Arthur's eyes were the first to fly open, his body shuddering from the huge jolt of impact. In the few seconds it took him to wrench his eyes open, he waited for the shock of cold water to flood the van. It never came. As Arthur's eyes adjusted to the bright light filtering in through the shattered windshield of the van, he was surprised to see pavement and bright orange construction signs instead of water. Arthur turned to see Dom looking similarly confused while Eames looked amused at Arthur's befuddlement. "Um, Yusuf?" Arthur asked questioningly. "Why aren't we in the water right now? And why are there bullet holes in the windows?
Before Yusuf could respond, Arthur heard a deep, shuddering breath followed by what could only be described as a delicate whimper. Arthur turned to his left to see Ariadne, all the color drained from her face, clutching her shoulder, her eyes shut tightly. Yusuf began to answer, but Arthur shushed him as he crawled out of his seat and knelt in front of Ariadne. "Ari, are you hurt? What's wrong?" asked Arthur. He was now at eye level with Ariadne's shoulder and could see that her dark plum button-down shirt was stained darkly with what he could only guess was blood. Arthur tried not to panic as he watched Ari struggle to take a deep breath, her eyes still tightly closed as if in agony.
Yusuf turned, his eyes registering Ariadne's obvious pain. "Oh god Arthur, this is all my fault. Those mobsters whose job we turned down were following us and I had to veer off the road to get away from them and so I missed the bridge I was supposed to drive off for the kick. I knew there wasn't time to get back to the bridge before the dream collapsed so I drove off a ramp that was only partially completed. The impact must have knocked her arm into the van door or something. We're almost to the warehouse and I've got my first aid supplies there so I can take care of her. Ariadne, I'm so sorry," Yusuf let out in a rush.
Both Dom and Eames were looking at Arthur with quizzical expressions. Dom was the first to speak. "Is she okay?" he asked, his voice sounding controlled but worried. Eames who could read people better than almost anyone knew not to ask that question, as it was clear from Arthur's face that she was not. He watched as Arthur reached for Ariadne's hand that clutched her right shoulder. He pulled back his hand a second later, looking down to see that it was indeed covered in Ariadne's blood. Eames watched as Arthur quickly covered his own shock with a determined expression and went into true point man mode.
"Ari," Arthur said, his voice soft, but pleading, "I need you to look at me." He waited for several seconds until Ariadne's eyes fluttered open. He gave her a sad smile. "Hey, I need to look at your shoulder, okay?" He watched her carefully, seeing her wince and grab her shoulder tightly before nodding. He carefully slid her left hand from her shoulder and placed it in her lap. Then he reached forward and gingerly unbuttoned two more shirt buttons so that he could slide the fabric to one side, exposing her bleeding shoulder. God, there was a lot of blood, he thought, making it nearly impossible to tell exactly where it was coming from. He briefly looked up at Cobb and Eames, his eyes settling on Dom's grey sport coat. "Dom, I need your jacket," Arthur commanded, reaching out a blood-covered hand. Don's eyes widened at the blood coating Arthur's hand but silently handed over the coat, turning to exchange a meaningful glance with Eames.
Arthur silently took the coat and began to gently dab at the blood coating Ariadne's shoulder and chest. Ariadne moaned softly with pain. "I'm sorry, Ari. I know it hurts," said Arthur. "I'm just trying to see where all this blood is coming from. Do you know what happened?" Ari just shook her head. Arthur continued to dab at the blood, noticing a small hole beneath her collarbone that seemed to be pouring blood in a never ending stream. "Oh God," muttered Arthur. "That's a bullet hole." He looked up at Dom and Eames, an expression of pure panic registering on his face. "Ari's been shot." As if on cue, Eames, Dom, and Arthur each grabbed their totems. Arthur threw his die to the floor and dropped his head to his hands as he read the number he rolled. Six. This was really happening. It may be a nightmare, but unfortunately not one that he could wake up from.
How are you liking it so far? There is much more hurt/comfort and angsty goodness to come in future and eventually some Arthur/Ariadne romance as well I hope. Is there something you liked about this chapter? Something you didn't like? Perhaps something you'd like to see me include in a future chapter? Please review!