My patient rounds at Saint Agatha’s Home had taken me longer than anticipated as usual. The bleak rainy day had turned into a dismal mid winter twilight. I pulled my coat tighter around myself and walked to my car as quickly as the wind and the ice would allow. I fumbled with the keys while my frozen fingers tried to unlock the door. I had lost my gloves again. My fingers were stiff and I vowed my next car would definitely have remote keyless entry. I turned the key and pulled on the door. It was locked. Obviously I forgot to lock it when I got out. I called myself something obscene as I finally managed to open the door. I tossed my bag on the floor of the passenger seat and concentrated on easing the car into traffic. A layer of ice covered the street. Fortunately the traffic was sparse.
I thought I heard a rustle in the back seat and automatically glanced over my right shoulder. I expected to see my dog Troubles in his carrier on the back seat. I realized he could not possibly be there I would never leave him locked in the car while I worked. I drove another block and then I heard the rustle again. This time the sound was accompanied by a deep raspy voice that said:
"Don’t be stupid." I felt something cold and hard against the back of my head. Instinctively I knew it was a gun. The unlocked car, a dark isolated parking area. Now I realized it was a recipe for disaster.
The harsh raspy voice climbed over the seat. He was a small man the gun however was very large.
"Drive" he commanded.
The early news was on as I made my way from patient to patient. I caught bits and pieces. There had been a bank robbery. An off duty police officer walked in on it. She was dead and so was the security guard. Another cop was critically injured when the getaway car hit him. One bandit was wounded and later found dead in the get away car, which had plowed into a bridge support six blocks from the bank. Accomplices are at large the reporter said. It fell into place. Slowly the realization entered my brain. At large meant in the seat next to me. He had nothing to loose. I drove in silence but my mind was racing. I clutched the steering wheel as hard as I could. It made me feel secure.
The man kicked my bag and then picked it up to study it.
"You some kind of Doctor" he asked.
"Yes" was my simple reply.
"Take me home with you" he commanded.
The gun was pressed firmly against my ribs as I drove on. I hoped I would hit at least some red lights. I thought it might give me the chance to jump out. The gun told me it would be futile. I couldn’t think of any way of attracting attention to the car without getting killed. I simply drove on. I forced myself to concentrate on the road. It was the only way I could push back the fear. I had to think clearly.
"Do not panic!" my brain screamed at me over and over again. I was aware of the pounding of my heart, my mouth was dry and I could feel myself sweating under the all the layers of clothes I had on. I was trembling.
