Traffic [Valduggery, Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction]

Shock

"You fainted... straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention, you didn't have to go to such extremes."

Valkyrie's vision swam back into focus. Skulduggery stood over her, and he had his phone in his hand. He must have made a call.

It took Valkyrie a moment to feel the cold that crept through her fingers. Her teeth chattered, and her head swam, and Skulduggery told her not to try and sit up. A mountain was on her chest, and she realized she was wet.

"I didn't faint," she said. Her voice sounded small, and something inside her twisted with each breath.

Skulduggery crouched down beside her, moved the hair from her face. She wondered when it came undone from the ponytail. She focused on breathing, even though it felt like it would have been easier to not. He stood back up.

"You did. Again. Valkyrie, I'm beginning to doubt your ability to handle situations like this. Frankly, I'm considering the idea of just locking you in a cage. Because I bring you to these fabulous places, and you get shot."

Valkyrie frowned, tried to look at herself again. "Shot?" she rasped. Something caught and she coughed. It sounded wet.

"Yes, shot. By my guess, the bullet slipped right through your ribs and into your lung. That pressure you feel? That's blood seeping into your lung. You're going to drown in it."

Valkyrie's mouth was dry. "Help me."

Skulduggery nodded. "I am. I'm talking to you, to keep your mind from the pain. I'm keeping you from panicking. I daresay I'm even amusing you at the same time. Do you remember what happened, or do I have to explain that, as well?"

Valkyrie struggled to focus her eyes past Skulduggery's form, but everything was fuzzy, and she coughed again. She was cold. She had never been this cold in her entire life, and she wanted to tell Skulduggery to set her on fire, just so she could feel something.

"You did something stupid," Skulduggery continued, and Valkyrie managed to look at him again. "We were on a case—do you remember? Fascinating little thing, that brought us to this jungle. Oh, I know you can't feel it, but you were complaining about the heat the entire time."

Crickets. Valkyrie heard them. The noise cut through Skulduggery's voice in sharp little jabs.

"You wanted to visit the town." Skulduggery loomed over her. "You said you would be out for a few hours."

Valkyrie took a deep breath, and her eyes watered when she felt her chest rattle. "I saw her."

Skulduggery nodded. "You did. You saw our target and followed her to the outskirts. You were just about to call me to let me know, and you were shot."

Valkyrie's eyes—vision swam again. "Help me."

"You were shot, and you managed to fight her off—but not before losing massive amounts of blood. You passed out, into my waiting arms, and the position you landed in just so happened to be conducive in fending off hypovolemic shock, and you woke back up."

The crickets, the cold. The world had faded to a dull buzz, and all Valkyrie could see was Skulduggery, the only solid thing in a world of shadow and heatwaves. She wanted to ask him to give her a drink of water.

"Help," she whispered. Barely.

Skulduggery stepped closer, his shoes right near her shoulder. "You didn't call me, Valkyrie."

"Help."

"I'm sorry, but I can't." He sounded so, so sad. "I mean, it was inevitable. I can't get shot and bleed out. You, on the other hand, my dear, are made of lesser stuff. Namely, flesh."

Skulduggery stepped on her chest, stood there. Valkyrie struggled to breathe.

"Close your eyes," he said, like he was suggesting an ice cream flavor. "Close your eyes and listen to my voice."

Here, have this space so things don't get spoiled.

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If you didn't understand: She was hallucinating him the entire time.