The Descent

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"I want to go home, I don't want to stay

Give up life as a bad mistake,"

--The Smiths, The Headmaster Ritual

The bullet entered Gerard's mandible, pushing the skin and muscle out of its way as it dictated its path from the inside of his mouth before exiting a few millimeters below his right eye, leaving a gaping wound that blood was gushing out of. After the gun had clattered to the floor and the reality that his life was leaving him had cut through the panic and fear that accumulated in his brain as every second passed, Gerard had the realisation that all ever really wanted to do was live, he wanted to see things and go places; he didn't want to die. He couldn't die like this: unknown and forgotten, weak and depressed. He never wanted to die, only live. Truly live, whatever it meant, whatever he was not doing, that's he wanted to do. It took him half a minute to push himself off the bed, if he reached the phone in the kitchen, there was the slim chance of survival.

The steps he takes are small and painful, his eyesight is blurry and he seems to be losing consciousness as he climbs the stairs weakly, aware of the trail of blood he was leaving on the floor.

It was gruesome the sight, the young man attempting to reach the phone to call for help as he bleed to death, using the walls to support and drag himself a few feet. Finally reaching the kitchen counter after a minute and a half, he clutches the phone like a lifeline, dialing 9-1-1. A woman answered, voice smooth and calm. "9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

Unable to talk, he breathes heavily, feeling a darkness closing on him, crushing him and forcing him to become nothing. He has never wanted to become anything more in his life. By God, if he lived, he'll do something of himself. He had to.

"Sir, I've got your address. I'm sending help straight-away," is the last thing he hears before he falls, the loss of blood making him faint. Within three minutes, there are sirens and flashing red lights, the door gets broken into and Gerard gets put into a stretcher and barely makes it out alive.

--

Donna is appalled when she hears the news; an elementary school teacher, the call unsettles her and leaves her stomach churning the oatmeat she ate for breakfast and she excuses herself from the children under the pretense of having to go to the bathroom to cry her eyes out. She goes back to the classroom only to find herself in mid sob as she erased the board, unable to think about anything other than Gerard, her son. How could she be there while her son lied in a hospital because of himself, because of her blindness? She couldn't, and within the hour, she makes for the hospital, praying on the way to find her son alive.

--

[A/N- Sometimes nobody's there to save you, and you've got to do it yourself.]

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