Cain looked up and put his gun down.
"I got your message."
Cain nodded. "We don't have much time. What do we do with them?"
"We'll handle them later; we have more important things to do. Tie them up to the poles and," he glanced at Julia who was groaning, "whatever you do, make her shut up!"
Barrett looked around the room and found cable ties and duct tape in an empty cabinet along with other tools. It was obvious that at some point in time this had been a maintenance room. He first dragged an unconscious Conrad to the pole on the right. He was more concerned about him waking up and retaliating than Julia; in the state she was in, she wasn't going anywhere.
He placed him in a sitting position against the pole, brought his hands together behind the pole and tied them. Out of precaution he cut a piece of duct tape and placed it over his mouth. He then walked toward Julia. He dragged her over to the other pole, in the back of the room, leaving a smear of blood on the floor. He grabbed her hands from her abdomen, where she was trying to reduce the blood loss by applying pressure. She tried to fight him, but she wasn't strong enough. He made sure the cable tie was tight, then crouched down in front of her.
"Not much of a storm now, are you?"
He seemed to be jubilating, but she knew it wouldn't be for long.
"You're not even close to knowing the storm that's coming your way," she slithered at him through the pain.
The advantage she'd had was that he had no idea who she had been on the phone with and as Conrad had come, she was more than certain that Cain believed it had been him. He also didn't know that she had taken pictures and already sent them as evidence. It was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose, she doubted she would live to see that moment, but in the end, it wasn't what mattered.
His answer was a comical laugh as he silenced her with duct tape. He stood and headed over to Kim who was starting to destroy everything, file by file.
She shifted her attention and looked at Conrad. He was still unconscious, his head hanging heavily over his chest, blood trickling down the side of his head and face. She turned her head and looked at the clock on the wall. She felt a pinch in her heart. In another parallel moment, she'd be on her way to the airport, where she would have greeted Conrad and officialized their relationship. Now, no one would ever know. They would only be known as the 'doctors who died at Chastain'.
She then found the courage to look at her abdomen and as she saw the blood and listened to her body, she knew she didn't have much time left.
Conrad didn't know for how long he'd been out of it, but he slowly resurfaced and became aware of his surroundings and voices. His head ached and when he opened his eyes, keeping his head down, his vision was blurry at first.
"We're wasting our time," he heard Cain say.
As smart and calculating as Kim had been, he had thought of the day they might need to get rid of this. He had imagined the scenario even if he hadn't imagined finding two determined doctors on his path. "In the desk drawer there is heating oil and a lighter. We'll set everything on fire."
"It will set off the sprinkler system," replied Cain.
Kim grimaced and pointed to the ceiling. "You see any in here?"
Cain shook his head and was about to head for the desk when he noticed that Conrad was conscious.
He walked over to him and crouched. "Glad you're awake to see your final hour, Hawkins."
Conrad narrowed his eyes menacingly.
"I could put a bullet just in the right spot and kill you, but after all the hell you put Red Rock Medical through, I think it's only fair I give you the same hell."
Cain shifted his head and looked at Julia. "Not sure she'll be around to see the big finale, but you'll have the luxury of watching her die."
Conrad's eyes darted and locked with Julia's. She was tied to a pole further inside the room, her blue blouse was drenched with blood, and he could see it flowing slowly to the floor. She was pale and sweaty. Her time was counted, and he couldn't do anything to save her.
Cain laughed. "It's too bad she was such a pain in the neck, because well, I find her quite sexy. The way she dared to defy me, was quite exciting and had me thinking about her for days on end every time I wanted to pleasure myself. I'm curious to know Hawkins, is she good?"
Conrad gave a menacing grunt from behind the duct tape. He wanted to kill Cain with his bare hands, but the guy was too much of a coward to even dare try and measure up to him.
Cain beamed. "I'll take that as a yes." Cain then looked at Kim. "This floor is empty right?"
"Yeah." He then looked at the clock on the wall, "and at this hour the rest of the basement floors are empty. Why?"
Without answering, Cain ripped off the duct tape from Conrad's mouth and stood. "Any last words Hawkins?"
Conrad looked up at him. "You're a dead man!"
"You first," replied Cain as he walked away and helped Kim place strategic piles of boxes, files, and documents around the room.
Conrad's eyes shot immediately over to Julia. Her eyes were closed. "Julia, open your eyes."
She didn't budge.
"Baby, I need you to open your eyes, please," he said in a begging voice.
He saw her eyelids move and then flicker as she slowly opened them. Both of their eyes transpired pain but not in the same way. As she felt the physical pain, he felt the emotional one. He couldn't lose her, not now, not like this. Not until they were old and had lived an amazing life together.
"That's it," he said encouraging her, "stay awake and keep looking at me. I'm right here."
She tried to keep her focus on him but as the minutes passed it became more and more difficult. She was tired, her breathing was getting more and more shallow, and she could feel her heart start to beat irregularly throughout her entire body. She was losing too much blood and going into hypovolemic shock.
He saw her start to close her eyes. "Julia! Don't you dare give up on me now. Look at me."
He saw her give all the strength she had left as she raised her heavy eyelids and looked at him. She could have stared into his eyes for eternity, but not now. They were filed with love but also mainly with fear, sadness, regret, and helplessness, and it's not what she wanted to see as she gave her last breath. If she could keep one memory of him, it would be how the lines on the side of his eyes creased when he smiled at her.
She realized she had never gotten around to telling him that she loved him. That she loved him more than anyone she had ever had in her life. She wished she could tell him, even if they were to be her last words.
"I love you," she heard him say from across the room and her heart broke.
'Be strong, don't cry'. She wanted to be able to live up to her father's words, but she couldn't anymore. She didn't have the strength left. And feeling that she had led a dignified battle, she surrendered.
He watched speechless as she gave him a nod, almost as a response to his three words, then a single tear fell from her eye, trickled down her cheek and disappeared in the puddle of blood between her legs. Then her eyes closed, and her head slowly dropped over her chest.
"No! Julia! Baby, please…"
His eyes filled with tears. His nostrils flared as he smelled the strong odor of the heating oil being splashed over the various piles.
There was a swooshing sound as Kim lit the first pile. He walked around and lit the others and quickly the flames rose, cracking as the fire grew.
Cain and Kim walked toward the door and without giving Conrad or Julia one last look, disappeared in the corridor, closing the door behind them.