Redeemer

Chapter 6

“Good afternoon Mr. Paxton.” The man replied with a full, thick Irish accent as he pulled his wallet out of his chest pocket and held up something round and shinny. “I’m inspector Petraki, mind if I ask you a few questions?”

Pax’s eyes narrowed as he stared the stranger standing the doorway. He first thoughts were of locating a weapon or something he could possibly use because this man bore no resemblance to a typical police officer. His body was fairly large and well muscled and even in the dim lighting, Pax could see a small shinny glint from a pair of metal dog tags halfway sticking out of his jacket.

Yeah, this guy was defiantly not your typical cop and Pax felt his heart drop down into his stomach. An E.H. member...

(How’d they find me?)

Fearfully he looked around for his nurse only to discover she had left. He was completely alone with this stranger.

Seeing no other alternative, he bit the inside of his cheek and nodded.

“I guess...”

The man’s grin stayed on his face the entire time as he crossed the room and pulled a chair near his bed. Pax’s eyes never left the man’s frame. His hair was dark and shoulder length while his face was framed with a thin layer of stubble that wasn’t thick enough to conceal a small scar just under the man’s chin.

“Well I can’t tell you how much of a relief it is to see you recovering nicely from a horrible accident like that. You coming along okay?”

Pax didn’t say anything, he was still studying the man with a weary eye. His voice held a thick Irish roll to it but there was also a touch of Hispanic in it. As a matter of a fact, judging from the man’s dark skin and sharp eyes, there was defiantly some Hispanic blood in his veins.

“I’m feelin’ alright I guess. Head’s just a bit hazy, that’s all.” Pax replied.

“Sorry to hear that.” Petraki replied as he pulled a small notepad out of the inside of his jacket. “My job requires me to file a report on this so I have to ask you a few questions, alright.”

“Okay, I don’t remember much but I’ll try.”

He smirked mentally, playing stupid was something he was gifted at and there was no way he was going to give this man any solid answers to go on.

Petraki flipped the notepad open and started scribbling a few things on it.

“Do you remember anything before the accident?”

Pax waited for a while before he spoke. “Not much.”

“You don’t know why you ran into the street in front of a moving car?” Petraki replied, raising an eyebrow.

Pax knew he didn’t believe him but he honestly didn’t care. His eyes kept darting down at the man’s arm, hoping the sleeves on his jacket would ride up enough for him to see if the man had the company’s logo tattooed on his arm like the rest of them did.

“Sorry.” He shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t remember much.”

Petraki frowned and wrote a few things down before he asked another question.

“How about your friend, Josh wasn’t it, where did he get his injuries come from?”

Paxton’s heart skipped from the mention of his friend’s name.

“What?”

“Well, over five people stated your friend wasn’t anywhere near the street when the car hit you so I was wondering if you remember where they came from...and a few of yours as well. How did you lose the two fingers on your left hand?”

Pax couldn’t stop his eye from twitching so he tried to cover it up with surprise as he pretended to look his let hand over.

“I don’t know. Maybe from the car hitting me.”

“Yeah, I was thinking about that as well until your nurse mentioned something about your hand already being wrapped up when they brought you in here.”

Petraki ended his sentence with a stern look, trying to coax the answers he sought out of the American. Pax, however, was only growing more defensive.

“I said I don’t remember.” He replied, grumpily.

“What about Josh, would he remember anything? His injuries where even more puzzling then your own and half of the Hospital staff wants to know how he got them in order for them to treat him properly.”

Pax bit his cheek again and decided to stay quiet. It wasn’t his place to explain to everyone what had happened to his friend. Josh probably wouldn’t want it. Besides, according to his nurse, Josh was recovering just fine so there was no reason for him to speak on the matter.

“I don’t remember.” He sighed, one final time.

He could practically reach out and touch the waves of frustration gathering around Petraki from his words. He smiled inwardly and leaned back into the bed, signaling that he didn’t want to talk anymore. Thankfully, the other man got the hint and stood up.

“Thank you for your time Mr. Paxton. I’ll drop by in a few days to see if you remember anything else–” Petraki cut off as something inside his front pocket started to ring. “Excuse me.”

He opened his front pocket and pulled a cell phone out as he left the room. A few seconds later, Natalie shuffled her way into the room, apparently she was waiting outside for them to finish.

“Strange man.” She mumbled as she shook her head. “Are you hungry?”

“No.” Pax replied as his gazed wander upwards towards the ceiling again.

“Alright, I need to check your vitals so I’ll have to bug you for the next few minutes.”

She smiled her usual happy, motherly grin and Pax’s lower lip curved into a grin as well.

“You never bug me.” He sighed warmly and closed his eyes.

Her smile brightened but Pax’s attention was jerked away from her face as Petraki’s voice drifted into his room from the hallway.

“Yeah, he’s awake. He seams fine but claims he doesn’t remember anything...yeah, I think he’s lying too...right, I’ll check on the other one and meet up with you. The security in this place is pathetic, we shouldn’t have a problem getting in. Hell, they didn’t even search me on the way in...no you heard Sean, they’re coming tonight so we need to be here. Right, I’ll linger out front and wait for you.”

Pax’s heart felt like it’d burst inside of his chest at any moment. Oh god, he really was an E.H. member and what was worse, he knew where him and Josh were.

“Pax...are you alright?” Natalie grew concerned when Pax’s hand started shaking violently.

He turned his head and tried to give her a pleading look but judging from the calmness of her face, she didn’t hear a single word.

“Paxton, are you okay?”

Pax didn’t answer. If the company knew where they were then the only thing they could do was run. They needed to leave, now.

“Is Josh awake?”

Natalie was quiet for a few moments while she checked his pulse but eventually she nodded.

“He’s woken up a few times today, but I think he’s still sleeping off the morphine so he’ll be out for a while.”

He nodded his thanks, his brain was still reeling with fear. There was no way he was going to leave Josh here. He’d never live with himself. The only choice he had was to wait a few hours until it was dark; Petraki said they weren’t coming until then.

All he could was wait...wait and pray his luck would hold up.

******************

“Are you in any pain?” Natalie asked, once again leaning over him and wearing her over-worried mother expression.

“No. I’m fine.”

“Sure, I haven’t given you any morphine today. Nothing hurts?”

“No.” Pax lied, even thought his entire body was in pain.

He needed to be awake and fully alert and there was no way he’d be able to with any drugs in his system, so he forced himself to stomach his discomfort and kept his face clear.

“Well, alright, but in an hour or so you’re gonna be begging for it. I’ll make sure one of the nurses on duty checks on you during the night.” Natalie said softly as she finished looking him over one last time before her shift ended.

Once she checked all of his vitals, changed the bandages on his left hand and questioned once again if he wanted any painkillers, she gathered up her medical tools and quietly padded out of the room.

“Night Paxton, I’ll swing by and check on you in the morning.” She called over her shoulder as she passed through the doorway.

“Bye Natalie.” He called after her.

(Bye and thanks.)

He watcher her leave and his face saddened. He really wished he could’ve thanked her for her wonderful kindness and the sweet words she said to him during his recovery. However, his sorrow only stayed for a moment before his face hardened.

It was now or never, he needed to leave before anyone found him.

He waited for a few minutes, keeping his ears sharp and trained on the sounds of footsteps echoing in the hallway. Most of them sounded faint and far off so he assumed the coast was clear. Gingerly, he forced himself to sit upright.

A pained groan escaped his lips as intense pain waves swelled inside of his chest near his ribs. God, that car must’ve fucked him up more then he thought it did. He bit his lip from the pain and felt along his chest with the good fingers of his left hand. A few areas where sensitive to the touch but he could really tell how tender they were because the sling was still holding his right arm tightly against his chest.

His eyes moved down and glared at the sling, that thing needed to go. It was hard and frustrating trying to slid the damn strap over his head with just two good fingers but after a few long minutes and an even longer list of grumbled swear words, he finally got the damn thing over his head and slid the material off his arm.

The nerves in his right arm were still weak but never the less, he was able to move it and sit up straight without much difficultly.

He slid his legs out of the bedding and rolled them to the floor. They seamed to hold his weight easily enough and he was proven right as he stood up. He was a little wobbly at first but on the whole, he seamed fine, or close enough for him to wander around.

He glanced down at the rumpled hospital gown he was wearing and frowned. First thing he needed was some clothes, he’d attract too much attention dressed like this. He tip-toed towards the open doorway and peaked his head out.

The coast was clear so he started down the hallway. His bare feet tapped across the tiles softly and he made a mental note to stay barefoot if he found a pair of shoes. At the far corner of the hallway he located a sign and spent a moment reciting his German in order to understand the directions.

Luckily the sign showed the staff room was on his floor and he fallowed the directions towards the far end of the building. The hallways were deserted, a thought he found both comforting and disturbing.

Where was everyone? He honestly expected to run into someone by now.

A black wooden door marked “Staff Room” in German soon entered his view and Pax quickly sped up his pace. The door opened easily enough, even though it made a loud creaking sound as it swung closed, causing Pax to jump slightly.

He glanced around the room and sighed when he saw a set of lockers in the fair corner. He dug through them, smiling happily when he located a few articles of normal clothing and hurriedly changed into it.

As he finished, his ears picked up the sounds of approaching footsteps and his head snapped up. He could see shadows ghosting across the small gap under the door and Pax quickly ducked behind a table in the corner as the door knob begin to turn.

The door creaked as it was pushed open and a set of heavy but careful footsteps echoed inside of the small room. Pax felt a lump form inside of his throat and after a long moment he dared himself to peak over the table.

On the far side of the room, a man dressed in dark clothing was slowly scanning around the length of the room. His back was to him but when the stranger turned around, Pax couldn’t help the shutter that went down his spine.

It was man who spoke to him earlier, Petraki.

His eyes started moving towards his hiding spot and Pax quickly ducked down. The inside of his chest was tightening painfully and it took most of his willpower to keep his frantic breathing quiet. He heard Petraki curse under his breath and he turned on his heel towards the open doorway.

Relief washed over him and Pax was about ready to slid out of his hiding place when a soft ringing sound filled his ears. He froze and tucked himself against the table once again. Through the gapes in the table he could see Petraki reach into his pocket and pull out his ringing cell phone.

“Yeah...no I can’t find him, he must’ve wandered off....No Terry, I don’t know where he is! If you’d stop bitching at Sean for a few seconds you would’ve heard me. He either wandered off or they got to him already! Make sure Jim stays by the front and keeps his eyes open, there’s only one way out of this damn place.”

Pax listened quietly, his heart beating a mile a minute inside of his chest. Patraki’s voice was different, the Irish roll to it was completely gone and was replaced by a thick, Hispanic accent. The man was clutching a gun in his free hand while the other held the phone near his ear.

“Right, I’ll head back up to the fifth floor and get the other one if he’s still there. I got it Terry, stop shouting of orders already!”

Pax’s body stiffened as he listened. The fifth floor...that only meant one thing, he was going after Josh. He needed to do something! His eyes moved around him and froze when they located a wooden cane leaning against the row of lockers.

(That’ll work.)

As quietly as he could, he crawled over towards it and tightly wound his fingers around it’s handle. He risked a glance over at Petraki who was still arguing into his phone and quietly crept up behind him, his eyes constantly darting down towards the gun he was holding.

His fingers tightened around the cane as he neared Petraki’s back. He raised the cane, his eyes closing tightly, and swung. There was a loud thud as the wood cracked over the back of Petraki’s head and his body immediately crashed to the ground.

Pax stared down at Petraki’s body in disbelief and fearfully crouched down on the floor. He reached out and lightly placed his finger tips on the side of Petraki’s neck and was both relieved and disappointed to see that he was still breathing.

With shaking fingers, he reached for the Petraki’s gun from where it had fallen on the floor. His swallowed deeply as he pulled the barrel back and the gun clicked as a bullet slid into the chamber. On a hunch he pulled Petraki’s jacket back and checked his belt and he was rewarded when his fingers stumbled across a small switchblade, which he immediately took and stuffed into his own pocket.

Petraki’s cell phone rang again and Pax nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the noise. He forced himself to ignore it as he quickly got to his feet and fled through the door. Running as fast as his legs could carry him, Pax sped down the hall and around a few corners before he skidded to a halt.

Another strange man was standing in the middle of the hallway, holding a cell phone to his ear. His back was turned so Pax quickly ducked behind a corner. This man looked just as dangerous as Petraki and was wearing a long dark jacket. His hair was trimmed short and his face was framed with thin line of facial hair but what stood out the most was the way he carried himself, it was obvious he had some tactical training.

“Dammit Remy, pick up the damn phone!” The man growled as he snapped his phone closed and turned on his heel.

Pax quickly ducked around the corner once again as the man’s footsteps sounded a few feet away from him. He pasted right by him and turned down the hall leading towards the staff room and Pax’s fingers immediately coiled around the handle of the gun as he watched, hoping the man wouldn’t turn around and discover him.

Once again, this man didn’t resemble any E.H. member Pax had seen but he still looked very dangerous and that reason alone was more then enough for Pax to stay hidden until the man disappeared from his view.

He inhaled sharply as he bolted from his hiding spot and rounded the corner. A pair of elevators greeted him and Pax pounded on the call button until one of the double doors dinged open. He moved into the small metal area and pressed the button for the fifth floor.

As he looked up, his eyes immediately noticed a dark blip at the end of the hallway and his breath hitched. The man he just saw a moment ago was staring at him and when their eyes locked, Pax’s fingers tightened on the gun’s handle.

“Over here!” The man yelled down a hall towards his left and started charging towards the elevator.

Pax swore and jammed his finger into the button a few more times before the doors shut. The elevator pulled upwards and after a few long moments of his heart feeling like it’d burst inside of his chest, Pax sighed and leaned back against the wall.

His right arm hurt like hell and he was barely able to hold the gun upright. Maybe he shouldn’t have refused the morphine. He felt his legs grow weak and Pax slid down to the floor and enjoyed his small moment of rest.

He needed to find Josh and soon. He just hoped that no one else already had.

(Please be ok Josh. Please let him be okay.)