AN: Never thought I'd get so many powerstones despite not updating. I feel so bad. So, here you go, slightly shorter but 2 chs.
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Alex dropped to one knee beside Lucy and pressed his palm more firmly over the wound. Her breaths came shallow and uneven, her lips losing color by the second. Sweat slid down her temple, though her skin was cold.
"Nolan," Alex barked without raising his head. "Your car. Medic kit. Now."
The rookie stumbled to his feet, nodded like a soldier hearing orders, and sprinted back to the cruiser.
Alex flicked his eyes to the perimeter. "Block the alley. No one gets in."
His guards scattered with military efficiency, weapons drawn low but ready.
Alex peeled back Lucy's vest, tugging the heavy material aside. His stomach tightened when he saw the torn shirt underneath. A bulletproof vest was supposed to hold against rounds like this. The damn thing had a hole burned through the center, as if the bullet had laughed on its way in.
"Great job, LAPD," Alex muttered, his tone sharp with disbelief. "Out here risking your lives in hand-me-down crap that couldn't stop a spitball."
Tim shifted, clutching his bleeding shoulder, but his eyes were on Lucy. His face was pale, twisted with anger and fear. "It went through the vest?"
"Straight through," Alex nodded as he properly exposed her wound. "This isn't standard failure. This is cheap manufacturing or bad distribution. Either way, it almost cost her life. That is criminal negligence."
Alex focused on Lucy. He could visualize every vein and muscle fiber in her torso highlighted in his mind. He focused on the pulse of blood surging from beneath the wound. Two pressure points stood out like blinking beacons. His fingers pressed down firmly on each, applying precise pressure that most surgeons would not have found in time.
Almost instantly, the flood slowed.
Tim's breath caught. "What the hell… it stopped. What did you just do?"
Alex didn't look up. "Pressure points."
Tim blinked hard. "That's not real. That's kung fu movie crap."
Alex smirked faintly, though his eyes never left Lucy. "Yeah, well, kung fu movies stole it from real life. Works if you actually know the map of the human body. Lucky for you, I do."
Lucy's eyes fluttered open for half a second. She tried to form words but could only groan.
"Stay with me," Alex said. "You are not checking out tonight."
Nolan skidded back into view with the medic kit clutched in both hands. He dropped to his knees, panting. "Here."
Alex snatched the kit and opened it. Gauze, disinfectant, gloves, compression bandages, tape. Not enough for surgery, but enough if he played this perfectly.
"Lay her flat," Alex said.
Nolan shifted positions quickly, easing Lucy onto her back. Alex positioned her legs and motioned toward Nolan.
"Lift her knees slightly, keep them bent. We need better circulation. Good. Hold it."
Then to Tim, Alex said, "Keep her awake. Talk to her, anything. I do not care what, just keep her conscious."
Tim leaned forward, gripping Lucy's hand. His voice was rough, low, but steady. "Hey, Chen. You hear me? You are not checking out. You still owe me a beer for dragging your ass to PT last week. You still have to beat me at sparring. You promised."
Her lips curved weakly. "Not… fair… I always win…"
"That's the spirit," Tim said, squeezing her hand tighter.
Alex yanked out gloves and snapped them on. His focus narrowed to the wound. The bleeding was slowed, but the bullet was lodged deep, and every second it stayed inside was poison.
Out of thin air, a surgical blade appeared in his palm. Nolan's eyes widened at the impossible trick, but to his credit, he didn't ask. Tim saw it too, but his expression stayed locked on Lucy. Neither of them had time to process.
Alex tipped a small bottle of disinfectant onto the blade, soaking it until it gleamed. He let the sharp sting of the alcohol hit his nose. His voice softened as he leaned close to Lucy.
"Alright, Chen. This is going to hurt like hell, but you'll thank me later. Bite your lip if you need to. Just don't pass out on me."
She blinked at him, barely conscious, but her lips twitched in what might have been a smile. "You're… such a flirt…"
"Guilty," Alex said, then steadied his breath.
Then he cut.
The blade sliced cleanly through the torn tissue around the bullet hole. His Keen Observation outlined every vein, every nerve, every danger he had to avoid. His Survival Instinct guided his hand like he had done this a hundred times. He dug delicately, opening space without tearing deeper. Lucy's scream broke through clenched teeth, her hand grasping Tim's tightly.
Tim kept talking, voice urgent but soft. "You're tougher than this. You survived my training. You survived Nolan driving. You can survive anything."
Nolan barked a sharp laugh despite the sweat running down his temple. "Hey, my driving saved your ass more times than I can count."
Alex's focus sharpened as he reached in with gauze in one hand and the knife in the other. He angled carefully, avoiding a nerve cluster by a fraction of an inch. His fingers found metal. He adjusted, pinched with the gauze, and pulled.
The bullet came free with a slick sound, glinting under the flickering streetlight.
Alex tossed it aside without a glance and pressed fresh gauze into the wound immediately. "Hold it. Tight." He pressed his hand down firmly, stemmed the flow. The pressure points he had activated earlier kept the bleeding controlled.
Lucy's body trembled but her pulse steadied slightly. Alex checked the system overlay in his vision.
Survival Chance: 73%
Alex sighed in relief. He checked her airway, breathing, and pulse again. Still weak, but stable enough to move.
"Alright," Alex said, his voice clipped with urgency. "We are getting her to a hospital. I'll keep her from bleeding. Officer Nolan, drive." Then he looked up at Tim. "And you need to stop moving that arm before you rip some nerves."
Alex slipped an arm beneath Lucy's shoulders and another under her knees and lifted her up. "Easy now," he murmured to her. "I've got you."
He glanced at his men. "One of you make sure Angelina knows I'm fine. Tell her I'm helping a cop, but skip the part about the shooting. I'll call her once we get there. And two of you wait here till the other cops get here. You know, the usual... Take care of this mess."
"Yes, sir," one of the guards replied immediately, already stepping aside to relay the message.
Alex carried Lucy out of the alley and toward Nolan's cruiser. Nolan quickly opened the back door.
Alex eased Lucy carefully inside. He settled in beside her while keeping the pressure on her wound. Tim climbed into the passenger seat, wincing as he adjusted to keep his injured shoulder from pulling too hard.
Nolan slid behind the wheel. He looked back once at Lucy, then at Alex.
"Drive like hell," Alex said with a serious expression.
Nolan drove toward the hospital...
Tim twisted slightly in his seat, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. His voice was rough with equal parts gratitude and disbelief. "I don't even want to know how you learned all that. But… thank you."
Alex only gave a faint smile. "Save the thank-you until she's out of the woods. Besides, I'm just a guy who hates bad odds."
[30 minutes later...]
Nolan took shortcuts and narrow routes to reach the hospital faster. Still, it took 30 minutes... Too much traffic on the road due to the other shootouts.
The car swerved sharply around a corner, the hospital lights finally breaking into view. Nolan barreled through the emergency bay entrance, the cruiser screeching to a stop under the bright white overhang.
The doors flew open. Nurses and ER staff rushed toward them, alerted by the sirens and the call ahead. Alex slid out smoothly, still carrying Lucy, her limp form cradled in his arms. His shirt was soaked with blood, and his hands and gloves were covered in blood.
"Gunshot wound to the abdomen. Bullet extracted, bleeding controlled. But she lost too much blood."
The medics snapped into action, guiding him toward a gurney. He laid her down gently, his hand lingering only long enough for her to squeeze his fingers once more before the team swept her away toward the operating room.
Tim stumbled out with Nolan's help. The staff moved to take him next, ushering him toward another ward. He gave Alex a long, searching look as they passed. "You saved her life. I won't forget that."
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[POWERSTONES AND REVIEWS PLS]
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[6 advance chs] [All chs available for all tiers] [No double billing.]
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