Chapter 18 18

Chapter 18 18

Domenico stood behind the doctors, and advised in a low, hard voice.

"If you run into any of them, don't scream. Don't fight. Don't fucking run. Just raise your fucking hand. That's all you do. You raise your hand and answer any questions they might have, and I'll take care of the rest. Got it?"

One of them, who was shaking so hard the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose was shaking too, swallowed hard and nodded.

"Y-yes... yes, sir."

"Good." Dom's hand tightened around his gun.

He was calm, but every now and then, he saw Lucy's face. They continued moving slowly, step by step, down the corridor.

And then they turned into the hallway that would lead them to the donor room. For a moment it was quiet, but just before Domenico turned into the hallway with the doctors, they suddenly froze.

Their bodies went rigid and slowly, every one of them lifted their hands into the air as advised. Dom instantly knew what it meant. Someone was there.

He stayed back and leaned against the wall, tightening his finger against the trigger. The man stepped out into the hallway clearly now, gun in hand and his eyes wild.

"Don't fucking move," he barked, his weapon pointed straight at the doctors.

They stammered, utterly terrified. One of them spoke out, voice breaking. "P-please... don't shoot. We're just doctors. We're not part of this. Please!"

The man sneered and scanned their garbs a second time, looking for anything that would give him a hint that these men weren't doctors so he could blow their brains off. But the way they were shaking, and with everything about them, he knew they were really doctors.

"Doctors, huh? Then tell me where they are. Where are the Stone brothers?"

Their lips trembled as they shot uneasily glances across each other before one responded. "W-we don't know."

"Don't lie to me!" The man shoved the gun closer to their heads, his finger twitching on the trigger. "You show me where the Stones are, or you're dead. All of you. And I don't care if you're doctors or not."

One of the doctors, thinking fast, caved as the desperation spilled from his mouth. He was terrified. But he also knew that giving away the position of the Stones in a situation like this would be worse than death. So, taking advantage of his genuine fear, he stuttered back a response.

"O-okay! Okay, I'll tell you! They are hiding in a storage room in the hospital's basement. The road there is just down the other hallway. You'll find a staircase that leads down to the basement. B-but please, please, don't kill us. We have nothing to do with this."

The man's eyes narrowed. "Now that's more like it." He gave a cruel and mocking grin. "Thanks for the information. But you're useless now. So-"

He raised the gun to fire but a single gunshot exploded first. The bullet tore through the man's forehead, splattering the wall behind him.

He dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, hitting the floor with a heavy thud before his gun clattered uselessly across the tile. He was gone before he realised what had hit him.

The doctors gasped, shaking even more now. They knew that if Adam hadn't pulled the trigger when he did, one of them, if not all, would have been corpses already.

Just as Dom grabbed the gun and handed it to the doctors, asking them to use it to protect themselves should they be caught up in a bad situation during the course of this mission footsteps started approaching, fast. It was the sound of heavy boots hitting tile.

Dom instantly raised his gun, aiming down the hallway and waiting for the assailant to appear, eyes locked. But then, Blaze appeared.

"Fuck!" Dom hissed, lowering his weapon "What the hell do you think you're doing running in here without saying a damn word? I could've fucking shot you."

Blaze's face was hard as rock. "And what the hell are you doing leading these doctors out here? You're trying to get them killed?"

Dom stepped forward, eyes burning. "That's not your business. You do your job, clear out the rest of them. Leave me the fuck alone."

Blaze's eyes shifted past Dom and that's when he saw the corpse on the floor. He looked back at his brother and then his jaw tightened.

"What?" Dom demanded, irritated. "You staring at me like I'm some little girl that needs her hand held?"

Blaze shook his head, muttering. "Next one you catch, don't kill him. We need to keep one alive. Make him talk when this is over."

Dom nodded. "Fine. Let's get out of here."

Blaze turned and hurried off again before bringing the phone to his lips. "Dom is fine. Check in now!"

Domenico Stone let out a hard exhale and turned back to the doctors who were still shaken by what they had seen. "Move."

They rushed into the donor room with him close behind and once inside, the door was sealed.

Inside, the machines were buzzing. The sterile metal counters were lined with equipment.

The doctors scrambled, pulling out the bags, the tubes and the needles. One of them spoke to him with a shaking voice. "Sir... we can't-"

"You can and you will. Take my blood. Do the transfusion."

"But it's dangerous if we don't follow the-"

His glare silenced the man instantly. "I didn't ask for a lecture. Do it."

The men swallowed their fear and began the process. They hooked him up, sliding the needle I to his arm. Dark blood flowed through the tube into the waiting bag. His body tensed but he didn't flinch, instead he stared straight ahead, jaw locked and eyes cold.

After a few minutes passed, his vision started to blur at the edges. His chest started to feel heavy too and his muscles gradually weakened. One of the doctors tried to speak.

"Sir... you're loosing too much-"

"Shut up and keep going." Dom growled.

By the time it was over, his skin was pale and his breaths were slow and ragged. He ripped the needle out himself, his hands shaking slightly. He pushed the blood bag toward them. "Take it. Save her. Now."

"But you need-"

"I said go. Lock the door behind you." They hesitated but obeyed without another word as they grabbed the bag and rushed out, locking the heavy door tight behind them.

Dom slumped back in his chair. He could feel his body sinking and his head spinning. He could barely move his arm, barely holding onto his gun now. His eyes were fluttering too as he was on the cusp of unconsciousness but he forced them open staring at the ceiling. That's when his thoughts drifted off, foggy.

Why am I doing this? I could've let her die. I'd let plenty of people die before. Hell, I've killed a lot of people myself before. But Lucy... something about her pulled me. I couldn't watch her fade. I couldn't stand it.

The darkness crawled in, and then his eyes shut before he slumped and his body went limp. Meanwhile, in the surveillance room, Locke’s eyes widened.

On the screen, he'd just seen Dom in the donor room, passed out. But worse he saw a figure moving down the hallway toward the room.

"Fuck..." Locke cursed, dialing fast. The man reached the door. He yanked at the handle but it held.

Then he lifted his gun and fired into the lock. The door swung open with a metallic groan. Then he stepped inside. Seeing Domenico Stone unconscious, he pulled out his phone and spoke into it.

"I've got Domenico Stone in sight. He's out cold. What are the instructions?"

The reply hissed through the speaker in a dark and venomous tone. "Shoot to kill. End him."

The man hung up, cocked his gun. And then a deafening bang erupted.