Treatment

Quick note: This chapter will get a little mushy, FYI.

Eve and Hildy laid Jack on the couch, but Hildy went to go grab some old and raggedy towels to make sure no blood smears onto the sofa.

"Jesus, Jack, what the hell happened?" Hildy said and looked towards Eve. "And who is she?"

"That's Eve Adams, she saved my life," Jack said and barely looked towards Eve. "Eve, this is Hildy Razwell, we go way back."

Eve let out her hand, and Hildy let out hers and they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you," Hildy said.

"Likewise," Eve said.

Hildy turned her attention towards Jack. She helped Jack get out of his jacket. The first things that Hildy noticed were the pieces of cloth that wrapped around Jack's shoulders. Hildy looked down with so much shock on her face, almost as if her eyes started to get a bit watery. Eve observed her behavior. It was clear to Eve that Hildy and Jack had a relationship that went beyond just being friends.

"Oh my god, Jack, your shoulders!" Hildy said. "Who did this to you?"

"I'll explain in a bit," Jack said.

"Okay, but I'm going to get my first aid kit and patch you up," Hildy said. "I'll be right back."

Hildy walked away for a moment and Eve turned her attention towards Jack.

"I see your doctor now," Eve said. "Not bad, Jack. You have good taste."

Jack sighed. "It's not like that."

"Oh, no? I see how worried she is about you," Eve said. "She seems like she is more than just old friend."

"Okay, so we dated a long time ago," Jack said.

"Right, right," Eve said. "Well, Jack, I'm about to go. I'll keep you posted if I find anything on Mayhem Inc. or even Mr. Sanderville. Get well soon, handsome."

Eve walked towards the door and winked a bit at Jack with a bit of a smile on her face right before she stepped outside and shut the door. Now Jack, along with Shadow, was left with Hildy.

Was Jack in denial about Hildy? If so, why? He knew that it was more than just dating in high school. They clearly had something special going on. At this particular moment, Jack didn't want any old feelings to get in the way of his main focus. However, Hildy wasn't the only one who lost somebody because although she may have worked for Frank Slate when he was still alive, she had known the man before she was under his employ. In a lot of ways, he was like a father-figure to her because her real father died when she was younger.

"Okay, let me take a look at you," Hildy said and looked around. "Where's that woman?"

"She left," Jack said and moved a bit. "Ow."

"I really need to look at you," Hildy said. "Take off those things, and I need you to take off your shirt while you're at it."

Jack still had the cloths wrapped around his shoulders, even with the sleeves rolled up from the shirt he was wearing. He unbuttoned the shirt, only to reveal that he had a ballistics vest on. Hildy noticed the hole in the Kevlar.

"Take off that vest as well," Hildy said.

Jack proceeded to take off the bulletproof vest. Jack was wearing a white tank-top. Hildy's eyes widened even more as she noticed a bruise right on Jack's chest. It was in that exact same area where he was shot that the hole on the vest was. It was when he was shot by that 5.56mm bullet.

"I need to stop the bleeding," Hildy said.

She got her kit and got out some styptic, suture, and bandages. Another thing that caught her attention was the other bruises on Jack's skin. Aside from the wounds from the arrows, he was pushed around by Longshoreman X. That man had incredible strength and was much bigger and stronger than Jack. It was a good thing she had splint for the other injuries he suffered.

Hildy wiped the blood from the wounds and applied some styptic, which caused Jack to yell a bit from the stinging sensation. She then applied the suture and finally put the bandages over the wounds.

"So you'll live?" Hildy said.

"Yeah, thanks," Jack said.

"I'm not done yet," Hildy said. "Don't thank me yet. I need to look at your back and your shoulders some more. What happened to you? And who was that girl?"

"You want to know? I'll tell you," Jack said.

Jack shared everything that had happened that night thus far. He mentioned that he had a lead from the cellphone that he took off of Marvin Silt a couple of nights prior to that very night. Everything that had happened like catching Gofer at Sawyer Greens Driving Range to Russian mobster Robert Blanjov making a deal with Jack about taking out a traitor. To top it off, the one man Jack was after happened to be at the docks. But it escalated further once he took on Longshoreman X, then the clown assassins, and finally Anthorcha on the way to her house.

"I found the man who set me up," Jack said. "He was there and I had him in my sights, but then shit hit the fan even more."

Hildy looked at Jack's arm some more. "Wait, so you're telling me that a lot of what went down at the golf course was because of you? And the shit that happened at the docks?"

"No, that was just some hired guns that went after me," Jack said. "I got out of there as soon as possible and then someone gave me a tip. Then everything else happened. If not for Shadow and Eve, I wouldn't have made it all."

"If not for them, you could have died out there," Hildy said and continued to look at some of Jack's bruises. "I know you have your reasons, but don't you see that this is doing more harm than good? You need help, a doctor."

"Tonight, you're my doctor," Jack said. "And I…uh, kind of think I'm in need of a sponge bath."

Hildy pressed down towards Jack's shoulder and pushed his arm down.

"Ow!" Jack said. "Bedside manner's a little rough."

"So is your timing," Hildy said when she mildly slapped Jack in the back of his head.

"Aaaahh, easy," Jack said.

"So tell me about that big guy who you fought?" Hildy said.

"From what I understand, he is, well, was the newest member of Mayhem Inc, that assassin's guild out of Broadway," Jack said. "But this man was something else. It felt like he was more into brutally torturing his targets. This guy even had the bodies of a couple of guys pinned to fucking ice blocks. I am glad that Shadow found Eve when he did. Even more, if Shadow didn't have an idea that some hired guns were ready to open fire on Eve and myself, I wouldn't be sitting here."

"You couldn't be any luckier," Hildy said and then went and sat on the couch right next to Jack.

For a few seconds, the two sat there in silence. Hildy started to look down a bit, until she broke the silence.

"Jack, it's time I tell you this," Hildy said.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Listen, I don't know why I'm telling you this now, but you need to hear me out. A while back, when I found out that your dad had opened up his own P.I. firm, I was in need of another job. I then quit the other place and started working as your dad's assistant. Sure, I may have needed a job, but really, I was hoping to get back in touch with you somehow."

"What?" Jack said.

"I'm not done," Hildy said. "The thing is, I never really got over you. Yes, I know we were young when we dated, but we were both 19 when we broke up and it was mutual. You were in the Marines. I was in school on a dance scholarship and studying nursing and to also be an EMT. During that time, I had dated some guys here and there. There was one guy who I fell for, and then later got married."

"Hold up, what?" Jack said. "You never told me you got married."

"We hadn't talked in a long time at that point, and it's really not something I like to talk about," Hildy said. "Anyway, we were only together for less than a year before he proposed and then we got married not long after. I was Hildy Sands for only a year and then started to see a different side of him. I later filed for annulment, so our marriage never actually happened. I went from Hildy Sands back to Hildy Razwell in such a short amount of time."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Jack said.

"Because I'm afraid you're going to die out there!" Hildy said as her voice cracked a bit. "I couldn't let you get killed without me telling you all of this. Yes, I may have gotten married, but you were the one that got away. After everything happened, I wanted to see you again, but I didn't know where to find you."

Jack didn't know what to say after all of this. The only thing he could do was give her a hug after she poured her heart out to him.

"Wow, I had no idea," Jack said. "Listen, I got something to tell you, too. The old feelings started to come back a bit after you started working for my dad. This was even when I was dating Ruby a bit."

Just then, Hildy moved back the moment she heard that name. "What?"

"I'm serious," Jack said. "I tried to act like what we had was all in the past, but I know that seeing you was enough to have the old feelings come back. You and I practically grew up together. I thought about keeping it going for us, but we were too far apart, especially when I was stationed in various places, and when I was assigned to take part in the Bosnian War. When you came back into my life, I was already seeing Ruby but it put me in a rough spot."

"Jack, I wanted to tell you this even when you were in jail, and when I came to visit you, but I didn't know how to tell you."

"It's okay. Speaking of which, I ran into Ruby recently and she told me a lot of things."

"Like what?" Hildy said.

"She told me the reason why she didn't go to my trial and why she didn't visit me," Jack said. "She said she wanted to, but she got caught up in some shit, like becoming a sex slave. I ran into her the other night when I went to Black Orchid to get some answers, only to find that she was working there."

"Really?" Hildy said.

"Yeah," Jack said. "Turns out that she had been working with this guy named Fahook Ubduhl who had been taking part in the white slavery trade. She even told me that she had been taking part in porn videos and working as one of the 'masseuses' at Black Orchid."

When Jack mentioned the white slavery trade and stuff, it all came back to her.

"There's something else I need to tell you," Hildy said. "Earlier tonight I quit my job at The Den of Iniquity."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I did. I saw those two creepy Russian guys. Well, one of them was fucking creepy. I had been hearing that they had been scouting some of the girls at that place for their little operation. Even Hector Cruz was there. I had some guys ask if I would go home with them."

"But don't some dancers go home with some patrons?" Jack said.

"Some do, but others don't," Hildy said. "I know I danced naked on stage and gave lapdances, but I didn't fuck any of the patrons."

"You are better than that place," Jack said.

"The money may have been good, but I didn't want to go beyond just stripping," Hildy said.

"I remember that you had a passion for dancing," Jack said. "You ever think about maybe becoming a dance instructor? Or what about finally getting that job as an EMT or a nurse?"

"I could do that," Hildy said. "I wouldn't mind teaching people how to dance. I also think it's time to put my other skills to use."

"Hey, you managed to patch me up well," Jack said and sat there quietly for a few seconds. "Did you mean the other things you said?"

"With every inch of my heart," Hildy said. "I never stopped loving you."

"I still feel that way that about you, Hildy," Jack said. "Besides, Ruby and I may have had our thing, but it was never serious between us."

After a few seconds had passed, the two leaned in and kissed each other on the lips. They quickly backed away after that happened.

"I really am afraid that you will die," Hildy said.

"I got nothing to lose," Jack said.

"You have more to lose than you think," Hildy said and leaned in to wrap her arms around him some more.

"I still have some stuff to do," Jack said.

"I don't think you should get out there soon," Hildy said. "You need to recover."

Hildy had a great point about everything she said. Jack, on the other hand, didn't disclose that he had sex with Ruby the other night, but even then he was caught in the moment, as well as had been in jail before that. With their old feelings rekindling, Jack knew that he was not ready for anything like that. What they had was more than just a teenage romance back in the day. They broke up nearly a decade prior to it because of other things going in their respective lives at that point.

However, Jack had found out that Ruby seemingly worked with the Volkoff brothers, whom were also working with Fahook. The truth was out there. With Eve having her own motivations, Jack wanted to continue working with her. Both of them were after the same man. Patch was out there somewhere. All Jack wanted was answers, after everything was said and done, it didn't matter if Eve would eliminate him.

"I think I should get going," Jack said.

"No, I think you should stay here," Hildy said. "You need some rest. I will take care of you."

"I'll be fine," Jack said.

"Still, I think you should stay here for the night," Hildy said. "I will check on you tomorrow. I got to get some sleep. You can sleep on the couch for tonight."

"Okay, sounds good," Jack said.

DOCK 765, COLD ROCK CREEK

It had been a little more than an hour after all of the carnage at the docks took place. The GCPD showed up. Some of the GAC team members went to investigate other areas of the docks. Hennessey stood around and checked out the area.

"Officer Hennessey." The deep voice caught Hennessey's attention. It was Fahook, who approached Hennessey with Messhaka and Shadraka in his company.

"That's Deputy Chief Hennessey to you," he said.

"Right, right, what seems to be the problem?" Fahook said.

"We heard about some gunshots going on," Hennessey said. "Some of the workers complained about the gunfire and some people were killed. We were if you had anything to do with it."

"Relax, Chief, anytime my men shoot people is when things go wrong," Fahook said. "But in this case, this wasn't one of those moments."

"Well, just remember that I am watching all of the crime going on around here," Hennessey said.

"I'm not scared of you, Hennessey," Fahook said. "From what I understand, some man came here and shot up The Iron Curtain and some other people took the guns that were supposed to be for us."

Meanwhile, inside some of the warehouses, Chris and Michelle looked around and saw a lot of the bodies that were laid out. The CSU came in and checked out the bodies, but one thing that caught Chris's attention was the trail of blood that went into the freezing area. The two cops noticed three bodies. Although the two that were pinned to the blocks of ice had been dead for a bit, they noticed Longshoreman X's body.

"Holy shit," Michelle said. "Chris, come and look at this."

Chris approached his partner and saw that the blood trail started just a few feet away from Longshoreman X's body. The blood could not have come from the big man.

"Do you think someone else was here?" Michelle said.

Chris even saw some prints on the ground.

"We're going to have to get the CSU to get blood samples and to examine those prints," Chris said. "We may need to talk to Inness or Hennessey first, though. Something's not right about this."

Author's note: Okay, this is going to be more commentary about some stuff, and the first thing I want to talk about the stuff with Hildy and Jack. This may contain spoilers from the original 2002 game, but really, should anybody even care about spoilers from a game that came out nearly 20 years ago, especially with its messy writing? Either way, here are some SPOILERS just in case.

I really, REALLY did not like what was done with Hildy in the original game. As I had noted before, there was little context with some of the characters and she was no exception. Sure, it was said that she worked for Jack's dad, but she was supposedly a love interest but it wasn't elaborated upon until her second-to-last appearance in the game when she kills the mayoral candidate and threatens to shoot Jack. Yes, she betrayed Jack, but before that, Jack was talking about getting with her after everything was over but then says how she didn't see him that way and that she was out for herself.

Now that wasn't the problem, because I get the part about not getting the girl, or even when betrayal happens. Here was the problem – Earlier in the game when Jack goes to the cemetery to go visit his father's gravesite, she actually appears. Now it didn't seem like she had any ulterior motives or anything like that, though there was foreshadowing when talking about her financial problems. But then came the twist, which didn't make sense when looking at past cutscenes, not to mention that she flat-out killed someone. Then came her final appearance when she was killed herself. Before that, Jack ended up following her to try to save her in spite of everything that happened, only for it not to happen and the game tried to present itself as a tragedy, when you have to remember that she shot someone dead herself. It was just among the issues with the writing. The betrayal was a swerve that had some plot holes surrounding it.

END SPOILERS.

I keep mentioning how this is a retelling, which is why Hildy in this version is presented as an old flame of Jack's, because that was what I thought she was when I first played the game. I thought maybe she was an old girlfriend of his who got back in his life. Now if I'm going to follow with any twists, that would be spoiling it, wouldn't it? I'm not going to say what will happen. I just needed to share my beef with that plot point of the original game.

One more thing, regarding her last name being Sands during the annulled marriage, that was another reference to Faith from Dead to Rights: Retribution as her last name was Sands. Like I have said, Hildy is a composite with her. The same could be said about her first aid skills, which was shown in the original game but it wasn't explained how she got those skills. Again, no context. Faith, however, was an EMT, by the way.

Anyway, I will see about what I will do soon. I have some ideas. Peace out.