| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“Is it critical?” The uniformed officer asked.
“No,” Brad replied. “I don’t know what kind of bullet it is, but it went right through. But it missed the critical area. I’m not sure about inside though.”
Another officer – in regular clothes – comes in through the door.
“Cory, the emergency vehicle is here,” The newly arrived officer announced.
“Good,” Cory – the uninformed officer – said. “Let them through and assist them with the equipments.” He walks towards Brad. “Could you please…”
“I know,” Brad said. “Let the professionals take over, right?”
“I don’t mean that. But….”
“I’m kidding. We should do what’s best for Annie first.”
Cory looks confused. “Annie?”
Then the next moments do not permit him to elaborate. The emergency team moves in to put Annie on the stretcher. They move really fast, securing her on it before hauling it out. Carrying her at this time would be fatal. Although Brad has managed to stop her bleeding with the first aid box provided by Cory’s team earlier but they aren’t sure what’s going on inside her until they reach the hospital.
Brad, Cory, and Gallen walk out at the same time, following the team. Before they reach the elevators, Gallen’s cell phone rings.
“Hello?” Gallen said.
While Gallen’s answering, Cory’s giving his team some additional instructions.
“Hurry up and check for the other two men that Detective was talking about earlier,” Cory said. “Be extra careful. I don’t want anything like that…” He gestures towards the stretcher that’s being hauled into the elevator at that time. “…happening again.”
“Yes, sir!” An officer said.
The others go back to searching the area while Cory watches the elevator with the stretcher inside close.
“I need to follow the emergency vehicle to the hospital now,” Gallen said, finishing his explanation. “You guys can come back. It’s safe now. At least I hope so.”
With that, he hangs up.
“Who was that?” Brad asked.
“It’s Ray,” Gallen replied. “He’s wondering what happened to Jacky and me.”
“Oh…no wonder I didn’t see them around the building. Where are they?”
“Lucky for them, they went to Yin Yang’s to get some fresh air.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll go back and report to Madame Meng. Meet you in the hospital later.”
“Okay.” Gallen turns to say goodbye to Cory.
“I’ll be in the hospital after I wrap up here so I guess I’ll be seeing you too?” Cory asked.
“Probably.” Gallen turns to leave but hears Cory calls out, “Hey!” He turns around to face Cory again.
“According to what you said to the guy who just left, you probably know Jacky, right?”
Gallen nods.
“Could you tell him something?”
Gallen waits for him to continue.
“Tell him it was unexpected that Detective…”
Before he could finish, one of the officers calls him from behind.
Cory turns to see what’s going on. He knows he needs to be there immediately so he turns around to face Gallen one last time. “Just tell him when he finds out about Detective Chan, it wasn’t our fault.”
“Detective Chan?” Gallen asked, puzzled.
“Jacky’ll explain it to you later or I’ll do it when I meet you there after I finish up here.”
Gallen knows that both he and Cory have to go so he leaves it at that and heads for the other elevator.
*****
Gallen steps out of the elevator briskly, trying to catch up with the emergency team. He knows that they can’t be that far since they’re being extra careful with transporting Annie. He rushes past Stan by the entrance and looks towards the street area to get a view of the ambulance. He sees it on the left side. They are just done with putting Annie inside. He smiles lightly, knowing he’s not too late. He takes a step towards that direction since his car is parked towards that way too. But he steps dead in his tracks when he takes the next step. It couldn’t be, he thought. How?
“Tim?” The girl in front of him asked. “Where are you going? It’s late. I just got back from my aunt’s house.”
“Annie?” Gallen managed, stunned.
“What’s wrong? You looked like you just seen a ghost!”
“I just saw you…but…”
Then Cory’s words comes right back into his mind.
Before he could open his mouth again, he hears a shriek somewhere ahead. A guy’s voice.
“What in the world?” The guy exclaimed. “I thought you said Annie’s being transported to the hospital right now!”
Gallen looks ahead to see Kevin, Ray, Charmaine, Mandy, Jessica, and Alice walking towards him. Ray’s the one who just shout out the astonishment.
“What kind of joke is this?” Ray asked, coming closer.
Gallen finally recovers. “It’s not a joke. I just misunderstood. I finally got it sort out now.”
Ray wrinkles his face. “What?!?”
“The one who was shot wasn’t Annie. It was Jan.”
“Jan?!?”
“Jan got shot? How?” Annie blurted out at the same time as Ray.
Gallen could see that the ambulance is pulling out. “I can’t explain it all now. Either call me on the way or come with me to the hospital so I can explain. I have to follow the ambulance.”
“Uh…”
“You don’t have to follow since everyone had a long day. I’ll just come back later to explain if you’re up to it.”
Ray turns to look at the others, seeing no objections, he replies on their behalf. “We’ll go but this time…I think we better stick together. Like you can follow in your car, but the rest of us should take one car only.”
“Okay. But Annie has to come with me since I’m not totally sure that it’s safe to go back yet. I mean for your apartment. Cory’s team is still working on processing the scene.”
*****
It’s past midnight by now. The crowd gathers in front of the ER. Some are standing, some are sitting. The ones who are standing are pacing constantly.
“Ge, can you stop making me dizzy?” Mandy asked. “You’re not helping.”
It’s the first time Mandy calls Ray “ge” directly since she always calls him by his name. Ray’s a bit taken aback so he stops pacing – for a second. Then he takes the seat between Mandy and Joey, which is also directly across Wallace.
“I can’t help it, sis,” Ray said. “This is serious.”
“We know,” Mandy said. “But…” Her voice softens. “…don’t make Jacky more nervous.”
Jacky hears that anyway. “I’m not nervous. Just impatient.”
Mandy doesn’t respond but just nods. Ray knows better at a time like this so he just looks down at the floor.
“We just have to hope that they can get the bullet out safely,” Wallace said.
Joey gets up from her place across from Kenneth and walks to Jacky, who’s looking inside the ER glass window. She puts a hand on his shoulder. Jacky turns to face her.
“I’m okay,” Jacky said. “Don’t worry.”
Joey nods and goes back to her original place.
Ray couldn’t stand the deafening silence anymore. “I couldn’t believe so much happened in one night. I mean…” He gestures his hand. “…this is just…crazy.”
Mandy puts a hand on his left shoulder. “You okay?”
Ray nods. “I’ll manage.”
Of course Gallen had already explained to Ray what was going on or from the point where he and Brad got into Annie’s apartment. His theory was right according to Jan’s last words before she passed out earlier and what Cory said to him before he left to pursue the emergency team. They’d been waiting here for an hour now. Jan’s still in surgery. Jacky, Wallace, and Kenneth had joined them about half an hour back since they had to make sure all the gunmen were transferred to the station. Of course they had to bring Vincent and Alyssa along since they “couldn’t risk it” as Jacky puts it. Joey had joined them about 15 minutes earlier after taking care of matters and giving directions to her team. Brad had also joined them since he wants to know Jan’s condition. Jessica had to leave half an hour before because her boss managed to find a “hole” in her report so she had to run back to see what’s going on even though it’s late at night. No one had bothered to ask Jacky for the whole story behind Jan’s background since it’s so hectic right now. They only know from Annie that Jan had asked to borrow Annie’s red shirt and black skirt before she told Annie that Annie should go visit some relatives for a while. Annie had left wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue jeans. That was how Gallen found her earlier and seemed confused.
About 15 minutes more pass by. Ray’s going bananas with the intense atmosphere but he still manages to bite down his tongue as to not ruin it for everyone. Then suddenly they hear some doors slamming nearby – not the one coming from inside the ER, but the ones down the other end. Everyone looks in that direction and sees Cory.
“I finally got the whole thing sorted out,” Cory told them. “Gosh! It was a mess. And yes, Miss Man. We cleaned up your apartment for you so you can go back to it for the night. Jacky’s next door so no worries. Unless he’s….”
“I’ll be there,” Jacky verified his availability. “It’s my job.”
“It’s okay,” Gallen reassured him. “I’ll take over for you.”
“No. I have to finish it. I can’t be careless until the case is considered close.”
Cory does a quick glance of the people in front of him before he speaks up again. “Did Jacky tell you guys or do I have to fill you in?”
“I guess you have to do it,” Ray said.
“Fair enough. All right.” He stops to look at Jacky. “Can I?”
Jacky nods. “Go ahead. I’m fine.”
Cory takes a seat and begins, not forgetting to clear his throat first. “I’m going to start with the reason why we sealed off the area and wouldn’t let you and your friend in.” He gestures towards Brad.
“Brad,” Brad corrected him. “Not ‘you.’”
“Yes, Brad.” He clears his throat again. “It was because we had to seal off the area earlier to play the scene out better. If we let you through too early, it might mess the whole operation up. We received news too late and only have half an hour to prepare for the whole thing. The news was of Miss Man’s immediate harm, so we had to move fast. We couldn’t stop to explain everything to you all. We had to take the chance. It went well except for…” He gestures his hand towards the ER. “…this.” He pauses. “Detective Chan called the five of us in after the others had arrested the three hitmen. However, I guess the last bit is unpredictable or we all got careless because…”
Brad cuts him off. “Detective Chan?”
“Jan.”
Brad nods, getting it, yet still seems surprised.
Gallen realizes something. “Where’s George? I didn’t even see him earlier at Constant Comfort either.” He turns to Joey. “I thought you said you sent both Brad and George.”
“Madame Meng called him back because she needed him for something else,” Brad answered for Joey. “Since she already contact you, I’m good to go.”
Gallen nods at Brad’s explanation. Then he turns his attention back to the ER door.
“Jack, why didn’t you tell us about Jan?” Joey asked, suddenly anxious.
“He already exposed himself, which we don’t know why so we couldn’t risk any more of that,” Cory answered for Jacky. “We need one of them to stay undercover.”
Gallen looks towards Jacky’s direction real quick. He realizes what Jacky had to sacrifice to help him watch over Ray while he’s always losing patience with Jacky’s wacky nature. I owe you one, he thought.
“Wait….” Ray said suddenly.
Cory turns to him, waiting for him to finish.
“Jan looks so…umm…how can she…umm…”
“That’s the whole idea. If anything, people would target their suspicions towards Jacky. To think of it, it’s good that he expose himself since he gained all your trusts better than staying mysterious like before.”
“Hmmm….”
“Hmmm?”
“To tell the truth, I’m more suspicious of Tim than Jacky at the beginning.”
“We know,” Gallen said. “That’s why we had to…”
“Tim!” Jacky called out, stopping him.
Jacky said that so loud that everyone turns to look at him.
“Sorry. I’m just getting….” He gestures his hand, then goes back to pacing.
Gallen realizes that he almost blew his own cover. While he’s molding it over, Kevin speaks up.
“Whatever it is,” Kevin – who had been sitting silently next to Mandy the whole time – spoke up. “We’d been through so much together these past weeks, so let’s forget the whole suspicion thing, okay?”
Ray nods, not wanting to ponder further.
Cory looks at the ER door again. “I thought Brad said that the bullet went through, why does it take so long?” He turns to Brad. “Didn’t you stop the blood for her?”
“There’s still a fragment of the bullet inside her.”
“Oh…”
After that, that part of the hallway goes into silence again.
© Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
Re-posted: Sunday, October 11th, 2009