Do or Die Chapter 2

I woke up in the CIA headquarters’ hospital wearing a hospital gown and sporting bandages on my left shoulder and back. I couldn’t remember much of what had happened, but I did remember that after Diane tranquilized Lenny, he was taken into custody and I was put into an ambulance, where I apparently lost consciousness.

Seeing that I was awake, Diane got out of the chair she had been sitting in and said, “How are you feeling hun?”

Groaning, I said, “A little better. Lenny locked up?”

“Yeah, they took him into custody just before you passed out,” Diane said. “Are you sure you’re OK? You don’t sound OK, and you certainly don’t look OK.”

“I’m fine, sweetie, don’t worry,” I said. “I’ve been shot before, so I’ll make it through this.”

“I know, but I still worry about you,” Diane said sympathetically.

Taking her hand and looking into her eyes, I said again, “I’m fine, sweetie. It’ll all work out.”

Changing the subject, I asked, “So are we going to interview Lenny?”

“Yeah, probably,” Diane said. “But we probably won’t do anything until you get out of here. When are they supposed to let you out of here?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “Last time I was shot, I was in the hospital for only a week, so hopefully it won’t be much longer than that.”

Smiling, Diane said, “OK. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yeah, could you…” I began.

At that moment, a nurse walked into the room and motioned for Diane to leave. Diane stood up, kissed me, and left. I smiled and closed my eyes, savoring that moment.

“Alright, do you want the bad news or the good news first?” the nurse
asked.
Sighing, I said, “Let’s go with the bad news.”

“Well, you’re pretty banged up,” she said, “and the bullet in your shoulder is in pretty deep.”

“You haven’t taken the bullet out yet?” I asked angrily, slamming my fist on the small table next to my bed.

“No, but we’re working on it, sir,” the nurse said. “Now calm down; getting worked up will just make things worse.”

“OK,” I said. “So what’s the good news?”

“Well, your condition isn’t too serious, and you should be back out in the field in a week or so,” the nurse responded emotionlessly. She walked to the other side of the room, grabbed a bottle half full of a translucent liquid, and poured some of the liquid into a small cup. She walked back to me, gave me the cup, and said, “Drink this.”

“What’s this?” I asked.

“It’ll help with your pain,” the nurse said. “Now drink it.”

I looked at the cup, swirled the liquid around in it for a few seconds, and quickly drank it. I grimaced immediately; the medicine tasted terrible! The nurse took the cup from me and placed it on the table beside my bed.

“Why did you give me pain medicine?” I asked. “I mean, I know that my shoulder and back are hurting, but I thought you already gave me some medicine for that.”

“We wanted to be sure that you can’t do anything,” the nurse said, smiling suspiciously.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

At that moment, the door to my hospital room swung open and Harry Graff, the CIA’s most infamous traitor, walked into my room. Harry was a tall, thickly built man in his late twenties with a clean-shaven face, a lazy eye, short brown hair, and shoulders as broad as a tree trunk. He specialized in many things, including weapons, martial arts (he knew three different kinds), and, most importantly, technology. He worked for me and my team several years ago.

Harry became a traitor when he began accepting pay from a criminal organization to gather information from the CIA to be used against us. My team got wind of Harry’s double agent activities, but by the time we could react, Harry
had vanished. And until today, nobody had seen him.

“Harry? Harry Graff?” I sputtered out, unwilling to believe my eyes.

“Johnny Atkins,” Harry said. “Long time no see, buddy. How has life been treating you so far? Good?”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Well, I’m here to destroy your world,” he said. He motioned towards the door, and three large men brought a kicking and violently protesting Diane into the room.

“You let her go, or I will kill you!” I shouted, quickly standing up.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Harry said. “See, Diane here used to be my girlfriend, until you showed up and took her from me.”

“You’re the one that pushed her away, Harry!” I said angrily. “You’re the one that abused her, beat her, used her, and cheated on her! In fact, you’ve hurt her so much you’re lucky I’m not at your throat right now!”

“Intimidating,” Harry said sarcastically. “Come on, Atkins, you can do better than that! I’ve seen you intimidate even the vilest of criminals. I’ve seen you…”

“Shut up you son of a bitch!” I said angrily.

Laughing, Harry said, “You’ve really lost your touch, haven’t you? No matter, I came here for a purpose.”

“And what might that be?” I said.

Pointing at Diane, Harry said, “I’m taking back what’s rightfully mine.”

“Rightfully yours?” Diane exclaimed.

“Don’t you lay a hand on her!” I warned.

“And why not?” Harry asked. “She was mine first.”

“Women aren’t material objects that you ‘own’,” I said. “They’re actual people who should be treated with respect!”

“Ha!” Harry said. “That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard!”

“Go fuck yourself Harry!” Diane said, glaring wildly at Harry.

Harry smiled and said, “Why don’t I start with you?” Diane’s mouth fell open and her glare turned to pure hatred.

“Go to Hell!” I shouted. “And leave Diane alone!”

Ignoring me, Harry said, “I’m taking her back. And you can’t stop me.”

I rushed toward Harry, but his men pulled out guns and pointed them at me. I hesitated.

“Hesitation?” Harry asked. “What’s it going to be, Atkins? Are you going to fight, or are you going to give in and come with us?”

“I will never go with you!” I said. I then made my decision and tackled Harry, knowing that as long as I fought close to him, the men wouldn’t shoot at me.

Harry pushed me off of him and got up. Noticing that his guards were pointing their weapons at me, he said, “No. Don’t shoot him. He’s mine.”

“Harry, we don’t have to do this!” I said. “We can talk it out!”

“You really think I’d be willing to talk to the guy who stole the love of my life?” Harry asked. “You really think I’d show mercy? Well, you’re mistaken.”

Harry then charged at me, but I dodged and kicked him. He stumbled, but quickly regained his balance and hit me. I tried to hit him several times, but he blocked every punch and finally kicked me hard. I fell to the ground, groaning as the pain from the bullet wound on my back surged through my body.

“You’re hurt,” Harry said. “And your fighting skills are inferior to mine. You don’t stand a chance.”

I tried to trip him, but he jumped over my legs and elbowed me in the stomach. I grabbed his throat and started to choke him, but he pried my hands off of his throat and started to choke me.

“Harry, stop it!” Diane demanded. “Don’t you hurt him!”

“Shut up!” Harry shouted, continuing to choke me.

I tried to pry his hands off of my throat, but it was all in vain. My vision began to blur, and Diane’s pleas of mercy began to sound farther and farther away. An idea came to my mind, and I spit in Harry’s face. Grimacing, he loosened his grip just enough for me to get free of his grasp. I stood up, gasping for breath.

“You damn asshole!” Harry said. “Why the hell did you do that?”

“All’s fair in love and war,” I managed to choke out.

“Harry, this has gone far enough!” Diane said. “Stop it!”

“Never!” Harry said, hitting me again. I tried to block Harry’s punches, but he was too strong, and he kept countering every time I tried to attack. I finally managed to tackle him and hit him once, but he quickly pushed me off of him and punched my stomach. As he was coming in for another attack, I rolled out of the way and got up, groaning. Harry grabbed the bottom of my hospital gown and
pulled me back down, hitting me as I hit the floor. I punched blindly, and finally managed to land a good punch on Harry’s jaw. He grunted and retreated slightly, and I hit him in the jaw again. Harry grabbed my head, slammed it hard into the floor, and stood up.

By this time, I was groaning on the floor, blood flowing from my mouth, ears, and several places on my face. Harry, on the contrary, had no visible wounds, other than a small stream of blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

“What are you even doing here?” I asked. “How did you even get in?”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Harry asked. “I’m the one who’s been planning to hack the CIA database! Lenny was a distraction; I’m the mastermind behind this three year operation!”

I glared at Harry angrily and said, “So…for the three years you’ve been gone…you’ve been trying to…hack the CIA database?”

“Planning, actually,” Harry said. “If I had tried at any time during the past three years, you and your cohorts would’ve stopped me. But now I’m ready. Now, I’m going to hack the database, and you can’t stop me.”

“And why not?” I asked.

“Because you’ve been poisoned,” Harry said. “In a few hours, the poison will reach your heart, and you will be out of the way.”

“What did you do to him you…” Diane began.

“Shut up!” Harry interrupted. “I simply gave him a very potent poison. He won’t be a problem anymore.”

I quickly got up and tried to reach Harry’s gun, but Harry moved out of the way and drew the gun before I could get it. He cocked the gun and said, “Nice try.”

I closed my eyes, waiting for him to take the shot. I heard a bang, and I jolted awake. I was in the hospital, wearing a hospital gown and sporting bandages on my left shoulder and back.

“Oh, did the heater wake you honey?” Diane asked. “The nurse said the heater sometimes makes banging noises. Are you OK?”

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