The Final Battle

by Anna Wu

  Chapter 6: Fixing the Damage

  Jimmy put on a pair of rubber gloves as he stared down at Libby. "You feeling ok?" he asked while bending down and staring at her leg.

  "I was, until Sheen made it his personal duty to take care of me. It took me and Carl five minutes to convince him that no, I do not in fact need my leg amputated."

  Jimmy smiled as he gingerly lifted her leg up and looked underneath it. "Yeah, sorry I had to leave you with him. He sure does care about you, though."

  Libby smiled as well, but cringed as Jimmy placed her leg back down. "Cindy seems to care about you too."

  Jimmy's smile faded as he stared at her. "Nice segue."

  Libby looked down at her leg. "Are you two ever going to get back together?"

  Jimmy stared at her with a puzzled expression. "We were together?"

  Libby shrugged as best as she could while lying down. "Well, you went to that dance one time."

  Jimmy's mind replayed that night nearly two years ago. "She went with me and Timmy. That hardly constitutes a date, let alone a relationship."

  Libby sighed. "Yeah, whatever. I just still find it strange that me and Sheen got together before you and Cindy. You two seemed, you know, star-crossed lovers."

  Jimmy chuckled. "You've been reading too much Shakespeare. We've been Katherina and Petruchio at best."

  Libby just sighed and shook her head. She finally looked back down at her leg, which Jimmy set back down on the couch. "How is it?" she nervously asked.

  Jimmy ran a hand through his hair and ruffled through his supplies. "Better than I had hoped," he said, much to her relief. "You've got an exit wound, so the bullet isn't still in there. That's good for both of us. I just have to sanitize it and sew 'er up." He picked up a spool of black thread and a needle.

  "You know how to sew?" Libby asked him.

  Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, yeah." He cringed as Libby's face brightened as she remembered something.

  "You were the guy who took home ec earlier this year!" she shouted while pointing at him.

  Jimmy finally got the thread through the needle. "Woodshop was full, alright?" he angrily told her.

  Libby stopped smiling and twitched as the needle went through her skin. "Take this," Jimmy instructed her while handing over a cup of water and some pills. "They'll kill the pain and make you go to sleep."

  Libby stared at the pills for a moment before swallowing them with a swig of water. She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. It was nearly eleven, which was over an hour later than she usually went to bed. She had been fighting an intense battle all day and had been shot in the leg. Add to that the pills, and she was infinitely more tired that she had ever been.

  Jimmy couldn't help but continue smiling as he stared down at her peaceful face, eyes twitching in slumber. Every once in a while she would moan a little from the pain, but she was mostly quiet. He blinked and remembered the needle still in his hands. He continued sewing up the holes in her flesh.

  An hour later, he finally wiped the collecting beads of sweat from his forehead. He looked up at the clock and realized that it was midnight. Guess it's not the first day of school after all, he thought while putting away his sewing kit.

  "She alright?" The sudden voice made Jimmy jump a little. He turned around to see Nick and Cindy standing behind him. "Is she?" Nick reiterated.

  Jimmy sighed and nodded. "She'll be fine. I gave her some pills to kill the pain and put her to sleep."

  Cindy walked over to her best friend and pushes some strands of hair off of her forehead. Nick and Jimmy stared on curiously. "When did you two finish up?" Jimmy asked Nick.

  Nick continued staring at the two girls. "Ten minutes ago. So, what do we do now?"

  His answer came through a loud buzzing sound. Jimmy looked over to the computer mainframe and saw Carl and Sheen's face on the screen. He jumped into his chair and rolled across the floor. "Sheen, where the hell have you been? I give you one job to do and..."

  Sheen blinked into the camera, his eyes red and wide. They twitched a little with fatigue. "Chill, dude," he interrupted Jimmy, "Carl said he needed help. Is Libby ok?"

  "Come in and see for yourself," Jimmy said while pressing the green button to his left. The lab's main entrance unlocked. Sheen ran inside. "Where is everyone?" Jimmy asked Carl.

  Carl stepped out of the camera's path to reveal dozens, if not hundreds, of children. Most were clutching their heads in pain and confusion. Staring at the scores of children, a small smile crept up his strained face.

  "Bring them in," Jimmy instructed Carl. Jimmy looked away from the monitor to abruptly face Sheen. "Ah!" he shouted while spinning around to stand inches from his face.

  "Stop doing that!" Jimmy shouted while clutching his heart and walking over to Cindy, Libby, and Nick.

  "Sorry!" Sheen defensively said. "I'll go lay out that aspirin and water. Libby seems good," he said with a tint of hope in his voice. His eyes pleaded with Jimmy to confirm his beliefs.

  Jimmy put a hand on Sheen's shoulder. "Sheen, listen to me. She is going to be fine," he said comfortingly. Sheen finally nodded and ran off to get to work.

  Jimmy finished strolling over to his three other friends. "Cindy, Nick, would you two mind telling the other kids what is going on? I have to check some stuff out."

  Cindy stared at him for and saw the deep bags under his eyes. "Nick can handle it. You look like you could use some help," she said while following him to another room.

  Nick stared after them for a moment. "That's fine; I have a complete grasp of what's going on. I only woke up two hours ago," he angrily mumbled while trying to think of what to tell the other kids.

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