Odd Vibe, Threats, Overdue & In One Day?

Hospital – ER Entrance

Spike rushed out with Minna and Vanessa to find Ron and a police officer helping a man with a gunshot wound onto a gurney.

Ron said "Spike, Doc Landry and Maisie will need help down. Can you please help me?"

Spike grabbed his jacket which he had discarded on the waiting room chair and said "Lead the way." Spike glanced at the officer and got an odd vibe. Something was off. But he went outside with Ron anyways.

As the man was laid on the gurney Vanessa asked the officer "What happened?"

Noah decided to stay in character for the moment "He tried to escape. His partner was not so lucky. I had to shoot him to get him to stop. He needs a surgeon now."

Minna was applying a pressure dressing as Vanessa took some initial vitals.

Vanessa stated "Minna let's get him to the ER and stabilize him. He appears to have lost a fair amount of blood."

The two began pushing the gurney to the ER area. When the officer started to follow them Vanessa said "Just stay here officer. We don't have much room back there."

Noah said "He is a prisoner. I need to keep an eye on him."

Stopping the gurney Vanessa considered her options then decided a little bit of scare tactics would work on deterring the man from doing anything stupid. Vanessa said "You can cuff his good hand to the bed as a precaution if you need too. But frankly he is in no shape to be causing trouble. Especially if he doesn't want to bleed to death."

Jonas looked with panicked eyes to his brother then asked "I'm going to die?"

Vanessa saw the panicked look and relented slightly "Not if you do exactly as I say."

Noah felt a stab of panic too. He glared at the doctor "You do everything to make sure he doesn't." Then looking at Jonas he said "I won't cuff you but you better do exactly what they say. You understand Jonas?"

Jonas nodded.

That was odd Minna thought watching the interplay between the two men. She saw the officer constantly hitching up his loose pants. Her father and uncle were in the RCMPs and they would be appalled at this officer's appearance. The officer was even missing his name badge. The blood on his uniform she could excuse of course seeing that he had a wounded prisoner. But there was something so odd in his demeanor.

Minna noted that there was absolutely no remorse when he spoke of the other prisoner that was killed. It was almost a tone of derision. But the panicked look the prisoner gave the officer and the way the officer spoke to the prisoner was odd too. Then his demand to Vanessa. Minna got an old feeling, very odd.

She chided herself a bit. Jiminy cricket she was getting as bad as her Dad and Uncle. They always looked at everyone with suspicion. She shook herself and brushed off their ways and resumed her nursing ways.

Speaking to the officer Minna said "I'll have some paperwork for you to fill out shortly. Officer … goodness I don't see your name badge. What should I call you?"

Noah responded "Officer Barton."

Minna turned away and busied herself with Jonas' care. Barton? Barton? She knew that name. Why was it so familiar?

Ron, Landry, Spike and Maisie entered the ER along with a burst of frigid air and snow. Ron had actually carried Doc Landry in not wanting to chance him falling or keeping him out in the freezing conditions as long as it would take for him to walk in. They needed his help badly here.

Spike had taken Maisie's arm and Landry's bag and cane as he assisted Maisie inside. He set down the bag and handed the cane to Landry.

A sense of relief washed through Minna seeing Doc Landry, little Ethan would be okay now. Also they would be able to properly care for Sam and their gunshot wound patient too.

Minna looked to Spike and said "Spike and Ron I could use your help in the back please. So Vanessa can take Doc Landry and Maisie to little Ethan."

Spike nodded "Sure Minna." He glanced at the officer again. His gut was telling him something was off but beyond the ill-fitting uniform he couldn't put a finger on it. He decided to listen to his gut and keep a watchful eye.

Ron was getting a wheelchair from near the door and said "I should go with the docs and Maisie in case they need any heavy lifting since last I heard you had Jeremy helping Jasmin and Vera with the other patients."

He pushed the chair close to Landry and said with a flourish and bow at the waist "Your chariot awaits you sire."

Landry chuckled "Ron my boy you are something else." He sat in the chair and said "Normally I'd kick up a fuss about this but little Ethan needs me and this will get me there faster."

Then looking at Vanessa Landry said "That is, if he is the priority. From my assessment of the prisoner he is stable enough to wait a few hours. He can be started with a transfusion which will be better before surgery anyways. But Ron said Sam was presenting with a high fever, hallucinations and his leg was badly infected. In your opinion Dr. Chardin should I take a look at him prior to Ethan?"

Vanessa smiled at Landry. She liked him instantly. Just because he was older and more experienced he had not discounted her opinion.

"Dr. Craig, please call me Vanessa and I do believe that Ethan is the priority at the moment. I have him in the surgery room waiting with his parents. Then I would suggest looking at Sam prior to taking care of the next patient. I started him on MRSA protocols. I just wish the lab techs were here so we could find out for sure."

Landry grinned "If it is Vanessa for you, then it is Landry for me. Good call. I know my way around the lab. Once I'm done with Ethan I'll get those labs started."

Turning to Minna Landry stated "I suspect you have things handled down here for the moment my girl."

Minna grinned "Sure Doc. I can type and crossmatch the blood and set up the transfusion and get the patient prepped for surgery. Anything in particular I can so for Sam in the mean time?"

"Good girl. Just watch the fever closely. If it spikes higher than one hundred and four I need you to let me know." Landry then winked at Minna and said "You were always the brightest spot here. Too bad I was already married."

Maisie put Landry's bag in his lap. With a light teasing tone she said "Now you just quit your flirting you old coot. Minna's young enough to be your great-granddaughter." Turning to Minna, Maisie asked "Minna my girl how is Scott?"

Vanessa bit her bottom lip to stifle her laugh. Yeah she liked the Craig's.

Minna giggled. Doc Landry was always such a tease; ever since she started as a volunteer here when she was fifteen. Maisie had always been like a dear, sweet grandmother to her too. The Craig's had helped her parents by paying half of her nursing school tuition when her mom got hurt and could not work for a while. Thanks to Landry her mom was still alive too. The Craig's were good people.

She answered Maisie with a smile "Scott was so fortunate he was so close to your home when that ski pole embedded in his thigh. He is pretty much exhausted. But he is resting comfortably in the ER with Sam. Doubt Scott will even notice the scar. I swear, Doc still has the most beautiful stitching work I've ever seen."

Vanessa asked "Shall we go?"

Landry looked up at Ron and said "You heard the Doc my boy. Get a move on."

Ron grinned and said to Vanessa "Lead the way." He pushed Landry as he and Maisie followed Vanessa.

Spike looked to Minna and asked "What do you need me to do?"

Minna nodded and said "Follow me please."

Noah said "I'm coming too."

"No please wait here. Like I said I'll be back with paperwork in a minute. There's coffee in the pot in the break room. Help yourself officer" Minna said.

Then she recalled his uniform. Staying in that would be uncomfortable. Especially given the blood all over it and how long they were likely to be here with the storm still raging.

Minna added "Officer Barton, you will also find a small locker room with clean scrubs next to the break room. Please make use of them and the shower if you would care to get cleaned up and out of that bloody uniform. Just put the uniform in a blue bag and Jeremy will see that it gets a washing. We are all likely to be here for a few days."

Noah nodded "Thank you nurse. I think I will just do that." He headed in the direction the nurse pointed as she and the guy named Spike headed into the ER area with his brother.

Spike watched the officer head toward the break room. He just could not shake the odd vibe this officer put out.

Hospital – Break Room

Noah hadn't expected it to be such a small hospital but it was better this way. There would be fewer people to see or challenge him. He had showered and changed into scrubs and was now sitting in the break room with his second cup of steaming coffee.

He had found money in the officer's wallet and bought three bags of chips and six candy bars. He was hungry. They had been trapped in that car since Saturday night. Two damned days. He had almost given up hope of them getting away alive.

Stupid freak storm and god damned taillight. Well maybe the storm was fortunate. It was after all how they were able to escape. But the damned busted taillight was responsible for their capture in the first place.

Officer Roman had pulled them over for a broken taillight just before the storm got heavy. The damned cop recognized them and arrested them. He called it in on his radio that he had just captured Noah and Jonas Barton. The cop had been instructed to bring them into the small substation because of the storm and that they would arrange transfer to Toronto once the storm cleared.

The cop car slid and crashed on the way to the substation. For a day and a half the cop tried the radio to call for help. He would run the car intermittently but mostly they froze. He and Jonas huddled as close as possible to remain warm. The cop was all toasty in his artic gear and his extra layer of fat insulation. The officer melted snow for them to drink but had nothing for them to eat for two days.

Noah opened the last of the candy bars and ate it as he brooded. Like hell that transfer would happen now. It took a day to work out a plan in his head to escape and another half day to put it into action.

After a lot of talking he had finally convinced the cop that they had to take a piss. That is when the stupid cop made his fatal mistake. He cuffed both of them with their hands in front of them so they could take care of business.

They certainly took care of business. Noah laughed and thought yes the business of escape. The night before, he had whispered his escape plan to Jonas while the cop slept.

Once their hands were cuffed in front and they were a short distance from the car Jonas had run like he was supposed to do to distract the cop. Noah was supposed to take down the cop. He wasn't gonna kill him. Just detain him until they made their getaway. Killing a cop was a sure fire way to get every cop in the country searching high and low for you. But the bastard cop shot his brother.

The rage in him seeing his brother bleeding in the snow overtook him and he bashed the cops head in. He felt no remorse for killing the cop. It was the first time he killed anyone with his bare hands up close and personal. But the cop deserved it for hurting his little brother. Usually he preferred the less personal Sig Sauer or HK MP7.

Noah decided that he would finish his coffee then take a look around. He needed to know just how many people were here. Especially since it looked like it would be a few hours until Jonas could get patched up.

He had wanted to order them to take care of Jonas first but that would have drawn too much unwanted attention. No he would have to wait. He needed time to think anyways.

Noah started a mental tally of who was in the hospital and gauge the potential threats. He knew there were at least two patients in the ER, Scott and Sam they had called them. Both sounded incapacitated so there was little worry there.

There was that old doctor and his wife, again no worries there. Then hospital staff Vanessa, Minna, Jeremy, Jasmin, Vera. Jeremy might be an unknown but little worry with the women. Doctors and nurses were timid and more inclined to do what they were told if you threatened other people's lives. They cared too much for strangers.

Patients were unlikely to be a threat seeing that they were in need of being in a hospital in the first place. That little boy and his parents he also had little worry about. Parents were usually very compliant when you threatened to kill their children.

Overall that was too damn many people. But he could really see only three potential threats at the moment. The guy named Jeremy, the sno-cat driver Ron and that other guy called Spike.

Three was manageable with the cop's gun. But he wished he had his Sig Sauer and HK MP7. Then he could simply lay waste to them all and be done with it.

Noah stood up and dropped the empty wrapper on the floor. He better get a lay of the land and find out if there were any other potential threats here if he was going to get him and Jonas out of here. They needed to be gone before the storm broke or else the cops would be on to them because they would be looking for that stupid cop that arrested them.

SRU HQ – Conference Room Two

Commander Holleran strode into conference room two and looked around. He asked "Anyone seen Parker yet?"

Troy answered "He called. He's running a tad bit late; said the line at Timmy's was longer than normal."

Norm sat down "That's a good excuse. None of us want an uncaffeinated Parker in the house. Not even on his day off. We can wait a few minutes before we get started."

There were a few laughs from the assembled team Sergeants. They all tended to run on coffee. Twelve hour shifts that often ran into overtime were the norm for SRU teams. The combined purchases of all thirty five SRU team members plus all the dispatchers and support staff probably accounted for most of the revenue for the Timmy's a block away from the barn.

As he opened his file with his notes for the Sergeant's meeting to review them again the others in the room started up their conversations again. Norm enjoyed these meetings usually. He had a competent set of Sergeants. They all worked well together and shifted things around to accommodate each teams needs as they changed.

He loved his job commanding SRU. Especially working with Greg. That man was a fountain of knowledge when it came to gaining insight on people. The best part was that he was so willing to share his craft with anyone wanting to learn. Parker made his job easier.

Greg strode into the conference room with a smile and seven coffees and two dozen timmbits. "Afternoon gentleman. Anyone care for a coffee and snack?"

Rollie rose and came to help Greg who was balancing everything "Smart move to come bearing gifts when you are late Greg."

Chuckling Greg said "Helps to know your subjects Rollie."

The coffees were passed around along with good natured grousing about being called subjects. Greg had gotten each one's favorite coffee ordered correctly. A feat that none of the others seemed to manage.

Blowing on his caramel latte supreme Camden Bradley said "Greg how the hell do you always manage to get it right?"

Greg just smiled. It was his little secret. Well his, Spike's and the manager of Timmy's. All he had to do was order Sergeants or Team One and they pulled up a complete list of drinks to make, right down to the double caramel added to Camden's latte.

Holleran got the Sergeants meeting started and briefed them on upcoming warrants, current operations being conducted by other divisions, public relation events and the latest intel on potential threats or criminal activities in the city.

Next the Sergeants discussed personnel training needs and any upcoming scheduled leaves that needed covering.

After everyone concluded that Greg said "So scheduled leaves are cover but I've got a potential unscheduled leave. Sam and Spike are due back for shift on Thursday but they are caught in that storm. They are staying in a remote cabin and may not make it back in time for shift Thursday. So I'd appreciate it if you can find out if anyone on your teams might be available for a few extra shifts."

Sergeant Winter said "I think Dale and Sean might be up for additional shifts. I'll ask them. It would work for Thursday and Friday at least since we are off."

Troy said "I'll ask Frank and Bill too."

Greg nodded "Thanks."

Rollie smirked "They sure picked a good place to ski. Built-in excuse to extend their trip."

There was a knock on the door and Kira entered "Commander I just got a relayed update from the RCMP on the prisoner transfer they requested two days ago." She handed him a printout.

"Thanks Kira" Holleran said and scanned the message. That was not good news. It was what he was worried about when the request first came in. Why he had not sent any officers to escort the prisoners back to Toronto yet. He might not have to at this point.

Greg asked "Prisoner transfer?"

Norm looked at Greg then the others and said "I hadn't said anything yet because we could not take any actions. It appears we may not have to either."

"Why couldn't we take action" Rollie asked.

Waving the paper and then setting it on the table Holleran explained "I got a call two days ago requesting assistance for a prisoner transfer from a small RCMP station in the Blue Mountain area. Seems one of their officers, Alex Roman pulled over a vehicle for a routine violation just before that massive storm hit. Broken taillight. Turns out they got Noah and Jonas Barton. I told them we would come after the storm abated and the roads were cleared."

Whistles were heard around the table. Bradley said "Wow a broken taillight is how those two were captured. I bet that officer is gonna get the royal treatment. The Bartons have been on the run for months."

Rollie added "Yeah and with a trail of dead bodies too. Eight bank robberies in four months is a lot. I've read the report on them. They are quick and merciless. They go in and mow down everyone and are out in seconds. Their jobs are planned down to the second."

Troy asked "So why are we not planning to go get them?"

Holleran answered "It seems Officer Roman and his prisoners have gone missing. Captain Lundgren's update says they never showed up at the station. He had been unable to reach his officer via radio. He thinks they may have gone off the road when the storm hit earlier and faster than the forecast. He fears that all three have perished given the frigid temperatures. He has contacted the RCMP and they are sending a sno-cat to begin the search."

Greg's gut twinged. Spike and Sam went skiing in that area. Then he looked at the Commander and said "You know Sam and Spike are in the area. If they do locate the prisoners alive perhaps we can have them escort them back."

Holleran nodded "Sounds good. I'll keep you posted." Then he grinned "If you hear from Sam or Spike let them know they get this special duty for getting snowed in."

Two Hours Later – Hospital – ER Treatment Area

Sam woke slowly. He heard Scott and Spike talking softly but couldn't tell what they were saying. He heard a few unknown voices too. They definitely were not in the cabin anymore.

He blinked open his eyes and saw a pair of kind brown eyes looking at him. Sam asked "Where am I?"

Hearing Sam's voice Spike bounded over to the end of the bed "Samtastic you're awake."

Minna answered "You are at the Craig Hospital. How do you feel?"

Sam switched his eyes to Spike "How did I get here?"

"Long story buddy. Scott's here too so you gotta answer Minna honestly how you feel" Spike said and moved to the side so Sam could see Scott.

Scott smiled and waved from his bed "Doppelganger you gave me quite a scare. Looks like your fever might have broken. Good to see you lucid. Amazing what medicine can do huh."

Sam looked at Scott confused "What the hell happened to you?"

Minna took vitals and wrote them down giving Sam a moment to orient himself.

Scott said "You first. How do you feel?"

"Like shit" Sam said.

"That good huh" Scott chuckled.

Sam tried to sit himself up to see Scott better but didn't quite have the strength as he tried to push up with one hand. So he laid back down.

Minna raised the head of the bed slightly and asked "Better?"

"Yeah thanks" Sam said then asked "Water?" Sam's mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton and parched.

Minna shook her head "No sorry I can't give you water right now. Doc Landry still needs to check you before I can do that."

The name Doc Landry rang a bell with him. Sam queried "Doc Landry is still around?"

"You know the Doc?" Minna asked.

Sam nodded then closed his eyes. He was so tired. His whole body ached, especially his shoulder and his leg was on fire. That's when he registered his arm was strapped to his chest. "Dislocated?"

Spike said "Yeah. You fell earlier this morning and knocked it out of joint when the TTM hit you. You've been pretty out of it with the fever all day so I'm not sure if you remember that. Scott and I put it back before Scott left to get help."

Sam opened his eyes and glared at Scott. He was exhausted but his words were angry and carried all the heat he could muster "You went out in the storm. Are you fucking suicidal?"

Scott glared back "You'd be dead if I didn't. That's a cold hard fact Sam. Your damned shin is still infected. Sepsis or MRSA hell maybe both. God dammit Sam you might still die or you might survive and still lose your damned leg. You tell me you wouldn't have done exactly the same thing if our positions were reversed."

Sam blanched. His eyes looked down at his leg that was covered by the blanket.

Panic rose as his eyes sought Scott's. "Lose my leg" came out weakly.

Then his eyes went back to his leg "No. No. unhuh. No way. No. It was just a small cut … No. No."

Scott was out of bed and hobbling to Sam's bed as quick as he could manage "God Sam I'm sorry for just blurting that out in anger."

Reaching Sam's bed he grab Sam's chin and turned his head to him with one hand while he used the other to help hold himself up. Forcing Sam to meet his eyes Scott stated "You are in a hospital. There are doctors and medicine here. You will not lose your leg."

Sam shook and pulled out of Scott's hold and his eyes went back to his leg "I want to see it."

"No" Scott declared.

Sam flung off his covers. His leg was covered in a bandage. He struggled to sit up. Scott pushed him back down forcefully.

"No Sam" Scott said firmly. He was afraid if Sam saw he would give up right then and there.

"You don't get to tell me no. I want to see it. I have to see it" Sam ground out.

Spike interjected calmly "Why?"

Sam's eyes turned to Spike "I have to know. Help me."

"Okay. But if I do this you have to promise me something" Spike stated.

Sam waited, he half expected Spike to ask him for his word to be honest about his health. When the silence dragged out Sam asked "What?"

Spike laid out his conditions "You have to promise me that you will remain positive and that you will do everything in your power to fight it. I don't think I could handle it if our stupid childish behavior resulted in you losing your leg. So you will do whatever the doctor says and you will fight."

"You have my word. Now let me see" Sam said seriously.

Scott was impressed with Spike. He hadn't expected that to be the condition. Spike was beginning to see how Sam worked. That was a good thing. Scott pressed the button to raise Sam a little more as Spike removed the dressing covering Sam's shin.

Sam nearly gagged at the sight of his shin. His eyes sought Scott's again "In one day? Even after all the cleaning. One day?"

Scott nodded.

Sam leaned back and squeezed his eyes shut. God he might really lose his leg "Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!"