Due to some requests (as well as a desire to see more Forever stories) here is a follow up to Nonexistent Self-Preservation. Bear in mind it is the same story but instead of being seen from Jo this will be from Henry.
Enjoy.
Pain lit up Henry's arm. As a former doctor and immortal who has seen and experienced much he knew exactly how a gunshot wound felt.
Henry really should had seen it coming, they had the most likely culprit cornered. Morris had to of known that he was caught, the bank records would have been the smoking gun to prove he was taking blackmail money from Tyler. This provided the motive while the other evidence supported the entire case. They finally had him.
So of course he would use a surprise attack to try to eliminate both of them.
Thankfully Morris' aim was either not the best or he was too panicked. Either way he missed Jo completely, thank god, but managed to hit Henry in the arm.
As Morris took off out the back door to the woods, Henry could not help crying out in pain. Being immortal meant death was not an option but pain however was still very potent.
"Henry!" Jo had drawn her gun the moment Morris opened fire but she did not give chase. Instead she responded to his sound of pain.
"Go, I'll be fine." Henry groaned out. Jo seemed to hesitate for a split second as she held her hand on his uninjured shoulder. She seemed to trust his words though, she was soon springing after the fleeing Morris.
Henry groaned again as he moved his hand from where it was clutching his upper arm. The hand came away completely covered in fresh, sticky blood. Near as he could tell the shot was not a through and through. The bullet would need to be extracted later, but that was not the most pressing concern.
Jo had left at his insistence to chase the running suspect but Henry was concerned, deeply so. Jo would always stress how she was just fine after her first kill. Henry though was a master at seeing things that were there but not visible. If Morris were to refuse to come quietly after Jo cornered him, which Henry was sure she would, she may not be able to take the shot to end his life. Morris was desperate and panicked. He would not hesitate to shoot Jo. She was not immortal like he was, if she died there would be no coming back like there was for him.
Henry would not just sit back and let her die, not if there was something he could do.
Forcing himself to his feet, Henry began moving out the door. He kept his hand latched onto his arm to slow the bleeding as much as possible. He would deal with the wound later once Jo was safe. There was indeed a lot of pain but Henry just used it to spur himself on further.
He moved as fast as he could with the wounded arm lighting up like the furnace of a smithy.
It was not long until he heard the voices.
"You drop your weapon." Morris voice was the first Henry heard. The confidence it held proposed two possibilities. Either Morris had somehow gained the upper hand on Jo, which was unlikely, or Jo had frozen just as Henry feared.
"It's those rich kids from the city who are the bad guys here, not me." Morris was trying to defend himself, it did not matter though. Between him and the friends of Tyler there were no innocents in all this. He was just as guilty as them, perhaps even more so, hitting Meechum had been an accident after all. Whether it was covered up or not was irrelevant.
"Yes." Henry knew it was time for him to step in, injury or not. "We know what they did Mr. Morris. Like we know you were working here that night. The night they hit Meechum. But you knew what they'd done, and when you found out Tyler was wealthy you decided to blackmail him til he decided to confess." Henry took a step closer to Morris as he spoke. He needed to get closer to Morris in case he decided to shoot. Henry could take a bullet to the chest, Jo could not.
Henry knew he was risking the exposure of his secret. He preferred it to be exposed than to have Jo gunned down before his very eyes, it was certainly better than the reverse.
"Henry stop!" Jo of course did not know he was immortal. To the best of her knowledge he was completely normal, a bit odd, but still ordinary flesh and blood. She had no clue how wrong she was. If there was not a gun trained on them Henry surmised she would likely already be dragging him away from the threat by his uninjured arm. "Henry!"
"It's her or you man, your call." Morris was actually wanting him to decide which of the two would die? The irony of that request almost made Henry chuckle, in fact he would have if not for the danger Jo was in.
Henry looked over at Jo for a brief moment. He could see the horror in her eyes. She was terrified of death, despite the possibility of it reuniting her with her deceased husband. She was not the only one horrified however. Henry was as well, but not for the same reason Jo likely thought he was.
Henry was worried that even if he did sacrifice himself, Morris would just shoot her anyway so there would be no witnesses.
Henry knew the choice that needed to be made.
The choice was easy for Henry. He would just have to try to explain to Jo later what happened and hope he could make her understand. It would even make things a little easier actually, no more sidestepping the truth of his condition around her.
"Me, shoot me."
Jo was in the expected shock of course. She would be having a near panic attack on the inside but that was a bridge to cross later.
Henry stepped forward again as Jo called out to him one more time. "Henry stop!"
Just as Morris had started to raise his gun toward Henry, Jo finally broke through her stupor. Before Morris could even point his weapon directly at Henry she fired. The single round struck Morris in the shoulder knocking him down.
In the blink of an eye Jo was advancing on the fallen Morris. "Drop your gun! Drop it!" She kicked it aside. "Roll over. Fingers together, interlace them." She placed the handcuffs on him quickly.
Henry breathed a sigh of relief. The threat was eliminated and Jo was safe. Now all he had to deal with was the injured arm.
If the look Jo had on her face as she was looking at him was any indication then she must have just then realized he had already been shot.
Jo was already moving over to him, leaving Morris face down on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back and forgotten.
"I understand Tyler's friends brought in their lawyers." Henry spoke as he readjusted the sling on his arm. It still throbbed painfully but it was healing. He contemplated the thought of killing himself with something just to get rid of the inconvenience but quickly dismissed that theory. People would ask too many questions.
His current problem was not his arm though, it was the scolding he knew he was going to receive as he walked beside Jo toward the cadaver lab.
"Vehicular assault. It's not even manslaughter. They'll do a few years, and the worst part is I don't think even one of them lost a moments sleep over what they did." Henry could hear the anger and disappointment in her voice. He could not agree more that what was happening was wrong.
"Yes well in the heat of any moment we all have an instinct for self-preservation." Henry gave a small shrug with his words. He realized a moment later that he had practically fired the first shot at himself of the verbal barrage Jo was going to give him.
"Yeah but it's the choices we make after those moments that count right?" Henry stopped moving at her words so that his back was still facing her. There was no point in trying to avoid it, she could not kill him but he in truth he almost wished she would physically hurt him instead of the anger and disappointment she surely felt toward him. Physical pain was always easier to deal with.
"You know, your self-preservation instinct seems nonexistent." Henry was still facing away from her but he could still feel the leer that she was directing at his back.
Henry knew she was angry at the fact he was willing to throw his life away without a second thought, that was how she saw it. What she did not understand though, was that he was willing to expose his greatest secret just to save her life.
Even were he not immortal he would still trade his life to save hers.
It was this thought that finally opened Henry's eyes. She was his partner yes, but also much more. She was his friend, friends are supposed to look out for each other. Were they in each other's shoes she would make the same trade he was willing to make.
"Henry look at me," Jo was now using her more forceful voice. Henry could not hide anymore. Taking a deep breath he slowly turned around.
"Don't ever pull another stunt like you did at that gas station. You understand?" Henry felt Jo's chocolate eyes boring into his own. The sentence she was thinking was obvious but not spoken.
You're not allowed to sacrifice yourself, you mean too much to me to die in my place.
Little did Jo know that the reverse was true for her as well.
Henry was unable to speak, he knew no words that would be usable here. He settled instead for a simple nod and a timid smile.
That seemed enough for her as she left.
Henry went to sit in his office before taking a soft breath. This had been a rough day. Now because of the sling he could not even work to get his mind off things.
When he looked up Henry saw Jo watching him though the glass doors. Had she been standing there watching him since she turned to leave?
Henry gave her a tiny smile coupled with a small wave. That seemed to be something Jo was hoping for, she returned both with a slightly larger smile.
Henry could not help but wonder what was going through her mind.
Here you go everyone. Hope you liked it.
Review please.