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Charles was panting like a dog that had been running and finally decided to rest, only this time, instead of relaxing, he was bleeding to death. The silky red stain was concealed by his tight black shirt. Yet, Max's hands were drenched in an intriguing shade of crimson. Their footsteps created an intense red trail in the snow.
"Char, hasten up; we're almost there." Max's words were hardly audible above the furious snowstorm that was developing around them. Charles was using every ounce of his energy to drag his feet along and maintain pressure on his injured side, and the blonde man was nearly supporting the entire weight of Charles' body.
Their only hope was that the freshly fallen snow would conceal their footprints fast enough to prevent the opposing forces from catching up to them. Yes, both of them were armed—the sniper on Max's back served as a reminder—but they were desperately trying to avoid fighting at the moment because Charles was practically unconscious. The snow-covered cabin soon came into view. Max was unable to feel his fingers or toes alone. Thick inches of snow coated the cabin, making it difficult to enter, Max couldn't feel his fingers other than the dull ache, but he was only concerned with getting Charles inside.
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The door opened with a creaking sound as Max pushed it open, and the lodge was dark. Max didn’t let his eye wander too much as he urgently searched for a light switch with his non-supporting hand. The area was dimly lit in a warm golden hue by the little light bulb hanging overhead. The first room they had stepped in was a small lounge room with a leather couch in front of a fireplace. Max recalled the cold season cottage of his grandparents, where he had been growing up. The room possessed some decorative furniture, but it showed no indication of a personality, indicating that no one lived there.
Max hurried forward and grabbed Charles by the shoulders as he guided him to lie down next to the fireplace. They were sheltered from the wind, but it was still chilly inside. He hurriedly began the task of starting a fire. Luckily, there was already a modest stack of dry wood by the fireplace. He began to move them, not giving a thought to the scrapes the wood caused on his sensitive hands. After exploring through the cupboards, he stumbled upon a matchbox. It took a few tries to get the fire started, as his fingers trembled, but it felt easier once it illuminated the room and produced heat. Charles was in urgent need of treatment, so he had no time to admire it. He quickly searched the tiny bathroom upstairs and came back carrying a first aid package. It was a relief as he saw that the kit contained big wound closing supplies. The large supplies for sealing wounds were a relief. He removed his jacket and tucked it behind the Monegasque's head as the room began to warm up.
„All right, Char, let me have a look." With extreme caution, he squeezed Charles' shirt between his fingers and tugged it up until the shirt's hem came free of Charles' cargo pants. He repeatedly folded the edge until the wound was exposed.
Had Max been someone else, he would have gagged or vomited, but he had witnessed too much of this to allow himself to be sloppy. He did feel a little uneasy, but not because of the wound itself—rather, it was because Charles was the one suffering from it. His analysis indicated that it was a stab wound.
„Fuck Charles! Why? Why didn’t you tell me?" Max asked in a frustrated tone. The sight of the irritated and bleeding wound forced his eyebrows to furrow.
„Sorry." The other one whispered in a drowsy voice, giving a brief smile that was quickly replaced by a grimace.
When they were making their getaway, Charles hadn't said much about what had occurred. Max didn't bother him either because he knew he wouldn't want to talk if he himself was the one who was exhausted. However, he was furious because Monegasque hadn't informed him about the injury on his side before almost collapsing.
Prior to beginning stitches, the wound needed to be disinfected.
„I'm gonna need to sanitise it." Max declared as he unwound a bandage roll to create a square of fabric and used his teeth to rip it off.The only unfortunate piece was an empty disinfectant that he had replaced with a vodka bottle that was sitting in the kitchen. The only unpleasant item in the kit was an empty disinfection container, which he had to swap out for a vodka bottle that was on the kitchen counter. Without hesitation, he unscrews the bottle and wrings the cloth, without caring that a few droplets get on his own clothes. Charles lets out a terrible cry as soon as he places the cloth on his sides, clenching his teeth together and gripping Max's hand to tear it away.
„I know, i know it hurts.” he says with an apologetic expression and his tone like a gentle lullaby to soothe Charles, as he holds the cloth firmly over the wound. Charles purses his lips to stop himself from letting out any more noises, which makes him breathe quickly through his nose and produce whimpering sounds. Max despised the thought that by shutting the wound, he would cause the other great suffering. Charles's pale complexion from the blood loss caused Max to move more rapidly. Several attempts were required to get the surgical thread in the needle head using blood-slick fingertips.
„I need you to bite down on this.” Charles is evidently not fond of it, when Max softly pushes the leather piece to his mouth. To be honest, Max isn't sure if it's in order to protect Charles' teeth or to keep himself from hearing the other scream in pain. Eventually, though, he parts his lips to allow Max to insert the piece between his teeth before he bites down.
His hands tremble a little as he squeezes the skin and pushes the needle past the skin barrier. Charles makes terrible noises that he can never get rid of in his memories, but the youngster is able to remain still. From the corner of his eye, he watches as Charles clenches his fists and squeezes them hard to divert his attention from pain. Max works swiftly applying a technique Daniel once showed him. The stitches must be tight and spaced 5 mm apart to prevent the skin from tearing them apart. Once he finishes he glances at the Monegasque, Charles has tears still flowing down his cheeks and his breathing coming in hiccups. When he takes off the leather from his stiff jaws, Charles shivers as if he has a cold, but Max knows that's not the case and that he must be in a state of shock as he tries to combat his body's defence mechanism.
„It’s over, you did so well.” Max says softly, running a hand through Charles’ hair in a comforting gesture. The brunette boy just answers with a slumbering nod like he's half asleep. „Try and rest now.” Charles’ gladly let his exhaustion take over as his eyelids dropped closed. The blonde stares at his fire illuminated face, before moving to clean up.
He wipes Charles' sides and stomach of blood before covering him using a wool blanket. The wooden floor proves to be challenging to clean; numerous towels are required to remove the scarlet colour from the oak blanks. Tiredly he loads all the stained cloths into the bathtub. Then he starts cleaning his own hands with the hottest water possible to remove the blood. As he scrubs his hands with a soap bar, allowing his body to do the work automatically, letting his mind relax; he stops when his fingertips start to gradually turn into raisins.
The next item on his imaginary to-do list was to provide a report to the agency. Just a few moments ago, he had noticed a house phone on the wall. He headed there, and dialled the number by heart. It took a while to connect because of the storm outside, and when it did, it took a moment for the phone to ring, before someone answered it.
„It's me, Max.” he informed the person, coughing to clear his voice.
"It's me, Max," he said to the person, after clearing his throat.
"Code?" a familiar voice inquired.
"33, the lion." The info was needed for necessarily confirming that the caller was, in fact, the agent and was not fraud. The silence was deafening before the scolding began.
„Thank fuck, Max, we thought you were dead! What happened to the 40 minute reports ins, huh?” Sounded the angry German accent.
„Sorry, it got messy Seb. And…Charles is down.”
„How bad? A bullet?” The anger in his voice was replaced by worry.
„Nah, just a stab wound. I managed to close it and he's resting now.” Max said and glanced at Charles' figure in front of the fireplace, his chest barely moving up and down in breathing motions. „However, that brat decided to not tell me about it before he was in a critical condition and barely managed to stand by himself.”
„Typhical Charles, I swear to god if I knew how much trouble the kid was, I would have never taken him as my trainee, or in fact allowed him to go on any missions.”
"He won't be back in action so soon with that wound." Max said as he picked the blood from under his nails. He hears Seb chat with someone for a moment in the background.
"Daniel just returned from a mission in Las Vegas and says he's glad you're both okay." He knew Daniel had intended to undertake this dangerous assignment, so hearing about his friend's success gave Max a sense of relief. „What about the cabin though, you have everything you need?”
"Yes, but our one and only medkit is pretty useless right now."
„Thanks for informing, no one has been up there for some time to restock the warehouse. I remember a few years back when I was still active in the field, we made a small stop there, I had to patch up Kimi, the dumbass managed to get shot.” Seb chuckled at the memory. „Also we tried to clean the couch; we also apologise for the staining."
Max feels his face heat up like a teenager when he gets what was DONE on the couch. It was no secret that Seb and Kimi were married now.
„Too much information Seb.” He said in a whiny voice.
"Oh please, it's becoming agonising to watch you two dance around each other; you and Charles need to work out your sexual tension.” Max could imagine him grinning as he said it.
„Seb!" He said with a stern voice, he looked back to make sure Charles hadn't heard, but the monegasque was still gracefully in deep sleep.
„I apologise. Anyway, we will wait for things to settle down, keep in touch, and the team should arrive to pick you up in about roughly five days.”
„Okay, thanks Mate.” Max thanked him.
„See you soon, Max.” Sebastian remarked just before hanging up.
Meanwhile Charles started to mutter something in his sleep state and tossing restlessly around, Being cautious not to harm him, Max carefully scooped up the brunette from the floor and put him on the sofa . He let out a deep exhale of relief as he slumped exhaustively against the sofa, keeping an eye on the sleeping boy. He begins to feel achy sensations in his skull and his stiff shoulder from supporting Charles as the adrenaline gradually leaves his body. It just confused him as to why, when everything was at stake, Charles continued to fight as though he had nothing to lose. One day, he'll tell his partner in crime how he really feels, one day. They were waiting it out at the cabin in the middle of a snowstorm, but at least Charles was safe for the time being.