The Beginning of The End

Chapter 12 - The Reaction

THE REACTION

Okay, so maybe telling the girl that she wasn't going back wasn't the best idea.

Carlie completely flipped out. Like, she went total coo-coo bananas. Ballistic. Insane. Crazy. Any other word to describe 'flipping out' would fit in this situation.

She jumped off the bed so fast that Johnny barely saw her move until she was standing. She wobbled, but grabbed onto the edge of the bed quickly.

"What did you just say?!"

"Uh, nothing. Er...Luke? A little help would be nice!"

"What did you say to her?" Luke lifted his head up and to the side to look at the both of them. The doctor was currently examining his wounds, so his shirt was off and he was almost motionless to allow her to get a good look. The doctor. Not Carlie. Totally not.

"Uh...erm...that..."

"He said that I'm not going back! But, like, I am, right?" She was a maniac. Her chest was moving up and down so fast that she may have been hyperventilating, her grey eyes darting around the room for a possible escape.

"Why would you tell her that? You idiot!" Luke glared at Johnny with a look that said, If it weren't for the doctor being in here and helping me, I would totally kill you.

"Sweetie, calm down! Careful of your leg!" The doctor tried soothing her, rushing over to sit her back down on the bed. She checked Carlie's pulse on her wrist with her index and middle finger and nodded. "Inhale as deep as you can and try to hold it for five seconds."

Carlie did so and after a count of five seconds, exhaled. Her eyes were still searching the room for an escape route, but Johnny knew the only ones. He would block them at all costs. It's not like she could even really go anywhere after getting out, if she even managed that. It would take her a decade to find one of the passage doorways. There were only five in the entire building, each requiring a key to lock and unlock. She would have no chance.

"Okay, well, I think Johnny should leave now. Especially after that." Luke scowled at his friend. He was now sitting up, legs dangling off the side of the bed. Below his chest were multiple big bruises right over where his ribs were. Yikes, he busted them pretty bad.

"Johnny, why don't you actually help? Since you're here. I mean, although I haven't taught you to mend broken bones, you know how to work the special X-rays. Why don't you X-ray Carlie?"

"Uh, no disrespect, ma'am, but why would we specially X-ray them? I mean, they onl- oh. Okay, nevermind." Johnny walked around to the other side of the bed and helped Carlie up. "We're just going to the next room over."

Carlie took his hand to get off the bed, but the second her feet (and cast) touched the ground, she escorted herself without his help. "What's so special about these X-rays? I mean, X-rays are X-rays. The just scan people for broken bones and stuff, right?"

Johnny watched her carefully to make sure she was fine walking, and to make sure she wouldn't bolt and try to escape. "These X-rays scan you for more than just broken bones. They have a special technology that searches for other...hidden things."

"Like what?"

"Like ma-" Johnny was cut off by Luke shouting from the other room.

"Shut up, you moron! I'm the only one to tell her things, remember?"

"Oh, sorry! No more question, please, because I don't really want to be kille- hurt, sorry - by him. Or really anyone, but definitely not him. His bad side is the baddest of all bad sides."

He led her into the X-ray room and told her to stand in the middle of the machine. "Don't move or anything. No talking, no nothing. Except for breathing and blinking, but try to do as little of those things as possible."

"Uh, okay?" She eyed him wearily. Of course she wouldn't trust him. She clearly barely even trusted Luke, whom she's spent the most of her time with since the whole mission started.

But, wow. She was beautiful. Not like drop-dead beauty, but in her own unique way. Many people might think he was crazy for thinking that, but she was.

The way her sun kissed brown hair hung down to the middle of her back like a curtain at a theater show, or the way her stormy grey eyes shone with knowledge and curiosity, or the way her expression told people not to mess with her, but at the same time said that she had been hurt too many times to count and could easily block people out. All of that made Johnny want her.

Just the few minutes he had spent with her made him realize that. The second he saw her jump down from the back of the truck, he was taken aback. Literally. He had held back, just staring at her, until Agent L had called him over.

He snapped out of it when Carlie coughed. "Now you're checking me out, huh?"

"No. I was just...uh...looking at the screen behind you. Very interesting shade of grey, don't you think?"

"Nice save, Johnny Boy." She smirked. That stupid smirk awakened a gazillion happy butterflies in his stomach.

"Thanks. Now put you hands over your head like you're surrendering to something."

She lifted her arms above her head and stared straight ahead, just like he had asked her to do.

Johnny turned on the machine and stepped out of the room to watch the results on the screen just outside the door. He let his foot show through the doorway so Carlie knew he hadn't abandoned her and freak out.

All went well until the scanner reached her feet. More specifically, her left foot. A red dot blinked and a buzzing noise went off in the room.

"Doctor! Come quick! She's been tagged!"

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UH OH