Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
The team sat silently in the waiting room waiting for a doctor’s reply. Erin noticed Mia was in her own little world. Darren sat furthest from her, his face buried in his own hands, her heart came out to him automatically. Ryan and Jenna exchanged glances as they noticed the strange tension in the little room “What’s taking so long?” Jenna broke the ice.
Devin had taken a call earlier but he returned minutes later with Ted by his side “Hi guys.” He greeted softly “Anything yet?”
Matt shook his head “No. Did you find her?”
Ted felt bad for giving him the news “Actually, she went to the police to turn herself in.”
“She what?!” Matt exclaimed.
“Why would Reina want to kill Doug?” Jenna asked in confusion.
“Maybe there’s more to it than we think?” Ryan consoled.
Matt nodded in agreement “Yes, there has to be something else. Did she say anything else?”
Ted shook his head sadly “She only confessed to attempting to kill Doug. Nothing else.”
“I’m going to get to the bottom of this!” Matt shot up angrily as he headed for the door.
Devin put his hand up to calm him “Is that okay Ted?” the captain nodded “I’ll go with you guys.” Turning to the rest of the team, he looked at Jenna “Call me when you hear something about Doug.” Throwing Erin a glance, he smiled shortly and left with the other two.
The room grew silent again “Why?” Darren asked suddenly. Mia ignored the question as if it wasn’t for her “Why?!” he said louder, eyes penetrating at hers but she refused to look at him in the face.
Erin turned to Mia, who was emotionless and back at Darren, who was near tears “Darren, maybe this isn’t the right time—”
“Then when?” He snapped “Tell me Erin, would you have kept it from me if I didn’t see it with my own eyes? She acted like it was her husband on that stretcher!!” he pointed angrily.
Erin was stumped, not sure of what else to say. But it seemed Mia's mind was in space, she gave no reaction. Minutes after, the door opened. Erin looked up and raised her brows in surprise “Ethan?”
He nodded with a slight smile while Mia looked up, finally giving a reaction “Hi.” He greeted sadly. His eyes were droopy and he looked exhausted.
“I thought you were in China?” Erin asked.
“I was. I came down to visit some family when the hospital called me with an emergency, they were shorthanded. So here I am. We were able to get the bullet out of his chest. I noticed before the operation that he was wearing some kind of a vest?” his brows knitted strangely.
“Bulletproof vest.” Jenna answered before snickering “I guess it didn’t help.”
Ethan shook his head “No, it was just a regular foam vest. The material inside was heavy Styrofoam. Nothing special.”
“What?” Erin stood up looking surprise. Darren too looked up strangely “It was switched?”
The young doctor shook his head “I’m not sure what happened. But I’m assuming you guys would know more than me. Was it possible that someone could have switched his vest?”
Then it occurred to her “Wait…Reina. She switched his vest.” Erin pointed out.
Jenna turned to Ryan and it came to her “Yes. I remember. The vest was given to Doug but when he tried it on, it didn’t fit him. She came to him and switched it saying that she picked his up by accident!” Jenna punched her fist “Damn it!”
“Can we see him?” Mia asked earnestly.
Ethan sighed, “He lost a lot of blood, I want to warn all of you to be prepared. He’s still in critical condition and…”
“And what?” Mia demanded harshly.
“We could lose him tonight.” Ethan finished “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. So if you have anything to say to him, do it now.” With his warning, Mia popped from her seat and rushed outside. He turned to Erin with questioning eyes. Darren couldn’t control his feelings as he got up and stormed out of the room.
Erin turned to the other two “You two stay here. Excuse me Ethan.” She sidestepped him and rushed after Darren. She found him waving hysterically for a taxi but there were none at that time of night “You can run but you’ll have to face her eventually.”
Angrily, he spun around to her “I’m not the one that needs to face someone!” he said with widened eyes “They were having an affair behind my back and I had no idea! She can’t even admit it but her actions show me otherwise. How much did you know Erin? Honestly, no more lies…please, I have the right to know.”
She lowered her eyes, still unable to face him “I’m sorry Darren.”
“My God…Bonnie…what do I tell her?” he slumped to the ground in frustration “I can’t forgive her, Erin. I can’t do it…I can’t forget that look on her face when she was holding onto his hand. He was like a brother to me… I was backstabbed.” Shaking his head in disbelief as he allowed the tears to escape.
Erin stepped towards him slowly as she sighed and knelt down next to him “We don’t have hard evidence. They are innocent until proven guilty. Until she admits it, we cannot jump to conclusions. Yes, he snuck out a few times to see someone but I never actually saw anyone in the limo--”
“Limo?” he looked up with tears stained face.
“When was this?” Darren asked.
“Two days ago.” She answered softly.
“The limo was in the shop.” He said, eyes turned away as if something had hit him.
Erin quickly picked it up “What?”
“You swear it was my limo?” he emphasized.
She nodded “I’m pretty sure, I’ve seen the limo enough to recognize it.”
“I took the limo to the shop myself, Mia wouldn’t know where it was taken too. She doesn’t even know that I take it to the shop.” He said with a look of confusion “Something’s not right.”
Erin nodded “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. Right now, we need to see how our teammate is doing.” Darren hesitantly agreed as he got up and followed her inside.
*************
Matt was impatient as he waited in the cage like room. Reina was treated like a prisoner eventhough her trial date was not for another week. She came out in a gray uniform too big for her slender figure. The cuffs on her hand, she refused to look at any of their faces “Reina!” Matt stood up but was quickly pushed down by Devin.
“Matt.” He shook his head “Don’t make it harder on Ted.” Ted smiled thankfully. He sat down after Matt and turned to Reina “Why did you do it?”
She shrugged carelessly but refused to answer “Was it because of me?” Matt asked sincerely “Please…talk to me.”
Reina couldn’t hold in the tears as she let them silently escape her eyes as she looked up at his face and whispered “No.”
“Yes it is! Did Hung Gor force you? Please, just tell me the truth, I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone on the team!” Matt challenged.
Ted and Devin looked at each other and back at Matt “Hung Gor?” Devin turned his head with suspicion.
Matt lowered his eyes to his hands before answering Devin “Before she was recruited by Joe, she worked for Hung Gor as an assassin. Recently, he’s been trying to give her money to bribe her in going back to him. We declined it but he’s relentless.” He turned back to Reina “Please, just tell me. I won’t be mad.” He shook his head earnestly.
She sniffed back the tears “No, he didn’t force me to do anything.” She kept a tight lip.
“So it’s true…” Devin whispered more to himself. He looked up at Reina “I can’t help you if you don’t tell us the truth. Do you really want to go to jail again?”
She looked up with a smile through the tears “Why not? It’s not that bad. They feed you and there’s shelter. It’s not like its my first time.”
“Do you remember how hard it was for us to get you out?!” Matt cried, “How could you say that? What about me? Was that all just a big scam? Please Reina, I know you’re not that kind of person, please tell me…” he begged desperately.
She shook her head, eyes distant “No. I did this all myself.” Looking up at him, she smiled “Thank you for everything. But I realized that I could never love anyone more than Andrew. Although your attempt was close.” She got up and left the place. Matt was hurt beyond words as he pounded his fist on the table. Reina paused as she turned to look at him, she lipped the words ‘sorry’ that Devin noticed only because he turned to wave at the guard.
Tilting his head strangely, he turned to Matt “Her punishment won't be too bad. Just as long as Doug is still alive.”
**********
“Nurse!!!” Mia cried hysterically down the hall as she tried to search for a medical team. She ran into Ethan instead “Ethan!! Something’s wrong!” she pointed to Doug’s room.
Jenna and Ryan were about to visit Doug too when they heard Mia’s shrill cries. They rushed down the hall and found Ethan and Mia jogging towards a room. They quickly followed and paused when a few nurses passed by to assist Ethan. The monotone ring nearly stopped her beating heart. Jenna reached out and clutched onto Ryan’s hand, her eyes tearing up again “His heartbeat…”
Ryan shook his head as he held onto her shoulders “No…he’ll be okay. Ethan can save him…” even he knew it didn’t look good. He watched as Ethan pumped the electric waves onto Doug’s bare chest to bring him back. Mia stood on the side crying and praying that he would be okay.
A moment later, Ethan finally gave up “Patient’s death time, 9:34pm.” He said to the nurse and covered the blanket over his face. Turning to Mia, his eyes widened when he saw that she was weakening, her eyes rolling upwards. He moved fast to catch her before she could hit her head on the ground “Mia!” he called.
Ryan and Jenna moved into the room to help support Mia “I’ll take her out.” Ryan said as he picked her up with ease and placed on a bed in the room across from Doug’s room.
Erin and Darren decided to go to the room when they returned to the empty waiting room. They were in the hall watching Ryan rush by with an unconscious Mia in his arms and Jenna spotted them at the corner of her eyes “Doug’s gone!” she wailed and covered her face in tears. Erin rushed over to embrace the young girl “He’s gone…” she sobbed.
Darren lowered his head, saddened by the news. Ethan walked out and he too was in tears “I’m sorry…I thought I could save him.”
“It’s not your fault.” Erin assured him “Go check on Mia.” She nodded to the room where Ryan took her into.
Ethan nodded sadly as he entered the room to make sure she was okay. She was revived and gripping onto Ryan’s sleeve while demanding “He’s not dead!! He’s not!! Ryan, tell me, he’s not dead!” she looked up and saw Ethan by the door, running over to him as she began yelling “Why didn’t you save him?!! What kind of a doctor are you?!!” she sobbed while hitting him on the chest. Tired, she lowered her forehead into his chest while he hugged her in a warm embrace.