DISCLAIMER:  I have no such knowledge of early 20th century medical practices or weaponry so I did the best of my ability to accommodate realism. Chapter 9

            As they walked from the Moulin Rouge, Diana thought about where they could go.  They couldn't go home and Christian was in no shape to go far. 

            Diana then thought of three shady characters she met when she came to Montmartre.  She knew them as Jack, Charlie, and Vicki but in more notorious circles they were affectionately called Slick, All Ears, and Twisted Little Sister respectively.

            Christian was visibly having problems now; the amount of blood he was losing was starting to make him slip into near unconsciousness.  Diana had to get him safe and quick.  She took him to the basement of the Absinthe Bar, where her three underworld friends lived.

            "Amethyst!" Jack greeted her.

            "You have to help me." She said. 

            Jack noticed Christian and quickly opened the door for her.  Diana helped Christian to the bed in the back bedroom.  By this time, Charlie and Vicki had heard the commotion and joined them.

            "What happened?" Vicki inquired.

            "I'm not going into it now!  You have to help me.  Jack, hold him down." Diana said as she moved to Christian's leg.  Christian was near blacking out and had trouble focusing on his wife's voice.

            "Christian! Look at me!" Diana screamed to get his attention.  He desperately tried to focus on her.

            "Darling, listen to me," she said with her hands on his leg.  "I'm going to try to get it out but it is really going to hurt.  I'm warning you now."  Christian nodded, signaling his understanding.  "I'm sorry." Diana whispered as she prepared herself for what she had to do. 

            She stuck her hands in the bullet hole in Christian's pant leg and ripped it open so she could get to the wound.  He flinched with pain since some of the fabric had been stuck to the wound.  She had to feel where the bullet was to help him.  Diana pressed down on his leg to feel for the lump.  As she applied pressure, Christian screamed out in agony, tears streaming down his face.

            "I'm sorry Christian but I have to."

            Diana felt the bone in his upper leg and was relieved that it wasn't broken.  Then she felt the bullet; it wasn't deep fortunately.

            "I need something to grab it with and something to clean it out." Vicki scurried into an adjacent room to bring back a basin of water and a soft cloth and tweezers.

            "Give him something to bite on for this." Diana said to the two men holding her husband down.  Charlie removed his belt, bent it in half, and then placed it in Christian's mouth.

            "I'm sorry my love." Diana said as she pressed the tweezers in the hole in Christian's leg to retrieve the bullet.  Christian's screams of pain echoed in her ears as she grabbed the cause of all this misery.  Christian was now quite out of breath and he was panting as Diana washed out the wound and bandaged it up.

            Jack, Charlie, and Vicki backed of from Diana and Christian as she moved up to comfort him.

            Diana slowly and painfully knelt down next to the bed so she could calm Christian.  She wiped the tears from his cheeks as she kissed him and gently caressed his face.  "Just rest now." She whispered to Christian as she soothed him, wishing for him to fall asleep.

            When Christian had finally drifted off, Diana emerged into the living area, where her three friends waited.  Diana sank down into a chair as if the entire world was lifted off her.

            "What happened tonight Amethyst?" Jack said again.

            "Where do you want me to begin?" Diana whispered as she began to bandage her hands.

            "The beginning."

            "I broke free from a kidnapper only to almost be recaptured.  Christian came to get me and he was shot.  I killed his shooter while he incapacitated my captor.  It was never supposed to be like this.  Montmartre was supposed to be a new start." Diana said with her head buried in her hands.

            No one yet had taken full notice of her injuries, because of the previous chaos, until Vicki took a closer look.

            "What did they do to you?"

            "Well, they beat me like an animal because I never submitted to them.  The bruises, the scrapes, the cracked ribs; all because I refused to sell the Moulin Rouge." Diana sighed.  "You have to help me.  Charlie, keep an ear out… no one knows about this.  Jack, I need you to book passage for Christian and me to New York, as soon as possible.  We can't stay here any longer."  They acknowledged their agreement and understood her completely.