"He's not going to make it is he?" a girl fretted.
"Don't say that Nora, he will."
"Jayce he's been shot three times. Three times. Anyone that can survive that has to be incredibly strong."
"Matthew is strong," Jayce said.
"And I can hear you," Matthew blinked open his eyes.
Nora's eyes blazed with joy, "you're alive!" she exclaimed.
"Honestly I'd rather be dead," Matthew groaned.
"No, you wouldn't, don't say that," Nora said. Matthew glanced at her. Her eyes were red and puffy like she'd been crying for hours on end, her features were worn and tired and there were lines on her face from sleeping. Matthew realized they were from his bed. Nora had fallen asleep countless times at his bedside.
"How..." he coughed, "how did you find me?
"Luckily there are tracking devices stored on each hovercraft," Jayce replied. "We found you bloodied and battered, hardly breathing on a bed."
Matthew raised his eye brows, "simple as that, a tracking device?"
Jayce laughed, "yup, simple as that. Anyway, how are you feeling?"
"Horrible," Matthew tried to sit up but he collapsed again when a sharp pain sliced through his stomach.
"You better rest now," Nora said, "you're still healing."
"So what happened?" Matthew asked.
"What do you mean what happened? You were captured, tortured, and almost killed." Jayce said.
"Well I know that much, but why did President Collinson and Taylor leave me when I was only half dead," Matthew said.
"You were more than half dead, you were 'if we didn't find you when we did a minute longer would have meant your death'," Jayce said.
"Well obviously they left me there in the hopes that I would bleed to death," Matthew replied.
"I don't think they left you there on purpose," Nora said. "I think someone came for them."
"Who?" Matthew asked.
"Michael Blake, Britain's Prime Minister," Nora replied.
"Of course," Jayce said. "He picked us up on his monitor and told them it was now or never to get out of there in one piece. They had to leave you or they would have met us."
"Right," Nora said.
"So, Britain's Prime Minster has finally come out of his shell," Matthew said.
"Don't worry about it we'll figure out what to do," Nora said.
"I'm not worried," Matthew replied. "Now, where am I this time?"
"The med bay in Maine," Jayce replied.
"Are you sure that's wise. Taylor's free now, she knows about this place," Matthew said.
"Yes, but she also knows how many of us are here and that we know of her knowledge and have taken precautions," Jayce put a hand on Matthew's bandaged shoulder. "Don't trouble yourself with these little factors, focus on getting better."
Matthew nodded, which took some effort, "alright."
The doors to the med bay opened and Ryder, Connor, Zoe, and Scarlett walked in. "He's alive," Ryder commented.
"I feel dead," Matthew replied with a pained groan.
"Well you almost were," Ryder said.
"How are you holding up?" Connor asked.
"Good, I guess," Matthew replied.
"How long do you think it will take him to fully heal?" Zoe asked.
Jayce shrugged, "I don't know."
"I would say three to seven weeks," Nurse Felton said as she stepped into the room. She had fresh bandages in her hands and she pushed Jayce and Nora aside so she could get at Matthew.
"Three to seven weeks?" Matthew repeated. "That's a long time to be stuck in bed."
Nurse Felton looked up from unwrapping the bandages. "who said anything about you staying in bed the whole time? You've been shot; you have to rework your muscles so they'll be back to their original state. I've lined up exercises for you."
Jayce stifled a laugh, "that'll be fun."
Matthew glared at him, "shut up."
"Now, I have to redress your wounds. They're a bit nasty so don't look if you don't think you can handle it," Nurse Felton said.
"I can handle it," Matthew said.
"Okay then," Nurse Felton began to unwrap the bandages from Matthew's shoulder. They were lined with red puss and Matthew flinched as some of the fabric snagged on the edge of his wound. When the bandage was fully cleared away Matthew saw the state of his injury. It was red, inflamed, and definitely infected. "I've been treating it as best I can; the gun they must have used was an old one due the bullets effect on you and the amount of lead it left behind in your body."
"That's disgusting," Zoe said.
"I think it's cool," Scarlett counteracted.
"I think it should be treated," Nurse Felton said. "Now, Matthew, this solution is going to sting."
"It can't hurt worse than what I had to go through to get these wounds in the first place," Matthew replied.
"True," Nurse Felton said. "You ready?"
Matthew nodded, "yeah."
Nurse Felton dabbed the solution onto the wound and Matthew grit his teeth as his flesh sizzled. Nurse Felton quickly placed a new bandage over the wounds and tied it neatly. "Now for the other side."
She repeated the process and Matthew sighed with relief when she tied the second bandage over his arm. "How can you stand that?" Zoe asked, "It must hurt a lot."
Matthew gave a slight shrug, "I mean it hurts but it's not totally unbearable."
"For the next part of his treatment I'm going to ask you all to leave," Nurse Felton said.
"Why?" Scarlett asked.
"Just do as she says Scarlett," Jayce said. "Let's go."
Matthew watched them leave and the room became empty except for Matthew and Nurse Felton. "Alright Matthew, you know what's coming, you have one more wound."
Matthew felt dread weigh him down. His stomach wound was the only one he was scared to look at but he nodded, "Right."
Nurse Felton helped him pull away his blankets and he lifted up his shirt. His stomach was bandaged with a white strip of cloth that had turned red. "The wound is still bleeding faintly, any big movements cause a rush of blood, I can't stich it up without damaging certain arteries."
"Just bandage me up; I don't want to know what's going on in my body," Matthew replied a little too harshly.
Nurse Felton didn't say anything else and quickly changed the bandages on Matthew's stomach. "Get rest," she said and left she med bay carrying the dirty cloths.
Matthew settled down in his bed and shut his eyes, but once he did the images of his friends dying played in his mind and he opened his eyes again. Matthew sighed. It was going to be another restless night.
