North x Northwest

Headnote: Warning for gore.

Ed struggled to lift his eyelids. Lil and Joe carefully descended the steps of the stern and carried Ed along the path Cesar opened. The deck was in complete chaos as the battles were still in full swing. It was so bad, that Lil herself had to block and dodged some of the blades coming in her direction.

“Joe, guard your side.”

Joe, who had been breathing hard instead of answering, suddenly shouted.

“Who will take care of us when our doctor dies?”

“That’s why we’re trying to save him.”

“Oh, don’t die, good man… You’ve healed my broken finger. No way…”

“I’m not going to die.”

‘Ed must have made quite the impression on the sailors with his medical skills.’

Lil had also heard the stories about Ed treating the sailors with small injuries, mostly caused by them falling from the bow or rigging. Whenever that happened, they simply went down to the doctor’s cabin for some treatment. Because of that, she had no choice but to keep listening to Joe mumbling prayers as they got down to the cabin.

“…Don’t die, don’t die…”

Lil opened the lid of the medicine cabinet while Joe laid Ed on the bed.

“Joe, tell Jericho to take charge and look after the wounded.”

Joe nodded hastily and disappeared from the cabin. Cesar, who had arrived there first, came to her side and lifted Ed’s shirt. A squishy sound was heard when the blood-soaked fabric came loose from Ed’s skin. Lil watched the blood spread around the bullet hole, but soon turned her attention toward the medicine cabinet. The cabinet was only filled with small bottles and because there were no names written on them, Lil had no idea what they were. But despite that, she rolled up her sleeves. She felt responsible for what happened to Ed as he blocked her from inhaling the blue powder.

“How do I get the bullet out?”

“The back… exit wound…”

“I checked it on deck earlier. There is no exit wound.”

“It wasn’t a through and through? Then it must be taken out?”

Ed, who was struggling to keep up with the conversation, squeezed out his words.

“The top row… left, second red… bottle…”

“I found it! Anaesthesia?”

“Adrenaline… stimulant…”

“What?”

“I… I’ll do it.”

“What?!”

Lil was about to scream, but shut up after Ed frowned.

“In words… I’ll guide… This damn… powder, my mind… all over the place…”

Seeing Ed’s determination Lil repeated the same sentence under her breath more than a dozen times.

“…Is he crazy?…”

“He needs to stay awake, feed him the medicine quickly…”

“Cesar, how can I? What’s wrong with this guy? He must be going crazy.”

“We don’t know how to do it ourselves…”

“Captain…Please…”

“How much?”

“All of it…”

It felt like a lot to consume at once, but Ed kept repeating that he needed all of it. Lil poured the red potion into his mouth, unable to imagine what would happen next. As she was observing his half-conscious state and unfocused eyes, something powerless suddenly tapped her arm. When Lil looked down, she saw Ed holding his leather pouch.

“In my mouth…”

Lil hastily took it over and placed the leather between his teeth. Just as she was trying to check whether his teeth had bitten it properly, she heard its content crumbling. Startled, Lil bit the inside of her cheek. A painful groan escaped between his teeth along with the sound of leather being crushed. Lil hesitated and shifted her gaze to Ed’s face. His eyes, which had been blurry moments ago, were now bloodshot. His face, engulfed by the pain, turned red as if it was about to explode. Without realising it, Lil clenched her fists and tried to turn her face away.

The pain, awakened by the stimulant, instantly ran through Ed’s nerves and throbbed violently throughout his body. What started with a small spark in his brain, soon spread to every fingertip, cutting through all the senses it passed. Ed, tormented by the pain, was unable to scream when the sensation tore through his veins. His knuckles turned white as he grabbed the bed sheet tightly enough to rip it. Without a pause, the endless pain knocked frantically on his temples.

As the pain finally started to fade, he gagged and spit out the pouch. A voice, sounding like metals scratching his vocal cords, came out.

“Disinfectant…”

As Lil poured the disinfectant she was holding on to the affected area, Ed clenched his teeth again. His face, which had to endure a new source of pain, was red and sweaty. Lil raised her arm, wiping Ed’s forehead. He closed his eyes for a moment, before turning towards Cesar. Meanwhile, Cesar, holding two long surgical instruments, nodded his head. Lil sprayed the disinfectant on the tools as well.

“Tweezers… Cesar… wound… put it in… you’ll feel it… there…”

Completely out of breath, Ed suddenly added some extra information as he remembered the direction of the bullet.

“…right… about ten… degrees…”

“…”

Cesar carefully adjusted the angle and lowered his hand.

“When you feel the end… the bullet…”

Lil saw the tip of the tweezers getting closer to the wound and quickly put the pouch in Ed’s mouth again. His teeth bit the leather with a force strong enough to tear it. As for Lil, she stared blankly at the gunshot wound and was surprised at how much deeper it was than she had expected. When she realised the depth was already over half a finger, her stomach turned and her legs felt weak. Lil impatiently waited for it all to be over, but the ordeal seemed endless. Her head ran painfully. She held her breath when she noticed the slight pause in Cesar’s descending hand. After swallowing his dried saliva, Cesar slowly lifted the tweezers. When Lil saw the dark red sphere hanging between the sharp ends, she let out a short breath of joy and relief.

Ed must have seen it too as a low groan came from him.

“Captain… in this pouch…”

“The pouch?”

Ed glanced weakly at the pouch that he had bitten as a gag. Hurriedly, Lil opened it and found several bullets wrapped in a rag.

‘Where did he even get this? He clearly wasn’t carrying a gun?’contemporary romance

“The damage…”

“I’ll need to check for any damages? Alright.”

Lil washed the bullet she had taken from Cesar with the disinfectant. It was spherical shaped and when she compared it with the other unused bullets, the shape seemed completely intact. There were no dents or chipped-off parts.

“Me too… let me see… it too…”

Lil held the two bullets in front of him as he struggled to lift his head. Ed blinked over and over again, trying to focus his blurry vision. Eventually, he closed his eyes and laid his head back on the pillow.

“…We need to get the piece of cloth out.”

‘Cloth?’

Lil, stunned, turned around and checked the shirt Cesar was holding. There was a round hole. At that moment, she felt her heart break, like she had been shot herself. The depth of her guilt wasn’t light.

‘It all makes sense now as to why Ed said he wouldn’t wear anything but silk. Silk is tough and, unlike other fibres that end up in the body, only tears when shot. That’s also the reason why officers always wear shirts made of silk… And it was me who insisted that he put on the shirt I randomly found somewhere…’

“If left alone, it could be fatal.”

In a gesture of asking for consent, Cesar looked over Lil’s shoulder towards Ed. When Lil saw Ed nodding his head hesitantly without making eye contact, she backed away, chewing on her wretched feelings.

‘The only thing I can hope for, is for Cesar to find the piece of fabric in one try.’

However, her earnestness gradually faded away. Even after two or three tries, Cesar failed. Lil wiped Cesar’s sweat away several times. The bed linen was already soaked in blood, when Cesar was about to stir Ed’s wound for the fourth time. Lil grunted and stared blankly at the blood pouring out.

Ed seemed to start losing his mind as he had to endure the pain over and over again.

“Hands… use yours…”

Out of the blue, Ed snatched Lil’s hand. Lil looked down at Ed, confused by where this remaining energy came from. His dilated pupils, almost completely black, stared at her like a true maniac.

“Captain…”

“Me? You want me to do it with my hands?”

“Touch… feel it… you can find it…”

“Why? Why me?..”

“Hands… yours are… small…”

Lil looked at him, his eyes beginning to roll up and his dark green irises fighting to push the white down. She hesitated for a moment, but by the time she came to her senses, she was already spraying her hands with the disinfectant.

Lil then nodded faintly to Cesar, who looked at her worriedly. She swapped seats with him and searched for the darkest part, amidst the bloodstains. As she leaned closer, a rush of Ed’s body heat shot up under her chin. Lil held her breath and slowly inserted her index finger into the wound. The terrible sensation, which was comparable to pushing a finger into a tomato, made a shiver go down her spine. Not only was his wound filled with the hot red liquid, but she could also feel soft solid shapes and small, floating lumps. The creepy and raw feeling revolved around her finger that was stuck in the middle of a man’s abdomen.

Her fingertip, which had been wandering for a while, accidentally poked a wavy mass and slipped…

Next

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