Starring:
Date: December 12, 2009
Summary:
Hallis deals with the police in the aftermath of Bryce's attack.
"These Are The Days of Our Lives - Part II"
Sydney's Apartment
Lena leaves. Gene is still there. He is going to have a talk with that one, and it isn't going to be pleasant he imagines. But now, there is the matter of justice to handle. "Hallis, I am going to need you to make the call for the police. When they come, tell them that you and Sydney handled the man. With Sydney going along with it, it should be fine. I know you have a billion questions to ask me right now involving me being Prometheus, but I can't answer those now. Later on when I have more time and not feeling like I want to rip someone apart, we can chat." He looks to the door out as a reminder of his 'things to handle'. Despite his words, his tone has gone back to this mostly calm tone… Though there are the veins of frustration that are discernible to the keen ear. "Any questions about the police or anything that needs to get handled right this minute?"
Taking a deep breath, Hallis nods once, "What if Sydney doesn't cooperate? I mean.." She glances toward the hallways leading to the bedroom and purses her lips. "She wasn't too keen on me calling 911, but she really needs a doctor. He lifted her up by the throat, he could have really hurt her." Getting up from her chair, she steps around the glass and the man, trudging toward the bedroom. "I have questions, but I understand that you probably don't want to deal with it. You have your friends to take care of."
"She needs the doctor and the police need to be involved with this. This guy need to go to jail, not end up in a body bag… I'll be in touch and I'll talk to her personally if she has any problems. If you need me for emergency stuff, Sydney has my contact info," Gene as he sticks his hands in his pockets, bracing himself for the chilly outdoors. "See you later, Hallis."
With a deep sigh, Hallis just lowers her head and sinks her shoulders, preparing herself for the argument to come. Before Gene leaves, she turns and runs down the hallways toward him. "Lu— Gene wait! I need another taser, to give to the police. Do you have one that's like the other one?" She's talking about the one Prometheus gave her in the alley. "It'll be better if I said that I tased him, not Sydney. She's got enough to deal with."
"ANOTHER tazer? What happened to the one I gave you?" Gene states as he rubs behind his head, scratching hard as if it will somehow make things better. He tries to thing. "I don't carry normal ones around with me too often. I just had that one for the reason I used it for. A cover story for my usual." If one of HIS tazers that go with the police and get investigated, it could cause trouble all around. "I may have one or two more in my car. I know I was going to modify some for a gift for a friend…" Gene's fist clenches and closes, clearly still trying to work out his own anger.
"I told you when you called, the police have it as evidence." Hallis says calmly, she's not going to get defensive about something as silly as a taser when there's more important things on the line. "Actually, just tell me what kind it is and I'll go and get one before they get here. Don't worry about it." The blonde turns on her heel and plods toward Sydney's room again. For some odd reason, she's feeling so tense about the situation, it should be simple, it should be cut and dry. "You know, I'm sorry for whatever I did to your friend, but I highly doubt I ruined her life."
And then Sydney's bedroom door opens and the therapist comes out on her cellphone. Her call is apparently not going well; she frowns deeply as she listens to the person on the other end. She already has a colorful (yellow and pink) long wool scarf wrapped loosely around her neck to hide her injury.
"…well no, it's not okay…" she croaks before she snaps the phone shut. She shakes her head and glances at Hallis and then Gene before stepping over Bryce's body to get to the fridge where she opens the freezer and takes out an ice cube tray. With some measure of irritation she slams the tray against the kitchen counter, breaking the cubes apart and then reaches for a tea towel which she wraps the ice in before putting it against her scarf. With all of those layers of fabric it probably won't do much good.
Silly Hallis, when moralities clash, few things seem cut and dry! "My friend has a taste for the dramatic when it involves her own life and the life of her significant other. Which I will be addressing soon enough," Gene states firmly before his eyes lift toward Sydney. "Was that Lena or someone else?" he asks, his attempts to handle the situation temporary overwhelming the standard and likely proper 'Are you okay?'.
The comment about Lena and her significant other is ignored in favor of the therapist in the kitchen. Hallis wants to say something, she really does. But there's really nothing she can add to the conversation without causing grief, which wasn't why she had come over in the first place. The poor cookies, the poor plate. "Sydney, will you be okay for a few minutes while I run down to the corner store and get a pay as you go phone?"
Sydney shakes her head at Gene's question. "It was my Nana," she croaks in a hoarse whisper. She glances between the two, then Brayden, and quirks an eyebrow, "Where is Lena?" She frowns. Oh no. This can't be good. She frowns further, but nods at Hallis. What on earth is going on?! "I'm okay… honest…"
"Let me handle Lena… You two just worry about making sure the attempted whatever is arrested for assault and breaking and entering… Time to try and make sure no one does anything foolish," Gene states, before he moves again to the door. He steps out but a few seconds pass before he peeks his head back through. "We'll get through this, it's going to be okay. I'm a semi-professional. Go Team Awesome." And with that, he pulls his head back out to try and stalk his most dangerous sort of prey: The rage-filled woman.
Gene's departure isn't acknowledged much by Hallis, save for the lifting of one weary hand. Once he has gone for the second time, she sighs heavily and turns for the door herself. "I"m coming back, don't lock me out." she says in a low voice, she's obviously not very happy with any of this.
It only takes Hallis a little less than an hour to run to her apartment and return with not only her cellphone but a phone that doesn't belong to her and a bag containing a taser. She knocks once and then cautiously opens the door. "Sydney, I'm back. You know what? Those hole in the wall electronic shops carry everything. I even got a deal on this thing!" She pulls the taser out of the bag and pushes a button, the blue lightning arcs between the prongs of the dangerous looking little device.
"Arresting for assault — no cops!" she wheezes. Her throat feels funny. "Wh —" Sydney starts as both Gene and Hallis leave. But then, she's alone. And while alone she removes the scarf to reveal a hand-shaped type bruise on her neck which she puts the ice on top of. Clearing her throat, she sighs a bit, but once the door opens she stands alert and covers it up again.
She arches an eyebrow at Hallis and then glances down at Bryce again. "Y - ou plan on tasering him? Seriously?"
"Sydney, try to see reason. What is going to happen to him if you let him go? He's going to come back. Next time he could kill you. And really? You don't look so good. If I have to, I'll totally call your boss and have her come here to convince you." Hallis seems to be the immovable object butting up against the opposing force right now. Both of the blondes are stubborn, so in this little test of wills, it's anyone's guess who will win. "So you have a choice. Let me call 911 and get you to the doctor, or I'll call Amy from my apartment and then call 911 and you'll have a tougher time explaining all of this to the police."
"I'm … fine…" Sydney says laboriously. She frowns considerably as she glances down at Bryce. "I … can't…" Ethically it would be wrong to have someone convicted for something they did while involuntarily under someone else's influence. She takes another deep breath before she shakes her head, "It can't… he can't…" Talking hurts. Breathing hurts. She's feeling light-headed… the room seems to be spinning…
Therapist down.
Hallis takes quick action, she won the argument by default and she's taking full advantage. First, she fires up the taser and gives Bryce a quick jolt in the kidney region. Man that's satisfying. Second she opens up her cellphone and quickly dials 911. "Hello? Operator? It's an emergency!! I need police and paramedics, now! My name is Hallis Van Cortlandt, we're in the high risee apartments in Greenwich Village." Pause. "My friend's ex just tried to choke her, she's unconscious." Pause. "No, I don't know CPR… hang on, I'm putting you on speakerphone."
crackle "Are you still there ma'am?"
"Yes, I'm still here, she's on the floor."
"Alright, just stay calm and stay on the phone. Is she still breathing?"
Hallis is now kneeling next to Sydney and trying to feel for a breath by placing her ear almost right up against the woman's nose and mouth. "N-no… I don't think she is!"
Ten minutes later there's a knock at the door before two gentlemen in black paramedic uniforms enter the apartment. "We'll take it from here, ma'am," one of them says to Hallis as they walk over to the therapist to take her vitals. The other then proceeds to check on Bryce, who by all accounts is okay, but also unconscious.
Fortunately, Sydney is breathing again (although still unconscious and in no position to disagree with being taken away) thanks to Hallis' CPR phone lesson. They do their work and load her onto a stretcher, still unconscious, but now hooked up to oxygen. "You did good work," says the second gentleman to Hallis. "We need to get her to the hospital…" They glance at the man and say, "Him too." With a frown, the paramedic radios their ambulance buddy to call a second ambulance for the assailant before turning back to Hallis, "You can come for the ride. The police will want a statement —"
As the two men work on Sydney, Hallis moves out of the way to where Bryce is and discreetly takes a photo on her cellphone. The police will need it later, she will need it if he decides to press charges against her. When they turn to address her, she looks up at them with wide eyes and simply nods. "I'll wait for the police here, then I'll go to the hospital. Someone needs to be here…" Hallis is a good actress, it helps that Sydney's tumble to the floor gave her enough of a fright that she looks visibly shaken. "What hospital are you taking her to? I need to … call her boss and stuff. She'll want to know."
"Of course. She'll be Lenox Hill Hospital. Contact whoever needs to know… probably a good idea to get in touch with her next of kin too," the paramedic calls as they wheel the blonde therapist into the hallway on the stretcher. Yup, this is very serious no matter what Sydney said or insisted. That said, the paramedics and the therapist disappear down the hallway off to the hospital.
And as the paramedics leave another knock on the door happens except this one doesn't immediately enter — they'd encountered the paramedics in the hall. The worst of the worst is over.
The paramedics didn't say much and the sirens are blaring as they move down the street. At least she's still alive, the sirens in this case are a good thing. Bryce is still on the floor, waiting for another ambulance to arrive. They weren't going to move both of the victims in one go, not taking any chances. They likely won't even transport him to the same hospital.
When the knock comes, Hallis isn't dumb enough to just call to anyone to come in, so she moves quietly to the door and opens it carefully. "H-hello?" Upon spying the two uniformed officers, she breathes a heavy sigh of relief and opens the door wide, "Thank god you're here… it's creepy being in the room alone with him." Normally, she wouldn't have been alone with Bryce. But there was some unexpected roadwork done in Greenwich Village the might before and emergency crews were experiencing delays.
"Hi, I'm Lieutenant Gordon Thirsk and this is Lieutenant Xena Howard. We received a call… what happened? We saw the young lady on the stretcher and…" And then there's Bryce on the floor.
With a frown the second Lieutenant immediately goes to the man's side to check for vitals, "He's fine", she quips with a smirk. She looks at the body suspiciously before redirecting her attention to Hallis.
The socialite is holding the taser that jolted the man. "I was… well I came over to deliver some cookies that I made for Sydney." She points to the shattered bits of glass and cookie on the floor underneath Bryce. "I got scared, I thought I saw a mouse or something, you know? And I dropped the plate on the floor. Sydney and I were cleaning it up when he came in. I don't know what happened… he just went for her throat." Her chin is trembling now, she's had more than a few minutes to rehearse the scene in her head. "I… I ran at him, I thought he was going to kill her. I dropped the dustpan and I whacked him with the broom in the back. Then I got him in the head. He — he let Sydney go and he was turning toward me."
sniffle…
"I was so scared that I tased him." Hallis finishes, her voice quivering just enough to make her seem frightened, but not hysterical. "I don't know what got into me…"
The male cop — Lt Thirsk nods empathetically at every word spoken. "Alright then, you don't need to feel badly. If it happened the way you said it did, then there's no trouble here at all." He offers her a bright-ish smile. "We need to take your statement though. And I think we need it in writing… if there's a discrepancy then we'll ask you to come in to talk through it…" He shrugs a bit.
Howard, however, is far more skeptical. She arches an eyebrow and shakes her head at Hallis unbelieving. "So, how did he get in the house exactly?"
Hallis smiles at Thirsk, not a flirty or inviting one, but a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks, I'll be happy to come down to the station and sign whatever you need me to." When Howard asks her question though, the young blonde turns to her and furrows her brow just a little in thought. "He just walked in. I didn't lock it behind me when I came in. I was just stopping by for a minute. I — I don't even remember him knocking, but I'm sure he did." There was a knock, but there needs to be a few little holes in the woman's story to make it completely believable.
"That's understandable," Thirsk nods a bit as he pulls out his reporting sheet and a paper. "You seem pretty shaken up. It's a scary experience," the officer nods a little at this. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Like I said, sounds like a case of self-defense and that you may have saved your friend's life. Hopefully she's clear on what happened and when" he uses the word when purposely, "she wakes up we'll be able to confirm the story."
Howard frowns a little and can't believe that her partner is being so lax in his questioning so she interjects, "If" she too uses the word purposely "your friend wakes up, then we'll be able to corroborate the story, if not… well we need as much detail as possible and that bumps up any charges we may lay," against him or Hallis. Depending on what their investigation shows.
Whirling to face Howard, Hallis' eyes fly wide open. "What do you mean if not?" This is enough to throw her into a panic. Her breathing begins to quicken and she blinks rapidly to stop any tears that may form. "She was fine for a couple of minutes… after he dropped her… she said she was going to be fine." The young woman couldn't have predicted this turn of events, "She couldn't talk much but she got some ice… and then she collapsed. What do you mean if not?"
Thirsk shoots his partner an evil glare. The evilest one he can muster. He clears his throat and tries to soothe Hallis, "Of course she'll be fine. We just need to wait for her to get up, don't we Lt. Howard?" He hisses the words towards his partner who nods just a bit.
Howard counters, "It's serious when someone can't breathe some time after being choked. People can die still after-the-fact, you know… the larynx swells up or could be ruptured… or…"
"Of course I know that…" Thirsk rolls his eyes and motions his head towards Hallis. He sees no reason to upset the socialite further. "She started breathing again. She should be okay…."
Now is the time for the serious confession, finding a place to sit down, Hallis slumps her shoulders and chews on her bottom lip. "We didn't call you guys right away… Sydney didn't want to." She looks at Howard, she's a woman, she would have to understand. "She thinks it's her fault that Bryce hit her. She was moving out of the building because he found her here once. I'm scared that she's not going to press charges against him…"
"He found her here before this?" Howard asks. "So they knew each other…" She frowns a bit. Another case of domestic abuse then? "Did they have a romantic relationship then?" This is a story that the cops have seen all too often. "She probably won't press charges then…" her frown deepens considerably. "Do you know anyone that could convince her otherwise? He needs to be arrested…"
Thirsk hmms a bit, "How long did you wait?"
"Not very long… maybe ten minutes?" Hallis responds to Thirsk's concern first, she's pretty worried at this point. Then she turns to Howard and begins to explain the story. "He's her ex-fiance. He broke her cheek once and she's been hiding from him." Hallis places the taser down on the table beside her. Not before carefully making sure it's not still turned on, she doesn't need to accidentally tase herself in front of the police. "Her boss, Amy… from the Hope Hearth Center, she might be able to change her mind. Can't you press any charges against him even if she says no? Or can I? I mean… He put her in the hospital, isn't that attempted murder or something? Do you need her to press charges in that case?"
"We can press charges, but if she doesn't testify —" Howard shrugs just a little. "And yes, it's attempted murder or manslaughter at the very least… but if she won't testify and say what he's done to her, it's unlikely a jury will convict him."
"Amy… Hope Hearth," Thirsk murmurs as he writes down the name and locale. "I think I know Amy — she's the executive director, I think, right?" He frowns a little and nods, "We really need your friend to actually say her piece or he'll probably walk. It's sad, but true."
Hallis looks between the two officers and nods in understanding. "I'll convince her. She can't just hide from him again, he's dangerous." Then she looks down at him, "Well not right now… but when he's awake he's really dangerous." Getting up slowly from her seated position, Hallis clears her throat and looks to Howard, "Do you still need me? I mean… Can I go to the hospital now?"
"You know what, we'll drive you," Thirsk states with a slight grin as another set of paramedics come in to remove Bryce from the floor. "We can process him there…" He offers the woman that same smile as he shakes his head a bit. It's going to be a looooong shift.