Nate stopped Brodi at the top of the stairs.
"Look, my man, we need to get something of a plan going. We can't just walk back down there blind."
Brodi looked annoyed, but stopped nonetheless. "Got a suggestion?"
"Well, I was thinking…this lady…"
"She's no lady."
"This GIRL…sorry…is majorly obsessed with you. I think she'll be distracted enough by talking to you tat we can have someone drag Elise to safety. I'll M-Comm Rahzel and tell him to get ready. And I'll be right with you so I can step in if I need to."
"I'll be fine. I don't want to endanger…"
"Brodi, listen to me. You're not as healthy as you think you are. Dude, you're not even two months out of a coma, less than a month out of pneumonia. You can deal with the psychological part of this however you damned well please, but I am NOT going to allow you to be physically harmed if I can help it. Are we clear?"
Brodi shook his head. "OK, OK. Point taken."
He waited patiently for Nate to radio Rahzel, ten they started walking down the steps together. They were about to round the corner when Brodi saw Lauryll leaning over Elise with a knife. He stopped and took a deep breath, then stepped out where he could be seen.
"Lauryll!"
Lauryll looked up and smiled. "Brodi!" she greeted as she stood up. "I was just getting to know your friends. I'm glad you were able to come down; they told me you were sick."
Brodi eyed the knife, willing himself to stay calm. "Why don't you come over here and talk to me?"
"No. You can come closer. I don't want to stray too far from your pretty friend here. Why was she going into your room, Brodi?"
"I wanted one of my books." Brodi stole a glance at Rahzel, who nodded. "She offered to come get it for me. That's all."
Lauryll looked down at Elise then back up to Brodi. "She's not your girlfriend? 'Cause I might feel a little jealous if she was."
"No. Nothing like that."
"I've always loved you, Brodi. You know that?"
Brodi swallowed hard. "Yes, Lauryll. I know."
Lauryll began to tear up. "Brodi, I am SO sorry for what happened to you. I didn't know tat Coby and Dan were going to hurt you like that. And I'm so sorry for my part in it. You do believe me, don't you? Can you forgive me?"
Brodi closed his eyes and swallowed hard again. He could do this. He could do this to keep Elise safe. A deep breath to center himself, and he was prepared. He opened his eyes and looked directly at Lauryll.
"I forgave you years ago, Lauryll. Why don't you come over here and give me a hug?"
He sensed Nate take a step forward in alarm, but he subtly held his hand back to stop him.
"Really? You…you'd let me do that?"
Brodi took another deep breath and nodded. "Of course. Now come on. Give me a hug, and maybe we can go to dinner later."
"Oh Brodi! I knew you'd come around!" She ran and threw her arms around his neck, and he circled his arms around her and locked his grip in place. Rahzel was already moving, sprinting towards Elise, half a dozen police officers running behind him. He slid in front of Elise and, picking her up, ran back down the hall towards safety. Nate had moved in behind Brodi and grabbed the hand with the knife, attempting to disarm her. Lauryll started screaming, shrieking, trying to get out of Brodi's grip. Brodi held tight as two policemen ran towards them, guns drawn.
"Brodi, how could you!" she shrieked. "How could you? I could have gotten us both out of here without hurting anyone. How COULD you?"
She went limp and started sinking to the ground. Brodi lowered her down, then sensing that Nate had gotten her to release the knife, let go of her. The officers were now directly over them, so Brodi moved out of the way. One officer leaned in to cuff the sobbing woman on the ground while the other one kept his gun drawn.
Nate offered a hand to help Brodi stand up when he heard one of the officers shout a warning. Lauryll had pulled another knife from somewhere and was lunging at Brodi. Nate jerked Brodi's arm hard to the left, while the officer who had lost control tackled Lauryll. Too close to risk a shooting, they managed to regain control and fastened both of her wrists in the cuffs.