The man was nervous, but this creature had just saved his life. He looked down at him and he saw the blood on his leg. It was barely distinguishable from his skin, just darker. The man decided to take his handkerchief out of his pocket, and he immediately tied it around Brooklyn's right thigh area. He tied a knot in it.
"AHHHH!" Brooklyn let out a scream of pain when the knot was tightened. He hadn't been fully unconscious, just a bit dizzy really.
"Sorry, whatever you are. I'm just trying to stop the bleeding before it gets worse." The man said.
Brooklyn's vision blurred but he could hear a voice talking to him. Some nausea came on as well. "Oh, don't… feel… good…" he mumbled.
The man was still afraid of helping this strange creature, but he wasn't going to hurt him. He had helped him, now he was returning the favor. "Can you get up?" the man asked.
Brooklyn tried to push himself up but couldn't do it alone. The man picked up one of his arms and did his best to help him to his feet. He put his arm around his shoulders. "Lean on me." He said.
Brooklyn had to put some of his weight on the strange man, who was in his thirties with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, a gray shirt on, and some black pants. He stood about 5'6. He was tall enough to near Brooklyn's 6' height.
"Uh, you have to believe I'm pretty shocked at seeing a creature such as you. My name is Ted Baxter. And can I ask your name?" Ted asked.
"Brooklyn. I'm a… gargoyle." Brooklyn replied, wincing.
Ted had heard about gargoyles in New York. And from his name, it sounded like he was one of them. He helped Brooklyn walk to his truck. Brook limped the whole way. His right hand held the wound. Brooklyn would ask later what was going on, but getting his leg treated needed to come first.
Ted got Brooklyn into the back of his truck and he would get some medical supplies from a pharmacy that he knew of that stayed open till midnight. He gave him a pillow from his truck seat to lay his head on. "Now just stay back here and don't move. I'm going to get some medical stuff to treat your leg." Ted said gently.
"Uh… thanks." Brook replied weakly. His thigh throbbed. He covered himself with his wings. He was lying on his left side.
Ted hurriedly covered Brooklyn also with a tarp before he got into his truck and started it. Lucky no one had seen what transpired out there tonight, that a gargoyle had been seen by a few baddies. Ted rushed his truck to the nearest pharmacy that he knew of. "Here, this is for your protection to keep anyone seeing you. Promise to keep it covering you while I go inside to get the medical supplies?" he asked.
Brooklyn nodded.
"Good. I'll be back shortly. I'll get the bullet out of your leg." Ted said before going inside with his wallet.
Ted went to the medical isle and looked for some medicine, tweezers, bandages, and medical tape. He also saw a scalpel there. He got that too. He might have to open up the wound more if it got stubborn with the bullet. Of course, he didn't know how thick a gargoyle's skin was.
He hurriedly paid for the stuff and got it in a bag. Then he rushed out to the truck. He checked under the tarp to make sure the creature was still there. Brook was still there. He had gone unconscious. Ted knew he had to get the creature treated or he could go into shock or sepsis.
Ted got into the truck and stepped on it to get the gargoyle to his house. It was on the edge of the town's west side. It took a little while, but he got him there. Ted got out of the truck and made sure no one was looking. Lucky it was dark enough in his yard. Ted took the tarp off Brooklyn and he tried to rouse him.
"Hey, can you wake up? I need your help to get you into my house if you want to save your leg." Ted gently shook the gargoyle.
Brooklyn felt someone shaking him. "Hmm?" he mumbled. "Ok."
Ted helped get him out of the truck back. Then, with his arm around his shoulders again, Ted helped Brook walk to his house, where he had to unlock the door, then led him inside to his couch to sit down on. Brooklyn winced in pain and held his thigh. He had his wings wrapped around his chest.
"Stay here. I'm going to go get the medical supplies to help take out the bullet." Ted instructed.
Brooklyn looked up at the strange man who he had saved. He was glad he was helping him. His blood had soaked through the handkerchief. Ted left him there to go get the stuff. It didn't take him long to return. Ted turned on the light in the room so he could see what he would be doing.
"Okay, I know this will hurt but I don't have any means to give you any pain relief before I take the bullet out of your leg." Ted explained.
"It's alright. Do what you gotta do. I'm just grateful you're helping me." Brooklyn had a calm look on his face.
Ted put some old newspaper down on his floor so blood wouldn't get on the carpet in there, then he got to work. Brooklyn knew he had to hold still while the man helped him. The hanky was taken off his wound. "Hope it didn't hit an artery." Ted said.
The blood had mostly been stopping, but it would start again. "Now, I need you to hold your leg steady for me." Ted directed him. Brook nodded. He lifted it and put his clawed heel on the table next to the couch. His hands held onto his leg.
Ted got the medical supplies out of the bag. He went and washed his hands first and sterilized the tweezers and scalpel. He had gotten some gloves too. "This is going to hurt. I'm sorry in advance." Ted stated. "And you can bite down on this hanky." He offered a clean cloth to him. Brook took it and put it into his mouth to bite down on.
Ted began to open up his wound to look for the bullet. Brooklyn held onto his leg to keep from hurting the man helping him. His eyes were shut in pain, baring his teeth, and biting on the hanky. Tears were also in his eyes from the pain. He knew the bullet had to come out.
With the wound opened up more, Ted soon located the bullet and using the tweezers, he reached inside the skin and pulled on the bullet. It didn't take much to dislodge it. Brooklyn moaned in pain as the bullet was pulled free of his thigh. "Here it is." Ted declared.
Brooklyn's eyes were aglow from the pain but he looked. He saw the bullet in the tweezers, covered in his blood. He took the hanky out of his mouth. "Thanks." He said weakly.
"What's up with your eyes? They are glowing again." Ted asked, a little afraid.
"It's just a pain reaction this time. Sorry." Brook apologized.
"Oh." Ted replied. He laid the bullet on the ground and then he went on to proceed to use some thread to stitch up the wound. Brook winced with every poke of the needle but let him do it. After that, Brooklyn laid back and he closed his eyes. Ted went on to put some gauze on his thigh as he wrapped bandages around the thigh. Brooklyn couldn't help but wince at that too but let Ted take care of it.
Brooklyn knew by now that bullets could do tremendous damage if left in the body. It had happened to Elisa when Broadway had accidentally shot her a few years ago. But she had been shot in her more vulnerable organs too. She had nearly died. At least the bullet that he had been shot with hadn't seemed to have hit an artery. There was some blood that had dripped onto the newspaper on the floor but it had had to be done.
Ted put a blanket on Brooklyn to help him stay warm before he went to take the medical stuff away. He would dispose of the newspaper.
Brooklyn opened his eyes after he heard Ted walk away. His leg throbbed. His curiosity made him raise the blanket on him and he looked at the wrapping job. Ted had bandaged most of his right thigh. Looked good too. At least this was only for one night, but it was going to seem like a long night ahead of him. He would need to stay off his leg. Most of his thigh was bandaged down to his knee.
When Ted came back, he asked, "Thanks for saving me tonight. Is there anything I can get for you? I have some Ibuprofen for pain but that's it." He offered.
Brooklyn winced. "Ugh! Yeah, pain relief would be great."
Ted left and returned shortly with two pills and a glass of water to help get them down. Brooklyn gladly took them. He hoped this would also help keep his dizziness at bay too.
"Have you eaten? It might be best to eat after taking those." Ted declared.
"I… was going to get some supplies earlier, but I was exploring the town when I chanced upon what was happening to you. No, I haven't." Brooklyn explained.
"Okay. I have pizza, some TV dinners, bread, and lunchmeat." Ted said.
"No pizza, thanks. A TV dinner might be good though. I need a break from bread. Lately, that's all I seem to eat." Brooklyn stated.
"Alright. I have chicken fettuccine. How's that?" Ted asked.
"Sounds good to me." Brooklyn replied.
Ted left to go make up the food for his guest. Brooklyn heard some noises coming from the kitchen. Ted was getting the dinner ready. He set the timer for four minutes to warm up the dinner in the microwave. He didn't want to keep his guest waiting.
Brooklyn had no idea that taking such medication was a bad idea. And soon, the food was brought to him on a plate. There were also some Oreo cookies for his dessert. He already had the glass of water. "Thanks." He said.
"Do you want something else to drink like milk or apple juice?" Ted asked.
Brooklyn had started eating the food. "Apple juice sounds good. I've been living on water for a while now," he replied. He would love to have something different.
Ted went and got him some juice. Brook was so grateful for this meal. It was nice to have something different for a change. He had earned this meal tonight.
Ted then sat down in the chair across from Brooklyn and watched him eat. He had himself a turkey sandwich and juice too. He was curious about his savior. He noticed that Brook was ravenous but he ate in a dignified manner.
Brooklyn didn't say much while he was eating. He just wanted to eat. The food was to die for. He also loved eating the Oreos too. When he was done, he laid the plate on the table without moving far. He then downed the juice.
Ted had also finished his dinner too.
"Hmm. That was good, Ted." Brooklyn said happily. "Thanks."
"It is my pleasure since you saved me. But what is your story? Never seen you around here before." Ted asked.
"I'm just passing through. I can't stay for long." Brooklyn replied. "I have to get home to my loved ones. I was taken from them a few months back to a lab in Nevada. I came here to get on a train to take me to New York." He explained.
"I was right. I know of you guys in New York. So, you're one of them." Ted declared.
"Yes. Please, don't turn me into authorities. I don't want to be treated like a lab specimen again." Brooklyn begged Ted.
"I won't do that to you after what you did for me. I promise. But you aren't going anywhere until your leg heals." Ted said firmly.
"That's just a one-night problem. My leg will be healed tomorrow night. I really must get going again tomorrow night and I'm totally grateful for you helping me out with it." Brooklyn declared.
"How would the wound be healed by tomorrow night?" Ted asked.
"I turn to stone in the daytime. It has healing tendencies."
"Oh. Cool." Ted said serenely. "Well, I could get you some food supplies for the trip."
"That would be good. It needs to be non-perishable food." Brooklyn stated.
"I know of some of those types." Ted said. "I'll get it tomorrow after work. But I have to go to bed shortly. You should get some rest too."
"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere tonight." Brooklyn declared. "Not with this hurt leg."
"Do you need anything else before I head to bed?" Ted asked.
"Um, why were those men after you anyway?" Brooklyn asked.
"I like to play Poker at that bar sometimes. I won a hand of over $300 dollars from them and they didn't like that very much. They didn't want to stand to lose their money. They shouldn't have been playing then if they didn't want to lose it." Ted explained.
"You're a gambler?"
"Not all the time. Every once in a while. This was just one of those nights." Ted said.
"Oh." Brook replied. He didn't know what to say. "But you sure knew how to treat my leg."
"I've seen enough TV crime shows to know how to extract a bullet. I used to also go hunting with my dad a long time ago." Ted replied. "Ok, well I need to go to bed. Get some rest."
Ted got up and went to his bathroom first and got ready for bed. Brooklyn laid back on the couch and got comfortable. He needed the rest. Ted came back afterward and turned off the living room light.
Brooklyn normally loved to be active at night, but what choice did he have in this matter? It was better to rest and get his strength back. Ted went to his bedroom and went to bed. He set his alarm because he wanted to give the gargoyle some food before sunrise the next morning.