Heartbeats Away From Disaster

- || FF Three Months || -
Hearing my sidekick ringing in my pocket, I motioned for Matt to hold his thought for a second before I reached into my pocket. Seeing that it was Mitzi, I answered it and put the call on speakerphone so that the rest of the guys could say their hellos as well.

"Hi babe," I greeted her, "what's up?"

"Hey Craig, I was just calling to see what you wanted me to pick up for dinner." Mitzi said.

"Lasagna," Jason spoke up.

"With garlic bread." Pat added.

"And chocolate mousse for dessert." Matt said.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Mitzi asked.

"We're just hanging out at Matt's house, chillin', going over some new music we've been working on." I said.

"Do you guys want to come over for dinner, too?" Mitzi asked.

Each and every one of the guys accepted the offer with either a 'yes' or a 'sure', causing me to roll my eyes slightly. "Babe, you're not supposed to spoil them too, just me. I'm your boyfriend, and they're just our friends who you can tell to take a hike."

Mitzi laughed softly on the other end of the line. "Its fine, Craig, I've had a craving for some lasagna for a while now. I need to stop by the bank first to deposit money from the restaurant, then stop by the store to pick up some groceries, and then I was gonna head home. Is there anything else we need at the store that you can think of?"

"String cheese." I said, earning strange looks from the guys.

" ... String cheese?" Mitzi asked slowly.

"I like string cheese," I said defensively. "And get some stuff for guacamole."

"Hmm ... Lasagna and guacamole." Mitzi said. "That's quite a mix you've got going on there, Craigery." She teased.

"Whatever." I mumbled before I turned my attention back to the guys. "Is there anything else that you guys want?"

"Ice cream." Jason said, raising his hand. "Preferably Ben and Jerry's Double Fudge Brownie."

"And some Poppers." Matt added. "And Midori and a whiskey sour mix so that we can make Midori Sour's."

"Alright, Mattie." Mitzi replied. "Oh, and Dee's coming with me too, so you'd better be on your best behavior."

There was a ripple of catcalls and whistles that rang around the living room, causing Matt's cheeks to turn a soft shade of pink. I heard Mitzi laughing on the other end of the line and couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Alright, alright." Mitzi laughed. "I'll see you boys in a little while, okay?"

"Alright, I love you babe." I said.

I held my sidekick up as the rest of the guys said their goodbyes to Mitzi as well, and then hung up as soon as everybody was done. I shoved my sidekick back into my pocket and then glanced up at the clock.

"You guys, we've been here since 7:30 this morning." I said. "And it's almost 6 o'clock now. I say that we call it a day and head back to my place so we can bug and visit with the girls."

"Alright," Matt said, "you guys go ahead; I have to call my mom and stuff and take care of a few things around the house. I'll be over later."

I nodded my head, indicating that I heard him and then stood up, gathering my notebook and my laptop. A couple of minutes later I was on the road, heading to the house, being accompanied by Jason, while Pat, Derrick, and Bradley followed us in Pat's car. It took us a little longer to get home than expected due to traffic, but I found that we were still able to beat Mitzi and Dee to the house.

While the guys settled around the living room to play some games on the Wii, I went to my room to grab my latest book I had been reading. By the time I got back to the living room, I found the guys to be fighting over the controllers.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you douche bags are gonna fucking break it." I frowned. "Calm down, it's just a video game."

Derrick muttered a few words under his breath while Pat waved his hand as if to wave off my words. I rolled my eyes and took a seat on the bean bag, glancing at their video game for a split second before I cracked open my book and picked up where I had left off.

A few minutes passed when I heard my Sidekick starting to go off once again. Sighing heavily, I marked my page and pulled my Sidekick out. I hit the 'accept' button and held it up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Craig, are you watching the news right now?" Matt's voice was quiet and troubled.

"Hmm, no, right now I'm watching the guys play Mario Party." I said. "Why, what's up? What's going on?"

"I think you should turn it to the news, there's something you need to see." Matt mumbled.

"Dude, Matt," I said as I got up, "I don't like your tone, man. Just tell me what's up."

"You have to see it for yourself to believe me, Craig." He said quietly.

I grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned off the game, earning yells of protest from those who were playing it, and then changed it to the local channel to get the news. I turned up the volume and then sat back down on my bean bag. My eyes widened slightly when I saw that the breaking news was the hostage situation at one of the banks downtown. My heartbeat started to speed up, and I tried my hardest not to jump to any conclusions.

"You see it?" Matt asked.

"Yeah." I mumbled. "Now, tell me what's going on."

Matt took a deep breath before he let it out slowly. "Dee called me a couple of minutes ago." He said quietly. "She said that Mitzi's still in there." His voice broke slightly. "She's the one who ... " He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence, but he didn't have to.

I knew exactly what he was going to say. Mitzi was the one who was being held 'hostage' by the fucking psychotic asshole in the bank. My mind went blank from anything else that may have been running through my mind, and all I seemed to be able to think about was what my life would be like if I lost Mitzi.

"Craig? Craig? Are you still there?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," I mumbled thickly, "I'm here ... Is ... is Dee alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine." Matt whispered. "But ... Craig, Mitzi's ... "

"What do I do?" I whispered. "What could I possibly do? My girlfriend is in there and I'm fucking sitting here, helpless." I felt the tears of fear starting to fall from my eyes.

"I ... I don't know, Craig." Matt said quietly, sounding just as scared as I felt.

"I gotta go over there." I decided. "If something happens ... " I trailed off, not daring to say what was on my mind.

"I'll meet you over there," Matt said.

"Alright."

With that, I hung up my phone and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. I felt everyone's eyes on me, but I didn't both to look at any of them. Instead, I stood up and grabbed my keys from the coffee table before I made my way across the living room and to the front door. I heard the guys calling after me, telling me to wait up but I didn't stop until I got to my car. Without a single word to anybody, I got into my car, started it up, and hurried toward downtown.

I'm not going to lie; it was hard as hell to stay optimistic, and keep telling myself that everything was going to be alright. I didn't know how things were going to turn out; I couldn't lie to myself and say that things were going to be perfectly fine when I didn't know for sure whether or not it was going to.

My nerves on edge, I was anxious for most of the drive. I kept my radio tuned to the local station, listening intently to hear of any changes in the situation. My heart beat frantically in my throat, making my breathing strained. My grip on the steering wheel was sweaty, and as soon as the light turned green I was off.

I actually heard the truck before I saw it. Hearing the screeching tires, I looked up just in time to see it t-bone my car, sending me over into the next two lanes beside me. The last thing I remember flashing through my mind was the plea to whoever was listening, that they would take my life if it meant saving Mitzi's.

- || Mitzi's POV || -
Trying my hardest not to move, I felt the tears falling helplessly down either side of my face. I was hardly paying attention to the man who currently had the gun pointed to my temple; all I was thinking about was Craig, and what he was going through at the moment. What I wouldn't give to turn back time to this morning when I was still lying peacefully in Craig's arms, where I thought that nothing else in this world would ever hurt or harm me.

The man with the gun was demanding something of the negotiator that had been sent into the building, but I wasn't following what was being said. The gun being pointed at my head seemed to cause a disruption in my mind, and my ears and brain didn't seem to want to work together anymore. I heard the words they said, but I couldn't pull myself together enough to string the words together and form a sentence. Everything was complete jibberish to me.

Closing my eyes to block out the madness I was seeing, and told myself that this was all going to be over soon, and that I would be going home where Craig would cuddle with me, and whisper words of comfort to me. Soon, it would be over soon.

I remember feeling the man's grip around my body loosen, and I felt the absence of the metal gun being pressed to my temple. I opened my eyes slightly to see what was going on, and then they widened in shock when I felt a searing pain shooting through my body. I didn't know its starting point, but it felt like it drowned my entire body with the pain.

Coughing, I struggled to catch my breath, and I didn't realize that I had been released until I felt the cold tile floor underneath my back. Another fit of coughs overtook my body and I felt something moist on my lips. I reached up slowly and felt my lips, and then pulled my hand away to see the blood on my fingertips. I fought to keep my eyes open, but the desire to close them was slowly overtaking me. Within a matter of seconds, the desire won, and I closed my eyes, not knowing if I would ever open them again.