by CKent45 » Mon Oct 23, 2023 2:27 pm
Erica sat in the passenger seat of her car, staring up at Lucas across the center console with an irritated expression on her face. “I hate it,” she complained.
“Give it a chance, Kitten, it will grow on you.”
“No it won’t. Take it off.”
“You gonna make me?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Good luck trying,” Lucas teased with an impish smirk.
“I don’t think you know who you are messing with,” Erica said back fiercely.
“I have a pretty good idea.”
“Take it off.”
“Maybe later.”
“Seriously, Lucas? I’ve never seen you wear a baseball cap before.”
“You’ve only really seen me at the gym.”
“I hate it. You look like a dork with that on.”
“Should I have grown out a bushy mustache before I put it on?”
“Ewww! No!”
“Just give it a couple hours. It’ll grow on you.”
“No it won’t.”
“Can you hand me my phone again?” Erica turned and picked up his phone, handing it to Lucas, who called using the speakerphone. After a few short rings, a feminine voice answered.
“Highland clinic.”
“Can I speak to Dr. Hansen?”
“She’s still not available. I told you we’d have her call you back as soon as she was done with her appoinemtent.”
“We’ve had some problems with your staff not taking us seriously the last couple days, so I’m just going to keep reminding you to make sure you don’t forget about us, thanks.” The woman on the other end could be heard grunting angrily.
“I’ll get her as soon as she’s out of her appointment.”
“This is an awfully long appointment. What’s the hold up?”
“I can’t tell you about that.”
“Do you even know?”
“Sir, I will talk to Dr. Hanson as soon as she comes out of the patient room.”
“Alright, talk to you in a few minutes, Marcie.” Erica giggled and hung up the phone.
“Nice work,” she complimented him.
“I’ve had enough of fucking around with these people,” Lucas told her, irritated. Erica sat back quietly then stared up at Lucas again, scowling at his cap.
“I still hate it.”
“Kitten, do want to sit with me?”
Erica perked up at the suggestion, then looked down doubtfully. “I can’t, you’re driving.”
“You can sit on my lap.”
“What if someone sees me?”
“Stay low.” Erica bit her lip, grinning ear to ear, then got to her knees and peaked outside the window, looking for any cars around them, then dropped down and crawled over the console onto Lucas’ lap. Once there, she sighed and lay across his lap, hugging him tightly.
“Better?”
“Better,” Erica admitted as she closed her eyes, resting comfortably. “So how are we going to handle this?”
“Well, I’ll get you there, and I’ll stay there for moral support, but it’s your job, your life. I’ll just keep my mouth shut unless I’m really needed.”
“How will you know if you’re really needed?”
“Dunno. I’m playing it by ear. But, you are in charge. Just do what you would normally do, and I’ll support you no matter what.” Erica hugged him again briefly until Lucas’ phone began to ring.
“Finally!” Erica declared as she slid off of his lap and grabbed the phone in both hands, turning on the speakerphone.
“Hello?” Lucas asked politely.
“Lucas? This is Michelle. The HUC said you really needed to talk to me?”
“Hello Dr. Hanson,” Erica corrected spitefully.
“Oh, Hi Erica. Is everything alright? I saw you were coming in this afternoon. This couldn’t wait until your appointment?”
“No,” Lucas replied bluntly. “Erica’s work knows.”
“Knows? We sent in the forms you signed as soon as we opened this morning. Everything should be fine.”
“Pfelcher knows about Erica’s shrinking.” Lucas and Erica looked at each other while they were met with silence from the other end.
“Dr. Hanson?”
“How could they know that? We only sent in what you signed. You read it yourself,” Dr. Hanson replied in a shocked tone.
“They know. They offered Erica a ride in to work this morning because they said they knew she was too small to drive.”
“That’s not possible. All of our computer records have no mention of her shrinking. I swear, Lucas, I cleared out any data about that.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
“I know what they said to me,” Erica countered angrily.
“You remember the deal, right? You’re staff this weekend needed to keep their mouths shut, or I’d go to corporate about what happened.”
“No, Lucas; Sheri and Judy are off today. They haven’t been in since Saturday, and I talked to them about this before the left again. They think Erica is just an eccentric little person and was born that way.”
“Someone from your office told my work what happened to me! They called and they knew I was shrunken!”
“Oh my God… Lucas, Erica I’ll call you back. I’ll check into this, just give me a few minutes, alright?”
“Yeah, you do that,” Erica barked at her furiously. There was a click on the other end of the line and Erica hung up, then tossed Lucas’ phone aside in frustration. She sat staring at the dash of her car, enraged while Lucas let her calm for a moment.
“Kitten,” He eventually said, interrupting her.
“What?!?” Erica yelled, then sat back embarrassed by her angry outburst.
“I’m lonely,” he said to her softly. Erica’s expression melted and she looked at Lucas longingly. She then crawled back over to Lucas, over the console and lay across his lap, hugging him closely. They rode along for a few minutes before the phone rang again. This time Lucas reached over, picking up the phone and turned on the speaker phone again. “Hello?”
“Lucas, it’s Michelle again.”
“Hello, Dr. Hanson,” Erica replied angrily.
“Hi Erica,” she replied somewhat sheepishly. “Lucas, it was the HUC you spoke with earlier. Pfelcher called back after we faxed the documentation to them saying they needed more information.”
“What kind of information?”
“They said the documentation we gave them was too vague and wanted clarification. So Marcie went into my office and went through my personal notes. She found a notebook I was using for personal data on Erica.”
“Why did you need a personal notebook on me?”
“I thought you might come back, and it occurred to me that Lucas was right about keeping your information as confidential as possible, so I was writing all my notes on a note book. Erica, I left the notebook closed and under a pile of other paperwork, she had to dig to find it.”
“What is it with you and your staff?!?!?!”
“I know, I know, she said they were insistent and couldn’t wait for me to finish my appointment, they wanted the documentation right away, so she went digging through my office.”
“And how does that make it okay?” Lucas demanded angrily.
“It doesn’t. I’m really sorry Lucas. If I had left the notes on our servers, she would have had them right away. I didn’t think anyone would go digging through my office for this.”
“So now what?” Erica asked on the verge of tears.
“I don’t know. I’m really sorry, Erica. My office was locked, I just didn’t think someone would go in like that. Are you still coming in this afternoon?”
“Are you shitting me? First your staff humiliates me, another patient tried to sexually assault me, and now your staff is handing out information on me to anyone who asks? Why the hell would I trust you to examine me again???” Erica roared in a rage.
“I know this is hard for you Erica, but you must have had something important to come back so soon for.”
“Yes,” Lucas confirmed as Erica scowled at him. “Kitten, either way, we need to get you seen by someone, we might as well tell her.”
“Fine,” Erica agreed reluctantly, folding her arms.
“Erica’s birth control is an implant, and the implant couldn’t have shrunk with her. We think she’s getting too much birth control released into her system.”
“Oh God, you’re right. Erica, please, you need to come in.”
“You’re fuckin’ kidding, right?”
“Erica, this is very serious, we need to get you taken care of as soon as possible. I promise, I will see to everything myself. No more HUCs or other staff, I’ll lock up all the notes. I’ll also have you seen directly to a patient room, no waiting room time for you this time.”
“Kitten, it’s either that or we need to break in a new doctor,” Lucas reasoned out loud.
“Fine. We’ll be there.”
“Lucas, I have your number, I will text you my cell phone and you can text me when you both arrive here. I’ll meet you at the front door.”
“Her cell? Like her personal cell?”
“You’ll have it too kitten, don’t worry.” Erica grunted in frustration but nodded in consent. “Alright, we’ll be by the clinic in a couple hours. Hopefully our meeting at Erica’s work won’t hold us up too long.”
“Alright, I’ll be ready for you when you get here,” Dr. Hanson replied and hung up the phone. Erica took Lucas’ phone and did likewise, then set it on her lap. A moment went by until the phone lit up with a new number in the notifications and Erica grimaced.
Lucas, who was paying attention above, consoled her saying, “you know she’s got nothing on you, right?”
“Yeah, I am pretty awesome,” Erica chirped back confidently.
“Yeah, you are,” Lucas chuckled back.
“The Cutlass is way more comfortable.”
“You need to go back to the other seat?”
“No, I just want you to know that the Cutlass is more comfy.”
“Yeah, it is.” Lucas then smiled as he felt Erica squeeze him hard, relaxing her face against his lower ribs.
“Why can’t we just take the Cutlass everywhere?”
“Because it’s an older car, and needs more maintenance , and I don’t have anyone to do that for me. I have to do it myself.”
“But it’s better,” Erica countered.
“Can’t argue there. Thanks for setting the seats in your car for me, by the way.”
Erica slapped him and giggled. “Dork! They’re set for me!”
“Oh yeah? They seem awfully roomy for you…”
“No!”
“Oh, so they’re not set for you anymore? So then, maybe they’re set for me?”
“You keep telling yourself that, hotshot!”
Lucas and Erica laughed briefly together as the car sped along the road, though Erica could feel they had left the freeway now. Up above Erica’s view, Lucas looked around attentively as he reached his destination. He drove past it, surveying the area closely, then circled the entire property twice before opting to park in a small lot near the building, rather than use the large parking ramp situated directly adjacent to the office building. “We’re here,” he announced as he pulled into a spot and parked the car. Erica sat up and peeked over the dash at the familiar building. Lucas then opened the door, and assisted the little lady to her feet as they both stepped out of the car.
“How are we on time?” Erica asked as she took his hand.
“We’re about 20 minutes early. Do they have a café or something for us to kill a few minutes in?”
“Yeah, there’s a coffee shop near the entrance. I’m still full from the chai, though.”
“Well, just a place to sit down, then.”
“Sounds like a plan. You’re not really going to wear that stupid thing in there are you?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“This is my work! You don’t wear baseball caps at a business office!”
“I don’t work here…” Erica rolled her eyes and tugged Lucas along. “Remember, Kitten: Alicia doesn’t want her name dragged into this, so don’t tell them about her and the serum.”
“I know, I know…”
Erica led Lucas inside the building, which had automatic doors and they looked around. At the far end from the entrance was a security station with electronic turn styles where a few late arriving employees were checking in. Lucas looked over and watched as both security guards stood at the same time and stared at the pair. “Looks like they’re expecting us,” Lucas said casually.
Erica turned her head and nodded. “They told me to check in at the security desk and they’d take care of me.” One of the security guards stepped around the desk and walked towards them, looking directly at Lucas, while the other sat and picked up the phone. Lucas stood still and watched the guard as the man approached. He was a middle aged man, overweight with completely shaved head.
“This must be Erica,” the man stated factually to Lucas as he drew closer.
“Yes, I’m Erica,” Erica replied, but the man looked past her to Lucas.
“If you’ll give her to me, I can take her to her meeting.”
“No, I’d rather he stayed with me. Besides, we’re early, and wanted to go to the coffee shop for a few minutes.”
The guard looked down at Erica, then back up to Lucas again, and Lucas eyebrow coked upward. “I can check her in now, and I’m sure they’ll be waiting for her,” the guard said, reaching to grab Erica’s hand. Erica ducked back behind Lucas, who instinctively stepped forward blocking the guard, and noticed as the other guard stood suddenly, still holding the phone to his ear.
“If she’ll just come with me…”
“She goes no where she doesn’t want to go,” Lucas replied in a deep tone, causing the guard to stand more rigidly. “She said we’re going to the coffee shop until the meeting, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“I have instructions to see her to…”
“She said she wants to go to the coffee shop,” Lucas interrupted.
“This must be Erica!” a masculine voice said cheerfully. Lucas and Erica turned to see a slightly below average height man in a grey business suit and a red stripped tie walk purposefully toward them through the security checkpoint. The man had a very stylish, thickly coated in hair gel short hair cut and light blue eyes. He walked up and the guard stepped back, out of the way as the man approached Lucas.
“Yes,” Lucas replied unemotionally as the man approached holding his hand out for Lucas to shake.
“I see you found our offices alright, or else you wouldn’t have gotten here so early,” the man stated cheerfully as Lucas slowly took his hand and shook it.
“Yes, it wasn’t hard to find,” Lucas confirmed. “And you are?”
“James, but call my Jimmy! And this is Erica, who I’ve actually met before, though she looked a bit different at the time,” The man said, peering down at Erica, who blushed as she clung to Lucas’ leg. “And who might you be?”
“David,” Lucas replied matter-of-factly. Erica’s eyebrow cocked upward and she looked up at him, slightly puzzled, though completely unnoticed by the men above her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you David. If you like, I can have someone get you a coffee while we take Erica…”
“She asked me to stay with her, help her around.”
“We’re more than capable of seeing to her needs,” the man said with a smile.
“I don’t doubt it, but she asked me to, so that’s what I’m going to do,” Lucas stated with resolve. The man stood for a moment smiling, then nodded in agreement.
“If you’ll both follow me, we can get started then,” the man said, pointing toward the check point.
“Is it a far walk?” Lucas asked, causing the man to pause and look back at him again.
“A few minutes, why?”
“Well, you can see that Erica’s legs are a lot shorter than they once were, and a walk for us is practically a run for her. There’s a conference room right here,” Lucas stated, pointing to a dark room a few yards away. “Couldn’t we use that?”
The man paused, and looked Lucas over, appraising him, mulling the situation over in his mind. “Well, someone could just carry her…”
“That’s a little demeaning, isn’t it? Would you like to be carried around, especially in front of your coworkers? Erica,” Lucas said looking down at her with compassion, though Erica winced at the mention of her name from Lucas. “Do you want me to carry you?”
“Not really no. I can walk,” she answered back, slight irritation in her voice.
“Very well then,” The man agreed and pointed Lucas and Erica to the unused conference room. The man whispered in the guard’s ear, who nodded and went back to his station while the three walked to the room.
Erica led Lucas in and checked behind them, making sure that no one else was watching her then looked up at Lucas and mouthed emphatically the word “rude,” to which Lucas nodded. Once they entered the conference room, Lucas gently pulled her hand and lead her around the large table there to a couple of seats that faced the door.
Lucas offered a hand, which Erica took and climbed up into the chair, though she could only barely see over the table. Lucas assisted her, lifting the chair up as high as he could, but this was of only minor help to the situation. Lucas took a seat beside her while Jimmy sat across from them, smiling warmly with his hands neatly folded.
“I have a couple colleagues that will join us in a moment,” he said cheerfully, looking at Lucas. “So how is she?”
“You can ask her. She’s right here,” Lucas replied back immediately.
“Oh, yes… Well, with her smaller head, I wasn’t sure if she was still able to,”
“My mind works just fine, and so do my ears,” Erica replied, more irritated now.
“I’m glad to hear it! So Erica, how are you?” He asked, though he turned again to Lucas.
“I’m fine overall, though I’m sure you can imagine how a lot of things are a lot more difficult to do now,” Erica replied, still showing her irritation, but holding it back as best as she could.
“Of course, of course! I’m sure this is extremely difficult for you. Do you need anything before the others get here? Something to drink?”
“No, thanks. I had something on the way down here and I’m full.”
“I’m sure,” the man said, somewhat put off by her response. Lucas sat quietly, listening in. “So, how exactly did this happen?”
“Well, we went out Friday night, and we were hanging out down near Pelican Lake, you know the area?” Erica said in a serious tone, with a somewhat mournful expression on her face.
“You mean near the refinery?” Around this time, a couple men in lab coats stepped quietly into the room and sat beside Jimmy.
“Yes, exactly. Well, I decided I wanted to go for a swim, but David here didn’t want to, so I tried to convince him, but he refused, he said the water stunk. I jumped in to try to encourage him, but he still wouldn’t go. I stayed in for a while, trying to convince him, but the big chicken still refused, so eventually I got out and we left. I told him he was a spoilsport and to just take me home, but on the way I started feeling really sick, and it wasn’t long after that that it started to happen.”
“So you think it was a chemical from the refinery?”
“That was our best guess. The doctor really had no idea whatsoever. She’d never seen anything like that before in her life.” The men in lab coats looked at each other skeptically and then over to Jimmy, who gave them a short nod.
“I see,” Jimmy replied thoughtfully. “Well, Erica, there’s no doubt that you are disabled compared to how you were a few days ago. There are some things we need to take care of to get you approved.”
“Like what?”
“Well, this is Dr. Aaland and Dr. Roed. First they’d like to run a couple blood tests to make sure you’re still healthy, and confirm your condition?”
“Is that necessary? They ran blood tests at the clinic. Can’t you just use their results?”
“Well, no,” one of the men in a lab coat corrected. “Their tests aren’t accurate enough for our purposes, and we’ll be looking for other… toxins, that might still be in your system.”
“The doctor gave me a full physical, she didn’t see anything else wrong with me…”
“I’m sure she did the best she knew how, but we really need better testing for this,” the other man in a lab coat said, pushing his glasses up nose. Lucas sat still, but his eyes turned and he looked at the second man, then back to Jimmy.
“We’re actually going back to the doctor today, I don’t want to go through so many tests so fast.”
“Well, we can take over where your other doctor left off. We’d be happy to work with you from now on,” the first man in the lab coat said, leaning over the table. As he did so, he leaned forward and the lanyard with his nametag fell forward, which Lucas glanced at carefully.
“I would rather work with Dr. Hanson, for now. She’s been making an effort to make this as easy as possible,” Erica said back, looking at the two men with unease.
Jimmy interrupted, telling her calmly, “Erica, these tests are important as well for your disability claim so that we can confirm your condition.”
“I’m three feet shorter than last week, what more confirmation do you need?”
“Well, first of all to make sure that whatever did this to you is real. It does seem a fantastic story, don’t you think?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“Are you sure I can’t get you two something to drink?” Jimmy asked with a warm smile.
“No, thank you,” Erica said politely.
“Yes, I’d love some water,” Lucas said in a cool tone. Jimmy perked up immediately and went directly to the door, asking someone nearby in a quiet voice for some water. He then sat back down and faced them with a relaxed grin. “Erica, your clinic isn’t equipped for something like this. We have much better facilities available to us that will help us diagnose your condition more accurately.”
“I suppose. But honestly, I’ve never had a male doctor before, and I’m not sure I want one now.”
“There are some trade offs, yes, but imagine, maybe we could even figure out a way to restore you if you let us help you,” Jimmy reassured her. The door behind him opened, and another, rather large man walked in carrying a pitcher. Lucas smiled as the man poured him a glass of water, which Lucas took gladly, then looked off to his left casually, taking note of the bottles of Evian on the counter. He looked back at the four men, one of the men in a lab coat staring intently on Lucas’ cup of water.
“I’m sorry, but no. Can you just work with Dr. Hanson?”
“You’re not thinking clearly, Erica, you really should reconsider.”
“Which of you was Dr. Roed?” Lucas asked in an unemotional voice. The two men in lab coats looked at each other in confusion, and one raised his hand. “You have an employee badge that matches the ones of the other employees here. You work in this building?” Lucas replied back, unemotionally, reaching forward for the cup. The other man in a lab coat watched closely, leaning forward slightly. The other man faltered, trying to think of an answer.
“What kind of physician are you?” Lucas pressed on, not waiting for an answer and picking up the cup. The man watching his cup swallowed hard.
“I-I’m, a-a physician..” the man he was speaking to stuttered.
“What kind?” Erica looked up at Lucas, concerned, and caught off guard by his off topic intrusion. “Physicians have specialties, like a family medicine, or..”
“I’m a general MD, family medicine,” the man replied quickly.
“Wouldn’t Erica be better served by a specialist if you want to build a case for her dropping her current physician? Maybe an endocrinologist, or a hematologist to study her blood work?”
“Well… we have people like that here..” the man continued as Lucas lifted the water toward his lips. As he did so, he looked over to Jimmy who had let a smirk slip across his lips, then he waited, and set the water down, eliciting an uncomfortable look from the man who was staring at the cup.
“Something funny?” Lucas asked Jimmy.
“No, not at all, I’m just touched by your concern for little Erica, David.” Erica scowled at Jimmy at being referred to as ‘little Erica.’ “I’m sorry, but Erica is single, how do you know her?”
“That’s personal, and I’d rather not go into it at this time,” Lucas told him unemotionally. Erica’s head moved from person to person, worry creeping further into her expression.
“Well, suffice to say that you don’t have legal standing to make decisions for her, so…”
“I’m not making decisions for her, she made her decision. She said no.”
“She’s not in a condition to make such decisions for herself, clearly.”
“Why?”
“Well, look at her. She’s clearly incapable of looking after herself.”
“What bearing does that have on her ability to make decisions? On what basis do you make the claim that she can’t care for herself?” Lucas asked defensively.
“Well, look at her, she’s clearly making a poor decision. We just need to run a couple short tests before we can sign off on her disability claim, that’s all. Any rational person would…”
“Which is it? You need the tests for her disability claim or to help her?”
“The two aren’t mutually exclusive…” Jimmy countered.
“This really seems like a human resources issue. Is anyone from you HR department going to be joining us?” Jimmy simply smiled at Lucas without answering. “What did you put in my water?” Lucas asked bluntly. One of the men in lab coats began to sweat profusely.
“Nothing, Dave, it’s just water.”
“David, not Dave. You had bottled water already available here in the room, why did you need to get a pitcher of water from somewhere else?”
“Oh, that. I just didn’t see it in here is all, David,” Jimmy continued with a smile.
“You keep licensed physicians on staff here at a corporate building? How many licensed physicians are on staff here at this location?” Lucas continued on in a cold tone of voice.
Jimmy sighed and looked again at Lucas. “David, we need to run these tests on Erica. You have no legal standing to make this decision for her.”
“I’m not making a decision for her. She made the decision herself.”
“Her decision doesn’t make sense, David.”
“In what way? Describe the fallacy in her logic.”
“We have doctors…”
“She has a doctor, of the same type you claim to have. In what way are your doctors more qualified? What specific training do that have that would make them more capable than her current doctor?”
“There is specialized equipment here that we could use to…”
“What equipment? What factors in her blood work do you hope to isolate that another physician wouldn’t consider?”
“David, you’re really being difficult here, I’m trying to help you. If you would just give her to us…”
“She isn’t mine to give. She is an adult, and she has rights. She can decide who she sees or doesn’t see for her medical issues, and she can decide what tests she does or doesn’t submit to.” Lucas turned to Erica and asked her softly. “Kitten, do you want to do their tests?”
“No!” Erica replied emphatically.
“Do you want to see their doctors?”
“Hell no!”
“There you have it,” Lucas told Jimmy point blank.
“David, we have an ethical obligation to help her out now that she isn’t capable of looking after herself.”
“STOP TALKING TO HIM ABOUT ME LIKE I’M NOT EVEN HERE!!” Erica roared. Jimmy looked at her briefly, fighting back a smirk, then addressed Lucas.
“You don’t have authority to take her, David. Our ethical obligation…”
“You want to debate ethics with me? With as many holes as you have in your story, you really want to debate ethics with me? Not only that, but fuck ethics, your company doesn’t get to make decisions based on your ‘ethical obligations.’ What legal basis do you have to perform tests on her against her will? What judicial precedent can you point to that grants you the legal authority to decide for her?” Jimmy sat and stared at Lucas silently, staring into his eyes. The large man who had delivered the water stepped forward, but Jimmy held up his had, causing him to stop.
Erica looked back and forth between the five men, all giants towering far above her across the table, her eyes darting back and forth, and she sat, completely locked up mentally. She then looked up at Lucas, and what she saw sent a chill down her spine and caused goose bumps to instantly raise all around her body. Lucas sat perfectly still, upright and rigid, like an immovable object. His jaw took on a squareness she had never noticed before, and he stared directly at Jimmy with eyes that looked like pure granite, unwavering and locked on their target.
“David,” Jimmy finally began to answer, “You’re not leaving here with her. You can just make this easier on us all if you,”
“I am leaving here with her.”
The large man then lunged forward over the table with surprising speed, grabbing Erica by the arm and lifting her out of her chair. Erica screamed in a panic as she was yanked away from Lucas. Lucas didn’t flinch, however, and slammed his forearm down on the large man’s arm in a way that surprised him and caused him to yelp loudly in pain, but before he had time to react, Lucas swung down with his whole body, his right arm tightly curled up to his shoulder, striking the man on top of his head with his elbow, then grabbed the man’s head in his hands and slammed him face down into the table, causing the man to crumple down to the ground on the other side of the table with just a smear of blood in his wake. The whole action happened so fast, it almost seemed instantaneous, as though Lucas was responding to it before it actually happened.
Jimmy and one of the men in a lab coat sat stunned, and Lucas, without turning, announced loudly, “that’s far enough,” to the other man who was sneaking around the end of the table with a needle in hand. “Get behind me, Kitten,” Lucas ordered Erica quietly, “and stay close.” Erica nodded emphatically and jumped off her chair, darting behind Lucas as he stood, clinging frantically to his leg. Jimmy sighed and stood himself, leaning back and knocking on the door. The door to the room swung open and four security guards walked in, surrounding Jimmy, each of them stunned momentarily to see the large man lying on the ground. One of the guards helped the man up and the other man in the lab coat ran behind the group.
“I’ve tried to be reasonable, David, but you’re not giving me any room to work here.”
“You’re not taking her,” Lucas said in a cold, deep voice.
“Get the little girl,” Jimmy ordered the men. “Do whatever you have to to him.” Each of the guards looked at him, then at each other with uncertainty, but Jimmy doubled down angrily. “Do it, or you won’t even be able to stand in the unemployment line!”
The men all took in the situation, and then two pulled out expandable batons, the other two L shaped night sticks, and two men also took out tasers. One guard handed the large man a nightstick as he sneered at Lucas, enraged. “I’m gonna enjoy breaking you apart in front of your little girlfriend,” he said with a sinister grin. The men all began to span out around the table slowly as Erica watched in a pure panic until she looked up to see Lucas reaching his hand around his back in a single, fluid motion.
He lifted his shirt, and she watched in abject horror as a handgun was exposed right in front of her eyes, tucked neatly inside the waist of his jeans, which Lucas gripped firmly and pulled out of a black leather holster perfectly fit for it. Erica’s eyes went wide open, and her jaw dropped as far as it physically could. She stumbled back, paralyzed in terror, and barely able to stand anymore, but Lucas reached back with his other arm and grabbed her, holding her in place against his hip. On the other side of the room, the men all paused curious of what had shocked Erica so badly until Lucas bared the gun down directly at the large man, who had stepped ahead of the others, and placed his finger on the trigger. The entire scene took only a couple seconds, but seemed to play out in slow motion. The entire room froze, all faces except Lucas’ slack jawed and dumbstruck. Once Erica seemed stable, Lucas released her and placed his other hand around the handle of the gun, locking it into his grip firmly.
“We’re leaving,” Lucas announced calmly.
“You think you can just pull a gun on us and walk out of here?” Jimmy defiantly snapped back.
“I’m not asking,” Lucas replied back coldly.
“You can’t shoot us all,” Jimmy again snapped at Lucas.
“Wanna bet?” Lucas said with confidence.
“Pfelcher Pharmaceuticals bans weapons on this premises! You are breaking the lawy by being here with that!!” Jimmy howled.
“Then you can ask us to leave, and if we refuse, then we can be charged with petty misdemeanor trespassing. We’ll leave though,” Lucas said matter-of-factly. Jimmy growled and sneered at Lucas.
“If you all rush him, he won’t be able to shoot you all!” Jimmy argued to the guards, who all looked at each other in disbelief. “Get him!” He ordered desperately. Each of the men stood still, not wanting to agitate Lucas any further and Lucas waited for a moment, then took a small step backwards.
“Everyone on your knees,” Lucas ordered.
“You can’t get away with this! We’ll call the cops!!”
“Are you serious?” Lucas asked incredulously. “The only thing stopping me from calling them myself right now is I have my hands full with you assholes!”
“You can’t point a gun at people!”
“Yes I can, if I am in fear for my life, or serious bodily harm, or the same for someone else. You should have quit while you were behind,” Lucas snapped angrily at Jimmy. “Now get on your knees,” Lucas ordered again. Everyone except Jimmy did as they were told, while Jimmy stared back enraged at Lucas.
“I will call the cops on you,” he threatened. “They’re not going to believe you over us.”
“Maybe, except this has all been recorded on video.” Jimmy stood rigid at the claim, paralyzed with fear.
“You couldn’t have…”
“Yep, I sure could have. In HD no less, all from my shirt pocket.” Jimmy’s face went white in fear. Erica looked up in shock, assessing the validity of Lucas’ claim. Jimmy finally relented and dropped to his knees as ordered. “Now drop your weapons,” Lucas ordered. The guards all did as told.
Now stay on your knees, and everyone against this wall,” Lucas told them, pointing at the wall at the back of the room. The men all waddled to the back wall, facing it as instructed.
“Kitten, we’re leaving,” Lucas said to Erica without looking at her as he grabbed the edge of the table while pointing the gun with his other hand. Erica nodded numbly and followed close to Lucas as he dragged the table up behind the men, pinning them to the wall.
“I’m done playing games. If you chase me, I will shoot you. Sit your asses put until we are completely gone, understood?” All of the men except Jimmy nodded in understanding. Lucas gently gripped Erica’s shoulder and drew her towards the door, still with his gun trained on the men against the wall. “Kitten,” he explained softly, “We need to move quickly, which means you may be running the whole way unless I carry you.” Erica nodded numbly again in understanding, staring at the gun.
Lucas backed up against the door, turned the knob then spun around and kicked the door open violently, taking a quick moment to peek outside the door, then duck back in again. “Clear. Let’s go,” Lucas announced
Lucas dropped his hand, pulling his finger away from the trigger and pressing it up along side the frame of the gun, and slid it into his jeans pocket, concealing nearly all of the gun as he held it. He then took Erica’s hand and walked briskly to the main door, with Erica at a near sprint trying to keep up with him as he strode along with his long legs.
Erica looked around. A few employees walked through the guard station cluelessly and a couple people sat at the coffee shop reading, but other than that, the lobby area was quiet. The guard station was completely unmanned, meaning that Jimmy had apparently pulled all of the security guards to deal with her and Lucas. As Lucas approached the front door, he let go of Erica and shoved it open forcefully, and kept moving through without even slowing down, already focused intently on Erica’s car in the nearby parking lot. Lucas grabbed Erica’s hand and made a beeline for her car.
Back in the conference room, Jimmy, stewing in his own rage turned around to see that Lucas and Erica had left their view. “Get this goddamn thing off of me!” He ordered. The guards all looked at the large man for approval, then pushed against the wall, pushing the table back. Jimmy walked to the door of the room and looked out, surveying the scene for himself. Erica and Lucas were nowhere to be seen. He waited for a moment to make sure it was safe, then walked back to the large man, getting uncomfortably close to him, and staring up angrily. “Get me footage of every camera that saw them. I want the most detailed pictures of his face you can get me, and I want his license plate number!” Jimmy stomped off to the back of the room, cursing himself. “Goddamnit! It’s bad enough I’m stuck in flyover country, but now I’m outwitted by that halfwit, inbred, redneck piece of shit?!?! Everyone she works with, anyone she’s friends with here, I want their asses in my office in the next ten minutes!! DO IT!!!!”
The large man nodded quietly, his jaw clenched, then walked to the door and peered out, surveying the scene closely to make sure it was safe before venturing out.
Lucas and Erica arrived at her car, Lucas unlocked it using the remote from a distance and yanked the door open as soon as he was within reach. He then bent over, grabbing Erica, causing her to chirp in surprise and picked her up, leaning into the car and setting her inside as quickly as he could. “Sorry Kitten, no time,” he told her in a rush. Erica climbed to the passenger seat and stared at him fearfully as he climbed in, reholstering his gun behind his back and starting the car with his other hand at the same time. He slammed the door shut, then threw it into gear, pulling directly out of the parking space and sped out of the lot at over thirty miles an hour.
“Buckle up,” he told Erica as he looked around him constantly, looking for something unknown.
“You have a gun?!?!” Erica wailed in disbelief.
“Yes. Kitten, buckle up,” Lucas told her as he did so himself.
“Where are you taking me???”
“Back to your apartment. Kitten, buckle up.”
“WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN?!?!?!”
“Kitten, breath, I need you to focus, we’re not done yet.”
Erica stood on the seat and looked out the window, then stared at Lucas. “You’re going the wrong way! You aren’t taking me home!”
“Yes I am, we’re just taking an alternate route.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Only back to your apartment. Kitten, sit down, or you’ll draw more attention to us.”
“LUCAS WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN?!?!?!?”
Lucas took her hand and looked at her sincerely. “Kitten, please sit down. We aren’t out of the woods yet. I don’t want to get pulled over.” Erica plopped down on the seat and stared up at him angrily. “Kitten, how many people there know how close you and Alicia are?”
“YOU HAVE A GUN!!!”
“Erica!” Lucas bellowed, causing her to wince. “We aren’t done yet, I need you to focus. Who there knows how close you and Alicia are?”
Erica’s eyes went wide in realization and her jaw dropped. “Everyone,” she muttered.
“Get your phone and message her right away. Get her out of there. Get her out of there right this instant and say whatever you have to to do it, but don’t use my name.” Erica nodded and dropped to the floor, fishing her phone out of her purse. From the floor, she frantically texted her friend.
EMERGENCY! MEET US AT PET MANS HOUSE!!
GO NOW! DON’T ASK JUST GO!!
Erica looked up at Lucas, still shocked, but more observant now, noticing how methodical all of his actions seemed to be while he drove. A short moment passed and she received a text from Alicia saying simply, “OMW. ”
Erica climbed up to her seat and sat, curling her legs up to her chest and hugging them. Before she had a chance to speak, Lucas answered for her as she shook violently boiling in the emotional fallout of their encounter.
“I have my gun because the whole situation didn’t feel right from the get go. It all seemed too good to be true and they seamed way too eager.”
Erica looked up at him, then her brow furrowed as she began rubbing her shoulder. “But a gun?!?!?”
“That gun is the only reason we made it out of there, Kitten,” Lucas replied in a serious tone.
“You pulled a gun on them, Lucas!!!”
Lucas took her hand, though Erica fought it off. “Don’t touch me!!” she screamed.
“Is that what you want?” Lucas asked patiently. Erica stared at him, uncertain of what to say, tears welling up in her eyes. She shook her head ‘no’ after a good deal of thought. “Kitten, they were going to take you, and they were going to perform tests and experiments on you, and they were going to do whatever it took to do it. They tried drugging my water, and they were going to beat me within an inch of my life to take you from me, because that is what it would have taken. There is no way I was ever going to just let them take you.”
“Why couldn’t you have just fought them off like that one guy?”
“I can’t take on five guys with clubs and tasers. Especially if I’m trying to fend them off of you. I was out of options.”
“That’s illegal, Lucas, you can’t carry a gun around,” Erica argued, rubbing her shoulder again.
“No it isn’t. Kitten are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”
“Yes it is!! Don’t change the subject!!” Lucas reached in his left pocket and fished out his wallet. With one hand, he opened it and pulled out a laminated card and handed it to Erica. She took the card and looked at it carefully. It had the state logo on it, Lucas’ name and stated clearly in bold font “PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL.”
“Why do you need this?” Erica howled, holding the card up to him.
“Seriously?” Lucas replied back, the frustration evident in his voice. “After what just happened you are seriously asking me that?”
“Well, how many times has that happened to you?”
“How many times does it need to happen?” Lucas barked back.
“Lucas, why would you even THINK of bringing a gun in there with you?”
“I told you, something didn’t feel right.”
“We could have talked them down, something, anything! How am I supposed to get my disability now?!?!?”
Lucas turned and looked down at her, clenching his jaw, then looked back up at the road and around the perimeter of the car. He took a deep breath and then reached up, grabbing the rim of his ball cap, yanked it off and tossed it into the back seat, and then ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up intentionally, before sighing in relief.
“Oh now, you get rid of that goddamn thing?”
“Yes,” Lucas replied coldly.
“And what’s so special about now?” Erica demanded.
“I don’t need it anymore.”
“What did you need it for, then?” Erica asked, confused.
“To obscure my face from the security cameras.”
“What??”
“You heard me. You didn’t notice how I kept my head down slightly almost the entire time in there?”
“I… no… So you knew all along this would happen?”
“No, I didn’t. I was just.. keeping on my toes. In case something went down.”
“What about the recording?”
“What about it?”
“You didn’t record that meting, you couldn’t have.”
“Yes I did. The camera is in my shirt pocket.”
“Where did you get a camera like that?”
“I put it together with an old iPod about a year ago. Normally, evidence is a lot more useful than my gun.”
“You knew this would happen! Why would you take me in there if you knew!!”
“I didn’t know, Kitten. It just smelled fishy. I REALLY didn’t expect them to try something so brazen, but you prepare for the worst.”
“The way you took that guy down, it was so fast. Where did you learn to do that? Are you a spy or something?”
Lucas smiled briefly, fighting back a laugh. “No, I just work in IT. I’m only a tech guy.”
“I don’t know anyone in IT that can do that.”
“My dad was a cop, he trained us in a lot of that stuff. He wanted us to know how to defend ourselves.” Lucas looked over his shoulder again, and then made a turn with the car.
“What do you keep looking for?” Erica asked, irritated by the distraction.
“Anyone that might be following us. I’d rather than lose them then have another confrontation.”
“There is no way they could do that…”
“They underestimated us, and that gave us the advantage we needed back there. I’m not going to underestimate them,” Lucas told her seriously.
“Where are we going? Really?”
“Your apartment.”
“Why?”
“To get the Cutlass.”
“Can’t that wait?”
“Kitten, I didn’t say this before because I didn’t want to sound paranoid. We got your car so that when they pulled the license plates, they would only find you. Right now, they are probably combing through security footage for my face and for my plates so they can identify me and track me down. You are their target, and they are going to hunt you now.”
Erica gasped in surprise. “No, that’s illegal…” Erica muttered in disbelief.
“So is kidnapping. So is drugging people’s drinks. So is attacking an innocent man with clubs and tasers. We’re beyond the law here.”
“Well, call the police!”
“We can do that, but there will be a price if we do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cops aren’t there to be your buddy. When they come in, they will take control of the situation, and they will do it how they want to. It takes everything out of our hands. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes not. Also, if we do it right now, then we have to disclose your shrinking to them, and if government entities start getting involved in this… we could be looking at more trouble than even Pfelcher can dish out. It’s your life, it’s your body, it’s your decision, but Kitten, there are real risks if we go down that path.”
“They wouldn’t…” Erica told him in disbelief.
Lucas grabbed her hand and squeezed in, and spoke softly to her. “Kitten… You need to let go of any ideas you have right now of what people would or wouldn’t do and start focusing on what they could do. I wouldn’t have thought people would have sent in five guys to beat the shit out of me to take you, but they did. I really wouldn’t have thought that.”
“If you didn’t think that, then why did you bring a gun?”
“A nagging thought that I just couldn’t get out of my head. I just couldn’t stop worrying about you, or what could happen to you. I just couldn’t stop thinking about what if something happened that I couldn’t deal with, and I lost you.” Erica sat quietly, staring at Lucas, her mouth slightly open. The car whirred down the road with both occupants sitting in silence.
“Kitten,” Lucas eventually continued. Erica sat up, alertly. “We’re almost there. You have a decision to make. Are you coming back to my house with me, or are you staying at your apartment?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Yes. With me, always. I’ll give you options, but I won’t decide for you. There are consequences though to decisions, keep that in mind.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s a warning. If you stay at your apartment, odds are Pfelcher will eventually round someone up and they will show up there, and we already know they are ready to go beyond the law to get what they want.”
“So then I don’t have a choice. Not really,” Erica said sullenly.
“I will give you a choice, if that’s what it takes.”
“How?”
“I’ll figure something out. You just focus on what you want, where you want to be and who you want to be with, and I will do whatever I can to get it for you. I promise you that.”
Erica smiled at Lucas, relaxing for the first time since before their encounter at her workplace. “Can I sit with you?” She asked in a bashful tone.
“God, I was so hoping you would ask that,” Lucas replied, an apparent lump in his throat. Erica smiled softly and unbuckled herself, then crawled over across the console to Lucas, curling up on his lap and clinging tightly to him as he made successive turns back to Erica’s apartment complex.
“What if that thing goes off?” She asked Lucas, still trembling as he held her with one arm.
“It won’t,” Lucas stated matter-of-factly.
“How do you know?”
“It’s properly holstered and I checked it when I took it out of the case. It won’t go off.”
“But what if it does?”
“Then it’s pointed down and it would shoot me in the ass.” Erica giggled at his stoic response, then leaned in snuggling up against him more tightly. “Kitten, you didn’t answer me earlier, did he hurt you?”
“I’m alright,” Erica replied back despondently.
“Did he hurt you?” Lucas asked again with more force.
“My shoulder is just sore, that’s all.”
“How sore?”
“I think he almost yanked my arm out of the socket,” Erica replied clutching Lucas tightly.
“That mother fucker,” Lucas grumbled, the rage clear in his tone of voice.
“What are you gonna do? Go back there?”
“No, I’m going to keep you safe. But I promise you, if I run into him again, I’m not holding back next time.”
“Hold back? Are you for real? You stomped him down as easily as he yanked me out of that chair! That’s holding back????”
“Yes,” Lucas replied coldly. Erica looked up at him in shock, trying to measure Lucas’ answer in her mind. “We’re here,” he announced as he pulled the car to a stop, rolled down the window and used Erica’s fob to open the underground parking garage. They rolled into the dimly lit garage and Lucas looked around cautiously. “It’s clear, you can get up if you want to.” Erica sat up and looked around at the largely empty space.
“Number fourteen, in case you forgot,” Erica reminded him.
“Thanks Kitten,” Lucas replied softly as he pulled unto Erica’s assigned stall. Once there, Erica Stood and looked at Lucas, rubbing her shoulder again.
“Are we going up to my apartment?”
“Only if you are staying here. Where did you tell Alicia to go?”
“Your house.”
“Does that mean you want to go back there?”
“I think that’s best,” Erica replied, an uncertain look about her. “What about that thing? Are you going to carry it all the way home? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yes. It’s fine in the holster, and it has built in safeties.”
“Lucas, you really shouldn’t have something like that, what if something went wrong? I mean, don’t you need special training to use something like that?”
“You mean like training you might receive in the army? Or from a father who was a cop for thirty years?” Erica stood back for a moment, uncertain how to respond. “Kitten, I’ve been shooting pistols since I was six years old. And then there was the army, my training with them and time in Iraq, and I did go through classes to get that permit.”
“Well, still…”
“Kitten, I really would have rather introduced you to this in a better way, but the gun is part of the package here. It’s not going away.”
“But, Lucas…” Erica whined, struggling for words. Lucas sighed and gently pushed her back.
“Stand back a bit. Let me show you how it works.” Erica nodded and swallowed hard, standing back. Lucas leaned forward and pulled out the gun again, keeping it pointed between his feet. “This is a Glock 30. I have it specifically to carry concealed. Pay attention how I always keep it pointed down..” Lucas explained and demonstrated. “Now, before we do anything with it, watch how we take the magazine out… and now,” Lucas pulled the slide back and tipped the gun sideways away from Erica, allowing a bullet to drop out, “we make sure nothing is in the chamber. Even though it’s unloaded, we still treat it like it is loaded.” Erica leaned in a bit, now curious. “Now, we can take it apart like this…” Lucas said, pulling a small lever that released the slide and allowed him to remove it. Erica jumped slightly, but watched carefully.
“Now, take a look at the frame here… see that little button sticking out the front of the trigger?” Erica nodded in understanding, fixated on what Lucas was showing her. “That’s a built in safety. The trigger can’t move unless that is pressed down first, so the trigger can’t just be bounced down, understand? It can’t go off by itself.” Erica nodded in understanding, now leaning more closely. “Not too close, kitten. It’s apart, and it’s safe, but I still need to treat it seriously at all times.”
“If it’s safe, then why?”
“Because I’m the key component to it. If it’s used well, or if it goes wrong, I’m the key to it, so you always treat it as though it’s ready to go off because in the end whether it’s used to protect myself or the people I care about or it shoots me in the ass, it’s up to me.” Erica smiled and stared at the two pieces in Lucas’ hand. “Now, the holster is just as important. It’s made specifically for this pistol, and it completely covers the trigger and is form fit so the pistol is held in tight and snug.”
“So it can’t come out?”
“It’s possible, but it’s really hard for it to happen by accident. I wouldn’t want to go upside down or in a wild rollercoaster with it, but other than that, it pretty much holds it in there by itself.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you kept it in your pocket?”
“It doesn’t belong just sitting in my pocket. Too many things can go wrong like that. It belongs in my hand or in its holster, and that’s it. Is this helping you feel better around it at all?” Lucas asked, patiently. Erica looked up at him and nodded quietly. “Alright, we need to get going before they catch up to us. Lucas quickly put the handgun back together again, keeping it pointed downward, then reloaded it and slipped it back into the holster.
He then shut the car off and stepped out, looking around attentively while Erica followed. They made their way to the door, and up the stairs, with Lucas leading the way, peaking around corners ahead of Erica. He propped the door open with a doorstop and motioned for Erica to stay behind while he went up the concrete stairs leading to the rear parking lot of the building while Erica stayed put, hiding against the side of the wall nervously. Erica jumped slightly as she heard a loud thumping coming back to her, followed by Lucas reappearing at the door. He motioned for her to come out, which she did quickly and they ran up the stairs together and made their way quickly to Lucas’ car. Lucas fired it up immediately and sped out of the parking lot, making his way as quickly as he could to the freeway to head back up to his house.
Erica clung quietly to Lucas, hugging his hip, while Lucas rubbed her back. “So are we safe yet?” Erica asked fearfully.
“I think so. They only have your license plates to go off of, and they shouldn’t have any decent pictures of my face. My guess is they’ll be crawling around your apartment complex, but they won’t know what to do after that.” Erica sighed and nodded her head while Lucas massaged her neck.
As they drove along, Lucas picked up his phone and dialed it with a tap of his finger. Erica perked up slightly to the sound of a phone ringing via speakerphone, then Dr. Hanson’s familiar voice echoed into the car. “Lucas? You’re a bit early…” She commented.
“We’re not there, we’re not going to make it,” Lucas said flatly.
“What? Why?” She asked back, shocked.
“Erica’s work tried to kidnap her, and they had a group of guys try to jump me. We barely made it out of there. We need to figure something out for her medical care.”
“Oh my God… is she okay?”
“I’m fine,” Erica replied glumly.
“We can’t go back there doc. I don’t believe for a second they won’t come down there looking for more information.” Doctor Hanson gasped.
“I understand, I’ll clear out everything I can find on Erica here, and get rid of it. Lucas, you said you were jumped; were either of you hurt at Pfelcher?”
“Erica is nursing a sore shoulder. One guy yanked her out of her seat by her arm.”
“Lucas, if you text me your address, I can make a house call later this afternoon.”
“You’re call, Kitten. Do you trust her?”
Erica sat for a moment while Dr. Hanson and Lucas waited for a response. “Alright,” Erica conceded. “But Lucas, if she tries anything, anything at all, you do what you did that that asshat at Pfelcher.”
“I understand,” Dr. Hanson replied soberly. “I’ll call you as soon as I can make it out to you.” Lucas hung up the phone and looked down at Erica with concern. The car continued to soar down the highway with its two occupants sitting in silence for the rest of the trip.
Erica sat in the passenger seat of her car, staring up at Lucas across the center console with an irritated expression on her face. [size=80] “I hate it,” [/size] she complained.
“Give it a chance, Kitten, it will grow on you.”
[size=80] “No it won’t. Take it off.” [/size]
“You gonna make me?”
[size=80] “Yes, I will.” [/size]
“Good luck trying,” Lucas teased with an impish smirk.
[size=80] “I don’t think you know who you are messing with,” [/size] Erica said back fiercely.
“I have a pretty good idea.”
[size=80] “Take it off.” [/size]
“Maybe later.”
[size=80] “Seriously, Lucas? I’ve never seen you wear a baseball cap before.” [/size]
“You’ve only really seen me at the gym.”
[size=80] “I hate it. You look like a dork with that on.” [/size]
“Should I have grown out a bushy mustache before I put it on?”
[size=80] “Ewww! No!” [/size]
“Just give it a couple hours. It’ll grow on you.”
[size=80] “No it won’t.” [/size]
“Can you hand me my phone again?” Erica turned and picked up his phone, handing it to Lucas, who called using the speakerphone. After a few short rings, a feminine voice answered.
“Highland clinic.”
“Can I speak to Dr. Hansen?”
“She’s still not available. I told you we’d have her call you back as soon as she was done with her appoinemtent.”
“We’ve had some problems with your staff not taking us seriously the last couple days, so I’m just going to keep reminding you to make sure you don’t forget about us, thanks.” The woman on the other end could be heard grunting angrily.
“I’ll get her as soon as she’s out of her appointment.”
“This is an awfully long appointment. What’s the hold up?”
“I can’t tell you about that.”
“Do you even know?”
“Sir, I will talk to Dr. Hanson as soon as she comes out of the patient room.”
“Alright, talk to you in a few minutes, Marcie.” Erica giggled and hung up the phone.
[size=80] “Nice work,” [/size] she complimented him.
“I’ve had enough of fucking around with these people,” Lucas told her, irritated. Erica sat back quietly then stared up at Lucas again, scowling at his cap.
[size=80] “I still hate it.” [/size]
“Kitten, do want to sit with me?”
Erica perked up at the suggestion, then looked down doubtfully. [size=80] “I can’t, you’re driving.” [/size]
“You can sit on my lap.”
[size=80] “What if someone sees me?” [/size]
“Stay low.” Erica bit her lip, grinning ear to ear, then got to her knees and peaked outside the window, looking for any cars around them, then dropped down and crawled over the console onto Lucas’ lap. Once there, she sighed and lay across his lap, hugging him tightly.
“Better?”
[size=80] “Better,” [/size] Erica admitted as she closed her eyes, resting comfortably. [size=80] “So how are we going to handle this?” [/size]
“Well, I’ll get you there, and I’ll stay there for moral support, but it’s your job, your life. I’ll just keep my mouth shut unless I’m really needed.”
[size=80] “How will you know if you’re really needed?” [/size]
“Dunno. I’m playing it by ear. But, you are in charge. Just do what you would normally do, and I’ll support you no matter what.” Erica hugged him again briefly until Lucas’ phone began to ring.
[size=80] “Finally!” [/size] Erica declared as she slid off of his lap and grabbed the phone in both hands, turning on the speakerphone.
“Hello?” Lucas asked politely.
“Lucas? This is Michelle. The HUC said you really needed to talk to me?”
[size=80] “Hello [b][i]Dr. Hanson[/i][/b],” [/size] Erica corrected spitefully.
“Oh, Hi Erica. Is everything alright? I saw you were coming in this afternoon. This couldn’t wait until your appointment?”
“No,” Lucas replied bluntly. “Erica’s work knows.”
“Knows? We sent in the forms you signed as soon as we opened this morning. Everything should be fine.”
“Pfelcher knows about Erica’s shrinking.” Lucas and Erica looked at each other while they were met with silence from the other end.
“Dr. Hanson?”
“How could they know that? We only sent in what you signed. You read it yourself,” Dr. Hanson replied in a shocked tone.
“They know. They offered Erica a ride in to work this morning because they said they knew she was too small to drive.”
“That’s not possible. All of our computer records have no mention of her shrinking. I swear, Lucas, I cleared out any data about that.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
[size=80] “I know what they said to me,” [/size] Erica countered angrily.
“You remember the deal, right? You’re staff this weekend needed to keep their mouths shut, or I’d go to corporate about what happened.”
“No, Lucas; Sheri and Judy are off today. They haven’t been in since Saturday, and I talked to them about this before the left again. They think Erica is just an eccentric little person and was born that way.”
[size=80] “Someone from your office told my work what happened to me! They called and they knew I was shrunken!” [/size]
“Oh my God… Lucas, Erica I’ll call you back. I’ll check into this, just give me a few minutes, alright?”
[size=80] “Yeah, you do that,” [/size] Erica barked at her furiously. There was a click on the other end of the line and Erica hung up, then tossed Lucas’ phone aside in frustration. She sat staring at the dash of her car, enraged while Lucas let her calm for a moment.
“Kitten,” He eventually said, interrupting her.
[size=80] “What?!?” [/size] Erica yelled, then sat back embarrassed by her angry outburst.
“I’m lonely,” he said to her softly. Erica’s expression melted and she looked at Lucas longingly. She then crawled back over to Lucas, over the console and lay across his lap, hugging him closely. They rode along for a few minutes before the phone rang again. This time Lucas reached over, picking up the phone and turned on the speaker phone again. “Hello?”
“Lucas, it’s Michelle again.”
[size=80] “Hello, [b][i]Dr. Hanson[/i][/b],” [/size] Erica replied angrily.
“Hi Erica,” she replied somewhat sheepishly. “Lucas, it was the HUC you spoke with earlier. Pfelcher called back after we faxed the documentation to them saying they needed more information.”
“What kind of information?”
“They said the documentation we gave them was too vague and wanted clarification. So Marcie went into my office and went through my personal notes. She found a notebook I was using for personal data on Erica.”
[size=80] “Why did you need a personal notebook on me?” [/size]
“I thought you might come back, and it occurred to me that Lucas was right about keeping your information as confidential as possible, so I was writing all my notes on a note book. Erica, I left the notebook closed and under a pile of other paperwork, she had to dig to find it.”
[size=80] “What is it with you and your staff?!?!?!” [/size]
“I know, I know, she said they were insistent and couldn’t wait for me to finish my appointment, they wanted the documentation right away, so she went digging through my office.”
“And how does that make it okay?” Lucas demanded angrily.
“It doesn’t. I’m really sorry Lucas. If I had left the notes on our servers, she would have had them right away. I didn’t think anyone would go digging through my office for this.”
[size=80] “So now what?” [/size] Erica asked on the verge of tears.
“I don’t know. I’m really sorry, Erica. My office was locked, I just didn’t think someone would go in like that. Are you still coming in this afternoon?”
[size=80] “Are you shitting me? First your staff humiliates me, another patient tried to sexually assault me, and now your staff is handing out information on me to anyone who asks? Why the hell would I trust you to examine me again???” [/size] Erica roared in a rage.
“I know this is hard for you Erica, but you must have had something important to come back so soon for.”
“Yes,” Lucas confirmed as Erica scowled at him. “Kitten, either way, we need to get you seen by someone, we might as well tell her.”
[size=80] “Fine,” [/size] Erica agreed reluctantly, folding her arms.
“Erica’s birth control is an implant, and the implant couldn’t have shrunk with her. We think she’s getting too much birth control released into her system.”
“Oh God, you’re right. Erica, please, you need to come in.”
[size=80] “You’re fuckin’ kidding, right?” [/size]
“Erica, this is very serious, we need to get you taken care of as soon as possible. I promise, I will see to everything myself. No more HUCs or other staff, I’ll lock up all the notes. I’ll also have you seen directly to a patient room, no waiting room time for you this time.”
“Kitten, it’s either that or we need to break in a new doctor,” Lucas reasoned out loud.
[size=80] “Fine. We’ll be there.” [/size]
“Lucas, I have your number, I will text you my cell phone and you can text me when you both arrive here. I’ll meet you at the front door.”
[size=80] “Her cell? Like her personal cell?” [/size]
“You’ll have it too kitten, don’t worry.” Erica grunted in frustration but nodded in consent. “Alright, we’ll be by the clinic in a couple hours. Hopefully our meeting at Erica’s work won’t hold us up too long.”
“Alright, I’ll be ready for you when you get here,” Dr. Hanson replied and hung up the phone. Erica took Lucas’ phone and did likewise, then set it on her lap. A moment went by until the phone lit up with a new number in the notifications and Erica grimaced.
Lucas, who was paying attention above, consoled her saying, “you know she’s got nothing on you, right?”
[size=80] “Yeah, I am pretty awesome,” [/size] Erica chirped back confidently.
“Yeah, you are,” Lucas chuckled back.
[size=80] “The Cutlass is way more comfortable.” [/size]
“You need to go back to the other seat?”
[size=80] “No, I just want you to know that the Cutlass is more comfy.” [/size]
“Yeah, it is.” Lucas then smiled as he felt Erica squeeze him hard, relaxing her face against his lower ribs.
[size=80] “Why can’t we just take the Cutlass everywhere?” [/size]
“Because it’s an older car, and needs more maintenance , and I don’t have anyone to do that for me. I have to do it myself.”
[size=80] “But it’s better,” [/size] Erica countered.
“Can’t argue there. Thanks for setting the seats in your car for me, by the way.”
Erica slapped him and giggled. [size=80] “Dork! They’re set for me!” [/size]
“Oh yeah? They seem awfully roomy for you…”
[size=80] “No!” [/size]
“Oh, so they’re not set for you anymore? So then, maybe they’re set for me?”
[size=80] “You keep telling yourself that, hotshot!” [/size]
Lucas and Erica laughed briefly together as the car sped along the road, though Erica could feel they had left the freeway now. Up above Erica’s view, Lucas looked around attentively as he reached his destination. He drove past it, surveying the area closely, then circled the entire property twice before opting to park in a small lot near the building, rather than use the large parking ramp situated directly adjacent to the office building. “We’re here,” he announced as he pulled into a spot and parked the car. Erica sat up and peeked over the dash at the familiar building. Lucas then opened the door, and assisted the little lady to her feet as they both stepped out of the car.
[size=80] “How are we on time?” [/size] Erica asked as she took his hand.
“We’re about 20 minutes early. Do they have a café or something for us to kill a few minutes in?”
[size=80] “Yeah, there’s a coffee shop near the entrance. I’m still full from the chai, though.” [/size]
“Well, just a place to sit down, then.”
[size=80] “Sounds like a plan. You’re not really going to wear that stupid thing in there are you?” [/size]
“Why shouldn’t I?”
[size=80] “This is my work! You don’t wear baseball caps at a business office!” [/size]
“I don’t work here…” Erica rolled her eyes and tugged Lucas along. “Remember, Kitten: Alicia doesn’t want her name dragged into this, so don’t tell them about her and the serum.”
[size=80] “I know, I know…”[/size]
Erica led Lucas inside the building, which had automatic doors and they looked around. At the far end from the entrance was a security station with electronic turn styles where a few late arriving employees were checking in. Lucas looked over and watched as both security guards stood at the same time and stared at the pair. “Looks like they’re expecting us,” Lucas said casually.
Erica turned her head and nodded. [size=80] “They told me to check in at the security desk and they’d take care of me.” [/size] One of the security guards stepped around the desk and walked towards them, looking directly at Lucas, while the other sat and picked up the phone. Lucas stood still and watched the guard as the man approached. He was a middle aged man, overweight with completely shaved head.
“This must be Erica,” the man stated factually to Lucas as he drew closer.
[size=80] “Yes, I’m Erica,” [/size] Erica replied, but the man looked past her to Lucas.
“If you’ll give her to me, I can take her to her meeting.”
[size=80] “No, I’d rather he stayed with me. Besides, we’re early, and wanted to go to the coffee shop for a few minutes.” [/size]
The guard looked down at Erica, then back up to Lucas again, and Lucas eyebrow coked upward. “I can check her in now, and I’m sure they’ll be waiting for her,” the guard said, reaching to grab Erica’s hand. Erica ducked back behind Lucas, who instinctively stepped forward blocking the guard, and noticed as the other guard stood suddenly, still holding the phone to his ear.
“If she’ll just come with me…”
“She goes no where she doesn’t want to go,” Lucas replied in a deep tone, causing the guard to stand more rigidly. “She said we’re going to the coffee shop until the meeting, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“I have instructions to see her to…”
“She said she wants to go to the coffee shop,” Lucas interrupted.
“This must be Erica!” a masculine voice said cheerfully. Lucas and Erica turned to see a slightly below average height man in a grey business suit and a red stripped tie walk purposefully toward them through the security checkpoint. The man had a very stylish, thickly coated in hair gel short hair cut and light blue eyes. He walked up and the guard stepped back, out of the way as the man approached Lucas.
“Yes,” Lucas replied unemotionally as the man approached holding his hand out for Lucas to shake.
“I see you found our offices alright, or else you wouldn’t have gotten here so early,” the man stated cheerfully as Lucas slowly took his hand and shook it.
“Yes, it wasn’t hard to find,” Lucas confirmed. “And you are?”
“James, but call my Jimmy! And this is Erica, who I’ve actually met before, though she looked a bit different at the time,” The man said, peering down at Erica, who blushed as she clung to Lucas’ leg. “And who might you be?”
“David,” Lucas replied matter-of-factly. Erica’s eyebrow cocked upward and she looked up at him, slightly puzzled, though completely unnoticed by the men above her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you David. If you like, I can have someone get you a coffee while we take Erica…”
“She asked me to stay with her, help her around.”
“We’re more than capable of seeing to her needs,” the man said with a smile.
“I don’t doubt it, but she asked me to, so that’s what I’m going to do,” Lucas stated with resolve. The man stood for a moment smiling, then nodded in agreement.
“If you’ll both follow me, we can get started then,” the man said, pointing toward the check point.
“Is it a far walk?” Lucas asked, causing the man to pause and look back at him again.
“A few minutes, why?”
“Well, you can see that Erica’s legs are a lot shorter than they once were, and a walk for us is practically a run for her. There’s a conference room right here,” Lucas stated, pointing to a dark room a few yards away. “Couldn’t we use that?”
The man paused, and looked Lucas over, appraising him, mulling the situation over in his mind. “Well, someone could just carry her…”
“That’s a little demeaning, isn’t it? Would you like to be carried around, especially in front of your coworkers? Erica,” Lucas said looking down at her with compassion, though Erica winced at the mention of her name from Lucas. “Do you want me to carry you?”
[size=80] “Not really no. I can walk,” [/size] she answered back, slight irritation in her voice.
“Very well then,” The man agreed and pointed Lucas and Erica to the unused conference room. The man whispered in the guard’s ear, who nodded and went back to his station while the three walked to the room.
Erica led Lucas in and checked behind them, making sure that no one else was watching her then looked up at Lucas and mouthed emphatically the word [size=80] “rude,” [/size] to which Lucas nodded. Once they entered the conference room, Lucas gently pulled her hand and lead her around the large table there to a couple of seats that faced the door.
Lucas offered a hand, which Erica took and climbed up into the chair, though she could only barely see over the table. Lucas assisted her, lifting the chair up as high as he could, but this was of only minor help to the situation. Lucas took a seat beside her while Jimmy sat across from them, smiling warmly with his hands neatly folded.
“I have a couple colleagues that will join us in a moment,” he said cheerfully, looking at Lucas. “So how is she?”
“You can ask her. She’s right here,” Lucas replied back immediately.
“Oh, yes… Well, with her smaller head, I wasn’t sure if she was still able to,”
[size=80] “My mind works just fine, and so do my ears,” [/size] Erica replied, more irritated now.
“I’m glad to hear it! So Erica, how are you?” He asked, though he turned again to Lucas.
[size=80] “I’m fine overall, though I’m sure you can imagine how a lot of things are a lot more difficult to do now,” [/size] Erica replied, still showing her irritation, but holding it back as best as she could.
“Of course, of course! I’m sure this is extremely difficult for you. Do you need anything before the others get here? Something to drink?”
[size=80] “No, thanks. I had something on the way down here and I’m full.” [/size]
“I’m sure,” the man said, somewhat put off by her response. Lucas sat quietly, listening in. “So, how exactly did this happen?”
[size=80] “Well, we went out Friday night, and we were hanging out down near Pelican Lake, you know the area?” [/size] Erica said in a serious tone, with a somewhat mournful expression on her face.
“You mean near the refinery?” Around this time, a couple men in lab coats stepped quietly into the room and sat beside Jimmy.
[size=80] “Yes, exactly. Well, I decided I wanted to go for a swim, but David here didn’t want to, so I tried to convince him, but he refused, he said the water stunk. I jumped in to try to encourage him, but he still wouldn’t go. I stayed in for a while, trying to convince him, but the big chicken still refused, so eventually I got out and we left. I told him he was a spoilsport and to just take me home, but on the way I started feeling really sick, and it wasn’t long after that that it started to happen.” [/size]
“So you think it was a chemical from the refinery?”
[size=80] “That was our best guess. The doctor really had no idea whatsoever. She’d never seen anything like that before in her life.” [/size] The men in lab coats looked at each other skeptically and then over to Jimmy, who gave them a short nod.
“I see,” Jimmy replied thoughtfully. “Well, Erica, there’s no doubt that you are disabled compared to how you were a few days ago. There are some things we need to take care of to get you approved.”
[size=80] “Like what?” [/size]
“Well, this is Dr. Aaland and Dr. Roed. First they’d like to run a couple blood tests to make sure you’re still healthy, and confirm your condition?”
[size=80] “Is that necessary? They ran blood tests at the clinic. Can’t you just use their results?” [/size]
“Well, no,” one of the men in a lab coat corrected. “Their tests aren’t accurate enough for our purposes, and we’ll be looking for other… toxins, that might still be in your system.”
[size=80] “The doctor gave me a full physical, she didn’t see anything else wrong with me…”[/size]
“I’m sure she did the best she knew how, but we really need better testing for this,” the other man in a lab coat said, pushing his glasses up nose. Lucas sat still, but his eyes turned and he looked at the second man, then back to Jimmy.
[size=80] “We’re actually going back to the doctor today, I don’t want to go through so many tests so fast.” [/size]
“Well, we can take over where your other doctor left off. We’d be happy to work with you from now on,” the first man in the lab coat said, leaning over the table. As he did so, he leaned forward and the lanyard with his nametag fell forward, which Lucas glanced at carefully.
[size=80] “I would rather work with Dr. Hanson, for now. She’s been making an effort to make this as easy as possible,” [/size] Erica said back, looking at the two men with unease.
Jimmy interrupted, telling her calmly, “Erica, these tests are important as well for your disability claim so that we can confirm your condition.”
[size=80] “I’m three feet shorter than last week, what more confirmation do you need?” [/size]
“Well, first of all to make sure that whatever did this to you is real. It does seem a fantastic story, don’t you think?”
[size=80] “Well, yes, but…”[/size]
“Are you sure I can’t get you two something to drink?” Jimmy asked with a warm smile.
[size=80] “No, thank you,” [/size] Erica said politely.
“Yes, I’d love some water,” Lucas said in a cool tone. Jimmy perked up immediately and went directly to the door, asking someone nearby in a quiet voice for some water. He then sat back down and faced them with a relaxed grin. “Erica, your clinic isn’t equipped for something like this. We have much better facilities available to us that will help us diagnose your condition more accurately.”
[size=80] “I suppose. But honestly, I’ve never had a male doctor before, and I’m not sure I want one now.” [/size]
“There are some trade offs, yes, but imagine, maybe we could even figure out a way to restore you if you let us help you,” Jimmy reassured her. The door behind him opened, and another, rather large man walked in carrying a pitcher. Lucas smiled as the man poured him a glass of water, which Lucas took gladly, then looked off to his left casually, taking note of the bottles of Evian on the counter. He looked back at the four men, one of the men in a lab coat staring intently on Lucas’ cup of water.
[size=80] “I’m sorry, but no. Can you just work with Dr. Hanson?” [/size]
“You’re not thinking clearly, Erica, you really should reconsider.”
“Which of you was Dr. Roed?” Lucas asked in an unemotional voice. The two men in lab coats looked at each other in confusion, and one raised his hand. “You have an employee badge that matches the ones of the other employees here. You work in this building?” Lucas replied back, unemotionally, reaching forward for the cup. The other man in a lab coat watched closely, leaning forward slightly. The other man faltered, trying to think of an answer.
“What kind of physician are you?” Lucas pressed on, not waiting for an answer and picking up the cup. The man watching his cup swallowed hard.
“I-I’m, a-a physician..” the man he was speaking to stuttered.
“What kind?” Erica looked up at Lucas, concerned, and caught off guard by his off topic intrusion. “Physicians have specialties, like a family medicine, or..”
“I’m a general MD, family medicine,” the man replied quickly.
“Wouldn’t Erica be better served by a specialist if you want to build a case for her dropping her current physician? Maybe an endocrinologist, or a hematologist to study her blood work?”
“Well… we have people like that here..” the man continued as Lucas lifted the water toward his lips. As he did so, he looked over to Jimmy who had let a smirk slip across his lips, then he waited, and set the water down, eliciting an uncomfortable look from the man who was staring at the cup.
“Something funny?” Lucas asked Jimmy.
“No, not at all, I’m just touched by your concern for little Erica, David.” Erica scowled at Jimmy at being referred to as ‘little Erica.’ “I’m sorry, but Erica is single, how do you know her?”
“That’s personal, and I’d rather not go into it at this time,” Lucas told him unemotionally. Erica’s head moved from person to person, worry creeping further into her expression.
“Well, suffice to say that you don’t have legal standing to make decisions for her, so…”
“I’m not making decisions for her, she made her decision. She said no.”
“She’s not in a condition to make such decisions for herself, clearly.”
“Why?”
“Well, look at her. She’s clearly incapable of looking after herself.”
“What bearing does that have on her ability to make decisions? On what basis do you make the claim that she can’t care for herself?” Lucas asked defensively.
“Well, look at her, she’s clearly making a poor decision. We just need to run a couple short tests before we can sign off on her disability claim, that’s all. Any rational person would…”
“Which is it? You need the tests for her disability claim or to help her?”
“The two aren’t mutually exclusive…” Jimmy countered.
“This really seems like a human resources issue. Is anyone from you HR department going to be joining us?” Jimmy simply smiled at Lucas without answering. “What did you put in my water?” Lucas asked bluntly. One of the men in lab coats began to sweat profusely.
“Nothing, Dave, it’s just water.”
“David, not Dave. You had bottled water already available here in the room, why did you need to get a pitcher of water from somewhere else?”
“Oh, that. I just didn’t see it in here is all, David,” Jimmy continued with a smile.
“You keep licensed physicians on staff here at a corporate building? How many licensed physicians are on staff here at this location?” Lucas continued on in a cold tone of voice.
Jimmy sighed and looked again at Lucas. “David, we need to run these tests on Erica. You have no legal standing to make this decision for her.”
“I’m not making a decision for her. She made the decision herself.”
“Her decision doesn’t make sense, David.”
“In what way? Describe the fallacy in her logic.”
“We have doctors…”
“She has a doctor, of the same type you claim to have. In what way are your doctors more qualified? What specific training do that have that would make them more capable than her current doctor?”
“There is specialized equipment here that we could use to…”
“What equipment? What factors in her blood work do you hope to isolate that another physician wouldn’t consider?”
“David, you’re really being difficult here, I’m trying to help you. If you would just give her to us…”
“She isn’t mine to give. She is an adult, and she has rights. She can decide who she sees or doesn’t see for her medical issues, and she can decide what tests she does or doesn’t submit to.” Lucas turned to Erica and asked her softly. “Kitten, do you want to do their tests?”
[size=80] “No!” [/size] Erica replied emphatically.
“Do you want to see their doctors?”
[size=80] “Hell no!” [/size]
“There you have it,” Lucas told Jimmy point blank.
“David, we have an ethical obligation to help her out now that she isn’t capable of looking after herself.”
[size=80] “STOP TALKING TO HIM ABOUT ME LIKE I’M NOT EVEN HERE!!” [/size] Erica roared. Jimmy looked at her briefly, fighting back a smirk, then addressed Lucas.
“You don’t have authority to take her, David. Our ethical obligation…”
“You want to debate ethics with me? With as many holes as you have in your story, you really want to debate ethics with me? Not only that, but fuck ethics, your company doesn’t get to make decisions based on your ‘ethical obligations.’ What legal basis do you have to perform tests on her against her will? What judicial precedent can you point to that grants you the legal authority to decide for her?” Jimmy sat and stared at Lucas silently, staring into his eyes. The large man who had delivered the water stepped forward, but Jimmy held up his had, causing him to stop.
Erica looked back and forth between the five men, all giants towering far above her across the table, her eyes darting back and forth, and she sat, completely locked up mentally. She then looked up at Lucas, and what she saw sent a chill down her spine and caused goose bumps to instantly raise all around her body. Lucas sat perfectly still, upright and rigid, like an immovable object. His jaw took on a squareness she had never noticed before, and he stared directly at Jimmy with eyes that looked like pure granite, unwavering and locked on their target.
“David,” Jimmy finally began to answer, “You’re not leaving here with her. You can just make this easier on us all if you,”
“I [b]am[/b] leaving here with her.”
The large man then lunged forward over the table with surprising speed, grabbing Erica by the arm and lifting her out of her chair. Erica screamed in a panic as she was yanked away from Lucas. Lucas didn’t flinch, however, and slammed his forearm down on the large man’s arm in a way that surprised him and caused him to yelp loudly in pain, but before he had time to react, Lucas swung down with his whole body, his right arm tightly curled up to his shoulder, striking the man on top of his head with his elbow, then grabbed the man’s head in his hands and slammed him face down into the table, causing the man to crumple down to the ground on the other side of the table with just a smear of blood in his wake. The whole action happened so fast, it almost seemed instantaneous, as though Lucas was responding to it before it actually happened.
Jimmy and one of the men in a lab coat sat stunned, and Lucas, without turning, announced loudly, “that’s far enough,” to the other man who was sneaking around the end of the table with a needle in hand. “Get behind me, Kitten,” Lucas ordered Erica quietly, “and stay close.” Erica nodded emphatically and jumped off her chair, darting behind Lucas as he stood, clinging frantically to his leg. Jimmy sighed and stood himself, leaning back and knocking on the door. The door to the room swung open and four security guards walked in, surrounding Jimmy, each of them stunned momentarily to see the large man lying on the ground. One of the guards helped the man up and the other man in the lab coat ran behind the group.
“I’ve tried to be reasonable, David, but you’re not giving me any room to work here.”
“You’re not taking her,” Lucas said in a cold, deep voice.
“Get the little girl,” Jimmy ordered the men. “Do whatever you have to to him.” Each of the guards looked at him, then at each other with uncertainty, but Jimmy doubled down angrily. “Do it, or you won’t even be able to stand in the unemployment line!”
The men all took in the situation, and then two pulled out expandable batons, the other two L shaped night sticks, and two men also took out tasers. One guard handed the large man a nightstick as he sneered at Lucas, enraged. “I’m gonna enjoy breaking you apart in front of your little girlfriend,” he said with a sinister grin. The men all began to span out around the table slowly as Erica watched in a pure panic until she looked up to see Lucas reaching his hand around his back in a single, fluid motion.
He lifted his shirt, and she watched in abject horror as a handgun was exposed right in front of her eyes, tucked neatly inside the waist of his jeans, which Lucas gripped firmly and pulled out of a black leather holster perfectly fit for it. Erica’s eyes went wide open, and her jaw dropped as far as it physically could. She stumbled back, paralyzed in terror, and barely able to stand anymore, but Lucas reached back with his other arm and grabbed her, holding her in place against his hip. On the other side of the room, the men all paused curious of what had shocked Erica so badly until Lucas bared the gun down directly at the large man, who had stepped ahead of the others, and placed his finger on the trigger. The entire scene took only a couple seconds, but seemed to play out in slow motion. The entire room froze, all faces except Lucas’ slack jawed and dumbstruck. Once Erica seemed stable, Lucas released her and placed his other hand around the handle of the gun, locking it into his grip firmly.
“We’re leaving,” Lucas announced calmly.
“You think you can just pull a gun on us and walk out of here?” Jimmy defiantly snapped back.
“I’m not asking,” Lucas replied back coldly.
“You can’t shoot us all,” Jimmy again snapped at Lucas.
“Wanna bet?” Lucas said with confidence.
“Pfelcher Pharmaceuticals bans weapons on this premises! You are breaking the lawy by being here with that!!” Jimmy howled.
“Then you can ask us to leave, and if we refuse, then we can be charged with petty misdemeanor trespassing. We’ll leave though,” Lucas said matter-of-factly. Jimmy growled and sneered at Lucas.
“If you all rush him, he won’t be able to shoot you all!” Jimmy argued to the guards, who all looked at each other in disbelief. “Get him!” He ordered desperately. Each of the men stood still, not wanting to agitate Lucas any further and Lucas waited for a moment, then took a small step backwards.
“Everyone on your knees,” Lucas ordered.
“You can’t get away with this! We’ll call the cops!!”
“Are you serious?” Lucas asked incredulously. “The only thing stopping me from calling them myself right now is I have my hands full with you assholes!”
“You can’t point a gun at people!”
“Yes I can, if I am in fear for my life, or serious bodily harm, or the same for someone else. You should have quit while you were behind,” Lucas snapped angrily at Jimmy. “Now get on your knees,” Lucas ordered again. Everyone except Jimmy did as they were told, while Jimmy stared back enraged at Lucas.
“I will call the cops on you,” he threatened. “They’re not going to believe you over us.”
“Maybe, except this has all been recorded on video.” Jimmy stood rigid at the claim, paralyzed with fear.
“You couldn’t have…”
“Yep, I sure could have. In HD no less, all from my shirt pocket.” Jimmy’s face went white in fear. Erica looked up in shock, assessing the validity of Lucas’ claim. Jimmy finally relented and dropped to his knees as ordered. “Now drop your weapons,” Lucas ordered. The guards all did as told.
Now stay on your knees, and everyone against this wall,” Lucas told them, pointing at the wall at the back of the room. The men all waddled to the back wall, facing it as instructed.
“Kitten, we’re leaving,” Lucas said to Erica without looking at her as he grabbed the edge of the table while pointing the gun with his other hand. Erica nodded numbly and followed close to Lucas as he dragged the table up behind the men, pinning them to the wall.
“I’m done playing games. If you chase me, I will shoot you. Sit your asses put until we are completely gone, understood?” All of the men except Jimmy nodded in understanding. Lucas gently gripped Erica’s shoulder and drew her towards the door, still with his gun trained on the men against the wall. “Kitten,” he explained softly, “We need to move quickly, which means you may be running the whole way unless I carry you.” Erica nodded numbly again in understanding, staring at the gun.
Lucas backed up against the door, turned the knob then spun around and kicked the door open violently, taking a quick moment to peek outside the door, then duck back in again. “Clear. Let’s go,” Lucas announced
Lucas dropped his hand, pulling his finger away from the trigger and pressing it up along side the frame of the gun, and slid it into his jeans pocket, concealing nearly all of the gun as he held it. He then took Erica’s hand and walked briskly to the main door, with Erica at a near sprint trying to keep up with him as he strode along with his long legs.
Erica looked around. A few employees walked through the guard station cluelessly and a couple people sat at the coffee shop reading, but other than that, the lobby area was quiet. The guard station was completely unmanned, meaning that Jimmy had apparently pulled all of the security guards to deal with her and Lucas. As Lucas approached the front door, he let go of Erica and shoved it open forcefully, and kept moving through without even slowing down, already focused intently on Erica’s car in the nearby parking lot. Lucas grabbed Erica’s hand and made a beeline for her car.
Back in the conference room, Jimmy, stewing in his own rage turned around to see that Lucas and Erica had left their view. “Get this goddamn thing off of me!” He ordered. The guards all looked at the large man for approval, then pushed against the wall, pushing the table back. Jimmy walked to the door of the room and looked out, surveying the scene for himself. Erica and Lucas were nowhere to be seen. He waited for a moment to make sure it was safe, then walked back to the large man, getting uncomfortably close to him, and staring up angrily. “Get me footage of every camera that saw them. I want the most detailed pictures of his face you can get me, and I want his license plate number!” Jimmy stomped off to the back of the room, cursing himself. “Goddamnit! It’s bad enough I’m stuck in flyover country, but now I’m outwitted by that halfwit, inbred, redneck piece of shit?!?! Everyone she works with, anyone she’s friends with here, I want their asses in my office in the next ten minutes!! DO IT!!!!”
The large man nodded quietly, his jaw clenched, then walked to the door and peered out, surveying the scene closely to make sure it was safe before venturing out.
Lucas and Erica arrived at her car, Lucas unlocked it using the remote from a distance and yanked the door open as soon as he was within reach. He then bent over, grabbing Erica, causing her to chirp in surprise and picked her up, leaning into the car and setting her inside as quickly as he could. “Sorry Kitten, no time,” he told her in a rush. Erica climbed to the passenger seat and stared at him fearfully as he climbed in, reholstering his gun behind his back and starting the car with his other hand at the same time. He slammed the door shut, then threw it into gear, pulling directly out of the parking space and sped out of the lot at over thirty miles an hour.
“Buckle up,” he told Erica as he looked around him constantly, looking for something unknown.
[size=80] “You have a gun?!?!” [/size] Erica wailed in disbelief.
“Yes. Kitten, buckle up,” Lucas told her as he did so himself.
[size=80] “Where are you taking me???” [/size]
“Back to your apartment. Kitten, buckle up.”
[size=80] “WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN?!?!?!” [/size]
“Kitten, breath, I need you to focus, we’re not done yet.”
Erica stood on the seat and looked out the window, then stared at Lucas. [size=80] “You’re going the wrong way! You aren’t taking me home!” [/size]
“Yes I am, we’re just taking an alternate route.”
[size=80] “Where are you taking me?” [/size]
“Only back to your apartment. Kitten, sit down, or you’ll draw more attention to us.”
[size=80] “LUCAS WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN?!?!?!?” [/size]
Lucas took her hand and looked at her sincerely. “Kitten, please sit down. We aren’t out of the woods yet. I don’t want to get pulled over.” Erica plopped down on the seat and stared up at him angrily. “Kitten, how many people there know how close you and Alicia are?”
[size=80] “YOU HAVE A GUN!!!” [/size]
“Erica!” Lucas bellowed, causing her to wince. “We aren’t done yet, I need you to focus. Who there knows how close you and Alicia are?”
Erica’s eyes went wide in realization and her jaw dropped. [size=80] “Everyone,” [/size] she muttered.
“Get your phone and message her right away. Get her out of there. Get her out of there right this instant and say whatever you have to to do it, but don’t use my name.” Erica nodded and dropped to the floor, fishing her phone out of her purse. From the floor, she frantically texted her friend.
[i]EMERGENCY! MEET US AT PET MANS HOUSE!!
GO NOW! DON’T ASK JUST GO!! [/i]
Erica looked up at Lucas, still shocked, but more observant now, noticing how methodical all of his actions seemed to be while he drove. A short moment passed and she received a text from Alicia saying simply, “[i]OMW. [/i]”
Erica climbed up to her seat and sat, curling her legs up to her chest and hugging them. Before she had a chance to speak, Lucas answered for her as she shook violently boiling in the emotional fallout of their encounter.
“I have my gun because the whole situation didn’t feel right from the get go. It all seemed too good to be true and they seamed way too eager.”
Erica looked up at him, then her brow furrowed as she began rubbing her shoulder. [size=80] “But a gun?!?!?” [/size]
“That gun is the only reason we made it out of there, Kitten,” Lucas replied in a serious tone.
[size=80] “You pulled a gun on them, Lucas!!!” [/size]
Lucas took her hand, though Erica fought it off. [size=80] “Don’t touch me!!” [/size] she screamed.
“Is that what you want?” Lucas asked patiently. Erica stared at him, uncertain of what to say, tears welling up in her eyes. She shook her head ‘no’ after a good deal of thought. “Kitten, they were going to take you, and they were going to perform tests and experiments on you, and they were going to do whatever it took to do it. They tried drugging my water, and they were going to beat me within an inch of my life to take you from me, because that is what it would have taken. There is no way I was ever going to just let them take you.”
[size=80] “Why couldn’t you have just fought them off like that one guy?” [/size]
“I can’t take on five guys with clubs and tasers. Especially if I’m trying to fend them off of you. I was out of options.”
[size=80] “That’s illegal, Lucas, you can’t carry a gun around,” [/size] Erica argued, rubbing her shoulder again.
“No it isn’t. Kitten are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”
[size=80] “Yes it is!! Don’t change the subject!!” [/size] Lucas reached in his left pocket and fished out his wallet. With one hand, he opened it and pulled out a laminated card and handed it to Erica. She took the card and looked at it carefully. It had the state logo on it, Lucas’ name and stated clearly in bold font “[i]PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL[/i].”
[size=80] “Why do you need this?” [/size] Erica howled, holding the card up to him.
“Seriously?” Lucas replied back, the frustration evident in his voice. “After what just happened you are seriously asking me that?”
[size=80] “Well, how many times has that happened to you?” [/size]
“How many times does it need to happen?” Lucas barked back.
[size=80] “Lucas, why would you even THINK of bringing a gun in there with you?” [/size]
“I told you, something didn’t feel right.”
[size=80] “We could have talked them down, something, anything! How am I supposed to get my disability now?!?!?” [/size]
Lucas turned and looked down at her, clenching his jaw, then looked back up at the road and around the perimeter of the car. He took a deep breath and then reached up, grabbing the rim of his ball cap, yanked it off and tossed it into the back seat, and then ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up intentionally, before sighing in relief.
[size=80] “Oh now, you get rid of that goddamn thing?” [/size]
“Yes,” Lucas replied coldly.
[size=80] “And what’s so special about now?” [/size] Erica demanded.
“I don’t need it anymore.”
[size=80] “What did you need it for, then?” [/size] Erica asked, confused.
“To obscure my face from the security cameras.”
[size=80] “What??” [/size]
“You heard me. You didn’t notice how I kept my head down slightly almost the entire time in there?”
[size=80] “I… no… So you knew all along this would happen?” [/size]
“No, I didn’t. I was just.. keeping on my toes. In case something went down.”
[size=80] “What about the recording?” [/size]
“What about it?”
[size=80] “You didn’t record that meting, you couldn’t have.” [/size]
“Yes I did. The camera is in my shirt pocket.”
[size=80] “Where did you get a camera like that?” [/size]
“I put it together with an old iPod about a year ago. Normally, evidence is a lot more useful than my gun.”
[size=80] “You knew this would happen! Why would you take me in there if you knew!!” [/size]
“I didn’t know, Kitten. It just smelled fishy. I REALLY didn’t expect them to try something so brazen, but you prepare for the worst.”
[size=80] “The way you took that guy down, it was so fast. Where did you learn to do that? Are you a spy or something?” [/size]
Lucas smiled briefly, fighting back a laugh. “No, I just work in IT. I’m only a tech guy.”
[size=80] “I don’t know anyone in IT that can do that.” [/size]
“My dad was a cop, he trained us in a lot of that stuff. He wanted us to know how to defend ourselves.” Lucas looked over his shoulder again, and then made a turn with the car.
[size=80] “What do you keep looking for?” [/size] Erica asked, irritated by the distraction.
“Anyone that might be following us. I’d rather than lose them then have another confrontation.”
[size=80] “There is no way they could do that…”[/size]
“They underestimated us, and that gave us the advantage we needed back there. I’m not going to underestimate them,” Lucas told her seriously.
[size=80] “Where are we going? Really?” [/size]
“Your apartment.”
[size=80] “Why?” [/size]
“To get the Cutlass.”
[size=80] “Can’t that wait?” [/size]
“Kitten, I didn’t say this before because I didn’t want to sound paranoid. We got your car so that when they pulled the license plates, they would only find you. Right now, they are probably combing through security footage for my face and for my plates so they can identify me and track me down. You are their target, and they are going to hunt you now.”
Erica gasped in surprise. [size=80] “No, that’s illegal…”[/size] Erica muttered in disbelief.
“So is kidnapping. So is drugging people’s drinks. So is attacking an innocent man with clubs and tasers. We’re beyond the law here.”
[size=80] “Well, call the police!” [/size]
“We can do that, but there will be a price if we do.”
[size=80] “What do you mean?” [/size]
“Cops aren’t there to be your buddy. When they come in, they will take control of the situation, and they will do it how they want to. It takes everything out of our hands. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes not. Also, if we do it right now, then we have to disclose your shrinking to them, and if government entities start getting involved in this… we could be looking at more trouble than even Pfelcher can dish out. It’s your life, it’s your body, it’s your decision, but Kitten, there are real risks if we go down that path.”
[size=80] “They wouldn’t…”[/size] Erica told him in disbelief.
Lucas grabbed her hand and squeezed in, and spoke softly to her. “Kitten… You need to let go of any ideas you have right now of what people would or wouldn’t do and start focusing on what they could do. I wouldn’t have thought people would have sent in five guys to beat the shit out of me to take you, but they did. I really wouldn’t have thought that.”
[size=80] “If you didn’t think that, then why did you bring a gun?” [/size]
“A nagging thought that I just couldn’t get out of my head. I just couldn’t stop worrying about you, or what could happen to you. I just couldn’t stop thinking about what if something happened that I couldn’t deal with, and I lost you.” Erica sat quietly, staring at Lucas, her mouth slightly open. The car whirred down the road with both occupants sitting in silence.
“Kitten,” Lucas eventually continued. Erica sat up, alertly. “We’re almost there. You have a decision to make. Are you coming back to my house with me, or are you staying at your apartment?”
[size=80] “Do I have a choice?” [/size]
“Yes. With me, always. I’ll give you options, but I won’t decide for you. There are consequences though to decisions, keep that in mind.”
[size=80] “Is that a threat?” [/size]
“No, nothing like that. It’s a warning. If you stay at your apartment, odds are Pfelcher will eventually round someone up and they will show up there, and we already know they are ready to go beyond the law to get what they want.”
[size=80] “So then I don’t have a choice. Not really,” [/size] Erica said sullenly.
“I will give you a choice, if that’s what it takes.”
[size=80] “How?” [/size]
“I’ll figure something out. You just focus on what you want, where you want to be and who you want to be with, and I will do whatever I can to get it for you. I promise you that.”
Erica smiled at Lucas, relaxing for the first time since before their encounter at her workplace. [size=80] “Can I sit with you?” [/size] She asked in a bashful tone.
“God, I was so hoping you would ask that,” Lucas replied, an apparent lump in his throat. Erica smiled softly and unbuckled herself, then crawled over across the console to Lucas, curling up on his lap and clinging tightly to him as he made successive turns back to Erica’s apartment complex.
[size=80] “What if that thing goes off?” [/size] She asked Lucas, still trembling as he held her with one arm.
“It won’t,” Lucas stated matter-of-factly.
[size=80] “How do you know?” [/size]
“It’s properly holstered and I checked it when I took it out of the case. It won’t go off.”
[size=80] “But what if it does?” [/size]
“Then it’s pointed down and it would shoot me in the ass.” Erica giggled at his stoic response, then leaned in snuggling up against him more tightly. “Kitten, you didn’t answer me earlier, did he hurt you?”
[size=80] “I’m alright,” [/size] Erica replied back despondently.
“Did he hurt you?” Lucas asked again with more force.
[size=80] “My shoulder is just sore, that’s all.” [/size]
“How sore?”
[size=80] “I think he almost yanked my arm out of the socket,” [/size] Erica replied clutching Lucas tightly.
“That mother fucker,” Lucas grumbled, the rage clear in his tone of voice.
[size=80] “What are you gonna do? Go back there?” [/size]
“No, I’m going to keep you safe. But I promise you, if I run into him again, I’m not holding back next time.”
[size=80] “Hold back? Are you for real? You stomped him down as easily as he yanked me out of that chair! That’s holding back????” [/size]
“Yes,” Lucas replied coldly. Erica looked up at him in shock, trying to measure Lucas’ answer in her mind. “We’re here,” he announced as he pulled the car to a stop, rolled down the window and used Erica’s fob to open the underground parking garage. They rolled into the dimly lit garage and Lucas looked around cautiously. “It’s clear, you can get up if you want to.” Erica sat up and looked around at the largely empty space.
[size=80] “Number fourteen, in case you forgot,” [/size] Erica reminded him.
“Thanks Kitten,” Lucas replied softly as he pulled unto Erica’s assigned stall. Once there, Erica Stood and looked at Lucas, rubbing her shoulder again.
[size=80] “Are we going up to my apartment?” [/size]
“Only if you are staying here. Where did you tell Alicia to go?”
[size=80] “Your house.” [/size]
“Does that mean you want to go back there?”
[size=80] “I think that’s best,” [/size] Erica replied, an uncertain look about her. [size=80] “What about that thing? Are you going to carry it all the way home? Isn’t that dangerous?” [/size]
“Yes. It’s fine in the holster, and it has built in safeties.”
[size=80] “Lucas, you really shouldn’t have something like that, what if something went wrong? I mean, don’t you need special training to use something like that?” [/size]
“You mean like training you might receive in the army? Or from a father who was a cop for thirty years?” Erica stood back for a moment, uncertain how to respond. “Kitten, I’ve been shooting pistols since I was six years old. And then there was the army, my training with them and time in Iraq, and I did go through classes to get that permit.”
[size=80] “Well, still…”[/size]
“Kitten, I really would have rather introduced you to this in a better way, but the gun is part of the package here. It’s not going away.”
[size=80] “But, Lucas…”[/size] Erica whined, struggling for words. Lucas sighed and gently pushed her back.
“Stand back a bit. Let me show you how it works.” Erica nodded and swallowed hard, standing back. Lucas leaned forward and pulled out the gun again, keeping it pointed between his feet. “This is a Glock 30. I have it specifically to carry concealed. Pay attention how I always keep it pointed down..” Lucas explained and demonstrated. “Now, before we do anything with it, watch how we take the magazine out… and now,” Lucas pulled the slide back and tipped the gun sideways away from Erica, allowing a bullet to drop out, “we make sure nothing is in the chamber. Even though it’s unloaded, we still treat it like it is loaded.” Erica leaned in a bit, now curious. “Now, we can take it apart like this…” Lucas said, pulling a small lever that released the slide and allowed him to remove it. Erica jumped slightly, but watched carefully.
“Now, take a look at the frame here… see that little button sticking out the front of the trigger?” Erica nodded in understanding, fixated on what Lucas was showing her. “That’s a built in safety. The trigger can’t move unless that is pressed down first, so the trigger can’t just be bounced down, understand? It can’t go off by itself.” Erica nodded in understanding, now leaning more closely. “Not too close, kitten. It’s apart, and it’s safe, but I still need to treat it seriously at all times.”
[size=80] “If it’s safe, then why?” [/size]
“Because I’m the key component to it. If it’s used well, or if it goes wrong, I’m the key to it, so you always treat it as though it’s ready to go off because in the end whether it’s used to protect myself or the people I care about or it shoots me in the ass, it’s up to me.” Erica smiled and stared at the two pieces in Lucas’ hand. “Now, the holster is just as important. It’s made specifically for this pistol, and it completely covers the trigger and is form fit so the pistol is held in tight and snug.”
[size=80] “So it can’t come out?” [/size]
“It’s possible, but it’s really hard for it to happen by accident. I wouldn’t want to go upside down or in a wild rollercoaster with it, but other than that, it pretty much holds it in there by itself.”
[size=80] “Wouldn’t it be easier if you kept it in your pocket?” [/size]
“It doesn’t belong just sitting in my pocket. Too many things can go wrong like that. It belongs in my hand or in its holster, and that’s it. Is this helping you feel better around it at all?” Lucas asked, patiently. Erica looked up at him and nodded quietly. “Alright, we need to get going before they catch up to us. Lucas quickly put the handgun back together again, keeping it pointed downward, then reloaded it and slipped it back into the holster.
He then shut the car off and stepped out, looking around attentively while Erica followed. They made their way to the door, and up the stairs, with Lucas leading the way, peaking around corners ahead of Erica. He propped the door open with a doorstop and motioned for Erica to stay behind while he went up the concrete stairs leading to the rear parking lot of the building while Erica stayed put, hiding against the side of the wall nervously. Erica jumped slightly as she heard a loud thumping coming back to her, followed by Lucas reappearing at the door. He motioned for her to come out, which she did quickly and they ran up the stairs together and made their way quickly to Lucas’ car. Lucas fired it up immediately and sped out of the parking lot, making his way as quickly as he could to the freeway to head back up to his house.
Erica clung quietly to Lucas, hugging his hip, while Lucas rubbed her back. [size=80] “So are we safe yet?” [/size] Erica asked fearfully.
“I think so. They only have your license plates to go off of, and they shouldn’t have any decent pictures of my face. My guess is they’ll be crawling around your apartment complex, but they won’t know what to do after that.” Erica sighed and nodded her head while Lucas massaged her neck.
As they drove along, Lucas picked up his phone and dialed it with a tap of his finger. Erica perked up slightly to the sound of a phone ringing via speakerphone, then Dr. Hanson’s familiar voice echoed into the car. “Lucas? You’re a bit early…” She commented.
“We’re not there, we’re not going to make it,” Lucas said flatly.
“What? Why?” She asked back, shocked.
“Erica’s work tried to kidnap her, and they had a group of guys try to jump me. We barely made it out of there. We need to figure something out for her medical care.”
“Oh my God… is she okay?”
[size=80] “I’m fine,” [/size] Erica replied glumly.
“We can’t go back there doc. I don’t believe for a second they won’t come down there looking for more information.” Doctor Hanson gasped.
“I understand, I’ll clear out everything I can find on Erica here, and get rid of it. Lucas, you said you were jumped; were either of you hurt at Pfelcher?”
“Erica is nursing a sore shoulder. One guy yanked her out of her seat by her arm.”
“Lucas, if you text me your address, I can make a house call later this afternoon.”
“You’re call, Kitten. Do you trust her?”
Erica sat for a moment while Dr. Hanson and Lucas waited for a response. [size=80] “Alright,” [/size] Erica conceded. [size=80] “But Lucas, if she tries anything, anything at all, you do what you did that that asshat at Pfelcher.” [/size]
“I understand,” Dr. Hanson replied soberly. “I’ll call you as soon as I can make it out to you.” Lucas hung up the phone and looked down at Erica with concern. The car continued to soar down the highway with its two occupants sitting in silence for the rest of the trip.