Hostage - Chapter Two

Title: Hostage

Author: GalaxyDuster (aka Sara)

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own the regular ER characters... obviously.
Spoilers: References to 13x18 - Photographs and Memories. (This happens the next day.)
Content Warning: Nothing more than your standard ER gore; drugs, violence.

"Just give me what I want," Chris repeated desperately.

Ray felt absolute panic slamming into him as the tip of the knife wobbled against his throat; Chris was still trembling wildly. Ray had to fight the instinct to breathe deeply, as each breath caused the knife to poke a little farther into his skin. He held himself still, trying to focus on just surviving each moment.

Each moment felt like a lifetime.

Chris tightened his grip around Ray's throat. "Don't make me hurt you," he warned, and Ray could feel the other man breathing heavily against his ear. Chris began to step back slowly, and Ray stepped with him.

"Get everyone out of this area," a voice said. Ray thought it sounded like Pratt, but he couldn't be sure. His gaze was focused mostly on the ceiling, as he was straining his neck back from the knife as much as possible.

They continued to slowly back up toward the desk.

"Just relax," said another voice, which was unmistakable as Luka Kovac. "We'll get you what you want."

Chris stopped walking. He jabbed the knife gently against Ray's throat, causing more fear than pain. Still, the room around them erupted in gasps and upset voices.

"Please." This time Ray could hear desperation in Kovac's voice.

"You people aren't going to help me," Chris whimpered, continuing to shake uncontrollably. "You're going to jump on me and arrest me the second… the second you get your chance!"

"No," he heard Pratt say. "We don't want anyone to get hurt. We'll get you whatever you need."

Ray thought he heard Neela say something. He could barely make out her voice over the sound of his own pulse roaring in his head.

"Please," Kovac repeated.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Chris screamed. Ray squeezed his eyes shut tightly, imagining that any second he was going to be carelessly slaughtered and tossed to the floor. His hand reached up instinctively to grasp at the arm around his throat.

"Don't move!!!" Chris jabbed with the knife again, and not so gently this time. Ray felt the burn as the point made a shallow cut in his skin. He suddenly felt as though he were paralyzed.

"Oh, my god." It sounded like Abby this time.

"Tell us what you want to do, sir," said Kovac. He sounded calm yet firm, and Ray sincerely hoped that would be the way to calm down his assailant.

Chris shifted back and forth uneasily on his feet. He was clearly feeling like an animal backed into a corner at this point, with no idea how to escape. "I need… medication," he explained, trying to speak in a normal voice.

"We can get you that," Kovac replied softly. "It's no problem. Just… let him go. Then we can all take a deep breath, and help you out."

Ray felt his attacker's grip tighten again. "No. No, I'm not letting him go. He's my only chance… my only chance to get out of here."

Ray tried to peek down at the room around him, but it was impossible to move his head. He wondered if Neela was still in the room. He hoped that someone had taken her out, away from the danger.

"Please, we'll really give you whatever you want," he heard Neela say in the very next instant. Ray closed his eyes and swallowed hard, hoping the attacker wouldn't pay any attention to her. He couldn't bear the thought of it.

"Someone get them out of here," Kovac said sternly, no doubt referring to Abby and Neela.

"I'm not leaving," Neela said. Her tone was incredibly serious.

"Get all the cops out of here," Chris said suddenly, beginning to step backward again. Ray kept pace with him, not wanting the knife to slip. "Get them all out of here. I'm taking this doc with me into a closed room, and someone is going to pass me what I need under a locked door, and he is going to give it to me. Do you understand me?!"

"Absolutely," Pratt replied. He sounded completely genuine.

Ray felt his sense of dread increasing. Probably because he knew what would happen if Chris decided he didn't need him anymore.

"You," Chris snarled, directly into Ray's ear. "Where is the nearest room that I can go into and lock the door?"

"Uhh, keep going back, then to your… to your right," Ray said softly. He felt the knife point moving against his throat as he spoke. His own body was trembling slightly, and he was helpless to stop it.

As expected, Chris began to step back in that direction. Ray moved with him in perfect synch, feeling as if he were taking a slow walk down death row. His last bit of optimism dissolved away as he was pulled into a dimly lit exam room. The door slammed with a very final sounding thud.

Ray felt Chris stretching out his free arm. He heard the lock click into place.

"Sit down," Chris snapped, shoving Ray hard enough to make him fall on the floor.

Neela felt as if her entire body had gone numb.

Dozens of cops and security guards had materialized around the admit desk, speaking to each other fervently, all of them repeatedly glancing at the closed door of Exam Three. Their two-way radios buzzed and squawked accordingly.

"You two, get out of here now," Kovac ordered, walking up to Neela and Abby quickly and angrily. He bent his head low to Abby and put his hands on his hips. "It's too dangerous back here. Get out of the hospital."

"What don't you understand? We are closed due to an emergency!" Pratt shouted to someone on the phone.

"No," Neela replied, her voice shaking as she looked up at Kovac's rigid expression. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Neela, there's nothing you can do here. Right now you are just another possible target for this maniac," Kovac said, exasperated.

"No," she said again. There was no way she could leave, knowing Ray was in there with a murderer. She couldn't leave, knowing that at any moment he might be gone.

"He's right, Neela," Abby said gently, touching her friend's elbow. "Let's go."

"I'm not leaving while he's in there," Neela said, and her voice broke.

Abby gave her a pointed look. "Neela…?"

"I've made myself perfectly clear," Neela replied firmly, despite the tears that were pooling in her eyes. She glanced toward the closed door of Exam Three. What was going on in there right now? She wondered.

"Neela, I can't let you stay. It's not safe back here right now," Kovac protested.

"I think I can decide if I'm safe enough," she retorted, helpless as one of her tears finally spilled over.

Kovac and Abby exchanged a confused look, but Neela simply ignored it and walked to the desk. "Pratt. I'll do it," she said, quickly wiping her face.

Pratt set down the telephone receiver, staring blankly at her. "Do what?"

"Let me pass meds under the door. Please. We have to give him what he wants."

"Neela, wait. Let's see what the police think we should do," Kovac said. He and Abby had followed her to the desk.

"Don't you get it?!" Neela felt her control slipping. "He's gonna kill him. That man stabbed a police officer to death twenty times. There's no other answer. We have to give him what he wants!!!"