Stay With Me | Hamilphan AU

Chaptire Vingt-Quatre

Phil's legs shook as he walked down the sidewalk to his parents' house. He had a pot of ink, a quill and a piece of paper in his hand. Writing was difficult when walking. He knew it was messy and a disgrace but it would have to do. He tucked the paper in his pocket and chucked the ink and quill in a bush. He couldn't be bothered to carry those around. He quietly let himself into his parents' house, took a gun off the wall and left, barely making a sound.

After having caught a cab and a boat to Weehawken, he was already tired, especially seeing as it was gone 3 and he hadn't had any sleep in nearly 24 hours. Christian and his second were waiting for him.

"You're late. And where's Howell? Thought he'd be here. Or is he a coward?" Christian cackled.

"No he's not! He's 10 times the man that you'll ever be but I decided to take his place!"

"Oh well, let's get on with it then." They began to step out, Phil's head and heart racing, faster than he'd ever experienced. How wasn't he spontaneously combusting? On the tenth step they span round and brought their guns up, ready to shoot. Phil's finger trembled on the trigger and he struggled to keep the gun steady. Suddenly, he heard a gun shot and out of panic, fired his gun and felt it jerk in his hand. Everything seemed to slow down, and he saw the bullet spinning towards him and the other bullet whizzing away from him.

For a moment, he didn't register the bullet entering his body, but then the pain caught up with him. He cried out and also heard Christian cry out, glad the bullet had hit its target. He wasn't a killer, but Christian was willing to take away his Dan. No one could ever do that.

"Fucking bastard!" Christian roared. He saw the doctor check Christian, mutter something to Christian's second and rush over to Phil.

"The bullet is in the right side of your chest. I'm not sure if it's in any organs, but at least it has missed your heart. I need to get you to the hospital."

"What about Christian?" Phil muttered, trying to push himself up from the floor.

"You shot him in the arm. He'll be fine as long as it doesn't get infected. I'm going to carry you to the boat and get you to the hospital. You were a bit stupid, not bringing a second." The doctor explained, putting all his strength into hauling Phil up from the ground. Every step to the boat caused a shot of pain to flare up in Phil's body and he could barely take it. He didn't know if he could regret his decision. On one hand, he was dying. On the other, at least he hadn't risked Dan dying. Really, what did he have to live for except Dan? A child, yes, but a wife he doesn't love, pressuring parents and a life and future he doesn't want. How could he be happy with that? If it wasn't for Dan, maybe he'd welcome death with open arms. What was he thinking about anyway? He didn't know if he was dying or not.

He fought to stay conscious as he lay on the boat, feeling the rocking of the boat, hearing the splash of the paddles entering and leaving the water.

"Not much further now," the doctor muttered, his face screwed up with the effort of rowing. He was carried the rest of the way to the hospital, which wasn't far, where he was placed onto a bench and doctors rushed around him. "This is Marcus Lloyd, a trainee doctor. He'll be observing your case." Phil nodded and looked at Marcus. He was young and nervous, carrying a board and a quill. When the doctors had left to discuss him, he called Marcus over.

"Is everything okay? Are the bandages too tight? Are you losing a lot of blood?" He asked, his face going white.

"I've been shot, of course I'm losing blood. But no. I was wondering if you could do me a favour please?"

"Okay, what?"

"Go to my house and use this key to open the first door down the hall on the left. Bring the man inside the basement here," Phil said, pressing the key into Marcus's hand and telling him the address.