I Want To Paint Your Lips

Chapter 14

“They’re alive.” Ohm raised his head. He had barely heard anything of what had happened the day before, but the gunshots and the shouting seemed to echo throughout the whole building. He knew enough.

He wasn’t fazed, if not a bit hopeful that the two had made it away from the compound in two pieces. Ohm wasn’t one to get attached to anyone, he’d stopped doing that years ago, but he still appreciated the two and their occasional company. It would be a shame for them to end in tragedy.            

He felt two lips against his forehead and swayed forward in an attempt to follow their absence. “Why do you sound concerned then?” he asked, taking a drink when a straw prodded his lips. He allowed himself to blindly be fed breakfast and listened to Bryce’s breathing.

“What’s the best way to help a calf bullet wound heal?” Bryce was never one to be subtle about his thoughts. Nor was he very good at keeping any secrets he’d had since he’d begun working at the asylum.

Ohm couldn’t help his little smile. “In the calf? If possible, remove the bullet, keep constant pressure, bandage and elevate. Not much else to it. Stitch it if it’s bleeding a lot. Otherwise don’t put it under stress,” he instructed. It had been years since he had been to any kind of medical school. He couldn’t say he didn’t miss it, but he knew enough to get by with basics. He chewed on the muesli bar he was offered. “Was it Delirious?”

“Evan.” Bryce grit his teeth. It was not a fun thing to think about.

Daithi had witnessed the situation, being told to shoot at the escapees himself. He’d been suspended for a week of his own after “accidently” shooting one of the officers in the arm. He’d been far too close to Evan and Daithi wasn’t going to risk having one of them shot in the head or chest. He’d made a split decision and successfully aided the two in getting the Hell out of there. The supervisor had gone off his face the moment the car crashed through the boom gates and vanished down the road.

Two other cars had been geared up and put on hot pursuit, and Daithi definitely got his five minutes of being screamed at. The supervisor was furious that the two had gotten away and even more so that several of his men were bleeding out on the dirt. Lui was going to be given a substitute, likely Tyler, to fill in.

“They’re going to just keep driving for a few days, I’m pretty sure. Delirious said Evan would call me when he woke up. They sent out helicopters an hour ago.” Bryce’s voice was restricted and closed off. The nerves radiated off his tongue with the words and it sounded like he was speaking around a golf ball in his throat.

Ohm hummed in thought. “They’ll manage, Delirious has been in situations on the run before. He thinks quick, especially on medication. Evan will be fine,” he told the younger man and finished chewing the muesli bar. “Don’t worry too much, Brycey.”

Evan felt bright light nudge against his eyelids, consciousness dragging him back up to the real world with the loud sound of helicopter blades and a constant, heavy throbbing in his lower leg. He blinked his eyes open, despite the difficulty of the simple task, and allowed his head to roll to the side. His dark eyes crawled up to Delirious who sat still in the driver’s seat, munching on an apple and glaring out the windshield blankly.

The sounds of the helicopters overhead swept back and forth, drawing closer and further away with every few minutes. From what Evan could understand the two were still in the same car and had made it to another sheltered area. Some sort of bushland Evan didn’t recognise. It was enough to shield them from the huge mechanical vultures and Evan resorted to staring at Delirious until his body decided to wake up further.

“Have you had your pills?” he coughed out after a few minutes and crystal eyes washed over his painted face. Delirious shook his head, lips pursed. Evan nodded, stretched and squirmed around in his seat, feeling for body parts that didn’t want to cooperate. He decided against moving too far. “I put as much as I could fit into my duffel in the back if you could drag that to the front for me. I can get some more food and your medication.”