•Thicker Than Blood•

•Chapter 22•

Soon enough, they would arrive back at the house. It was left just as it had been when they left. They all got out of the car and headed inside. Chris took a brief look around, chuckling to himself while he took in the sight. Claire raised an eyebrow at him, still hand in hand with Leon, whose face was still tinted a light red color around the cheeks. Chris glanced back at them with his eyebrow raised.

"So the both of you fixed this place up, huh?" He asked.

"That's right! Pretty cool, am I right?" Claire shifted her weight onto one leg, free hand on her hip.

"I'd say it feels pretty homely. I approve." Chris went and lounged on the couch, putting his legs up and taking up the entirety of it.

Claire scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Haven't even been here for five minutes and you're already acting as if you own the place. New flash, I do." She chirped sassily, with a laugh.

Leon just seemed to stare at her without a real word. Watching her return to her joyous, sarcastic, and rather sassy self was always refreshing. He felt that she had finally managed to break herself out of her worry. Finally, she had a sense of relief and was able to shine brighter than the sun. Claire was the kind of girl that could be described like that. No matter how dark or light it was, she would shine brighter than everyone and everything else. That was only one of the things he loved about her.

"Hey, Leon. Do I have something on my face?" She asked, realizing his stare.

"Huh? Oh. No. Nothing to worry about." Leon smiled toward her, his grin being somewhat lopsided.

"Uh oh. Here comes the googly eyes. Are you trying to die early, Kennedy?" Chris piped up, leaning over the back of the couch with a playful smirk.

"Wouldn't be the first time someone tried to take my life early." Leon managed with a laugh.

"Luckily I've been there to save your ass." Claire retorted, her arm going from just holding his hand to wrapping her arm around his. His face burned hotter.

"Gee, get a room, you two." Chris stuck his tongue out in playful disgust.

"You know what, we might just do that. I've got to fix up the rookie's shoulder." Claire said, tugging Leon's arm and pulling him into the bathroom where they kept the first aid kit.

Claire sat him down on the edge of the bathtub while she opened the cabinet under the sink. From there, she managed to pull out their plastic first aid kit that was already present with all the tools and such they would need. She also grabbed a pair of pliers, running them under water and cleaning them off before using them. Leon watched her as she worked with such precision.

"Alright, I'm going to get that bullet out. Best we do it sooner than later." She said,

Leon gave a quiet nod and offered his shoulder that the cloth was tied around. The cloth was already stained with blood, seeping through the dark color of the cloth. Clearly he had lost a lot of blood during the fight, especially with the particular shot to his shoulder. Sound familiar? S Claire moved forward and carefully unwrapped his shoulder, being mindful of the still relatively fresh injury.

Once the cloth was off, she made a motion with her hands. Leon was confused for a moment while she moved her hands upwards a few times. Raising his eyebrow at her, he glanced at his shoulder. Nothing seemed too bad. He looked back at Claire, who narrowed her eyes just a bit at him while she did the motion again. Then it clicked. She wanted him to get his shirt off. He seemed hesitant.

"Come on. After everything, you couldn't possibly be nervous about this." Claire said, laughing.

"Hey now. Don't be so eager. What happened to patience?" Leon joked, snickering at her.

"Oh, hush you! Take it off before I do it for you!" She lightly smacked him upside the head.

"Alright, alright, you win, red." Leon shook his head with another laugh.

Leon lifted his shirt up and above his head, mindful of his injury. He could only lift his arm so far with his injury. Although, he managed and tossed his shirt aside. It fell to the floor and Claire stepped over it to get a closer look. At the wound of course! Carefully, she took a washcloth and ran it over warm water. Once it was drenched, she wrung it out so it was only damp.

Once that was done, she started dabbing the cloth against the wound. Leon flinched just a bit at the motion, though he curled his lips and managed to shut himself up. Claire hummed a tune while she cleaned up the places around the wound. Once she deemed it clean, she took the pair of pliers and went towards the bullet hole with it. Being as careful as she could, she reached to try and get the bullet out. The washcloth laid over her shoulder while she fished for the bullet.

Leon sucked in a breath, hissing through his teeth. Pain seared through his body while Claire desperately tried to clasp the bullet. Without really thinking, Leon reached for whatever was closest to hang onto. The edge of the tub? The sink? Nope. Claire was right in front of him. Suddenly he grabbed her by each side. His hands gripped onto her sides while she searched for the bullet. She jumped slightly, causing him to grunt once again in pain.

"Agh- Sorry! You scared the shit out of me! A little warning next time, please!" Claire practically barked at him.

"Ghhhh... Apologies. I wasn't thinking." Leon said, glancing towards his hands. "Not that I'm complaining."

Claire's face reddened into a bright red hue while she rolled her eyes with a scoff. Though, she didn't push him away. Nor did she protest. She got right back to work, eventually being able to fish out the bullet. Just as quick as she took it out, she held the wash cloth against it to avoid any more blood loss in major degree. She set the bullet aside then grabbed an ointment to put on the wound.

Once she put the paste-like substance in the wound, she wrapped it up with an actual bandage. She tied it around his shoulder with a plush pad over the open hole. Once she finished, she set her hand over his shoulder, watching as the bandage only turned into a light pink color with the blood flow. She nodded to herself then picked his shirt up off the floor.

"Here, you're going to need this." She said,

"Oh, right, thanks." Finally, Leon removed his hands from Claire and pulled his shirt back over his head.

"Feeling better, rookie?" Claire questioned.

"Better than I was before." Leon snickered under his breath.

"Good. Let's head back. I'm sure everyone is starving..." Claire headed out of the bathroom, heading out to the kitchen.

Leon followed hot on her trail. "Let's see what we can do then, I'll help you."

"Ha! Thank you, Kennedy."