Perseverance (The Resident FF) by Frances51163

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN: Talking Down A Hostage Taker

As the SWAT Leader walked away unhappily Mike turned to the Surgeon and gestured to the crumpled piece of paper he was shoving into his pocket.

"What else did he say?"
"Just to give him time," Jude shook his head knowing the older man could read him too well.
"Well Dawson seems like a good man but we all know things can go wrong pretty quickly, despite the best of intentions."
"I know," Jude admitted reluctantly, "hopefully he can talk this guy down before things get worse. One good thing is Nic doesn't know .....,"
"What don't I know?" the blonde had walked up softly behind the pair with Devon in tow.
"Look it's going to be fine," Jude addressed Nic as he glared at Devon, blaming him for the Nurse Practitioners' presence.
"Hey don't blame me,"Devon put up his hands, "she wanted to be here when she found out there was a hostage situation."
"So who is being held hostage?" Nic demanded as she noted the Actor leaning back against a wall a few feet away, apparently just taking everything in, "and where's Conrad?"
"Now Nic ....," Jude began placatingly only to be cut off.
"Ye .... ye left him go in there?"
"Hadn't much of a choice," Mike offered with a sigh.
"But he's not well. What the hell were ye thinking?"
"Nic you and I both know Conrad does what he thinks is right," Devon decided to defend the older men, "besides he's calm and can probably take this guy down without anyone getting hurt."
"If anything happens to him ......,"
"I know, I know," Jude accepted the blame would be his, knowing deep down he should have stopped his friend.

Inside the cubicle things had taken a turn for the worse shortly after Conrad stepped back inside the curtains. The good thing was that the patient was still out of it and therefore did not seem to attract the gunmans' attention. The bad thing was that all the anger he felt towards the insensate man needed a release and the Third Year Resident was the only available target. For now the embittered man seemed happy to rely on words but Conrad was wondering how long that would last. Something had changed in the gunman in his absence but he could not identify it. Deciding to try a different approach he looked at the man on the gurney.

"He probably deserves anything you do to him."
"You better believe it!"
"So why didn't you finish him off at the accident site?"
"What do you mean?"
"The accident was your doing wasn't it?"
"So?"
"So you must have had plenty of time to kill him before someone arrived on the scene. Why didn't you?" Conrad wondered casually as he took a small step closer to the gurney so that he could keep a closer eye on the patient in case he showed signs of coming around.
"Doesn't matter," John replied quietly as he looked down at his brother.
"You care about him."
"He's my brother," John gripped the weapon he held tightly as he shook his head, obviously distraught.
"That doesn't mean he has the right to steal from you, to betray you."
"You said you understood?"
"I do, in a way. With you it's your brother with me it's my father .......," Conrad paused, acutely aware of the SWAT Officers outside who could no doubt hear everything.
"Go on."
"My father likes control which means interfering in my life when he shouldn't and taking things away he has no right to," Conrad answered truthfully if not elaborately.
"What did he take from you?" Johns' voice held a hint of doubt, he wasn't sure he believed the other man.
"My mother," Conrad looked at the floor before continuing, "my freedom."
"How the hell did he do that?"
"He wasn't exactly a patient man. Easier to lock up a child than teach him."
"Would you hurt him?"
"Truth is I thought about it at times, when I wasn't sure I'd ever get my freedom again, but at the end of the day he's my father."
"Like he's my brother," John looked down at his sibling, "never thought it would get this bad but you can only take being hurt so often. At some point you have to say enough is enough."
"No arguments there," Conrad agreed easily, "but you kill him you're going to have to live with that for the rest of your life. Maybe you could try doing what I do?"
"What is that?"
"Cut him out of your life completely. Have no contact with him. It would be better than killing him."
"That what you did with your father?"
"Yes. It's not easy and the hurt is always there but I've learnt an important lesson."
"What's that?"
"No matter how much I wish my father was a good person I can't make him be one and most importantly of all I have a clear conscience."
"Well that's where we differ," John pointed out as he brought the rifle back to his siblings' form again, "can't say I have a clear conscience."
"John whatever you've done it can be dealt with."
"You called what I did an 'accident'. It was no damn accident. I tried to kill him."
"No," Conrad shook his head in denial hoping he was doing the right thing, "you tried to hurt him. There's a big difference. If you wanted to kill him he'd be dead."

Outside the cubicle as Conrad spoke to the gunman the situation had changed with the arrival of the Negotiator and Bell accompanied by an obviously displeased Claire Thorpe.

"Does someone want to explain to me how Dr. Hawkins wound up in that cubicle?" Thorpe demanded impatiently after quick introductions had been made.

"The gunman was acting erratic and Conrad felt he could talk him down," Jude explained sharing a look with the Psychiatrist.
"Why didn't he wait for the Negotiator?" Bell asked with a frown.
"I was tied up on another call," thirty-five year old Jesse Anderson informed them unhappily as he pushed his brown fringe aside, "this Dr. Hawkins he good in extreme conditions?"
"Yes. He's done two tours in Afghanistan. He's not one to panic," Mike offered firmly, "and he has the best chance of getting this guy to give up."
"What makes you think that," Dawson cut in as he turned from speaking to one of his team members.
"We told you he's calm," Jude reminded.
"Well me trying to join in now is likely to make matters worse," the trained Negotiator put in, "let's give Dr. Hawkins a bit more time."
"Okay, your call Jesse," Dawson nodded and headed off.
"Will he defer to you always?" Jude wondered looking at the man with fresh eyes and seeing an inner strength lurking behind his eyes, not that that should have surprised him considering his occupation.
"Dawson?"
"Yeah."
"Depends on the situation. Every call is different," Anderson shrugged his shoulders and then looked over to the quiet cubicle, "your friend needs to make some headway soon though. The longer this goes on the more likely it is there will be someone hurt."
"Not necessarily," Mike objected quickly, "takes a while to talk someone around."
"True but they've been in there a long time already," Anderson stated.

Conrad could imagine the various conversations taking place outside and wondered how the hell he always wound up in these type of situations. He shook his head ruefully knowing he only had himself to blame. He hadn't checked the time before he first entered the cubicle but it felt like hours had passed. Time dragging on was not a good option. He needed to resolve this once and for all. Looking from the unconscious patient
to his brother he decided he had to do something now rather than later if he was to avoid a bloodbath. He just hoped it was the right thing.

tbc