A/N: This is the next to last chapter, people :) Thank you so much for all your support and your feedback! Every single one of you is amazing. I'll thank each of you personally in chapter 7. Enjoy!
Chapter Six
"Somehow"
10K lay still, aware of the coldness of the hard floor pressing against his cheek. Aware of small drops of his own blood trickling slowly off his back and down his sides. Aware of not being able to breathe, for with every breath he took, the shooting, agonizing pains in his ribs jolted through his body, ten thousand times worse than any electricity. So he had stopped trying. He could still feel the man's leg draped over his hips, but somehow, he knew that the stranger wasn't moving anymore, either. The seconds seem to pass slowly, each trapped in its own eternity of timelessness, bringing no movement into the room around him, and bringing no breath into his lungs.
The room twisted as something grabbed him around the middle, pulling him forward, out from underneath the man's leg. He shut his eyes against the fresh round of lightning bolts in his chest, and kept holding his breath. There was a rustling somewhere beside him, followed by a small, metallic sound. Something pushed back and forth against the ropes binding his arms, and 10K felt the bindings come loose one by one, until his arms fell to his sides. He was flipped over gently and slowly, and came to rest face-up, being supported by something beneath his upper back. He kept his eyes shut as his head rolled back, and then he felt the back of his head being supported, too, propped against something warm. He still didn't open his eyes or draw in a breath.
Something was being pulled and yanked up his legs...maybe his pants... he couldn't tell, and he couldn't bring himself to care anymore.
Then there was a hand on his chest, against his cheek, and once more upon his chest, like it was searching for something. He wanted to reject it, to somehow end this new torment, but he'd lost feeling in his arms and legs. His thoughts were jumbled, and his heartbeat was steadily decreasing.
But he still didn't breathe. He didn't want to. He didn't want to open his eyes.
His body was given a gentle shake that sent new knives of jagged pain through him, but he ignored it, only wanting unconsciousness.
The shaking became more pronounced, and a voice came to 10K's attention through his foggy confusion. "Hey... hey, kid, breathe. Take a breath. Come on!"
In the distant corners of 10K's mind, he recognized the voice. He wanted to shake his head. I can't, he wanted to say. I'm trying to... and it was true. He was trying to breathe now, but he couldn't make his lungs work.
There was a sharp sting against the side of his cheek, and it brought him unwillingly back to semi-consciousness.
"That's it," said the familiar voice as he finally took a shuddering, pained breath. But he couldn't. It wasn't his choice anymore; he couldn't make his lungs work properly. He couldn't breathe. The air made him cough, a retching cough that spewed blood all down his front.
He felt himself tilted to one side, and the blood started streaming to the floor instead of back down 10K's throat.
"Come on, kid, stay with me..."
10K tried to breathe again, and retched more blood out of his lungs, his hands curling around the arm that supported his front. His eyes finally flickered open. He could see the side of the room, and a pair of legs behind his own, an arm circling around him, holding him slightly off the floor. He could see the boot that the stranger had been wearing, attached to a leg in his peripheral vision, not moving.
"Keep your eyes open, kid!"
The voice was clearer to 10K now, and the boy drew another retching, rattling breath, followed by another lungful of blood that spattered on the floor.
"Oh Jesus... keep breathing. Keep your eyes open, it's alright! You'll be okay, got it?"
10K took another heaving breath. He tried to turn his eyes to see who was holding him. Bluish skin swam into his line of sight, and a familiar face pinched tightly with tension.
As his eyes met Murphy's, 10K felt a sense of floating incredulity. He stared up at Murphy's face, bringing one of his arms across his injured side as he tried to keep breathing.
Murphy's eyes followed 10K's movement and he swore loudly, moving 10K's hand aside so he could see the skin underneath. A dark, swollen bruise covered most of the left side of 10K's ribs. The bruise was spreading, and swelling.
"Jesus..." muttered Murphy's voice angrily, tilting 10K's face to the side again as another bout of bloody coughing struck. "You punctured your damn lung, that's what I think you did, kid..."
Murphy's voice was getting fainter again as 10K's breaths came harder and harder once more. He wanted so much to speak... I thought he killed you. You were dead... but nothing but a bubble of blood burst from his lips and he had to turn away from Murphy's face to cough painfully onto the floor again.
"Keep breathing, kid. Keep breathing, God damn it, I'm getting us out of here."
The agony rippling through 10K's side tripled as he felt himself being lifted up. For a split second, before his eyes shut and his lungs closed, he caught a glimpse of the stranger beside them on the floor, unmoving, a thick pool of blood gathering beneath his head. Then the pain overcame him again and his breathing stopped, sending him into a dark, endless cavern of nothingness, a black abyss. He let himself sink into it, not a true thought left in his head beside the image of Murphy's face, somehow very much alive, and somehow there with him...
The cavern into which he fell was deep, and vast. Pictures existed here, but no sound. There was his father, standing on the edge of the riverbank, surrounded on all sides by swaying grasses and green, dancing leaves. He was glancing up at 10K and smiling. "Alright, Tommy?" Said his father's calm voice as 10K took a step toward him... or did he float? He wasn't really using his legs, and he wasn't able to move much without them, as he soon realized. The image of his father fishing twinkled away into the darkness. Then there was Doc, standing right there next to him, throwing an arm round his shoulder and grinning down at him, punching him playfully in the gut. "Doc..." he wanted to say, grinning, too. "Doc, I was dying... Was that a dream?" But he couldn't speak, so his words made no sound in the deep cavern. Doc's eyes twinkled, and his image began to fade away in another glimmering burst. "No..." 10K tried to say, but the silence swallowed up his voice before it even left his mouth. "Doc, please stay...stay..." But the Doc was gone, and suddenly, Murphy was there, moving toward him, hands outstretched. "You..." 10K thought soundlessly. "You're alive... how?" Murphy said nothing, and there were four figures behind him in the glimmering shadows, shrouded in darkness. Narrowing his eyes, 10K focused on them, and Warren's face came to the forefront. She wasn't smiling. Behind her, Doc reappeared, watching 10K, and to his left, Addy and Vasquez were materializing in clouds of shimmery light. "You found us..." 10K thought, recognizing the huge relief as it covered him like a blast of heat.
"Nice of you to show up," growled Murphy breathlessly, leaning against the wall at the top of the staircase.
"Murphy!" Warren exclaimed, lowering her gun when she saw it was him. "What the hell is...?" She trailed off as she realized what her eyes were seeing. "MURPHY!"
"I think he's dying," panted Murphy, sweat pouring down his face. "We have to get him to the truck, he was breathing out blood..."
There were running footsteps as the group flashed up the rest of the stairs, hands encircling them on all sides. Warren's eyes swept behind and above them, on edge for more than one reason. "Murphy, where's...?"
"The guy's dead. I shot him in the head, with 10K's gun."
"Why did he do this?" Warren demanded, stuck between fury and horror.
"Later," Murphy shook his head. "I'll tell you what happened... first help me with him, I don't know if I can make it..." and as he spoke, his knees gave a violent tremble.
"Give him to me," came Vasquez's voice, and he moved forward to take 10K, with Doc closing in on one side to help. 10K's head rolled as he was transferred.
"Careful!" Snarled Murphy, trying to hold 10K's head still. "His lungs are full of blood, we got to get him..." his voice faded and his eyelids drooped as Vasquez and Doc took on 10K's slight weight. Without so much as another word, Murphy tipped forward, and he would have fallen down the stairs if both Warren and Addy hadn't been there to catch him.
"He's been shot!" Gasped Addy, staggering under Murphy's weight.
"Come on, we need to get them to a flat surface. Come on, let's move! Move!"
AN INDEFINITE AMOUNT OF TIME LATER...
The first thing 10K realized upon his return to consciousness was that the pain in his ribs was greatly lessened. The second thing he noticed was that breathing was easier, and it didn't cause agonizing pain with every inhale. He took a deep breath, feeling noticeable pain in his ribs and chest, but he exhaled slowly, able to do both without retching. Thirdly, to 10K's alarm, someone was touching his face, brushing across it, and down his neck, across his collarbone.
A steep sense of sudden panic swept through him and his eyes flew open blindly. He reached up, pushing the hands away, trying to roll in the opposite direction, but something was keeping him in place. He was bound again!
"Doc, help me!" A nearby voice yelled fearfully. "10K, stop moving! You have to stop, just lie still!"
10K barely registered the words; he only knew that he was restrained again, and he couldn't move away. "Let - me go -" he gasped, choking on his own voice. "Get off - !"
"DOC! GET BACK HERE!"
Suddenly, 10K felt more hands holding him down. He struggled harder, but he was weak, and his panic was stripping him of any strength he might have had left. "Please..." he said, his voice cracking, but the hands held him more firmly.
"10K, it's us! Look at us, it's me!"
10K drew in sharp breaths, feeling a strange gurgling in his chest as his eyes started to see, and his mind started to think. He was lying on his back on a scratchy blanket laid on a kind of make-shift cot, and the blanket covered the lower half of his body. The edges of the cot were what had prevented him from rolling sideways... he blinked fast, trying to focus on the faces above him. Red hair came to distinction, and beside it, white, fly-away hair... he knew those faces...
"Are you with us?" One of them asked tensely.
It was Addy who had spoken. 10K stared at her face, unsure of whether or not he was still stuck in that strange, dark abyss, the memory of which was fading faster the longer he was awake. Slowly, his eyes moved over to the person next to her. It was Doc, and his blue eyes were very worried beneath drawn brows as he looked down at 10K, holding him still by the arms.
"Doc...?" He gave a rattling cough. "Addy..."
"He's back!" Doc exclaimed, shouting over his shoulder with barely restrained excitement.
That's when 10K realized they were moving. They were in the covered back of some kind of big truck, and they were driving. The road was bumping them gently up and down. "Wh..." 10K started, but he coughed again, and turned his head to the side.
"Shhhh," whispered Addy, and 10K felt the gentle wiping of his face and neck commence. "Don't talk. Just rest." She wrung out the bloody cloth in a water bowl beside them, and continued washing 10K clean.
"No," 10K protested, trying to push her hand away again. "No... where's... where's Murphy?"
Addy and Doc looked down at him for a moment. Then they moved apart so that 10K could see past them to the other side of the truck. Murphy lay on a blanketed cot, much like the one 10K was on, and his blue-lidded eyes were closed.
10K felt his veins freeze to ice. He could barely bring himself to ask. "Is he... is he dead?" He breathed, trying to swallow the words before they came out, with no success.
Addy looked over at Murphy, and then back down at 10K, shaking her head slightly. "No. He'll be alright."
10K closed his eyes, and let out a long, low breath. For a moment, he didn't want to move, or speak, or hear anything at all.
"We thought you were a goner, kid..." Doc told him, and 10K opened his eyes again, finding Doc's face in the blur. Doc looked as though he'd seen enough stress to put him in an early grave. "But you're okay! I told 'em, 'he's a survivor,' that's what I said. And you are, no one can deny it now."
"I think - I think he was dead..." 10K croaked, trying to turn and see Murphy again. Another bout of gurgling coughs hit him, but he tried to speak through it. "I think I... I think I - I was dead, too..."
"If you were dead, you'd have gone Z," Addy admonished gently, giving him a stern look. "Stop talking! Doc fixed something up for you, but if you push it, it could break."
10K looked down at himself in confusion. There was a clear piece of plastic tubing protruding from his chest, slightly to the left. With every breath he took, he could see a small amount of blood bubbling up into the tube, and back down again.
"It's the best I could do," Doc explained, putting a hand on 10K's shoulder. When 10K flinched slightly, trying to move away from the touch, Doc removed the hand, but stayed close, leaning over him beside Addy. "Got most of the blood out. The rest is up to your body. We have to let those ribs heal..."
10K felt an unexpected surge of frustration, and he shook his head stiffly. "Not me. Take care of Murphy, make sure he's alright, leave me be..."
"Murphy's fine. He's resting. The bullet missed his lungs, and his heart, and it wasn't a bleeder, so it must've missed any important veins and arteries, too," said Doc, glancing over at Murphy. "He'll be just fine, kid." There was an unmistakable note of surprise in his voice at 10K's concern for Murphy.
10K shook his head slowly. Why were they hovering around him? Why couldn't they leave him alone and take care of Murphy?
"How's your pain?" Doc asked, bending closer to study him.
10K didn't want to answer. Now that he was awake again, and now that they were back with the group, he didn't want to see any of them. He wanted to stay as far away from them as he could... he wanted to run, and never look back. He never wanted to think about what had happened in that house, ever again...
"Kid? How's your pain? I dosed you with some morphine, enough to kill a dog. You feeling any pain?"
10K closed his eyes and slowly shook his head from side to side.
"Don't talk to him, Doc," said Addy's voice firmly, but quietly. "The less talking he does right now, the better..."
The two of them went quiet, and 10K felt Addy's warm, wet cloth smoothing across his bloody skin again, continuing to wipe him clean. He didn't object, because he was sliding back into a heavy sleep.
The next time 10K awoke, everything was dark. He took a few deep breaths, craning his neck to try and see through the window in the back of the truck. A few stars shone down from outside, but there was no telling what time it was.
He turned to look at Murphy's cot, and stopped all his movement, staring in surprise.
Murphy's eyes were open, and he was looking back at 10K.
They watched each other in silence for a good long minute, neither of them moving, or speaking. The only sound was the steady whirring of the truck tires against the patchy road, and the occasional gust of wind howling through the cracks at the top of the closed truck windows.
After the prolonged silence, Murphy finally spoke. "So, you're alive." His voice was careful, and restrained.
10K swallowed. He nodded once, slowly. "So are you..."
Murphy grunted. "Yeah...if you can call it that. But here we are."
10K didn't answer, but he didn't look away. He couldn't seem to bring himself to look away.
"Thanks for not dying on me, kid."
10K didn't know what to say to that. He swallowed hard, finally looking away from Murphy, fixing his eyes on the truck ceiling, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. There was another silence that stretched on for what seemed like ages.
"Hey," said Murphy quietly. When 10K didn't look back at him, he said it a little louder. "Hey. Kid, look at me."
Reluctantly, as though it was the last thing on planet earth that he wanted to do just then, 10K turned his head and looked back over at Murphy.
"Don't think on it," said Murphy, and there was something close to his old growl in his voice. "Don't think on it, just get healed up. You hear?"
10K looked away again, back to the ceiling. He didn't have to ask what Murphy was referring to. He knew exactly what he didn't want to think about, and it was somehow so much worse that Murphy knew it, too. He reached one of his hands up to his chest, to touch the plastic tube there.
"Don't ignore me, kid. You listen, and you listen good." He didn't wait for 10K to look at him again. "That was yesterday. Tomorrow's a new day, got it? You'll be one day closer to slinging shots again, and everything that happened stays in the past, where it belongs. Everything'll go back to how it was."
10K wanted to say, How? How will it be the same? How can I stay...? But he remained silent, glancing slowly over at Murphy, who looked determinedly back at him. They locked eyes, and 10K found again that despite all his thoughts, all his anger, and confusion, he couldn't look away, and he was holding on to Murphy's words once more.