Chapter 27
A neighbor had heard a scream before quiet was suddenly restored. He opened his door just a crack and peeked through the space, but nothing out of the ordinary caught his eye although he did hear somebody hurriedly bounding down the stairs. The black middle aged man then stepped out of his apartment, walking carefully down the hallway and stopped abruptly when he looked into the apartment to his right whose door was ajar. His eyes were wide with shock before he regained control of his senses and ran in. Inside laid a young, fairly built man on the floor, bleeding from his stomach and shoulder. The neighbor crouched beside the injured man and tried to rouse him.
"Hey, hey?" he called as he lightly slapped Hoagie's face.
The brown haired boy stirred and opened his eyes. He raised his head and looked up at his neighbor. He was familiar, but Hoagie didn't know his name. He tried to lift his arm to hold the forty-something year old by the shoulder, but he lacked the strength and his arm fell. He then tried to speak, but he coughed instead. Finally he managed to say weakly, "My-my girlfriend…Abby…please..." He broke off as his head fell back in exhaustion. He had lost a lot of blood, his body soaked as he lay in his deep crimson pool.
"What? What are you trying to tell me?" The neighbor asked. He did not receive a response, for the speaker had lost consciousness. The middle aged man quickly removed his cell phone from his pocket and dialed 911 as he wondered why he hadn't done so a minute earlier. The man before him was so pale, what if that minute he wasted would cost him his life?
Immediately after giving their residential address and hanging up, the neighbor checked the boy's neck for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt one. It wasn't very strong, but it was there. He then saw a cell phone on the couch, and he went to it. He took it and pressed the redial button. As he waited for the person on the other end to pick up, he heard a phone ringing somewhere. His eyes shifted to the bedroom as he rose to his feet and walked cautiously to it. He poked his head through the door and saw a cell phone on the bed. He decided to end the call and wait – wait to see if the phone on the bed would stop ringing. It did. The man grunted in frustration. He looked back at the young man on the floor before walking into the bedroom and pulling the blanket off the bed. He went back into the living room and covered the injured boy with it. He looked cold; his lips were blue.
Just then, he heard the siren of an ambulance in the distance. He ran to the windows and looked outside as he waited for the noisy vehicle to cruise down the street and pull up next to the building. When he spotted the ambulance, he went back to Hoagie and crouched beside him. "It's ok buddy. Help is here."
xxx
Abby slowly opened her eyes. She was in a living room; a nice living room with a big screen TV and beautiful yet simple furniture. She tried to sit up but one side of her head suddenly began to throb, so she lay down again. She then made an attempt to lift her right hand so that she could touch her aching head, only to realize that her hand had been chained to the wall. She looked at her cuffed hand and followed the fairly long chain to the wall. She tried in vain to pull at the chain, hoping to pull it out of the wall, but it was hopeless. It wouldn't budge, and she didn't feel like she had much strength either.
Her mind was a little hazy as she continued to look at her surroundings. Then it hit her; memories of earlier that morning came to her frame by frame, the last of which showed Hoagie doubling over in pain as blood spread through his t-shirt. "Oh no," she cried softly.
Her heart began to pound loudly in her ears as fear and adrenaline raced through her system. With renewed vigour, she tried to pull the chain out of the wall, stepping against it to gain leverage. Of course, nothing happened, and she cursed loudly in frustration. She brought her hands to her face as she felt tears threatening to spill. "Please be ok…please be ok," she chanted under her breath as she thought of her boyfriend.
Just then her captor walked into the room. He seemed very surprised to find her awake, although he was clearly pleased. He gave her a charming smile, and she could not believe someone as innocent-looking as him could do what he had done. "Abby, you're awake. I'm glad. Can I get you something to eat?"
She glowered at him and ignored his question. "What did you do with Hoagie?"
He arched his brow and shrugged. "That kid? Hmph, nothing…I left him on the floor."
A tear rolled down her cheek. Hoagie could have bled out by now. How long had it been since this nightmare began anyway? She looked down at her watch; 11:17 a.m. It was about 9:30 when she had come out of the shower, so about two hours since Hoagie was shot. All she could do was hope that he had managed to get help before anything serious happened.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked in despair as she tried to hold back her tears.
Kensei felt as though he was being accused of something. He looked her in the eye as he replied. "What do you mean 'why am I doing this'? I did this for you…for us. I love you, and you belong to me."
Abby's eyes grew big as she stared at him in disbelief. This guy seriously believes what he is saying, she thought bemusedly. Shit! She tried a different approach. "If you really love me, you wouldn't chain me to the wall."
He narrowed his small eyes at her and looked at her for a long moment before he slowly crossed the room and walked to her. He sat beside her on the chaise lounge he had bought specifically for her as she brought her knees up to her chest. He brought his hand up to her face, cupping it before gently touching the bruise on the temple where he had knocked her unconscious with his gun. She winced in pain and he quickly withdrew his hand.
He then got up and she watched him leave the room as he disappeared into the hallway. Abby lay back down and rested her head on the headrest in defeat. She hugged herself then immediately moved her right arm away from her torso; the chain was cold to the touch. She looked around the room again as her mind went to Hoagie. She was afraid for him; more afraid for him than she was for herself. Maybe she could get out of this, whenever that would be. But if her boyfriend wouldn't find help soon, he may not make it. She was afraid.
She then heard the hum of an engine as a vehicle came to a stop near the house. It was then that she realized she was in a house. A well furnished house. Not a basement or a warehouse or something of that sort. A house – meaning she may be within the earshot of a pedestrian. Or even a neighbor. It then dawned on her to scream. And so she did. "HELP, HEEEELP! SOMEBODY? ANYBODY?"
Kensei ran back into the room. He was furious. He removed his gun from his waist and pointed it at her as he dropped some antiseptic and band aids he was carrying in the other hand to the floor. "Be quiet!" he bellowed.
But she continued to scream, for she was sure this man could not hurt her. Threaten her? Yes, definitely. But hurt her? She highly doubted it. Not if he was as in love with her as he claimed. So she continued to scream.
The biracial man cocked his gun. It still had the silencer. Before Abby knew what was happening, she felt a pain shoot through her left arm, and immediately ceased her screaming. She looked down at her upper arm and saw blood oozing out of it. It was a superficial wound. The bullet had just nicked Abby's arm as Kensei had intended. He was a damn good shot and he knew it. He made sure to give her a superficial injury that wouldn't require medical attention, but would be enough to scare her.
Abby raised her head to look at him. She was wrong. This guy could do anything to her, and she was scared. She jumped when he approached her and sat beside her. "Don't do that again," he spoke gently. "I really don't want to hurt you." He got up and picked the antiseptic bottle and band aid that was on the ground. He removed cotton balls from his pocket, and after dipping it in the antiseptic he cleansed her wounds – the new one on her arm and the older one on her head where there was a cut on the swelling caused by the gun. He then put the band aid on her head, and walked out of the room. He returned shortly with a bandage which he wrapped around her arm. When he was done he gave her a little kiss to the temple and walked into the kitchen to get her something to eat.
xxx
Hoagie lay unconscious in a hospitable bed as he convalesced post-op. His surgery had gone smoothly. The wound in his shoulder had been a through and through. The wound in the gut was the one that had been more difficult to sort out. The bullet was lodged deep in his tissue, and it had perforated his small intestine on its way there. Luckily the surgeons were more than capable of dealing with his injuries.
It was lunch time, but Nigel had lost his appetite. He was much too worried to feel the need to eat, let alone remember that he ought to. He had been called earlier, immediately after he had walked out of the exam room. The name 'Hoagie' had been displayed on the screen. He answered expecting to hear his friend's voice. Instead, he heard a panicked unfamiliar voice explaining to him that a brown haired fellow who was assumed to be the Brit's friend had been shot, and was currently on his way to Greensteads hospital. Before Nigel could ask or say anything, the other guy hang up for the cops had just come into the house to interrogate him.
The young bald man now sat beside his friend, with lots of questions running through his head. He had earlier dialed Abby's number, but there was no answer. He figured she was doing a paper as well, not remembering that the girl usually had class at 1:20 p.m., not earlier. He wondered what he would tell her when he finally got in touch with her; how he would break the news that her boyfriend was lying in a hospital bed. Nigel's mind then rearranged his thoughts, and he instead wondered how Hoagie had landed in this situation in the first place.
He sighed audibly as he clasped his hands together and moved to rest his elbows on his knees. He looked down at the ground and chewed the inside of his cheeks in frustration. He looked at Hoagie, his eyes following the IV line from its reservoir to his arm. There was an oxygen mask covering his face. Nigel then got up and stood beside his friend. "You've got to get better," he whispered as he placed a hand on Hoagie's uninjured shoulder before walking out into the corridor to make a call to their friends.
xxx
"He's waking up," Kuki whispered urgently to the other visitors in the room as Hoagie's eyes slowly fluttered open. His eyes were lightly glazed over with sleep and anesthesia. His gaze fell upon the worried faces of Nigel, Lizzie, Kuki, Wally and Pauline. He tried to speak but his throat was too dry.
"Don't push yourself, mate," Wally advised as Kuki brought him a glass of water with a straw in it.
The brown haired boy removed his oxygen mask and took a sip of his water. The cold liquid travelling down his throat felt so good. He drank about half the glass before trying to speak again. "Abby…" he said with a slightly hoarse voice as he tried to sit up. Kuki pinned him down and gave him a stern look when he pushed her hand away.
"Abby's not here," Nigel said as he went and stood at his friend's bedside. "I haven't managed to get a hold of her yet." The Briton was sure Abby had been studying earlier, and hence had put her phone on silent. She was probably in the exam room right then.
Hoagie shook his head and stuttered as he replied. "He t-took her." He gave a dry and painful sounding cough.
"Who took her?" Pauline asked in alarm.
Hoagie's breath came in short spurts as his heart began to race. "Kensei…he took her…" The equipment began to beep faster in time with his rapid heart rate. A nurse quickly came running into the room to check his vitals.
"Calm down, sir. You have to calm down," she insisted. Then turning to the worried lot she asked them to leave. They stood their ground defiantly as they looked at their bedridden friend who was trying to get up.
"Sir, you must not get up!" she said forcefully."
Hoagie gave her an exasperated look before setting his gaze beyond her. "Please find her," he begged them. They nodded so that he could calm down. Upon receiving their reassurance to look for Abby, Hoagie's heart rate began to normalize.
Just then a policeman walked into the room. When the nurse laid eyes on him she glowered. "Not now!" she hissed. "The patient still needs to recover."
"Sorry ma'am, I'm just doing my job," he said nonchalantly as he removed a pen and notepad from his breast pocket. "Can you tell me what happened?" he asked in a surprisingly gently tone. Hoagie went on to tell him what had transpired earlier. "What?" he asked in shock. "He took your girlfriend?" Shit, he cursed inwardly. Nearly five and a half hours had passed since Abby was abducted. She could be anywhere by now. A search perimeter would have a huge geographical radius by then. Shit!
xxx
Lizzie walked into her dorm looking thoroughly knocked down by life. She liked Hoagie. He was among the most likeable of Nigie's friends. And yet there he lay in a hospital bed. She felt really sorry for him. Abby was missing. That was even scarier than Hoagie being in hospital. At least with the good natured boy they knew he was alright. As for Abby…
She crossed the room and went to her bed. She threw herself on the soft mattress and bounced slightly before choosing to lie on her back. She needed to eat, and she was quite sure there was nothing to eat in that room. She wished Eva was there; Hoagie's ex would have easily whipped up something nice for them.
As if her desire had just been granted, Eva walked into the room looking very happy and chilled out. The redhead looked at her bespectacled friend. "What's up with you?" she asked as she putdown her large handbag and went to sit next to Lizzie.
"It's terrible. Abby's been kidnapped," Lizzie said sadly.
"What? That's…horrible. Gosh, how's Hoagie taking it?" Eva asked, trying to feign shock.
"He's in the hospital."
"What?" Eva asked, genuinely shocked this time around. "What's wrong with him?"
"He was shot. Twice! He's stable, but he has to stay in hospital for a couple of days for observation."
What the hell? "That son-of-a-bitch," she said crossly. Lizzie was taken aback by her friend's reaction as she watched her pace around the room nervously. "Shit!" she screamed all of a sudden. "He promised me that he wouldn't hurt him," she said quietly to herself.
However, Lizzie had heard what she had said, and she stared at Eva in disbelief. "Please don't tell me you're involved in this," she said in a bewildered tone. Her friend turned her head to look at her, doing so in slow motion as she realised she had though out loud. "Are you kidding me?" Lizzie asked as her temper rose. "How the hell can you do such a thing?" Eva did not reply. She was too pissed off at Kensei to care about Lizzie's accusation. "Where is she?" the slightly chubby girl asked.
Instead of replying, Eva picked up her handbag and fished for her car keys. She grasped them in her hand and walked out the door. "Dammit Eva, where is Abby?" Lizzie screamed, following her towards the car park. The bespectacled girl made a grab for her friend's arm. "Eva!"
The girl turned and shoved Lizzie. "I don't know where she is, alright? This wasn't supposed to happen. Hoagie wasn't supposed to get hurt." She continued to walk before adding, "Abby will be fine. But I need to see Hoagie." She got into her car and drove away, leaving Lizzie standing in the nearly empty parking lot as she watched her go.