Chapter 44 Chapter 44 is Willow’s blood.
Elio didn't return to the rooftop immediately.
He unlocked the door to Willow's temporary residence with his key, walked around the living room, and traced the scratches on the window rim. Then, stepping over the path Hydra soldiers had traversed on the carpet, he entered the bedroom. Just as Willow had done, Elio jumped out the window and onto the rooftop.
She'd encountered something here, but it hadn't caused her any trouble. Elio speculated, picking up the broken walkie-talkie on the ground. It had clearly been blasted in the abdomen by a .45-inch bullet, the type Willow favored. After confirming that the rooftop was clear of bodies, Elio glanced down and found the walkie-talkie's owner.
There he slept peacefully and kindly gave Elio more tips.
The walkie-talkie's owner had ambushed Willow's escape, but she had dropped him. He'd dropped his gun without being able to fire a single round; the result was undoubtedly a crushing blow. The crater on the rooftop was about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches deep, with extensive cracks. It was the result of a long-range sniper attack. Elio found the shell casing not far away, crouched there, and brought it to his nose to sniff.
Besides the odors of sulfur and gunpowder, Elio could smell a hint of blood. He sniffed a few more times to make sure he was smelling it correctly, then brought the shell casing to his eye and carefully rubbed it with his thumb. A speck of dark red powder rubbed off.
It's Willow's blood.
Elio clutched the cold bullet casing and stood up. He imagined the scene: Willow defeating the soldiers guarding the place and preparing to leave. Then a sniper bullet struck, glancing at her. Elio found no more blood on the concrete.
Where will she go?
Elio looked down. More sniper craters pointed the way, chasing Willow away. Elio immediately followed their path. But soon, the craters and the flying shells stopped. A Hydra soldier lay there, a bloody wound on his throat that Elio knew all too well. An SVD sniper rifle lay beside him.
"…So she didn't leave," Elio muttered, "but stopped the sniping."
It was hard not to be proud of Willow. Even though this wasn't what they, Graham, and he, had initially envisioned for Willow, it was exactly the skill Willow needed when the world was at war like this.
With mixed feelings, Elio continued to track Willow. The bullet trail ended there, but there had clearly been a firefight not far away. Elio easily "investigated" several bodies, all killed with a single, effective blow.
It was clear that nothing could catch Willow, stop her, or track her. Elio couldn't help but smile at the thought. The assassin's nerves were no longer tense, but in order to find more clues, he activated Eagle Vision and carefully scanned the scene of the firefight again.
Elio's expression suddenly changed.
He felt a deflated pocket on one of the tactical vests. Everyone else had bandages in that pocket, but to make matters worse, Elio searched the guy's body and couldn't find a single bandaged wound.
If it was just a minor scrape—the kind that wouldn't bleed much—Willow wouldn't have taken his bandage.
Elio turned his head sharply and looked at the messy bloodstains on the ground.
·
An ominous crimson oozed from the bandage. Willow glanced at it with a frown, then opened her mouth. The black sweatshirt she'd been holding between her teeth fell down, covering the simply bandaged wound. She pulled up her hood, hiding her pale face, and walked out of the tool room as if nothing had happened.
Her injuries wouldn't last long.
The pain didn't affect Willow's sanity. After all, she had been injured many times before, all the "rewards" for serving the Templars when she was still half-conscious. And now, the Templars who knew the code were almost dead, and her brother had just told her that he had found a solution. Hope was at hand, and she absolutely could not fall at this moment.
Whatever it took—as long as she lived—she would do it.
It has been like this since childhood.
Willow walked through the corridor, scanning the backs of the doors one by one with her eagle eyes. Now it was different from before. She couldn't just break open any door and find the phone inside. When she finally found a door with someone in it, Willow breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, she kicked the door open without hesitation.
“Give me your phone,” she yelled at the men inside, gun pointed, “now!”
The woman sitting in the living room turned her head, widened her eyes and looked at her in surprise.
"…Willow?" she asked. "Is that you?"
Willow was also taken aback. It was a familiar face, and Willow found herself more accustomed to her gentle smile. The memories mixed by the animus rolled around in her mind like a ball of long-stale spaghetti, and she suddenly had a severe headache; the pain even overwhelmed the pain of her wound, and Willow's hand holding the gun began to tremble.
"W-who are you?" Willow asked.
“Ms. Green!” She stood up from the sofa and pointed at herself, “Gotham City High School—” Perhaps she was too excited, the woman’s face flushed, and key words popped out of her mouth one after another; but Willow was obviously more “excited” than her. The girl’s hands were shaking more and more. She stared at Ms. Green in disbelief, her breathing became increasingly disordered, and sweat dripped from her pale face—
Her gun fell to the ground. Willow slipped with it, but she didn't fall to the ground. Ms. Green, who was quick-witted, caught her in a hug.
"What happened, child?" she asked anxiously, her eyes sweeping over Willow, and quickly noticed a dark, bloody stain on her sweatshirt. But just as Ms. Green was about to pull open her sweatshirt, Willow, with a pale face, held her hand.
"I'm not..." The once excellent girl shed tears of shame in her teacher's arms, "I'm not a criminal, Ms. Green, I didn't..."
But she didn't finish. Wasn't she a criminal? Hadn't she killed someone? Hadn't she, in front of Ms. Green, the teacher who had once placed such high hopes on her and protected her at the cost of her life, broken into her house and yelled, "Give me your phone!"?
But was it her fault?
At least for now, Willow couldn't think that far. She cried breathlessly, like a little fish bouncing on the beach. What would Ms. Green say to this? Would she be disappointed in Willow and say, "You are such a bad child?"
"I know, I know." But to Willow's surprise, Ms. Green coaxed her gently, "You have always been a smart and good girl, Willow. You are not the kind of bad kid who hurts others for fun, I know..."
Willow's sobs subsided in her arms. As she watched through her tears, Ms. Green took the opportunity to lift her sweatshirt and see the blood-soaked bandage. Her expression darkened, and she quickly pulled out her phone.
"I'll call an ambulance for you, Willow," Ms. Green opened the dial page, "and the police..."
“No!” Willow screamed, vehemently stopping her from doing so. “Don’t call an ambulance or the police!”
"Are you sure?" Ms. Green frowned. "Your injuries..."
"Call my brother, Elio," Willow insisted. "His number is... three fives..."
Ms. Green had no choice but to do as she was told. She entered three fives and lowered her head to ask for the remaining number, only to find that Willow had tilted her head and fallen into a coma. Ms. Green almost jumped up in panic, but fortunately she still remembered to hold the girl in her arms and carefully placed her on the sofa.
Willow was limp, but the blood was flowing out clearly. Ms. Green found the first aid kit from under the coffee table, but she didn't know what to do with the wound she had bandaged, and she only gave the beginning of Willow's phone number.
Ms. Green had no choice. Just as she was about to call an ambulance in desperation, she saw a list of contacts that automatically popped up on the dial-up page; "Elio", the name Willow had just mentioned, was on the list.
"Elio?"
After a few seconds of puzzled silence, Ms. Green suddenly realized.
The young man who claimed to be her student, came to ask about Willow and helped her defeat the home invader. He left her his phone number and told her that if she needed help, she could call him!
Ms. Green couldn't think of a more urgent time to help.
"Elio," she called out as soon as the line was connected, "Willo's here!"
"What do you mean, ma'am?"
A young man on the other end of the line answered in a low, irritated voice. Ms. Green realized the ambiguity in her words and quickly gave her address, adding, "She's injured, and she won't let me call an ambulance or the police. She's your sister, right? She told me to call you."
"I see," the young man said, the wind whistling in the background. "I'll be there in ten minutes. Thank you later, ma'am. Please tell me about her injuries."
"She—uh, she has a bandage wrapped around her stomach and is bleeding." Ms. Green frowned, wanting to help but not knowing where to start. "Is there anything you want me to do?"
"Yes, tell me the color of the blood."
Ms. Green replied uncertainly, "Red?"
Her voice trembled as she raised it. The last time she saw blood was a few months ago. But she didn't really participate in the fight at all. Even when she fired, the unfortunate killer's body was mostly hidden behind the sofa, so Ms. Green only had to aim for his head.
"I know it's red. Don't be nervous, ma'am, Willow needs you. Now, I also need you to tell me if it's bright red or dark red."
Ms. Green took a quick, deep breath. "Bright red. What's the difference?"
The wind was howling, but she thought she heard the breathing on the other side pause for a second.
"…That means she's bleeding from an artery," Elio said. "Now, I need you to find her upper abdomen, just above her belly button…"
"You mean the one with the abdominal artery, right?" Ms. Green said, holding up her phone. "I found it, and now what?"
"Then hold it down and don't let go," Elio insisted. "Whatever you do, don't let go. I'll be right there."
-----------------------
Author's Note: *Ms. Green, in case anyone has forgotten, is the school teacher who was abducted along with Willow. In chapters 12-13, Elio visits her and leaves her phone number.
**Please correct any errors or omissions in this chapter involving professional knowledge [Poor][Poor][Poor]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
