A/N: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tintin and Company, it belongs to Herge and Moulinsart.
Here it is! Chapter 2 of Blindsided! I know that a few of you have been itching to find out what happens next to our (sadly) wounded friend *sigh* I feel horrible even having this idea... Why must I do this? WHY? But I shall continue for the sake of my readers. *In a whisper* I love you all! I have to give out a special thanks to Pink-Pincil-Girl303 for being my first reviewer on "Blindsided" (please post what you think about this chapter :3) Also I thank everyone else who reviewed this story (and others of course) the comments really mean a lot to me.
*Ahem* Without any further interruptions... Enjoy! (You might want to get that tissue box ready now)
Chapter 2
"Blue blistering barnacles! Where is that man?" Captain Haddock exclaimed at Marlinspike, putting his hands on his hips.
"Don't worry Archie; he's probably delayed by the weather." Chang reassured from his seat. He looked out the window as the rain poured even harder, lighting and thunder growling softly in the distance.
The Captain grumbled under his breath, turning to pace in front of the fireplace.
Snowy whimpered softly before Tintin rubbed his ears. "Or perhaps he had a last minute flight."
"Flight or no flight, I wish he'd come home sooner." Captain exclaimed with a huff.
"My word, Captain; you're acting like he's a child."
"No I'm not!" Captain Haddock retorted, upturning his nose.
Tintin raised an eyebrow in the Captain's direction as the sour faced man paced a little faster.
Thundering typhoons, I'm not overreacting. I'm just mildly worried, that's all. Captain Haddock thought to himself as he stopped pacing and looked out of the window. Who am I kidding? I am overreacting. It's just… he's like a son to me.
A sudden thunderclap made him jump out of his skin, and Snowy scurry out of the room barking madly.
Calculus, quieter than a church mouse, lifted his head from the newspaper he was reading, "Bless you Captain."
Captain Haddock rolled his eyes, "For Pete's sake Cuthbert, that was a thunderclap. I didn't sneeze."
"Stung by bees? When? Did one go up your nose when you were sniffing my roses?"
He rubbed his eyes, "No Calculus I said-."
"That would explain why it's so big today."
The only thing that kept him from strangling the Professor was holding his breath. He sat down in his armchair face growing a shade of red. A sudden knock on the door made them raise their heads in surprise.
"Who could that be?" Asked Chang as he got up to investigate, Captain Haddock followed him to the door. Captain Haddock nudged Chang slightly aside and opened it to see an all too familiar mustached face and heard an all too nasally voice.
Oh God no….
"Hello Captain, old chap! How are you doing this fine day?" Jolyon Wagg asked too cheerfully.
"What do you want, Wagg?" Captain Haddock asked in a monotone voice.
"Well I noticed that lighting was hitting around your house."
"Uh… Yes it's a thunderstorm… so?"
"Well," Jolyon Wagg stated with an overly big grin. "How about I propose to you a deal you can't-."
Captain slammed the door shut, with a snarl. "That's what I think about your deals!"
Chang couldn't help but giggle at his outburst. Captain Haddock grumbled as he stomped back into the room and sat down. Just as he did so, the phone rang.
"CAN'T A MAN GET SOME PEACE AROUND HERE?!"
"Relax Captain, I'll answer it." Tintin obliged as he stood and walked to the phone. He answered it, "Hello?"
"Is this Captain Haddock, Tintin, or Chang from Marlinspike Hall?" A female voice spoke over the receiver.
"Yes, this is Marlinspike and I'm Tintin. Who is this if I may ask?" Tintin asked with a furrowed eyebrow, Chang, and the Captain looked up with curiosity as Nestor poured hot tea into their cups.
"Skut has been in an accident Mr. Tintin and is in critical condition."
There was a breath second before Tintin came out of shock."Where? Where is he located at?"
The woman gave the address and Tintin thanked her as he hung up, face turning pale.
"What happened, Tintin?" Chang asked with concern.
"We have to go to the hospital…" He looked up with wide eyes. "Skut's been in an incident."
"THUNDERING TYPHOONS! What happened?" The Captain bellowed as he stood.
"I don't know, Captain." Tintin stated as he started to grab his wallet and long coat off the table. Seconds later, Captain Haddock pulled out his cap out of his coat's pocket. "Let's go."
In less than five minutes, the Captain, Chang, Tintin, and Calculus (with some difficulty) were being driven down the dark gravel road. Nestor was white knuckled against the steering wheel as the Captain ordered him to go faster.
They saw city lights rising in the distance before they entered the town. A tall building rose out of the ground, an obvious hospital.
"Can you watch Snowy for me, Nestor? I'm sure he's not allowed in."
"Certainly, sir." Nestor replied with a nod as he turned into the almost empty lot. They parked and got out, practically running to the door.
When they entered a blonde haired woman looked up from the counter as the Captain approached. "Excuse me madam, where is Piotr Skut?"
"Are you his emergency contact?"
"Yes." He replied nodding his head.
"He's upstairs on floor 3 in room 104."
"Thank you."
Together they entered the elevator and pressed the button. As the doors closed, Chang whispered. "I hope he's alright."
Tintin placed a hand on his shoulder, but didn't reply. With a ding, the doors opened and they stepped out.
As they passed the rooms a man stood from a wooden bench outside one of the doors.
"Are you Tintin?" The man asked.
"Yes I am… You must be Charlie!"
"Aye… that would be me. Skut told me… tells me… all about you." Charlie replied shaking their hands.
"How is he?" Calculus asked, popping his hearing aid in his ear.
Charlie shook his head, "I don't have a clue. I haven't seen him since they took him in the ambulance. The police are investigating now."
"Very suspicious, Thompson!"
"To be precise, very suspicious indeed."
"Thompson and Thomson!" Tintin cried as the pair walked out of the hospital room, canes on their arms.
"Tintin! Captain! Chang! Professor! How merry it is to see you all!" Exclaimed one.
"To be precise, very merry indeed." Announced the other.
"Have you seen Skut yet?" Captain Haddock asked with pleading eyes.
The twins looked at each other before one spoke, "Yes… not in good shape though."
"We just finished interviewing the doctor and we've come to a conclusion."
"What is it?" Chang asked.
"Poor Skut was involved in a hit and run. On purpose of course."
"A hit and run?" Calculus exclaimed, voice high pitched.
"To be precise, yes. We asked around the workplace and they claimed that the vehicle used wasn't one of theirs."
One of the twins glanced at his watch, "Good gracious! We better get going, late for another case and we have to go fill out some paperwork."
They both raised their hats in farewell, but ran into another open door as they did so. Captain Haddock shook his head and rolled his eyes.
A sudden pit patter of feet coming their way made all of them turn to see a plump white haired man advancing toward them. Wearing a stethoscope, and a white lab coat, he was obviously the doctor.
"Hello there, gentlemen." He greeted, his potbelly hanging out a little more.
"Hello there, Doctor…"
"Please call me Henry."
"Doctor Henry, how is he?"
"The man in room 104? Not well I'm afraid." He rubbed his eyes before continuing. "However, we are still running tests so it's uncertain what damage has been done."
"C-Can we see him?" Charlie pleaded, looking like a small puppy with his big brown eyes.
Doctor Henry pursed his lip and pondered. "Fine, you have five minutes. I was actually going to check up on him myself."
He opened the door, "Shall we?"
The small group shuffled in, the door whispering shut behind them.
Captain Haddock's blood ran cold at the sight. Skut was lying in the hospital bed, too pale to be healthy. His torso, head and eyes were wrapped in white clean cloth, the smell of disinfectant in the air.
"Skut…" His voice cracked as he sunk into a chair at his bedside.
"He's in a coma right now. It is possible that he may not hear you." The doctor informed as he looked at a few charts.
He stared at his friend before reaching out to touch his arm. He gasped when he felt his cold hand. A brunette nurse was changing the I.V. on his arm, the tube disappearing beneath his skin.
It took the Captain a little while to realize that hot, wet tears were streaming down his face.
I swear that I'll find the monsters that did this to him. And just for good measure, give them a good thrashing.
Sucking in a breath, he stood, noticing the nurse was looking at him. She held out her hand.
"These are his."
Captain Haddock looked down and saw that she was holding Skut's cap and eye patch. Without a word, he took them, turned and left the room, leaving everyone in confusion.
UGH! THE FEELS! I'm really sorry for the lazy(ish) ending to this chapter. I admit, this wasn't the best way... but it was really late when I wrote this... Yeah... PLEASE Review/follow. I love to hear what you think about it (and what you think will happen next). Also tell me if you catch any mistakes and I will try to correct them (when I figure out how to do that)
Cheerio!
