Ticking Time Bomb

EPISODE 7

There are a lot of time skips in this chapter because episode seven skips from all perspectives very frequently. I promise I will try to keep this from being a recurring issue. 

We make it home after a long, clumsy walk. Despite my blurred vision and pain, I squeeze Jinx's arm. "Go." I take a sharp breath before I continue. "I think it's best you plan out your next moves carefully." she flicks a glare at me but glances down at my injury and backs off. I carefully watch as she stumbles away. "Should I send for someone to treat your leg, or can you wait for me?" her head snaps up and from around the corner I hear "don't take too long."

I would chuckle or snort if I had the energy. I take a step on my own and push off the wall, instantly being flooded with a wave of pain.

after repeating this torturous walk of shame, I make it to Silco's door. "She'll come to you when she's ready." I hear mumbled through the door. My bloody hand forms a fist and I knock on the door. "Not now" I hear Silco's frustrated voice. I place my hand on the doorknob, fumbling before twisting it and stumbling in. "I said not now!" he spins around and immediately stops when he sees me. His eyebrows furrow as he runs a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Leave us." Sevika stands up and heads to the exit, giving me a curious look as she passes. As soon as the door shuts, I fall into his arms, and he stumbles back. "What happened?" he questions me, guiding my limp body to his chair. "Vi, the enforcer-" I groan and hug my body as I am placed in the chair. "T-they took the stone and" deep breaths "the firelights took them." Silco clicks his tongue and pulls out tweezers and a spare cloth.  "Jinx?" he asks, gesturing to the wound. "Not her fault- didn't mean to" I correct breathlessly. He nods in understanding, but his expression is firm, aggravated even. he places a hand on my face and sighs. "Don't speak until you're better" it sounds more like an order. 

A sudden shock shoots through me as I feel him push the tweezers into the open wound. It's a weird, but not so foreign feeling. Everything is happening at a normal pace, but it's like I'm not there. This isn't my reality; I'm watching this happen from outside my body. The boy, laying limply in that chair, he resembles me. He is me; I can feel it. I can feel the bullet being pulled from my gut, I can see the scarlet, sappy substance that covers the metal object. 

"May I?" his voice echoes throughout my head. In his hand is a needle, with surgical thread hanging from it. I watch as the delirious me nods yes, before closing his eyes and focusing on breathing.  I can feel as the needle pierces my skin. Am I losing consciousness? I didn't see him disinfect. He always cleans my injuries. 

In the blink of an eye, he is tying up the loose ends of string. "I'm going to ^d^ * ^m^l^ dosage into ^^^r leg." He sounds distorted, like he's underwater. Am I underwater? A pinching feeling on my scar.

! - - - !

"Shit!" I gasp, reaching out to Silco for his hand- anything really, that could ground me. He grabs my arms and pulls me into him. He wraps his arms around my body and rests his chin on my head. "Oh... this is... this is nice." 

*

I knock on the doorframe of Jinx's room/lab. "I'm all better" I call out. No answer. "Jinx?" I step into the room.

 "Fuck." She's gone. 

 I walk over to her desk and find a bloody stapler on the ground and a trashed desk. "Hey!" I snap to the voice and see Jinx hanging out of the window. "Come with?" My eyebrows furrow. "What are you up to?" She shrugs and slips out. "This girl is going to be the death of me" I roll my eyes and pull my braid into a loop, tightening my laces, and jumping up from boxes to walls. I hop out the window and see Jinx waiting for me with an innocent face on.