PAIN
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters of Mutant X. They are owned by Tribune Entertainment.
Pain, it's the first thing my body feels as I wake up from whatever caused my slumber. My eyes flutter open and allow my vision to come into focus. It's somewhat dark, a little cold, and quiet. After a few moments I realize that I'm lying uncomfortably on my side on some cold concrete.
More pain.
I shut my eyes tightly against the pain and let out a grunt as I attempt to roll over onto my back. My breathing quickens as I manage to do so. Pain continues to radiate from my body, but mostly from my left shoulder. With a hard swallow and a deep breath I sit up and lean against the cold concrete wall behind me. Tears of pain fall from my eyes.
Without looking at my shoulder I can already tell that I've been shot, as I can feel the bullet rubbing against my collarbone. I slowly glance over to my left and see all of the blood, confirming my suspicions. My leather jacket probably slowed the bullet down before it entered my body but at this point I'd rather have had it gone all the way through.
A wave of dizziness washes over me and I steel myself against it, gritting my teeth as it passes. Looking at the ground below me, it looks like I've lost a good amount of blood. I haven't a clue as to how long I've been lying here but I suddenly have a flashback as to how I got into this predicament....
I had gone out for a ride on my bike, just a joyride. As I waited for the light to change I noticed four men on the corner. The tallest of the group had his finger in another man's face and appeared to be pretty angry. After a few seconds the man reached into his jacket and in one swift movement he moved it towards the man's stomach. The man flinched and the other two men grabbed him.
They began walking a few feet with him but it was clear that the man was dead, his feet were dragging on the ground as they walked along. A black van pulled up and they tossed the man inside. But as they were doing so, the tall man glanced around to see who may have been watching all of this take place. That's when his eyes locked on me. I felt a chill crawl down my spine and my stomach drop.
He motioned to the two men as I revved up my bike and sped off, completely running the red light I had been sitting at.
Within seconds the men were behind me in a black Corvette. I turned down side street after side street to shake them but they were good, they were on my tail at every turn. I even tried driving up on the sidewalk a few times and suddenly turning around in the opposite direction but nothing worked.
I drove down into the empty water canal because they wouldn't be able to get a car down there. I crained my neck around to see behind me and found no one. But suddenly I slammed into something. It catapulted me off my bike and I landed hard on the ground, knocking the wind out of me in the process. I could feel one of my ribs crack as I began coughing, trying to catch my breath.
As I lay on the ground hugging my midsection, I saw that I had run right into the front of the Corvette I'd been trying so desperately to ditch.
The two men got out of the car just as a black Audi pulled up. The tall man got out of the Audi and headed straight for me.
Grabbing me by the front of my jacket he hauled me up a bit. "Why are you in such a hurry to get away? Huh?" he asked as he shook me, causing me to gasp in pain. In a quick movement he grabbed the edge of my helmet and tore it off, tossing it to the ground.
His grip eased up on me for a moment as he shook his head, "Aw, that's just too bad. Isn't this a pity, guys?"
The two men weren't sure what he was talking about and just looked at one another.
"Such a beautiful girl and yet I have to end her pretty life because she was being nosey."
As he stood in front of me I noticed that he had a gun strapped to his ankle. If I got a little bit closer I could reach it.
He hauled me to my knees and told me to put my head down and my hands behind my head. I complied even though it pained me to do so.
He came closer to me and put the barrel of a gun to the top of my head. I wasn't listening to the obscenities he was using and just made my move. I tackled him and grabbed the gun from his ankle, quickly aiming it at the two men behind him. I managed to shoot both of them just as the man slammed his fist into my face. The gun flew from my hand as I saw stars from the impact of his fist.
"You crazy bitch!" he screamed. And that's when I felt the burning pain in my shoulder. I honestly don't remember hearing the gun go off, it all happened so fast.
As I lay there bleeding, I fought to stay awake because I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of killing me without putting up a good fight.
He cursed again and again at the sight of his friends lying on the ground in pools of their own blood. "God dammit!" he yelled as he wiped spit from his mouth.
The barrel of his gun was pointed at me again and he stared into my eyes. But the odd thing was that his face of anger soon turned to a smile and then a loud, psychotic laugh. He put the gun down and tucked it into the holster inside his jacket. "Know what? I'm not gonna kill you just yet. No...no. I just might be able to use you." He started to pace back and forth and it was making me sick to my stomach just watching him.
He came towards me and hauled me to my feet, slinging me over his shoulder. I cried out in pain as it jarred my wounds when he walked along.
I must have blacked out for a few minutes because the next thing I knew I was in what looked like a cold cellar. I can remember him saying something to me about coming back for me but I was in and out. Unfortunately, that's all I remember.
So here I am, still lying here, bleeding all over myself, one step closer to death. I begin to think about the things I haven't done in life and then about the people that mean a lot to me, which includes Brennan. The thought of his name produces a small jolt of clarity and that's when I remember my Comlink ring. How could I have forgotten about it?
I quickly bring it close to my mouth, "Brennan?" I say in a coarse, weak voice.
"Shal? Are you okay?"
"I need help. Can you..."
"I'm on my way, just hang tight. I'll have Adam put a trace on your Comlink."
"Hurry," I say as I pass out.
For all I know it could have been minutes, hours or even days when Brennan finally found me, scooping me up into his arms and causing me to awaken.
"Brennan?" I ask in a haze.
"Shhh, it's okay. You're gonna be okay," he assures me.
But at that same moment I hear another man's voice. "Where do you think you're going with her?"
My eyes roll as I look up to see who the voice belongs to. It takes my brain a few moments to recognize him but it's the man who shot me. His gun is trained on Brennan who is now holding me tighter.
"She's hurt and I'm taking her home," Brennan says to him.
"Oh no you're not. She's with me and she's staying with me. She and I have some business to discuss."
"I'm gonna have to put you down for a sec, sweetie," he whispers to me. He does his best to set me down gently, but even the slightest of movements causes me great pain. I bite my lower lip and hiss in pain as I lean my head back against the wall, praying that the pain would just stop.
"Look, I'm going to ask you nicely to get out of my way and I'm only going to ask once," Brennan said to the man as he readied himself for a fight.
The man laughed and waved the gun at Brennan. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to be scared? If so, it's not working because I'm not."
Brennan shook his head. "Too bad for you then." Suddenly Brennan generated a bright bolt and hurled it at the man, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him to the ground, the gun fell from his hand and skidded away.
The man tried to get up but Brennan was quick to deliver another bolt which sent the man back down for good.
It didn't take Brennan long to come back to my side. "How you doing?"
"Get me out of here," was all I could say.
The next thing I knew, I was in Brennan's arms and being carried to the medical area where Adam was waiting nervously.
Brennan set me down on the table and Adam immediately inspected my bullet wound. "Jeez," he hissed as he took a good look. Then he turned to me, "It looks pretty bad, I'm not going to lie to you."
I chuckled a bit because it was obvious that the wound wasn't all that attractive. I took somewhat of a deep breath and began to speak, "It didn't go all the way through. It's..." I stopped talking just as a flash of pain coursed through my body, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut.
"Take it easy," Adam said as he stroked my hair. "Where else do you hurt?"
"My...my ribs," I said as I put my right hand over the sore area of my ribcage.
I looked over at Brennan who was biting on his thumbnail and standing towards the corner of the room. I think seeing me this way was hard for him to deal with, judging by the look on his face.
My shoulder continued to throb out of control and I began to beg Adam, "Please get this bullet out of me. Every time I...I move my arm or breathe it hurts like a bastard," I said through gritted teeth.
Adam kissed my forehead and then slid a needle into a vein in my arm. "Don't worry, you're going to be okay."
That was the last thing I remember him saying before everything turned black.
I felt myself coming around from my medicated slumber and immediately saw Brennan's sleeping form beside my bed. He didn't look very comfortable in his chair and I'm sure he'd been there throughout the night.
I shifted a little and was soon reminded of why I was here. I grunted a bit from the pain that began to flare up in my shoulder and ribs, and this caused Brennan to wake up.
"Shal, you okay?"
I nodded slightly as I moved my right hand over to my wounded left shoulder, finding a big wad of gauze pads. I was confused for a moment because with all of our technology there shouldn't be a need for bandages, as Adam would be able to heal the wound immediately.
Brennan noticed the confusion on my face. "He couldn't take the bullet out yet. There's too much swelling and he didn't want to cause any nerve damage by attempting it."
Moving the blankets down, I could see that my left arm was completely immobilized by a sling and lots of Ace Bandaging. I let out a sigh, mostly in frustration because I just wanted to be healed and get back to being normal again.
"I'm sorry," he said with sad eyes.
"It's not your fault."
"The hard part is going to be keeping you as still as possible for the next few days as the swelling goes down."
"What are you trying to say?" I said with a small smile.
"That you're antsy." He smiled back at me. Ah...that smile, not to mention those dimples.
Adam entered the room. He patted Brennan on the back as he walked up beside him. "How's our patient doing?"
"Fine. Just wish I wasn't flat on my back."
"I'm sorry. I tried to think of any way possible to get that bullet out but I didn't want to risk you losing any use of your arm in the process."
I'm sure Adam saw the look of disappointment on my face so I didn't need to say a word.
"You need to stay very still over the next few days. Every few hours I'm going to apply some ice in order to speed up the process." He held up some ice packs and put them on the table beside my bed. "How's the pain?"
"Well, it's no walk in the park. As long as I don't breathe it doesn't hurt."
I could tell that Adam didn't know whether to laugh or not, but then he finally did. "If you need more medication let me know."
"It's fine." I was never a good liar but I said it anyway.
"Well, I'm gonna let you get some more rest," Adam said as he turned to leave. "Brennan, don't stay too much longer, okay?"
Brennan nodded as Adam left the room.
He took my hand and kissed it. "So how did all of this happen? That is if you're up to talking about it right now."
Over the next fifteen minutes I told Brennan everything I could remember about how I'd crashed my bike and got shot. I wanted to hug him so badly as I saw the sad look in his eyes as I told him about my ordeal. "I thought I was going to die and never see your face again," I admitted to him.
He leaned in close to me and placed his lips over mine. "I'll never let that happen," he whispered.
I felt so safe around him, like nothing bad could ever happen to me if he was with me. But he couldn't be with me all the time. Being a part of Mutant X has no safety guarantees, and we're both well aware of that. Not that it makes it any easier when we see each other hurt.
"I'm always here for you, Shal."
"I squeezed his hand and smiled as I shut my eyes. Just feeling him next to me, smelling his cologne, made me relax and drift off to sleep.
A week had passed and Adam had performed a second surgery on my shoulder. After a few hours he was able to take the bullet out without any damage to the nerves. Then he sealed up the wound, healing it before his eyes. But it still left a nasty scar. A scar that will always remind me how close I came to losing my life and losing Brennan in my life.
They say something good comes out of everything and I guess they're right. This has brought Brennan and me closer together. We value our time together more and don't take anything forgranted. It's too bad that sometimes it takes something bad to make you realize these things.
THE END