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“DUKE!”
Nathan leapt over the metal fence that stood in his way, rushing desperately to Duke, who lay on the pavement, his eyes squeezed shut, and his teeth bared in a hiss. Duke’s one hand clenched in a fist against the road, while his other spasmed over the gunshot wound in his stomach.
Nathan spat a curse as he placed his hands over Duke’s stomach and pressed down hard, trying to stop the flow of blood that was already turning the pavement red below them. “Don’t move, don’t move,” He ordered, one hand leaving his side as he grabbed his phone and called the incident in. “We’re gonna get you to the hospital. You’re gonna be okay,” He assured Duke as he went back to focusing on stemming the blood flow.
Duke let out a strangled breath, his eyes now open and dilated as he tried to meet Nathan’s eyes. His mouth gaped open and closed like a fish as he struggled to pull in a breath through the pain. His bloodied hand gripped tight onto Nathan’s jacket, and he pressed his lips together, finally managing to draw a breath in through his nose. “Nate, ex- exploding… bullets.”
The choked reminder forcefully rebooted Nathan’s brain as Duke’s hand fell to the ground. He watched with wide eyes as Duke’s own slipped shut, his head lolling back against the road.
They didn’t have time to wait for an ambulance to take Duke to the hospital. If the bullet wasn’t removed, and quickly, Duke’s stomach would burst from the inside out. Nathan had to get the bullet out now. Nathan looked around for someone to help him, but no one was there. Audrey was still missing, after all. His breath was coming faster now, and Nathan stared down at his hands where they pressed against the body beneath him. Duke’s chest heaved, his body twitched, and Nathan swallowed back the taste of bile creeping up his throat. He couldn’t even feel Duke’s body moving under his hands; how was he possibly going to find the bullet?
He had no choice, though. He was running out of time, unsure how many of the seven minutes it would take the bullet to explode were left. “Okay, okay.” Nathan took a deep breath to steady himself, glancing up at Duke’s slack face. “Sorry, Duke.”
With no further warning, Nathan pushed two fingers into the wound, grimacing at the squelching sound the movement made. He couldn’t feel the bullet, couldn’t feel the warm blood coating his fingers, nor the way Duke’s body flinched away from the pain. At a loss of what else to do, Nathan curled his fingers and dragged them out of Duke’s body, pulling forth a gush of blood, but no bullet. He cursed under his breath, muttered a useless threat to the troubled man who had shot Duke, and pushed his fingers back in. This time, he twisted them a different way, curling and pulling them out. More blood spilled over Duke’s side, but still no bullet.
The strong stench of blood made Nathan’s stomach churn, and he held his breath as he pushed his fingers back in, willing himself not to be sick as he kept trying. He moved his fingers this way and that, searching for the bullet that was sure to go off any second now.
A sob wrenched its way out of his throat as his efforts yielded no bullet, and he grit his teeth as he forced himself to push his fingers in deeper. He had to get the bullet out. He couldn’t lose Duke again. He wouldn’t.
Never had Nathan hated his curse more. His eyes were stinging hot, tears threatening to obscure his vision when, on the eighth try, the bullet came out, lodged between his numb fingers. Nathan gasped at the sight of the slippery projectile, wrapping his fingers firmly around it as he stood and checked his surroundings. Nathan reeled his arm back and threw with all his might, letting the bloodied bullet fly forward. It landed in the yard of an empty house with a For Sale sign in the front and exploded.
Nathan shielded his face from the bright expansion of flames, a look of horror painting his face as he lowered his arms and saw the large crater left behind by the tiny bomb. That could have been Duke.
“Duke!”
Nathan rushed back to Duke’s side, slamming onto his knees with no regard for the damage it could cause. His hands pressed once more against Duke’s side, his eyes searching Duke’s face and chest desperately for a sign that Duke was still alive. It was slow, but Duke’s chest rose with an inhale, and Nathan clocked the subtle movement of Duke’s eyes behind their lids.
Duke was still alive- For now.
Sirens wailed, and soon, Nathan was being pulled away from Duke, forced to place the life of his friend in the hands of the paramedics. He followed them to the hospital, refusing to wait in the appropriate room as he stood in the corridor outside the surgical room, watching through a window as Duke lay on the table. IVs ran into both his arms, and a tube was placed down his throat when Duke stopped breathing. Twice, Nathan watched as Duke’s body lurched off the table as they defibrillated him, restarting his heart.
In the end, Duke made it. The gunshot wound had been nasty, made worse by Nathan’s necessary but damaging actions, and he’d lost a lot of blood, but he was alive. At length, he would wake up, and Nathan could finally relax. But for now, Nathan refused to leave his side, letting Dwight deal with the troubles for once.
⁍ ⁍ ⁍ ⁍ ⁍ ⁍ ⁍
Two days later, Duke woke in a hospital bed, glancing blearily at the white everything and huffing a crackling chuckle. “Well, guess I’m not dead.” He saw Nathan somewhat belatedly and stared at the man slumped over the bed, dozing. More alert now, Duke noticed his state immediately, the dark bags under his eyes, the furrow of stress on his forehead even as he slept, and the scabbed-over crescents on his arms where he had gripped too tight and hurt himself without realizing.
Duke sighed in exasperation. He was touched that Nathan apparently cared more than he let on, but appalled by the lack of care his friend showed himself. “Audrey, you better come back soon. This idiot needs you,” He told the empty room, looking heavenward as if he knew she was out there, somewhere, listening. “And so do I, okay?”
His eyes dimmed when the expected silence answered him. “I’m so tired, Auds. Just come home, please.” He closed his eyes, willing himself not to cry.
“I miss her too.” The quiet whisper had Duke opening his eyes again, looking at Nathan, who stared back with a small, relieved smile. “Glad to see you’re awake.”
Duke hummed, tipping his head in a slight acknowledgement. “Thanks to you.”
Nathan shrugged one shoulder as he shifted to lean on the arm of his chair. “Audrey will kill me if I let you die before she gets back.”
“Right,” Duke murmured, playing along. “It’s not as if you care about me personally, after all,” He rasped.
“Nope,” Nathan agreed, a corner of his mouth lifting in a grin as he got up and fetched Duke some water, helping him drink it.
“It’s only for Audrey’s sake that you didn’t run away from me when I was a human bomb,” Duke surmised, sounding and feeling a bit better without the dryness in his throat.
“Course.” Nathan nodded, sitting back down.
“Of course,” Duke echoed, his lips twitching into a smile as the light banter lifted the oppressive atmosphere. He settled back against his pillow as he closed his eyes, already tired. “Of course.”