Save Me
Jin fell in line with them, keeping pace while giving directions and checking out Taehyung's shoulder. "Get him on a table. Jungkook, get the med bag." He called to us.
Jungkook pivoted into motion, blurring past me to go inside. He held the door open for them while Shelby fell into my arms tearfully. She was soaked from the rain though her dress was surely lighter, relieved of the wide petticoat she typically wore and the skirt ripped so that it draped asymmetrically, the split showing most of her leg.
Jungkook was back out the door before I could thumb away the tears that fell down her cheeks and smear of blood on her chin, his tone demanding and alert. "What happened out there?" He questioned, his shoulder nudging mine as he pressed forward to get closer to Shelby. The second she stuttered he pushed harder, repeating the question harshly. "What happened?"
"Back up, let me talk to her." I shoved his chest to put him an arm's length away, ignoring the annoyed huff he breathed and turning my attention back to Shelby.
Her eyes were haunted, bloodshot red from lack of sleep and wired with adrenaline. I ran my thumb across her knuckles with enough pressure that she was pulled away from the shock for a moment, her hand closing around mine tightly.
She blinked, absentminded as she uttered a plea. "They have to save him." Her eyelids fluttered as she looked down at the blood that stained her hands and arms, seeped into what was left of her gown, spots that painted a fresh coat of red on her skin and others that dried to a deep burgundy.
"I should get you cleaned up first." I lifted her chin with my fingertips, bringing her focus away from her body to me.
"I need to be with him." Her head darted back and forth, her feet just as quick when she stepped away from me, brushing past Jungkook and through the restaurant doors with force.
Jungkook shook his head in disapproval, fussing under his breath as we followed her inside. Taehyung lay flat across one of the tables, surrounded by Namjoon, Yoongi, and Jimin. Jin leaned over the injured side of his chest, blood gushing from his wound as Jin attempted to locate and remove the bullet. Though Namjoon appeared concentrated on absorbing blood into a towel to keep the area Jin worked on clear, he addressed Shelby.
"When did he get shot?" His specific line of questioning seemed to help her ability to communicate.
"Right when we got out." She answered, pushing herself between Jimin and Yoongi so that she had access to Taehyung's hand. I watched the way she curled her fingers around his until they were entwined. "We didn't know where to run to get Gideon off our trail and it didn't look like he was bleeding much, but maybe we were too distracted with running to notice. I did everything I could do to slow the blood and put pressure on it but I was basically carrying him by the time we got to the city and he collapsed where you found us." She looked to Yoongi, his expression weighted with apprehension toward her.
Sweat beaded against Jin's hairline as he focused, muttering a reminder to himself to be steady and noting that he was only a hair away from the vena cava.
I used my sleeve to dab away the droplet of sweat on the tip of his nose, pressing the fabric in to absorb every drop as he took a deep breath.
"We should give Jin some space." I said, Jimin and Yoongi nodding quickly before moving to occupy a booth in the corner of the restaurant.
I stepped closer to Shelby, her statement unquestioning and firm. "I'm staying."
Jungkook scoffed before turning to walk away too, his boots clunking against the floor as he joined Jimin and Yoongi. Namjoon glance at her through his eyelashes before nodding me, a cue to leave them to their work.
I picked up on a couple of Korean swears that spilled from Jungkook's mouth as I took a seat next to Jimin. "Stop." I reproved. I knew they were all wary of Shelby. They didn't know her, their association of her as the reining queen of Carolus.
"Why? She's acting like she knows him, not leaving his side. He's our family, our brother." He ranted, unbothered by the volume of his voice.
I reached across the table, my hand landing on top of his in a forceful slap. "And she kept him alive for us so shutup."
He rolled his eyes at me, slamming his hand on the table as he rose. "Someone should be on lookout." He stormed away, noisy as he made his way to the rooftop.
Yoongi was already up, putting a hand on my shoulder to keep me from following Jungkook. "Let me." He insisted, so silent as he headed toward the kitchen that we all heard the ping of the bullet against the wood table, Jin's breath of relief indicating success.
Jimin rested his arm around my shoulders while we waited for Jin to close the tear in Taehyung's skin. When he finished he sat in a chair that Namjoon pulled up just as his legs gave out, exhausted from the pressure.
"Now we just wait, see if he wakes up." He spoke the words in one breath, choking on air as he leaned down into his arm, the sobs of the eldest a chill in the room.
Back to waiting, I found a small bowl to fill with water, submerging a dishcloth in the liquid and taking it to where Shelby remained. Her eyes drooped and her fingers slipped down so that she held on to Taehyung's by the tips.
I kept quiet, wringing out the cloth before taking her free hand and wiping away at her soiled skin. When I finished, squeezing out the fabric so that it turned the water a pale shade of red, she took hold of my hand and released a breath that it sounded like she'd been holding in.
"I wouldn't have survived out there without him. You should have seen my face the first time we ran into one of those things, the dead ones or the not dead ones." She chuckled. "He laughed at me after he killed it. I was irritated because he was teasing me and that's when we realized how much he was bleeding. I did everything I could to stop it but it kept coming. I'd get it to slow and then we'd start moving again, but it kept happening. I did everything I could to get him here."
"I know you did. You don't have to explain that to me." I said, holding out my other hand for hers. She released Taehyung's, turning her palm up so that I could continue washing her.
She sighed, keeping her eyes on him. "Maybe I should have stayed." She muttered, her tone laced with regret.
"Don't say that. We're still alive and you got away from him. I'd say we're winning right now." I acknowledged.
"He'll never stop looking for me." She admitted something we both knew.
I shrugged, making an attempt to be the voice of hope and reason. "We'll make sure he doesn't find you. Taehyung will wake up and once he's better we'll get out of here. We'll run so far he'll never find you. That's the plan."
"Since when are you so optimistic? You were always the cynic between us." There was a faintest smile in her voice.
"Hey, I like to think we had a good balance between us." I refuted her statement.
Shelby let out a tired giggle and leaned against my shoulder, falling asleep with her hand in Taehyung's and their breaths in tandem.
I didn't remember someone putting an extra chair next to me or stretching my legs out so that they were crammed next to Shelby's. She still slept against my shoulder, my head resting on the wall with a jacket tucked between.
It was her who woke me, the sudden jolt of her body causing the same reaction in mine. My arm was completely numb and neck sore from my sleeping position, but her revelation made all qualms vanish.
"He squeezed my hand." She exclaimed. Jin was already awake, moving swiftly from the table he'd been resting his head on to attend to Taehyung. "Tae." Shelby reached out, her palm cupping around his cheek.
His eyes fluttered at the contact but didn't fully open. Jin leaned over him, pressing two fingers into his wrist to count his pulse while talking to him. "Just rest. Squeeze Shelby's hand again if you can hear us." He instructed. We all watched as Taehyung's hand tightened.
When he started to cough I reached for the half full water bottle that I'd been drinking since we arrived. The noise woke the others, Jimin coming to Taehyung's side to lift his head while I turned the drink over his lips. He panted and came to slowly, falling in and out of awareness until he was able to mumble a single question.
"Did I lose any limbs this time?"
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