dilate to 3 to 4 centimeters-" he explained calmly.

"How do YOU know?" she demanded, "Show me your degree, Dr. Rippner."

"I've been reading extensively the past three hours. I will do my best to keep you comfortable until the doctor is able to get here. I've called him; he will be here by 6am."

"What about the danger of calling him?"

"The attack is supposed to take place then; they will be too occupied to care - if there is even anyone here, which is doubtful." Jackson hoped to God he was right. Lisa lay back against the mountain of pillows.

"How long does this 'phase' last anyway?"

"Umm…it can last up to 20 hours for first births. When your contractions get to be three minutes apart and are stronger than they are now, you will be in the active phase. I think you're also supposed to bleed as well…" His eyes scanned the screen.

"Is my water supposed to break then?"

"I think so; you can never be sure. But first, I'm gonna put you in a nice warm bath…we'll breathe…it'll be nice."

"Nice for WHO?" Lisa snapped and she clutched her stomach. Jackson set his laptop aside and reached into the drawer of his nightstand. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a long, full drag.

"Ew…you smoke?"

"Sometimes…usually when I'm under tremendous amounts of STRESS."

"Well…go out into the hallway. I don't want anything to hurt them."

"Lisa…one cigarette-" Jackson reasoned, but Lisa shot him a look so fierce that Jackson was sure he saw the devil in the flesh. He quickly walked into the hall outside of the bedroom.

After his "smoke break", Jackson drew a bath for Lisa and helped her into it. This was at 5pm. The warm bath water seemed to lessen the pain a little. She stayed in for close to two hours, with him periodically re-warming it for her.

At about 12am, approximately 11 hours after Lisa has gone into labor, Jackson knew she was in her active phase, as her contractions had gotten much worse and closer together. And there was some blood. Jackson Rippner had seen plenty of blood in his line of work, but none that ever made him want to pass out like that had.

At 1am, Lisa's water broke. They both knew the gravity of the situation then. Jackson consulted the website he'd been reading from earlier that day, and he found out there was plenty more to come. He just hoped that this phase took its time and waited for the doctor. He'd even measure her if he had to, knowing that if she dilated to 10 centimeters before 6am, they were in trouble.

There was much commotion at the Reisert household early that morning. At four, Salena came in to check on Joe and the others before going to wake up her three partners. Joe, who appeared to be asleep, watched her come in and then leave. He was still unsure about whether or not they would kill him, Michael, and Cynthia. When he was sure that she was gone, he nudged Michael awake.

"Have they left yet?"

"No, they're still here."

"Joe…I really don't think they're just gonna leave us here like this…" Michael stammered, "I mean, would you if you were them?"

"I suppose not…but I really don't want to think about that right now." Joe's head was racing with scenarios. If they did succeed in getting out, would he be able to get to the police or Lisa in time? His daughter was holed away in wilderness, 9 months pregnant, with some obsessive madman; he knew he would make it his mission to find her.

Around 5:00, Shane and Ben came in. The three captives looked nervously at the two men who were now armed with guns. To their surprise, Shane bent down and began to untie Joe, with Ben standing in wait.

"Don't move," Ben instructed, pointing the gun at Joe. Joe stood perfectly still and swallowed hard. When Shane had gotten the other two untied, he shoved them toward the hallway.

"You're going to get into the closet…after the hit is done, we'll call the police to come get you out," he explained.

"And believe me, we swept the room of any possible means of escape…so don't try anything stupid," Ben added and forced them in. All three heard the clicking of the lock and the footsteps leading away from the door.

"Well…shit," Michael sighed, sitting on floor. He was certain we would crack very soon. He was tired, worried, and dirty. He'd been wearing the same clothes for the past four days. He closed his eyes and he could see Lisa's smiling face beaming at him.

"Isn't there any way out?" Cynthia asked frantically, "Don't you have a secret exit or something?"

"Reality check, Miss Mays…this isn't Disney," Michael grumbled.

"Oh shut up, Michael!" she snapped.

"No, how about you shut up, because your ignorant babbling is getting on my nerves!"

"How about you both shut up?" Joe hissed, "Now, calm down…because I still have my knife. And I can probably pick the lock."

"Oh my God! That's right!" Cynthia gasped gleefully.

"Shhh…we have to be quiet and wait until they leave…it's going to do no good to attack them directly. Once they're gone, I'll get to work."

Jackson poured his 5th cup of black coffee of the morning. He looked at the clock: it was 5:27. Soon, Leese, soon…just hang on a little longer. He was expecting a call any moment from John or one of his cronies. He couldn't wait for this mess to be over.

"Jackson…" Lisa cried from the other room. Jackson dashed in to be at her side. The sheets beneath her were soaked with blood, sweat and other fluids and Lisa clutched the sheets until her knuckles were white. Her face was so soaked with sweat that Jackson couldn't even tell if she was crying, but he was sure she was.

"I know it hurts, Lisa…the doctor will be here soon, ok?"

"Don't you have anything to give me?"

"Lisa…if I had something I would have given it to you by now. I don't have anything safe enough."

"I really don't care at this point!"

"Of course you do, don't be silly."

"DO NOT FUCKING PATRONIZE ME!" she screamed, "Or so help me God I will end you." Jackson strongly resisted the urge to laugh. He knew that it would only piss her off.

"Calm down, Lisa…you have to calm down for me. Breathe…" he demonstrated something he'd seen on the Discovery Health channel. Lisa shot him at look, but mimicked him anyway. He grasped his hands in hers, and let her squeeze until he lost all feeling in his fingers, "Just a little longer…" he whispered, and placed a kiss on her drenched forehead.

Joe Reisert stared at his watch. 5:34. Their captors had left the house five minutes ago. He would wait five more before attempting to pick the lock with the pocketknife.

"How much longer?" Cynthia urged.

"Just a few more minutes…we need to make sure they're not gonna come back," Joe explained.

"We're running out of time…" Michael sighed, frustrated. The sooner they got out, the sooner they could go find Lisa and he could kill this Jackson fellow. "Think of Lisa, Joe." Joe squeezed his eyes shut. He plunged the knife into the lock. His brow furrowed with frustration when he realized it wasn't going to be as simple as he'd imagined.

"So, first thing we're gonna do when we get out of here is call the police," Michael instructed. He looked at Cynthia, "Can you keep together enough to do that?"

"Yes."

"I'll load the car with some stuff…assuming there is a car. If not, Joe, I'll call a cab to take us to the airport and to drop Cynthia at home.

"Why can't I come with you guys? Lisa is my best friend!"

"I understand that, but we don't even know exactly where she is. They gave us an address of some discreet cabin somewhere in Olcott, New York! Have YOU ever heard of Olcott, New York? 'Cause I sure the hell haven't."

"Hey - I think I've got it!" Joe announced triumphantly, and all three heard the lock click. He shoved the door forward. It barely opened a crack.

"What the FUCK is wrong now?" Michael groaned. Joe shoved a little more and could see that there was a chair wedged under the doorknob.

"Bastards," He muttered. "They put a chair in front of the door."

"There must be SOME way around it!" Cynthia exclaimed, "Can't you two break it down or something?" Michael and Joe looked at each other. Michael ran at it first. It made a slight cracking noise but didn't move very much. Joe tried his hand with much the same result.

"Dammit that hurts. What I wouldn't give to be 30 again," he sighed, rubbing his newly bruised shoulder. Michael shoved himself against it one more time.

"GODDAMMIT! WHY ISN'T ANYTHING GOING RIGHT?" he cried out. Then, he saw them: Joe's golf clubs. He snatched the heaviest one he could find.

"Move!" He swung as hard as he could. He managed to crack a hole on the door.

"Are those my golf clubs?" Joe asked, a little frantic.

"What's more important, Joe?" With that, Joe grabbed one and took a swing of his own. The hole became bigger. And bigger. Michael was able to reach his hand through and knock the chair down. They busted out of the closet tired, but triumphant. Joe looked at his watch again. 5:54.

The doorbell to the cabin rang. Jackson looked atthe clock in the bedroom.5:55.

"Thank God," he quietly prayed. As a precaution, he grabbed his knife and went slowly to the front door. He looked through the peephole. There stood a man with a tote bag of what looked to be medical supplies.

"Name please," Jackson said loud enough for him to hear.

"Dr. Steven Hirsh." Jackson entered the code. He held the weapon at ready. The doctor became alarmed when he saw it and dropped his things to the floor in an attempt to put his hands in the air.

"Please sir…"

"Chill out," Jackson told him, lowering his knife, "This is just a precaution. Unfortunately, I've got a few enemies right now. Does anyone know you're here?"

"The ho-ho-hospital…" the doctor stammered, "I couldn't j-j-just leave." Jackson sighed heavily, but decided that the man was right.

"Look, just do your job and deliver my children. Don't ask too many questions. You'll be paid handsomely for this if you don't screw up. If you do…well…you can imagine the consequences. That woman in there means a lot to me, ok?" Jackson had Dr. Hirsh by his shirt collar.

"Ok, ok…Mr…"

"Rippner. Now, follow me - she's in here." He bought the doctor back to his bedroom where Lisa was biting down on a pillow to keep from crying out. Jackson could see the elation in her eyes when she saw the doctor, even through the pain.

"Can you give her anything for the pain, Doc?" Jackson asked.

"How long has she been in labor?"

"Since 1:30 yesterday."

"And her water has broken?"

"Yes."

"I may be able to give her spinal anesthesia…let me just run a few tests."

"I NEED drugs, Doctor! Please give them to me!" Lisa cried.

"I know, ma'am…but I have to make sure it's safe or your baby could die."

"Babies," Jackson corrected. The doctor sighed; this would be even more difficult than he had first thought.

AN: So, I just went and poked around the forum for Red Eye and now my confidence in this story has been completely shaken. Peoplecan be cruel in being honest.Sigh. Oh well, I have over 100 reviews, so that must mean something. Thank you SO MUCH, people that like this story, if really means alot!