Sara didn't know what made her feel worse. The look that Michael was giving her or the guilt she felt for bringing this on him. The others all ran for the back door of the house, Lincoln waiting behind trying to urge his brother to hurry.
"Michael we need to go, now" Lincoln said pointedly.
"You go, I'll be right behind you" Michael said still looking at Sara, not sure why she did what she did, looking deep in her eyes for answers but not finding any.
Lincoln continued to wait for his brother refusing to leave without him. Michael looked towards his brother realising that he was risking Lincoln's freedom the longer he stood around here. He turned away from Sara hurt, unable to look at her and went to leave, Sara quickly grabbing his wrist.
"Michael….please…I…..I never meant for this to happen" Sara pleaded for his understanding. If only she could explain this to him, make him understand what really happened.
Michael looked down at the floor for a moment before raising his head back up; looking at Sara casually like she was a stranger.
"Thanks for letting us stay here for the short time, doc" he said, the tenderness in his voice from earlier that night gone. His voice wasn't angry or upset; it wasn't filled with any emotion, which Sara hated more. She wanted him to be angry and upset with her, that would mean that he did have feelings for her but the lack of emotion in his voice was isolating her from him.
With that Michael followed Lincoln out of the lounge room and disappeared down the hall way, the slam of the back door reaching Sara's ears. Sara stood planted on the spot where Michael had left her, an icy cold feeling rushing over her body. The heavy pounding of the police outside the front door, echoing through the now empty apartment. Sara just blocked out the sound of the police yelling as they began barging the door.
"OPEN UP!"
Sara now knew how Michael felt. She had done something she deeply regretted and now all she wanted was for him to know how sorry she was that she had been so stupid. Sara felt a lump in her throat grow as she realised she may never see him again. He could very well be on his way back to Fox River tonight or even worse. He may escape and spend the rest of his life believing that she had intentionally brought the cops to arrest him. For the second time that night Sara broke down into tears unable to control herself.
A crash came as the police busted through Sara's door, the sound of their heavy footsteps thundering through the rooms, drawing closer. Sara continued to stand in the same spot as the police came thundering into the lounge room, Sara not even reacting to this sudden intrusion.
"Mam, are you alright" One of the police said approaching Sara as the other checked every possible hiding space in the room before moving further down the house.
Sara didn't answer and continued to stand there crying, hoping Michael was as far away as possible.
"It's alright" the policeman said in a nurturing way like a father talking to his child as he guided Sara to the lounge "They won't get far….we're going to get these people."
Sara looked up at the cop in fear suddenly feeling quite sick and queasy.
One of the police officers walked back into the room gun now lowered "They're gone but I don't think they're far off, a neighbour just said they saw them running down Bourke Street, we're going to go check it out" he said simply. The police beside Sara nodded.
"Hurry up then, we don't want them escaping, I promised this young lady here we will get them and I want to keep my word."
The police officer who had just reported the current information exited to the room. Sara feeling really sick quickly sprang up and ran to the kitchen where she emptied out the contents of her stomach into the sink. The officer followed behind her making sure she was alright.
Sara slowly lifted her head up, her breath laboured from the vomiting and the overwhelming guilt inside her.
"We got a call from the house across the road. They said they saw them enter your apartment and thought it looked a bit suspicious but didn't think anything more of it. Then they saw the news update of the prisoners escaping and straight away recognised the pictures on the TV to those who had entered here. You're lucky you have very observant neighbours" he said trying to cheer her up.
He didn't get the exact reaction he thought he would get. Sara no longer looked upset but shocked her mouth slightly open as she took in this new information.
"You mean my phone call earlier had nothing to with you being here now?" Sara asked the constricted feeling in her heart loosening slightly.
"I didn't even realise you called earlier, I would have been given the information as I was patrolling around here. "
"Yeah...I hung up in the middle thinking it was a false alarm" Sara said quickly making up an excuse for why she really hung up.
"Usually we would still have checked it out but we had been getting a lot of prank calls earlier, maybe they thought this was another one"
"Lucky me" Sara said literally, the police taking it as sarcasm. Sara felt a new burst of courage and strength and now she was slightly annoyed that Michael would actually think she would intentionally call the police on him.
"I need to know whether they did anything to you" he asked seriously "did they hurt you or threaten you in any way"
Sara looked at the police with disgust and anger not believing that he could even fathom Michael doing any of that to her. The officer was quite confused with this reaction and so he interpreted as she didn't want to talk about it.
"It's okay, I'm trying to help, I just need to know what they did to you" he pressed on.
Sara stared back into his eyes resentment for this man growing.
"He didn't do anything to me" she said coolly once again not making a lot of sense to the police officer.
"He? Who is-" he began trying to find the meaning behind this but being cut off as his walky-talky starting speaking.
"Tom, we spotted them running into the nearby park. I have called for backup but I could really use your help" the officer on the other end announced.
"I'll be there in a moment" Tom replied in the walky-talky "Make sure you don't lose them!"
Sara felt her heart skip a beat. They couldn't capture them, they just couldn't. Sara quickly stepped in front of the officer as he went to leave the room. Putting on an act she feigned fear and began to make her eyes water.
"Please, don't leave me here alone…I don't want to be here alone" Sara said in a low pleading voice as the tears fell down her face.
"I'm sorry Miss, but I have to go if I want to get these guys…don't worry you'll be fine now." He said turning away heading for the door.
Sara had a split second to decide what she was going to although she had already sub-consciously made it when she had been wrapped in Michael's arms, opening up to him. Sara reached out for the closet item she could find, her hand closing on an almost empty wine bottle. She quickly snuck up behind Tom as he reached for the front door handle before detecting Sara's presence behind him.
"What are yo-" Tom began turning around before the wine bottle was struck against the side of his head, knocking him unconscious, a loud smash sounding through the house, shards of broken glass littering the carpet. Tom's limp body fell with a thump to the ground, blood slowly oozing out of the fresh gash, just above his left temple.
Sara dropped what was left of the bottle to the ground as she registered what she had just done. Both of her hands rose to her open mouth in a natural reaction, fear pulsing through her veins.
"Oh my….what have I done" Sara asked herself shakily. She quickly knelt down and pressed her fingers against the side of the police officers neck, relieved to find a pulse. Sara would love to be able to freak out or breakdown into tears, but she had to get her head clear, she was on a mission, running purely on adrenaline right now. She quickly ran into her bedroom, pulling on a black jacket and grabbing an empty backpack. Emptying the contents of her handbag onto the bed, Sara searched for necessities, throwing her wallet, keys and mobile phone hastily into the backpack. All the while she was doing this; doubt was forming in the corner of her mind, slowing her down. Sara opened the first drawer of her bedside drawers and looked down into it. One of the objects sitting inside was another batch of morphine she had stolen from the infirmary earlier that night. Sara reached into the drawer and gently pulled out the object of her attention. She stared back affectionately at Michael's origami rose he had given her as a birthday present. The rose rekindled her motivation she had been losing and she stashed it in her jacket pocket closing the drawer, the morphine getting shut away in the darkness.
Sara then ran into the lounge room, dropping her backpack next to the bookcase as she ran her finger along the spines of the books, searching for a particular title. Her finger came to a stop at a particularly thick book entitled The Theory of Quantum Physics. Pulling the large book from the shelf, Sara opened it up revealing a hole cut out in the middle, hiding a wad of cash. Sara had been saving In case she ever needed it in an emergency. She wasn't exactly sure what the emergency would be but she was damn glad of it now. Dropping the money into the backpack Sara headed back towards the front door stopping besides Tom's unconscious form. Sara bent down and grabbed his walky-talky, torch and handcuffs. Sara then spotted his holstered gun and knelt there wondering whether she should take it or not. Sara reached out before quickly withdrawing her hand as if it was a snake likely to bite out at her. She ran her hands through her hair before again reaching out for the gun this time her hand grasping the cool handle. Sara quickly dropped the gun into the bag not wanting to hold any longer then she had too. Raising back to her feet Sara opened the door as far as she could, Tom lying in the way. Sara looked around her apartment one last time, wondering when if ever she would see it again before slipping through the small gap in the door.
Sara quickly headed for her garage as she looked left and right expecting police to spring out on her any second. She lifted the door which creaked loudly, Sara wondered when it was the last time she had opened it. The dull florescent glow from the street lamps lit up the outline of a black Harley Davison motor bike, that hadn't been touched in years, cob webs stretching from the bike to the walls. Sara walked slowly up to the bike and ran her hand over it, dust falling to the ground. Sara remembering when she had turned 21 and her father had given her a very generous present of 50 grand to invest and save for a house. Well Sara being so independent and rebellious saw the bike in a shop window and couldn't refuse. Her father had been furious and told Sara that she was irresponsible and childish. When Sara decided to kick drugs, the bike had ended up in the shed and since then it hadn't been touched. She swung her leg over the bike and lowered herself onto the seat. She noticed that the key was still in the ignition so she switched it so that she could start up the bike. When Sara pushed down on lever that started the bike she was surprised when the engine roared up as if it had only been used yesterday. She closed her eyes for a second telling herself that this was the last chance, no turning back after this. Reopening her eyes Sara revved the bike and hurled out into the night, the engine roaring.
Sara sped along the road headed for the nearby park, hoping to God that Michael hadn't been caught. Sara took the corners sharply once again surprised out how well she could still ride, as if she had done it yesterday.
Sara was surprised at how quickly she reached the park. There were no police cars on this side yet which Sara was greatly thankful for although she then wondered whether they had already been caught yet. Stoping by the park Sara took the backpack off her shoulder and fished around until her hands came upon the walky-talky. She turned it on and listened to what was being said.
"Terry, any visuals yet" One police asked
"Not yet but if they are around here I'll get them. I am heading North maybe you should send a car to the other side so they don't slip out"
Sara stashed the walky-talky back into the bag. Revving the bike again Sara rod up onto a path leading into the large park determined to get to Michael before the police did. Winding through the paths Sara called out to Michael trying to spot any sign of him. She had been doing this for a few minutes and began to worry that she wouldn't find him. Then she saw it, his outline quickly slip behind a great oak tree just a bit off the path ahead. Sara would recognise him anywhere and was positive it was him. Taking off she headed straight for the tree not taking her eyes off it in case he tried to run. She got all the way to the tree and quickly swerved around blocking Michael before he could flee.
"Michael quickly jump on!" Sara said urging him to hurry.
"What are you doing here" Michael asked surprised and slightly annoyed.
"Saving you, come on!"
Michael looked at Sara warily as if she we're an unknown animal and you wasn't sure whether it was safe to approach it.
"I'm not going anywhere without my brother" Michael said forcefully.
"Where is he" Sara asked looking around but not spotting him anywhere.
"We got separated, but I'm sure he is around here somewhere" Michael said looking around as if expecting Lincoln to suddenly pop up.
"Michael, Lincoln is very capable of looking after himself and you won't be doing him any good if you get caught here. Please, come with me" Sara said pointing out the obvious but Michael refused to see it.
"No! Not without-" Michael was suddenly cut of as a police cried out that he had found the 2 of them.
"FREEZE! DON'T MOVE!" the police cried out, holding his gun up towards them running.
"MICHAEL COME ON!" Sara said revving the engine. Michael took on last look around the park before giving up and jumping behind Sara on the motor bike. Sara let go of the clutch and sprayed stones as the wheels rolled on the spot before lurching forward. The sound of gun shots being fired rang through the park. Sara felt Michael flinch behind her as she rode out towards the exit of the park. When Sara reached the road she was disheartened to see a police car following after her sirens blazing. They zigzagged through streets taking sudden turns but Sara couldn't seem to shake him off her tail. She suddenly saw her opportunity and turned down a side passage way between apartment buildings too small for a car to fit down. The police car hit the breaks before ramming into the gap as the motorbike continued to hurtle down the passage. Quickly reversing the police car set off for the exit on the other side. Sara quickly skidded to a stop.
"What are you doing!" Michael asked Sara not sure why she would stop in the middle of a chase. Sara in answer quickly turned the bike back towards where they had come from. Lurching forward Sara called back to Michael though the wind.
"I'm losing him!" Michael was impressed as she turned back onto the road now clear of any police. Sara continued riding to the outer regions of Chicago, thankful that they hadn't encountered any more trouble. Once she got outside the suburban areas Sara relaxed a little more as country scenery rolled past. Michael hadn't said anything more, or he had and she just couldn't hear it because of the loud rushing of wind. Sara spotting a dirt road decided to turn down it; it would be safer right now to stay of any main roads. The country got wilder and thicker the further Sara rode making her wonder how often this road was used. The dirt road became a lot rougher with roots growing out of it and branches fallen onto certain areas of the road. Sara was considering turning back around when she heard Michael flinching up in pain.
Sara turned around in the seat while riding to see what the problem was and was horrified to see a big blood patch staining Michael shirt around the abdomen area.
"Michael you hurt" Sara said in a worried tone turning back around to stop the bike. What happened next played out in slow motion to Sara's eyes as she saw a meter wide gap in the road. She hit the breaks but was already too close and felt as the front wheel fell forward, the back of the bike flying up sending her and Michael 8 feet. Sara landed heavily on her back all the wind knocked out of her the stars above dancing in and out of focus.