AN: Here's the next chapter and I hope you'll all like it. Don't forget to review! I really want to know what you think about what's happening.

Enjoy...

Chapter 13

Parker, still holding the gun, watched Chase swallow heavily, He watched him gasp for air. For a moment he didn't seem to know what to do. He stood there completely still.

Chase, in the meantime, wasn't really feeling anything. He knew he should feel pain, but he was surprised he didn't. Everything was just numb and that scared him. He knew the bullet had hit his lung which now threatened to collapse, but he didn't know if the bullet had exited his body. Had it hit his nerve system? Was that the reason why didn't really feel pain? Slowly, he crawled up against the small locker that stood next to his bed. Sitting up made him feel better, he saw more and he could see Parker.

Knowing he had to stop the bleeding, he grabbed the blanket from his bed. It cost him every energy he possessed to just lift his arm and stretching out the muscle of his shoulder made a stabbing pain cross his chest. So he was still able to feel pain.

Letting the blanket fall down next to him, he rested his arm and held his breathe as that helped him ignore the pain. It slowly faded. He again grabbed the blanket and pushed it against the bullet wound.

Parker regained control over himself and he let himself fall down in the chair again, his gun still pointing at Chase.

'Now look what you made me do.' He whispered.

Chase couldn't answer as he still was swallowing away the blood. The taste made him feel nauseous and his stomach was objecting against the warm substance. He gagged a little but Parker ignored it.

'You'll never…g-get out of here now.' Chase was able to mutter.

'Maybe you won't make it out of here alive.' Parker said as he sighed.

Chase was able to breathe better but he still felt his heart race inside his chest, making the blood rush out of the wound.

'I know.' Chase whispered in a weak voice. The first shock had passed and only now his body seemed to be aware of what had happened. The pain came in waves, each time stronger and stronger. And each time, it didn't fade as much as it did last time. God, it hurt. Chase forced back the tears as he tried to ignore the pain, but he knew that was impossible.

'You were the only mistake I ever made.' Parker said as he stared a little into the distance. Chase could only listen as the pain slowly paralysed him.

'Nobody knew who I was, nobody would have ever guessed. Jealousy cost me everything. I couldn't handle knowing that someone else owned my girls. I couldn't handle knowing that you owned one of my girls. If I had been able to leave it behind me, if I had been able to forgive you, I wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here.'

'You're crazy.' Chase muttered as he swallowed away new blood in his mouth. He didn't care that Parker was pointing a gun at him, he was half-dead already.

Parker just laughed.

'You're right.' He simply said.

There was sudden movement outside the door and Parker just turned his head.

'I guess we have company.'

Chase didn't respond. He didn't feel relieve or he didn't feel happiness. Those policemen outside his door didn't mean anything for him. They couldn't save him and he wondered who could. He was losing too much blood and the feeling in his legs had started to fade a few minutes ago. Next would be his arms as he lacked blood. If that happened, he wouldn't be able to apply pressure on the wound and he would bleed out in a matter of seconds. He didn't have much time and he knew Parker wasn't going to give up, not without a fight. Chase hated it that he knew this man so well.

Chase let his head drop backwards against the locker. He faintly smiled.

'What are you smiling for?'

Chase lifted his head and watched Parker straight in the eyes. He laughed and groaned in pain as his chest ached with the rough movements of his laughing.

'Aw,' he muttered, 'I was thinking about how insane this all is.'

His head dropped back and Chase felt his hand fall next to his body. Blood immediately dripped out of his wound and the pain became unbearable.

A voice sounded over the intercom.

'Julian Parker, you are surrounded by the police!'

'Here we go…' Parker sighed. 'BLABLABLA!'

The sudden outburst of Parker made Chase jump a little, making his wound bleed heavier. The rest of the words on the intercom couldn't be heard anymore because of Parker's laugh. He silenced as soon as the intercom silenced.

'They really think I'm just going to surrender…' He said, calm again, 'well there wrong.'

Chase felt sorrow as he got assurance that his assumption was right. Parker wasn't going to give up and he would be here for a while. Chase could only pray that he would survive this.

'What's the point in fighting?' Chase whispered as he closed his eyes, feeling tired. All he wanted was to slowly wander of in a dream and never wake up. He couldn't imagine that this pain would ever go away. Every thought was dedicated to it, every muscle burned and every breath he took in felt like a knife stabbing his chest. A hawking sound escaped his chest every time he inhaled.

'The point is courage. I'm not going to lay down and die, maybe you want to do that, but not me. I'm going to fight. Giving up makes you weak.'

'Giving up makes you smart.' Chase said, eyes still closed.

There was a short silence before a soft knock on the door made Parker jump. Chase, feeling numb and sick, simply opened his eyes to see if he hadn't imagined the sound. Seeing Parker anxiously watching the door, pointing the gun at Chase, assured him that it was real.

'Hey,' an al too familiar voice called, 'psycho with a gun, are you there?'

'Great.' Chase muttered, thinking about all the terrible things that could happen now. House might not be the best choice to talk to Parker. He wouldn't be able to control himself and sooner or later he would say something insulting. Parker would never let that pass him by. Chase could only hope that House played this game smart.

House knocked on the door again.

'What?' Parker cried out.

'You released a shot,' House simply said, 'did you hit somebody? Yourself would be nice.'

Chase opened his eyes and watched Parker stand a few feet away from the door.

'Who are you?' Parker asked.

'You don't sound like you're in pain.' House said in a disappointed tone, 'You shot Chase I assume.'

Parker didn't answer and turned his gaze to Chase who seemed to be drifting of into a deep sleep. And that's how it felt to Chase; falling asleep. Slowly, every colour faded and every smell disappeared. His legs, arms and hands were almost completely numb and the bullet wound in his chest was still bleeding.

Parker walked over to Chase with big angry steps and grabbed his shoulder. The pain was unbearable for Chase and it felt like a fire running through his veins.

'Who is out there?' Parker asked with an angry voice. Not knowing obviously made him feel like he wasn't in control.

Chase looked Parker straight in the eyes but that was the only thing he could do. He gagged again as fresh blood entered his mouth. It dripped out of the corner of his mouth and Chase desperately gasped for fresh air. Nothing worked and Chase wasn't able to answer Parker's question. The words got stuck in his chest. Parker laid the gun on the bed and punched Chase full on in the face.

The shock made Chase fall down and the blood in his lung was able to escape. Chase could breathe better again and the sense of being trapped in his own body disappeared. Parker pulled him back up against the locker and waited for Chase to answer.

'It's my boss.' Chase muttered in weak words.

'Then he must care for you.'

'No,' Chase said as he coughed up some new blood, 'he's just a different kind of crazy.'

'Chase?' House called out.

Parker grabbed the gun again and sat down on the bed. He watched Chase laying at his feet and he seemed to be thinking about his options. Chase closed his eyes and wished he could just fall asleep. He wanted to forget this. He wanted to escape this pain.

'Hey, Parker,' House said, 'why don't you let me in so that we can talk?'

Chase prayed that Parker would ignore House. He didn't want to get anyone else hurt and House would be much safer if he would just leave so why didn't he leave? If anything ever happened to anyone else, it would all be Chase's fault. Parker was here because of him and now it was Chase's job to make sure nobody else got hurt.

'I'm not stupid.' Parker answered, his gaze still fixed upon Chase.

'Come out then, we can talk here.'

Parker laughed a loud and insane laugh. Hearing it scared Chase; but he felt too weak to even open his eyes. And besides, he didn't want to see the insane face that went with that laugh.

'I'm tired.' Chase exhaled. He suddenly realised how easy it had gotten to breathe. The pain had become numb too but his mind was clear

'How's Chase?' House asked, alarmed by the sudden silence. Chase didn't know if House had heard him, but those chances were slim. He could only whisper and House was on the other side of the door.

'He says he's tired.' Parker said with a seemingly grimace on his face. His gaze dropped to Chase's chest which was covered with blood. 'He hasn't even lost that much blood.'

Chase heard everything, but he couldn't object. His body didn't seem to be taking any orders anymore but what scared Chase the most was that that didn't really bothered him. He didn't want to call out to House and yell for help. He had finally found this appealing darkness in which he felt nothing. He wasn't scared of Parker and he didn't mind remembering that terrible night because nothing hurt him anymore. The darkness surrounding him felt somehow familiar and Chase didn't want to leave it.

His heart accelerated. His breathing slowed down. The pain faded. His heart stopped.