The Edge of Hope

Chapter Eight: Got Away

I jolted awake suddenly on high alert. I was confused when my eyes didn’t adjust to the darkness. Then I remembered that I had been locked in a room in a casino. Kevin had betrayed us. And I still had no idea if Michael and Xavier were okay. My leg had stopped bleeding, but I still felt faint.

My comm was offline so it was useless to try and contact anyone. I didn’t have a watch and my phone had broken when I fell after being shot so I had no idea what time it was. My stomach growled so it must have been a while since I had been locked up. Outside of the door was quiet, but that didn’t mean anything. I was away from all the main rooms.

I tried to stand up, but my leg didn’t want to support my weight. I’ve been in my worse situations, but I was always able to get out of them. This was a different situation. Everything was getting worse and worse. A clicking noise came from the door and I snapped my head in that direction. The door opened and a blinding light filled the room before quickly disappearing.

“Agent Gem! Thank goodness! I have been searching this whole place for you.”

“Michael? Is that you?” I asked. My voice sounded weak.

“Yes. It’s me. And you don’t sound to good. How is your arm?”

“My arm? It’s fine. It’s my leg. I was shot.”

“Again? You need to stop doing that. Are you able to walk?”

“No. I can’t even put the tiniest bit of pressure on it.” A light flicked on and Michael shined it on my leg.

“Yowza. That looks bad. No wonder you can’t walk. I think our only option is to get you standing so that I can help you get out of here. But it is going to hurt a lot.”

“I know. Help me up.” I gritted my teeth as Michael turned off the light and put his strong arms under my shoulders. Pain exploded in my leg as I slowly got up. It was too much and I was forced back to the ground. Despite it being dark I saw stars. Michael was there trying to support me the best he could. He wasn’t complaining, but I knew I was too heavy for him. “Michael?”

“Yeah?” he grunted.

“Let go. I am not going to be able to stand. And you can’t carry me out of here. Just leave me and go help Xavier.” I said. My voice strained.

“No way. Not an option. Either we are both getting out of here or neither of us are. Besides Agent Xavier is already in pursuit of the woman and Silverbear.” Michael said adjusting his grip trying to pull me up.

“What about Kevin?” I asked. Michael didn’t answer. “Michael what about Kevin?”

“He got away. For now. And those kids with Silverbear’s so called wife were kidnapped. By them. They were reported missing two weeks ago. If we can pull this off we'll be solving three problems at once.” Michael explained excitedly.

“Awesome. Fine, I will try to get up again. But if I can’t I am not moving.”

“And I can respect that, but that means I am not moving either. Now let’s get you up.” Michael began pulling me up again.

Pain blinded me and I couldn’t stop myself from crying out, but no matter how much my knees wanted to buckle, Michael kept pulling me up. Finally I was on my feet, but I was so dizzy and faint that almost all of my weight was on him. I felt bad, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

“See you got up. I knew you were stronger than me. Now let’s get out of here.” Michael and I began to slowly shuffle out of the room. It took all I had not to pass out and force Michael to carry me all on his own. I knew he wouldn’t complain, but I didn’t like the idea of being so weak that I needed him to carry me. He was already 90% of the way there, but at least I could still help.

We soon made it out of the building and Michael helped me into a car that was parked right out front. I layed down in the back seat and only once Michael was in the front seat and the car was in motion did I let myself pass out.

When I woke up I was still in the car and Michael was still in the front seat driving. “Michael? Where are we going?”

“Hey. Agent Xavier just caught Howard, Silverbear, and the woman. The woman told Xavier where the kids were being held and we are on our way to get them. Sorry, I wanted to get you to a hospital. But I think Xavier will blow a gasket if we don’t get these kids back to their parents.” Michael explained glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

I looked at my leg to see that it had been bandaged. It was probably going to be a while before I could walk again. But I wasn’t worried. What I was worried about was how we were going to get the kids back to the U.S. We could fly them back, but someone would have to go with them. And I was definitely in no condition to go. Agent Xavier trusts all of his Agents, but he always trusted me the most. I never knew why, but I was always the one to do things for Xavier that he didn’t trust anyone else to do.

We soon arrived at a cabin in a forest about 20 miles away from all cities and towns. Michael left me in the car and soon came back with the two kids. They both climbed into the front seat and Michael got back behind the wheel.

“Who is she?”

“She is Agent Gem. We are both taking you back to your parents.” Michael answered.

“Why is she lying down? Is she hurt?”

“Yeah she got hurt, but she will be okay soon.” Michael assured them. The whole ride to meet Agent Xavier was them asking a trillion questions. I swear they must have been the most curious kids I had ever met.

As soon as we arrived, Agent Xavier took the kids and gave them to an official government agent so that he could watch them. I was moved to a stretcher where three EMT’s fawned over me and continuously reassured me that I was going to be okay. I knew I was because I had been in worse situations. But it still felt good to be taken care of.

To my delight I was given crutches. Crutches allow more freedom and less help from people than a wheelchair. When we arrived back at headquarters Xavier sent me straight to my room. Normally I would be front and center when Xavier was debriefing us, but I was of no help to anyone while on crutches. I hobbled to my bed and layed down. I didn’t mean to sleep, but the moment my head hit the pillow I was out.