Authority ▲ Ksimon

Painful

Words:(2069)

JJ

"Simon no!"

This is my last phrase before I am thrown to the floor in a hard thud and Simon pulls his hand out to keep me in place. Before I can stand up to stop him, the whole room erupts with the sound of two gunshots. Me, along with the other boys, take cover as the sound of metal hitting counter fills the room. One bullet ricochets off of the floor in front of me, while the other one is no where to be found.

We all slowly begin to uncover our faces, looking around in alarm of what we might see. The boys start checking their own injuries, but Simon is the only worry running through my mind. I snap my head up to see Simon standing with his back facing me and Nick watching in complete shock. I look at Nick in anger as he stutters unintelligible sentences.

"I- I didn't mean to- fuck, no." He cries out, throwing his gun to the side and covering his mouth with his hands. Simon pulls his arm up to his ribs, remaining silent as the boys watch from the other end of the room in complete shock. Before I can stand up to help Simon, he drops to the floor with a sickening crack, blood oozing from the side of his chest. I feel my stomach drop and eyes fill with tears as I crawl over to his motionless body.

I quickly take action by pulling my hands over his chest, adding pressure to his deep wound. I push down harder, feeling bits of his ribs separated from the rest. They must've cracked on impact; his skinny frame couldn't handle it. I spin around, taking a good look at Nick as guilt fills his distressed features.

"Get him the fuck out of here!" I scream as more hot tears run down my face. Ethan and Josh quickly grab Nick and drag him into a separate room, Nick not putting up a fight as they do.

I turn back to Simon, running my hand across his sunken cheek before placing it along his exposed neck. I stare up at the ceiling, thanking god as I hear the faint thump of his heartbeat against my palm. I wrap my arm under his legs and pick him up bridal style, looking over at the other boys in assurance. "Tobi, Harry, he has a heartbeat. Go get the kit." I mumble, pulling him up on the table and ripping his shirt to expose his bloodstained chest. Before I can get a good glance at it, Vik pulls a cloth over it, wiping the excess blood off of his stomach and hips.

I look over at Vik as he continues to hold the cloth down with as much force as he could muster up. He stays emotionless but his bloodshot eyes give away the fear he is feeling right now. I don't look any better though as the blood on my hands become dark and sticky. It should have been me. Simon doesn't deserve this shit, but now he's on the verge of death in front of me. I feel more tears prick in my eyes as my mind wanders, wiping them before Vik can witness them fall.

Besides my efforts to seem okay, Vik knows I am not. He pats my shoulder, letting out a simple "he will be okay..". I nod a little, placing my hand in Simon's hair and stroking it with the palm of my hand. I know he probably can't feel it, but it always calmed him down when he was awake. Maybe it will calm me down this time. I feel my breathing return to normal as I focus on Simon, his eyelashes forming a thick layer of protection on top of his cheeks. He looks so calm, the complete opposite of what everyone else is right now. "Fuck" I mumble out, stumbling on my own words.

Tobi comes in a few minutes later with his much needed tools, pulling the cloth from Simon's chest and beginning to pull out the bullet. Harry checks his breathing, smiling a bit at his results. "He's breathing a bit shallow, but it doesn't sound like he has a collapsed lung. It's also on the opposite end of his heart, so it may just be a puncture."

I let out a sigh of relief at Harry's words, hope filling up my chest as Tobi continues to move the metal forceps in and out of Simon's skin. I thank God that Simon is passed out; I would hate to see him endure this pain awake.