Disclaimer: No ownership of Gunsmith Cats. Done for a Facebook Group.
Luckiest Shot
Chicago, Illinois hasn't been the same since the gun-running scandal, a near assassination of Irene "Rally" Vincent and "Minnie" May Hopkins during a governmental rally and the indictment of Senator Edward Haints on the smuggling crimes. The Gunsmith Cats gun shop was running with Rally working on a few assault rifles but on periods, she clasped her head in pain and discomfort. May came to the counter with coffee and spotted a cringing raven-haired young woman. "Rally, you okay?" she asked in concern. Rally put pressure over her ear, probably where it has hurt her the most.
"It's nothing," she winced. That's some nothing. "I just need to turn down the lights." This was a problem for May. The florescent lamps weren't even on and the sun was out on a clear day in the Windy City.
"What lights?" It didn't quite dawn on Rally until she looked up, seeing the ceiling's overhead lights were off.
"I thought they were on. Must have been something in my eye." The fact that Rally couldn't tell what lights were on or off worried the former phone sex operator.
"You...sure your okay? You've reached for your head for the past few days since that rally about gun control from that bogus senator, not to mention Radinov nearly taking us out." Rally didn't need a reminder of the former KGB agent she riddled to death.
"Listen, it's just a headache. I've taken some ibuprofen for it, but I think I'll need more." May didn't believe her bounty hunter.
"How long have you had it?" Rally turned to the blond, bemused at her questioning. "I'm starting to think this is a more than a headache. I'd ask a doctor to look, I'm believing it's a migraine onset." Rally blinked to May's prognosis.
"A migraine? What do you know about migraines?" That yell from her gave painful signals, forcing her to clasp the head again. Minnie may be onto something. "Why do I have a bad feeling you've had them before?"
"Not me. Becky had them before the gun-running operation ordeal. Said she went to a neurologist and she got a prescription for it." If Becky had these migraines, it would stand to reason May's knowledge to it.
"If it is more than a headache, I'll have to find this neurologist guy and get something to treat it. In any case, ibuprofen isn't cutting it." The door opened from the front door where a certain rat entered.
"Hey, Rally!" shouted Bill. His shouting made the supposed migraine worse.
"OW!" That wince made Bill stop his mouth and feet.
"Whoops! Sorry." Seeing the positions of hand and head gave Bill an idea of what's wrong with Rally but May spoiled it for him.
"It's a migraine," she teased.
"It's NOT a mig-OW!" Rally snapped but that shout was painful. "Guys...seriously...let's keep it quiet, okay?" Now Bill had the same suspicions as May.
"I wouldn't push it, pussy cat," he warned. "I'd take a break if I were you. Maybe some tea can help." The thought of tea made Rally dart her head away with a tongue sticking out.
"Me? Tea? You can't be serious!" Apparently, Rally wasn't a tea girl. She'd prefer the robust taste of coffee. Bill had an idea on how to solve this dilemma Rally was suffering through.
"You know, I had a companion in the ATF who saw someone in Mad City about her headaches." Sure, that name sounds like a great idea to go for someone having potential migraines. May gulped that the name meant bad news.
"Mad City?" she repeated the name. Rally knew what Bill referred to.
"It's Madison, Wisconsin," she clarified. "The capital." Suddenly, her mind clicked and realized where she may be going to. "Wait, you don't mean the UW Hospital?" To Bill, she caught on.
"Trust me, the doctors there are pros of diagnosing head-related ailments," he promised. "Since I'm on leave from the ATF for a while, I can take you there to get tested." Bill may be a creep at times but he did have knowledge surrounding the Midwest. Sighing in defeat, Rally agreed to the idea.
"Fine. Lemme close up the shop and get out of this apron." Once locking the store was done, the girls jumped in Bill's sedan and the trip north proceeded. Passing the toll booth, May saw the green pastures including cows grazing about.
"Isn't Wisconsin considered the Dairy State?" she asked about the cattle.
"Wisconsin's primarily the Badger State in reference to their state animal and their college football team," Bill explained. Fascinated with Bill's knowledge, May had a wonder about why he's aware of Wisconsin but living around Chicago.
"Is there something about Wisconsin that you don't like? I mean that you're hanging around northeast Illinois, I'm just wondering." Bill laughed at May's curiosity.
"I was assigned to the gun-running case from Washington to be in Chicago. Does that help?"
"I guess so." Soon enough, the trip found a tall building with "UW HOSPITAL" sign hung high up. This was the stop. They entered the front door. After some paperwork filled out, Bill and May were forced to wait in the lobby. An hour later, a doctor came forward.
"You Rally's party?" he asked.
"Yeah, is it migraines?" Bill questioned.
"Well, it's good news. We found the trigger of her migraines, which is remarkable considering diagnosing them is difficult on its own terms. A splinter from a plaque entered through her skull and pierced her brain but the hemorrhaging is definitely minor." Bill knew the doctors were good but wasn't expecting the results to come that fast. "However, we also discovered that splinter skewered a tumor in the same place. Perhaps one of you can tell me how a splinter entered her head." It wasn't that long ago. They knew what happened earlier.
"You don't suppose when Radinov tried to kill me and Rally from that senator, do you?" May guessed. It was a close call for Rally and May and Bill remembered the moment.
"That trap by Haints," he recalled. Figuring on the testimony, the doctor disputed the near-death experience.
"I see," he mulled. "To kill someone this young is inexcusable. Well, if the lymph nodes test comes up negative, we can remove the splinter and she can be released in a couple of days." The two were grateful for the doctors for their fast response.
"Thanks a lot!" May cheered. The doctor wasn't done yet.
"By the way, you live in Chicago. Why come all the way to Madison?" All May did was point to Bill. Yeah, it's his fault. Bill rose his hand in guilt.
"A friend who got treatment here," he admitted. The doctor laughed at the confession.
"Not that I'm complaining, I was just curious." Nothing wrong with that. Rally went under the knife to get that piece of wood out of her head, nothing related to...that. The next morning, Rally woke up in ICU, her head wrapped up in bandages and a beanie. She felt discomfort in her head but it wasn't as painful as before. Even the overhead florescent lamps weren't a bother to her.
"It's gone..." she noticed. "I didn't think these headaches could be removed like that." That's when she felt a presence in the room and shifted her eyes to a nodded-off Bill. Her eyes widen and despite wearing a hospital-applied gown covering everything, she pulled the blanket over her body up to her neck. 'Great! 007-11! He didn't try to... Not in a hospital!' Suddenly, the door opened where May came in to check on her friend.
"Morning, Rally!" she greeted. Rally turned to see May, her shouting not irritating her like the other day.
"Hey, May. You behaved?" It wasn't that she needed to behave. It was about her.
"I'm not the one with the migraines." May patted Rally's head to remind her.
"Apparently, neither do I." That's not all and May verified by presenting Rally the clipboard and a piece of stained wood in a plastic sandwich bag. "What's this?"
"Remember that plaque Haints tried to trap us with? That piece found your brain and put pressure to it." The explanation made Rally blink. This was the cause of her migraine headaches?
"I guess it's true what they say: truth is stranger than fiction." After Rally was discharged from the hospital, and Bill's sleepy butt got going, they returned to the Windy City where Rally finished repairing the rifles. The overhead lamps weren't a problem and neither was the noise. May was a different story. KA-BOOM! An explosion from the backroom forced Rally to put the rifles away and retreat where she found May covered in gunpowder. "What happened, May?" She looked okay on the surface, most of it disguised by the remains of a grenade she was working on.
"Malfunction..." Just because she's a natural with explosives doesn't always mean she has control over everything that goes boom. Rally shamefully smiled. At least she didn't cringe at the pain May could be going through. It's the cleanup that will work her out.