DISCLAIMER: I own nothing and no recognizable characters from Hellboy. I am just a poor college student who also happens to be a rabid fan and this just happens to be a fanfiction that my mind came up with that I feel like sharing with other fans. I make absolutely NO money from this fanfic. It is merely for fun and hopefully the enjoyment of other fans. Please don't sue and fans please enjoy.
Chapter 14: Shot Through the Heart
He couldn't breathe. Oh god he couldn't breathe. His lungs burned with need of oxygen, but still he just couldn't breathe.
The bullet had taken Abe high on his left shoulder making him fall back heavily. The breath was knocked from his lungs as he hit the ground. Being shot immediately became a second issue as Abe struggle desperately for air.
There was shouting and confusion, but Abe couldn't comprehend any of it. William's worried face swam into view above him. The old medic seemed to be trying to say something, but the Icthyo sapien couldn't hear him past the pounding of his own heartbeat. He needed air!
Then, suddenly, his lungs unfroze. The first cool breath of oxygen felt like heaven to Abe. He sucked in greedily until it filled his staved lungs completely. Then he exhaled slowly and looked around trying to figure out what was going on.
Abe soon found himself lying on the grass where he fallen. The Icthyo sapien also found he had unconsciously wrapped his right arm over his chest so it clutched at his wounded shoulder.
Abe blinked and his brow furrowed. Something was strange. He couldn't feel any blood.
William was kneeling beside Abe with the strange man looking over his shoulder. "Dammit, Jeremiah. Shut up!" William yelled at the stranger, presumably Jeremiah, before turning back to the injured Icthyo sapien. "Abe, Abe can you hear me? I need to move your arm. I can't see the wound. Common Abe, don't you dare croak on me now. I just need you to move a little–"
"Wil-laim," Abe said hoarsely, immediately catching the old medics attention. "William I'm fine… Kevlar caught it…" The Icthyo sapien's voice was halting and clipped as he had to stop every few words to take a breath, but William seemed to understand.
The old soldier sat back on his haunches with a sigh. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and suddenly looking years older then he really was. "Thought we had lost you there, old son," he said softly when he looked up again.
"Sorry," Abe said with the hint of a shaky smile. The Icthyo sapien then relaxed back, closed his eyes and just concentrated on breathing for a while.
"It talks. It freakin' talks." Abe heard what had to be Jeremiah's voice through the darkness, but it didn't really matter to him. Being called an 'it' was not the worse thing anyone had ever said about him.
"Jeremiah," William growled dangerously. "What did I just tell you to do a moment ago?"
Abe smiled slightly. He could practically hear the young stranger gulp. William was obviously not a man to cross when he was angry.
"Good boy." The old soldier said after a moment of silence. Then he must have turned back to Abe because his next quiet words were directed to the Icthyo sapien.
"Abe, can you move your hand? I really want to get a look at that shoulder even if the bullet didn't get through."
Abe nodded a little and moved his right hand down to rest across his abs. He knew William was right. He couldn't really feel his shoulder. It just felt numb and cold, as if it wasn't truly apart of his body at that moment, and that was a bit worrisome.
After William had managed to get both Abe's shirt and vest clear, he could see that the bullet had hit Abe a few inches under his collar bone. The area didn't look that bad currently, but the medic could already see faint bruises developing. This could have ended up a lot worse, the old soldier thought darkly. If Abe body make up was anything like a humans then that bullet had been awfully close to his heart. William wasn't sure he would have been able to save the Icthyo sapienif the projectile had made it through the bulletproof vest and he didn't even want to think of what would have happened if Abe hadn't been wearing said vest. All in all, that had been way too close.
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Abe lay on the ground quietly and let William check him over. This occurrence had certainly been inconvenient. The Icthyo sapien sighed, enjoying how good it felt to be able to breath freely again even under the circumstances. His eyes were then startled open as something furry above him snuffed in his face. Icthyo sapien's gaze focused on the snout of a full grown golden retriever. Abe couldn't help it, he smiled.
"Sam, what're you doing?" William said pushing the dog gently away from Abe.
Sam, the golden retriever, retreated a few feet willingly and then sat looking at Abe and William with his tail wagging cheerfully.
Abe turned his head to the right to watch the dog. The Icthyo sapien slowly reached his uninjured arm out for Sam to first sniff and then lick. "My you are a handsome one." Abe said scratching the dog behind the ears, much to the animals liking. "Is he yours?" the Icthyo sapien asked William.
"No, he's with the idiot," the old soldier answered thrusting his thumb back to point at Jeremiah. The younger man looked like he wanted to say something, but a glare from William shut him up.
"Well we might as well get you back to Martha's," William said after a while. "The best thing we can do for you now is get some ice on that shoulder." Then he turned to Jeremiah with an evil grin "And guess what? You're going to help."
After that, Abe made a mental note never to piss off William.
TBC…
Thank to all my readers who have stayed with me this long. I hope you are enjoying this story. Can't wait to see you in the next chapter and please review!
SesshiraRayu: Glad that you enjoy my little 'duh moments' as much as I do. It's relly nice to hear from you. About the song… I guess I wasn't sure anyone would really listen to me. I know sometimes the urge to just read the story and skip the notes can get pretty strong. So, I'm curious… do you listen to all my chapter titles?
Iz the Shadow Pirate: Omigod!!! You are an Artemis Fowl fan!!! Me Too. Me Too… I don't care if it is considered Juvenile Fictions. It still brilliant!!! I actually developing a Hellboy crossover with Artemis Fowl right now. It's set somewhere between the first three books because later there's that problem Root has (don't want to give anything away…), Holly changes jobs and then demons come into the picture and that just gets confusing for me to work with since HB is considered a demon by some. It doesn't really deal much with Artemis much, more with the Lower Elements but hopefully it will still be good when I work out all the kinks… That stories pretty much only in the outline stages right now because I don't want to start much new stuff while I'm still working on the two fanfics that are already on FF, but hopefully someday you will be able to read it…
Echodex: I am glad you like this so well! I know it's was depressing that Abe got shot but hey, it's probably not the first time… thank you so much for you reviews and I hope to 'see' you in the next chapter. Oh and about me being fast: I'm afraid I will have to slow down in a bit because I'm going to be moving soon, then getting a job and after that going to school. AKA: life's going to get a little hectic. I guess because of that, I'm trying to get as much up as I can while I still have some free time, but don't worry, I will promise to finish this fanfic someday…
Hey Peya Luna, I think you are the first review for chapter 13 that remembered about Abe's vest. Congrats! I actually hoped that there had been enough stuff to make most of my readers forget about that fact… surprise/worry factor and all that, but I am very impressed that you remembered. I agree that the 'shoot first ask questions later' philosophy is quite a stupid one, but it made my story seem more realistic to a point because, frankly, that's what some people do… not everyone was going to go "hey look, a blue fishman thing… I wonder if it want's to be friends"… that's just not how the world works, unfortunately… Anyway… thanks for your review! I really appreciate all the feedback you have been giving me.
Um… call out to Nightshade… did I loose you somewhere?
P.S. Chapter Title: "Shot Through the Heart" is a lyric from the song "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi