The sound of sirens and then the screech of tires announced the arrival of the police. Three officers came through the front door of the theater, guns drawn. The man who'd been on the phone pointed to the restroom. The officers entered cautiously. Kevin heard one of them say, "Don't move. Put your hands behind your heads."
With Sue right beside him, Kevin entered the room. He saw Mick and Charlie doing as they'd been told. A third man lay at their feet. It was obvious he wasn't going to be moving any time soon. A few feet away, Will was sprawled on the floor, blood pooling under his head, an officer kneeling beside him.
"Is he…?" Kevin asked, looking fearfully down at his friend.
The officer looked up and shook his head. "He's got a pulse. Weak, but it's there."
The sound of racing feet came from the hallway and then two EMTs appeared. One of them paused just long enough to ascertain that Archer was alive, if unconscious, then joined his partner beside Will, telling Kevin and the officer to give them room to work.
Kevin backed away, turned, and saw one of the officers cuffing Mick. "He's not the one who did this," Kevin said. "It was him." He pointed down at Archer. "He was attacking me and Will tried to stop him and…" He began shaking as the full reality of what had happened finally hit home.
The officer nodded, releasing Mick, and then Charlie, who was already cuffed. Mick moved swiftly to wrap his arm around Kevin, asking, "Are you all right?"
"I'm going to be sore, but"—he looked back at Will—"but Will…"
By then, the EMTs had Will intubated, in a cervical collar, and boarded, preparatory to putting him on a stretcher to take him out to the ambulance.
"Will he… will he live," Mick asked, as he watched them.
"I can't say," the EMT replied. "He's alive for the moment."
"Where are you taking him?"
"City General," was the terse reply, as they wheeled Will out of the room.
A second team of EMTs appeared. One of them immediately began checking Archer while the second one examined Kevin. He told Kevin he seemed to be all right but that he should see his doctor just in case.
Archer was another story. Apparently Charlie and Mick hadn't hesitated to take out their anger on him as they tried to keep him from escaping before the police got there. He was still unconscious, but, as one EMT said, "In no worse condition than he would have been in a street brawl." He was transported to the waiting ambulance, one of the officers going with him.
"Is he under arrest?" Kevin asked.
"He will be, once he wakes up," the remaining office said. Then he had each of them make their statements about what had happened. By the time the three young men were finished, the officer was shaking his head. "A real piece of work," he muttered. He looked at Kevin. "Given what he did to you last time, if it was him—which I don't doubt—I'd say you're damned lucky your friend intervened."
Kevin grimaced. "Define 'luck'. I might be okay, but Will isn't, damn it."
The officer nodded. "All right, you're all free to go. I'd suggest you go home and clean up a bit first before going to the hospital. They're not going to know anything about his condition for quite a while, I suspect. And since you're not family, they probably won't let you see him anyway until he's moved out of the ICU."
"If he survives," Mick said angrily. "And if he doesn't…"
"You will let the law take care of Archer Mitchel. Understood?" the officer told him sternly.
"Yes, sir," Mick muttered. "Let's get out of here," he said to the others. "Charlie…"
"Yeah, I'll drive you home," Charlie replied. "And then to the hospital."
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