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~ 37 ~

 

 

 

Harm’s Way

 

 

 

 

 

If this wasn’t happening to me in real life, it’s probably something I would have been laughing at hysterically while watching it on TV with Brian or something. A blind woman aiming a gun and shooting randomly. She had this crazed look in her blank eyes as she did it. I covered my ears and shut my eyes as the first round went off.

 

 

 

“What the hell?” I heard my brother shout in the background. He had no idea there was anyone in the apartment with me. While my eyes were closed I felt him grab my shirt, “We need to get out of here!” He screamed as shot number two rang through the apartment.

 

 

 

I screamed when I heard that shot because it hit in the place right above my head, knocking some of the plaster off the wall and landing on my hair making it look a shade of gray which pretty much summarized the situation nicely. I felt my adrenaline kick in and tried to imagine myself in an action movie.

 

 

 

It was the searing pain I felt followed by the third shot which brought me back to the reality of the situation. It was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Picture how it might feel if someone took a hot poker and just stabbed you in the side with it repeatedly.

 

 

 

I fell to the floor, screaming in pain as Nickolas turned and came to my aide. “Did it hit you?” He screamed at me. Uh…

 

 

 

“It hurts!” I cried as he pulled me back up to my feet as shot number four went sailing past us. 

 

 

 

“I know buddy but we have to keep moving!” He was half carrying me as we continued to run away from the apartment, turning the corner just as shot number five rang out into the hallway. “Just a little further…” He urged as we continued to move past the boiler room and a still unconscious Roger. Maybe if we were lucky she’d manage to accidentally shoot him.

 

 

 

I felt myself sweating as the pain continued to make its way up my entire side now. I wouldn’t even allow myself to look down. I wasn’t anxious to see the blood and I was afraid the shock of it all might make me faint, but my head was spinning and my vision was beginning to get blurry. “I think I’m going to pass out.” I yelled frantically trying my best to not have that happen.

 

 

 

I have only ever fainted once in my life during a very grueling rehearsal in Germany before a show. I felt dizzy and tired even before the epic five hour practice so it was no surprise really that by hour number four I was down for the count. I woke up with Kevin’s concerned eyes staring at me while Brian stood over him in the background. They made fun of me for weeks after it happened, AJ saying things like “Quick, who am I?” and then falling to the ground with his feet in the air like a dog playing dead, but I knew at the time they were really worried. At least that’s what I tell myself.

 

 

 

“Can you hear me?” I opened my eyes and this time it was the brother I never knew existed, staring down at me.

 

 

 

The coolness of the snow actually felt good as I tried to get my bearings. ”Where are we?” I asked trying to sit myself up only to be stopped by the intense pain coming from my side.

 

 

 

He placed some snow on my wound and helped me to a sitting position, “We need to get out of here Nick. I know it hurts but we have to keep moving. I’m parked about three blocks away. Do you think you can make it?”

 

 

 

There was no way I could make it, but I nodded as he helped me to my feet. “I would carry you but I’m afraid that might bring more attention than we want at the moment, so just lean on me and I’ll get us out of here.” He smiled as I placed my arm around his shoulder.

 

 

 

The sound of gunshots stopped thankfully as I guess Nicole realized we had escaped. Why would she try to kill me if she loved me? Why shoot at me? It made no sense, except I guess for the fact that she was insane.

 

 

 

“Do you think anyone called the police?” I asked as we turned the corner of what felt like a never ending block, only two more to go, I can do this.

 

 

 

“Doubtful, I have a feeling gunshots are very common in this part of town which is probably the reason they decided to take up residence here.” He paused and then glanced at me, “How are you holding up?”

 

 

 

“I will be better once I get to sit down.” He stopped, bent down and grabbed another ball of snow, “Here, put this on your wound. It will make you feel better.”

 

 

 

I grabbed the snow and did as he suggested and he was right. It felt like an ice pack. The pain was starting to lessen as well to which I was grateful but I also wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. I know they always say when you get shot; you tend to go into shock after losing a lot of blood. I wonder if that’s what was happening to me.

 

 

 

“We’re just over there.” Nickolas said, leading me to a modest black Ford.

 

 

 

“Thank God.” I answered, afraid that I was going to black out again just as he opened the passenger side door and carefully helped me inside. It hurt to sit up straight but I tried not to moan or cry about it.

 

 

 

He got in and immediately put on the heat for me. “Who was that woman shooting at us? Do you have any idea?” He asked as we just sat there letting the car warm up for a few seconds.

 

 

 

“That was Nicole. Roger’s dead wife.”

 

 

 

“She’s not dead.”

 

 

 

“No one is apparently.” I actually laughed despite the situation.

 

 

 

“Let me get a look at your wound.” He gently tried to move my hand out of the way.

 

 

 

“I guess I have some street cred’ now. AJ will have to move over as the bad ass of the group. The baby has been shot, that changes everything.”

 

 

 

He pulled up my shirt, “You actually weren’t shot at all. The bullet just grazed you, thankfully.”

 

 

 

“What?” If that’s what it feels like to be ‘grazed’ by a bullet I can only imagine what it actually feels like when one enters you. All those movies where people are shot like a thousand times and still manage to run around and kill other people, what a boatload of crap that is.

 

 

 

“We should still get you to the hospital right away.”

 

 

 

“No, we can’t do that. We have to go save the guys.”

 

 

 

He sighed, “Nick, you can barely stand on your own, tell me how that is going to help your friends?”

 

 

 

Now that I knew I wasn’t actually dying from a gunshot wound, I started to feel better. The pain was beginning to dull, “I think as long as I keep icing myself I’ll be fine.”

 

 

 

“You are going to need stitches.” He grabbed a first aide kit from the backseat and flipped through it. He reminded me of Kevin who always carried one. I always kidded that he was an Eagle Scout wannabe.

 

 

 

Nickolas pulled out a huge bandage and some antiseptic. “This is going to burn.” He warned before squirting what felt like the entire bottle into my wound.

 

 

 

After screaming words I didn’t even thought I knew, I calmed down as he gingerly placed a bandage over the large cut in my side. “Do you kiss our mother with that mouth?” He asked, smirking slightly. We had the same smirk.

 

 

 

“I would have if I had known she was alive.” I answered, pulling my shirt down and sitting up straight.

 

 

 

“Fair enough… here, take two of these.” He held up pills and motioned for me to take a swig of the water sitting beside me, “They’ll help dull the pain.”

 

 

 

I swallowed the pills down and grimaced at the aftertaste. “So, what’s the plan?”

 

 

 

“The plan is the same.”

 

 

 

“Don’t you think things need to change now that Roger is in the picture? I mean no one was anticipating me being separated from the rest of the guys.”

 

 

 

“True, but now that we have you back we are going to go get your friend Kevin and head over to the warehouse and wait for directions. Although I think you should stay behind.”

 

 

 

“No way, there’s no way I’m not coming with you after all this.”

 

 

 

“Your father would want you out of harm’s way.”

 

 

 

“I was going to be in harm’s way for the original plan. Hell; my nickname could have been harm’s way.”

 

 

 

“That was before you got shot.”

 

 

 

“I didn’t get shot, I got grazed.”

 

 

 

“You almost died.”

 

 

 

“But I didn’t and apparently no one in this family actually ever dies anyway.”

 

 

 

He laughed, “I like the fact that you can keep a sense of humor through all this.”

 

 

 

“No worries, I’m sure I’ll need plenty of therapy for this later.” I started to laugh, I couldn’t control myself. “Oh yeah, my therapist is actually dead, at least for now. Maybe she’ll be at the warehouse.” I was guffawing. All the stress hit me in my funny bone. Maybe the drugs had something to do with it too.

 

 

 

He gave me a look of concern this time. “Everything will work out Nick, I promise.” He placed his hand on my head and it was amazing to me how quickly the laughs turned into tears with that one little gesture.

 

 

 

Guess I am really screwed up in the head. That sucks!

 

 

 

I must have fallen asleep shortly after that because the next thing I knew I was being gently nudged awake by Kevin who was suddenly sitting in the backseat of the car.

 

 

 

“Little man?”

 

 

 

I groaned and opened my eyes. My side still stung a bit but it felt a lot better then before. “Kev?”

 

 

 

He leaned forward, “Are you okay? I heard about what happened to you.”

 

 

 

“I’m good, just a little sore.”

 

 

 

“Did I miss anything?” I asked my brother as he continued to drive us to our destination.

 

 

 

“No, I still think I should have brought you upstairs and left you there. I hope I don’t regret not doing that.”

 

 

 

“Why didn’t you?”

 

 

 

“I told him not to.” Well, that was a shocker.

 

 

 

I turned to face Kevin, “Really?”

 

 

 

“I know you and I knew if we left you behind you would have tried to do something stupid like find us which wouldn’t have helped the situation any.”

 

 

 

The boy was right, I’ll give him that much. He knows me too well. “But isn’t mom up there?”

 

 

 

“No, she went with your father. They’re meeting us at the warehouse.”

 

 

 

“You know the guys are probably in trouble then, huh?”

 

 

 

Kevin nodded, trying not to act as concerned as I knew he was. My hope was that they would be okay. “I’m surprised my father is letting you come along.” I said, trying to break up the anxiety that was filling up the car.

 

 

 

“He knows I’m stubborn and useful.”

 

 

 

“Useful, how?” I didn’t mean it as an insult but the look I got was not a nice one. Nickolas got a kick out of what I said though, letting out a small laugh and then looking in his rearview mirror as Kevin sneered at me.

 

 

 

“I’m a pretty good fighter myself. Your dad taught me some things too, remember?”

 

 

 

“I want to remind you both that you are only there to lead your friends to safety. Not to fight or attack or anything else dumb. Hell, I’m thinking of leaving you in the car.” He said looking at me.

 

 

 

“I think that’s a smart idea.”

 

 

 

I rolled my eyes at the both of them, “Not a chance. It’s my fault they are in this situation in the first place. I’m going in there to help, period!”

 

 

 

“Fine.” He said just as we turned into a huge parking lot. “But you have to listen to me. If I tell you to back off and run, you better to do!”

 

 

 

“I will.”

 

 

 

He then turned to look at Kevin, “And you too. No one plays hero in there.”

 

 

 

Well, this was a situation that Kevin didn’t often find himself in. You could tell by the look on his face. “Okay.” He said nodding and then looking over at me like I had done something wrong.

 

 

 

We parked behind a dumpster about a half a mile away from the actual warehouse. “Hand me that bag, would you?”

 

 

 

Kevin looked around his seat and found the bag my brother was talking about. It was really big. Nickolas opened it and took out a pair of binoculars, holding them up to his face and looking over at the windows, “Mom and dad are here.” He said, placing the binoculars back in the bag. It still felt weird hearing him call them mom and dad.

 

 

 

He then pulled out a gun which made my heart jump. “Do you really need to bring that in there?” I know it was a stupid question and I’m not sure what I exactly thought would happen, but I had my fair share of guns to last me a lifetime.

 

 

 

Seeing my reaction to the gun he was holding he felt the need to say, “Last chance, if you wanted to stay in this car, no one would think less of you kid.” He urged, really hoping I’d just say okay and do just that. I wanted to, desperately. Believe me, just like I ran away when he was in trouble. I wanted to just stay in this car and wait for the happy ending. I couldn’t do it though. It was Brian, AJ and Howie we were talking about. I would never be able to look them in the eyes again if I did nothing but sit back and wait.

 

 

 

“I’m coming with you.” I added, “But I’m not carrying a gun.”

 

 

 

He smiled at me, “You’re right about that.”

 

 

 

“Okay guys, let’s go!” Nickolas motioned for both Kevin and I to get out of the car. Before doing so, we gave each other a look of disbelief. Things like this just didn’t happen in real life.

 

 

 

Kevin placed his hand on my back, reminding me that no matter what that’s where it would always be and with that thought we made our way into the warehouse.

 

 

 

 

Chapter End Notes:

We are getting close to the end of this story :O( If anyone has any ideas for a new one, let me know lol i'm at a loss for ideas right now.  Thanks for reading and reviewing! :O)