Here's Chapter 7 of this story. First I want to thank everyone who has reviewed my story, especially Loke. Loke, thank you for your review. It feels good to see another person who feels the way I do about the human side of Solid Snake. And thank you for addressing the issue of grammar and spacing errors. I know they are there and I'm going to go back and fix those errors the best I can. And in the future, if you ever see a error in my chapters, please inform me of it and I'll go and fix them. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy chapter 7.
David made his way outside the mansion. He had grabbed his M4A1 Assault Rifle on the way out, just in case. David had always been taught that if you don't know the details of a situation, get a gun. This was good advice for him, he couldn't count how many times he went into a unknown situation with a gun and ended up having to use it in order to survive. But he had hoped that this wouldn't be one of those situations. Another thing he brought was a first-aid kit. Another thing he didn't know was whether someone was hurt or not.
He had made it outside and saw what the problem was. Fortunately, he wasn't going to have to use his assault rifle. Unfortunately, he was going to need to use that first-aid kit from the looks of it. He saw that several of the Smashers were gathered around in a formation of a circle. Someone had definitely gotten hurt. He was able to see between the crowd that Zelda was lying on the ground and she was bleeding. David suspected that Ganondorf was up to this.
"Everyone get out of the way!" David yelled as he made his way through the crowd.
When he got through the crowd, he was surprised to see that Ganondorf was there too, with injuries as well. He was down on his knee, and it looked like he had only recently gotten up. David looked on the ground and saw that there was a small crater in the ground and surrounding it was black ash. David knew that this meant a bomb had detonated and Zelda and Ganondorf were caught in the explosion. Ganondorf wasn't up to this after all, but someone definitely was. David pushed that thought aside, there were more important matters at hand right now.
"Ganondorf! What happened?" David asked loudly as he kneeled down towards Zelda and began to check her injuries. Ganondorf's injuries were not as severe as Zelda, he was shaken up but he looked like he would be fine after some minor treatment. Zelda was a different story.
"Me and Zelda were about to fight. And then an explosion occurred. I was farther from the explosion, but not very far. However Zelda was right next to the explosion." Ganondorf said
"Can you walk?" David asked him.
"I'll be fine, I can walk" Ganondorf said almost arrogantly.
He stood up weakly, but after taking a step, he immediately fell down again. While his injuries weren't severe, he still wasn't in the condition to walk. He looked into the crowd and saw Donkey Kong in the crowd.
"Donkey Kong, do me a favor and help Ganondorf to the hospital." David said.
Donkey Kong gave him a nod, and he carried Ganondorf to the hospital. Now it was time to attend to Zelda's injuries.
"Alright everyone stand back!" David yelled. The Smashers obeyed the request.
David then got out a Syptic and disinfectant which he applied to Zelda's bleeding cuts that were at her arms, legs, and head. He then wrapped the cuts with bandages. He looked towards Zelda's stomach and saw that there was a large gash and it was causing her to lose blood quickly. There wasn't anything he could do to attend to that injury except stop the bleeding so he could get her to the hospital where there was proper equipment for the gash. He began applying pressure to the wound so that the blood could clot. After several minutes, the bleeding finally stopped. He then applied gauze to it and wrapped it with bandages. He had finally managed to stabilize Zelda. She also had burns on her body but he would leave that to the hospital, right now the main focus was to treat that gash.
"Oh my god! David! Is she going to live!" Peach cried as she arrived, very worried about her friend.
"Don't worry Peach. I was able to treat her cuts, and I stopped the bleeding for now. I need to get her to the hospital now! Where is the nearest one?" David asked
"It's not that far north from here. You can get there on foot." Peach said.
"Got it." David said.
David picked Zelda up and cradled her into his arms. He stood up and began carrying her to the Hospital.
"Don't worry Zelda, you're not dying on my watch." David said to Zelda even though she was unconscious.
After a few minutes of walking, David had arrived at the hospital. He went through the automatic door and entered the lobby.
"This woman needs attention now!" David yelled.
"Don't worry sir, we'll attend to her immediately." A nearby nurse said who then ran off to get a rolling bed for Zelda. David heard some slight moaning from Zelda. He looked down and saw that she had regained consciousness.
"Uh…D-David." She said quietly.
"It's ok Zelda, you're going to be fine." David told her.
"Thank you…David." Zelda said and then put her hand on the burned left side of David's face.
Two nurses arrived with a rolling bed and David set her down on the bed. The nurses then brought her to a room.
David had taken a seat in the lobby after Zelda had been taken into the emergency room. He had been there for two hours, and he wouldn't leave until he got an update on Zelda's condition. Finally, a doctor came to the lobby and walked towards David.
"You're Mr. David right?" the doctor asked.
"Yeah. How is she doctor?" David asked
"Don't worry David, she's going to be perfectly fine. I believe she'll be home within a week."
David sighed with relief once he heard this.
"David. I want to ask you something." The doctor said.
David then nodded to the doctor, giving him his full attention.
"While we were operating on her, we noticed that she had been given first aid attention. Was it you that performed first aid on her?"
"Yeah it was. Why?" David asked.
"Because I think you need to know that you're the reason why she's still alive. You saved her life David. You're a hero Mr. David." The doctor told David.
David had been called a hero several times in his life, and he always hated it. However, it felt different this time. He realized that in the past, he had been called a hero for his acts as Solid Snake, the soldier. He had been called a hero for stopping nuclear war, but took away lives in the process. But this was different. It wasn't Solid Snake that was being called a hero. It was David. And he was being called a hero for saving a life, not taking it away. For the first time in his life, instead of debating with someone about how he's not a hero, he just smiled.
As the doctor was heading back to the emergency room, David called out to him.
"Wait, Doctor." David said.
"Yes David?" the doctor replied.
"I just want to know, how did she get a gash like that from an explosion?" David asked.
"Actually, the injuries she got from the explosion were the cuts and burns, cuts must have been from debris hitting her. But, from the look of it, the gash was a result of being stabbed." The doctor said.
"Stabbed?"
"This definitely wasn't an accident David. This was a planned attack."
David was thinking the same thing. The question was, who was the attacker?
A few hours later, David was back at Smash Mansion. He was in the kitchen sitting at a table with Otacon. David told Otacon about the events that took place that morning.
"This is strange David. Very strange. Ganondorf, Zelda's biggest enemy, was not only not the one who did the attack, but he was a victim as well. So if Ganondorf wasn't the one who did it, I can't imagine another suspect." Otacon said.
"What I'm wondering is how this attacker stabbed Zelda. The attack happened in front of several witnesses, and they all say they didn't see anyone stab Zelda. Needless to say, whoever pulled this off is pretty damn good. We're going to find out who this guy is Otacon." David said.
"I'm with you all the way David. Don't worry, I'll investigate as soon as possible."
"All right Otacon. But don't let this take up all your time, ok? The world isn't at stake." David said
"Don't worry David, I'll keep it in moderation." Otacon assured his friend.
David was in the living room watching TV. Link entered the living room and began making his way towards David.
"Hey David?" Link said.
David turned off the TV. He knew this wasn't going to be a short conversation of small talk.
"What's going on Link?" David asked.
"First I want to thank you for saving Zelda's life. You should know that you're the only one out of us all that knew how to treat her wounds." Link said.
David had been getting praise and thanks all day long about what he did that morning.
"Well, you're welcome." David responded.
"I should have been there, I could have protected her!" Link said with rage.
"Link, stop. Don't get mad at yourself for this, this was in no way your fault." David said.
"I'm supposed to protect her, but I failed to!" Link said with a tone of both anger and sorrow.
David knew where Link was coming from. He remembered back at Shadow Moses when Meryl was shot by Sniper Wolf and captured, he blamed himself for being unable to protect him. While he hated Liquid, David's twin brother did give him good advice while disguised as Master Miller, one of David's mentors during his days with FOXHOUND. David relayed this advice to Link.
"Link, you can have regrets, it's only natural. But don't beat yourself up over the past. That road leads to madness. Believe me." David told Link.
Link was silent for a while, but he finally spoke.
"You're right David. But I want to do something, I want to find the attacker."
"Well you're in luck Link. Me and Otacon are investigating on who the attacker is. I'll make a deal with you. As soon as we find the guy who did this, we'll tell you, and you can do what you do from there. Deal?" David said to Link as he extended his hand for a shake.
"Alright, deal." Link said as he shook David's hand.
David went to bed shortly after the conversation. While he was the only one that was able to perform first aid on Zelda, he still had doubts on whether he was the only one that can solve the Smasher's problems. David decided to wait for the next day, and see what it has in store.
