Arrow: Reckoning Part 2

Splintered

The van rocked from side to side as Diggle took the turn at a dangerous speed while Oliver did his best to keep his wounded sister from moving and further adding to her injury. Thea lay motionless as her eyes battled to stay open, fighting against the urge to give in and rest. Roy helplessly stared down at Thea, his fear stricken expression frozen upon her wounded frame. Oliver struggled to stay calm and focused as he kept pressure on his sister's wound, trying to not think about how the warm blood oozing through his fingers belonged to Thea's. He looked down at the blood puddle streaming down the van's floor, catching him offguard for a moment. The image of her body lunging forward as the bullet ripped through her played back in Oliver's mind again and again as he internally cursed for walking into such an obvious trap. Diggle swerved around a slow moving vehicle and glanced into the mirror, noticing Thea's black outfit would raise unwanted questions at the hospital.

"We can't take her in there like that!" Diggle stated as he turned his attention back to the road. Oliver snapped back into the moment and understood Diggle's reasoning, knowing that the police would already be asking why she was shot and if she was in a black leather suit similar to the Arrow's that would only cause more problems. Oliver quickly began to remove the black outfit as carefully and gently as he could. Roy assisted him, and removed any obvious weapons or tools attached to her pants. Black leather pants weren't an oddity, especially since they would most likely be cut off of her without a second glance. The tank top underneath her top layers was stained dark red as Roy and Oliver removed the jacket from her arms. Roy grabbed a nearby satchel sitting in the back with them and handed it to Oliver.

"You need to change too." He said, extending the bag over Thea's body as Oliver reluctantly took the spare clothes and removed his Arrow attire. The moment the van screeched to a halt outside the hospital Oliver already had the doors open and Thea in his arms as he charged out of the van. A collection of nurses stopped and sprang to action as he entered the hospital clutching the bleeding woman, unable to keep from moving as he looked to all the attendants helping. A gurney was brought to them as Oliver gently placed his sister down onto it and followed along as a team of doctors and nurses began to talk amongst themselves about Thea's condition. All sound seemed to fade out as Oliver looked down at the oxygen mask over his younger sister's face, the weight of the situaution finally hitting him all at once. The swinging doors moved back and forth as Thea was taken into the ICU, somewhat obstructing Oliver's view as a nurse kept him from entering the room. Every sound seemed to reach him at once as the medical equipment all around beeped and rung out as well as the collection of orders and instructions from inside the room. Oliver backed away from the door as he peered through the window and felt the air being ripped from his lungs while the staff fought to save his sister.

The pressure against the inside of Oliver's head throbbed as he stirred from his slumber. The sun shined down on him as he slowly moved around, quickly noticing that his hands were bound behind his back. The sound of waves crashing against something caught his attention as he realized he was in constant motion. Oliver sat up and looked around the small boat, spotting the barrel of an assault rifle pointing directly at his head. The two pirates had taken one of the rival's vessels and appeared to be heading out into the ocean, most likely moving toward a larger ship of some kind. Oliver took in his surroundings and studied the two men, still angry with himself that he hadn't been more aware of the supposed prisoners. After all the shady and double crossing characters he had met the year earlier, he would've thought his skills could've told the difference. After everything he had been through it all appeared to be for nothing if he couldn't pick up on pirates capturing other pirates, how was he going to make a difference in Starling if he couldn't survive situations like this. The training and experiences weren't enough to change him, Oliver knew he needed something more if he was ever to return home and right his father's mistakes. A larger vessel appeared off in the distance as the first pirate turned back towars Oliver and laughed at his newfound prisoner's misfortune. Oliver glared out at the ship and built up his inner rage, knowing that he would have to do some very terrible things in order to survive this.