Chapter Text
Rwanda writhed painfully on the ground, his hand clasped tightly to his side. His head was spinning, it seemed dangerously fast. There were mindless shapes and colors floating in front of his eyes. An uncomfortable heat radiated from his forehead…almost unbearable. The pressure was so intense, it made Rwanda think his head was being split in two. Delirium had him and he had lost track of time a while ago. It could have been only 20 minutes, or just as easily been more than an hour that had passed.
A burst of sickening pain spread throughout his body, expanding from his side. Rwanda clutched it tighter, desperately trying to soothe himself. The pressure in his forehead only increased as he panicked. He was hyperventilating which left his mind reeling.
“What’s happening to me?” A small voice creeps from the back of Rwanda’s mind, it takes him a second to recognize it as his own.
He needed to slow his breathing.
“Deep…. Breaths..” he thought to himself pathetically, trying to remember what Ivan would instruct him to do at the worst of times. Rwanda tried to suck in some air, only for the breath to catch in his throat, sending him sputtering and coughing.
“Not what I expected to happen.”
Rwanda chuckled quietly to himself. He looked to the sky, staring lazily as it grew rapidly dark. Carefully, he pushed back the sweat covered hair from his face, pausing abruptly as something hot dripped onto his forehead.
Rwanda quickly pulled his hand down in front of his face to see what had fallen from his hand. He was met with a bright red liquid stuck to his palm. It took him a good minute to process what he was seeing..
”Blood…?”
Immediately, he noticed that his forehead wasn’t the only part of his body that felt unnaturally warm. He had been too shocked to notice it before, but as Rwanda moved his hand down his right side, it felt warm and disgustingly sticky. As Rwanda felt his body, it seemed blood was everywhere, he could feel it all the way up his back, and down to his legs. Now panicked, Rwanda quickly tried to get up. He sloppily pushed up onto his elbows. That was as far as he could get, but that was just enough to get a good look at the rest of his body.
Even with his previous calm demeanor, his stomach still lurched.
”Wow. that’s a lot of blood.”
Rwanda winced at the sheer amount that had poured onto the sidewalk from his body.
”Where am I bleeding from?”
A hole about the size of a quarter looked like it had been drilled into his side. There was some dried blood all around the wound, yet fresh blood continued to pour freely out of him at a rapid pace. Rwanda got a good look at the injury.
Ah…..
Ive been shot.
It was only then did he start to feel the real pain. The initial shock had seemed to have worn off and reality was quickly settling in. Pain and panic immediately started to rise, Rwanda allowed himself to fall back into a laying position with a groan, his entire side throbbing with hot and unbearable pain.
“There’s no way this was an accident” Rwanda thought as he struggled, “this has to be some sort of punishment.”
Perhaps for the way he snuck away from everyone like a petulant child. Maybe if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be in this position after all.
Rwanda whispered “May”, and then immediately grimaced as he thought back to the man. May was always so kind and just gentle. His touch was firm, but kind, always bringing Rwanda right back down to earth. It was obvious May really cared for him, from the way he spoke in hushed tones at the worst of times, to Rwanda waking up in the middle of the night to see the man gently tucking him in.
It all just made Rwanda feel sick.
When May had taken Rwanda in, he was expected to be part of a family now, to be all the things he never was and never had. It was impossible for him to love May and Kevin. His life before was unspeakable, but May had taken him in and cared for him like his own. Rwanda felt that this was all just so unfair, like nothing but a cruel prank. He couldn’t stand to be near them any longer, each reminder of love was just another reminder of being trapped. Rwanda knew his decision was extremely selfish, but he had never really cared about that before, had he? He only had to care for himself and staying alive when May forced him to care for someone else. It was all too much.
Would any of them even come looking for him at this point?, he wondered. Rwanda had run away, just left like nothing, not bothering to alert anyone where he was going. Hell, Rwanda didn’t even know where he was going.
Rwanda groaned and shuddered as another burning burst of pain exploded from his side, he gasped as chills ran throughout his body, while his forehead was covered in sweat. Rwanda weakly tried to cover the wound with his hand as more blood poured from his body. Even if his housemates were to come for him, it might be too late, he thought with a scowl. At this point it was futile to even try stopping the blood.
The pain only increased as Rwanda touched the wound, He could barely bite back an agonized scream. There was no way he was going to be able to do this. Rwanda could barely make sense of his own thoughts anymore, every one was just as confusing as the last. A sudden strange feeling started to bubble in his chest, could these be his last thoughts?
“Am I seriously dying? Like this?” Rwanda scowled
“Seriously?”
His struggling ceased as his body fell limp, head hitting the ground with a resounding thud.
Rwanda had been contemplating a so-called “test” for a while now, he just didn’t expect a stranger with a gun to be the one starting it. Rwanda would have laughed if he had the strength left in him to find it remotely funny. Rwanda’s pained grimace quickly turns into a tired frown. The pain from his wound was starting to numb, the air around him seemed to be getting colder and colder. Rwanda could barely think enough to wallow in self pity anymore, his head was absolutely reeling. The world around him spun as if he had just gotten off an intense roller coaster, Rwanda found he couldn’t even tell which direction he was facing anymore. Rwanda felt like he was floating around In the air. Despite the panic he was feeling at the situation, it almost made him feel giddy. A small smile crossed Rwanda’s face as he reached his hand into the sky, swirling his fingers through the colors and shapes that now swam in his vision. There’s a small sense of peace in this, he thinks. Brutal coughs wrack Rwanda’s frail body, he can feel the air around him growing colder by the second. There really is nothing else left to do but close his eyes and accept what’s next.