jdcartwright (jdcartwright) wrote in birthrightrpg, @ 2021-12-25 11:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | jd cartwright, radek jeppersen |
Better undead than alive
Who: JD & Radek
Where: Radek’s ‘pool house’
What: Corruption Revelation Pt II
When: Immediately following thisI
Rating: Some swearing, medical procedure
The pickup had happened pretty much as planned. A hooded figure had come to JD’s door and knocked. After no answer the figure had tried to peer through the curtained window while phoning. Still no response. After a furtive look around the figure had picked the lock and entered, only to reappear a few seconds later, backwards, closing the door and hurrying away. This set off a chain of events over the next 30 minutes that saw reports being made of a shooting of a man in a hotel room on the outskirts of Las Vegas. A van had arrived by which time the body had been photographed, and was whisked away.
A few miles away the detective groaned, coughed to try and moisten his throat, and screwed up his eyes. The van pulled into an empty warehouse, and the detective was helped from it into a dark-windowed car. A short while later it pulled up in a cul-de-sac at the end of Dragon Ridge Drive, and the detective was helped inside the private entrance.
“Well, well, well, I hope your efforts are not in vain,” Radek said as he extracted the first of the bullets from JD’s body. The clatter of the metal in a dish was a little louder than JD had expected and he lifted his head to look at the projectile. Hollow-points.
“Holy shit, they meant business,” he groaned, frowning for a moment as he tried to look down at what Radek was doing.
“Don’t worry, your current state of undeath has saved your life,” the doctor said with a not-so-subtle humour in his voice
JD’s head fell back and he stared at the ceiling, kind of seeing the humorous side of it. “Not sure if it’s that novocaine or just… you know, me being me right now, but it’s not hurting as much as I expe..OOOOOUCH!!” JD’s head flew up as Radek looked apologetically, the second bullet now on display in the forceps he was holding.
“Sorry, that one was quite challenging to remove without causing some damage to the heart muscle,” he explained, “and given you’re hoping to again one day depend on your heart I took the less damaging route for that organ.” He peered into the cavity in JD’s chest and continued, the nurse standing opposite him having already cleared away the tiny amount of blood that had seeped from the other damaged tissue. “It seems that perhaps the novocaine had not reached that area… interesting.”
JD groaned softly. “Glad you’re finding it helpful, Doc,” he told the man, the slight hint of sarcasm outweighed by the gratitude.
A few hours later JD was propped up on the examination table, looking at the three familiar pieces of metal the doctor had removed from his now bandaged chest. “Nine millimetre, standard police issue, with personal modifications,” he stated, shaking his head and pushing the dish onto the trolley beside him. Two IV lines were attached to one arm, one containing saline and antibiotics, the other whole blood.
“It’s not just confirming they’re cops, it’s the balls they’re carrying, using these to kill knowing they’d be pinged immediately,” he growled, closing his fist on them as if trying to crush them before dropping them back into the bowl in disgust. “But I guess if I dig far enough there’ll now be a paper trail leading to a stolen shipment of police brass at some point in some precinct somewhere.” He let out a sigh, scrubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hand and let his head fall back onto the pillow.
“How long before I can go, Doc? I need to get back to my place.”
“Well, depending on the tissue recovery, I’d say you can leave tomorrow at some point, but remember, the way your body heals now is vastly different to what you’re used to.” He pointed to the two IV bags, and added with a small grin, “plus do you have that on tap at home?”
JD’s eyes darted up to where the doc was pointing and gave a grunt before letting his head fall back again and his eyes close.
“OK, I get it, be a good patient and get better quick,” he sighed, “not the first time I’ve heard that.”
“No, I’m sure it’s not,” Radek replied, noting down the readings on the monitors and recording them.