5

Solenne

As I was tending to his shoulder injury and wrapping it up, he began to cough, drifting in and out of unconsciousness. I slapped his face. 

"Isaac, you have to stay awake! " I commanded him. 

"Shhh, if you fall asleep, you're putting yourself at risk. Here, take this and hide. If anyone approaches, just fire, Sol. " He passed me his gun after taking the safety off. I had never handled a firearm before. 

This was crazy! I had never harmed anyone before. "Keep your eyes open or I will call for help. " It struck me how unusually protective he was being. He seemed to care more about my safety than his own, which I intended to use as a reason for him to survive. 

"Fine! Just don't scream. "

 "You've got a bullet in your side that I have to take out. You'll feel better once it's gone. It's going to hurt, but I need you not to fight me. " I knew he was a large guy and could easily overpower me if the pain became too intense. 

"Alright, just be quick, Sol. I need you to hide. " He understood that I wouldn't abandon him like this. I nodded and then grabbed a toothbrush and scissors.

 "Bite on this. " I placed the toothbrush in his mouth, hoping it wouldn't break under the stress of his biting.

 "Okay, I'm going to make a small incision by your wound and then extract the bullet using my fingers. I'll be as fast as I can, but you need to stay quiet and not push me away. " He nodded in agreement. He was handling this much better than I expected. If it were me, about to have my skin cut open with dull scissors and then feeling fingers probing inside my stomach to extract a bullet, I probably would just faint from fear and pain.

 He groaned as I enlarged the wound, and his body jerked as I reached inside to locate the bullet.

 "Got it! " I yelled, instantly regretting my outburst. I yanked the bullet out just as I heard heavy footsteps approaching the room. 

"Hide! Now! " Isaac shouted in pain. I couldn't move him and wasn't about to let him get killed. I grabbed the gun and faced the door. Doubt crept in, but Isaac had saved me. I had to attempt to save him in return. The door burst open to reveal the two men who had taken me back at the restaurant. They appeared sinister before, but with blood on their faces, they looked like monsters. Without thinking, I squeezed the trigger. The first man fell, then the second. They had entered with smug grins, assuming I wouldn't act. They should have aimed their guns at me instead. 

"Oh my god! " I whispered. I had just killed two people. I swiftly locked the door and rushed back to Isaac, who was lying on his side, coughing. 

"Don't move! " I urged him to stay down.

 "Get in the closet. Now! " He seemed angry with me. I just saved our lives. Why was he upset?

 "Sol, closet! No more fooling around. I can't allow you to die. " He pushed me away from the bed, and I shoved him back down. 

"Okay! I'll hide in the closet, but let me secure this around you first. " I tore a strip off the bottom of my dress and wrapped it around his waist. 

"I've got it. Go! " He tied up my fabric, and I nodded. That man was likely to get himself killed if I didn't follow through. I grabbed a chair and ran to the closet. I shut the door and wedged the chair under the doorknob then found a spot in the corner amongst the clothes to conceal myself. I still had the gun, pointing it directly at the door. 

The fighting raged downstairs for quite a while before going quiet. Being alone in the closet made the reality hit hard. I had been kidnapped, threatened with rape by various men, chained to a wall in a basement, and then maybe my boyfriend came with friends to save me. 

I had extracted a bullet from Isaac's side with my bare hands and killed two men. That was more than enough justification for me to curl up in a ball and sob for hours, which is precisely what I did.