Purple And Yellow

Chapter 14

    When he turned round to see that Blinky had left, he got his phone out. Luckily, he had a signal. He started frantically scrolling through his contacts before clicking one. Then the phone started to ring.
     'Xander?' He said, though it wasn't clear since he was crying so hard.
     'Owen? What's going on? Is
everything-'
     'I need help. Now. I'm at Watcher World.'
     'Why? What's-'
     'Just get here! Curt's... He's bleeding. Badly.'
     'I'll be there in five.'
     'Okay.'
     True to his word, Xander came running to the gates five minutes later. Owen had already carried Curt over so Xander took him and lay him down in the backseat of the car.
     'Keep pressure on it.'
     Owen nodded tearfully, laying Curt's head on his legs and keeping his hand over the bullet wound.
     'You want to tell me what the hell happened?' Xander asked as he started to  drive.
     'He shot himself.'
     'What?'
     'Blinky tried to make me do it. Nearly killed me. But the dumbarse took it upon himself.' Owen's tone was somewhere between rage and terror.
     'Sounds like he saved you.'
     'I'd rather have died than him.'
     'Don't get ahead of yourself. He's not dead yet.'
     'Don't. Just don't.' Owen looked down at Curt, looking away almost immediately to stop himself crying even more. His throat was already burning from the screams and his face was freezing from the tears.

     When they got back to PEIP HQ a few minutes later, Xander carried Curt up to the hospital, Owen following just behind.
     Once Curt was in a room, Owen sat at his side clutching his hand as Xander spoke to the doctor.
     'Curt, don't you dare die on me. You can't leave me like this,' he whispered, tears distorting his vision. 'You're going to be okay.'
     Xander chuckled as he sat back down.
     'What's so funny?' Owen turned to him, irritated.
     'He's smart.'
     'How so?'
     'Bullet narrowly missed his heart. He made Blinky think he would die instantly but he's gonna be fine.'
     Owen sighed, relieved. 'Thank god.'
     'What exactly happened?'
     Owen explained the night, from the concert all the way to the gunshot, in as much detail as he was able.
     'Holy shit.'
     'Yeah.'
     'He's not gonna be awake for a while. You should go home and get some rest.' The doctor said.
     'No,' Owen said, vehemently shaking his head. 'I'm not leaving him.'
     Xander sighed, 'At least go to sleep. Please.'
     'Fine. But I need to call my sister first.'
     'Okay.' Xander stood up, following the doctor out of the room. 'Make sure you get some sleep.'
     'I will.'
     'Good.' He closed the door.
     Then his phone started to ring again.
     'Hey.'
     'Hey. You gonna be home soon?'
     'Um... Not exactly.'
     'Everything okay?'
     '...Curt's in the hospital.'
     'Crap... Is he alright?'
     'He got shot.'
     'What the fuck? Owen! What happened?'
     'Can't really explain. It's work related.'
     'Oh. Well, is he gonna be okay?'
     'Should be. But I'm not gonna make it home tonight.'
     'Okay. Well, call me tomorrow and let me know how he is.'
     'Yeah. I will.'
     'And make sure you get some sleep.'
     'Yep.'
     'Okay. Talk to you tomorrow.'
     'Yeah. Bye.'
     'Bye.'
     It wasn't long before Owen drifted off. But he was still just seeing the image of Curt in that chair, the ring of blood on his t-shirt growing and the life in his eyes fading. He woke up shaking at least once every half hour.

But the seventh time, he looked over and saw Curt staring up at the ceiling before tilting his head to the side.
     'Owen?'
'Curt!' Owen quickly dragged his seat to the side of the bed. 'Curt, oh my god. How do you feel?'
Curt shut his eyes tightly and winced as he tried to move.
'Just stay there. Don't move.'
'Yep.'
Owen smiled as he took hold of Curt's hand. 'You're an idiot, you know that?'
'Well, we're out of the situation and both fine, aren't we?'
Owen pointed to where the bullet wound on Curt's chest was. 'Not exactly fine.'
'Well, it was worth it to make sure you were fine.'
Owen pointed to his face which still glistened with tears. 'Not exactly fine.'
Curt laughed, reaching toward Owen's face and wiping away the tears with his thumb. 'It was worth it to make sure you lived. Especially after I nearly killed you.'
'No, no, Curt, that was Blinky. That-'
'I'm so sorry, Owen. The things I said-'
Owen took both of his hands. 'That wasn't your fault. Blinky was controlling you. And the things I said... God, I'm so-'
'You just told me not to apologise for that. You don't get to either.'
'Okay, fine. Nothing we said or did in there was in our control.'
'I just can't believe I really tried to kill you.'
'You didn't. Curt, don't you get it? Blinky did to us what he did to all those people.'
'Oh my god.'
'But we were able to resist it.'
'Barely. I still shot.'
'But the bullet didn't even come close to hitting me. And your aim is always spot on.'
'I guess.'
'Curt, glad you're up,' Xander said after appearing at the door.
'Oh, hey, Xander.'
'How are you feeling?'
'It hurts, but I'll be fine.'
'That was smart, what you did. Shooting right next to your heart like that.'
'Nothing about him shooting himself was smart!' Owen said.
'Owen, calm down. We're both alive.'
Owen sighed, 'Fine.'
'Well, I've gotta get to work,' Xander said. 'Just wanted to see how you two were doing. Oh, and, speaking of work, Owen, take as much time as you need. You don't have to come back right away.'
'Thanks.'
'Well, I'll see you two later.'
Owen nodded.
'Bye,' Curt said.