11 Chapter 9

Groaning in pain, I press down on the wound but the bullet is still wedged inside my arm. I've lost a lot of blood as I walked. If they come back for Pan, they will definitely be able to follow my blood trail. I can't meet Pan right now or he will be in greater danger. I don't even know where he ran to.

The blood is making my sleeve sticky. I need to somehow get the bullet out. Slumping against a tree, I sit down. I have no energy left to continue. I tear off my blood-soaked sleeve and close my eyes. I can call Pan to make sure he is safe.

Pulling out my phone with my left hand, I click on his name but there's no signal. "Of course there would be no signal here." I laugh at the irony.

Deciding to sort out my injured right arm, I try to pull out the bullet with my fingers but it is too deeply wedged inside and it doesn't move at all. Am I really going to die here for the sake of my £3000?

If I had enough strength, I would continue searching for Pan but I can't even move right now.

"Twinkle twinkle damn twinkle shitty Panda King,

How I wonder where the fuck you are,

Up above this crappy forest and trees so high,

Twinkling like a fucking Panda who is going to die."

I sing deliriously as the blood drips out of me and my head feels light. I'm mad that I will probably end up dying here before I even get my first wage of £3000.

At this crucial moment, I shouldn't close my eyes but it hurts so much and I'm feeling tired after running whilst bleeding out.

***

The feel of someone trying to remove my top wakes me up in a panic. My eyes stare in shock at Panda King who is frantically lifting the bottom of my top. I can't let him know the truth.

Slapping his hands away from me, I groan as the pain hits me again. I almost forgot about my arm when I slept.

"Get lost!" I say in annoyance.

"Hey, I was actually going to help you, you know!" He says angrily. "You're in this state, how will you be useful to me? I can't use a bodyguard who is in this pathetic state."

I really want to slap that foul mouth of his but I try to hold in my anger. Getting worked up won't do any good.

"My phone is out of battery, let's call from yours." Pan says once he calms down a little.

"There's no signal here. It's useless." I say in resignation. "What about your iPad?" I ask, remembering the one he usually takes to work.

"I left it in the car when we jumped out." He says.

I stare at him, "What?! You really..."

"You can't blame me! How would I know that they would follow us here?!" He says in defence.

Shaking my head, I lean back against the tree. "We'll just have to wait for someone to find us. I don't know how long I can hold on with this." I say, looking at my arm.

"You can't die right now. I don't want to be accused of murdering my own bodyguard." Pan says seriously.

I laugh, "You're really selfish. I won't die this easily so don't be so serious. Just help me take the bullet out so I can clean my wound."

He stares at me as if I just told him the moon is made of cheese and that pigs can fly.

"Wh-what? I don't know anything about taking bullets out." He says nervously.

"So you're just going to let me stay here like this until I bleed to death?" I say. Is this man really so selfish and arrogant?

"Um, fine. Just tell me how to do it." He sighs and moves closer a little.

I've been pressing down on my wound to suppress as much of the blood flow as I can. "Is there any water? I need to clean my wound first." I say.

Pan's ocean blue eyes sparkle, "I saw a stream when I was walking! I should be able to find it." He says, looking livelier than earlier.

"That should do. Here, just rip my other sleeve and wet it. I'll be able to use it to clean up the blood before we take the bullet out." I hold out my right arm to him.

He tears off my sleeve and heads in the direction he saw the stream. My arm feels like it'll go numb soon.

It's almost night. We should find somewhere to camp out tonight. I glance around but this area isn't very well hidden. A cave would be the ideal place.

As the sun sets, I watch the colours fill the sky. Pan is taking his time to return and I'm starting to feel cold without sleeves.

Shivering, I close my eyes. I hope he comes back soon before I either freeze or bleed to death here.

"Damn Panda King! Have you travelled to the Indian Ocean or something?!" I shout loudly in frustration.