True As Cheese

Nobember 2: Don't Kill Michael

          "Where is she?!" Bear's voice explodes through the hospital halls, my heart pounding. This is it. This is the day I die. I bite my lip, Michael quickly pulling the curtains in my room shut. How he got away and still managed to see me while in the hospital is beyond me.

          I can see people's feet scatter out of the way as Bear makes his way to me. I didn't know feet could be intimidating until I saw his. I hold my breath, as he stops outside my room, about to barge in at any moment.

          And then he walks into the wrong room. One very confused conversation later, Bear is directed the the room next door. My room. The curtain is torn from the tracks it hangs from, falling lifelessly to Bear's feet. Bear's eyes land on me, fury, concern, relief. Did I mention Fury?

         "Wait! I haven't even thought about what my last words would be!" I cry out, holding my hands up to stop him, but I'm too late. The warm embrace shocks me, a very worried mafia boss grabbing me for dear life. Bear's arms wrap around me tightly, almost afraid to let go. His fingers grasp my hospital gown desperately, his body shaking slightly.

         "Oh, Cheese. What have you gotten yourself into this time? Bear whispers, his breath tickling my neck as he speaks.

         "Well, actually, Michael-" Bear goes rigid at the mention of his best friend, his body tense. He pulls back slowly, his eyes pissed.

          "Ah, shit." Michael cursed, taking a step back against the wall. Bear turns, his head moving in slow motion. Bear shoots daggers, his glare making me want to cower down.

         "Look man, she did great defending herself, she just-" I've never seen someone move so fast in my life. One moment Bear is hugging me, the next his hand is around Michael's throat and Michael is a foot in the air, pressed to the wall. Bear shakes with anger, his chest rising and falling as though he were a dangerous animal.

          For the first time, Michael remains quiet. Not like he has a choice, Bear is crushing his wind pipe. I get out of bed quickly, unsure of what to do. If I don't hurry and do something, Michael might not live to see tomorrow.

          I do the first thing that comes to mind, and wrap my arms around Bear's waist. I lay my head on his back, whispering to him that everything is okay. He stiffens at my touch, not sure how to react, but he relaxes slowly. He releases his death grip on Michael's throat, causing Michael to go into full cough-attack mode. Bear breathes deep for a few moments, calming himself before he turns.

        His eyes meet mine, my arms still around his waist as he faces me. He lays a hand on my shoulder, slowly gliding his hand down my arm. When it reaches my hand, he grabs it gently, bring it to his face. He examines the wrapping, blood seeping through slightly. He closes his eyes tight before leaving a small kiss on my hand.

          "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you." His voice is heavy as it holds regret, his eyes fluttering open to look down at me.

        "Well protect her now, we need to get out of here." Michael wheezes from next to us, holding his throat. Bear glares in his direction but doesn't say anything. His eyes wander past me and into the hallways, an audience has just witnessed what happened. The privacy curtain lays on the floor as a useless mess.

          "We'll be back for you." Bear finally says, grabbing Michael by the collar.

          "Meet is our front, any way you can. We'll take care of the rest." And with that, they left. I look around quickly for my clothes, finding them folded neatly in a pile on a chair next to my bed. I dress quickly, sliding my handcuff key necklace onto my neck and down the front of my shirt just in time for a police officer to march in.

          "Tessa James, I need to have a word with you. My name is Jim, and it's to my knowledge you were involved in a disturbance this evening resulting in 5 dead. Would you mind coming with me?" I don't have the chance to answer before he's handcuffing me and dragging me down the hallway.

          "You have the right to remain silent-" Oh fuck, oh fuck. What do I do? My mind races as I look around, trying to find a way out of this. He drags me past the front counter, nodding to the other officers here to retrieve me.

          We've barely made it outside when there's a gunshot, Jim falling to the ground. I gasp, stepping away from his now dead body as other officers run out, examining the scene. More gunshots shoot through the air, more men falling as they struggle to take out their weapons. A car pulls up at the entrance, Bear at the wheel.

          "Get in." He pushes the door open for me, I slide in quickly and he steps on it, the car flying forward, the door slamming shit. Bullets hit the outside of the car, but have no affect on it. I sit back as he races through the parking lot, the sound of sirens start echoing through the air.

          "Are you hurt?" He looks at me up and down, his eyes flying back and forth between me and the road.

          "Yeah, I'm okay. Are you?" I get no response as he takes a sharp turn, my shoulder hitting the door hard. He reaches down his shirt, pulling out a handcuff key necklace of his own.

          "Thanks to you, now I wear this." He says as he yanks it off, sliding them into my cuffs and releasing me. I sigh happily as he uncuffs the other half, my wrists burning from the tightness.

          "See? I'm good for something, told you to lee me around." I wink, tossing the handcuffs in the back. Bear chuckles and turns quickly again.

          "Where's Michael?" My heart drops as I remember my best friend hasn't been seen since Bear dragged him away. Bear glares at the road as he goes faster, his knuckles white from grasping the wheel.

          "Cleaning up the mess he created." I sigh in relief, at least he's not dead.