Scout: Chapter 10

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Quick Author's note: Happy Halloween!! Enjoy this not-at-all spooky chapter!

At this point, Medic had long since finished operating on Mel. It was a miraculous coincidence that the bullet didn’t go all the way through her side, so it worked in her favor there, HOWEVER, the way it was positioned inside her made it impossible to remove without causing her to bleed out, so it had to be left in. So Medic sewed her up, cleaned up the wound, everything was coming up roses, right?

Wrong.

There was still one big problem left…

“You’re in luck! Everything went as smoothly as possible and she will make a full recovery.”

Scout exhaled in relief, overjoyed by the news, “Oh thank GOD.  What’s she doing now?”

“She woke up a few minutes ago, she’s-”

Scout pushed Medic aside and ran through the infirmary doors, practically tripping over his non-existant shoelaces to get to his daughter.

For a moment, he had forgotten all his anxieties about parenthood, he wondered why he even was afraid to begin with. Seeing her there, totally alive and safe, was like seeing an angel straight from Heaven’s bathhouse. He gathered himself as he approached her beside, keeping his cool guy facade intact, “Hey kiddo.”

Her voice was soft, but not unenthusiastic, “Hey…”

“Found this out there,” He pulled her hat out from his waistband, dusting off the top, “Thought you might want it back.”

Without hesitation, she snatched the hat and put it back on, “I thought it was lost for sure this time, it keeps falling off.”

“Well, I’ve been known to have a pretty fat head, so that doesn’t surprise me.”

She certainly got a kick out of that, but her tone quickly changed directions, “Am I gonna get in trouble for this?”

“What? No way! What makes you think you’d get in trouble for this? If anyone should be punished, it should be Spy.”

“Please don’t punish Mr. Spy!” she begged.

“And why shouldn’t we?” he was genuinely curious to hear her answer.

“Because he told me he was trying to help you out by being a good friend…”

Being a good friend? Is that what they call kidnapping nowadays? “Well, that’s no excuse for endangering-”

“He told me about your friend Ms. Pauling and how you saved her from a big monster that ate bullets and stuff! He said,” She cleared her throat and put on her best french accent, “Your father has more guts than anyone I’ve ever met. If you can’t trust me to protect you, you can always trust him.”

“He… he actually said that?”

“Uhuh. Then I asked Dr. Medic about it and he said that you did have a few extra guts! But I think he was just kidding.”

“Ehhh… I don’t think he was.”

The door swung open; In strut Ms. Pauling and Pyro, both of which were covered in a sooty black substance, “Where do you guys keep the towels?”

Scout’s attention shifted to the visitors, “What the hell happened to you guys?”

“We had some business to attend to…”

The door opened again, “Ms. Pauling, what do you want me to do with this plane engine-” She forced the door shut.

“The 8:00 to Boston has been delayed. That’s all you need to know.”

Scout chuckled softly, “Thanks, I owe you one.”

“You owe me quite a few at this point.” she retorted.

Melissa tapped on her dad’s shoulder and whispered, “That’s Ms. Pauling, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Then who’s the other person…?” she pointed at Pyro, who had been entertaining himself with a few cotton balls and a lighter.

“Them? Oh, that’s Pyro.” Looking back in his direction, Pyro was now juggling the cotton balls while they were on fire, “I wouldn’t get too close to him…”

“Hey Scout? Can I talk to you outside?” Ms. Pauling stood by the door patiently.

“Uh, sure.” He followed her out into the hallway.

She waited until they were far enough from the door, then she turned and slapped him across the face, “What were you thinking?!?!”

“What?! What did I do wrong NOW?!”

“Did it occur to you that maybe SOMEONE would notice the huge bullet hole wound in her side?!”

“What are you talking about, we just-”

“Scout, you need stitches to close a wound like that. STITCHES LEAVES SCARS.”

Oh.

“And someone is going to ask about those scars and it’s all going to point back here.”

She was right; this could be an even bigger catastrophe if they didn’t do something, “Shit, you’re right, but what are we supposed to do? You can’t just instantly heal shit like that, right?”

Ms. Pauling froze. Scout shortly followed.

They had the answer.

“Ah shit.”

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