New Life
Chapter 1: Lone Survivor
Oswald was standing there in shock as the pain slowly burned him on the inside. He looked down and saw the blood oozing out of him and staining his hands. Edward grasped his collar and looked into his eyes one last time before pushing him into the icy waters of the lake. The water rushed all around him chilling him to the core. A cloud of blood floated above him as he struggled to clearly think about how to swim. The bonds that were tightly secured around his wrist bit into his skin as he tried to swim to the surface.
His movements resembled that of a lopsided fish. He seemed to be going in circles and was turned around. the threat of his lungs bursting from lack of oxygen was imminent and the struggle grew more and more fruitless. He was about to pass out when finally he broke the water's surface. He greedily sucked in mouthfuls of oxygen and struggled to keep his head above water. He managed to get to the shore and was struggling to pull himself out of the water when he collapsed upon the rocks and lost all consciousness.
A few Moments Later:
She was walking along the shoreline of the frostbitten lake when she spotted him lying there unresponsive and in a pool of his own blood. Fear gripped her heart as she neared the man's body. She knelt down and felt for a pulse and found that it was low and thready. The man's breath came out in labored puffs of white clouds and his skin was burning up yet was icy to the touch.
She carefully turned him over and her heart sank with fear and shock. The man she had found was none other than her umbrella boy, Oswald Cobblepot. His hands were bound and she didn't know why. She carefully lifted him to her chest and wrapped him in warmth. She then very carefully lifted him to his feet and began to half carry and half drag him to her boat where Hugo was waiting for her to return. When she arrived at the boat Hugo was standing at the tethered railing looking down at the scene below.
After a moment's pause, he came down to help her bring Oswald on board the boat. They very carefully laid Oswald upon a cot. They untied his hands and dressed his wound until they were able to return to the medical research facility they had encountered while on their search to find more of the cuttlefish formula that Hugo use on her when he resurrected her.
For the remainder of the trip, she sat by Oswald's side constantly changing his bandages and warming up his hands and frail body. She gently caressed his icy pale skin as a warm, salty tear caressed her cheek.
Her little penguin was dying from a gunshot wound in the abdomen. Blood soaked through his bandages at a rapid pace and she was running out of bandages. By the time the boat docked in the harbor the majority of the bandages had been used.
They ever so gently placed him upon a makeshift stretcher and carried him out of the boat, onto the dock, and all the way to the medical wing of the now abandoned medical research facility that was left uninhabited after she and her people escaped from the frostbitten island she had once been a prisoner at.
There were still a few doctors left on the island when she came back to were the doctors who resented Dr. Dollmaker and stayed to refurbish the island into a medical research facility to help those fleeing from police.
In a sense, they were the doctors for the criminals who came across it and needed medical attention right away. When They entered the medical wing carrying Oswald in a makeshift stretcher with blood-soaked bandages the doctors reacted immediately and in no time Oswald was stripped and prepped for and in surgery before she could tell them what she thought had happened. To be honest, though she had no clue who shot her poor Little Penguin and left him for dead.
A Few Hours Later:
Oswald drifted into consciousness long enough to see that whiteness surrounded him before succumbing to the unconsciousness once again. when he came to again he was able to make out the surrounding whiteness and an erratic beeping to his left and a dull throb in his abdomen before succumbing to unconsciousness again.
When he came to consciousness again he became aware of the erratic beeping to his left, the whitewashed walls that surrounded him, and the nagging deep-rooted pain that enveloped his abdomen. He gently placed his hands upon his abdomen and felt the ragged fabric of bandaging beneath an itchy hospital gown that he was adorned with.
The erratic beeping to his left was a heart monitor and the beeping had calmed a bit. His whole body ached and a shiver sent spears of pain up and down his spine. There was something in his nose that made him feel uncomfortable and in constant need to sneeze. He carefully reached up and felt his nose and found that tubing was in his nose. After a moment or two, he lowered his hand and concentrated on breathing.
It was painful and caused his abdomen to spasm with pain. He moaned and felt tears cascade down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around his abdomen in hopes of quieting the pain. As the pain ebbed and dulled he resumed his concentration on his breathing ever so carefully so that he wasn't crippled with pain.
As he focused on his breathing he tried to piece together what had happened to him but came up empty of any logical reason(s) for him being shot and left for dead. Wait, was he dead? At the moment this thought crossed his mind the door opened and a woman came through it. At first, he couldn't place her and then it hit him like a thousand bricks. The woman who had just walked in was Fish Mooney, his old boss.
The only thing he thought to say was, "Fish? Is that you? what happened? w-where am I?"
His voice was hoarse and sounded horrible in his own ears. She had answered, clearly relieved that he was alright for the time being, "Yes, Oswald it's me, Fish. You were shot in the abdomen, by whom and why I do not know. You are in a medical facility outside of Gotham and on an island where I was once imprisoned."
He couldn't help but smile at her. For some reason, he was unconditionally pleased to see her again. His heart swelled with a foreign emotion one would call love, but for him, it was gratitude and praise. In truth, he never truly understood love until...until what? His mind was drawing a blank.
Puzzled He mused, "Fish, I don't remember a thing since my time as Mayor of Gotham."
Silence filled the room until it was broken by an uttered response by Fish, "What's the last thing you remember?"
He thought hard and concluded, "the last thing I remember is winning the Mayor candidacy and trying to make Gotham safe again.
After a moment of silence, Fish mused, "well, who do you think would want you dead?"
This puzzled him so much that tears fell down his eyes because for the first time he was lost and didn't know where to start. At this moment is when the words really sank in and gave him a thousand deep cuts that stung his heart and lungs. He had started to hyperventilate and the pain in his abdomen seized him and stabbed him with invisible fingers that felt like hot searing knives ripping him apart.
He barely felt the soft sting of a syringe needle before the whole world shrank from view and there was darkness there and nothing more. It was in this darkness that a light filtered through and lit up a screen. On the screen was a man with short cropped dark brown hair, a green suit, and black-rimmed glasses.
The man was brandishing a pistol and seemed to be pointing it at Oswald. That was when a floodgate burst open and flooded his subconscious with memories. He was the Mayor of Gotham and Ed was his chief of staff. Then he mistakenly believed that he loved Ed and become jealous when Ed met...Isabella. He had Gabe kill Isabella to get closer to Ed. The plan backfired. There was a mind game.
Then...then...then there was...a shot fired and water rushing around him on all sides. He couldn't breathe. He was suffocating. He was dying. He had managed to jerk himself out of unconsciousness and back in consciousness. His head was spinning from the flood of memories that had washed over his unconscious mind. A cold sweat lingered on his forehead as he began to slowly calm himself down by focusing on slowing his breathing. All of the calmness washed away as he began to sob.
He sobs, "Oh, Ed! I am so sorry! What was I thinking! I do deserve to die!"
His tears soaked his face as emotional pain took its toll. His hands were pressed firmly against his face as his body shuddered, tears seeping between his cramped fingers soaking his bed sheet. A warm embrace caught him off guard and he looked up and his tear soaked gaze met Fish's concerned gaze. She embraced him and gently stroked his matted hair. Her cheek was pressed gently against his scalp as she calmed him down and soothed his aching heart.
Her voice was gentle and sweet, "shh, Oswald, shh. It's going to be okay. You'll be okay. Time will heal your wounds, emotional and physical. It's best to not dwell on the past."
He listened to her and felt comfort and calmness enter his body. She was the last person he could trust for the time being.
A Few Months Later:
Oswald was lying in his bed in his bedroom that he had acquired once he had recovered from his injuries and no longer needed medical attention, just starring up at the smooth white empty ceiling wishing that he had just died instead of being kept on this barren and desolate marooned island. He was going out of his mind on this island.
He was irritable and restless. He was grateful to have Fish as his company. Heck, even Hugo was better than nothing. However, a deep melancholy enveloped his mind, body, and soul.
His appetite plummeted from his normal low appetite to a nonexistent appetite. He couldn't eat or drink and he rarely got out of bed. He was plagued with nightmares and night terrors. Edward was always there in his mind, body, and soul. Edward was his tormentor that tormented and haunted his unconscious and conscious mind. He never even thought about apologizing to Edward.
It probably wouldn't have kept him alive, but it would have shown Edward that he was remorseful. He lowered his eyes from the ceiling and rested them upon his socked feet and then deeply sighed to himself. The sigh sent ghost pangs of pain to his abdomen. He gently rubbed his abdomen as the ghost pangs of pain ebbed and slowed before disappearing altogether.
He laid there on the small bed awhile longer before carefully reaching under his bed and pulled out a thick Biology textbook that he found in what he believed was a study during a little self-guided tour of his new "home" at least for now. He opened the book to the Hereditary Genes and the Molecules of DNA and began reading about how genes tribute to hair and eye color and facial features. Ever since he could no longer talk or see Edward anymore he took up a little light reading surrounding the sciences and math and yes, riddles.