MY BEST FRIEND
Time slowed down, well, it felt like that. Mandy was still awake, despite the blood loss, but everything looked to be as if it was moving in slow motion for her. Voices around her seemed slurred but the constant ticking clocks were very loud in her ears...or maybe it was her own heartbeat thumping away a mile per minute. She honestly didn't know, she was so delirious. Mandy also found this odd sense of comfort that managed to keep her conscious through the whole trip back to the Continental, the smell of musk and gunsmoke. John was carrying her on his back so she knew where the smell came from, she knew it quite well too. She remembered in the past having to be carried back like this a couple of times, so it was a familiar feeling to her that brought her relief. But inside the depths of her mind...a sensation of loneliness lingered for some reason.
John felt Mandy slump down and rested her head against his back. "Mandy?" he called out, a bit concerned.
"I'm still alive," she answered back weakly.
He nodded his head and walked through the halls of the Continental and up to the front desk. It was there that the concierge looked up, seeing a bruised and beaten John and a semi-unconscious Mandy on his back. She peeked up at him with her hazy and sleepy brown eyes, sporting a small smile.
The concierge greeted them very calmly. "Good evening, Mr. Wick, Ms. Rose."
"Good evening." John's whole body was quivering with pain since the adrenaline already wore off.
"How may I be of service?" he asked, as polite as ever.
"Is the doctor in?" John asked.
The concierge nodded. "Yes, sir. 24/7."
"Then send him up, please."
"Yes, sir."
John looked like he was going to leave when a thought crossed his mind and he stopped. "How good is your laundry?"
Mandy chuckled under her breath.
The concierge looked conflicted while glancing down at the state their clothes were in. Tattered and covered in blood. "I'm sorry to say that no one's that good," he, unfortunately, said to them.
John shrugged. "No. I thought not."
"May I suggest a drink, sir. Bourbon, perhaps." he offered another choice.
John pondered on it for a while but decided to change his mind. "Do you have Gray Goose Vodka?" he asked.
"We do." he nodded, glancing at Mandy laying limp on John's back. "Is it for the lady?"
"Yes. It's her, uh...favorite drink."
Mandy pressed her back hard against the bed while John was sat on the other side, keeping a firm hand on her shoulder so she wouldn't move around so much. It felt like her body was on fire and she couldn't help but squirm under the needle as the doctor stitched her wound closed.
"Ow!" Mandy bit down on her lips and balled her hands up into tight fists.
"Just hold still," the doctor said while treading the needle through her skin once more, just about finishing up. "I'm almost done."
Mandy draped her arm over her glassy eyes and groaned with deeply buried pain in her voice. She stretched her hand out and John grabbed it tightly.
John held onto her hand but it felt like she was going to rip it off, she was holding it so tightly. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked, bearing through the intense pain his hand was going through right now.
"She'll live." the doctor cut the string off and tied it up. "Things never change between you two. 10 years later and this girl is still foolishly reckless. I recall plenty of times you had to carry Mandy in on your back."
Mandy wasn't going to protest against that remark since she had the scars to prove it. This incident is only going to add to them too. "I know, I know. I'm sorry."
"So what sort of movement is she looking at?" John asked.
"Well, if she's looking to heal, then keep it marginal. However, if you both still have...business to attend to." He reached over the table and grabbed a small container of pills. "Take two of these beforehand," he said and handed them over to Mandy.
She held the container up and shook the pills around under the light. "Sweet. Thanks." She set it down on the table and reached for the bottle of Gray Goose Vodka that was already half empty. She lost count of how many times she poured herself a drink. She was pretty sure it was the 6th time already.
"Don't thank me just yet." he gave her a grim warning. "Your stitches will tear and you'll bleed, but you'll have full function."
"That's all I need." Mandy winked and leaned her head back, chugging down another glass of burning rich vodka.
"Do you need anything for the pain?" he aked
"No," Mandy shook her head and gestured to her empty glass. "I've got that covered."
After examining the stitches, Mandy pulled her shirt down and gently adjusted herself in bed to get comfortable. She pulled the covers over her body and watched John escort the doctor out of the room after cleaning up.
John closed the door and made sure to lock it afterwards. He turned back around, only to see Mandy's eyes firmly on him. "What is it?" he said and pulled up a chair and sat in front of her.
"Go ahead, tell me I'm stupid." she sighed and sank her head deeper into her pillow
"I'm not going to do that." John shook his head and laid his hand on top of her head. "It's always been like this. I clear the back and you go ahead. This time though...I didn't realize you were in trouble until it was too late." he said somberly. Mandy clearly saw the regret in his eyes.
"We haven't worked together in 10 years, John." She reached her hand up and patted his face in a childish attempt to smack the gloom right off him. "We're just out of sync. That's all."
John smiled and moved his head away when Mandy tried to smack him again. "I guess it'll take some time to get used to it again."
Mandy smiled and felt her consciousness slowly drift away under his hand that ran through her hair. She closed her eyes and fell into this comforting trance that came from the warmth and ruggedness of his hand. It all ended too soon though when her heart abruptly became cold for some reason, her eyes snapping wide open. She reached for his hand and gently pulled it off but held on tightly, looking him dead in the eyes. "You know you're my best friend, right?" Her voice was bitter, choking on her own words that felt poisonous to her.
John furrowed his eyebrows at her strange behavior. "Yeah," he said and felt his hand being released from hers. Looking up at the clock, he only realized just how much time had passed. "You want me to go and get you something to eat?" he asked, hoping to change the subject and bring Mandy back to her usual sarcastic and childish self.
"If it ain't to much trouble." Even Mandy had to admit that she was pretty hungry.
"No, shouldn't be." John got up from the chair and pulled his blazer back on. "Do you still like Chinese, with the crab rolls and duck sauce?"
A genuine look of surprise came to her face. "How the hell did you remember that?"
"It's because you use to order it all the time. It'll take me more than just 10 years to forget." He literally saw her eyes sparkled like a child. "Stay here and don't leave this room."
Mandy smiled and waved her fingers at him from the comfort of the bed. She watched in her silence as John left the room, leaving nothing but the soft click of the door behind him. Moments later, Mandy's smile fell.
The sensation of sudden isolation ripping into her heart while she laid there under the cold covers. It was so quiet for her and she literally could make out all the little sounds around her, which wasn't much since everyone was settling down for the day. The sun had disappeared and Mandy could clearly see that through the open windows.
She preferred to go gentle into the good night and slowly started to close her eyes. The mattress was a blissful cloud and it didn't take long for her to drift away from reality and all its horrors...so she was taken back when this shot fired right through the glass window and hit the pillow she was laying on, inches from her head. Mandy's eyes shot open wide, fully awake in seconds. In a flash, she rolled off the bed and onto the ground. She looked up to see a woman walking steadily into her room, gun in hand. They made eye contact for a fraction of a second before Mandy bailed, sliding across the bed once more just as four shots rang out behind her.
"Holy!" Mandy shouted and kept down low, hearing Perkins moving around behind her.
Perkins smiled. "Long time no see, Mandy." She peeked her head around the corner to see if she could spot her. "I thought I'd let myself in."
Mandy narrowed her eyes. "Then you can see yourself out...in a body bag." Her voice cut in deep. Looking around desperately, her eyes honed in on a pillow and she grabbed it like it was the most trusty weapon in the room and began to stuff it with whatever was around her, anything that was heavy. "The fuck are you doing here?"
"Viggo's giving me four to break hotel rules," she explained.
Perkins withdrew from her cover and pointed her pistol downwards. She tried to fire at Mandy but the heavy pillowcase slammed right into her gunhand and made the shot go off course. Mandy used her free hand to keep the gun away and headbutted Perkin's right in the nose. They both stumbled away from each other. It hurt like a son of a bitch but Mandy hardly looked like it affected her.
Blood dripped down Perkins's nose. "You were always a pussy." she gritted through her teeth that were covered in blood as well.
"Takes one to know one." She wrapped her arms around her neck and trapped her in an armbar. "You always hated me..."
Perkin's gasped from the lack of oxygen and struggled to get free from Mandy's surprisingly iron-clad grip."That's because...you thought you were special," she spat her venomous words out, knowing that it would affect Mandy in some mental battle with herself.
Mandy flinched at the remark. "Bullshit," she accidentally lightened her grip. Soon after, Perkins slams her fist right into Mandy's newly stitched up wound, the pain enveloping her body like a thousand bee stings. "Fuck!" The phone was blazing in her ears when she was suddenly clocked across the jaw.
The concierge waited patiently by the phone for anyone to answer but it just kept on ringing. He looked up and saw John walking back into the hotel with a bag full of Mandy's crab rolls and duck sauce. It was obvious it was fresh since the bag was hot.
"Mr. Wick," he called out. "It seems that we've gotten a noise complaint from your room."
John set the bag on the table and froze. "What?" his voice dropped and panic swarmed his eyes.
"Is anyone else in the room?"
"Mandy's supposed to be." That was all he said before darting to the stairs, not bothering to take the elevator because it would take too long.
The concierge glanced at the bag of food that John left behind and slowly began to dial the room number once more...waiting in silence with the smell of crab rolls gradually filling the lobby.
Perkins climbed up on Mandy's back and was trying to strangle all the air out of her. Mandy surely would have passed out from the lack of oxygen if her anger wasn't spiking. She grits her teeth hard and slammed Perkins up against every single shelf in the room to try and get this monkey-of-a-woman off her.
"Get off...me!" She finally found the chance and managed to tear Perkins off her and right onto a table, breaking it under her weight.
Mandy stumbled away towards the bed and gasped as the air returned to her lungs. Her whole body burned and she couldn't stop shaking. She looked down at her wound that bled through her white shirt. She wasn't sure if the stitches broke but they were obviously agitated by Perkin's hitting against it. The ringing phone finally annoyed Mandy enough to pick it up. "Hello?" she answered roughly and crumpled to the floor, her back practically crashing against the wall.
She heard the concierge on the other end. "I apologize for calling you at this hour, but we have received a number of grievances from your floor concerning the noise," he said.
Mandy chuckled a bit through the staggering pain in her side. "Ah, sorry about that. Something, uh...came up." Her voice then suddenly darkened when she saw Perkin's try and crawl out of the room through the open door. "I'll take care of it right now." Mandy hung up the phone. She put her hands on her shaking knees and pushed herself up.
Perkin's scraped her nails against the carpet and crawled out into the hallway as fast as she could, as if she knew what was going to happen if she stayed in Mandy's line of sight for too long. She felt her body grow cold though when the sound of heavy footsteps fastly began to approach from behind. She let out a small yelp when her hair was roughly pulled and she was forced onto her back. Mandy wrapped her long fingers around her neck and held up a long silver knife in her hand.
She wouldn't do it, right? Then she would be breaking the hotel's rules.
Perkins couldn't breathe and saw her death dancing on the edge of the knife. Mandy's eyes even looked clouded, her expression flat and lacking any kind of emotion or common sense. She then took her knife and she swiftly brought it down with the intention to silence her. But before she could do just that, Mandy was suddenly yanked off.
"Mandy, no!" John urged and wrapped both his arms around her stomach, lifting her in the air and pulling his partner away from Perkins.
Mandy held her hands up and dropped the knife, finally coming back to her senses. "I'm cool! I'm cool!" she said and stepped away from John. "I'm...freaking great."
John made it but just barely, having to had come around the corner just in time to see Mandy moments away from killing Perkins.
He reached down and picked up the knife, taking a moment to look over his friend. She was covered in even more bruises and the wound on her side was a gruesome discoloration of red and purple. He can see her stitches, they weren't torn but definitely strained against her bruised skin, which is why it was colored like that. "Are you okay?" he had to ask, wanting to be sure she was truly alright.
Mandy bit down on her lips and avoided eye contact. "Yeah, just...been a long night." Her voice was worn.
John clenched the knife in his hand tightly and stared down at Perkins with overwhelming menace. If looks could kill then she surely would be dead. "Where's Losef?" he snarled and kneeled down beside her.
Perkin's spat blood at him. "Fuck you. I'm not telling you shit."
Mandy's eyes went wide and she took a big step towards her. John, of course, stopped her before she could take a second chance to try and kill Perkins. He was aware of the hatred these two had for each other, though it was mostly because of Perkins always trying to best Mandy in some way or form. It seems as though that hasn't changed at all either. Mandy could still out best Perkins, even in her worse state.
Mandy scoffed. "You really want to start something else right now? I can still very easily drag your ass out of the hotel and shoot you. I don't care. Do you really want to die here?" Her words were so utterly chilling that it made even John a bit surprised.
Perkins looked to ponder on her choices for a bit. "Little Russia," she finally confessed. "There's a church near Cannon Court."
"What about it?" John said.
"It's a front, It's where Viggo keeps his private stash."
"Thank you." John took the end of the knife and struck it against her head, knocking her out. He looked up to Mandy and saw her lifting her hands up in a defensive position for some reason. It was a second later he heard the sound of a cocking gun behind him.
"Do I know you two?" a voice said from behind.
John followed in Mandy's suit and lifted his hands. "I'm thinking so." He looked over his shoulder and saw a familiar old face, Harry standing in the doorway of his hotel room, gun in hand.
"It's been a long time, you two," Harry said and lowered his gun. "I'm actually surprised to see that Mandy's still alive."
"Barely," she muttered and held her bleeding side.
"Everything all right?" he asked.
"Yeah," John said. "Everything's fine."
Harry nodded his head and was about to walk back into his room. "I'll leave you to it, then."
"Hey, Harry." John suddenly called back. "You keen on earning a coin? Babysitting the sleeping one?" He gestured to Perkins.
"Catch and release?"
"Catch and release," he confirmed and looked back up to Mandy, seeing her frown. "What's wrong?"
Disappointment crossed her eyes when a thought came to mind. "Don't tell me...you forgot my crab rolls down in the lobby?"
Author's Note:
I'm back! I hope you didn't abandon me in the time I was gone.
"You're my best friend." Did Mandy seriously just friendzone herself? By choice? ...Come on girl...it's obvious!
I gotta say though, this was a fun chapter to write for. 'The sensation of isolation' and 'She preferred to go gentle into the good night'. I'm actually really proud of myself, but really now...Mandy's like a freaking dog. You can't leave her alone for too long or else she'll become lonely. Imagine leaving your dog and seeing their happy face as you close the door, I'm sure that smile would fall once they realize that you're not coming back. It's kinda how Mandy feels...God knows what she had to go through during those 10 years...which we'll find out the reason why very soon.