Pulse

NINE

NINE

He gently tapped the edge of his phone against the counter top impatiently, an evident look of frustration etched across his face.

When Nurse Harper turned to face him, he slipped his phone into the inner pocket of his jacket and planted both hands on the counter top.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked, tapping away behind the screen and looking up to see that the gentleman was clearly frazzled. "Did you make an appointment to see a specialist today?" she asked.

Oliver Bouvier dried his sweaty palms on his jeans and looked up at the board across the hallway, squinting to find the name of the Head Paediatrician, his eyes finally resting on a certain Dr. Chase-Miles Desjardin.

When he insisted on seeing Chase, it finally piqued Nurse Harper's curiosity. "Are you seeing him for your child? Is your child with you tonight?" she quizzed, realizing something was amiss.

"It's...it's for my son. I just have a quick question and I won't be long. Please," Oliver begged, more sweat forming across his forehead which he briskly dried off against the sleeves of his jacket.

Nurse Harper looked up the doctors' schedule and finally announced that she would have to make him an appointment for another day.

"No. Not another day. It has to be tonight," he said, annoyed and it was at that very moment when Chase walked past the receptionist counter, clocking out from his shift for the day, smiling from ear to ear, ready to begin the next chapter of his life with his newly-minted fiancée.

"Night, Harper," he said, heading towards the exit.

Oliver's eyes instantaneously glazed over the ID badge that Chase had clipped on and within an instant, placed that this was the doctor he was looking for. He grabbed Chase by the neck from behind and the doctor felt a gun pressed against his side.

"Hey, take it easy alright. Tell me what you need," Chase said slowly, trying his best to recognize the man but can't for the life of him place having ever met him.

It was almost as if Oliver had read Chase's mind. "You don't know me. But you treated my son. Liam," Oliver said, leading Chase to a quieter part of the hospital despite the panic surrounding both men as Nurse Harper quickly dialled for help and several waiting outpatients stood, frozen in their spot.

Chase mouthed, "I'll be okay" at Nurse Harper as she watched the men slowly backtrack to a room where they could be alone.

"You remember him?" Oliver asked again and Chase could sense that the man was nervous.

"Yeah, I remember," Chase said slowly and despite seeing plenty of patients everyday, he won't ever forget Liam and how troubled the kid was, trying to escape from his abusive foster father.

"Well, no thanks to you because he's now gone. And the cops are probably after me next," Oliver said matter-of-fact, still not releasing his hostage.

"What do you mean gone?" Chase repeated and when Oliver didn't answer, Chase closed his eyes, fearing the worst and the deep unsettling feeling that he might have caused this.

"Don't worry, I took real good care of him," Oliver muttered sarcastically to himself, confirming Chase's thoughts and he even had the audacity to laugh after having said the words though Chase could sense that the man was acting out of response to fear.

"Listen, let me try and help-" Chase was interrupted by loud knocks on the wooden door, demanding for it to be opened.

"You don't want it to end this way. Please," Chase begged and he heard Oliver laughing to himself.

Chaos ensued in that moment and Chase watched as Oliver laid motionless on the ground in his own pool of blood, eyes still wide open.

It all happened so quickly within the span of mere seconds.

"We have the suspect, Oliver Bouchard, 55, pulse is weak but he's still conscious."

"Chase, you alright?"

"He's bleeding out, we need to get him to the trauma bay now."

"There's no time. We'll need to pack him here."

Chase heard frantic voices surrounding him, some were questions directed at him but most were focused on Oliver whom in spite of the amount of blood he's lost and the pain he must be in, still had an unremorseful look in his eyes, almost as if he wouldn't give up on life just to spite those he has hurt.

Chase felt someone grip his hand and recognized it to be Siobhan's.

"Are you alright?" she asked again but he didn't answer, instead kneeling beside the patient who was still lucid.

"Where is Liam? Is he still alive?" Chase begged for answers, knowing full well that he might not get them from the dying man.

But that's where Oliver slipped up. In the final moments of his life, he wore arrogance like a badge of honour and choked out a sinister laugh, muttering under his breath, "You might not get there in time."

That was all the answer Chase needed and without thinking, he raced out the door.

Blood covered his scrubs and sweat poured down his face as he ran the 2 ½ blocks towards the dilapidated home belonging to the Bouchards, a home he recognized from the forms Liam had filled up.

The doors were conveniently left unlocked by a troubled Oliver, rushing to leave the scene of the crime and to find his next victim.

"Liam!" Chase yelled, tearing through the messy home, frantically looking for the teenager he had last seen only a few days before.

When he saw the trail of blood in a descending pattern formed against the stairs, Chase ran up the steps, two at a time, until he reached the final wooden floorboard and that's where the trail ended, leading to the pool of blood and the kid lying face down in it.

"No....Liam," Chase said, feeling desperately for a pulse but all he felt was how cold Liam's hand was. And then, he felt it, a pulse so weak that Chase wondered if he had imagined it.

But a pulse is a pulse.

A pulse meant that Liam was still fighting to stay alive and despite all that he had been through in the past 16 years, he would go on to fight against his life predicament and for once, finally escape the clutches of the man that had made living a nightmare.

As Oliver finally breathed his last in Montreal General Hospital just several blocks from where they were, Liam was finally free.