The Hostage and the Wanted

Harry and Zayn pulled back up to the house in record time, with his friend warning Harry to slow down before they needed medical attention from the accident they were sure to get into with the erratic way Harry had been driving.

Zayn grabbed the large gray bag and followed his friend in through the doors, stopping just inside at the horrific sight that greeted him.

Blood trails leading from the door to the couch from when Harry drug Louis inside and then there was the poor girl that was bound hand to foot and gagged with a ton of tape.

“Bloody hell mate.” Zayn muttered and rushed to Louis, checking for a pulse before throwing the bag down and beginning to rummage through it. “Ok, the first thing we need to do is strip him of his shirt and retain his body heat. I brought a blanket to help with that.” Zayn said while pulling out a thin hospital blanket.

Harry went automatically to Zayn’s side and helped him lift the palely colored Louis, removing his shirt and moving him gently until the blanket was cocooned around him; with the exception of his bleeding shoulder.

When that was done, Zayn looked back a Harry.

“You got a light in here? If so, turn it on mate, that kitchen light isn’t helping much. I have to inspect the wound itself and get the bleeding under control. There’s a possibility of cauterizing the wound but the worst thing you could do is stitch it, you’ll run the risk of septic shock – it’s where puss and bacterial fluid can’t excrete from the body and manifests into an infection that can kill –“ Zayn tried to explain but Harry only ignored his explanation and hit the light switch on.

“Zayn, mate? Don’t take this the wrong way but I’m not a doctor. I never wanted to be a doctor. I get shit on enough in life, I don’t want to deal with the literal sense, yeah? Just –please get Louis better? We can’t stay here long, we’re on the run.”

“No shit. I’ve seen the reports. Kidnapping –“ Zayn paused and gestured to Ella who silently watched him work on Louis. Her eyes wide in worry. “Then there was stealing the car, which, by the way, that car out there was stolen previously. So you might want to ditch it and get yourself another one.” Zayn informed him which made Isabella swallow.

Harry’s green eyes jaded over to a very intense green.

“What do you mean stolen!?” Harry yelled, making Isabella and Zayn flinch.

Zayn reached into his bag and got out a small bottle of pure alcohol, dumping it into Louis’s wound to clean it out before wiping the sides to get the blood cleaned. By doing this he hoped to see exactly where the bullet was.

“Stolen, as if, your hostage stole it before she got herself kidnapped by you two idiots. Sort of ironic in a sense if you think about it.” Zayn shrugged, although he couldn’t help the smirk that slipped from the corner of his lips.

“You mean she –“Harry cut himself off, storming in front of her and taking the tip of the tape gag, ripping it from her head.

Isabella screamed, feeling her hair and some skin come off with the sticky film until it was pulled free, leaving her in the old strip pieces he had originally used.

Without mercy those too were pulled off, leaving her mouth completely free and tears streaming down her face.

“You stole a car? You knowingly let us use a bloody fucking stolen CAR? What the fuck is wrong with you! Were you trying to get us caught!?” Harry demanded, forcing her chin so that her eyes and his were locked.

“I’m sorry! I just wanted to get away, I begged you two not to take me I just wanted to leave England. I just wanted to have a chance! I wanted to live. I went there to get supplies, I didn’t expect to be – ” Isabella cried, her chest heaving as Harry’s hand slapped harshly back over her mouth.

“That’s not good enough, nor is that even a remotely acceptable excuse. You could have mentioned the car was stolen. You should have, now you’ve put us in danger and my friend is lying there on death’s door because of you! All because you refuse to tell us why those men are after you. I’m half tempted to hand you over to them hogtied with a silver bow. You know what though? If you won’t tell me why you’re running then as far as I’m concerned you have no right to speak at all.”

Isabella watched Harry reach into his pocket for the duct tape again, getting ready to peel off a piece but before he could get that far, Zayn stopped him.

“Mate? Leave her go, yeah? I need to ask her some questions once Louis is stabilized and if you like, I can call Niall; he should have a car and he can make that one disappear. He’s recently gotten into some questionable practices and one of them happens to be stealing cars and if you need weapons, I’m sure he can help you guys with that too.” Zayn attempted to soothe Harry as he poked around the entry wound with his finger.

Harry threw the girl’s chin to the side and walked back to Louis, going behind the couch and leaning over to get a better look.

“Judging by the pressure and the way the blood is coming up, the bullet is lodged in there a good inch or two, it nicked a vein, main reason for all the blood loss. I need to get it out and cauterize to slow the blood flow. We need the wound to continue to culvert, which cuts down on the risk of infections. So, basically, remove the bullet, cauterize it so it stops bleeding out and bandage it so that the excess fluids have a place to drain. Once it clots and drains, Louis is guaranteed to make a full recovery but for the next few days –after he regains consciousness, you’re going to have to make sure he is given things extremely high in Iron. That will replenish his red blood cells. Spinach and fish would be my top suggestions. Chicken livers are extremely high in it too – abet a bit appalling but turkey, oysters and the like are other choices. Amongst iron I suggest a high dose of zinc. That will boost his immune system that’s taken a beating. It will fight off infections, should there be any.” Zayn explained patently, going into his bag and getting out a pair of specially made tweezer pliers.

The pliers had a special grip that allowed them to pull out things that were tightly compacted into flesh. In Louis’s case, they would help in the removal of the bullet.

“With the way the bullet went in, you’d know if it were intact, right? How common is it for a bullet to shatter inside?” Harry asked somewhat concerned, watching Zayn work diligently. He was so patient, it almost amazed Harry how passive he was. Zayn turned out to be the better of them and in a way, Harry envied him.

“A bullet shattering on contact is rare. It has to hit against something like bone or the bullet itself would have had to of been cracked leaving the gun.” Zayn replied, keeping his one hand set against Louis’s wound and the other was holding the tweezers. “Mate? No offense but you’re making me nervous. Do you think you could reach into my lab coat pocket, right side, get my cellphone and speed dial Niall’s number? He’ll be number six. Liam is number five. Explain the situation and put it on speakerphone, I’ll do the rest.”

Harry did as he was told, speed dialing Niall and listening to it ring.

“Hey Zayn, what’s up mate?” Niall greeted lightly.

“It’s Harry, I’m borrowing his phone.” Harry said, putting it on speaker.

“Harry! Damn mate, been too long, yeah? How’s it going and why do you have Zayn’s phone? What’s he doing over there? You’re not holding him hostage too are you? Because I need him to pay the rent and everything on the flat we share.” Niall quipped, which made Harry roll his eyes. Apparently even the other criminals knew they were wanted.

“I need you to get rid of the stolen car for me, get me another one. We need to get out of here, don’t know where but I’m figuring go East until we can’t anymore.” Harry explained, going to sit down on the other chair next to Isabella who just watched and took everything in.

“We can’t stay here long, they’ll come back. Ask him for a place to stay that’s not here!” Isabella pleaded as her mouth was seized by Harry’s hand.

“Is that the girl you took hostage?” Niall chuckled.

“We need help, can you get us a car or not? Louis has been shot and Isabella is a very wanted girl, apparently she stole the car pre-hostage era and was using it to make an escape from some psychos in a van that are chasing her so they can bring her to their boss – the whole thing makes no sense and she failed to not only mention the car but we got jumped at our flat and now were at her place, which we apparently can’t stay because the van people know she lives here.” Harry explained all in one breath, looking at Isabella, taking his hand back and giving her a silent warning to be quiet.

“Oi, yeah, I can grab you a car. Where you at?” Niall asked as shuffling could be heard.

Harry gave Niall the address and looked at Zayn who took over the conversation.

“Niall? They’re going to need weapons. Secure them a few guns and come help me with Louis, he’s still unconscious.”

“Yeah, no problem, mate. They staying a few days with us?” Niall asked, halting in whatever he was searching for.

Zayn looked at Harry and the girl for a brief second before his attention was back on slowly pulling the bullet from Louis’s flesh.

“They were our friends –they still are. Yeah, they can stay.” Zayn nodded, depositing the bullet onto his bag and fishing his lighter from his pocket, beginning to cauterize the wound.

“Good thing he’s unconscious.” Harry murmured, flinching at the smell of burnt flesh.

“I’d say so.” Isabella concurred softly, which earned a glare from Harry.

“You don’t have the right to say anything.” Harry growled, his fist tightening together.

“You know something, Harry? I’m sorry, alright? To be fair you had your hand over my mouth the whole car trip and when you did take it off you told me to be quiet. Honestly, would you have even listened to me if I told you the car was stolen? That I was running from people after me? I’m running like you, the only difference between us, is that if you’re caught, you go to jail. If I’m caught, I’m dead. I think you got the better deal. I didn’t say anything because I was scared, I figure I would escape when you slipped up because no offense, you two aren’t exactly experts at holding someone captive. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything just stop being so hateful, I didn’t ask for any of this!” Isabella exclaimed, her voice cracking with emotion as she struggled not to burst into tears.

Harry faltered a little, his eyes softening. He had forgotten for a moment that he was still on speaker.

“She told you.” Niall snorted, although it was light and held no sarcasm.

“See you when you get here Niall, don’t be too late, mate.” With that Harry shut off the phone.

Zayn was bandaging up the wound by the time Harry had finished his call, which left him a little more at ease.

“All we have to do is wait for Niall and get Louis some fluids. I have a bag with fluids and another bag to help him rebuild the nutrients he lost. He should regain consciousness soon after –hopefully.” Zayn said as he began to prep Louis for an IV.

“Hopefully?” Harry questioned, a little concerned.

“I’m a doctor, Haz, not Jesus. I can only help him the best of my abilities but given his pulse is still going, he’s fighting and that’s a good thing. He should regain consciousness after a little fluid and some nutrients and it should shock his body out of coma land.” Zayn reassured, finding a vein in Louis’s arm and tightening a rubber band to it, making it protrude from his skin.

Harry turned away as Zayn set up the fluids, he didn’t like needles in the slightest.

“Ok, that should do it. I bandaged and cauterized, the fluids are going.” Zayn smiled, cleaning up the area and moving on toward Isabella, moving her hair away from the wound on her forehead.

“Your turn, love.” He said warmly, searching through his bag for some bandages.

Notes

enjoy!