Chapter 58: Office Floor Triage

Claire felt trapped. She could feel the hard floor against her back. It wasn’t what was crushing her however. Rick’s body did. The hit she took when she suddenly found herself on the ground would leave a few bruises but it was nothing compared to the weight and feeling of suffocation she was experiencing.

She didn’t blame him. He had protected her with his whole frame. If anything she was a bit happy that he hadn’t even hesitated in protecting her. It was only a bit because she was pinned under him, face against his muscular chest. Air was starting to lack however.

“Rick…Get… Off.”

Her hands were alongside her body wrapped in her ex’s embrace. Hearing no sound but the loud ringing in her ears, she started to wiggle a bit to get herself free.

“Rick.”

She tried again to call his name but to no avail. After succeeding in moving her upper body from under him she was able to free one arm. Trying to move him failed so she grabbed the only part of his face she could to shake him up, believing he was unconscious. Her fingers prickled themselves against something sharp enough to make her bleed. Wiggling a bit more her eyes widened with horror when she saw a huge shard of glass stuck at the bottom of his head. Right into his spinal cord.

“OH GOD!” Claire shouted in panic. “No, no, no! Don't do that to me!”

Her heart hit rock bottom at the thought of the man she was still in love with was perhaps dead. She couldn’t accept it.

“Don’t you dare be dead! You hear me?! Don’t you fucking dare! Please!”

Tears pooled at the corner of her eyes but they were kept at bay by the rage she felt at potentially losing him. It overshadowed her grief and pushed her to act. Her hand went around the glass shard and squeezed it so tight it cut her palm. She didn’t care for the pain, she didn’t even scream. Claire just grunted in effort as she pulled as hard as she could. It moved. Slowly but it moved nonetheless.

“God! How long is that thing?!”

Already, four inches had been removed. Her grip slipped once, because of his and her blood coating the glass. Not giving up the piece was grabbed again and one more inch went before there was no more to pull.

“Come on, Rick! Come on, come on, come on! HEAL! DAMNIT!” Her angry shout sounded like a plea.

Claire didn’t know what she would do if he died. She couldn’t entertain the thought that this was it. Not when he healed fully after being impaled by William Birking in Nest and losing most of the organ in the right side of his abdomen.

More importantly she couldn’t because she knew she would feel lost. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ was a stupid idiom. Rick had haunted her mind plenty of times for the past seven years and knew he would always will. While she was convinced that breaking up with him was the best and right thing to do even if she still loved him, the knowledge that he was alive somewhere gave her the subconscious hope that one day he might be different and they could be together again.

Now, with his survival in question, because he risked his life to protect her, Claire felt more lost than she ever did.

She wiggled her body some more, freeing her second arms. With more room to maneuver she grabbed his cheeks.

“Please, please, please! Don’t die on me. You can’t do that. I forbid it. You don’t get to die right after saving my life. Again. So, open your eyes, you jer—”

Rick coughed, spitting a good amount of blood right next to Claire’s head. Then another and another. So much and so violently that her face was splashed by it but she didn’t care. Claire was overjoyed. Yes, he was giving her a makeover with his blood but she didn’t care. It was just him expulsing the liquid which probably slipped into his lung because of the wound. What mattered was that he was breathing.

He was alive.

“Nghh… Claire?” His eyes fluttered and his voice was weak while his head was in her hands.

There was a pleasant and happy smile on her face. “You scared me, you jerk! I thought you were dead!”

“I wish,” He muttered.

Claire heard him and frowned, not liking what he had just said. “What the fuck?”

“My back is hurting all over. I think… some glass is stuck into it.” Slowly he was regaining his breath, his lungs being purged of the blood.

“Then I’ll remove them but I can’t do that if you don’t get off of me!”

“Can’t. Don’t feel my legs.”

She took a deep breath, eyes closed and let it out. “Of for fuck’s sake. Can you move your arms so you can crawl?”

“I… think so?” Rick wasn’t looking at her. His eyes weren’t looking at anything as if they had checked out. “Yeah, I can only go up though.”

Her lips formed a thin line, that meant he would crawl all over her. “How about a simple push up so I can get away from under you?”

“Worth a shot.”

The palm of his hands settled against the light grey carpet. Without much effort he pushed up the top of his body, down to his waist which remained unmoving. Without his weight to crush and pin her down, Claire was able to move from under his body.

A straight thought crossed her mind.‘Gosh it must be the very first time I don’t like him being on top. Maybe lat—’ It shook her. ‘Damnit, Claire! You’re not together anymore! Stop thinking about the two of you like this!’

While she was chastising herself, she got on her knees and signaled him he could lay down. Once he did she looked at the damage. No less than four shards were stuck in his back. One was right into his spine at his lower back. It was the first she removed. This time however she didn’t use her hands directly. She removed her jacket and borrowed the knife holstered right on his ass. After a few cuts she made a bandage and wrapped her bleeding hand with it.

“We don’t have all night.”

The only answer she had to that was to stick the knife right in front of his nose in an angry but controlled move.

“Is that supposed to scare me?” he asked in a flat tone, decidedly not impressed by her action.

“No…” Claire grabbed the shard and began to pull. “To shut… you… up!” She pulled it all away and tossed it to the side. “Three more to go.”

Somehow his voice turned even flatter. “Yay.”

Removing another shard, she heard a guttural sound coming from Rick but he had no reaction. “Does it hurt?” No matter how well she tried to hide it, he heard the worry.

“Yeah, why? Want to give them a little stir?”

Claire frowned and was less delicate with the next shard to manifest her discontentment. Unfortunately for her, Rick had no outward reaction.

“No, you jerk! I’m just worrying for nothing about how you feel and your comfort!”

“I’ve got worse.” He replied non-chalantly

That didn’t go well with her as she grabbed the last piece. Of course being stabbed by thick and sharp shards of glass was less traumatic and painful than being impaled but the way he said it sounded like he got worse as a daily occurrence. The idea he was getting hurt felt like a stab in her own heart.

“How?” She discarded the last piece and looked down at him still with worry.

Rick turned his head to the side to look at her. “What do you think? Surviving, of course. That’s the only thing I’m good at.”

She wanted to ask more questions but Rick stood up and dusted himself. His healing factor having worked double time. He grabbed his shotgun he had left on the desk and checked if it was ready.

“What now?” Claire asked.

He took a moment to think about it. “Now I make sure the G-virus is destroyed, catch Miller then Downing.”

Claire frowned at the British man being mentioned. “Are you sure—”

“Yes. Frederic Downing didn’t exist before October 3rd 1998. He has connections to the black market and had a sample of the G-Virus. From what Annette said, G was only ever developed in Nest, meaning—”

“He’s a former Umbrella employee and almost certainly worked with her.” The scowl on her face didn’t match how angry she was at the man. And herself for finding him charming. Sure, she had flirted back to annoy Rick while knowing it was childish, but she had genuinely believed in the man’s intention to do good. “Wait!”

Rick was already making his way outside the office when he stopped. “Yes?”

“You’re talking with Annette? Annette Birkin? Sherry’s mother?”

Her question puzzled him. “Sherry and I kept corresponding over the years. I went to her graduation and spent a couple days at their home. From time to time I check on Annette for Sherry. She’s a good conversationalist.”

“A good conversationalist?” Claire couldn’t believe her ears. “And what are you talking about? How to not feel guilty?” She realized too late she had just crossed a line. Her eyes widened in shock at the words she had spouted and her angry tone.

Rick stared at her blankly for a few seconds. “Claire… Are you jealous?”

Her answer came swiftly. A lie she didn’t know it was. “AS IF!”

“Then what business is it to you if Annette and I talk?” Rick got her there and she was left speechless. “For your information we’re talking about my studies.”

“Studies? What studies?”

“I’m working on my Phd in Bio engineering at Princeton which makes her the best person to talk with.”

With that said, Rick departed the office, leaving behind a shellshock Claire who never in her life would have imagined that he would not only get into an Ivy league but study such a difficult subject. It made sense, however, considering Rick’s life and what he was.

Catching her bearings, she ran after him. Wondering why his relationship with Annette was more than just bothering her. It infuriated her to no end, despite the woman being twelve years older.