"Ray, are you alright?" Greg whispered to him. Ray didn't look too well, he could hardly sit up straight. He had bruises all over his face and his ribs hurt. Just a few minutes ago, though, he looked much better.
"I think they fractured my cheekbone..." he said weakly. He was also bleeding from the head, which wasn't a good sign.
"You need to get out of here and get medical help..." Greg replied, thinking of ways to get him out.
"I'll be fine, don't worry." He smiled weakly. "How about you?"
"I'm fine, it's not me I'm worried about right now." Greg only suffered a black eye, a bloody nose and his wrist was strained. "I can't believe the hostages did that..."
"It's not their fault. They're under a lot of stress and being brainwashed by the bad guys..."
"Don't try to find any excuses for what they did. The hostage takers never told them to beat us." Greg found it hard to be understanding right now. He was too angry. "I don't think the hostage takers would harm anyone, actually."
Ray laughed a bit, with his eyes closed and his head leaning against the wall. "Stockholm Syndrome, anyone?"
"No..." Greg laughed, too. "When I was back there with them, the masked guy threatened to shoot me if they didn't put their guns down. They said they're not gonna let him do it and he put his gun down. It was a weird situation, but I don't think they intent to harm anyone... Maybe I could..."
"Don't even think about it!" Ray said, raising his voice a bit. "It's two against one, I can't help you. Don't try anything, just let the police do their job. They're gonna get us out of here."
"But when? It's taking too long already, I don't think I can take another ten hours sitting around in here..."
"Greg, look at me. It's not gonna take another ten hours. We're gonna get out of here soon. Just stay calm and don't upset the hostages in any way. They're the one you have to look out for..." As Ray was talking, Greg noticed something was wrong with him.
"Ray? Ray, are you okay?"
"Mhm..." he said weakly, closing his eyes again. "I'm just dizzy."
"I don't care how long I have to sit around in here, but you need to get out now." Greg slowly stood up and walked towards the hostage taker. Some of the hostages quickly walked over to him quite aggressively, so he reached out his hands defensive, gesturing that he didn't want to do anything but talk. They backed off a bit, but watched him.
"He needs to get out of here... His cheek bone is fractured and he has a laceration on his head. Please, let him go."
The hostage taker laughed. "Why should I? He brought this on himself."
"A dead hostage isn't of any use for you and you know that."
"He's not dying, is he?" he replied amused. He was the more aggressive hostage taker. He told the hostages his name was Gus. A made-up name, of course. The more sensitive, caring hostage taker named himself Corey.
"Look at him! He can't even sit straight! He could have a brain swelling or internal bleeding. People die from beatings like that all the time! Please!"
The hostage taker rolled his eyes, walked over to a first aid kit behind the counter and threw it to Greg. "That should keep you busy for a while."
Both desperate and annoyed, Greg walked back to Ray and tried to help him with this kit as good as he could. All he could do with this, though, was to try stop the bleeding. "I'm sorry, I tried my best, but..."
One of the female hostages walked over to Gus. "Maybe we should get him some medical help..."
"You know what? Maybe you're right. We should all take a vote. Who thinks the police guy should get out of here to get patched up?"
Seven of the 21 hostages raised their hands, including Greg and Ray. But of course, their votes didn't count.
"Five against 14. I think it's quite obvious what we want. He stays."
"That's it? We vote and now we risk letting him die here for no reason?" the hostage asked irritated.
"It's called democracy. And he won't die, sweetheart."
Ray seemed to be getting weaker by the minute. Greg couldn't help him, he needed medical help.
The hostage taker, Corey, walked up to them. "How is he?"
"Worse than half an hour ago," Greg replied, not looking at him, but concentrating on Ray instead.
"Mhm. I think it's better we get him out of here." They were in that bank for over 12 hours now.
Greg almost smiled. He was glad Ray was finally getting the medical help he needed so badly.
"Why don't you just let someone else go, instead?" Ray said weakly.
"Ray, don't be ridiculous. You need to get to a hospital," Greg said, trying to convince him of leaving.
"Please, let someone else go. How about her?" He pointed at the young woman who asked the hostage taker earlier to get Ray out.
Corey rolled his eyes. "There's no need to play the hero now. They're all gonna get out of here soon, without a scratch. You, on the other hand, really should see a doctor. You're useless for us." He waved at one of the hostages. "You, help him out of here."
Before Ray got up, he turned to Greg and weakly patted him on the shoulder. "It's gonna be fine, you'll get out of here. Just stay calm," he whispered.
"Don't worry about me, Ray. Just get better," he responded. He gave him a faint smile, pretending that it was okay for him to be in this situation all by himself. It wasn't, but he knew Ray needed to get out. Also, he kind of believed the hostage taker when he said that nobody's going to get hurt. At least he wanted to believe that.
Corey walked up to Ray. "Please tell Jim that we're not going to hurt any of these hostages. I promise."
Before he let Ray leave, he called Brass. "I'm sending out the injured CSI to show my sincerity."
The doors opened and a hostage walked out with Ray. He handed Ray over to the paramedics.
"Come on," two police officers wanted to walk the hostage into safety, but he refused. "I'm going back inside. Just let them leave without a problem." He gave Brass an angry look and walked back in.