James and Kim walked past him. "Hey, Franny. We'll see you soon."
François was stitching a soldier's arm. "Where are you going?"
"The battle, it's today."
"Shit, I completely forgot. Be safe."
"Thanks." James slapped his calf as they walked outside. "God, my fucking leg, it's been hurting for a week straight."
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François feel asleep before they came back. Suddenly, someone slapped him across the face so hard he fell off the chair he was on. Before he could yell, the person shoved medical tools in his hands and ordered him into a room. Fuzzy, the chaos of the injured and the bitter loss of the battle woke him up. He ran in and closed the door.
"Fran. François, man, you need to help me. I can't feel my leg anymore..." He jumped when he heard James' quivering voice.
François looked at him, then he looked down. He only had one hand. He only had half his left leg. He was covered in blood, he looked so pale.
The door slammed and screaming deafen him. Lloyd rushed past him to comfort James and try to clean up the blood. François snapped out of it and sprung into action. Kim ran in, shouting something in Korean, holding the rest James' leg in his shaking hands. James threw up and passed out when he saw Kim slip in blood, his blood, and drop his leg.
Lloyd tried in a desperate attempt to shove the leg back. "IT'S NOT GOING BACK! FRANÇOIS, DO SOMETHING!" He jammed it so hard a splatter of blood painted his face.
His blue eyes widen. "STOP THAT!" He grabbed the leg. "LET GO!"
"NO! WE CAN FIX IT!"
They played tug-of-war. François knew it was a lost cause, Lloyd didn't. The foot of the leg was hanging on by a vein, two toes were missing. Kim had to grab it from both of them and throw it somewhere neither of them could get it. A lady screamed when it landed in her room.
"YOU STUPID PRICK!" They both turned to Lloyd, he never spoke to Kim in English nor yelled at him. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"
François shouted at him to calm down and gave him a blood transfusion as told Lloyd to stitch up the wound on his arm. He was the verge of fainting, Kim had to shake him so he would stay awake.
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That evening, James was awake and stable. Lloyd didn't leave him for those five hours. White told him that James was going home, he can't fight anymore. He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye, the minute he turned his back they took him away.
Kim and François were there when he left. They both held their breathe before turning to face Lloyd. They expected tears, screaming, but no. He was stone-faced.
"Lloyd...?" François touched his shoulder. "Lloyd..."
They both stared at him, then each other. The fear in their eyes confirmed what the other was thinking, this was worst than any other reaction he could've had. Lloyd turned on his heel and walked away. Kim almost followed him but stopped himself. Maybe he needed a minute.
One minute. Two minutes. One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Six hours.
It was dark by the time Kim and François decided to drive around to look for him. They were in silent panick, driving so recklessly that they almost crashed into a tree. It didn't help that it was chilly and they were in Serbia.
The blood was everywhere. Body parts were on the ground. A tan hand still grasping its gun was ran over by the wheels of the car.
They found him after a few minutes. Face down in the water with scars on his legs turning the river a hideous shade of red. Kim rushed out to grab him and throw him in the back as François became hysterical, crying in his hands and constantly turning back to see him, still unconscious and facing away from them.
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𝑽𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔
General FictionLloyd Sauveterre, a broken child thrown into a Revolution. As he grows under the pressure of war, loss, and heartache, he meets François Dauphiné, a young man carrying thousands of secrets and a heart tainted by abuse. Life is full of thorn bushes...