Character Flaws

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I stared at the body before me, shocked into stillness. My mind could no longer comprehend simple facts. A single thought snapped me out of my daze. Was he dead? I couldn’t have killed him. But even if I had, he deserved it, didn’t he? I relaxed when I saw his chest rising and falling with the shallow breaths of someone unconscious but tensed again when I realized that if he was merely unconscious, he could wake up at any time. I went into the kitchen and retrieved a ball of twine. I bound his legs together tightly before studying his arms, trying to decide which way would be the best to tie them. I settled on keeping them in front of him, where I could see if he tried escaping, and wrapped the twine around each of his wrists in a figure-eight before tying it off. When this was done I stepped back and tried to think of m next course of action. Thor. I needed to call Thor. I padded to the bedroom and retrieved my phone, scrolling through the contacts for his name and dialed the number. He answered on the fourth ring.

“Hello?” He asked, his voice brisk and professional sounding. 

“It’s Mercutio.” I answered. “And I don’t think your plan worked very well.” There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“What do you mean?” 

“Just get over here. Quickly. And bring a few of your comrades in uniform.” I ordered, hanging up and setting the phone down. I lacked the energy to go to the refrigerator for frozen vegetable or meat to ice my wounds and so stood in a shock-like state, staring down at the bound man before me until the police arrived. I heard their sirens as they approached. Thor was the first to step in through the door, which was still ajar. He took in the scene quickly before turning to the men who had come in behind him. 

“We need an EMT.” He muttered quietly before he slowly made his way across the room to where I stood. 

“Mercutio?” He asked carefully. “Can you tell us what happened?” I nodded mutely before launching into the story beginning with my brawl at the bus stop but not detailing the motivation behind it, and continuing onto when I bound him and called the police. One of the officers stood beside Thor and scribbled down notes as I spoke. Shortly after, a different siren sounded outside and two ambulances pulled up outside. The EMTs rushed two stretchers into the apartment and two officers loaded the murderer, who was now properly handcuffed, onto one of them. He was taken back out and driven away. Thor had decided that I was unfit to walk downstairs and into the ambulance on my own and so we spent fifteen minutes arguing over whether or not I needed the stretcher, an argument that only ended when I shoved past him and walked out the door. I climbed into the ambulance and refused to lie down or cooperate with any requests that were made of me until we reached the hospital where the doctors decided I was a risk to myself and put me under.

I awoke in a hospital bed, an IV in one arm and someone’s hand on my other. Blinking blearily, I opened my eyes to see Jelly asleep in a chair to my right, tightly grasping my hand in hers. Nugget was in a chair beside her, also asleep, his arm thrown over her shoulders. I could hear Red’s voice in the hallway, as she quarreled with a nurse, her voice raised above normal level but quiet loud enough that I cloud not make out what she was saying. A rumbling voice that could be heard in between her outbursts alerted me to the fact that Thor was also part of the conversation. I slowly withdrew my hand from Jelly’s hoping not to wake her, and began plucking stickers and wires off of my skin. As I did so, a dreadful beeping filled the air, causing both Nugget and Jelly to jerk awake and look around in surprise as an army of nurses bustled into the room. They took one look at me and scowled. 

“Sir, you need to keep those connected. They’re monitoring your vital signs.” One of them informed me grumpily. 

“That’s wonderful but their services are no longer required. I am not drugged anymore and can keep up with my own vitals.” I replied as I removed the last sticker. Red, who had apparently come in behind the nurses, along with Thor, interrupted her next sentence.