Red

Chapter 25

Mike

What am I going to do?

I stared at the gun being pressed into Marley's temple. My friend had frozen, but there was still a grim look of determination written on his face.

"Go Mike! You can make it out of h–mph!" In response to Marley's outburst, the man holding him shifted his grip, clamping the hand that wasn't holding a gun over his mouth. Marley's face changed from determined to absolutely furious.

"Ah, so you're Mike."

I turned around slowly, clutching the injured teen in my arms tighter. I tried to portray all my hatred for Daniel in one look, but if he caught it, he didn't react.

"Yeah," was my only response.

"You're the one who called earlier."

I gulped. I hoped with all my heart Nate hadn't been hurt because of that. I studied Daniel's face. It was completely blank, as if he did this every day. My study eventually led me to Adrian. He was clearly petrified. The doctor just stood there, not even blinking. I could see a thin trail of blood sliding down his throat, originating where the knife was digging into his skin. I looked back to Nate's father.

"Yeah." I took a step forward. I felt a sudden wave of courage. "Why are you doing this, to your son, of all people? To your own flesh and blood? Family should love each other, not hate and fear each other."

"Shut up, kid!" For a brief moment, the expressionless mask melted into one of an uncontrollable rage. "You have no idea what he's done to me!"

"No, I don't." My mouth was moving before my brain. "But I do know what you've done. You murdered his mother–your wife–right in front of him. And then you tied him up and abused him. For six years. Do you know what that has done to your son?"

"She was everything to me." Daniel's eyes locked on to Nate's unconscious form. "And that brat made me take drastic measures. I loved her, but she didn't love me. Not anymore." He glanced up at me before redirecting his gaze back Nate. "All she cared about was him. I was nothing. So, one night, I got drunk. I got mad. And I punched that kid straight in the head. Next thing I know she's packing their bags. I confronted her, and she told me I wasn't safe around her son and unborn daughter.

"I tried to get her to stay. I offered her so many things. I told her I'd treat her so much better. But she just told me I didn't understand and turned back to the car. That's when I got mad again." His eyes turned to me again. "I don't remember what happened next. My vision turned red. My love was lying, unmoving on the ground. And that's when he–" the anger returned as Daniel looked back to the teen in my arms "–started crying, sitting in the backseat of the car. So my next course of action was what first came to mind. To punish him for taking the love of my life away from me."

Suddenly, Daniel threw the blade he'd been pressing against Adrian's throat. I didn't have time to react. Luckily, it only grazed my ear, but it still froze me with shock.

When my brain started functioning enough to wonder if it hit one of the two people behind me, I whipped around. Both men were absolutely still. I don't think either were even breathing. Then the man who had been restraining Marley let out a gurgling sound as he choked on his own blood and collapsed, the knife sticking out of his throat.

My friend bent down and picked up the gun, then came over to stand beside me. Raising it, he said, "Let go of the doctor. Both my parents are cops, buddy. First thing they did when I turned eighteen was teach me how to shoot a gun."

Daniel's eyes flitted between us, then the gun and Nate. I watched as his eyes widened when he realized he no longer had a weapon, but then again, even if the blade wasn't buried in his friend's neck, he still wouldn't have stood a chance. You don't bring a knife to a gun fight.

Nate's father shoved the doctor forward. Adrian stumbled beside Marley, but that's as far as he got. Daniel, moving faster than I could see, pulled a gun from his back pocket and fired. Another gunshot sounded, and he fell, a bullet hole right between his eyes.

I turned toward Marley, eyes wide. The gun he had been clutching was lowered, hanging by his side. "Did you just...?"

He didn't even respond before our attention was drawn to Adrian. The doctor had dropped to his knees. A red stain was slowly spreading across shirt, a hand pressed over his chest.

"Holy hell!" I set Nate down gently on to the dirty ground and rushed over to Adrian. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Marley, who was calling 911, put a hand over the speaker on his cell. "Shock. Probably couldn't speak." Someone must've picked up on the other end because my friend immediately started rambling into the phone. I tuned him out, placing both of my hand over the wound and adding pressure, trying to slow the bleeding. Within seconds, my hands were soaked through with the red liquid.

Marley came up beside me. "Ambulance on the way, for both of them. Should be here within five minutes. We just gotta keep him alive that long. We're med students; I think we can do that."

"I don't know," I replied. "He's lost a lot of blood, and still is. He might not last five minutes." All my focus was on the man in front of me. Adrian was gasping for air, his eyes were glazed and unfocused. I ignored the sound of his breathing. It was like nails on a chalk board, the choked noise making my ears ring.

Suddenly, Adrian's eyes locked onto my face. He raised his bloodied hand and grabbed a hold of my shirt. His breaths were becoming shallower. I could feel his grip slackening.

"Hey," I said. "Don't die on us yet. We still have to thank you properly for helping us out. That kid over there, his name is Nate. My sister is his girlfriend. I'm sure she'd love to thank the man who helped us."

Half-way through my little speech, his hand had fallen away. His eyes were closed now, and his breaths were now just short gasps. I heard the sirens in the distance and hoped the got here in time, but I knew it was too late when the rattling sounds of Adrian's breathing faded into silence.

I stood, staring at the doctor's body. I was covered in blood, but I didn't notice. I was vaguely aware of Marley placing a hand on my shoulder, and the sirens of the ambulance growing louder. When one of the paramedics asked me if I was injured, I just responded "Not mine" and watched them load Nate into the ambulance. They tried to resuscitate Adrian, but he was gone. I barely knew him, but it hit me hard.

Marley's parents were also called to the scene, apparently my friend had told the 911 operator the whole story, murders, kidnapping, and all. I don't know if he requested Mr. and Mrs. Aryanto, but either way, they were here and completely fussing over their son. From the little I heard from my shocked trance, they were also chewing him out for stealing his father's handcuffs.

As the ambulance was about to leave, I climbed into the back with Nate. When the paramedics told me I couldn't be there, I told them Nate was practically like family, plus my sister was already at the hospital with an amputated leg. After that, they let me stay. I was silent for the whole ride. I'd left Marley at the house, if it can be called that, with his parents to work out what happened. He'd been there as well, after all.

When we arrived at the hospital, they immediately rushed Nate away to get him looked at. I didn't comprehend what they were saying when they told me where. I was just left standing in the middle of the waiting room, covered head to toe in blood that was not mine, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do next.