Shattered Sunshine

Sweet Decay

Ray

Gunshot wounds are horrific things.

Bullets take strange paths through bodies and the exit points are always larger than the entry points. They can either cut harmlessly through the body, fragment like a grenade, or crash around like a pinball, destroying everything in their wake before leaving.

I could smell the burned flesh of Oscar's hands from where he had grabbed the barrel that was still hot after being fired during the gunfight, though the burns were superficial. They would have barely set him back two days if they were all he had. The logical side of my mind took over as I pulled him into my arms and searched his body for all the places he was bleeding from. I catalogued his injuries robotically, knowing his life depended on me staying calm.

One bullet had gone through the right side of his chest and up through his shoulder area in his back. The other had been a downward angle, going through the bottom of his left lung and coming out the small of his back on the left side. As far as I could tell there was severe damage to his lungs, but his heart was beating.

I glanced around for medical supplies, only finding the personal aid pack of the dead Hunter beside us. But the packs were standard issue and only made for recoverable wounds. Hunters didn't care about their soldier's lives if it would be a struggle to keep them alive.

I ripped off his shirt and quickly applied a chest seal, telling Oscar to just keep breathing, to stay with me. I did not know if he understood what I was saying, but I hoped the sound of my voice would keep him focused as I worked. He looked stunned, his breathing already wet and laboured, though he didn't seem to know what was happening.

All this happened in under sixty seconds.

Around me, Knight Corp people were pushing outwards, turning the tide of the fight and chasing down the remaining Hunters. Despite working frantically to patch him up with what little medical gear I had, I knew that I couldn't save him on my own. I wouldn't be able to with all the proper medical gear in the world. I saw the blood bubbling over his lips, his lack of breath seizing my heart as I realized that a doctor could not save him. Only a supernatural intervention would have a chance. I yelled out for someone to come back and help me, feeling desperation rise as Oscar began clawing at me desperately, grabbing my shirt and arms and trying to pull himself closer.

I saw the fear in his eyes as the realization hit him even as his skin grew pale and clammy.

Oscar was choking and when I had exhausted the limited supply of bandages on him and used his shirt to try to stem the blood flow on the other wound. Gripping him tightly to keep him alive a little longer, I felt my mind desperately crying out for help.

I just pulled Oscar close, wanting anyone to help me. All the immortals in the world and they were all leaving me, or with my sister. Oscar needed them, but no one was listening.

I desperately deliberated my options, trying to find a solution to save Oscar as the surrounding clearing grew still and silent. If I carried him out toward the others, we would hit the gun battle that was still going on, and I didn't think I would make it out of the trees before he drowned in his own blood.

But I didn't want his time to run out. I had counted on him being around for so much longer.

"Why did you do that?" I sobbed desperately, ducking my face down next to his, trying to keep him tilted so that his lungs didn't fill with blood too quickly..

A flash of light blinded me in the darkness, and my breath of surprise brought me Meriwa's scent a moment before she fell to the ground on her knees beside me. "Oh, Ray... Not... not Oscar... Ryker! He's dying!"