That evening
Wednesday
Safehouse F
The bedroom on Level 0 had been designed with a secondary role as a medical facility and as such was very well equipped.
In the centre of the room was a table that normally had a thick leather cover over it. Now, the cover had been removed to reveal a table very similar to that which you would see in a hospital operating theatre.
Megan was lying on the table and Cathy was currently sewing up her wounds. Mindy had stayed during the entire operation and she was horrified that she had allowed Megan to be injured like that. This was not the first time that Megan had been hurt, but this was the first time that she had actually been wounded.
The bruising around the stab wounds was horrific, not to mention the rest of the dried blood that clung to her body. She would have scars, but Cathy was doing her best to limit them. Luckily, nothing important had been hit by the knives.
Nevertheless, Megan was in for a tough time as she healed.
Mindy stared down at her blood soaked jeans and shirt and thought back over the previous hour.
+...+...+
Hit Girl had heard Wildcat, challenging the killer – which was the absolute last thing that Wildcat should have been doing. The gunshots had rung out as Hit Girl had come running around the building; she dreaded what she would find.
Hit Girl had found the very dead body of the woman first, a pool of blood spreading around the body. There were three holes, dead centre in her chest and she had probably died before she had hit the ground. However, beyond her, Hit Girl could see the prone form of Wildcat and as she got closer she could see the blood seeping through the young girl's clothes.
..._...
"Wildcat is down!" Hit Girl had yelled, as she yanked the right rear door of Beast open. Kick-Ass appeared, scooped up Wildcat and passed her to Hit Girl in the back of Beast. Mist climbed in beside Hit Girl and Battle Guy jumped into the front passenger seat of Beast, just as Kick-Ass accelerated away.
Cathy had already been at the Safehouse with Chloe, Josh and Curtis. Abby was running the Command Centre and as soon as she had heard the call that Wildcat was down, she had hit the alarm in the Safehouse, which had brought everybody running. Cathy had immediately gone downstairs with Chloe to prepare the medical facilities. Curtis was beside himself with worry and Josh had been doing his utmost to keep the boy calm.
..._...
As soon as Beast had come to a halt in the Safehouse, Mindy had jumped out and carried Megan downstairs to the medical facility. There, Cathy had promptly cut off Megan's clothes and gently removed the three throwing knives that were embedded in Megan's left thigh, upper left arm and the left side of her stomach. Megan had not regained consciousness since she had passed out after being hit by the three knives. The drive back had been hell – Mindy had been able to feel Megan's blood soaking into and through her clothes. It had not been possible to remove the knives, so Mindy had just padded the wounds to try and stem the flow of blood.
+...+...+
Mindy looked back up, at the scene in the room.
Megan's naked body was now covered with a sheet; Cathy and Chloe were washing their hands in the bathroom. Mindy turned, as she heard feet thundering down the steps outside the room and then Paige and Marcus rushed in. Paige was very pale and screamed at the sight of the blood on Mindy's clothes – her daughter's blood. Next, she saw her daughter; but just then, Cathy reappeared and was quickly able to put Paige's mind at rest that her daughter was fine and would recover fully.
Mindy looked up at Marcus; she felt wretched.
Later that night
Safehouse F
Her body ached like nothing she had ever felt before.
When she woke up, she cried out in pain. Most of her left side felt like it was burning, like it was on fire. Megan looked around and saw two faces that slowly came into focus. Her eyes first focussed on Mindy, who smiled down at her – Megan tried to smile back, but did not really have the energy.
"Hi, sport – welcome back!" Mindy said.
Megan turned to the other face and felt a feeling of intense relief. It was Mom.
"Hello, angel."
"Hi, Mom. It hurts..."
"It will, you were stabbed three times," Mindy explained.
"Why? How?" Megan asked, confused.
Then it hit her: the woman, the gun – and disobeying Mindy! Megan looked up at Mindy and her Mom.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
"Oh yeah, Wildcat – you're in big trouble!" Mindy confirmed.
"You're grounded till you're twenty-one, honey bun!" Mom added.
"Oh fuck!" Mindy growled and the pain became too much.
She passed out.
Early morning
Thursday
Safehouse F
Megan woke up again.
The pain was not too bad, that time. However, she desperately needed the bathroom. Megan looked anxiously around the room and saw Mindy curled up, fast asleep in a chair on the other side of the room. Then she saw a smiling face, in another chair. It was Curtis. Megan smiled back at him.
"Hi, Megan – you okay?" Curtis enquired, with concern in his voice and it was obvious that the boy had been crying.
"I think so, but I need to pee and I think I'm gonna need your help to get to the bathroom."
Megan threw back the covers on the bed with her good right arm and Curtis froze and coloured slightly. Megan looked down at her body – she was naked and covered in what looked like dried blood, apart from what seemed to be acres of bandages and dressings on her left side.
"Curtis – I don't give a shit if I'm naked, just help me!" Megan growled as menacingly as she could.
Curtis looked embarrassed, but Megan needed him. He started to go towards Mindy, but I called him back.
"Curtis, leave Mindy – just support me and help me to the bathroom. Yes, I'm naked – there's nothing to see, so get over it!" Megan ordered and Curtis gave in.
Curtis helped Megan out of the bed and across to the bathroom, then it was Megan's turn to get embarrassed and she suggested to Curtis that she could handle the rest of the operation and he pulled the door closed after her. Megan was relieved at last! She was now feeling somewhat self-conscious and wished that she had some clothes on and considered the hand towel, but then decided that that would just be stupid.
"It's not exactly as if I had anything for him to see for fuck's sake!" Megan commented to herself as she opened the bathroom door and saw Curtis waiting for her.
Curtis helped her back to the bed. The strain of moving had been painful and Megan was now crying with the pain. Curtis looked horrified to see his friend crying.
"I'm okay – it just hurts a bit. Thanks, you're the best friend a girl could have," Megan said and gave him a kiss, as he helped her lie back down. He blushed – badly! "Will you stay with me?"
"As long as it takes, Megan – I promise."
Later that morning
Safehouse F
"How is the patient?" Dr Bennett asked, smiling at the still sleeping Curtis and Mindy.
"I'm good – it just hurts," Megan answered bravely and felt herself crying again. "Dammit!" She thought.
"It will; I gave you as much as I dared, to deaden the pain last night – I'll give you some more in a few minutes."
Dr Bennett started to remove the bandages and dressings.
"You should be out of bed in a day or two. The wounds are healing well," she said after a brief examination. "But it will be a few weeks before the inside heals – so no more Wildcat for a while."
"That sucked!" Megan thought to herself.
Cathy surveyed the scene in the room.
Megan was out of any danger, and she would recover with no lasting effects. Apparently, Curtis had helped Megan to the bathroom, during the night. Mindy had insisted on sleeping in the room, just in case. She was still wearing the same clothes that had been soaked in Megan's blood. Cathy gently shook Mindy's shoulder to wake up and immediately found her wrist seized by Mindy's hand – it was painful.
"My God! Sorry, Cathy!" Mindy exclaimed as she let go of Cathy's wrist like she had been electrocuted.
Cathy laughed at Mindy's discomfort.
"Don't be so silly, Mindy! Go get out of those clothes, now and get a shower, now!"
Mindy started to glare at Cathy, but gave up and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Mindy headed upstairs, while Cathy laughed and went over to wake Curtis. The boy had been extremely worried about Megan and had insisted on staying in the room, with Mindy. When Cathy had checked in on him later, she had found that he had been crying.
Megan really meant a lot to the boy.
Three days later
Sunday
West Ridge
Murphy had confirmed that the dead woman had been the 'girl' that I had seen on the train. She was identified as a serial killer that the FBI had been after for many months. She went from city to city, using different methods each time.
..._...
Megan was out of bed and had been able to hobble about with the aid of a crutch and of course, Curtis!
So far, Megan had been yelled at by Paige, Marcus and Mindy. Curtis had tried, but failed when Megan had smiled sweetly at him! However, her sweet smiles had not worked with the others. Mindy had been the most angry, it had turned out. Megan had broken the promise that she had made to Mindy, when Mindy had first allowed her to be a Fusion operator; so right now, Megan was avoiding Mindy, like the plague!
Mindy, however, had come up with a useful idea that might help both Megan heal and give time for Mindy to forgive her! She had suggested a trip on 'the boat', as Marcus insisted on calling it. Cathy, for one, quite liked the name: 'Salty Swallow'; it had character and she had enjoyed the previous trip on it with Ryan! Therefore, Cathy had suggested that Mindy and Dave take Josh, Chloe, Curtis, Megan and Erika, on a trip up Lake Michigan for a week or so. There was no way that they could get into any trouble and it would also be very relaxing; therefore Megan could heal.
Author's Note: That is the end of Knife Edge. At this point, though, you are strongly advised to read the story: Forsaken, for the next events in the Forsaken timeline, starting from Chapter 160. There is expected to be a sequel to this story, in the form of another story that takes place on the 'Salty Swallow' and will follow the team on a cruise through some of The Great Lakes. The story is called The Voyages of The Salty Swallow and is expected to pick up after Chapter 163 of Forsaken.