The Queen Of Spades

Chapter 8, Continued, Again

After they were gone, I looked down to survey the damage. I was bleeding really bad, I was bleeding out. But you couldn't see that through the black of my clothing. Without warning, I started coughing violently and blood came flying out of my mouth. That might be a little more noticeable. Wiping my chin with the back of my jacket sleeve, I took a deep breath in preparation. With a grunt and a gasp in pain, I dragged myself up to a standing position and opened the door to the classroom. Still clutching my stab wound, I started to make my way back to my seat only to be stopped by Mr. Whitcomb.
"Are you alright, Ms. Everhart?" He asked me.
I put my hand over my mouth to hide the blood and answered, "Yep, I just need a tissue. Thank you." Continuing over to my desk, I made a pit stop at the spare desk that always had a box of tissues on it and pretended to wipe my nose before taking my seat beside Gideon.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He whispered once I had sat down. I nodded and pretended to pay attention to what Mr. Whitcomb was saying.
"Lyn," he pressed.
"Stop." I hissed.
"Answer me then."
Facing him, I whispered. "I'm dying." As I said it, blood mixed with saliva (ew) leaked out of my mouth and I quickly wiped it off with my sleeve.
"Oh. Oh my gosh. Okay, um, hold on."
"Gideon don't. I still have a few minutes."
"Sir!" I would have smacked him across the face if I could have. Instead, I laid my head back on my chair.
"Yes, Mr. McLain?" The teacher responded.
"Madelyn needs the nurse. Like, right now."
"Why?"
"She's coughing up blood."
"Gideon." I grabbed his arm, momentarily taking it off of my stomach. "Stop."
"Holy Hell that's a lot of blood. What happened? No, you know what, we don't have time for this." Reaching behind me, he took my phone out of my pocket and unlocked it.
"How do you know my password?"
"Not important right now. Hey, can someone get some paper towels or something so she stops bleeding!" He shouted at the class as he put my phone to his ear. "Nada! Come to school. Right now. Something is very wrong."
"She's not gonna be here in time." I told him. I was slipping out of consciousness, I knew I was dying.
"Alright. What can I do?" He asked me. It still surprises me how he manages to stay so calm all the time.
"Nothing. Gideon, I have a hole in my abdomen. Unless you can cauterize it or something, I'm not going to make it."
"I know one of you has a lighter! I have been in the bathrooms here! Pass it over!" He screamed at them. Surprisingly, it was Mr. Whitcomb who gave him the lighter. "You're not gonna die, Lyn. You have so much life left in you, okay? You are not gonna die in a history classroom."
"I'm ready to see them, Gideon. It's okay." I smiled and took his hand in mine.
"Shut up, Madelyn. And I mean this lovingly, of course. My dear sweet Madelyn, shut your big beautiful mouth so I can focus or I'm gonna duct tape it.” I rolled my eyes. “You are not dying in this stupid desk. You are a queen and the only place that you will die is on a throne. Zayne, give me your water bottle." He said, hand outstretched for the bottle full of what everyone knew wasn’t water.
"Make sure it doesn't spread. I don't need another big burn scar."
After he had poured the "water" in Zayne's water bottle very precisely on my bare abdomen so that it was only on the injured part, he leaned down so that his mouth was next to my ear and whispered, “I think your scars look hot as Hell.”
I let out a pitiful laugh, "If you want me to live, you have about thirty seconds, you idiot. Which I mean lovingly, of course." Taking a deep breath, Gideon lit the lighter and put the sleeve of his jacket in my mouth. Smart. The smell of burning flesh and the sound of my muffled screams filled the air as I squeezed Gideon's hand so hard that I thought I might break it.