RATING: PG-13 (I swear more then the script writers of the Blair witch project.)
AUTHORS NOTE: Firstly, I know nothing about the Mafia, I merely know what I see on The Sopranos and DeNiro movies. ANYWAY, I don't usually use songs, they get on my nerves in fan-fics, but I could resist adding one in this story. The song used is by the wonderful artist Dido and is called Here With Me. It's a really pretty song and you might have heard it before, it's the theme song to the show Roswell High (hate the show/love the theme song.) But otherwise enjoy! Oh and always, look for me in the story!
Tony Dulmia felt a bead of sweat fall down his forehead. He didn't know when to jump, he'd feel it coming and then shoot. 'Never think, just jump, aim and shoot.' He repeated to himself in his mind, it was like a mantra now. He quickly glanced around the broken-down warehouse, he saw his 'partners' hidden around the room, there beloved weapons grasped in there hands. He could feel Ray's eyes glaring at him, he knew this was his trial, if he won, he won, if he failed, he was over, done, finished, dead. Tony feared Ray, just like Tony feared the mob. But the Mafia was his destiny, his step mother had expected him to fallow his father's footsteps after he died. Tony Senior had been a leader, a legend, a mob hero and Tony junior knew he could never replace him.
"Damn," Sighed Louie, Ray's son. Louie had only joined a few months ago, but he was respected even more then Tony. Tony didn't actually like Louie, he was sloppy, didn't think. But you didn't knock off the bosses son, not if you wanted to be next.
"Where are these fucking bastards?" Louie asked running a hand threw his raven black hair. Tony raised a finger to his lips, motioning him to be quiet. But Louie continued to laugh, laugh loudly until it was too late. A sharp bullet pierced the air hitting Louie in the chest.
"Nooo!" Tony yelled, quickly dragging Louie aside as the gunfire began. It was a battle now, all lived or all died. Tony didn't know much about medicine, but as he looked down at the youth, his eyes drawn back, blood flowing freely out of his chest, he knew Louie needed help, he needed it now. Moments later, Ray ran down and gasped.
"Let's get him out of here!" Ray yelled with vengeance. Tony quickly pulled Louie out of the warehouse.
"Pops, is it that bad?" Louie asked weakly.
"No my son, you'll be fine," Ray replied, his voice breaking. Tony quickly dialled the hospital's number with a fear that Louie's life was on the line. And if the boss's son died, there would be hell to pay.
"Lucy, Lucy," Carter said nudging Lucy a bit.
"There's a snore in ah exam fo..." Lucy muttered in her sleep.
"Lucy, uh, Luce," Carter repeated, this time a little louder.
"What?" Lucy grumbled finally opening her eyes.
"Lucy, your shift starts now," Carter stated helping her up.
"Oh and I was having the loveliest dream," Lucy implied, finally waking up.
"And what was that?" Carter asked as they entered into the hall.
"I quit med. school and pursued my life long ambition in pillow-testing." She replied. She didn't know why she had to wake up now, the board was pretty much empty and most of the other staff lay asleep around the admit desk.
"Carter why'd you get me up?" Lucy asked, just then the phone rang and immediately woke Jerry up.
"Yeah, uh-huh, GSW, 2 minutes, okey-dokey, bye," Jerry stated into the phone.
"GSW, 2 minutes," Jerry announced.
"That good enough answer for you?" Carter asked before yelling out orders to prep for the trauma. Lucy hated when Carter acted like a smart-ass, but she had to admit he was pretty cute about it. It wasn't long before they heard the wail of the siren pulling into County General. Carter, Lucy, Weaver, Chunnie and Hayel stood waiting at the dock. When the doors flew open, nearly all of them let out a moan. Not them again, everyone knew about the Mafia, they were accountable for nearly half of the GSW's at County. The nurses were already on a first name basis with some of them, especially Chunni though.
"Louis Pechilinni male, age 19, GSW to the upper left shoulder." Lucy looked down at the kid, he was out and blood was spurting out of his chest. It was a miracle he wasn't dead yet. She could see the bullet in her mind, lodged between the aorta, just above the pace-maker.
"Let's get 2200 mils of saline and let's intubate now!" Carter yelled as they wheeled him into trauma two.
"Pulse ox is dropping!" Hayel yelled. Carter could here the machines, the harsh beeps, the v-fib beginning.
"Paddles!" Carter ordered. Lucy spilled the jelly over them as Carter thrusted them in front of her.
"Clear!" Carter yelled, he pressed down on the man's chest, instantly there was a shock. Nothing happened.
"Charge to 350!" He yelled, and pushed, this time a week heart beat developed.
"Get him to OR, stat!" Weaver ordered as she hobbled out of the trauma.
"So who wants to tell the relatives?" Hayel asked.
"Is it just me, or do they look like they just walked out of the God Father?" Lucy added as she tore off her gloves.
"I'll do it," Carter replied, he didn't know it then, but Carter had no idea what he was getting himself into. Only Tony and Ray had made it to the hospital, the rest of the gang had stayed behind to get rid of the evidence.
"Mr. Pechilinni?" Carter asked, Ray immediately stepped forward and Tony followed. Ray wasn't a big man, only 5ft 10 but he looked tough, his face was a face of numerous victories, you didn't mess with a man like Ray Pechilinni. Tony on the other hand was the opposite of Ray, he was tall, young, and gawky with black hair and very blue eyes.
"So what is it doc? Is he going to be okay?" Ray asked, unaware to the seriousness of Louie's wound.
"Your son will be in surgery, he did some pretty bad damage to his heart, but he has a chance," Carter stated, he wasn't actually sure how Louie's body would react to surgery, only time would tell.
"So you'll keep us up to date?" Ray implied, he knew the man in front of him, 'he had to be a Carter,' Ray thought. The Mafia had merged with the Carter family more then once, but not since the 1950's. Back then the Mafia thrived.
"Yes, I'm Dr. John Carter," Carter introduced as he shook Ray's hand.
"Hey Tony," Ray called.
"Yes, Ray?" Tony asked.
"Remember that name, Dr. John Carter." Ray implied. Tony knew what had happened, this Carter guy had just become involved, and once you were involved, it was even harder to become un-involved.
"I will Ray, I will."
"Dr. Benton," Lucy called, "Dr. Benton!" Peter spun around on his heal to see the petite Lucy in front of him come to a halt. He'd never say it to Carter, but Lucy did remind him of Carter in a way.
"Yes?"
"Any news on the GSW?" She asked.
"The bullet on impact damaged his left ventricle, it can keep pumping for about 18 more hours until finally going into arrest." Peter explained. Lucy frowned, she knew his chances were low and it would be impossible to find a donor that matched in time.
"Okay, thanks," She replied half-heartily. She could see Carter heading towards her.
"Any news on the Pechilinni kid?" He asked smiling down on her. Lucy told him the bad news. "I'll go tell his father." Carter offered.
"I'll come with you," Lucy chided, they walked into the exam room that occupied Ray and Tony.
"Doc, any news?" Ray asked immediately.
"Mr. Pechilinni, sir, your son damaged his heart badly, he has about 18 hours to live," Carter revealed. Ray sat silently. He didn't move, didn't speak, didn't shout, didn't show any emotion what-so-ever. Until he finally took a slow breath.
"Miss, would you be kind enough to give us and Dr. Carter some privacy?" Ray asked looking at Lucy.
"Sure," Lucy answered softly, she quickly got up and left the room. Ray waited until, the door shut before grabbing Carter by the shirt collar.
"You will save my son!" Ray yelled, his face crimson in rage.
"But, there isn't a donor..." Carter chattered out, he knew this guy meant business. Tony just watched from the chair, he slowly pulled out his gun. Tony didn't want to do this, but Ray had taught him to scare.
"You will find a fucking donor and if he dies, you die!"
Carter just gulped in response.
"Tony!" Ray yelled.
"Yes, Ray?" Tony replied.
"You're gonna watch 'em and the same goes to you, he dies, you die!" Ray let go of Carter's shirt, he wanted to see his son and still had things to attend to. Ray slammed the door behind him, leaving Carter and Tony looking at each other.
"What...what are we going to do?" Carter asked, his voice showed he was scarred.
"I don't know," Tony murmured, equally scarred "but the race begins now."
"What are we going to do? What are we going to do!" Carter asked, a million things raced through his mind, he was scarred and confused. His life was on the line here.
"Your gonna have to do exactly what he says," Ray instructed.
"Even if I do get a heart they'll probably kill me anyway!" Carter yelled, he put his hands in head.
"No, if you do it right, they'll reward you," Tony replied calmly, even though he was about as nervous as Carter.
"What and what if I fail? Huh, then what are they going to do?" Carter asked as he paced around the exam room.
"Listen, if your going to do this right ya gotta keep calm," Tony instructed.
"What! I just received a death threat from a mobster! How am I going to remain calm!" Carter yelled, he wanted an answer, a solution. "You know what, forget this, I'm going to leave, now, get as far away from here as possible!" Carter decided.
"They'll find you, they have connections," Tony informed, he kept his eyes locked on the window, the sunlight shining through. Silence hit them, Carter knew that he had no other choice, this was his option, his only option.
"So what do I do?" Carter asked.
"So there's no possible way, even in the event of a miracle?" Carter asked into the phone.
"I'm sorry sir, but your patient still has people ahead of him on the waiting list," The woman chided.
"Okay, thanks anyway, Bye." Carter stated as he slammed the phone down.
"No luck?" Tony asked sitting down in a chair across the lounge. He'd gotten out of seeing patients by complaining to Weaver that he hurt his ankle. She had reluctantly given him paper work to do; but Carter had spent most of the morning calling up almost every Donor agency in the country.
"This is bad," Carter complained, as he picked up the directories for agencies in Canada, knowing he didn't have much of a chance.
"I'm gonna get some coffee," Tony muttered as he headed out the door.
"How can you stay calm, we could lose our lives!?" Carter asked, a little pissed off.
"Easy," Tony paused. "I've been living like this for a long time." Carter watched as he left, annoyed that he could stay so calm. After calling 3 more agencies he picked up the directory and through it against the door; apparently a little too loud, because a second later Lucy stuck her head in.
"What was that? I heard it all the way from the hallway," Lucy smiled, then frowned when she saw the twisted expression on Carter's face.
"Uh, nothing Lucy, look I'm busy," Carter rambled as he dialled another phone number.
"Carter, you look upset," She said picking up the phone directory and setting it back on the paper crested desk. "What is it?"
"It's nothing Luce," He replied rubbing his forehead.
"Carter, you can tell me," She said softly picking his hand up. Carter looked up at her, her concerned eyes looking down at him made him want to reveal all the confusion he was feeling.
"Well, it's," Carter began just as Tony walked into the room. Carter immediately closed up. "Nothing, it's nothing, just get back to work." Carter stated coldly, he could see the hurt expression in her eyes. Lucy knew something was up, she could sense it and it was beginning to worry her.
"Okay." Lucy replied as she kept her eyes on the floor. She was about to leave the room when she looked up again at Carter. "If you want to talk, you know where I am." She added before shutting the door.
"Nice girl, did you tell her anything?" Tony asked suspiciously.
"No, but why?" Carter questioned.
"Don't let her get involved," Tony instructed giving Carter a look. Tony didn't know these people very well but he could tell they cared for each other. Never let anyone get close, ever. 16 years of being in the mob had taught him that. Carter could see the demanding look in Tony's eye and knew what he was telling him.
"So what are we going to do now?" Carter asked, there was no luck in moving Louie up in the waiting list, a GSW never stood a chance next to a cancer patient.
"Look likes were going to need some help," Tony replied standing up from his chair.
"Where we going?" Carter asked.
"First, let's see the boy," Tony demanded. There was something similar to Tony and Carter, they had the same air about them. Both of them didn't like trouble and trouble was what they were in, neither of them knew what to do next. They were just living on fear.
"Sad." Stated Tony as he looked down at Louie, his body covered in tubes, his naturally olive complexion, a whitish pale color, down on that hospital bed he looked weak.
"Yeah, it's a shame." Carter replied.
"No I mean, this is how it always is. They don't learn Dr. Carter."
"John." Carter added.
"I hate it when it's like this." Tony muttered keeping his eyes on Louie.
"Like what?" Carter asked.
"Well the killing, sometimes you enjoy it, its a risk and your willing to take it. But when it backfires, this is what happens." Tony explained. Carter kept quiet. They stood there for a while. An hour maybe. He asked Tony why they hadn't left, Tony told him the 'club' wasn't up yet. So they just sat there, watching Louie, until Tony finally got up.
"I'm going to call a cab." Tony muttered pulling out a cell phone.
"You can't use that here, the patients." Carter informed. Tony shrugged in response before getting up and heading down in the elevator.
Carter sat alone in the recovery ward. Lucy looked at him from the door-way. 'What's wrong with him?' she asked herself. He'd spent the entire morning in the lounge making phone calls. Not taking one break and there was that guy. Lucy didn't know why he was there, but there was something about that guy. Those smoky blue eyes screamed 'back-off' to her and Carter seemed to have the same response.
"What's up," She finally asked, sitting across from him, on the other side of the hospital bed.
"Luce, I told you there's nothing wrong, will you quit asking me?" He implied. It hurt him to rudely brush her off like this but he knew it was for her own safety.
"Carter, I know there is something wrong, I'm just trying to help," She said looking up at him.
"Luce, where do you get the idea that there is something wrong?"
"Carter, there is something seriously wrong and I know it," She explained, desperate for an answer.
"No, there is nothing wrong, I'm fine!" Carter lied.
"Carter why are you lying to me?" Lucy asked, her voice breaking slightly.
"Lucy, will you please leave me!" He yelled.
"Carter, there is something wrong, I can help!" She yelled back as they entered the hallway.
"Lucy, please," He protested. He didn't want her involved, he didn't want her to be hurt.
"Carter, I can he--"
"Lucy! Back off!" He yelled just as Tony walked up to him. "I don't need your help! There is nothing wrong and even if there was I wouldn't need your opinion. This is none of your business, now will you please leave me alone!" Carter looked down at her, she didn't speak, there was no response, only tears showed her emotion. Carter felt a sharp pain in his heart, the pain he had just caused her. But this was the cost for Lucy's safety, yet why did it hurt both of them so hard.
"Look, we gotta go." Tony interrupted the eye lock between Carter and Lucy.
"Okay, lets go." Carter replied as they began to look away. He was on the elevator when he finally looked behind him, she just stood there standing, staring, tears down her cheek, 'this is it' he thought and with that the elevators pinged shut.
"Why do you do this?" Carter asked openly as they drove through the streets of Chicago. They had taken a cab in silence to Tony's place then picked up his car.
"What do you mean?" Tony questioned.
"I had nothing to do with the Mafia and now this has happened," Carter yelled.
"I thought I told you, if you play it cool, you--"
"No I'm not worried about that, well I am. But I mean, it's...it's"
"That girl. Your worried about her, aren't you?" Tony suggested.
"Yeah, I am worried about her, I wanna make one thing clear, nothing happens to her, even if were killed, promise me, she survives."
"I promise," Tony replied. They kept quiet for the remaining part of the car ride. It wasn't long until Tony pulled into an abandoned building. After looking around, he finally reached for something into the back.
"Here," He said handing Carter a hand gun. "In case you need it." Carter felt the cold metal in his hand, the gun scarred him. Not because it was a gun, but because he felt like he was one of them now. They quickly walked into the warehouse, after following Tony down a series of staircases and hallways, they finally entered a room. It wasn't big, basically it was a bar with a few poker tables. Smoke formed a cloud above them, the lights were dim, Carter could here men laughing and talking; with Frank Sinatra playing in the background. But when Tony and Carter stepped outward, everyone hushed.
"This here is Johnny, he's helping us save Louie," Tony introduced, immediately everyone smiled and waved hello. As Tony led Carter to a table, people shook his hand.
"You want some coffee?" Tony asked.
"Yeah sure," Carter replied, Tony wandered off leaving Carter with the table full of elderly Italian men.
"So you Italian?" One man asked as he passed a hand of cards to Carter.
"Mario? What are you talking about, he ain't Italian, he's probably Irish like Dulmia." Another man added.
"Tony's Irish?" Carter asked curiously.
"Well his father, Tony Sr. was born in Sicily, but when he came over he met his first wife Catherine who was half Irish, half Italian."
"So he is Italian," Carter replied.
"Yes, but he ain't a true Italian. He's gotta be 100%, You know totally committed, it's like an instinct." Another man stated as he passed a card onto Carter. Tony came back and passed an expresso to Carter and joined in with the card game. Carter gulped the hot coffee down, things were starting to fall into place yet he still felt uneven. They were playing cards, talking about pretty much anything when a short man hollered "Tony!"
"Come on, the boss is calling," Tony muttered, he lead Carter to the smokiest table in the room, in the center sat the man that had threatened Carter this morning.
"So what's the plan?" Ray asked.
"There ain't any hearts available." Tony replied.
"What does he mean?" Ray asked Carter.
"Well your son has a good chance at finding a heart, because he has o-negative blood, that means any heart will work. But the thing is, since you son has a gun shot wound, his chance decreases." Carter explained.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to help give Louie a better chance." Ray said calmly as he pulled out a brief case. Ray popped it open, to reveal the stacks of cash in it.
"Listen, I want you to bribe whose ever in charge of the organ donations. If it doesn't work, don't knock them, just come back here." Ray instructed.
"Okay." Tony replied.
"Dinners at nine." Ray added before going back to his poker game. Tony and Carter started out the door again.
"What was that about?" Carter asked.
"It's Thursday, we always eat together on Thursday." Tony replied. Carter just shook his head, things were beginning to calm down but he still didn't understand exactly what was going on and what was going to happen.
Lucy sat in silence. The lounge was dark, everything was still. Only the evening moon-light shown through the windows, silhouetting her tear stained cheeks. The entire day had seemed wrong. Carter had completely brushed her off when she tried to help him and for the rest of the afternoon she had felt injured. 'I guess he doesn't care for me the way I do for him' she thought. Something told her that there was something she should be aware of. That he was in trouble or in danger; it was only a gut feeling but Lucy really was worried about him. Lucy decided to leave, her shift was over and the ER didn't need her, it had been slow all day, barely any patients. She was about to leave when an idea came to her mind, Lucy quickly raced up to the desk clerk.
"Randi, can you connect me with the EMT office?" She asked impatiently. Randi reluctantly picked up the phone and dialled the number.
"Here, you can speak to her, that woman from the EMT office is the bitch from hell," She chided, returning to her paper work. Lucy put the phone to her ear and waited as it dialled.
"EMT office, Anna MacArthur speaking," Grumbled an angry woman.
"Hi, I need the address of a pick-up that happened this morning around 5, it was a GSW and..." Lucy requested.
"Look, is it an emergency?" Anna asked sarcastically.
"Well, yes, yes it is," Lucy replied.
"Fine!" Anna muttered, she slammed the phone on hold and searched through a file for a few minutes. "I found it, the address is," Anna continued to grumble out the address.
"Thank-you!" Lucy said cheerfully.
"Yeah, yeah, thank-you, my ass." Anna replied slamming the phone down.
"Hello? Hello, hello?" Lucy asked, finally putting the phone down.
"Told-ya," Randi snickered.
"I gotta go, see-ya." Lucy said as she ran out of the ER. Something inside her, told her that Carter was in serious danger and she would risk anything to help him.
"I told you, there is no way you can just bribe yourself up the waiting list!" The woman behind the counter yelled. Tony quickly pulled the suit case away. This had been the same response as every other Donor agency they had visited.
"Come on, lets go," Carter said giving Tony a look. Tony waited until they were outside before passing a cigarette to Carter.
"That was the last one!" Carter implied, rubbing his forehead.
"Ray's gotta plan," Tony informed him.
"How do you know?" Carter questioned.
"A major rule in the mob, always have a second plan. Always think everything out. Besides," He paused taking a puff of his cigarette. "I could have just knocked the place up, but Ray told me not to."
"So what do we do now?" Carter asked worriedly.
"We go back to the club, it's about dinner time anyway." Tony replied. Carter stepped into Tony's BMW. That's one thing he noticed at the warehouse. The expensive cars, the expensive suits. It was all top class, everything.
"So how did you get 'involved.'" Carter asked.
"I was pushed." Tony replied. "My father was a boss, like Ray, he was big, everybody knew him. Then he was shot and my step mother got me into it. I was only 18, been in there for 16 years now."
"So how do you, I don't know, survive?" Carter asked.
"You just don't slide. As soon as you slide, its over." Tony answered. There was silence in the car for a while.
"So what about that girl? She your girlfriend or something?" Tony asked.
"No, she's a friend." Carter replied.
"Really?" Tony questioned sceptically, giving a small laugh.
"Yeah, she's just a friend."
"She cares about you," Tony said openly. "Cares about you a lot."
"So you married?" Carter asked.
"Nah, it ain't my thing. Maybe later, my life's too screwed up." Tony laughed. "It's nice though, to have someone like that girl, you have someone care about you." This made Carter think. Lucy did care, he had been unaware of her, with the Mafia business and all. But now in the car it became apparent to him, how much she cared. Carter felt a wave of guilt hit him, he had been so cruel to her earlier, but it was vital that she didn't get involved in this. They pulled up to the same abandoned building, it was around 9 and Carter could already smell the pasta sauce coming out through the walls. The scent became stronger and stronger as they came closer to the 'club.'
"Look it's Johnny, pull up a seat." A man greeted. Carter was immediately sat down between Tony and across from Ray. In front of him there was a heaving plate of spaghetti and meatballs and a glass of red wine.
"Your one of them now," Tony whispered. Carter didn't know whether this was a compliment or a threat. Ray gave him a look before barking out to the entire room.
"Listen, this is the plan," Ray stated, taking a bite out of his garlic bread. "Tonight were going to break into the Chicago Organ Donor association and get a heart. It can be any type. Mario, Jimmy and Gianni, your going to Cook County General, there will be a man besides Louie's bed who will get him out of there. You'll bring him here and Johnny Carter here will do the honors." Everyone was silent before the music started again and everyone broke out into conversation.
"So," A man who sat on the other end of Carter stated. "How come your not eating?"
"Oh, I'm not hungry." Carter replied.
"You kidding me? You gotta eat this stuff, it's the Italian pride!" The man laughed. Carter suddenly noticed that the everyone was looking at him. Carter hesitantly picked up the fork with the steaming hot spaghetti wrapped around it and took a bite.
"This is, this is," Carter paused looking for a word. "Amazing!" Everyone around him laughed. For the first time since this morning Carter was able to some what enjoy himself, yet still there was a dark creeping fear that grew in the back of his mind. 'Just keep cool and everything will go fine,' he told himself. Things were going smoothly until the sound of foot steps pattered down the hall. Everyone became quiet and reached toward there sides, grasping there guns. The guard at the door pulled out a long rifle. Slowly the door flew open and Carter gasped.
"Oh shit" Tony muttered as the guard aimed the rifle at her head.
"No!" Carter yelled, the guard quickly pulled the rifle away and instead of shooting it, hit her over the head and knocked her out.
"What the fuck are you doing? She's seen us!" Ray barked, a vein in his neck began to grow.
"No! If you kill her, I won't do the transplant!" Carter yelled.
"If you don't do the transplant we'll fucking kill you!" Ray screamed.
"Yeah and you'll have no one to do it, will you! Besides she can help!" Carter demanded. He quickly glanced at her, her body laid weekly on the ground, her blond hair strewn across her face.
"The girl stays." Ray muttered as he sat down. People began to talk amongst themselves as Carter and Tony raced to her.
"Do you have anywhere she can lay down?" Carter asked, as he wiped the blood that trickled down her face.
"Yeah, there's a room over here." Tony added, Carter picked her limp body up and followed Tony. It was a small room that had a cot in the corner. Carter laid her down and brushed the hair out of her eyes. Tony returned with some ice in a napkin.
"How long do we have before we leave?"
"About an hour," Tony replied as he sat on a box across the room. Carter was afraid now. Lucy was 'involved.' He didn't care about himself, he was only afraid of what they might do to her. He needed to know she'd be okay.
Lucy Knight could feel someone's hand caressing her cheek. She could tell it was Carter and it made her smile as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Ouch," She mouthed putting her hand on her head.
"Luce, are you okay, how many fingers am I holding up?" Carter asked his voice full of concern.
"Carter, I'm fine, but can you tell me what's going on?" She asked softly.
"I'll leave you two alone," Tony said as he got up. "I'll call you when it's time."
"Time for what?" Lucy asked as she held Carter's hand.
"Luce, you know that GSW that came in this morning?" Carter said, continuing to caress her cheek.
"Yeah, the Mafia one. I thought they had something to do with this, so what's going on?" Lucy repeated.
"Lucy, if there son dies tonight, they'll kill me." Carter revealed. Lucy instantly sat up.
"Oh, Carter." Lucy gasped as she wrapped her arms around him and embraced him. This was all they had, one moment together. There was a small radio on a crate next to them, it had been talk radio and it was agitating Carter, he went to switch it off when a simple song came over the radio.
"Don't turn it off," Lucy whispered. "Let's enjoy this while we have it." She slowly stood up next to Carter. She was still a little woozy from the wound, so Carter held her tightly in her arms as they danced slowly. Only the music was heard, but they communicated. There feelings and emotions merged, creating a connection between them.
"Luce," Carter finally murmured. "Luce, get out of here, go. If you stay they'll kill you. Please go, if you run out now and hide, you'll survive."
"Carter, you didn't want me to be involved," She whispered, "but I am and I'm not going to breathe until Your resting here with me." Carter looked down at her, he felt like everything was okay when he was with her. An emotion burst into his heart and it was here he realised that he couldn't live without Lucy; he had fallen in love with her. They grew closer, only a breath apart, and slowly their lips met. It was slow but passionate. Lucy tilted her head slightly and kissed deeper as Carter ran his hands through her hair. They softly broke apart and Lucy just placed her head against his chest as they danced slowly. Neither of them ever wanted this moment to ever end.
I didn't hear you leave,
I wonder how am I still here,
I don't want to move a thing,
it may change my memory.
Oh I am what I am,
I'll do what I want,
but I can't hide.
I won't go,
I won't sleep,
I can't breathe,
until your resting here with me
I won't leave
I can't hide
I cannot be
Until your resting here with me.
"I'm not leaving," Lucy whispered, this brought a faint smile to Carter's face.
"Your an idiot," Carter replied softly, "but-"
"But what?" She laughed quietly.
"But I love you." Carter replied, whispering into her ear. Lucy quickly looked up in shock, she looked up at his smiling his face, his deep brown eyes. She cared for him, she cared for him so much that she'd rather risk death then leave him, in other words she loved him.
"I love you too." She smiled up at him and continued to dance slowly with him, they were startled when a harsh knocking broke them apart.
"Johnny, time to go." He informed them.
"Yeah," he replied. "I'll be there in a moment." He gave Lucy a quick hug and whispered, "I'll be back, just wait here."
"I'll be waiting," She smiled. Carter turned and was about to leave when he turned on his heels and delivered another passionate, yet brief kiss to Lucy.
"Ready?" Carter asked as he left the room.
"Just friends?" Tony laughed patting Carter on the back. 'Tony was right,' Carter thought. It was nice to have someone care for him. He didn't know why he had ignored Lucy up to now, but the thought of her over-powered the growing fear in the back of his mind.
"So what do we do?" Ray asked Carter.
"They should have a heart in the freezer, there's a transplant scheduled tomorrow morning we can get any type of blood, but were looking for a class 3 heart." Carter explained.
"Okay, my boys mapped out the entire place, we need to get to the 3rd floor. To get in the back we have to deactivate cable six in the alarm." Ray explained. Ray, Carter, Tony and a few other guys were waiting outside of The Chicago Donor Agencies.
"Were going in," Tony said as he dismantled the lock. Carter watched and followed as they stepped over every electric beam. They didn't say a word until they reached the box. It was amazing, really, they didn't make one wrong move. But then again, Tony had even stated before, 'don't slide, then it's over.'
"Got it," Called Ray. The beams suddenly shut off and everyone dropped to an ease.
"Benny," Ray ordered. "Get the security camera. Tony and Johnny, come with me. The rest of you, make sure we don't get screwed." Ray boarded the elevator and Tony and Carter followed.
"The freezer should be over here," Ray said leading Carter through the medical warehouse.
"Wait, let me get some supplies." Carter muttered. He quickly grabbed handfuls of surgical equipment, gauze, anti-septic, anaesthetics, tubing, a few bags of saline and finally a heart monitor.
"You really need all that?" Tony asked.
"Uh, huh." Carter replied. Finally the huge steel cabinet appeared in front of him. Ray quickly opened it, to reveal shelves and shelves of organs and packaged blood.
"I got the blood," Ray muttered, taking all 6 packages.
"That the heart?" Tony asked.
"Yeah," Carter replied. Tony slowly reached out to get it, but just before his hands could clasp it, a steel cage enclosed it and a alarm began to shriek.
"Shit!" Tony yelled.
"Get out now!" Ray yelled. They quickly slammed the freezer door shut before running to the stairs.
"Go! Go! Go!" Ray ordered. Everyone else had left as soon as the alarm had rang, it was basic instinct. Carter, Ray and Tony ran through the streets, lugging the equipment. The sound of police sirens wailed in there ears.
"In here!" Carter yelled ducking into an alleyway. Behind the street corners, they pushed themselves further and further until something halted them.
"Freeze!" Yelled a police officer, Carter watched in horror as Tony quickly pulled out his gun and fired it.
"You fucking asshole!" Ray yelled. "The police are on too us now and you shot him in the heart! We could have fucking used that!"
"I'm sorry, really Ray, I...I--"
"Just run!" Ray ordered and that's what they did. They kept going, they ran and ran and ran until they finally stopped for air in front of the building.
"What do we do now?" Tony asked.
"What do you mean, 'What do we do!,' You always have a plan! Damnit, Tony!" Ray screamed. "Just get in there, we need to work out a new plan." Ray muttered. They entered into the 'club.' Louie was hear, Lucy sat next to him.
"Carter, he needs the operation soon." She announced.
"We don't have a heart," Carter replied, he said sitting down next to her. Carter watched as one of the elderly man whispered into Ray's ear. Ray nodded and patted the man on the back.
"All right boys, we have a plan." Ray announced. "A friend of mine is sending down a man, who's slid to often. I need Johnny, Mitch, Benny, Marco" Ray paused. "Oh and yeah, Tony, we need you too."
"So where is this guy?" Carter asked as they stood waiting into the night. His stomach was on an edge, he didn't know if Lucy and him we're going to be able to walk away; even if they did save this kid.
"He should be here shortly," Ray stated as he gave the men a nod. In a moment of seconds, the men grabbed Tony and pulled a gun to his head. Carter was unable to move, he wasn't sure what was going on until Tony just looked straight up at him and stated...
"Never slide."
A second later, Tony's head lay blown away. It finally hit Carter: they had knocked off Tony.
"Nooo!" Carter yelled, he fell to his Knees and held the dead man. "You, you killed him!" Carter hadn't known Tony long, but over the day, they had become friends, watching out for each other.
"Do as the man said Johnny, 'Don't slide.'" Ray stated. Second's later Tony's body was being dragged into the 'club.' Carter pushed the nauseous feeling down. He no longer thought the Mafia was smooth, it was rough, jagged, sloppy.
"Oh my God," Lucy stated putting a hand to her mouth.
"Move!" Yelled Ray. They instantly sprang into action.
"Lucy is the boy out?" Carter asked.
"Yeah. I'll open his chest." She replied. "Hey, get a towel and soak up this blood!" She yelled to the herds of men watching them. Carter quickly harvested the heart. It was ruthless, but he didn't think, he just worked.
"Okay, let's get this in here!" Carter shouted. Neither of them knew much about surgery, but both of them prayed they were doing it right as they sewed the new heart into Louie's chest. Carter massaged the heart, hoping as rhythm would pick up. Minutes past, finally it began to beat on it's own.
"Let's sew him up!" Carter ordered. Blood oozed out of the seams.
"Carter his pulse is dropping!" Lucy yelled as she began to do compressions on him.
"Call an ambulance now!" Carter yelled. Instantly the men scattered, scurrying around them. Carter and a few other men pulled Louie's bed out of the building and into the night. Lucy pushed until finally the week pulse beat again. Carter watched as the men sprayed kerosene throughout the building and finally set it alight. 'There was always a cover-up,' he thought. They would never be caught, they'd just keep on with the violence. The paramedics finally arrived, they knew something had happened but with a bribe, they'd keep quiet. A few of the men went to the hospital, the rest just disappeared. There were only 3 left now, Carter, Lucy and Ray.
"You did your job well Johnny," Ray said laughing a little. "Can I interest you in a permanent position?"
"No," Carter replied, trying hard to keep his tone subtle, even though anger filled his chest.
"Well, well," Ray laughed. "Your just like your father and your grand father. Your just like them."
Carter replied with no response.
"But you know, I like you, and I like your lovely lady" Ray added. "That's why I'm giving you the count to ten to get the hell out of here." Lucy clutched Carter's hand. "Run Johnny, Run."
And they ran. They ran and never looked back. Together they ran, even though they knew Ray was not behind them. They just ran to escape everything that had happened today. It wasn't until they reached the El station, that they collapsed. Lucy just sobbed, she had seen to much today and Carter just held her. It comforted him to hold her. It made him forget about the Mafia, about Ray, about the shooting about the threats, about Tony.
"Hey," He said lifting her chin up.
"Carter, I can't think, I don't know what to think."
"So what do we do?" He asked, Carter didn't have a second plan, he didn't even have a first.
"I don't know," She replied.
"Neither do I," He added.
"Should we go home?" He asked putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah, let's just go home." She murmured. They boarded the train and sat in silence. They didn't want to talk. They just wanted solace and peace; but they knew that they wouldn't be able to accept this for a long time. Carter finally broke the silence.
"Luce," He muttered.
"Yes," She replied.
"Luce," Carter's voice cracked as Lucy embraced him. Carter barely cried, but after what they had been through. It finally came out.
"Are you going to be okay?" Lucy asked softly.
"Yeah," He stated. "Yeah, I'll be fine." And in his heart, he knew that in time, with Lucy's help, he would.