One-Shots

Stay With Us...Please

Dedicated to GingerCat_05

Hunter ran, dodging bullets as he went. He ran into a room and shut the door, breathing heavily. He turned around to see the person they were sent to rescue.

"Nina! Are you—"

BANG!

Hunter stared at Nina, his mouth hung open as a strangled gasp slipped past his lips. Nina looked at the gun she held in her hand before walking towards him and pulling him towards her body, his hand secured around his rapidly bleeding side. Nina pressed the gun against Hunter's back and pulled the trigger once more, earning a strangled gasp from him again and his legs failed to hold him up.

"I'm sorry," Nina said, letting him fall to the floor, blood staining his lips.

She walked off, leaving him stranded and bleeding. He managed to get onto his back first, gritting his teeth in pain and holding his stomach as blood flowed out of him.

"Help," Hunter weakly called, his fingers red and sticky.

He heard incoherent speaking through his comm and he knew the others were coming. That was all he remembered before he blacked out.

———

Tech rushed in to find his brother lying awfully still on the cold stone floor, a puddle of red beneath him.

"Oh Hylia!" Tech cried as he ran to his fallen brother's side.

He scanned Hunter, looking for injuries. Hunter's bloodied hand was limply resting on his stomach, which was covered in blood. Hunter's olive skin was now pale and his breathing was ragged.

The others rushed in and Royce Hemlock rushed to kneel down next to Hunter.

"He's got a weak pulse," Hemlock said, feeling for Hunter's pulse. "He's lost so much blood."

Tech lifted up Hunter's shirt to see two bullet holes. When he checked Hunter's back, there was only one.

"One of the bullets is still in him," Tech said, earning a curse from Royce.

"That's not good," he said, his hands hovering over Hunter's stomach, unsure of whether he should touch Hunter. He ultimately decided to apply pressure to the wound. "We need to figure out where the bullet is before we move him."

Tech got his data pad out and scanned Hunter. "Oh no. It's lodged in his spine."

"Well, that's definitely not good," Royce said. "We need to move him carefully and slowly, if at all."

"He's lost so much blood! I don't think he'll make it," Tech said.

Royce looked around for something that could help Hunter, but there was nothing. "We just have to try."

Tech looked at Hunter's deathly pale face and whispered, "stay with us...please."

———

Hunter was still alive (by some miracle) when they got him to the hospital, but as soon as they got him into the operating theatre, he crashed.

The surgeons managed to resurrect him and get him on life support. They then began to try and get the bullet out, fix the internal damage and stitch the wounds up, but it was proving very difficult to do.

———

The others waited outside in the corridor. The nurse eventually came and told them that Hunter made it through surgery and would moved to the ICU. He showed them to the room that Hunter would be put in and they waited.

They waited for about 10-15 minutes before Hunter was wheeled into the room. The nurses told them that the doctor would be in soon to tell them Hunter's diagnosis and prognosis.

While they waited for the doctor, Tech looked at Hunter's comatose form. He didn't seem to be able to breathe on his own as the ventilator seemed to be doing it for him and he looked so pale still.

The doctor came in a little while later and first of all checked the blood and fluid IVs that Hunter had and then she checked that Hunter was still stable. Once she was satisfied, she went over to talk to Hunter's family.

"He is lucky to be alive," she began. "Now, I have good news and bad news...which would you like to hear first?"

Omega answered for everyone. "Bad news, please."

"Of course. One of the bullets exited Hunter's body, while the other did not. It got lodged in his spine, which damaged the nerves a little. Now, it wasn't enough to render him paralysed, but when we removed the bullet, we had to damage the nerves even more. We were able to prevent a permanent and full paralysis, but he will be paralysed from the waist down. I'm sorry," the doctor said. "He still can't breathe on his own, so we're keeping him on the ventilator for now."

"Thank you for trying," Tech said.

The doctor nodded. "The good news is that he will be fine. He'll make it and should wake up soon."

Tech thanked her again and she nodded once more before leaving to let Tech and the others have some time.

———

After spending some time with Hunter, Tech headed back to the B.O.O.. There he found Royce seemingly staring off into space.

"Hey, you seem a little...off of late. Are you okay?" Tech asked, sitting down on a chair opposite to Royce.

"I don't wanna trouble you with my issues," Royce said.

"No. I need a distraction. Please, tell me. Only if you want to, of course," Tech said.

"My foster mother is coming to see me," Royce said.

"That's great!" Tech said.

"No...my mother was actually quite abusive," Royce said. "She said she's got Stage 4 Cancer and wants to see me before she dies."

"Oh," Tech said. "Maybe she's changed?"

"Somehow I doubt it," Royce said. "Anyway, enough about me. How's Hunter?"

Tech told Royce what the doctor had said.

"Oof. That's hard...I'm sorry."

"It's fine...he'll make it. He's a fighter," Tech said, smiling.

I feel bad for Hunter. Maybe.