Creating the Fire

chapter 2 part 4

"GUESS, I don't have to find you tomorrow," says Valentine after a while, when Marcel tries to unlock the door. "Yeah, guess, I hadn't said it if I'd knew you would stick around," Marcel is almost angry, he tries to hold it back though. He hadn't hoped to bring a man home with him and it kind of ruined his plans. Now he has to be extra careful and at the same time pretend that he's the most easy-going person Valentine have ever seen. Not that much, but he can't share his plans with him. He has to play this off smoothly. Soon enough he gets the door unlocked and they step in.

"You're really compact," Valentine seems truly surprised. The only things what's in the apartment is some dark furniture and snow-white carpet. There are only three rooms: kitchen, living- and bathroom. "Yeah," is the only thing that comes out of Marcel's mouth rather than some other sarcastic compliment. He feels the real pain in his arm now and all the adrenaline is gone. He holds it up pretty well. "I need to get the bullet out," Marcel admits the truth and asks straight away," can I trust you?"

Valentine is stunned for a moment, Prince got him off guard, but he smiles slightly and bypasses the question with one. "Why shouldn't I, you saved my life?" but it doesn't seem to be enough for Prince. His stare is like sharp blades straight into Valentine's eyes and he has to surrender. "Yes you can," both of them know very well, it's cold-blooded lye, but neither of them doesn't show it out.

He turns around and leaves the room without saying a word. That was all he needed, Valentine to lye straight into his eyes. He himself is the biggest liar, why shouldn't he recognize one. Marcel closes the bathroom door and opens the little first aid locker on the wall. He takes out his trauma kit, which contains some real trauma gear, not the usual boo-boo items, the six sizes of band-aids. Marcel put it together himself extra for bullet wounds. It was part of his training.

His trauma kit includes exactly 4 roller gauze bandages, 4 triangle bandages, 1 box of 25 4x4" gauze pads, 5 5x9" trauma pads, 2 ab pads, 1 roll of duct tape, 3 rolls of 1" Medical tape, 3 packets of the quick clot, 2 large, occlusive dressings, 2 chest seals, 2 pair of safety glasses, 1 military-style tourniquet, 1 S.A.M splint, 2 cardboard splints, 1 set of trauma shears, 2 blankets.

Marcel gives his wound a good look over. It bleeds heavily and he feels something inside like a hell of a painful needle. The bullet has to be stuck inside. "Shit," he mumbles angrily and derides Messiah methods. "What kind of gun was that?" his whisper to himself drips irony. It should have gone through him, but that fucking bullet struck into him. He kind of hoped it to go through because now he needs to get it out. He doesn't want to believe Messiah uses such a useless weapon with him, It has to be some kind of joke.

'That fuckshit ruined my jacket' he looks at his black jacket with great irritation. There's an ugly hole in it. He shouldn't care so much, but everything in him tells that Messiah is going to pay for it. He'll pay for his favourite clothing and for ruining his perfect skin. That jacket was the most expensive thing in his wardrobe. It cost exactly 238 and he even got a discount. He puts his jacket away and starts dealing with his wound.

First, he washes his hand carefully and applies hydrogen peroxide to the tools he'll use to get the bullet out. This is most often a seriously bad idea because it can cause more harm than the bullet itself. Bullets are, when they stop moving, largely harmless. He could stick with the knowledge, but Marcel simply can't accept a foreign body in his system. He treats the entry and exit wounds as well.

When you see the wound bleeding profusely, you need to control it by applying direct pressure, elevation, and immobilization. Marcel remembers his first aid courses like he remembers yesterday, but he ignores all of them. There always is a second way out, even though his instructors wouldn't agree. So he grabs hold of some metallic device, which name he doesn't know and uses it to get the bullet out.