Chapter 9—Through The Ringer

(Monday 6:30pm) Guerrero had heard the shot over the mike. He had been delayed in getting to his partners. Just as he was entering the back door Dr. Malnoy had appeared. He had actually walked past him until the name on his nametag actually registered. He had taken the opportunity to follow the guy to his car, knocked him out cold and used strips of the guys white doctor's coat to tie him up with. It had taken him longer than he liked and he had just stepped back into the hospital when he heard the shot. He went into overdrive headed to the surgical ward.

Chance never did really pass out from the gunshot. He had felt himself slam into the floor, and a roaring filled his ears. The roaring had seemed to last an eternity but was probably only a minute or so. He made an attempt to sit up, groaning fiercely as his left shoulder felt like it was on fire. He had to get to Winston. They would kill him as soon as they thought they were free. He pushed himself off the floor, grabbing onto the bed closest to him in an effort to stay upright. Little black spots floated into his vision, but he blinked rapidly trying to get rid of them. He had to do this, and he forced his body to obey him. He stumbled in a fashion towards the door. His bad knee he had to drag sideways with each step. He finally reached the door and opened it up. He stopped, confused, on the other side of the door as he couldn't think of what he needed to do. 'The back door' he thought. They would surely head for the back door. He started slowly shuffling in that direction.

Winston had kept up as much chatter as he could, knowing that anything he said would help Guerrero find him. These guys didn't know what Guerrero looked like, he hoped. As much as he hated to admit it, Guerrero was their only hope at the moment. He had to get back to Chance as fear filled his heart at the thought of losing him. He had to be alright. They approached the last corner before the automatic doors would lead them outside. Guerrero was standing around the corner, waiting for them with a gun leveled in their direction. The doctor had been leading the way, followed by Winston who was constantly prodded in the back with the gun held by Jocko. The trio stopped cold when they saw Guerrero. A nurse appeared from the doorway closest to them, and upon seeing the guns she had zipped back into the room and slammed the door. Guerrero started off the conversation.

"Trying to sneak out the backdoor, you guys should know better than that."

Jocko countered with a "Let us through or your friend dies."

Guerrero just smiled at that and leaned against the wall looking rather comfortable. "You know, go ahead. You shoot him and then you won't have anyone to hide behind, and my trigger finger is awful itchy today."

Ramirez stuttered "You're going to risk you're friends life on that assumption?"

"Yup." Winston frowned at him but he just smiled in return.

Winston was about to open his mouth with a smart comment back when he was literally scared half to death as a shot rang out. Jocko then hit him from behind. In the ensuing chaos Guerrero disarmed and hit Ramirez over the head with the butt of his own gun. Jocko had hit Winston on the way to the floor after Chance had shot him in the shoulder.

Chance was standing, swaying precariously. He glanced at Jocko on the floor and said "Payback time."

Winston took the few steps separating him from Chance. He grabbed him just as his legs finally gave way, and eased him to the floor, leaning him against the wall. Chance's face was pale, and his eyelids were half closed. Blood had seeped down from his shoulder and almost half of his shirt was covered in blood. There was an exit wound, so at least they didn't have to worry about getting the bullet out. Winston stood up and grabbed a sheet from a stretcher that was nearby. He rolled it up and pressed it to the gunshot wound and held on tight. "You're going to be just fine, hold on buddy."

Guerrero had holstered his gun and kneeled at Chance's side. He checked for his pulse and found it rapid and thready. He tapped on Chance's face lightly, but got no real response. "He's going into shock, dude. We have to get him to a hospital."

Winston stared at him like he had lost his head. "We are IN a hospital, genius." though with all the gunshots just fired he wasn't surprised to see that everyone had left the area. Not even a doctor to holler at.

"You really want to stay around here and answer questions? We've been seen by too many witnesses. We have to get him out of here." Guerrero stared at him.

Winston had to admit he was right, again. "Ok, let's get him to the ambulance, NOW." Winston grabbed Chance gently under his bad arm and lifted, while Guerrero did the same thing from the other side. Chance tried to help, but he had no strength, and his legs seemed to have a mind of their own. They practically had to carry him to the ambulance, which thankfully was not far. A few steps before they got to the ambulance Chance passed out cold, throwing them off balance. Somehow all three managed to stay upright. Once there, Winston crawled into the back of the ambulance first and half pulled Chance onto the floor, and then pulled him up to rest against his chest. Kado was residing on the stretcher and it would take too much time to swap places with them. He settled Chance back against him as Guerrero closed the doors and rushed around to the driver's side. "Hurry." Winston hollered up at him as he cranked the engine. He got an "I'm hurrying dude." thrown back at him in response, and then he had to grasp for a hold as Guerrero spun tires taking off. Winston tried rousing Chance once again, but he was out for the count. He could feel the blood from the wound seeping into his own clothes and knew they didn't have a lot of time.

The first thing he heard was the annoying "beep….beep…." of the heart monitor as his senses returned. His eyelids felt like lead, but he had to know where he was. He forced his eyes open. At first is eyes refused to focus, but gradually his vision began to clear and he realized he was lying almost flat on a hospital bed. 'They must have me on the good stuff' he thought. He felt all disjointed and floaty. His left shoulder was wrapped and his arm was in a sling. His bad knee was propped up high on some pillows. Winston was sitting, asleep, in the chair closest to his bed. A glass of water was next to his bed and he realized just how thirsty he was. He pushed himself up on his elbow to try and reach for it. Bad idea! His body screamed. He gasped out as his shoulder felt like it had been lit on fire.

Winston woke up instantly and shot out of the chair. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" as he pushed him back onto his back. "You need to stay still. You're lucky to be alive. I thought we had lost you last night."

"Last night?" Chance rasped out. "What time is it?"

Winston retrieved the water from the nightstand and helped him take a drink before replying. "It's Tuesday, about 2pm. We brought you here last night. You had lost a lot of blood and it was touch and go for a while." as Winston eased back into his chair.

Chance took a moment to process the information as his head was all sorts of fuzzy from the meds. "How's Kado?"

"Fine, just fine. In fact he's feeling a lot better than you."

"And the rest, did they catch everyone?" said Chance, shivering a bit. Why did hospitals have to be so freaking cold?!

"Yup, the police arrived right after we left. They caught up to Donald Novak, and Guerrero had already taken care of Dr. Malnoy." said Winston looking a bit worried as he stood up to retrieve another blanket.

"Great." sighed Chance blinking his eyes rapidly in an effort to stay awake. He was fading fast.

Winston pulled the extra blanket up around him and said "Rest, you've been through the ringer this weekend."

Chance thought that was the best idea he'd heard all week. He relaxed back into the pillow. The fire in his shoulder had faded to a dull ache and he felt himself start to drift off. He opened his eyes one last time to make sure Winston was still there, and then drifted off to sleep knowing he was safe.

TBC

One last short chapter to wrap everything up and its all done. I do plan on writing a stand alone chapter soon. This had been fun, and hopefully everyone has enjoyed the H/C. I think that's my specialty. Please don't forget to review when it's all over so I know it made sense ALSO! Don't forget to go tell FOX that you want a Season 2 if you have not already done so!!!