Kidnapped (3/3)
The door at the top of the stairs opened. Jared and Jensen tensed, Jared pressing himself against Jensen's side.
Footsteps came down the stairs. It wasn't Train, because the tread wasn’t heavy enough.
There was a knock on the door.
Jared and Jensen looked at one another and shrugged. Jensen got up and opened the door.
Lalo stood there with a paper plate of sandwiches and a gun.
"Here." He said, shoving the plate at Jensen.
Jensen took the plate and stepped back as Lalo quickly closed the door and went back upstairs.
The sandwiches were peanut butter and jelly. But, as Jared pointed out, they needed to stay fed, hydrated and rested, because they didn't know what they were going to have to deal with.
After they ate, Jared paced the room restlessly.
"You know, if we just had our phones, or a game, or even a deck of cards." he said.
"Yeah, I know." Jensen nodded.
Jared never did well with being bored.
"Come here." Jensen called him over.
He had Jared sit on the floor at Jensen's feet while Jensen massaged his shoulders, as he did frequently on set when Jared got tense or anxious.
Normally, he could feel the tension in Jared's muscles ease after a few minutes but today it wasn't working.
Not that it was a surprise.
Jared turned to look at him. "Look, I appreciate ... "
He trailed off when they heard raised voices upstairs.
They couldn't make out the words, just that at least two people didn't seem to be happy.
They looked at each other for a moment, until Jensen held his finger to his lips and gestured toward the door with his head.
He and Jared walked quietly to the door and then up the stairs, to about three steps from the top.
" ... the fuck I s'posed to know where he is?" Train shouted. "Did you call him?"
"He ain't answering!" Lalo yelled back. "That motherfucker done took off with all them cards and pin numbers!"
"You don't know that!" Train argued. "What if he got busted? What if he tellin' the cops where we are right now? We gotta get them guys outta here!"
"He ain't got busted! He done took off to Vegas or picked hisself up a fucking truckload of hookers!" Lalo said. "He out there spending the money that should be all of ours!"
"You the dumb motherfucker who told him to go get all that money!" Train pointed out. "You shoulda gone with him if you thought he gonna done take off!"
"I'm gonna find that pendejo and he gonna be sorry!" Lalo shouted.
"But for real, man, what if he got busted?" Train asked again. "What if he sittin' down there at the jail right now tellin' the cops where we are?"
"He ain't that stupid." Lalo said. "He ain't tellin' no cops nothin'. And besides, if he did, you wanna be leaving with those guys in the back of the truck or cleanin' up a crime scene when the cops get here?"
"Man we shoulda done turned them loose last night." Train answered, sounding defeated.
"It's cool, man." Lalo said. "We just wait until dark tonight, and we drop them off somewhere. We blindfold them again when we take them out and drive them around in circles so they don't know where they are. Then we leave them on the side of the road somewhere."
"Yeah, I guess." Train replied. "Don't you ever do somethin' so stupid like kidnapping TV stars and bringin' them here again."
Jensen nudged Jared and the two of them crept down the stairs, the argument apparently over.
"So we just got to wait until tonight?" Jared asked.
"Maybe." Jensen said. "Bug may have taken off to Vegas or if he was driving around in your SUV with my cell phone with the GPS on stuck in the seat, he may have gotten caught."
"So let's hope that he did." Jared shrugged.
"And that it doesn't take the SWAT team to get us out of here." Jensen told him.
Hopeful that they were going to be rescued or released by that evening, both of them relaxed somewhat. They talked about the show, which was scheduled to start filming in a little over a month, about the vacations they had planned in the meantime. And how whoever among their circle of friends was hosting the July 4th cookout better have all the alcohol on hand and not send anyone on a beer run.
They guessed that maybe a couple hours had passed and they hadn’t heard any more raised voices.
Jensen ventured up and knocked on the kitchen door again, asking Train for something to eat when he opened it.
A heavy fog of weed smoke rolled through the doorway.
“Yeah, man.” Train nodded. “Sorry, we forgot about yous down there. I’ll bring somethin’ down in a few minutes.”
Jensen went back down to wait.
It ended up being about 45 minutes but when Train came downstairs, he brought a six pack of beer and a McDonalds bag with two extra large orders of fries and five different sandwiches.
He didn’t say much, just gave them the food and left.
Jared and Jensen sat on the bed and sorted out the sandwiches.
Jensen took a chicken sandwich and offered Jared the Quarter Pounder, which he knew was Jared’s favorite.
“I hope this is because he’s stoned and hungry, not because he’s offering the condemned a last meal.” Jensen said, opening up a beer.
Jared looked at him for a long moment. “Don’t say things like that. I just want to go home. I hope the dogs are okay. Hopefully Sandy has gone over to feed them and let them out.”
“I know.” Jensen sighed. “Just a few more hours. We’ll be out of here tonight.”
“I hope so.” Jared said.
They ate in silence, both of them looking toward the door every few minutes, hoping to hear someone coming down the stairs.
Instead, two hours later they heard more shouting.
Cautiously, they crept up the stairs to listen.
“ … the fuck you mean, he in the hospital?” Lalo said.
“Just what I tole you!” Train shouted. “That was Marie on the phone. Bug used to hook up with her sister. She said the cops tried to stop him and he run. They got in a high speed chase and he pulled out in front of a fucking semi truck. He in the hospital and they don’t know if he gonna make it. But they know them TV guys is missing and Bug was in on it. They won’t let none of the family see him because he’s under custody.”
“Shit!” Lalo swore.
“Shit?” Train repeated. “No shit, shit! The cops gonna be coming, man! They can’t come to my grandma house! My grandma don’t know my business and I wanna keep it that way.”
“They don’t know nothing.” Lalo said. “They don’t know where we staying. They don’t know … “
“How you know that?” Train shouted. “How you know anything? You down there listening to the cops? No! They might be lining up down the road right now!”
“Nobody knows them guys are here.” Lalo said. “Nobody seen them get out of the car here, because you can’t see the house from the road. I threw their phones away before we left the liquor store so they ain’t called nobody. Bug was supposed to be playing catcher for Little Eddie’s hoes last night and e’rybody knew it. If the cops looking for anybody, they lookin’ for Little Eddie.”
“Yeah, and if he brought back one of the girls last night like he was s’pose to insteada Rory Gilmore’s boyfriend, one of them could be riding my dick right now and relievin’ some of this tension.” Train said.
“Let the TV guys take care of it for you.” Lalo answered.
“Dude! No!” Train replied. “I don’t play with no pansy ass!”
“Man, a blow job is a blow job.” Lalo said. “You close your eyes, a tongue is a tongue. I betcha they both done sucked a dick before.”
“Lalo, I’ll say it for you slow.” Train told him. “When I say I want a bitch on my dick, I ain’t talking about no prison bitch.”
The door at the top of the stairs suddenly opened. Jared and Jensen, with no warning, were caught on the stairs.
Jensen was shocked at the difference in Lalo from earlier. His whole face was different. His eyes were wild and he was shaking.
“Well.” Lalo said. “I guess you done heard everything.” He pointed to Jensen. “You. Not the Gilmore Boy. Come here.”
“Look man,” Jensen pleaded, holding up his hands. “We don’t want any trouble and we don’t want to cause anybody any trouble. Just let us go. We don’t know where we were. We’ll tell them we never saw your faces.”
“Yeah, well you ain’t goin’ anywhere tonight.” Lalo said. “The cops is all over the place lookin’ for you two. Too much heat to take you outta here right now. In a couple days, we’ll drop you off out in the middle of nowhere. But right now, you can earn your keep.”
He grabbed Jensen’s arm and pulled him forward, into the kitchen. Off balance as he was, Jensen fell on the floor at Train’s feet.
“Let go of him!” Jared shouted, surging up toward Lalo.
Lalo pulled his gun from his waistband, raising it toward Jared even as Jensen shouted “NO!”
Luckily Lalo couldn’t get the safety off and aim in time. He ended up hitting Jared in the face with the gun instead.
Jared went down hard, smacking his head on the tile, his torso on the kitchen floor and his legs still on the stairs. He wasn’t moving and blood trickled from cuts on his cheekbone and beside his eye.
Jensen scrambled over to him. He was able to put a hand on Jared’s chest to confirm that he was still alive, before Lalo clicked the safety off and held the gun to Jensen’s temple.
“Come on, pretty boy.” Lalo said. “You come take care of me and Train and then you can go check on your boyfriend.”
Jensen spent about half a second thinking about what Dean Winchester would do before shoving the barrel of the gun away from his head with one hand while jumping, turning and swinging his other fist toward Lalo.
It probably would have worked for Dean Winchester.
For Jensen Ackles, it succeeded in getting the gun away from his head. But he missed the punch. The gun went off and the bullet ricocheted off the floor and hit the wall by the refrigerator. And Lalo punched him in the face hard enough to momentarily stun him.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!?!” Train shrieked. “We ain’t killing nobody in my grandma’s house! And now I gotta fix this before she get home and see it!”
Lalo stuck the gun against Jensen’s chest. The heat from the barrel singed a round spot on his shirt.
Jensen looked over at Jared, who groaned and was trying to raise up on his elbows.
Lalo kicked Jared in the ribs, sending him crashing back down onto the floor.
“Leave him alone!” Jensen shouted.
“You fools done harshed my mellow.” Train said, throwing up his hands. “I’m gonna go smoke another blunt. You stay here and play with your Oscar Mayer Weiners.”
He left the kitchen, muttering about crazy motherfuckers and Rory Gilmore’s boyfriend.
Lalo waved his gun in Jared’s direction. “Go get him up.” He told Jensen.
Jensen helped Jared to sit and then to stand. Jared gasped and gritted his teeth, holding his side.
They looked at each other and Jensen knew that Jared had cracked or broken ribs. And probably a concussion from the way Jared’s eyes seemed unfocused.
“Bring him in here.” Lalo instructed.
Jared, with Jensen supporting him, was herded into the living room.
Train sat in a recliner, a gun on the end table beside him and one of the biggest joints Jensen had ever seen in his hand.
“Put him down there.” Lalo gestured toward the couch.
Jensen eased Jared down to sit, leaning close to whisper to him. But before he could, Lalo spoke again.
“No, you two can make out later. You, pretty boy. Go get me that curtain rope.”
Jensen unhooked the decorative rope tieback from one side of the drapes and brought it to Lalo.
“Sit down there.” Lalo pointed to the floor next to the coffee table. “Train, you watch him and shoot him if he try anything funny.”
“Whatever, man.” Train shook his head, taking another hit off his joint.
Lalo put his gun next to Train’s, out of Jensen’s reach. Then he tied Jensen’s left wrist to the heavy wrought iron leg of the coffee table.
“Gimme a hit.” Lalo said, standing up and walking over to Train.
“Fuck you, man.” Train answered but held out the joint.
Lalo sat on the end of the couch near Train, and the two of them smoked in silence for a few moments.
“Look, guys.” Jensen began. “Jared’s hurt.” He gestured toward his friend. “I swear to God we won’t tell anyone who you are or where you are. Just let us go. Take us out somewhere and drop us off. We’ll wait ten minutes to let y’all get away before we try to get help.”
“You got a big fucking mouth. You know that?” Lalo said. “I can put something in it to shut you up. When you choking on Train’s big dick you ain’t gonna be talkin’ too much.”
“I tole you I don’t want no dude sucking my dick.” Train rolled his eyes.
“Well he can suck mine.” Lalo said. “I bet I can make him beg to suck mine.”
Lalo picked up his gun, stood and walked to the other end of the couch, where Jared sat.
“Don’t … “ Jensen started.
Lalo tried to punch Jared in the face but one of Jared’s arms came up to deflect the blow.
“Don’t you be gettin’ no blood on my grandma’s couch!” Train yelled.
Lalo faked another punch, which Jared tried to block but grabbed Jared’s hair instead. He pulled Jared off the couch, onto the floor and stomped on his chest.
Jared cried out in pain.
“Stop it!” Jensen shouted.
Lalo laughed, put the gun in his back waistband and punched Jared in the mouth.
“Leave him alone!” Jensen shouted.
Lalo knelt, straddling Jared’s chest and punched him in the face again.
Jared tried to raise his legs to buck Lalo off as they’d been taught in fight scene training but he gasped in pain and obviously couldn’t get enough leverage.
Jensen looked up at Train and pleaded “Do something.”
Train took another long drag off the joint, lazily turned his head and said “Lalo. Don’t get no blood on this rug.”
Lalo pulled a small pocket knife from his pocket and stabbed Jared next to his collarbone.
Jared screamed, trying to push Lalo off. Lalo grabbed Jared’s arms and in their struggle one of Jared’s wrists hit against the leg of the coffee table with a sickening crunch. Lalo grabbed the knife and slashed at Jared’s chest with it.
“Lalo, I done tole you about the blood!” Train shouted.
“Lalo, stop! I’ll do it!” Jensen yelled.
Lalo looked over at Jensen and grinned lasciviously. “You’ll do what?” he asked.
“I’ll blow you.” Jensen said. “Just leave him alone.”
Lalo stood, folding his knife and putting it back in his pocket.
Jared didn’t move.
“Beg me.” Lalo taunted. “Tell me how bad you wanna do it.”
“Please let me … “ Jensen began.
He made one last desperate Dean Winchester attempt. He lunged over as far as he could. Something in his left shoulder gave as the coffee table was dragged with him. He managed to grab Train’s gun with his right hand before the big man could react. Jensen dragged the side of the barrel against the edge of the end table to flip the safety off, raised the gun and fired.
He hit Lalo in the chest.
Lalo fell backwards, tumbling over Jared and the arm of the couch.
He didn’t get up.
Train started screaming.
“You shot him! You shot Lalo!”
Jensen turned the gun toward Train.
“I’m gonna shoot you next if you don’t untie me.”
Train threw up his hands.
“Put the joint down and untie my hand.” Jensen repeated.
Train did as he was told, breathing hard as he leaned over to untie Jensen’s wrist.
Jensen pulled his left arm back, noting that something definitely didn’t feel right in that shoulder.
“Get down here in the floor.” Jensen ordered.
“Don’t shoot me, man.” Train pleaded. “It was Lalo. I didn’t wanna hurt you and him. I got a sick grandma.”
“You do what I tell you and I won’t shoot you.” Jensen said.
Train sat down on the floor and Jensen tied one of his wrists to the leg of the coffee table as Jensen’s had been a few minutes ago.
Jensen stood, watching Train. With a few quick glances toward Lalo to make sure he wasn’t getting up Jensen backed over to the window to grab another tieback. He came over and tied Train’s other wrist to the other leg of the coffee table.
Then Jensen grabbed the keys and the cell phone off the end table next to the recliner, shoving them into his pockets.
He kept the gun in his hand, not trusting that either of the kidnappers wouldn’t try to stop them and made his way to Jared.
Jared was only semi-conscious. The cuts on his face were oozing blood but the stab wound on his chest was flowing too much.
“Come on Jay, we gotta get out of here.” Jensen said softly.
He managed to help Jared sit up and then stand, wincing as he could feel Jared’s broken ribs grind.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know it’s gotta hurt but we gotta get outta here and get you to a hospital.” Jensen told him.
With one more look around at Train, who watched them with wide eyes and at Lalo, who hadn’t moved, Jensen took as much of Jared’s weight as possible on his good shoulder and headed to the front door.
The door was locked with a deadbolt but fortunately it was one with a turnlock that didn’t need a key to open.
Jensen managed to get the door open and stepped out into the night.
There were two cars in the circular driveway, an older Oldsmobile and a late model Nissan SUV. Jensen pulled the keys from his pocket.
Nissan logo.
He pressed the button on the remote to unlock the doors.
He settled Jared into the passenger seat, looking over his shoulder every few minutes to make sure no one was coming after them.
He reached across to buckle Jared in with the seatbelt and was surprised to see that his arm was covered in blood.
He looked again and the whole front of Jared’s shirt was covered in blood.
“Oh God.”
Jensen pulled off his own shirt, half heartedly folding it and pressed it to the stab wound. He lifted Jared’s arm to hold the makeshift bandage.
“Jay. Jay, hold this in place. Do you hear me? We got to slow that bleeding.”
“Yeah.” Jared muttered, pressing against the wound.
“That’s good. Okay. We’re getting out of here.”
Jensen shut the door and ran around the SUV, watching the front door to make sure no one was coming.
He got in, throwing the stolen cell phone into the cup holder and the gun into the floorboard. He started the vehicle and drove off so quickly that he probably left black marks on the driveway.
Jared’s head lolled to the side.
“Jared? Jay, don’t go to sleep.” Jensen said sharply.
Jared made some kind of noise but Jensen wasn’t sure what it meant.
When they got to the end of the driveway, there was a fancy metal gate between them and the road.
Jensen wasn’t about to stop and open it. He gunned the engine and drove through the gate.
He wasn’t about to stop and survey the damage either.
He turned onto the street, grabbed the phone and dialed 911.
The next few minutes were a blur, when he thought about them later. The police were on the phone asking him where he was but he didn’t know where he was. He was trying to keep Jay awake while holding pressure on the wound with his right hand at a weird angle. While trying to drive with his left arm that was killing him in an unfamiliar vehicle while making sure they weren’t being followed. While trying to keep them from winding up in a ditch while he tried to find landmarks to tell the officer on the phone.
He desperately tried to remember which way the kidnappers had turned when he and Jared had been brought to the house. He made two turns and ended up on a five lane road, so apparently he had guessed fairly well.
He spotted a YMCA, which he told the police and that was enough for them to figure out who he was. They asked him to pull into the YMCA and wait for help but he told them it was too close to the house. He was afraid the kidnappers would catch up with them before the police could get there.
The sergeant on the phone told him to go to a 7-11 just a little further down and the police would meet him. He went two blocks down the road and suddenly there were police cars everywhere.
He pulled into the 7-11 and by the time he put the SUV in park, an officer was pulling his door open.
“Get Jared. He’s hurt bad.” He kept trying to tell them but they kept asking Jensen where he was hurt, where he was bleeding.
One of them came around and put his hand over Jensen’s holding pressure on Jared’s wound.
Finally the ambulance pulled into the lot. They got Jared out and laid him on the stretcher.
Jensen finally allowed the officers to check him over and answered their questions about where he had been held, until he realized they weren’t loading Jared in the ambulance.
"Why are they not loading Jay in the ambulance?" he asked, even though he was terrified they were going to tell him Jared was dead.
"They're going to take him in the helicopter.” One of the cops said. “And then they’re going to take you in the ambulance. Now let's get an EMT in here to take a look at you, okay?"
He realized that several of the officers were getting into their cars and pulling out toward the road. For a moment he was afraid that the kidnappers were there but then he registered the sound of a helicopter.
The police cars were blocking traffic on the road so the helicopter could land.
Medics jumped out of the helicopter, pulled a stretcher out of the back and ran to Jared.
Between them and the paramedics from the ambulance, Jared was quickly transferred to the second stretcher and wheeled to the helicopter.
They had him loaded in and were lifting off in under a minute.
Jensen knew that couldn’t be good.
He was watching the chopper fly away, wondering if Jared would make it to the hospital, when he realized that one of the paramedics was trying to get his attention.
“Mr. Ackles, are you hurt?” the young man asked gently.
“I … uh, I pulled my shoulder.” Jensen said, suddenly realizing that his shoulder really did hurt. “I was tied to a table leg and I hurt something trying to get loose.”
“Okay.” The young paramedic nodded, looking up.
Jensen realized for the first time that another, older paramedic stood beside him.
“Go get a sling.” The older paramedic said to the younger one.
Mills. The older one’s name tag said Mills.
“We’re going to transport you to the hospital.” Mills told him. “You should get that shoulder looked at and the police will probably want you checked over for other injuries.”
The younger paramedic (Sandover, according to his name tag) brought a sling. He helped Jensen put his arm into it and adjusted it around his neck.
Jensen looked toward the sky again but the helicopter was long out of sight.
“He’s going to the best trauma center in the area.” Mills said. “They’ve saved a lot of people I thought were beyond saving.”
Oh God. What if Jared dies.
The paramedics quickly changed the sheets on the stretcher, as the first set was smeared with Jared’s blood. Mills asked if he wanted to walk to the ambulance or ride on the stretcher.
Jensen walked.
They lifted the stretcher into the back, secured it in place and then offered Jensen a hand up to get in.
They made him sit on the stretcher and put one strap across him, strictly regulation, in case of an accident. And wouldn’t that be a hell of a thing, to survive a kidnapping and then get into a wreck on the way to the hospital?
Sandover sat in the back with him while Mills drove.
It turned out that the younger man was a fan of the show, so they talked about the show on the way. Mostly Sandover talked and Jensen answered a few of his questions. He was trying to keep Jensen’s mind off of whatever was going on with Jared and Jensen knew it but he appreciated the effort.
Mills had never watched the show but said that it sounded interesting and he would make sure to check it out.
When he arrived at the hospital, they wheeled him in, told him they were glad he had been found and wished him good luck with his recovery.
He asked if they had heard anything about Jared; they hadn’t other than that he had arrived at the hospital.
He got there alive. At least he got there alive, Jensen kept telling himself.
Jensen made a mental note of their names, thinking maybe he could get them a shout out on the show sometime.
Jensen was photographed first, for evidence sake. A male orderly came in to help him strip down, wash off the (Jared’s) blood and dress in a hospital gown.
A nurse and then a doctor came in.
“How’s Jared?” Jensen asked.
“Don’t know anything about a Jared.” The doctor shrugged.
“I’m sure someone will be in soon to let you know.” The nurse assured him.
“Can I call my parents?” he asked.
“They’re here.” The nurse smiled. “Along with your girlfriend, your brother and a couple other of your friends. They came as soon as the police told them you’d been found. Your sister is flying in but I’m not sure if she’s here yet. You can see them in a little while.”
They poked, prodded, asked a lot of questions and sent him to get him shoulder x-rayed.
The nurse came back when he returned from x-ray with a pill and a cup of water.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s just ibuprofen.” She told him. “It will help with the inflammation in your shoulder as well as the pain.”
“Is there any word on Jared?” he asked.
She smiled sadly. “I’m sure he’ll be in surgery for a while.”
He took the pill and then was left alone again.
He was then photographed again, to note the small cuts on his hands and bruises on his forearms that he hadn’t even realized he had.
There was a tap on the door and a man in a rumpled suit stuck his head in.
“Mr. Ackles? I’m Detective Murphy. Is it okay if we come in and ask a few questions now?”
Jensen shrugged and instantly regretted it. “Yeah, I guess so.”
The detective came in carrying a chair followed by a woman who introduced herself as Special Agent Haddon from the FBI.
“How’s Jared?” Jensen asked.
They looked at each other and Jensen’s heart sank.
“He’s in surgery.” The detective said. “He lost a lot of blood and his lung collapsed.”
Jensen nodded, understanding the unspoken “It’s not good.”
“Is it alright if we record your statement?” Haddon asked.
“Yeah.” Jensen nodded.
The detective turned on a recorder, briefly stating the date, time, location and that this was the initial interview with victim Jensen Ackles, before putting the device on the tray table. He and the agent took seats pulling them up close to the bed.
They asked him to tell them in his own words what had happened.
He told them and they let him talk, not stopping to ask questions, although he saw that they did jot down some notes.
When he got to the point of the story where he and Jared arrived at the 7-11 and met the police, they stopped him, telling him that they had the police reports from that point. They went back over his story, asking questions to clarify a few points, like which direction he had been facing when he first saw Bug and Lalo.
He asked about them and Train.
“The person you called Train, his real name is Demetrius Williams. He was arrested at the home where you were held without incident. He admitted that the two of you had been there and showed us which room you had been held in. Eduardo Sanchez, the man known as Lalo, was dead at the scene.” The detective told him.
“I killed him.” Jensen said dully, wondering why the news didn’t upset him more.
“There will be an autopsy, of course.” The detective replied. “Even if it is determined that the shot you fired was the cause of his death, I can almost guarantee you that it will be ruled justifiable homicide. You were in a situation where you had reasonable fear for your life and that of your friend.”
“What about Bug?” Jensen asked.
“His real name is Kirby Hayes.” The detective read off his note pad. “He was driving a vehicle we believe to be Jared’s. The police had been looking for you and Jared because 911 was called after your friends saw your text messages. They tracked the GPS on your phone and checked activity on your bank and credit cards. There was suspicious activity on the bank accounts, so we had units on surveillance at ATM machines in the area. A vehicle matching the description of Jared’s SUV was spotted and officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop. Hayes tried to flee. He was involved in a traffic accident while being pursued by the police and is currently in intensive care at Valley Hospital. The vehicle was totaled by the way, if it is Jared’s.”
“He’s gonna be pissed.” Jensen said. “It’s hard to find a car with enough head room for him.”
“I think that’s all the questions we had, unless you have anything else?” The detective asked the agent.
“No, I think I’m set.” She shook her head.
They both gave him their business cards, with the case number written on the detective’s card and left.
The doctor came in less than a minute later.
“Good news and bad news about your shoulder.” He said, putting Jensen’s x-rays up on a screen. “The good news is that nothing is broken. You pulled the tendon, here. You can see that there’s more space than there should be between these bones. The bad news is there’s not much we can do for that. You’ll just have to take it easy for the next month or so and just let things heal up on their own. We’ll have you follow up with an orthopedic doctor, just to make sure everything heals like it should. They’ll probably have some exercises for you.”
Jensen nodded.
“Are you up for some company?” the doctor asked. “Because you’ve got some very anxious friends and family taking over our waiting room out there. Usually we only let two at a time come in but under the circumstances, as long as you promise that it’s not going to get loud and rowdy, we’ll let everyone come back.”
“I’ll keep them in line.” Jensen promised.
The doctor left and soon after the door opened again.
It was his parents, Danni, Steve, Chris and Mike.
His mom and Danni had been crying and his dad’s eyes were suspiciously wet. Everyone hugged him.
“Josh was here but he went to the airport to get Mac.” Dad told him.
“How’s Jared?” Jensen asked.
“The last we heard, he was going into surgery.” Mom said.
“Can you go check on him?” Jensen asked his dad.
“Son, he’s not here.” Dad told him.
Jensen bolted upright in bed and the jolt to his shoulder made him instantly regret it.
“What do you mean he’s not here?”
“They took him to a different hospital.” Mom explained.
“What? Why?” Jensen asked.
“He’s pretty badly hurt.” Mom said, reaching over and taking Jensen’s hand. “They took him to a bigger hospital, one that is better equipped to deal with seriously injured patients. They brought you to the nearest hospital because your injuries weren’t as severe.”
Jensen swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Where are my clothes?”
“They were taken for evidence.” Danni said.
“I need some more then.” Jensen said determinedly.
“Honey, you’re being admitted.” Mom told him. “You need to get some rest … “
“I need to be there when Jared wakes up.” Jensen corrected.
Steve, Chris and Mike looked at each other.
“Clothes?” Steve asked.
“Doable.” Chris said.
“We’ll be back.” Mike told the rest of the room.
The three of them left together.
“Jen, sweetie,” Mom began.
“He’s going when they get back with his clothes.” Danni said, shaking her head.
“I’ll go get the doctor to get your discharge papers.” Dad said, heading out the door.
The doctor and a different detective came in.
“Mr. Ackles, I strongly advise against leaving right now.” The doctor warned. “You’ve been through an ordeal. We’re planning to keep you overnight for observation.”
“Not to mention the security issue.” The detective added. “It’s still very early in the investigation. We haven’t determined if there are any other involved parties and for your own safety, I would strongly advise staying here at least overnight. I have officers stationed in the hospital.”
“I’m going to the same hospital Jared is at.” Jensen informed them. “I’ll be there if I have any medical issues and since he and I will be at the same hospital, you can send home the officers stationed at this one.”
The detective conceded that Jensen could be protected at the other hospital. The doctor did try to convince him to stay but in the end agreed that Jensen had the right to request to be transferred to the other hospital.
The paperwork was ready when Steve, Chris and Mike returned with jeans, underwear, flip flops, and a t-shirt.
The detective did insist on having a uniformed officer in a marked car escort Jensen and his parents to the other hospital.
The three of them took Jensen in Steve’s car, while his parents and Danni waited for Josh to return with Mac in the minivan his parents had rented at the airport.
The security guard at the front desk balked at letting Jensen upstairs so late past visiting hours until the officer explained that Jensen’s family was there with someone who was currently in emergency surgery. It was the first time Jensen realized that it was very, very early in the morning.
An orderly escorted them to the waiting area, where he found Sandy, Jared’s parents and his brother and sister. Jared’s parents both hugged him and told him how glad they were to see him. Sandy hugged him and didn’t let go.
Jared’s brother Jeff, the doctor, looked absolutely gutted and Jensen knew it was bad.
“What’s going on?” Jensen choked out.
“He’s in surgery.” Jared’s dad said. “He’s in been in for hours. They’ve come out a few times and told us things like they were repairing the damage to his chest but they said they’ll give a full briefing when it’s all done.”
“I’m sorry but you can’t stay. “ The nurse said. “It’s family only.”
“He’s family.” Jeff said firmly, pointing at Jensen.
“Okay, he,” she pointed at Jensen. “Can stay. The rest have to go.” She softened a little. “There’s a coffee shop downstairs. Maybe you can stay down there until he gets out.”
“Hey, we’ll go down and find your parents and everyone.” Steve said. “We’ll all hang out somewhere. Call one of us when he gets out.”
“Yeah.” Jensen nodded.
“They made Jared’s friends leave too.” His sister shrugged.
Steve, Chris and Mike left. Jensen sat down next to Jared’s dad with his arm around Sandy, who was still clinging to him.
Jared’s dad asked “Can you tell us what happened? The police have told us next to nothing. Just that you were apparently carjacked, that someone else was driving Jared’s truck and wrecked it. This evening the two of you escaped and Jared was badly hurt.”
Jensen sighed. “We went over to Steve’s for a cookout. More people showed up, so Jared and I went to pick up some more beer and wine. Outside the liquor store we saw a guy fighting with a woman. Jared told the guy to let go of her. There was second guy there we hadn’t seen. The first guy was just going to steal Jared’s Land Cruiser but the second guy made us get in the car too. He wanted to get money with our ATM cards. They took us to a third guy’s grandma’s house. She was in the hospital. Two of them didn’t want to hurt us. They talked about just taking us out somewhere and letting us go. One of them recognized Jared from the Gilmore Girls and even had him sign an autograph. The third one was scared of getting caught. Most of the time while we were there, we were just left alone in a basement guest bedroom.”
“What changed?” Megan asked.
“After they found out Bug had wrecked the Land Cruiser, the other two guys were getting anxious. One of them was smoking weed and the other, I’m not sure what he was on but he had apparently taken some kind of drugs.” Jensen shuddered. Sandy rubbed his arm. “He … the other one, the one who had taken the other drugs, he said we were going to have to stay in the basement for a couple days until it was safe to let us go. He said in the meantime, I could earn my keep. He was going to make me … give him oral sex. Jared tried to save me. Oh God. Jared got hurt because he was trying to save me.”
“It’s Jared.” Sandy said. “Of course he would try to save you. Because he’d be even more upset than you are right now if anything had happened to you.”
“How did you get away?” Jeff asked.
“Lalo was beating Jared. He was going to kill him.” Jensen started shaking. Sandy hugged him tighter and Jared’s dad put his hand on Jensen’s shoulder.
“You don’t have to go on.” Jared’s mom said softly.
“No, I … you … He was going to kill Jared. I managed to grab one of their guns and I shot the one who was hurting Jared. Then I tied the other one up and we took one of their cars and left.” Jensen told them. “I called 911 and they came and got us and brought Jared here.”
Jared’s dad pulled Jensen against him, his head against Jensen’s. “Thank you.” He said, his voice breaking. “Thank you for saving him and getting him out of there.”
“He might die because of me.” Jensen said, shaking. “I asked him to come with me to the liquor store. And he got hurt trying to protect me.”
“No he won’t.” Megan said, reaching over to wipe away the tear Jensen didn’t realize had fallen. “He’s tough. He’ll come through this. And he won’t let you blame yourself.”
They sat there, huddled together for another three hours. Jensen’s head continuously replayed two thoughts.
Jared might die because of me.
I killed someone.
A nurse came in twice, once to tell them that the doctors were putting a drainage tube into Jared’s chest because he had blood and fluid in his lung cavity and once to tell them the doctors were almost done. Then they would be out to talk to them after they finished their procedure and recorded a few quick notes.
By that time, the waiting room was starting to fill up with people coming in for Monday morning procedures.
It was almost seven in the morning when one of the surgeons finally came in to speak with them. He introduced himself as Dr. Stevens, from cardiothoracic surgery. Seeing the large group, they were taken back to a small conference room.
The doctor sighed and sat down heavily.
Jeff clenched his jaw and his fists, obviously expecting bad news.
“I’ll be honest with you. He’s in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator right now.” The doctor said bluntly. “We nearly lost him twice during surgery. He lost a lot of blood. He’s athletic and that was what both saved him and almost killed him. We see it sometimes, especially in runners, that some of the smaller blood vessels around the heart expand to allow more blood flow. The vessel that was cut when Jared was stabbed was much larger than it normally would have been in the average person. But, because several of the other vessels were larger too, he was still able to maintain sufficient circulation as we put the blood back in and repaired the vessel. He has broken ribs, which punctured his lung. When there’s blood in the chest and especially when the lung is punctured and air is let out, the lung space fills with blood. In his case, there was a lot of blood in the chest cavity, which put pressure on his heart and lungs. We left a drainage tube in his chest to try to get as much of it out as we can over the next few days. He also has a fractured skull and a concussion.”
He paused for a moment letting the group processes what he’d just told them before continuing. “But fortunately we don’t see any bleeding or swelling in the brain. We’re going to watch closely to make sure that doesn’t change. That’s no guarantee that there won’t be neurological problems. The blood loss may have caused some but they started him on a blood transfusions in the helicopter and at least from the time he got here, we were putting the blood back in as fast as he was losing it. He does have a broken arm and the orthopedic surgeon who reviewed his x-rays said that he’s probably going to need surgical repair but we need to get him stable from a cardiopulmonary standpoint first.”
“What are his chances?” Jeff asked.
“Our biggest concerns right now are making sure he doesn’t develop any bleeding or swelling in the brain, first of all.” The doctor said. “He’s also at high risk for infection but of course we’re loading him up on high doses of broad spectrum antibiotics. We’ll keep him sedated for a couple days to make sure he stays still and give some of the damage to his chest time to heal. If he can get through the next three days with no complications, his chances will be pretty good. Then we’ll be able to remove the tube from his chest and see if the puncture is healing before we remove him from the ventilator. We need to make sure the fluid in and around his lung has drained enough so that the pressure doesn’t cause it to collapse again. It’s not going to be a quick and easy recovery but he’s young and was in outstanding physical condition, which are two big factors in his favor.”
“Thank you.” Jensen said.
The rest of the family murmured their gratitude as well.
“Can we see him?” Jared’s mom asked.
“He’s still in recovery and will be for a while.” The doctor told them. “He’s going to be moved to the cardiac intensive care unit. You can see him once he’s there but he’s going to be sedated for at least the next 72 hours. Visitors are allowed two at a time, for fifteen minutes, every two hours. Go down and get something to eat. It will be a while.”
The doctor stood and excused himself, telling them to ask for him or his assistant if they had any questions later.
“He’s going to be okay.” Jared’s mom reached over and squeezed Jensen’s good hand. “It’s all over now and it’s time to heal.”
Somehow, Jensen knew things would never be that simple.
Coming soon (hopefully this weekend) - the sequel. Jared has a difficult physical recovery ahead. Jensen is falling apart over what's happened. So they lean on each other. Maybe a bit too much.