Bile rose up in my throat, but I held back the urge to regurgitate. The sight in front of me was disgusting and sent shivers down my back. The hole in my thigh was sickening, and I didn’t even want to touch it. The skin was frayed with specks of dried blood covering the wound.
The pounding of my heart got louder as I continued to stare at my ugly thigh. It was scary to look at. It was scary in general. It was nasty.
I sucked in a breath as I watched Adam dab some kind of ointment on my injury. His medical gloves squeaked, professionally moving the swab across my thigh. Clenching my eyes shut, I patiently waited for Adam to finish. The seconds turned into minutes, and I felt as if I was getting surgery, except I wasn’t unconscious. I winced, cried, and groaned.
“All set,” Adam said, patting on a new bandage. “Give it a week or two.”
I opened my eyes, the bloody bandage from the day before replaced with a new one. After Luke had left my house yesterday, Adam immediately checked my thigh. It turned out that my thigh wouldn’t be healing for a long time. The wound was deep, but nonetheless, the pain was gone. I just had to deal with a ghastly-looking thigh.
“Thanks,” I said, getting up from my bed. I tested out my leg by wiggling it, challenging how much pressure I could put on it. It felt weird to know that I had a bullet in my leg just two days ago.
Slightly grinning, I grabbed my wallet, making sure I had enough money to buy snacks. It was Saturday evening, and it was almost time for me to meet up with my friends at the movies.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay home? You can go to the movies next weekend,” Adam said. “I want you to rest your leg.”
“Adam,” I groaned. “I want to go. We’re going to watch that new rom-com!”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t go,” he defended. “I just don’t want you to get tired. But knowing you, you won’t. You have this really overwhelming strength to just go on.”
It was true. I always pushed myself to keep going. “Yeah.” I nodded my head. “So, can you drive me to the movies now?” I wanted to get there a bit early so that the tickets weren’t sold out.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Get in the car.”
***
By the time Adam dropped me off at the movie theaters, the sun was fading but it was still dull out. I trotted towards the entrance of the cinema, wrenching the doors open.
The inside of the theater smelled of salt and butter. Popcorn kernels were dispersed across the rugged floor. As I moved through the crowds, popcorn would occasionally crunch under my feet. The theater was pretty busy, especially because it was a Saturday night.
I spotted Eric attempting to win a stuffed animal from a toy claw machine in the arcade section. Tiffany was right behind him, intently watching as the item would slip through the claws. Laughing as Eric glared at the machine, I walked over to them. Tiffany smiled when she caught sight of me.
“Hey.” I grinned. “Where’s Emily?”
“She’s getting the tickets,” Tiffany answered then frowned. “Eric, you’re going to break the machine.” My face was filled with amusement as I watched Eric slam his hands across the toy machine, willing for a stuffed animal to fall into the slot.
YOU ARE READING
The Mysterious Hero
AdventureDuring the day she's shy, quiet, and reserved. But during the night she's beautiful, confident, and a secret kick-ass hero. She's Lila Tyler. From capturing criminals to saving lives, it's kind of hard to keep up, especially when you're just a high...
