The Kings of National City

Abdominal Aorta

Normally I sleep in and you would think since I was up all night thinking about everything I would have, my brain was in overdrive at 9 a.m. I lay in bed scrolling my phone for a bit to waste time.

"Fuck!" I sat up straight hearing the yell. "Can you fucking not?" It was Nick yelling. I tossed my phone and walked quickly to the living room.

"Just hold still." Percocet Polly was here. She was hovering over Nick who was sprawled out on the floor shirtless.

"Just let her get it out." Chris' voice was concerned instead of domineering.

"What is going on?" My voice wavered. I wasn't feeling fully awake yet.

"Nick still has the bullet in his side." Chris didn't look at me.

"I thought it was just -"

"A flesh wound." Chris finished with attitude. He finally turned to look at me with his arms folded. His eyebrows were pressed down. He was mad at me.

"Yeah." I croaked.

"Chris, it's not his fault." Nick panted.

"This never happens when I'm there. It was your one chance to not fuck anything up and Nick got shot."

"I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Didn't what? Think?"

"Chris!" Nick yelled. "Oh fuck!" He hollered right after. Chris forgot about yelling at me to point his attention back to Nick.

"I got it." She held up a little fragment. "Oh no." She shrieked.

"What!?" Chris and I both asked urgently at the same time. I walked closer to my brother on the living room floor.

"Chris go get more gauze." She demanded. Without missing a beat he was gone and back. I blinked once. "It must have been containing the bleeding somehow." She was speaking aloud. I assume more to work through her thought process and less to inform us. Nick looked pale and woozy. "Nick, I'm sorry." She said. I stood there watching Chris frantically trying to clean up the crimson liquid oozing from the hole in his body he tried to hide. She shoved two fingers into his open wound and stretched his skin open further.

"Aaaagghh!" Nick shot up awake and alert.

"No stay down. Matt." Polly pushed him back down. I couldn't move. I was paralyzed watching this scene. Chris was covered in blood. Polly was covered in blood. Nick was bleeding out and I couldn't move to help. He took this bullet for me and I couldn't help him. "Matt, hold him down!" She yelled again. This time her voice snapped me back to the scene still happening before me. I slid down to my knees and held Nick's shoulders down. She continued ramming her fingers into his side hole.

"Fuuuck." He screamed and thrashed.

"Almost done." She was completely focused on her fingers. "Chris hand me that clamp."

"What clamp?"

"They look like scissors."

"These?" Chris held out a random tool. She quickly snatched it and threw it down.

"No, those!" She pointed frantically. Chris was panicking looking at all the intertwined silver tools. I reached over and grabbed what she needed. "Thank you." She didn't look at me but instead focused her attention on clamping whatever she was holding in between her fingers. Nick wasn't thrashing anymore. I looked at his face. His eyes were closed.

"Is he unconscious?"

"Yes." Polly didn't seem concerned at all.

"What the fuck is going on?" Chris touched his forehead leaving a bloody print on it.