-CHAPTER 3-
It had been almost two hours since Wallings had taken his hostages. Radar had been in hiding under Potter's desk with the phone pressed to his ear, trying to get any information he could on Wallings.
It was now a waiting game. Whenever an MP got too close to the door, Wallings would hold his gun up and shout a threat. Although the temperature was slightly warmer during the day, everyone was chilled to the spine just thinking about what could be going on inside the operating room. The atmosphere was as chilling as the weather.
"Colonel! I got some information on Wallings!" Radar yelled, running from the building. He had a few papers in his hand, waving them around.
Potter took the papers from Radar and glanced them over. He sighed, crunching the papers in his hand. Margaret appeared from post op. She dug her hands in her coat pockets, keeping them pressed to her sides to keep in her body heat.
"Any news?" she asked. Her eyes shifted from Potter to the hospital, her unease showing in her eyes.
"Just got information on Jefferson Wallings, our hostage taker. Seems he was waiting for a psych eval and went AWOL, slipped out of guarded quarters. Looks like we found him." Potter reported, looking grim.
"A psych eval? That's a death wish for them in there!" Klinger shouted, his blood thawing with anger.
"Radar, who let Wallings out of their sight?!" Potter asked.
"The MPs said his colonel was supposed to keep an eye on him but the C.O says it wasn't his job. No one can figure it out. More MPs are on their way here." Radar exclaimed, fiddling with his hands.
"Let's just hope they get here in time." Margaret said quietly.
Frank said nothing.
The tense silence sank like a stone in their guts. In the middle of a war, they never felt so alone.
-4077-
"Oh no! You aren't taking him." Hawkeye objected.
Sam was now on the ground, still bent over.
"I think it's his appendix." BJ mumbled to Hawkeye. Hawkeye nodded.
Sam's fingers gripped his torso so tightly that he left crescent dents in his skin through his clothes.
"Do I need to remind you who's holding the gun? Or maybe I'll just make an example of one of you." Wallings waved the gun around. BJ and Hawkeye ducked as the loaded gun swung their way.
"Just take me! I won't put up a fight." Hawkeye announced.
Wallings took a step towards Hawkeye. Both doctors tried to remain calm but fear was evident in their eyes. Hawkeye raised his hands in a non-threatening manner as Wallings' gaze fell on him.
"I'll decide who goes with me. So shut up." Wallings hissed, cracking Hawkeye over the head with the barrel of the gun. Hawkeye's head snapped sharply to the side and his body teetered before he went down like a sack of potatoes.
While BJ bolted to check on Hawkeye, Wallings turned to Sam.
"We have tracks to make." he said.
"Hawkeye?!" Sam called out while hastily and painfully pulling himself to his feet with the help of the exam table. He laid hands on a spare jacket left in the room and pulled it around his quivering shoulders. BJ looked to Sam.
"He'll be fine Sam." he said encouragingly.
"See kid? Your friend is fine. You can leave him in peace." Wallings said gruffly, gripping Sam's neck and steering him to the door. Sam reached back and grabbed Wallings' wrist, trying to remove the bruising grip. His grasp slipped, compliments of sweaty palms.
Wallings opened the door and shoved Sam in front of him, switching his grip to the back of Sam's jacket, twisting it in his grip.
"I want a jeep! The kid's coming with me!" he yelled.
Stepping out in the winter sun, Sam blinked harshly. The previous injury to his head was beginning to throb. He thought of how Hawkeye must be feeling. It tugged his heart strings at the thought that Hawkeye had just been trying to protect him.
"We aren't giving you anything without the okay from my men!" Potter called out.
Wallings shrugged...and punched Sam in his tender side. Sam screamed and grabbed his new wound, falling to his knees. His knees bared the brunt of the fall, ending jolting pain up through his upper body. His teeth clacked together sharply.
"Is that enough 'okay' for you? I'd be glad to shut him up like his doctor friend." Wallings shouted.
Potter paled. The doctor friend was either Hawkeye or Hunnicutt. And being shut up... He didn't want to know what that entailed. Potter turned to Klinger.
"Alright, get him a jeep. Have another one waiting." he said quietly.
Klinger hesitated but nodded, following orders.
"Just take it easy. We're getting your jeep now." Potter yelled to Wallings.
"Once me and the kid get on that jeep, no one follows. Someone follows and I take the kid's head off. You all understand that?!" Wallings yelled, looking to all of them.
"We understand!" Potter made himself clear. The air was tense as the sound of a jeep approached the doors.
"Don't try anything stupid. i wouldn't want this hair trigger gun to go off into the crowd." Wallings said to Sam.
Sam groaned and pushed himself up with his hands. The pain in his side was beginning to spread, an uncomfortable warmth of danger filling his abdomen. He took a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet. His legs wobbled under him but he steadied himself.
Klinger pulled up slowly in the jeep, driving unnaturally carefully. Everyone could hear their hearts beating. Klinger quickly set the brake and jumped out of the jeep, wheeling back to where Potter stood.
Wallings pushed Sam forward and the two walked to the jeep. Sam refused to make a noise.
-4077-
"Hawkeye?"
The swimming voice sounded familiar yet Benjamin Pierce couldn't peel his eyes open. There was the faint thought of what happened but his mind ate away at the question.
"Hawkeye, if you don't open your eyes, I'm going to have to admit you." BJ warned.
Hunnicutt.
That was why the voice sounded familiar.
"Beej." he mumbled. His eyes opened blearily.
"Hawk, you feel dizzy? Any nausea?" BJ asked quickly. He rested on one knee in a kneeling position. One hand rested on Hawkeye's shoulder. He knew Hawkeye was feeling confused but there were bigger issues to deal with.
"No, none of that. Just a painful headache." Hawkeye reported.
It hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Sam!" he yelled, practically in BJ's face. Hawkeye tried to push himself to his feet and stumbled, the world around him tilting sharply to the left. He felt like his eyes had floated above his body. BJ grabbed his arm to stop his descent.
"I'm afraid he and Wallings just left in a jeep." BJ informed him.
Hawkeye's heart dropped.
"Pierce? Hunnicutt?" Potter called through the door Wallings and Sam had disappeared through.
"We're alright Colonel. Hawkeye took a pretty good size knock to the head though." BJ started to say but Hawkeye cut him off.
"Which way did they leave Colonel? We have to get to Sam!" he yelled, making his way cautiously to the door. BJ followed behind him, his arms outstretched to catch the chief surgeon should he lose his footing.
"Sam's got a hot appendix." BJ told the Colonel.
"Oh my goodness." Potter said gravely.
"Colonel, the second jeep is prepared." Klinger said, rushing into the room. He gave no mind to his now stained designer coat.
"Colonel, you have to let us go." Hawkeye was still on the move. BJ moved forward, seeing that Hawkeye was still wobbly on his feet.
"Pierce you need to rest. That knock to your head needs to be looked at!" Pierce wasn't paying attention to his Colonel. He kept walking out and disappeared into the crowd. Potter shook his head and pointed to BJ.
"Go with him. I'll coordinate here with the MPs. They went down Wong road." he said.
BJ nodded and followed after Hawkeye.
-TBC-
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