Chapter 18

I ground my teeth when I let go of the shapeshifter's head, when it fell on the floor with a thump. As much as I loved looking at this bastard lying at my feet, I also hated killing people. I knew he was not human. I knew it was a killer. And I knew he had well-deserved this. But I always had a hard time facing death when it wasn't my own. Everything I had been through before integrating the Fringe Division had often involved me standing in front of it – there was no such thing as safety when being a con-man – and I got used to it. I wasn't scared, and when my time would come I would welcome it with wide-open arms. But I didn't like being Death myself. It was something entirely different.

I quickly looked away from the lifeless body and turned to Olivia. I sat on the edge of her bed, careful not to shake her fragile body. I pushed away a lock of blond hair falling on her forehead, and noticed with a frown of surprise that some color had returned to her cheeks. They weren't marble pale anymore, some shades of pink had appeared. Her breathing sounded less laborious and I even thought for a moment she was going to open her eyes. I had no idea why she looked healthier, but the thought crossed my mind that maybe she was getting better thanks to what the shapeshifter had given her. But that was nonsense, of course, they tried to kill her, how could they possibly want to save her? I shook my head and contented myself with the fact that she may actually get through this – which had been no more than a bold hope.

I got on my feet, knowing there was no use staying in here, and that there were a lot of things to be taken care of. I was about to leave the room when a cellphone rang. It could only come from the shapeshifter. I bent over him against my will and searched his pockets, first the ones of his pants, but finding nothing moved to his jacket. I picked up the phone, but of course the name was unkown to me, just like the number. I decided to answer anyway.

'Hello?' I said, knowing what kind of guy must be at the other end of the line.

'Well well,' the voice of a man answered, and I could almost feel his smile through the phone. 'I'm disappointed, you know, I really thought you could have stopped Larry in time. I assume he's dead as you're answering his phone?'

I realized after a few second that this man was actually the shapeshifter that had watched over me back to that gloomy place.

'He is,' I confirmed. 'How do you know I didn't get there in time?'

'Because the Dunham I've got here is in pretty bad shape. I'd say you'd better get here soon, you know, before she dies.'

My eyes grew wider when I realized that the other Olivia was supposed to be watching him.

'What have you done to her?' I muttered between clenched teeth.

'Me? Nothing. The serum did. Sorry dude, gotta go. Oh, and be quick. It looks really bad.'

He hung up and I found myself listening to the boring dialing tone for a few seconds, until I realized I was the one that needed to do something. Fuck. I bit the inside of my cheek, tired of being involved in a situation that was not even supposed to happen, and most of all that has supposedly nothing to do with me.

'When will this finally be over?' I whispered, resisting the temptation to grab my head and throw it against the wall. I exhaled a short, sharp breath to compose myself and finally left the room to find a doctor.

'You!' I intercepted a man wearing a white gown. 'Have you got pliers or something that could cut these?' I asked, showing him the handcuffs and my lacerated wrists.

'What the...?' he started, ready to take out his pager and call for the security.

'Look, I'm with the FBI, you can check that later with my superior, but now I'm really needed somewhere and I just can't go with these fucking handcuffs on, so you're gonna help me or what?'

'Okay, wait right here,' he said, a not quite comforting look of doubt remaining in his eyes.

'Don't fool me' I warned with a dark look, hoping that wasn't his intention.

He nodded and disappeared at the end of the corridor, and so I began pacing along the wall, taking a look at my watch every ten seconds. Several minutes had already passed and I didn't know if it was already too late. After another couple of minutes of wandering around, I finally spotted him with what looked like a pair of surgical pliers in his hands. I sighed of relief and stretched out my arms so that he could cut the handcuffs.

'I don't know if this is gonna work' he said, his breath short. 'We don't use these a lot anymore, now we've got electric saws and everything. It's good to cut bones, but metal...'

'Try it anyway,' I said quickly, shaking my hands impatiently.

'Okay,' he nodded, grabbing his tool forcefully.

He gave it a first try which proved to be unsuccessful. I swallowed hard, thinking that I would never get back to the other Olivia in time.

'Come on,' the doctor whispered lowly, his glasses sliding to the tip of his nose. 'Okay, got it!' he finally exclaimed as I felt the tension between my two wrists finally being released. I sighed of relief, stretching my arms and rolling my hurt joints.

'Thanks,' I said with a pat on his shoulder. 'Could you get me some medical stuff too, please? I may need some where I'm going.'

He led me to a trolley with shelves full of things, some I knew and some I didn't, but I only took what I thought what necessary, like bandages and surgical spirit.

'Thanks a lot,' I said once again, heading to the exit. 'Oh, can you call the FBI and ask for agent Broyles? Tell them it's Peter Bishop. And tell Broyles to meet me at the lab, there are things we need to discuss,' I finished, not taking the time to make sure he got everything. I ran to the car, careful not to let anything fall from my full arms. I was glad to find the car where I had left it – maybe luck hadn't totally left me after all. I threw all the medical things on the passenger seat and slammed the door shut before moving off with a roar. The journey was much more smoother now that I could use both my hands, though people kept honking at me relentlessly – smoother didn't mean safer. I was glad to realize I remembered where to go, I wouldn't lose time looking for the right way. I glanced at my watch once again. More than ten minutes had passed since the call. It wasn't good. What if she was bleeding to death? What if she was already dead? I focused on the road, my stomach twitching nervously every time I drove through a crowded intersection, staring in front of me. I relaxed a little when I finally reached the parts of the city where not a lot of people went, and the road became significantly clearer. I knew I wasn't far and yet the small distance I had to go seemed already too important given the situation. She could die within seconds, minutes, the shapeshifter may have very well lied to me and a bunch of his guys may be waiting for me, but I didn't know. I didn't know and I had to make sure. A few minutes later I finally parked in front of the gray building, examining the area to look for anything suspicious. There was nothing unusual, so I just opened the door, pick up all the medical stuff on the passenger seat and quickly made my way to the heavy door that I knew would lead to her. It was still dark, and I groped my way as fast as I could in the long corridor.

'Olivia!' I called loudly, hoping for an answer of any kind.

I pricked up my ear and exhaled softly when I heard my name being whimpered somewhere on my right. My fingers finally met what seemed to be a door, and my hand traveled on its side to look for the handle. I finally found the knob and pushed the door open, closing my eyes forcefully because of the bright light filling the room.

'Fuck,' I growled, blinking repeatedly to get used to the sudden brightness. 'You okay?'

'Been better,' she blurted out as if she found it hard to breath.

After a few seconds I finally was able to open my eyes properly and I spotted her on the wall opposite to me. She was sitting, slumped against it, her hands folded on her lap. Her baby blue tee-shirt was stained with blood, and drops of the red liquid were slowly but regularly dripping on the floor from the hem. I knelt next to her, shaking my head, unable to keep my mouth shut.

'I'm tired of this shit,' I muttered, dropping everything I was carrying in my arms. 'You two are running after trouble or what? Hell, look at you! Not even a week and already almost dead once again!'

'I'm not...' she said weakly and I picked up a pile of compresses.

'Of course you're not... How did he do that anyway ?'

'He didn't,' she replied softly, her eyelids fluttering. 'Those wounds are Olivia's...'

I stopped moving for a second when I realized she was right. The stomach, the shoulder, the bullet holes... That was something new, but I didn't have the time to think about that any more. I pinched my lips as I lifted her shirt up, bending to take a closer look at the wound.

'Damn...' I whispered as I applied compresses on the gaping wound. It looked bad. Maybe it was because of all the blood, maybe it wasn't as serious as I thought, but it looked really bad. The first compresses soon became drenched and I had to replace them with others after pouring a good amount of surgical spirit on her stomach. She jumped and let out a shriek of surprise and pain, but it was necessary.

'You now I won't be here for you all the time,' I said, tearing the sleeve of her tee-shirt to the base of her neck to examine her shoulder. 'I don't want your blood on my hands, Olivia's one is enough. I don't even do this for you. I do it for her.'

'Okay,' she said in a breath, finding enough strength to push me away. 'Fine. Go.'

She slowly tried to get on her feet, her bloody hands leaving red marks on the white wall.

'You're crazy, come on, lay down,' I ordered, trying to push her down without hurting her more than she already was.

'I don't want... To be a burden', she groaned, her fingers clenching on my forearm.

'That's not what I meant,' I said, looking nervously at the blood flooding out of the wound because of her movements. 'Please, just sit down and keep calm. I'm sorry, it's just... All of this shouldn't be happening and yet I'm right into it. I'm just tired of all of this.'

She stared at me with intense green eyes, and I had seen this look enough to know she didn't believe I was being sincere. And I knew she was right not to. Still, she slowly sat back on the floor, clinging to me, and I finally was able to replace the compresses one last time. I rolled a thick bandage around her waist so that the compresses on her stomach wouldn't fall, and another one tightly around her shoulder.

'Okay, I'm going to take you to Walter, he'll know what to do.'

She nodded lowly and slipped her hands around my neck when I scooped her into my arms. I could feel she was tensed, probably because of this high-voltage tension that remained between us, but her wounds were getting the better of her, and before I could reach the car she went limp into my arms, her head slumped on my shoulder.

One more update this week, a little longer this time ! I think I know what the next will be about, so it shouldn't be long before I post it !

Thanks for reading !