Chapter Five
Matt took Emily's hand in his, her eyes still full of fear. He pulled her into his chest. They hadn't been at the hospital for longer than twenty minutes.
"Matt, what if she doesn't make it?" Emily said, pained tears evident in her eyes.
"She will, she has to," Matt said.
"But...she...she was so cold," Emily said.
"I know, but when have you ever known Lia to give up?" Matt asked.
"Matt this is different," Emily said.
"Look, someone needs to tell Cheryl," Frank said.
"Yeah, look maybe we should all go. The doctors said it would be a while," Matt said.
"But what if something happens, what if they need to talk to us?" Emily asked.
"I'll tell the nurse exactly were we're going, so they can find us," Matt said.
"Okay," Emily said, following him, refusing to unfuse they're hands.
"Can I help you sir?" the very tired looking nurse asked.
"Yeah, we came in with a Federal Agent, Lia Mathers," Matt said.
"Yeah, she's still in surgery," the nurse said, looking at him dumbly.
"Yeah I know, but we have to go talk to a friend of ours, and we wanted to let someone know just in case we're not back when the doctors done," Matt said, almost too fast.
"Okay, name of the patient your visiting?" the nurse asked.
"Federal Agent Cheryl Carrera," Matt said.
"Okay, I'll let the doctor know," the nurse said.
"Hey, I thought I told you guys to get some rest," Cheryl said, not noticing they're glum expressions.
Emily shook lightly, as the tears she was holding in, began to fall freely.
"Okay, what happened," Cheryl said, noticing the now shaking Emily.
"It's Lia," Frank said.
"Shit," Cheryl said.
"She's ummmm...not in good condition," Frank finished.
"How bad?" Cheryl asked.
"Worse than Duff," Frank said.
Besides Cheryl, Frank was the only one that could handle visiting Duff.
"Okay, were is she?" Cheryl asked.
"Surgery," Matt chimed in, holding Emily's body close to his.
"What happened?" Cheryl asked, not real sure if she wanted the answer.
"We decided to lure him out. You know, get him to attack in broad daylight, that way we could get him, and make sure he doesn't hurt no one else," Frank said.
"Okay, who thought up, such a brainless idea?" Cheryl asked.
Frank bowed his head, as he quickly swiped at the tear that threatened to fall, "I did."
"It wasn't all his idea," Matt stood in, not willing to let him take the whole fall.
"You had something to do with this. Why does that not surprise me," Cheryl said, a little more nastily than she had intended.
"Yeah, well we all kind of came up with the plan. We figured if he had enough guts to attack Lia and Duff in daylight, then he wouldn't have a problem attacking Lia and Emily," Matt said.
This shocked Cheryl, she couldn't understand how Matt allowed Emily to throw her into danger. Then again, who could ever stop Emily from doing something that she had her mind sit on.
"Okay, what are her odds," Cheryl asked, as Emily took off running, holding her stomach.
Matt chased after her, leaving Frank to answer her question.
"Not good," Frank said.
An hour later
Matt sat, his hand placed soothingly on Emily's back. Emily's head lay in her hands, as she stared a hole through the wall. Frank had finally sat down, after twenty minutes of pacing.
"Who is here for Lia Mathers?" the doctor asked.
They stood up, as Matt placed his hand on Emily's back, just in case his news wasn't good.
"We did everything we could. I'm sorry, we could not get the internal bleeding to stop," the doctor said.
If Matt's hand had not been on Emily's back, he would not have been able to catch her when she fell. He sunk to the floor with her, and held her shaking body close to his chest.
"I'll go tell Cheryl," Frank said, feeling a little uncomfortable, and too distraught to deal with the loving scene in front of him.
"Guess what," Cheryl said, somewhat enthaushtically.
"What?" Frank asked.
"Duff woke up, about twenty minutes ago. I was going to have you guys paged, but I knew you had to wait for word on Lia," Cheryl said, as she noticed a tear fall from Frank's face.
She sighed, she knew what he was here for. There would be no other reason for her head of HRT to have a tear drip from his face.
"She didn't make it...did she?" Cheryl asked.
"No, the doctor said that they couldn't stop the internal bleeding," Frank said.
"You can't tell Duff, it'll kill him" Cheryl said.
"I know, but if I go visit him, he'll ask, and I can't hide this," Frank said, feeling completely responsible for Lia's death.
"If you don't go see him, he'll know somethings up," Cheryl said, sighing.
"I know," Frank said, sitting in the empty chair.
the next morning
Matt drove Emily home soon after they got news on Lia. She was so exhausted by the time they got home, she instantly fell asleep. Matt laid next to her, until he was certain she was asleep. After he got up, he paced the living room, refusing to allow the same thing to happen to Emily, that happened to Lia.
Emily woke up to find she was alone in the bed. She pulled back the covers, and made her way toward the living room. She sighed, and smiled softly at her protector, sleeping soundly on the couch. His head tilted backwards, his mouth wide open, and a slight snore escaping from his mouth.
She walked over, sat down slowly on the couch, making sure not to wake him. Laid her head on his chest, and wrapped her around his stomach. She felt his arm drape protectively around her waist, as he shifted a bit, so they'd both be comfortable.
Frank entered Duff's room. After talking for a while with his doctors, they discussed that it would be better if he told Duff about Lia. That he should come at it easily, as to not agitate Duff's already sensitive condition.
"Hey," Duff said weakly.
"Hey Duff," Frank said, taking the available chair, next to his bed.
"Where's Lia?" Duff asked.
Frank shook his head, he was not ready to answer that question.
"Frank...Where's Lia?" Duff asked again.
Frank knew he wouldn't give up until he knew.
"Duff...something happened," Frank started.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Duff asked, his blood pressure rising slightly.
"Uh...we all decided...to ummmm...lure out SGBS...and uh...Lia," Frank stuttered through.
"She's okay...right?" Duff asked, his hand gripping his chest.
"I'm sorry man," Frank said, unable to meet Duff's eyes.
Frank's head immediately raised up, when he heard the machine's beeping, and saw that Duff was unconscious.
"Doctor...I need a damn doctor," Frank screamed.
"We're going to have to ask you to wait outside," the nurse said, as the doctor came running.
Frank paced uncontrollably outside Duff's room, as he heard random shouting. 'Not good...not good...not good...dammit'
After a few minutes the doctor came out from Duff's room.
"Please...tell me something good," Frank said, his eyes pleading.
"I'm sorry, we were unable to stabilize him," the doctor said, before leaving Frank alone.
Frank slid down the wall, unable to control his emotions any longer, he gave in. Tears rolled steadily down his cheeks, as images of his two lost friends scrolled through his mind. He beat his fist into the floor, blaming no one but himself for the death of two of his good friends.
Okay...first off...I could not have a storyline like this, and not kill someone. Second off...I know this chapter is a bit intense...but I figure that it's more interesting to read...Third off...it's only going to get more intense...at least for the next chapter...or two...and then it will even back out...before it's over.