Chapter Text
BANG!
First, nothing. Then, a small feeling of pressure, almost unnoticeable, if not for its persistence.
Then, Iceburg felt a white-hot, blinding pain blooming in his chest. His vision shook, going completely white from the horrifying feeling of burning agony that finally registered in his brain.
All the air escaped from his lungs at the impact, but his mouth fell open all the same as he tried to scream. No voice left him though as he tried gasping for breath.
The pain was so completely all-consuming that Iceburg didn't even comprehend anything else happening. His own fingers involuntarily twitched helplessly at his sides as he brought his hands up to his chest slowly—not to clutch it, but to hover over his failing heart and lungs as he looked up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes, mouth still open in a silent scream.
As if this unfathomable and never-before-felt pain wasn't enough, to his horror, two more shots tore into his chest, and this time he yelled out in agony—a sound that came out in an unrecognizable, high screech.
He toppled from the chair in his panicked state, slumping against his writing table before sliding helplessly to the floor where he remained, unable to move from the shock.
Iceburg thankfully passed out at this point, spared from the rest of the mind-altering pain.
His suit and dress shirt were completely saturated with his blood already, the excess dripping onto the wooden floor. The blood seeped into his pristine green and gold Alabastan carpet as he rested on his side, dying.
Unaware of the world around him, Iceburg lay there until the morning light breached through his open blinds—which hadn't been closed since he never got up to leave for the night—and the sounds of the early morning workers began filling the space.
-=o0o=-
Paulie reached Iceburg's office door before Kalifa, as he had returned to discuss their plans from the previous day while Kalifa was getting coffee.
He knocked on the door, waiting for the permission to enter. When he didn't hear anything back after ten seconds, he knocked again. Weird, he is usually here by now, he thought to himself and tried the door. Surprisingly finding it unlocked, he walked in and spoke into the room. "Are you here, Iceburg-san?"
To his horror, Paulie saw Iceburg lying on the floor behind his desk. He ran to him, dodging the table and kneeling down next to Iceburg.
The amount of blood was devastating. Iceburg’s previously white shirt had completely turned red and the now-dried puddle encompassed his whole torso in length.
Paulie felt faint as he gagged, a hand flying up to cover his mouth in a futile effort to hold his breakfast in. He turned away quickly and threw up into the nearby trashcan.
After losing his breakfast, he regained his composure. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he turned back to look at Iceburg.
He reached out his hand to carefully touch the man.
Paulie pulled his hand back in shock. Iceburg wasn't cold like he had feared him to be. He quickly scrambled to his mentor's side. The dire situation became completely clear to him now. He wasn't looking at a corpse, but a still-breathing, actively dying man.
Paulie pressed his fingers to Iceburg’s neck, unable to find his pulse. Frustrated, he carefully laid his head on the older man's chest, and heard it—the ever-present thumping of his heart. Faint, but still there.
Paulie sighed in relief, the immense worry and fear he had felt dissipating slightly.
In this position, he could also hear Iceburg's slow, wavering breaths and feel them tickle his hair.
Paulie lifted his head and assessed the situation. Three horrible bullet wounds were visible through Iceburg's torn shirt. Checking Iceburg’s back, and the chair he had been sitting on revealed the fact that none of the bullets had gone through and were in fact the sole reason that Iceburg hadn't bled out.
Paulie quickly got up, ran to the door and yelled for help. "Get in here everyone! We need help!"
The reaction was immediate. Everything stopped for a split second, until the loud thumping of running footsteps grew louder as they neared Iceburg’s office.
Roaring, Lulu and Tilestone came running around the corner so fast that they collided with Paulie, who was standing in the doorway, and all three tumbled into the office in a tangle of limbs.
"What's wrong, Paulie?!" Tilestone bellowed as he fought to get up, pushing on Paulie’s stomach with his large hand and kicking Lulu off of him. Paulie was glad he had already lost his breakfast, otherwise he would've thrown up right there.
"Get off of me first," Paulie wheezed, crawling out from under the two hulking men.
"We need a doctor. Iceburg-san has been shot!" he choked out after he caught his breath.
"WHAT?!" both men yelled as they turned to look at the aforementioned man. At the same time, the sharp clicks of Kalifa's heels came to a stop at the door, and she dropped the coffees she had been holding.
Lulu was the first one to spring into action at the revelation. He jumped up from the floor and ran to the door, pushing shocked Kalifa out of the way. "I'll go call the doctor!" he yelled as he sprinted away.
Kalifa, having been pushed, snapped out of her trance and quickly walked over to kneel next to Iceburg silently. Paulie joined her, explaining the situation.
"I just found him not even ten minutes ago. I don’t know how long it's been since he got shot, but looking at the dry puddle, I'd say multiple hours," Paulie spoke grimly. Kalifa just nodded.
"We can't really do anything for him by ourselves, other than keep watch to ensure he doesn't stop breathing. Considering how few and far apart his breaths are now, I wouldn't be surprised if that happens," Paulie continued, trying his hardest to keep his composure.
"Don't say that," Kalifa whispered, also holding in her sobs. "He will pull through. I just know it," she continued, wiping away the tears before they could fall.
Minutes passed agonizingly slowly as the three people waited with bated breath. Tilestone had just frozen when he had heard the news, and was now standing in the middle of the floor, his unblinking eyes locked onto Iceburg's crumpled form.
Finally after what felt like hours, but in reality was less than fifteen minutes, Lulu’s footsteps could be heard as he ran back to the office with Iceburg's personal doctor in tow.
Dr. Bushiba looked haggard, having been dragged out of bed by Lulu. Still, he quickly put his white jacket on and jogged to Iceburg’s side with his briefcase in hand. He shooed Paulie and Kalifa away, to get some space to work.
Lulu, on the other hand, walked up to Tilestone and hugged the bigger man, after noticing the state he was in.
Dr. Bushiba began assessing the wounds and the better look he got, the more the color drained from his face. There was virtually no pulse and Iceburg's breathing was fading. His organs were beginning to shut down. It was worse than bad. Iceburg was basically in a coma and would be a goner if they didn't get him into an operating room right this second.
"Call a Yagara, we need to get him to the hospital right now! There’s no time to waste!" Dr. Bushiba ordered as he got up.
"You can’t help him here?" Paulie asked wearily.
"He's lost way too much blood and I have nowhere near the right instruments—let alone a sterile environment to even start thinking about removing the bullets. Thankfully they are blocking the blood flow, but they're also keeping the stagnant blood inside him. He could get blood poisoning and go septic any minute," Dr. Bushiba said quickly as he gathered his things.
"Paulie, you carry Iceburg outside. You and I will travel to the hospital together with him. Kalifa, you inform the people who need to know about this. Tilestone and Lulu, block off this part of the building since it's now a crime scene, before anyone else contaminates it," he continued, already speed-walking to the door.
Paulie took off his jacket and draped it over Iceburg to hide the blood. As he gathered the older man carefully in his arms, his face turned from serious to resigned. The mayor was way too light, weighing almost nothing as he carried him. Paulie hurried after the doctor, taking the lead as he hastily guided him to the back exit, avoiding the main lobby and the most populated areas so as not to alarm anyone or cause a panic.
They reached the back door and walked out. Right there at the canal near the door, a Yagara ride was waiting for them.
Paulie lowered Iceburg down carefully and got onto the boat, holding out a hand to help the doctor onboard as well. Soon they were off and racing as quickly and carefully as possible to the nearest hospital.
Lulu and Tilestone had driven Kalifa out of the room as soon as the doctor and Paulie had left. The men now sat before the closed hallway, waiting for the police that Lulu had called, to arrive.
At the same time Kalifa, who had returned to her office, was arranging a press conference to be held at midday to spread the news quickly. She had called Lucci and Kaku to her office, to come up with the story to tell the press and the citizens of Water 7 together.
-=o0o=-
Paulie and the company finally arrived at the hospital and Dr. Bushiba took over. Paulie walked behind the doctor, yet again carrying Iceburg in his arms, as the other yelled orders for an operating theater to be prepped and for the best doctors to be called.
A gurney was rolled toward them and Paulie, reluctantly, let go of Iceburg, placing his mentor onto the soft linens. In a flash Iceburg was wheeled away to prep him for the surgery too, and Paulie was left standing alone in the now empty hallway.
With nothing else left to do, he walked toward the cafeteria to get some breakfast for the second time today. The wait was going to be long.