the duchess

without her

My hands clap over my kidney, my hand pulling away soaked in blood. "Oh my god you were shot-"

"No shit Sherlock- FUCK" I shout, feeling dizzy as the adrenaline wears off.

It burns. I thought it would be more painful but it feels more like my kidney is just on fire. Still hurts like a bitch.

Before I know it, my head is hitting the ground as I pass out.

The sound of beeping is the first thing I hear, aside from the sound of... reading?

"The woods begin to evolve and the pines intermix-"

With a groan, I sit up and lean against the pillows behind me. "Oh my god Luke"

I turn and expect to see Carlo- no, Julie. To see her beautiful brown eyes and her soft li- hands... Julie's soft hands...

"Carrie?" I hold a hand to my forehead as I feel tubes holding me back.

Her arms wrap around me and I feel sorta safe, better than before, "You're ok. You're alive. Oh my god"

I cough lightly and sit up, feeling my back tense up, "How long- how long have I been out?"

She bites her lip and sighs, "Uh... Luke"

My heart drops and eyes widen, "Carrie, how long have I been out" I say with a serious tone.

She clenches her jaw and swallows hard, "It's been... it's been three days"

My eyes widen as I look around, "Three days- where's Julie?" My heart hammers as I feel anxiety in me rise.

Carrie takes my hand and squeezes lightly, "Luke she's- she's in trouble"

My chest hurts even more as I carefully remove the IV from my arm. I know, I shouldn't do that but I can't stay here. I cant fucking be here.

I grab a cotton ball and tape, placing it over the spot that's slightly bleeding at the moment. "Where is she?"

"Luke-"

"Where the fuck is she?" I shout, sitting up and reaching for the sweats in a chair next to me. I guess someone brought them there.

Carrie stands up and holds me down. "Luke you just had your kidney removed, please just lay down, I need to talk to you"

With hesitation, I lay back down and sigh. "I had my kidney removed?"

"You were shot. A gunman walked into the ball with intend of killing you and me. They shot at you once, Julie jumped in the way of it after the second two shots. Major West took him down then Julie collapsed. You were on adrenaline or something and didn't register having been shot. Your kidney was trashed and they had to remove it" She explains, biting her bottom lip. "Thank god you're alive"

She sits back down and I can sense somethings wrong, something different. She dosent have that normal energy to her anymore, "Hey, what's going on?" I ask, seeing her pupils dilating.

"It didn't work. Our stupid plan didn't fucking work" She bites her lip, looking guilty as ever.

"No you don't mean-"