Pain

Rick was just pulling into work when his cell phone rang. It was unusual for Katie to call, so he didn't hesitate to answer. Hearing her situation, his pulse quickened. "Stay calm and stay right where you are, I'm on my way." He didn't turn his engine off, but just kept right on driving, back out onto the street. "Is he talking? Katie?" Too late, she was gone. 

Growling in frustration, he ended the call and dialed the office. With a shooter on the loose, it would be stupid not to bring backup. "Oh, Jason," he whispered. "Hang in there..."


Drifting in and out of consciousness, Jason could hear Katie's voice and tried to follow her promptings, but he found it unusually hard to use his legs as his mind kept wanting to shut down. He tried to say something, but it came out a garbled mess, frustrating him even more. 

Making it to the couch and having Katie put pressure in the wound, he withheld yelling at her and just closed his eyes tight as he groaned. Sweat trickled down the side of his face as the pain increased. "It's still in there," he mumbled. "Didn't....didn't go all the way through."

His eyes rolled back again and he fought to stay awake. His other hand came up to hold Katie's over the wound, and he gripped her fingers tightly. He'd been shot numerous times before but he couldn't remember the others hurting quite like this one, and deep down, it scared him. "Don't...let me.... Don't let me pass out..." 

Trooper paced back and forth in front of the couch, knowing better than to interfere, but whined nervously. Jason tried to move, but cried out as he did. "Something's wrong," he managed hoarsely. He blinked, still trying to stay alert, and tried to find Katie within his line of vision. "Shouldn't...hurt this much."

Though it felt like hours, it was really only minutes before Rick arrived, with Wyatt right behind him, escorting him into the house. "Katie?" Rick called. "Katie, where..." He found them in the living room and immediately knelt down next to Jason. "Would you kindly stop getting shot?" he chided.

Jason tried to smile but didn't quite get there. "Sure thing..."

Rick nodded to Katie that she could move her hand then quickly got Jason's jacket and shirt off to expose the ugly wound. Still bleeding profusely, Rick shook his head grimly. "We gotta get him back to the infirmary where I can work properly. Katie, if I put a temporary bandage on this, can you hold it tight on the ride back? I'm afraid of him losing too much blood."


Chance smirked a little and nodded at Destiny. "Always. You know me... I have a hard time sitting still."

He shrugged. "I dunno... Being in California was nice. I just...sometimes I feel like being in the Elite is holding me back. Like I want more freedom than that but I'm always under their thumb, ya know?"

He chewed thoughtfully. "I just think there'd be an easier way to make a go of it. But... I wouldn't want to be too far from you."