Infatuation (PLL Emison AU)

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Chapter 35:

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Seconds before the shot was fired Marco sensed something was wrong. It wasn't just Duke's posture and body language, or the fact that everything around them suddenly seemed quiet. The birds weren't chirping. The wind was still. Everything seemed to be at a complete standstill.

He'd developed a certain sense on the battlefield. When a silence lingered for an unusually long time that meant danger was imminent. He instinctively reached for Emily and pulled her aside, trying to move her towards the door and get her to safety.

Toby stopped, trying to assess the situation. He'd only seen his Chief take control and command when he felt a looming threat. Before he could take another step towards them, a horrendous deafening noise shattered the silence.

Furey saw the shock on Emily's face. Then he saw the blood. Her adrenaline kept her from feeling it.

"Emily!" Toby screamed as he barreled towards them.

The noises were overwhelming. Yelling coming from inside the station. Duke's low baritone barking. The echo of another shot...

This one struck Toby in the shoulder. He whipped back because of the force of it, but kept running towards them.

No one could tell where the shots were coming from. Another bullet zipped through the air. Duke let out a yelp and crouched down on the asphalt.

The span of three seconds felt like a lifetime, like it was never going to end.

Boots stormed out of the station.

Emily looked at the gaping wound and the blood all over her body, touching her fingertips to it like it wasn't real.

But the blood wasn't hers. She wiped Chief Furey's blood out of her eyes just in time to see his eyes widen in surprise. His blood had painted her face, wet hot spatters covering her cheeks. It burned her eyes and turned her vision into an orange blur.

His cigarette fell to the ground, a spark of ashes raining against the pavement as he collapsed on to the asphalt.

Emily saw Duke cowering next to him and at first she thought he'd been hit, but he wasn't bleeding. She had the presence of mind to command the dog to seek shelter, pointing towards a retention wall and yelling, "GO! DOWN!"

He scrambled to his feet and listened to her, whining the whole way.

Officers came pouring out of the building, guns drawn. They immediately started fanning out and searching for the threat.

"Fields!" Toby rushed towards them. "Where did the shots come from?"

The ringing in her ears from how close the bullet had come to her made his voice sound muffled.

She froze. She didn't know whether to reach for her gun or help her boss.

She saw officers in the parking lot grabbing their weapons and pointing towards where they thought the bullets had been fired from.

The basic medical training every officer had to take kicked in and she fell to her knees and put pressure against the injury in Marco's neck. Blood seeped through her fingers. His body jerked and spasmed against the ground. A guttural choking sound filled the air as he realized he'd been the one hit. His eyes opened wide, pleading with her not to let him die.

Emily tore a piece of her blouse and packed the hole in the side of his neck. She couldn't tell if it had hit his carotid artery.

"Emily, what happened?" Toby holstered his weapon and leaned next to her. "Are you hit?"