Best-Laid Plans

Chapter 10 (R)

The first thing Donna became aware of after the silence ended was a lot of shouting and the sounds of footfalls all around her. Hearing was the first sense that returned to her, followed by the pain in her shoulder, which came back with a vengeance. But she still couldn't see, or speak, or move. Then, out of nowhere, she had the sensation of being moved, of someone moving her. All of sudden she became aware of her eyelids again and opened them. She found herself staring straight into the face of the S.W.A.T. officer she'd made eye contact with before.

He was reaching behind her, looking at her back, and all of a sudden she felt her hands come free with one last scrape from the cable tie.

"Ow," she muttered, surprising the officer. She tried to move around and he gently put his hands on both her arms.

"Just a moment please, miss. I need to check you out."

"I think I'm --" she tried to say.

"I just need to check, miss," the officer said again. She felt his hands roaming up and down her, checking for injuries. She felt her feet come free from the other cable tie. His face came back into her line of sight.

"How are you feeling?" he said.

"My shoulder hurts," she said, reaching for his hand. "I wanna sit up."

"Slowly," he said, wrapping an arm behind her shoulders instead of taking her hand, and pulling her gently into a sitting position just inside the entryway. His name, Jackson, was stitched in yellow letters on the black utility vest he wore. He eased her coat and blazer off her shoulders to reveal her baby blue blouse, which showed several trails of blood down the front of it from a small hole near the shoulder seam and the collar.

"You sustained a flesh wound to your left shoulder, but you're going to be fine," he said, looking at her with those calming eyes. "It's not bad, barely nicked you. Might need a couple of stitches, but that's about it."

Donna was looking at her own shoulder like it didn't belong to her. It wasn't an exorbitant amount of blood, but it was more than she could ever remember bleeding. She couldn't really see the wound that well, but she could feel it. And she could see the blood. Her face must have gone white, because Jackson said, "It looks worse than it is, miss. I swear, it's just a nick."

The pain was still pretty bad, but there was a certain lightheadedness that came with it that she really didn't mind so much. "I...I was shot?" she asked, incredulously.

"Well, technically, I suppose so, but miss, like I said, you're going to be fine. There's no bullet in your shoulder, you'll be just fine. We're going to get a medic in here as soon as we've secured the scene."

"Oh," she said, still looking unbelieving at her shoulder. "Okay." Something broke through the lightheadedness just a bit. Secure the scene. The scene of what? The scene of...oh. She grabbed the officer by the forearm. "Did you get them?"

Jackson glanced around the corner into the lobby, where his other team members were busy securing the scene. "Under control," he said to her.

Donna laid her head back against the wall and breathed out, closing her eyes as she did so. "It's over?"

"Yes ma'am," Jackson replied.

Donna felt absolutely giddy. They'd made it. Through the robbery, the standoff, the threats, the intimidation tactics, the damn ringing phone, the shootout, all of it. She wanted to see Josh. Wanted to keep him from freaking out about the fact that there'd been shots fired while she was there, wanted to let him fuss over this little scratch on her shoulder, wanted to tease him for being worried in front of the others before she privately thanked him for being worried.

She saw the first of the medics file in with a backboard. They stopped at her, since she was so near the entrance. Donna shook her head at Jackson. "I don't need it," she said.

"We're good," Jackson told the medics, who moved into the lobby. "We're gonna take you to the hospital anyway, we're gonna take everybody. Just to get looked over, make sure you didn't hit your head, you know. Plus somebody needs to take a look at that shoulder."

"What, this old thing?" Donna teased, unable to wipe the smile off her face. "It's just a nick."

Jackson smiled a little. "Yes, ma'am."

Donna pulled her feet toward her. "Want to try standing?" Jackson asked.

"Yeah," she said. He wrapped an arm around her back, careful not to jostle her shoulder at all, and brought her gently to her feet. She swayed just a little, but got her balance quickly.

"We need to go out the back," he indicated. "That's where the ambulances are pulling around."

"Okay," she nodded. "Just let me speak to somebody really quickly." She hated to cause trouble and ask them to let Fred ride with her to the hospital, when everyone had enough to handle, but she wanted to tell Fred she'd see him there.

"Hey, Fred," she said as she took her first step out of the entryway and back into the lobby. "Let's blow this —"

Donna had been out of the line of sight of the lobby for the most part, so she hadn't really seen the aftermath of Bernard's confrontation with the S.W.A.T. team. It looked like a war zone. There were people and debris strewn everywhere. The lobby was filled with S.W.A.T. officers and medics. Bernard lay on his back in the middle of the lobby, unmoving, two medics working on him. An oxygen mask covered his face.

Hank was on his stomach in cuffs, being searched by an officer. A crowd was gathered by the wall where the hostages had been. Most of them seemed unhurt, with the exception of being shaken or having a few bumps and scrapes. An officer and/or paramedic were slowly helping each one to their feet and toward the back entrance. The strong one lay near where Donna had been sitting the whole time, obviously dead after his encounter with the S.W.A.T. team. Donna was about to look away from that image when she finally caught sight of Fred.

Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God.

"Fred?" she squeaked. "No, no, no, no, no...." she said as she moved toward him. Jackson was right behind her, but didn't stop her. Donna started out walking, but was on her knees by the time she reached Fred, who lay, unmoving, by the wall. Donna put her hands on his shoulders and shook him gently. She was too hysterical to let it register that he had a bullet wound in his chest.

"Fred?" she whispered. "Fred, come on, please. Please don't...." the tears began to fall and she shook him gently again. "Fred, please."

Jackson was behind her, his hand on her arm, but he didn't say anything. He signaled another S.W.A.T. officer, who made his way over. "What the hell happened? I didn't think we lost any hostages!" Jackson hissed.

"Security guard was hidden by the third perp at first glance," his colleague shook his head sadly. "GSW to the chest. He was gone before he hit the ground."

"Was it us?" Jackson asked, horrified.

"Don't know yet," his colleague replied. "I was covering this guy," he gestured at the strong one. "He swung his weapon pretty wildly, so it's possible he got the security guard, or the guard may have been hit with a slug that tore through the perp and hit him. They were standing pretty close; the perp actually fell on top of the guard. We're just not sure yet."

Both of them turned to look down at Fred. "Damn shame," his colleague said. "This guy should've been off fishing somewhere, not in the middle of this."

"God," Jackson breathed.

"Yeah," his colleague responded.

Two medics and other officers approached with a stretcher to remove Fred from the scene. Jackson signaled for them to hang back for a minute. He turned back to Donna and knelt down beside her, where she was still sitting, gently rubbing Fred's arm.

"Miss," Jackson said quietly.

"He needs help," Donna tried, then broke down. He was beyond help and she knew it.

"I'm sorry," Jackson said. "I'm just — I'm sorry."

"He was a police officer, you know," she said, looking at the man who'd been so kind to her in the few hours she'd known him. Retired from MPDC. Did you know him?"

"No ma'am," Jackson said, looking down at Fred.

"His name is Fred Garfield," Donna said. "He has a wife, um, Mae, and......and grandchildren," she whispered tearfully.

"Yes, ma'am."

"He was retired. God, he shouldn't have been here," she whispered.

"Yes, ma'am."

Donna let out a ragged breath and continued to hold Fred's hand. "Miss," Jackson said. Donna didn't look at him. "They're going to take care of him now. We're going to have to move so they can take care of him now."

"Someone will call his family?" Donna asked.

"Yes, ma'am. We'll send someone `round to his home."

Donna exhaled again. "Okay," she said slowly. "Okay. Okay." Finally, she let go of Fred's hand and let Jackson help her to her feet again. She leaned heavily on him as he turned and guided her toward the back exit.

"Get the CO," Jackson said to his colleague as he turned Donna around. "Guy was retired from the job. Local. I'll be back as soon as I get her secured."

They took the first steps outside and Donna wobbled a little, unprepared for the cold night air. She looked up at the black sky like she'd forgotten about its existence. "Miss," Jackson prodded her gently. "Right here."

A medic helped her into an ambulance where Patti was already sitting, having her vitals checked. The medic guided Donna to sit next to Patti on the gurney and started taking her pulse. Jackson briefly ran down the details of Donna's injury, and then he was gone. By the time the ambulance pulled out, with its lights and sirens going, Patti was holding Donna's hand silently as the medic applied pressure to the shoulder wound Donna couldn't even feel anymore.

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

Josh had gone to the bullpen for the latest coffee run, and was still standing by his desk when his phone rang. He snatched it up before the first ring ended.

"Josh Lyman."

CJ, Toby and Sam waited as Josh listened to the caller. His facial expressions were changing so rapidly they were unreadable. When his face went white and he dropped wordlessly into his chair like his knees had given out, Sam leaned over the desk and snatched the receiver from his hand.

"Bob? It's Sam. What's going on?"

Sam listened wordlessly for a while, and CJ flew around the desk and knelt beside Josh's chair. She was talking lowly and sweetly to him, but he wouldn't really respond to her. Finally she put her hand on the back of his head and pushed it forward, telling him he looked like he was about to faint. Josh crossed his forearms over his knees and rested his head on them. Toby had come forward and was standing right behind CJ.

"Uh-huh," Sam said. "Oh, my God." He put one hand flat on the desk for support. "Really? You're sure? You're positive?" Sam practically collapsed back into the guest chair.

"God, they're dropping like flies," Toby muttered as he headed toward Sam, fearing the worst. Toby was reaching for the receiver when Sam, who'd had his face covered with his free hand, spoke again. "Wait a minute, why is everyone going to the— OK. OK. Did you see her? So you don't know for sure...yeah. Yeah. Minor only. OK. Which hosp— OK. And I assume it won't be a problem if we...OK. OK. Thanks, Bob. Thanks a lot."

Sam held the receiver away from his head slightly and Toby took it. Sam leaned forward, both his hands covering his face.

"Sam?" CJ asked, still rubbing a silent Josh's back.

Sam said something unintelligible into his hands.

Toby leaned over. "Excuse me?"

"She's OK," Sam said, moving his hands from in front of his mouth long enough to scrub face with them.

CJ felt Josh's back hitch in what she thought was a stifled sob. She looked back at Sam. "It's OVER?!?" she said loudly.

"Yeah," Sam said, lifting his head for the first time and propping his elbows sloppily on the desk. "They sent the S.W.A.T. team in and the robbers opened fire. It got pretty messy, and they lost one hostage in the crossfire, a male hostage, the security guard who was on duty." He stopped for a second, shaking his head regretfully. "But all the other hostages received minor injuries only, if at all."

CJ and Toby both exhaled audibly, and Toby turned and looked at the wall for a second before turning back to Sam. "What about the robbers?"

Josh pulled himself up out of his folded position. He hadn't heard this part.

"One dead, one in custody and unhurt, one critically injured," Sam said.

"And Donna's OK? We know that?" Toby said.

Sam leaned back in the chair and smiled tiredly. "Linden didn't see her; they'd moved her before he got inside the bank. But all reports indicated every hostage accounted for with minor injuries only, except for the security guard."

"They moved her?" Josh mumbled. "Why?"

"They took everybody to the hospital...just to get checked out," Sam said.

"Which hospital?" Toby asked.

"GW," Sam said. He grabbed the arms of the chair and pushed himself to his feet.

"Josh," he said. "Let's go get her."

Josh looked up at his friend, and a huge smile spread across his face. Sam reached his arm out and Josh grabbed it, letting Sam pull him to his feet.

"Let's go get her," Josh said.