AFTER YOU SAVED ME // ZESSA

Chapter 35: Hessa's Lament

Tessa's POV

I do not know what I expected being shot to feel like; maybe a really, really bad bee sting, or an extreme, deep, dull sensation one can only imagine after watching Die Hard a few too many times. Maybe it would be like hitting your funny bone x 1000, or breaking a bone.

But as I shield my face, falling to the ground in what feels like slow motion, I realize being shot is none of those things. In fact, I feel nothing, though I know something has happened to me I cannot explain.

The signature reverberation of the gun shot is drowned out by the intense ringing in my ears as I finally collide with the floor, and it seems all my senses have gone numb.

Each second that passes feels like its own unique moment, playing out like a slide show in broken, vivid fragments.

1 second since the gunshot

I feel someone's weight landing next to me, and realize their arm was wrapped loosely around me as they finally hit the floor.

2 seconds

I turn my head instinctively, my vision blurred as the hair in my face partially obstructs my vision. It is Hardin. His eyes are on mine – wide and uncertain as his pupils dilate, making his eye color appear black instead of the cool green I have come to recognize.

3 seconds

I squint, trying to focus on them, but his mouth keeps moving. I cannot hear anything though, the ringing in my ears turning my world to radio static. Staring at his trembling mouth, I try to make out what it is, and I feel him pull his arm out from under me.

4 seconds

All I can do is stare at his mouth. What is he saying? Why can't I feel anything? Maybe I am dead, and this is what the after life is: numb. Complete numbness, silence, and loss of all human qualities. All I can do is watch him, my vision still blurry, as he reaches forward and grabs my arm, just under my shoulder. Looking down, I see a slow growing patch of blood on the hem of my t-shirt sleeve. And then I feel it.

5 seconds

All at once, my senses are overwhelmed as the ringing suddenly dissipates and time seems to resume.

"Tessa! You're bleeding!" he shouts. Hardin is inches from my face, both of us still on the ground as a sick, stinging sensation builds in my arm.

Behind him, I see Tristan and Dan wrestling, the baby boy still in Dan's arms as Zed runs up behind him.

"Tessa! Your arm!" Hardin yells, snapping me back to our reality. He is trying to pull my sleeve up, but the way I'm lying on the floor won't allow it.

Rolling onto my other side and pulling up my sleeve, we find very a jagged hole in my arm, and the slight glimmer of a bullet fragment about an inch deep.

And it burns. Like someone removed a hot poker from a fire and stuck it in my arm.

I cannot help the grunt that escapes my throat as I instinctively grab my arm. This fucking hurts.

"Put pressure on it!" Hardin demands, slamming his hand against the wound.

This time I scream, the pain from his weight on my wound too much to handle as I flinch back. Hardin flinches as well, though attempts to smash my wound down again a split second later.

"Stop! It hurts, Hardin," I seethe, covering it protectively.

"You'll bleed out!" He lurches again, but I roll away too quickly, as Tristan, Dan, and Zed still grapple in the background.