When I came to, I was in the hospital.
A hot nurse, who didn't look very much older than me was walking in. "Hey," I croaked. "Which room is Carmelita Spats in?"
The nurse looked at a clipboard. "Room 301," she said. "You're in Room 300. But you have you have to stay in here for the time being."
I nodded. "Did the bullet come out?"
"Yes," she said. "Yours and Ms. Spats'. We have your bullet right here."
I thought a moment. "I don't know why, but can I have it?"
The nurse laughed. "Do you keep a gun?" she asked.
I shook my head. "No, but I was kind of going to…keep it on a chain, like Tom Sawyer did at the end of Huckleberry Finn."
The nurse smiled. "You've read it? So have I. Do you know how he was shot?"
"He was shot loosely by the man he, Huck and Huck's slave-friend were after," I said.
"Is your name Duncan?" she said. I nodded.
"I'm Jenny," she said. "I'm 19. How old are you?"
I told her. "So I'm only about three years older than you," she said. I nodded.
I noticed I was staring at her, so I asked, "Wait. You're 19 and you're a nurse?"
She nodded. "I started medical school last year, and I did exceedingly well, so they promoted me," she said.
Man, I'd become a doctor if I didn't have to spend so many years in school! But if I could end up working here, well…
"Do you go to Prufrock Prep?" she asked. I nodded.
After a long conversation, she checked me out, and said, "Well Duncan, I'd say you'll be out of here in about two days."
"Seriously?" I said. She nodded.
After she left, Violet, Quigley, Klaus, Sunny and Isadora walked in.
"Are you okay?" Violet asked me. I nodded. "Never better. And look…"
I showed them the black, lead bullet.
"I'd think you'd want to get rid of that," Sunny said. I shrugged. "I just wanted to keep it. Especially in Huckleberry Finn…"
After all of them-well, all of them but Klaus-made weird glances, I said, "Never mind. Well, how's school coming along? Did Nero get fired? I hope so."
"Fired?" Klaus exclaimed. "He's dead."
I bolted up. "Really?" I asked.
Isadora nodded. "After he shot you, Carmelita still had five more seconds of consciousness. Guess what she did?"
"She put an end to Nero," Quigley finished.
"He should have seen it coming," Klaus said. "Those police officers were the biggest babies ever-even after Nero switched targets, they wouldn't draw! I mean, they totally outnumbered him-"
Violet interrupted him. "Anyway…where were you shot?"
I held up my arm. It was stabilized by a contraption attached to the bed. Sunny said, "Can I look at it?"
"Sure," I said. "Just be careful." She looked where the wrapping was clipped together, and said, "Did it hurt when they took the bullet out?"
"They put him to sleep, Sunny," said Klaus. "I thought it was Violet's turn to correct her."
"I've been doing it since…ever," Violet said.
"How long was ever?" Klaus asked. "As long as I'm going to bury you in the dirt if you don't shut up," Violet said.
"Hey, hey, take it outside," I joked. "We're going to go grab a bite," Isadora said. "You want us to bring you back something?"
"I'm not that hungry," I said. They shrugged, and after the rest of them went, Quigley stayed.
"Hey," he said. "You didn't have to take that bullet for me-you could have stayed back."
I sat up and said, "Quigley, before they died, Mom and Dad told me that as oldest of the family, it was my job to make sure you and Izzy stay alive, no matter what. And I've been doing that. If none of us stay alive, there's no chance the Quagmire Family can multiply. Even if it means I die."
Quigley looked worried. "Don't worry," I said. "I won't die anytime soon. There's a hot nurse here, see, and I think I really like her. If it's right for me, I'm willing to go the mile that leads to her heart."
"But I thought you loved Violet," he said.
"I thought I did, Quigley," I said. "But, we're just friends. Who knows, this nurse named Jenny, we might go out sometime or something. Nobody knows. You can hang onto Violet if you like. But I'm maturing, see, and the time I've been lying in this bed, I've been thinking: what would be to happen if I die anytime soon? I can't just hang onto things I imagine; I have to make them happen. This nurse, she's not too much older than me, and, I don't know. But I think she might like me, and I think I like her. So I have to take a chance, Quigley. Life is limited; you can't spend it being cramped up in a dorm in a serious academy. Remember all the times we snuck off campus, we actually put Operation: Nero Knockout into action, and I took a bullet to the arm. I never gambled before, Quigley, but I took a gamble when I revealed that I was the one with the plan the whole time to Nero."
He had tears in his eyes. "You better go, Quigley," I said. "And check on Ollie Westin. Tell him I'd like to sort out the reward money with Mr. Principal when I get out of here."
"I'll do that," Quigley said. With that, he left.
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When I finally got out of the hospital, Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Quigley and Isadora were there to greet me. We were on our way out when I saw Jenny.
"You guys go ahead," I said. "I'll be there in a second."
They nodded and headed to the taxi.
I walked over to her. "So, this is it," she said. I nodded. "Um, Jenny, I was thinking…maybe we could, I don't know…catch a movie sometime, like this weekend?"
"Sure, that'd be great," she said. "So, how's Saturday? Have any plans for then?"
I turned and looked at the other five, who were waving for me to come on. "That sounds perfect," I said. "See you then."
She smiled. "I usually don't date boys younger than me, but you're a nice guy, Duncan." She kissed me and left.
I walked back to the taxi, doing handsprings.
You probably didn't think it would end like this. You might think this last chapter had a lot of flaws, but that's the end of Quigley's Quest. I hope you liked it. And I'm changing the title and the concept of the last part of the trilogy to Duncan's Drama. I thought about Izzy's Irritation, and it didn't sound that good. Duncan's Drama is serious; more serious than this or Baudelaires Bullied. There will be some funny parts, like all stories/movies. But this'll be a serious drama. I've had my funny side with this and some other of my stories. But I think I'm ready to start a SERIOUS story. I promise I'll update better than I did this, though.