Just a Happy Ending

Moment Of Truth

Henry went first across the rickety plank bridge, Norman following close behind. They actually made it across the first two boards, which gave Henry mental pause. That never happened before. Usually, as soon as he reached the center of the second board, it-.

The board under him broke.

Both he and Norman plummeted like stones, the fast-fading voices of Allison and Sammy calling for them.

Henry wasn't too worried; the fall never hurt him more than a sore ankle.

Norman, however, actually saw what was at the bottom.

The entire fall took perhaps a second and a half, but in just that short span, Norman grabbed Henry, turned him over, and twisted in midair, putting his body between the ground and Henry.

They landed, but not in ink.

Stunned for a few seconds, Henry came to with Norman roughly shoving him aside. Henry stood to help Norman up, but froze when he realized what Norman had saved him from.

The few extra steps across the boards had meant they landed on rubble. But it wasn't wood. Brick and metal debris littered the small lake.

Norman lay on a mound of stone and rebar which had been crushed by his weight. His head thumped to one side and his shoulders heaved with pained breaths. His spine arched in an unnatural way, and something of his internal components looked like they threatened to be pushed through his stomach. Runny ink bled from his back over the dust and splinters.

Henry had been on the battlefield. He'd seen horrific injuries.

He knew what a broken back looked like.

This was worse.

Then Sammy fell into the lake a few meters away. He surfaced and shouted a few choice words up at the second hole in the ceiling.

"Sammy! Shut up and help me with Norman!"

"What? I-is he okay?"

"No!"

Sammy held his hands up, "All right, I didn't-" he spotted Norman and promptly cursed. "What happened?" he demanded.

Henry stuttered, "H-he knew, s-somehow, that this was here, a-and-... he saved my life."

"Okay, I get it," said Sammy. He stared Henry dead in the eye to get him to refocus. "What should we do?"

Henry blinked out of his shock and inhaled. "I-... I can't heal him here. We need to move him to solid ground."

"Good enough. I'll get his head."

Norman must have passed out from pain; he didn't move or make a sound, even when Henry and Sammy lifted him with a spine-chilling squelch from the rubble.

Henry wanted to throw up. Norman's back was crushed inward in a way that, if he'd had proper bones and organs, would have seen his spine make an acquaintance of his stomach.

Sammy swore. He set Norman down, stepped back, and swore again. Henry's hands lit up with gold and began to reshape Norman's ink, and still Sammy's mouth uttered such curses that would have made a sailor blush. He paced the length of the small path, swearing all the while.

Henry knew he stuttered when he was nervous. He was beginning to remember that Sammy rattled off his colorful vocabulary.

One by one, Buddy, Allison, and Tom slid down a rope. Sammy kept them from swarming Norman, explaining what happened.

They resolved to keep watch for any inky threats while Henry kept working. Norman was mercifully still unconscious, his shoulders barely moving with his staticky breathing.