Disclaimer! Warning … this chapter gets graphic. You can skip if you want and I'll put a recap at the beginning of the next update.
The shot is fired.
Maddy's scream turns hoarse and she and Curran turn their heads toward the heavy breathing and whimpers, only to find that the elderly homeless man from before, who'd stayed lingering near the door, had hurled himself in front of Emily. "Oh my god," Maddy covers her mouth with a hand in shock as a shaking Emily grips the shoulders of the valiant stranger. His body is still covering Emily's and when he moves his hand the first drops of blood emerge, a steady stream running from his abdomen.
Curran doesn't seem to know what to think.
"You're a Shannon?" the homeless man asks Maddy, his tired eyes boring into her.
"Y-yes."
He nods slowly, dropping a hand to grip Emily's. "Help me up now, doll," he says, his voice rough and gravelly. He mutters to himself in between snorts, "Well well well … the doc has a third now does she … course she does, course she does … sweet lady …"
"You need to lie down, and you need medical attention. Keep applying pressure," Emily commands, though she is in shock. Her instincts from working at the hospital emerge, and she assess the patient, checking his pulse and attempting to contain the situation. She asks his name.
The man merely repeats his request to be helped to his feet, and Curran finally responds, raising his weapon and snapping at them to remain still. Ignoring the armed guard, the stranger coughs, blood now dribbling from his mouth. Emily takes a ragged breath, realizing that there won't be much they can do to help him, particularly since he won't let her get a good look at the wound, continuously shielding her body with his own.
"Curran, he needs an ambulance," Maddy speaks up. He's given her more space now, and she uses it to cautiously inch toward the two cowering on the ground.
"He interfered with the actions of an officer of the law," Curran says, but he's started twitching, his uncertainty showing with the shake of his hands. His words meanwhile spark a loud series of guffaws from the injured man who has resorted to struggling to his feet on his own, leading the girls to each grab an arm to steady him.
"Dr. Shannon's a good one," the man garbles. "Helps ya out no matter what yous looks like. No matter if you don't have nothing. Not many a doctors'll do that now adays. Not many people at all looks out for us on the streets. Gave me these boots when I was in for the fever. Hands the kiddies food on the sidewalks."
"Crime is crime no matter who commits it!" Curran snaps.
"Look who's talking, kid." He glances at Maddy and after another spurt of blood from his mouth asks her to give his regards to the doc. "Lovelies, you're gonna have ta book it," he says so casually, as if commenting on the weather, it catches them all off guard, causing a pause amidst the unlikely group.
Leaving no room to misinterpret, the man musters his remaining strength and charges, staggering with all of his weight behind him to tackle Curran to the ground. "This is for Zoe!" he growls. "This is for the doc's family!" Emily yanks Maddy's arm, immediately dragging her out of the building and past the few stares of pedestrians whose attention had been grabbed.
But Maddy turns back, watching in slow motion as Curran reaches the gun that fell from his grasp in the fall and holds it to the head of the man who is on top of him and punching him with everything he's got left.
Maddy sees the spray of blood hit the windows before her and Emily get lost in the crowd.
They never found out the man's name.