The soda that Caitlin has anxiously drunk to save her glucose level was now working against her. With no insulin to combat the sugar that was rapidly building up in her bloodstream, she began to feel extremely sick to her stomach. She was thirsty and dizzy. All of these were signs of hyperglycemia, or high-blood sugar. Rarely did Caitlin ever have high blood sugar, unless she was sick and couldn’t eat normally.
“But this isn’t normal,” she reminded herself. “I’m being held hostage by bank robbers. At least the ringleader understands.” Caitlin suddenly felt her body splurge with nausea.
“I don’t feel good…like I’m…” She reached for a bucket and planted her face inside while she vomited up the soda. Cherren rubbed her back and wished for it to be over. When she was doing nothing but heaving dry spells, she fell back into his arms.
“I’m going to die without my medicine. . .” she said weakly. Cherren laid Caitlin back on the mattress. Her eyes were once more taking on that glassy, dazed look, which was a definite sign of danger.
“Damn it! Come on baby, please, hang on a while longer.” This time, Caitlin couldn’t hang on.
“Help. . .” Those were Caitlin’s last coherent words. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she went positively limp on the mattress.
“Caitlin! No! Oh shit, come on baby, wake up!” Cherren leaned down to shake Caitlin, but she suddenly began shaking on her own. Her arms and legs began to flail and toss themselves all around. She began making strange noises that sounded like she was gagged, but the sounds came through gritted teeth.
“Shit! Hang on baby!” Cherren thought quickly. He removed his necktie and tied it into two huge knots. He started to pry Caitlin’s lips apart and managed to shove the knot between her teeth to keep her from swallowing her own tongue. Her body flailed wildly. Cherren knew exactly what was happening. Her blood glucose had reached such a dangerously low level that she was going into seizures. Cherren watched helplessly, and then the seizure stopped as suddenly as it started. Caitlin lay perfectly still on the mattress and she suddenly began foaming at her mouth.
“Oh baby, I didn’t mean to make you sick.” Cherren wiped her mouth, only to be greeted by another gusher of saliva. She probably couldn’t swallow. Cherren knew then exactly what he had to do.
“Don’t worry baby, it’s gonna be okay. I’m gonna get you some help.” Cherren gently scooped the young woman into his arms. There was nothing left to do but get Caitlin medical attention and turn himself in to the police. He made his way to the bolted door and pulled it open.
“Take this, you fucking traitor!” Cherren only had a second to look up before a crushing blow landed on his head. He stumbled, trying to keep his grip on Caitlin, while the pain was quickly dazing him. His attacker struck once more, this time, hitting him in the back, making him lose his grip on Caitlin completely. She fell to the floor and he fell beside her. Cherren saw Dave standing over him, a crowbar firmly poised in his hand.
“You. . . bastard! I’m. . .”
“You won’t do anything! I think you and your girlfriend need the help now!” With one more swing, Dave brought the crowbar across Cherren’s chest, fracturing his sternum. Cherren gasped and coughed, trying to catch his breath.
“You’re a fucking traitor! You told us not to cross you and you crossed us! Now pay for it with your life, asshole!” Dave turned to Caitlin, still raising his crowbar. He saw that she was barely conscious and now she was slowly approaching delirium.
“Help. . .help. . .” Dave laughed and knelt next to her. Her head had been cut when Cherren dropped her on the steel floor.
“Help, help,” he mimicked. “Oh don’t worry baby, help is coming, to take you into the next world! You know Caitlin, we were going to feed you and give you your medicine, but thanks to our fearless, traitor of a leader, you’re both going to die.”
“Ricky. . .”she moaned. Dave laughed harder, as did the other men.
“Nobody is going to help you now.”
Rick sat on the couch, holding Lynne in his arms. She slept peacefully, unlike him. As he sat there, he prayed silently for his sister to come home safely. While praying, his lungs quickly began constricting, cutting off vital oxygen flow. He began to cough, waking Lynne up.
“Ricky, are you okay?” Rick coughed violently.
“Rick! Breathe, Ricky, breathe! Mrs. Ryan! Mrs. Ryan!” Rick coughed and he said,
“Caiti, she’s in trouble. My sister is dying!” Lynne couldn’t believe her ears. Caitlin was dying? How did. . . they were twins! He felt everything she felt!
“Ricky, try and take some deep breaths.” Lynne began to rub his back, easing the harsh breathing. Once he calmed down, he looked at Lynne with a strained face.
“Caitlin is dying, wherever she is. The police have to find her! They just have to!” Lynne hugged Rick, fighting back her own tears.
“This is the last place we’ve checked. The girl has to be around her somewhere!” Captain Michaelson barked into his radio.
“Ten four,” Joshua answered, pulling his helmet back over his face. The old stockyard was nearly making him ill. It was rapidly approaching nightfall and the temperature inside was dropping to a very uncomfortable temperature. Joshua wondered just where Caitlin was being held. He did know that it had been hours since the robbery and according to her mother, if she hadn’t eaten, she would be very, very sick.
“God please, let me find this girl alive!” Joshua darted around a corner and onto a high catwalk. He looked down and he didn’t like what he saw. Three men, two Caucasian and one African American, were bent over two bodies. The first one Josh easily identified as Caitlin. The second was a male, but he was lying in an awkward position and he was struggling to breathe. It had to be Cherren White. Josh whispered into his radio,
“Captain Michaelson, come in please. Captain Michaelson, come in please.”
“This is Michaelson. Go Martinez.”
“I’ve located Caitlin and the criminals. She’s lying on the floor and it appears that White is down as well.”
“We’re going to move in.”
“Ten-four.” Josh quietly crept down the steps until he was just inches from the scene.” One of the men had a crowbar raised above Caitlin’s head and he looked like he was about to strike.
“Drop your weapon right now!” Dave turned to Josh and gave him a miffed laugh.
“Not a chance!” Dave made the fatal mistake of turning on Josh, ready to strike him with the steel crowbar. Josh didn’t hesitate to fire his gun, putting two bullets into Dave’s body. Dave stumbled backwards, still holding the crowbar. One more bullet put him out of commission completely. Taking his cue from Josh, Captain Michaelson and the other police officers moved in and cuffed the other two men. Josh knelt beside Caitlin and took her hand.
“Miss Ryan, can you hear me?” Caitlin rolled her dazed eyes towards the handsome police officer.
“Help me. . .”
“I’m a police officer. My name is Joshua Martinez. We’re going to get you to a hospital.” Josh scooped Caitlin into his arms. Another officer knelt at Cherren’s side.
“He’s alive, but he’s in bad shape. We need to get them both to the hospital.”
“Caitlin. . . where’s Caitlin? She’s. . .sick.”
“She’ll be all right,” Josh assured him. He hurried outside into the night air with Caitlin in his arms. He carried her to a waiting ambulance.
“She’s a juvenile diabetic! She hasn’t eaten in hours,” he told them. One of the medics took her and laid her on the stretcher. She began seizing again.
“We need to get some glucose into her, quickly!” Once the seizure ended, they took Caitlin’s blood sugar and found it to be dangerously, almost fatally low. They started an IV, gave her oxygen, and wrapped her head firmly with gauze.
“I’m going with her,” Joshua spoke up. He climbed into the back just as the back doors were being slammed. While the glucose dripped, Joshua took Caitlin’s soft hand and stroked it. She began to come around. She blinked and moaned in pain.
“No. . . no. . .”
“Miss Ryan, you’re safe now. Don’t be afraid. You’re in an ambulance.” Joshua squeezed her hand in assurance. Caitlin smelled the funny rubber of the oxygen mask and felt the familiar sensation of an IV in her hand.
“Who are you?”
“Joshua Martinez. I’m a police officer. You may not remember me, you were pretty dazed back there.” He smiled gently at her. Taking his hand, he gently ran it up and down the edges of her cheek. She gave him a weak smile in return.
“Where’s Cherren?”
“He’s being taken to the hospital. Did he harm you at all?” A tear welled up in Caitlin’s pretty brown eyes.
“No. . . he was so nice to me. . .he tried to help. . .” she started to cough into the mask.
“Easy, Miss Ryan. You’re in severe insulin shock. Try not to talk much,” the young paramedic seated at her other side spoke up.
“Just relax, honey. We’ll be at the hospital soon.” Caitlin squeezed his hand.
“Will you. . .call my mom and my brother? Tell them. . . I’m okay?”
“Yes, I will. They’ve been very worried about you.” The back doors to the ambulance were slammed and the other medic climbed into the front seat of the rig. They sped away from the stockyard, sirens wailing and a very precious cargo in the back. Josh never let go of Caitlin’s hand and he kept looking into her eyes. I found you, my African princess. Please say that now you’ll be my lady. I’ll give you everything I have, plus more. I’d never let you out of my sight, now or ever.
“Miss Ryan, can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Are you, um, involved with someone special right now?”
“No, I’m not.” Josh saw her face light up.
“Maybe when you get well, I could take you to dinner.”
“I’d like that, very much, Officer Martinez.”
“Call me Josh, all of my friends do.”
“Then call me Caitlin.” Joshua looked through the back windows of the ambulance. They were just pulling into the ambulance bay of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
“You’re going to be
just fine, Caitlin.” The two young people looked into each other’s eyes and
felt a mutual force of attraction and love pass between them.