Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: Since this chapter is so short, the next one will be posted in a few hours if anyone wants to read it!
A/N #2: The title of this story is a lyric from the song I'm a Loser by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, from The Beatles album Beatles for Sale. The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Mysterious Ways by U2, from their album Achtung Baby.
When You Hit The Ground
The floor was wet, sticky underneath the woman as she was sliding almost through the liquid, trying to get to it. Her breathing was echoing in the room and it sounded as if she was gurgling and hissing at the same time. She managed to reach the desk before she could think about the pain that was inching closer into her consciousness, threatening to take over. She tried to stand but found herself collapsing before she could get up further than her knees. But in doing that she got the desk knocked to its side and glass and plastic came crashing down around her as she moaned in pain without realizing she was giving voice to it.
Her cell phone, what she'd been reaching for, was there in the middle of the debris and she slid it to her, not caring about the blood that smeared all over the screen as it turned on.
"911, do you need police, fire-" the dispatch said at the other end when they picked up the woman's call.
"Help," the woman said, her voice sounding thick as the coppery tang of blood filled her mouth.
"Do you need paramedics ma'am?" the man asked, concern in his tone.
"Yes! He killed me, he tried…" the woman started to say.
"Hold on ma'am, tell me your address so we can send paramedics to you," dispatch said quickly.
Giving that, the woman whispered, "I told him… there was no use… no time… They're not going…"
"Please calm down, help is on the way right now, just hold on," dispatch said as he could hear the rising panic coming into her voice as she'd tried to speak. He heard her crying on the other end and quickly said, "Ma'am? Can you tell me your name? Keep talking to me. Or just make a noise so I know you're there."
"It's… Su…san," the woman replied.
"Susan, I'm Theo, can you tell me how you were injured?" dispatch asked then, trying to keep talking to her to keep her conscious.
"It was long… it was… hurts…" the woman mumbled.
"Is there a way for you to stop the bleeding?" dispatch said, on the edge of his seat at the 911 call center.
"I… hands," the woman sighed, feeling the blood spilling over her lips. "Tastes… bitter…"
"Try and put some pressure on the wound if you can Susan," dispatch instructed. He heard a heavy groan at that and guessed that she'd done what he'd suggested. "Susan?" he asked. "Can you tell me any more about your killer?" checking at the same time to see where the ambulance sent to her house was.
"He was… tall… said… loved me…" the woman sighed wetly.
"Susan, did you know his name? What was his name?" dispatch said. He held his breath when there was no answer, the time stretching out for what felt like hours instead of the minute it was. There was a slight grunt on the other end, and he said, "Susan, stay with me alright, they're nearly to your house."
"He was saying it was… them," the woman gasped out.
"Please, tell me his name if you can," dispatch begged as he knew what the sound from her meant.
There was a hash, wet sound then; in and out breathing that was an obvious struggle to the woman. Blood was splattering against the screen of the cell phone as there was a final exhalation and it stopped. The sound of plastic clattering to the floor nearly overwhelmed the voice of dispatch on the other end, urgently trying to contact the woman lying motionless next to the phone as her blood began to pool around it.