RESEARCH ( barry berkman.. ) ✔

o15. heartthrob..

Any good hitman had backup plans and safe places to retreat to, in case shit went down bad enough to require a suspension in activity. Factually, Barry never needed those safe deposits and now that he finally did, there was no way for him to actually use them without Fuches being notified of his exact whereabouts and troubles. He pulled the stolen car from the Burmese into a parking lot, behind a pharmacy.

People tend to ask little to no question when a male with a hat and hoodie on and several fresh cuts and bruises, paying full price on a series of items which put together would make a formidable essentials kit for any wound stitching and care needs. Though very much a fatal flaw in the system, a sick, perverse irony of life which Barry loathed for it encouraged the behavior he tried to quit, just then, he took full advantage of everything, returning fast to the car where he left Adelaide in the backseat.

Looking at her was a heartthrob.

Usually, the reasoning behind that would have been because it felt strange for Barry to finally feel at peace next to someone, instead of constantly worrying about secrets needing to be kept and wondering whether or not there were things he should do better by her. However, considering this peaceful gift into his wrecked life was bleeding and phasing in and out of consciousness, the pain got realer and so got the emotions he could not describe until then.

Barry got in the backseat with Adelaide.

Her forehead was pressed against the front passenger seat, ready to melt over any second, drain away much like sweat was leaving her body as a natural response. Fear and pain. Barry sneaked his hand under her chin and cupped the side of her face which was away from him, just to gently guide her to face him, rather than the ground. She was still breathing, proving that which he no longer doubted: she was such a strong woman.

"I'm giving you a painkiller and some water, before I start patching up that wound," he explained, holding his voice from cracking as much as he could. The fact that Adelaide's eyes barely opened from time to time, giving her full trust, even in weakness, to Barry's voice, did not make it easier at all for his hand to not shake a little. But he got that pill in her mouth, he even helped her drink a few gulps of water, all while his mind was registering through outer frowns, that he could not ever handle losing Adelaide from there on.

With zero experience or idea of what she would be going against, she tried to help him twice already, selflessly more than recklessly. Just acknowledging the warmth of being cared for created in his heart conferred Barry's tears a bitter meaning; they finally knew love was not the trepidation and torture of change he went through with Sally. It was rather the reciprocated dedication... the silent agreement and sense of safety.

Under his loving gaze, half trying to figure out how to remove her shirt and get a better look at the entry hole, Adelaide shivered through a little cough. "Where are we...?" she mumbled, turning her head ahead, pressing her forehead against the seat firmer. Her groan of pain was a good enough sign for Barry that he should continue before she loses consciousness again. Doing this while she was awake, though would hurt, it will be much safer than with her out of it entirely.

"A parking lot, we're fine," he answered, a normal tone, louder over hers. "I need to pull up your shirt." The lack of any spare clothes for her to wear afterwards, efficiency in cutting that piece of clothing off was dropped as an overall protocol of safety. Barry brushed his calloused thumbs on the skin of her back, trying to be precise, rather than rough in removing the material which stuck with the blood.

"Couldn't you have asked me that in a less stressful setting?" Adelaide replied. The freshness of the water woke her senses, but the pill was still to make its effect, which meant that there were very few perks for her personally to be awake and feel the itch, burn, throbbing ache on her lower back. Slipping a few jokes with an uneven tone following how intense the pain was getting, was what she decided on a whim to cling to.