Chapter 9: *Tobey's P.O.V.*

"Alright boys, I'm going to distract him, and you two get Sue out of there!" Nana told us as we talked just out of view of the house. Sid and I nodded, and Nana nodded back and started to walk to the house. Sid and I quickly ran to the side of the house where the windows of the basement were. I stared at the windows, and tried to look inside, but they were too dirty.

Nervously, I asked, "Sid, is Sue really in this basement?"

"I'm afraid so . . . We have to rescue her! Come on, let's wait until Nana gives us the signal. Lets watch." Sid said as he looked at Nana. I knelt down next to him and watched the action unfold. Before she knocked on the door, she walked over to the storm drain, and dropped her bag through it. Then she smiled and knocked on the door. I heard banging and scratching, and then the man opened the door.

"Hello, who are you?" he asked, and Nana put on her sweet old lady act. She leaned back and put her hand on her back like she injured her back.

"Hello young man, I know it is late, but I dropped my purse down the storm drain, and I threw out my back trying to bend down and get it. Would you be so kind as to help me get it?" Nana asked sweetly. The man looked down, and nodded.

"Fine, but I'm not spending all night trying to get your purse. Just hold on a second." he closed the door, and when he reopened it, he had a hanger in his hand. He stretched it out and made a hook at one end. Nana pretend to limp, and she turned her head and nodded slightly, cuing us to get Sue.

We nodded, and silently ran into the house, careful not to make any noises. Sid showed the way to the basement, and he opened the door with a key that was on the side of the doorframe. As he opened the door, I held my breath, but then gasped. The basement was completely empty!

"Wha-what?! This can't be!" Sid shrieked, then ran into the basement, and looked around frantically. He was obviously worried. "No! No! No! This can't be! Sue has to be here! I promised her I'd be right back, but she's not here! I let her down . . ."

I walked over to him, then said, "hey, we'll find her, maybe he moved her after he saw you. It's possible. He could have seen you, and you might have not even known it! Maybe she's somewhere in the house, lets go!"

Sid nodded, and we ran out of the basement. Sid went upstairs, while I went into the living room. I heard a loud bang, but didn't pay much attention to it. I looked everywhere, then I heard whimpering. I shot up, and looked at the couch in the far corner. Someone was curled into a small ball, and shaking they were so scared.

"Sue? Is that you?" I asked her as I walked over to her. I leaned over her to look at her face, and I gasped. It was Sue! But her face was bloodied. Her eyes was bruised and swollen, and blood was gushing out of her mouth. "Sue, it's me Tobey, Sid and I are going to save you."

"Oh, is that so?" a raspy voice behind me said. Sue screamed and shook even more violently, and here eyes expressed nothing but fear. She was scared to death of this man, I could tell.

"Get away from her!" I growled as I lowered into my defense stance. It was the man, and he laughed and pulled out a gun. I just glared at him, but I then looked at Sue. She was obviously very scared, but she still looked like she wanted to help. I felt so bad for her, her mouth was still gushing blood, and it trickled down the side of her chin.

"Listen to me boy, I'll give you one chance to step away from the girl, and grab your friend and get out of here! I already took care of your pathetic Nana, so just come quietly, and no one will get hurt. Well, maybe not you and your friend, maybe her," he pointed his gun at Sue, and I went closer to her defensively when she whimpered again. I didn't know what to do. I was worried about Nana, but I didn't know how much longer I could protect Sue. She couldn't help me, but Sid could. Where the hell was he?!

"Well, you going to leave me be, or not? Better make up your mind quickly, or I'll blow out your brains, got it?" he said impatiently, the gun still pointed at Sue. I looked at Sue's nervous face, then I said,

"No, I'm rescuing my friend." I said sternly, then saw Sid running down the stairs, and he body slammed the man with all his weight. He groaned and dropped the gun as he fell to the floor, Sid on top of him with all his weight. Quickly, I kicked the gun away, and it slid under a couch. The man growled and tried to fight Sid, but with unbelievable strength, Sid kept the man down,who was at least twice as old as him, pinned down on the floor.

"Tobey, get Sue out of here! Did you find her?" he yelled while still restraining the man.

"Yeah, she's right here on the couch!"

"Get her out of here, find Nana, and call 911! They'll get an ambulance to take care of her and police to arrest this man!"

"No! I won't let you! Fine, take the damn girl, I don't need her anymore! All I need to do is protect myself! Hay Tey Cho!" the man screamed, and in a flash of white light, he disappeared! Sid fell on the ground, and before I could ask about what happened, I carefully scooped Sue up in my arms. She groaned like she was in pain, but stopped shaking a bit, and I felt her nervous muscles relax in my arms. She felt so light, much lighter than last time I held her like this, when the shifter threw her across the garden and I caught her before she hit the ground. She wasn't heavy then, but she was much lighter now. It made me nervous. Then I remembered about Nana!

"Oh no, Nana! I forgot! He said he took care of Nana! Sid, hurry, go find her! I'll follow you after I call 911!" I ordered, but Sid objected.

"No! You stay with Sue, she needs you! Stay with her until rescue arrives!"

"But Nana . . ."

"I'll go make sure she's okay. But please, stay with Sue, she's scared and doesn't need anymore stress."

"Fine, just go find Nana . . ." as I said that, Nana slowly limped inside, holding her leg tenderly like it hurt.

"Nana!" Sid and I cried in unison, then Sid asked: "Nana, are you okay? What did that man do to you?!"

She sighed, then said, "he shot me in the thigh with his gun. He knows who I am, that's why our plan didn't work. He knows who you two are as well, but I see you rescued Sue." she limped slowly over to me, and touched Sue's cheek. She jumped and started shaking again, but calmed down when she saw it was Nana. Nana smiled and spoke softly to her.

"Hi honey, I know your scared, but just hang in there. Don't worry, your family is here." she smiled, then noticed the blood around Sue's mouth and chin. "Dear, can you open your mouth for me please? I want to see where your bleeding." Sue nodded, then opened her mouth. Her teeth were red and stained with blood. Nana knew immediately where she was bleeding.

"Sweetie, did you bit your tongue?"

Sue nodded slightly. She tried to speak, but her words came out as pained groans. Nana sighed, "Sue, does your tongue hurt too much to talk yet?"

Sue nodded 'yes' again. Nana then pulled out her phone and called the police. I didn't really pay much attention to what she said, I focused all my attention on Sue. She looked up at me, her eyes expressing pain and fear. She was still scared, and I couldn't do anything to help her.

Nana hung up, and she said, "Help is on the way. Let's get out of this house, Tobey, be gentle, I don't know how badly Sue's hurt yet."

I nodded, and slowly, carefully, walked out of the house, cradling Sue in my arms. She didn't respond to anything, she just stared straight ahead. Nana sat down on a large rock outside of the house, and Sid knelt down next to me as I sat down with Sue in my lap. Sue looked at him, and tried to reach over for a hug, but toppled to the side, too weak to get up. Sid gently helped her up, and he hugged her and whispered, "I promised I'd come back, right?"

Sue smiled through tears just as two ambulances and three police cars pulled up in front of the house. Sue whimpered again, and Sid hugged her, while I held her hand. Two paramedics went over to Sue, and one went over to Nana.

"It's just a bullet wound, I promise I'll go to the hospital, just please, let me be with Sue until she gets inside the ambulance." Nana asked, and the paramedic nodded and helped her walk over to us.

I could tell Sue was scared again, she was shivering with fright all over, and we couldn't do anything to help her. The paramedics started examining Sue, and she was still scared. She tried to push away from them or run away, but Nana always found a way to calm her down.

The police officers were searching the house, and putting 'CAUTION DO NOT CROSS' tape around the house like a fence to keep other people off. Sue watched them work as they checked to see where she was hurt and how they were going to get her on the gurney. When they reached over the try to lift her on the gurney, Sue screamed loudly and tried to crawl away.

One of the paramedics said, "give her a second, could you three try to get her inside the ambulance, she seems calmer with one of you. She really doesn't need this added stress."

We nodded, and this time, Sid carried Sue. She kept her head tightly against his chest, and he carefully placed her on the gurney inside. Sue eyes started darting wildly around the inside of the ambulance, her respirations speeding up, and her whole body shaking. She whimpered, and her eyes closed, and she fell back against the gurney. Sid screamed.

"Sue needs help! She's unconscious!" he screamed, and tow paramedics went over to her and started checking her out. Finally, one paramedic said, "she must have had a panic attack she was so scared. But she should be alright."

Nana sighed, then groaned as she tried to put weight on her leg. A paramedic ran to her, and helped her get inside the ambulance. Sid rode on Sue's side, and I sat in the front, only because there wasn't enough room for both of us. I wanted to stay with them, but I found it too uncomfortably small, and I didn't want to get in there way.

~Three Delivery~

At the hospital, Sid and I waited nervously in the waiting room. Nana had to have surgery to remove the bullet in her leg. Sue was being check over by many doctors to make sure nothing seriously bad happened to her while she was kidnapped, but it was obvious at first glance that many bad things were done to her.

About an hour later, they told us that Nana was in recovery, and the bullet didn't hit any arteries or the bone, so she would make a full recovery. We thanked the doctor, and went to go visit her.

Nana looked up from her bed and smiled when she saw us. "Hello boys."

"Hi Nana."

There was a silence, then a nurse came over and said, "Hello Mei Hua. We're releasing you, here's the release forms." she handed Nana a clipboard and a pen. She signed the paperwork as the nurse said, "While your waiting for your daughter's doctors to tell you what they found, the police want to speak to you. They have some questions for you and your sons."

Nana looked up, and nodded. The nurse smiled and said, "you may go as soon as we go get you a wheelchair, and some crutches for you if you want."

Nana nodded. "Yes, thank you. I'll use the crutches, and I know I have to leave in a wheelchair, correct?"

"Yeah, so I'll just take the papers, and you can go." she smiled and took the clipboard when Nana handed it to her. She walked out, and a police officer walked in. Nana sighed and adjusted the bed so she was sitting up.

"Mei Hua, I'm Officer Jones, and I'm in charge of your case from the beginning when Sue went missing. I am very happy you've found her, but . . . There are some unanswered questions."

"Alright then, start." Nana said, then she looked at the boys. "Boys, answer all his questions completely and truthfully, okay?"

"Yeah Nana." we answered in unison.

"We're ready."

"Okay, when we arrived, you were holding Sue and comforting her while you waited to get treatment from the EMTs. How and where did you find her?"

Sid spoke up, "I was delivering food, and I heard scratching and banging coming from the basement, and the man was suspicious, so I decided to investigate. I looked inside the basement from the windows, and I saw Sue. She was beat up pretty bad, so I went right home and told Nana."

Officer Jones nodded. "Alright, now, how did you get her out of the house?"

Nana said, "I was able to get him out, and Sid and Tobey ran inside and grabbed Sue and ran out without being noticed. But he shot me in the leg and ran off. I was more concerned about getting Sue then catching him."

The officer nodded again. "Okay, I think I have all I need. Thank you-"

"Uh, Mei Hua?" a nurse said as she walked into the room. She looked worried. Jones moved out of the way. "We need you."

"What's wrong?"

"Sue, she's not calming down enough to let us thoroughly check her over. Do you think you could help us?"

Nana sighed, then nodded as she grabbed the crutches and stood up. "Alright, boys, you ready?"

I cocked my head and asked, "ready for what?"

"Sue is very unstable right now. It will take time for her to heal. We don't know how badly she is hurt right now, emotionally and physically. Be calm and patient with her."

To Be Continued . . .