Hatchetfield Stories

Drive Faster!

Not my best work but I saw a fun prompt and I was bored so I spent all my free time today writing this :)

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
-Stabbing
-Blood
-Injury
-Medical stuff

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"This tastes like garbage."

Emma turned around. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, sir, but we don't offer refunds."

The man huffed. "Let me talk to your manager."

"I'm sorry, sir, but she'll tell you the same thing," Emma said, putting the knife she was using to cut pastries down. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave the store." Ugh, why did she have to be so nice to customers if they were being assholes?

"I don't care. I want a refund."

Emma decided to ignore him and continued working on the pastries. She turned around when she heard footsteps come closer. "Sir, only employees are allowed behind the counter."

He grinned at her. "Don't tell me what to do, bitch!" He grabbed a knife from the counter and grabbed Emma's shoulder tightly. "That'll teach you." He plunged the knife into her side.

Emma yelped in pain and surprise, and as soon as the man let her go, she collapsed on the ground.

"Emma, what's going on? Oh my god!" Nora asked, coming from the back of the shop.

The man ran out of the shop, the bell above the door jingled as he left.

Nora kneeled beside Emma. "What happened?"

"That dude stabbed me! Fuck!" Emma grunted in pain.

"Let's get you to the back of the shop, okay?" Nora asked, walking to the door to turn the 'open' sign around to close the shop. "Can you stand?"

Emma gasped in pain as Nora helped her into a standing position and guided her to the breakroom.

"Zoey, can you grab the first aid kit? I'm going to call Paul so he can pick her up."

"What happened?" Zoey asked, helping Emma sit down.

"That customer was rude as fuck."

Nora grabbed her phone and looked for Paul's contact. She always had emergency contacts of her employees saved on her phone. She brought the phone to her ear.

"CCRP Technical, Paul Matthews speaking, how can I help you?" Emma heard.

"Hey Paul, it's Nora, I'm calling because Emma..." Her voice faded away as she walked to the front of the shop.

Emma winced as she touched her side, her hands stained with a sticky and warm red substance. Blood.

Zoey grabbed a towel and started wiping some of the blood away, but Emma was still losing a lot of blood, so it didn't help much.

Nora came back. "Paul is on his way. He panicked when I told him what happened, so he's taking his friend to drive."

Emma nodded. "I want Paul."

"He'll be here soon," Nora said. "Zoey, did you get the first aid kit I asked you to grab?"

"No, I wanted to stay with Emma."

Nora sighed and walked to her office.

"Emma!" Paul shouted, rushing into the store and running to the breakroom. He kneeled next to Emma. "Em, are you okay? How bad is it?"

"Relax, dude. I'm fine. Hurts like a bitch though."

"Okay, I'm going to take you to the hospital."

"No! I don't want to go there."

Paul sighed, taking Emma's hand in his. "I know, Emma, but we have to-"

"Nope," Emma cut him off. "I'm not going there."

"Fine, then I'll take you to professor Hidgens, okay?"

"I'm fine, Paul!"

"It's the hospital or Hidgens, your choice."

"Fine. Let's go to the professor. But I'm fine!"

Paul scooped her up into his arms and Emma bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming in pain.

"Here," Nora said, giving him a towel and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Good luck."

Paul thanked her and carried Emma to his car, where Ted was waiting. Emma rolled her eyes. She had expected Bill to be there, she didn't want Ted to see her this vulnerable. He opened the door of the car so Paul and Emma could sit on the backseat. Paul put Emma's seatbelt on, careful not to touch the wound in her side.

He gave Ted the address to the professor's house. "Are you sure you don't want to take her to the hospital?" Ted asked. "I mean, she might bleed to death, you know?"

"I'm sure, Ted. Just drive."

"Okay, okay. Not my problem."

"Hey, Em," Paul whispered. "You okay?"

"It hurts," Emma said softly.

"I'm going to sterilize the wound, okay?" he told her, unscrewing the lid of the bottle Nora had given him. "This might hurt a bit."

Emma screamed as he poured a bit of the antiseptic over the wound. She clenched the fabric of his suit in her fists, screwing her eyes shut in an attempt to deal with the pain. Paul pressed the towel firmly against the wound, making Emma cry out even more.

"Everything okay back there?" Ted asked, looking at them through the mirror.

"Yes, Ted, everything's okay. My girlfriend didn't get stabbed or anything."

Ted whistled. "Girlfriend, huh?"

"Not a good time, Ted!" Paul looked at Emma. "Drive faster!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Ted shouted, though he still sped up a bit.

When they finally arrived at the professor's house, professor Hidgens opened the gates as soon as Paul told him Emma was injured.

"Come in!" he said, opening the door so Paul could carry Emma inside. Ted followed them.

Hidgens guided them to the guest room and Paul put Emma down on the bed. "It's okay, Emma. You're safe," he whispered.

Hidgens rushed out of the room, taking Ted with him. They came back a few minutes later with their hands full of medical supplies.

"I'm afraid I don't have anything to numb the area," the professor said, looking through his supplies.

"Fine. I'll go to the hospital."

"No, Emma, dear, you've lost a lot of blood already. We don't have time to get you to the hospital," he said, grabbing a chair and sitting down next to the bed. "I'm going to take care of you, okay?"

Emma nodded. It became harder to process what he was saying and she knew he was right. She had lost a lot of blood.

Paul helped her take off her shirt, which was a painful process as the fabric stuck to the wound, but eventually, Emma was sitting in just her bra.

"Alright, dear, I'm going to have to stitch up the wound. Ted? Would you please make sure she doesn't move?"

Ted sat down on her other side and pinned her down on the bed.

"Ew! Don't touch me when I'm almost naked, you fucking creep!"

"Sorry, sweetheart, I'm just doing what the professor said."

Paul stroked her hair. "Shhh, Emma, it's okay."

"No, it's not okay, Paul! I won't move, I promise!"

The professor sighed. "Alright. Ted, let her go. You can go to the living room, we passed it when we walked here, remember?"

Ted stood up and walked away.

"Thanks, professor," Emma mumbled, scared of what was coming.

She tensed up when professor Hidgens made the first stitch, but she didn't move, determined to keep her promise.

She passed out a few minutes later, exhausted from the pain and blood loss.

*** *** ***

When she woke up, the professor had left the room, but Paul was still sitting next to her, stroking her hair.

"Hey, Em," he said when he noticed she was awake. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired..." she mumbled.

"So... What happened?"

"Oh. Right. There was this really rude customer who got mad at me for not giving him a refund, and then he stole a knife and stabbed me."

Paul grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "I'm sorry. Are you in a lot of pain."

"Meh. Nothing I can't handle."

Paul chuckled. "I love you."

"I love you too, Paul."