Dan parked his car beneath a broken out street light on the corner of Demont and Rush and climbed out surveying the scene around him.
Walking to the east he couldn’t figure out why anybody would be walking down this street with its’ burned out buildings and piles of rubble from discarded homes of the past. Aside from the fact that it would be a great place for hookers and drug dealers to hide out and conduct business in the darkness and shadows of night there really was nothing else of much interest around.
Stumbling on the uneven sidewalk Dan flinched looking over his shoulder as a shiver ran up his spine.
“What are you afraid of Fortis?” He mumbled to himself wishing he had brought a flashlight. “Are you afraid of the dark or something.” Laughing he stopped looking to his left and right, trying to figure out which way to go next.
* * *
Placing the gun back beneath the sheet Nick listened to the second hand of the clock making its’ way around the dial, meshing with the steady swish of the machines and the click that occurred every so often from his IV machine. He realized that he didn’t miss the crazy noise from the big screened t.v .at his house or the beeps and corny music of his favorite video games or even the pounding of the bass in his ears from the headphones in the studio.
He found that he was quite enjoying the sounds of nothing more then simple silence.
Lying his head back on the pillow he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He was tired and feeling more then a little uncomfortable from lying in the damn hospital bed day after day. Not to mention the stress of what the world around him had become in nine short days.
Closing his eyes he gave into the exhaustion, letting his body slowly relax. And before long he found himself drifting into a deep sleep.
* * *
Mo leaned against the wall outside of Nick’s door, craving a cigarette. Tugging up the sleeve of his uniform he flipped over the Rolex and checked the time before peering through the window in the door of Nick’s room.
“He’s asleep.” Mo whispered tapping lightly on the glass to see if it would make Nick flinch.
Nothing.
“This is going to be easier then I thought.” He said pulling the gun from his waistband as he slowly opened the door.
* * *
Dan stopped walking; squinting into the darkness at the outline of a house tucked back behind some wild underbrush and a chain link fence with barbed wire looped clumsily along the top. Walking up to the fence he tapped on the chain link, interested in the fact that out of all the places on the street this seemed to be the only one that could possibly be of any use to anybody. Sure the roof was caved in and it was obvious that at some point vandals had set fire to it. But aside from those things most of the structure still remained in tact.
Following the fence around the side of the house Dan pushed at the branches that scratched at his arms following the fence as it curved around into the pitch black at the back of the house. Using the fence as his guide Dan could no longer make out the house from his place in the bushes. Taking two more steps forward he leaned into the fence and found that the section he was leaning into was missing. Falling sideways he tripped through the hole in the fence, a stray chain link catching on the sleeve of his shirt and tearing it as he landed on his side in the dirt.
“Shit.” Pulling up onto all fours he crawled forward, his instincts telling him that the hole was there for a reason.
And Dan Fortis’s instincts were rarely wrong.
* * *
Kevin got out of the elevator on the wrong floor and had to wait while two nurses pushing patients in wheelchairs got on.
“Do you want us to hold the elevator?” They said as Kevin turned to get back on, hesitating at the close quarters inside when his stomach was still queasy from the over consumption of beer earlier in the day.
“Nah, it’s okay I’ll get the next one.” He said waving them off and letting the elevators slide shut before pushing the down button again.
* * *
Crawling forward Dan went slowly; not knowing what kind of garbage could be on the ground around a shit hole like this then slapping his palm down he soon found out, as a piece of glass sliced into his skin making him wince.
“Son of bitch.” He hissed shaking his hand before wiping his palm, which was now dripping with fresh blood, on his shirt. Sitting back on his heels he tried to inspect the wound, wondering if it would need stitches, but it was impossible to see his own hand in front of his face it was so freaking dark.
“Fuck.” Dan moaned grabbing at his hand. “I’m out of my God damned mind crawling around this shit heap.” He was talking out loud as he slowly rose to his feet.
“I mean what if for once my instincts are totally wrong and this Mo guy isn’t in this house, better yet what if there is no Mo at all?” He realized then and there that he had to make a decision. He either had to go forward or backwards because sitting in the same spot wasn’t getting him anywhere. So he began walking forward swatting stray branches out of his face.
“This whole thing is messed up.” He moaned just as he smacked right into the side of the house.
* * *
Mo kept his hand poised on the gun on his hip as he walked slowly across the room, the heels of his cowboy boots clicking on the white tiled floor.
Looking at Nick now it was hard to believe that the little shit had survived what he and Gus had put him through. And Mo realized that he would miss the game of cat and mouse that had been going on between he and Nick since the moment he crawled into the shiny black BMW over a week ago. He was going to miss the Kid once the bullet left his gun and splattered Nick’s brain matter all over the nice clean hospital room.
Leaning down Mo hesitated for a split second as Nick’s eyelashes fluttered lightly, his mind tangled up in some pleasant dream.
And then he whispered the words, “Hey St.Nick, guess who?” In Nick’s ear…..setting in motion the wheel in his mind that Nick had given up hope of ever turning again.
“I don’t buy that. Not for a minute, I think there is someone else involved. And I believe that someone else is the one who shot you, killed Brian as well as Gus Monroe and kidnapped Howie.”
“That’s right Nick, you are hurt. You’re hurt really bad. And like I told you there are some things worth fighting for. So I am fighting for you and you are going to fight for your life.”
“We need help, a man’s been shot.”
“H-help…..I-I-I’m….d-d-d-ying….:
“Nick answer the phone………”
“SON OF A BITCH THE KID IS GONE!”
“Everything is going to be okay Nick. I’m going to make sure of it you just need to hang on. You saved me back there and I’m going to pay you back.”
“How do we know he isn’t going to get away? Well, we know that because he has been shot twice in the gut and he is barely breathing.”
“Are you okay Nick?”
BAM
BAM
BAM
BAM
BAM
BAM
“It’s me you idiot stop squirming.”
“Where the fuck are you, you little jackass…..”
“St. Nick knows our names, he knows what the car looks like that we drive and he knows where my apartment is.”
“Look Kid give up. You know I’m going to win.”
“…..if you’re good and your friend does what I told him to do I might let you go?”
“Nickolas. That’s like Santa Clause isn’t it. I think I will call you St. Nickolas.”
“Bri, I’m in trouble.”
“You try something like that again and I will have no problem blowing your brains out all over the interior of this fine car. Now drive.”
“Did you hear what I said to you? I said I liked your boots..”
“You’re not Brian…….You’re not Brian……..You’re not Brian……….”
Nick’s body jerked twice as his eyes shot open and he whispered a single name.
“Mo.”