One hand kept me on the gutter, while the other was reaching out to him.
Francoeur held them tight, pulling me towards him. In shock and relief, I hugged him, "Thank you." His arms held me in place, while his head rested on mine. Hands however, reached into something wet. Francoeur winced at the touch, while I had looked on my palm. It was blood. His waist was covered by the red liquid; it was a surprise that he was still standing.
Or at least for now.
Loret was on her way to the roof. Alarmed, Francoeur heard her coming. He grabbed me again and made another massive jump. As much as I had feared him, I got concerned about his wound, "We have to treat you." Instead of listening, the flea didn't care about his injury. His next destination was the Eiffel tower.
The other three were nearby.
Lucille saw Francoeur jumping towards it, "There he is!" Raoul and Charles followed her finger. If it wasn't for Victor, they would have changed their route towards their flea friend. "Lucille, we got other problems right now, like saving our skin!" the monkey agreed with that. Charles had an idea, showing Raoul a card. For him was it quite hard to read it, while running, "Seriously, couldn't the doc give you a potion to talk?!" After a while, he understood the message "Sounds good." Lucille got suspicious, "What is good?" "Let Charles handle this. Do your monkey business!" For Victor was this current chasing tiring. As the monkey ran into another alley, the two followed him. Victor checked the sign, this was a dead end. The chase was finally over. He was just about to see their scared faces, as a van drove out of the same alley. From the corner of his eyes, he saw three figures inside, the monkey on the wheel. Not to lose them, he stole a car on his own, taking the nearest one in sight, "You are not getting away this easy!" This hunt turned to a whole new level. As both vehicles turned the next corner, Lucille and Raoul jumped out of the alley, heading to the Eiffel tower. Victor...got tricked, by a monkey.
Loret wasn't so easy to fool. She had seem where we two were heading, also stealing a car she found on the street. All this chasing and shooting didn't leave unnoticed for too long. The owners of the vehicles informed the police straight away, while some pedestrians informed to have heard several gunshots in Paris. Even Inspector Pâté was informed of this situation. As a faithful police inspector, he took this as his duty to support his fellow colleagues. Lucille's aunt however, feared for her angel's life, cancelling the honeymoon and return to Paris, as soon as possible.
In the meantime, Francoeur's condition got worse.
He could hardly stand, on his feet. I helped him sit down, while I took care of his wound. With the piece of cloth I ripped off my dress, I tried to stop the bleeding. Francoeur watched me...with caring eyes. All fear left me, as he stayed still, letting me take care of him. The bleeding stopped, but he had lost already too much. One more shot and it could be fatal, "We have to get you to a hospital."
Suddenly, he began to roam through his coat again, giving me the item he found.
I took it and...swallowed hard. It was the post card I gave to Francoeur a while back. I went over the letters with my hands, saying the quote out loud, in a soft voice, "I like it when you smile. But I love it when I am the reason." At the back stuck another card, glued to another. My eyes widened at the words.
"I am Franc..." slowly, I looked up to his face, "...oeur?"
He nodded, leaning toward. A tear left my eye, as he gave me a kiss...on my forehead, "It...it can't be."