“Come on,” I hissed and shook Eli’s shoulders. He was unconscious. I looked over my shoulder and saw my fellow agents releasing themselves from their handcuffs. “Someone make sure Jasper doesn’t bleed out!” I yelled. Kyle was at Jasper’s side immediately. He was on the brink of consciousness, collapsed next to Adam’s dead body. I stared for a few moments, not sure of how to feel.
“What are we going to do?” Beth asked shakily. She was crouched by her brother, wrapping a torn piece of clothing around his wound.
“There are agents outside. This room is soundproof so they have no idea what’s happened,” I said. “I need you guys to take them out and disable the lift so no more agents can come up.”
Kent stood up and cracked his knuckles. “Let’s do this,” he muttered.
“You are not going to kill them,” I said sternly.
“You’re not in the best position to be giving me orders-”
“Enough people have died already!” I snapped. “No one else dies.”
“I hope you’re telling the truth because I’m really not feeling too good,” Joey croaked. He had crawled out from behind the desk. “How much blood do you need to lose before shit gets serious.” His shirt was soaked in blood and his hand was clutching the wooden chair leg sticking from his side.
“You’re not going to die, Joey,” I said. I hoped my voice sounded confident. I looked down at my blood-soaked hands that were pressing onto Eli’s wounds, to Dominic who was injured badly, to Jasper who looked too far gone and to Joey who was as pale as a ghost. “No one else is.”
“Guys, let’s figure out a way to get out of here,” Jack called and headed for the door. “Let’s get rid of the guys outside shall we?”
“Jack, stay with me. I have an idea,” Erik called. He made his way over to Rob’s desk and booted up the laptop as the rest of the guys, minus Beth and Kyle made their way into the hallway.
“What is it?” I asked Erik as I felt for Eli’s pulse. It was weak.
“While you were on mission Rob put trackers in all of the agents,” Erik explained. “And I’m pretty sure I can hack them.”
“You could deliver an electrical current through the trackers,” Jack said. “It wouldn’t be strong, but enough to-”
“Knock them all unconscious,” Erik nodded. “Downstairs is full of agents. We’re going to need to get past them, and it’ll be a hell of a lot easier if they’re unconscious.”
“Brilliant, you figure that out and don’t fuck it up,” I said and looked at Kyle. “How’s my brother doing?”
“He’s hanging in there,” Kyle said. “Just about.”
I looked down at Eli and swallowed. “Eli,” I whispered. “We’re going to get you some help. Just keep that heart beating for me. Okay?”
“We’ve got to get them to hospital,” Kyle said. “If we don’t-”
“I know what will fucking happen, Kyle, I don’t need you telling me,” I snapped. “Erik, Jack, tell me you have something?”
“Just, give me a second. This idiot designed the trackers so well it’s proving a little hard to gain access to them,” Erik said.
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “I’m good at my job.”
I glared at him. “Tom!” I called. It was quiet in the hallway. They had taken down the agents. “Come here!”
“What is it? Is Eli okay? Beth? Is-”
“Shut up,” I said when Tom came running into the room. “And listen. Erik and Jack have a plan to take out all the agents downstairs. If they’re successful we need to get Eli, Jasper, Joey, and Dominic to hospital A.S.A.P. I need you to get three cars ready out front so we can get out of here.”
“Of course,” Tom nodded.
“Beth, you’re going to drive Dominic and Joey. Tom, get Carter and tell him to be ready. He’ll drive Eli and me. Kyle, can I trust you to get Jasper to the hospital?” I looked over at Kyle.
“Yes,” he nodded.
“If he dies I will murder you very painfully,” I warned.
“You focus on Eli, I’ve got Jasper. Don’t worry,” Kyle said dismissively.
“Yes!” Erik yelled. “I’m through!”
“Tom, you need to stay behind with everyone else and contain this agency. Do not let any agent get away. Tie them up, restrain them. We’ll let Richard take care of everything else,” I said.
“I’ll handle everything here,” Tom nodded. “I’ll let everyone know the plan.”
“And in 3...2...1” Jack yelled as Erik clicked a button on the laptop. “We’re good to go bitches.”
“Then get the fuck over here and help me get Eli downstairs,” I demanded.
Somehow, we made it out of the Agency. Tom had rushed ahead with Carter, Ivan, and Beth who were sitting in the driver’s seats, ready to go. Everyone had helped to get the injured into the cars and I was sitting in the back with Eli, checking constantly that he was still breathing.
“Ready to go?” Carter asked.
“Step on it,” I ordered.
“Wait!” I jumped when Mason slammed on the car window and ripped the door open. “Jasper’s stopped breathing.”
“What?” I said. “No, no, no. He can’t have. He can’t!”
“Daisy, I’ll go with Eli to the hospital. You need to help Jasper.” Mason took my hand. “Trust me with Eli, Carter, and I will get him to A&E in a jiffy. Go save your brother, sweetcheeks.”
I let Mason pull me out of the car and I ran over to the car Jasper was in just as Carter drove off with Eli. “Move!” I yelled to Sammy and barged him out of the way. “Get out of the way,” I said to Kyle and scrambled into the back seat where Jasper’s limp body was lying.
I wanted to stop. To scream. I wanted to forget the sight of my mangled brother’s body.
But I couldn’t.
“Come on, big brother,” I gulped and straddled him. “Let’s live, shall we?” I placed my hands over each other and started chest compressions. I was going to give him every chance I could to survive. “Kyle, either get in the fucking car so we can go, or fuck off!”
Within seconds Kyle was in the front of the car and Ivan was speeding away.
“Come on, Jasper,” I panted and counted in my head as I did the compressions. “Stay with me.”
Time passed in a blur. Ivan was breaking numerous road laws and I was surprised I hadn’t been thrown to the floor due to the speed he was driving.
I was sweating, my hands were aching, and I was pretty sure I had broken many of Jasper’s ribs, but I wasn’t stopping until we were at the hospital. I was the only thing preventing Jasper from being truly gone. I was briefly aware of us pulling up outside of a large building, and I could hear Kyle shouting for help. Soon the car doors were opened and I frantically looked up into the shocked face of a middle-aged nurse with greying hair.
“Get a stretcher!” She yelled. “We need to get him to resus, now! I need some hands to help me out!” The nurse looked at me and took a deep breath. “Hi there, you’re doing an amazing job, sweetie-”
“Don’t fucking baby me, just help get him out of the fucking car,” I growled. More people arrived and I stopped compressions so they could move Jasper from the car and onto the stretcher. I saw a doctor jump immediately back onto compressions and I chased after the crowd that had formed around him and were rushing into the hospital.
I followed them into the hospital but the nurse who I had snapped at stopped me as Jasper’s stretcher disappeared round the corner. “Get out of my way,” I demanded and tried to walk past her, but she grabbed my arm.
“Listen to me,” she said firmly. “You can’t do anymore. The doctors will do their best to look after him. You’ve done all you can. You need to take a second and calm down, and let me look at you, young lady.”
“No, I need to be with my brother-”
“Shut up,” the nurse ordered. “You need to let us take care of your brother. And you need to let us take care of you.”
“Daisy!” Kyle jogged up to us. “She’s right. Jasper is in the best place for him. You’re also wounded, you need to let them take care of you.”
“I’m fine,” I said dismissively and took a deep breath. “I just have a few scratches.”
“From what I can tell, that cut on your face is going to need seeing too,” the nurse said. “Let me examine you and help you. I will give you updates on your brother as soon as they’re available.”
“Wait,” I looked at Kyle. “Find out what happened to Eli, and Joey, and Beth’s broth-”
“Daisy, stop thinking about everyone else and actually give a damn about yourself for once,” Kyle snapped. “I will find out what happened to them, but let the nurse do her job!”
Somehow, I ended up behind a hospital curtain, sitting on a hospital bed with the nurse cleaning the wound on my face. I sat in silence, thinking about everything that had happened. My body had calmed down and I was starting to feel the effects of the attack. I was aching all over and my wounds were starting to sting.
The nurse placed a dressing over my face laceration and made me lie down so she could examine the wound on my stomach. “What happened to you?” The nurse asked.
“You do not want to know,” I sighed. I winced as she cleaned the wound.
“I’ll go and get an update on your brother and then you’re going to need stitches for your stomach. I think we may get away with some wound closure strips for your face. I’d rather avoid stitches if I could,” the nurse said. “If I leave do you promise to stay put?”
“Do you promise to find out about Jasper?” I asked.
The nurse nodded.
“Then get the hell out of here.”
I had been moved to a hospital room. After stitching me up the nurse noticed a gash on the back of my head, and after a CT scan to rule out any brain damage or bleeds, I was told I had a concussion, which explained the extreme headache and nausea I was feeling. They wanted to keep me overnight for observation, much to my protest.
My bloody clothes were discarded in a pile on the floor and I was wearing a hospital gown. It felt like I was in a daze. I felt so clueless. I wanted to know if Eli was alright; if Joey was okay; if Jasper was going to make it through the night.
He was alive. But that didn’t mean he was going to stay that way.
I looked at my phone that was on the hospital bed. I picked it up and dialed a number. He picked up instantly.
“Daisy?”
I took a deep breath. “Richard?” I whispered. “I... We... Jasper-”
“Daisy,” Richard said and I gasped. I looked up and he was standing in the doorway, his phone to his ear. “Oh, gosh,” he sighed and looked me up and down. “They told me you were a little battered and bruised.”
I scoffed. “A little?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m doing much better than others,” I said. “Do you know about-”
Richard nodded. “They let me see Jasper briefly before they admitted him to the ICU. His heart is steady and they’ve managed to stop the bleeding. He had surgery on his arm to fix the break. Things are looking positive.”
A sob escaped my lips before I could stop it. “Really?”
“Yes,” Richard said softly. “I also checked in on Eli.”
I looked at Richard with wide eyes.
“He’s okay.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks. “Oh, thank god,” I gasped.
“Joey had to have surgery, the wood splintered in his side, but he’s stable too.”
“They’re all okay,” I whispered. I let out a sigh of relief. “What about Beth’s brother-”
“He’s okay.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “I wasn’t expecting good outcomes.”
“It’s over, Daisy.” Richard walked up to me and I surprised myself by hugging him. I felt his arms go around me and he kissed my head. “Your mission is over, Daisy.”
I looked up at him. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”
Richard wiped a tear from my cheek. “Daisy, you’re going live the life you chose. No one else is going to tell you what to do.”
“How the hell do I do that?” I whispered. “All I’ve known is this life and running from it.”
“Then it’s time you get to know a new life.”
“I want you in it,” I said before I could stop myself. I looked at Richard awkwardly, feeling embarrassed. “I mean, I... You, Jasper, I want you, um... I want you in my life.”
Richard smiled. “Thank you, Daisy.”
I swallowed and raised an eyebrow at Richard. “This doesn’t mean I’m calling you dad.”
Richard laughed. “You can call me what you want.”
I took a deep breath and walked over to the sink in the room. I splashed some cold water onto my face and looked at my reflection in the cracked mirror.
I was free.
THE END..