Billy almost laughs humorlessly â he's pretty sure thatâs just what bullshit they say in the movies â but heâs worried that if he does, heâll only make the pain worse for himself. By all accounts, he should be dead, but maybe sheer stubbornness and will are all it takes to keep oneself alive.Â
Heâs not out of the woods yet and if he dies, at least he died doing something good for once in his miserable life. Heâs no longer hurting Max with misplaced anger, and heâd saved them, and maybe it doesnât make up for all the torment he put them through but theyâre alive and thatâs what matters.Â
He canât leave her behind. Either his father will run off like a coward or heâll turn his anger to Max. Billyâs not sure which of the two heâd do and he fears its the latter. He canât leave Max behind with an abusive stepfather who would have no mercy when his personal punching bag is gone.Â
If anything, he needs to fight for Max.Â
Heâs done pretty good patching himself up, even if itâs messy, and far from the help he needs. Billyâs lightheaded from the blood that keeps pouring from the three puncture wounds, but itâs not as heavy as it had been.Â
Billyâs lucky nothing vital had been pierced through. He would have been a goner then; there would have been no chance of fighting anything. He would just be....gone.Â
With this kind of pain, he almost wishes he was dead.Â
It takes every part of Billy not to cry out when heâs shifted, teeth gritting together so hard he fears he may break a tooth or two, his entire body cringing in response to the sudden movement. He tries to help, but itâs hard when he can barely move to begin with.Â
One arm wrapped around his would-be savior as heâs pulled to his feet. His entire body feels heavy, his eyes half-lidded as he struggles to stay awake. Itâs like heâs fighting against an invisible force that threatens to pull him under into nothingness.Â
The moment he closes his eyes, itâll be over. He cannot let that happen, heâs fought this long, he canât just give up all of a sudden.Â
Thereâs a voice in the back of his head screaming at him. He inwardly reaches out, clings onto that voice like a fucking lifeboat, and moves with Mateo.Â
Sluggish steps but steps, nonetheless. The other man is doing most of the work no matter how much Billy tries to help.Â
âB-Better to just drive like hell to a hospital.â Normally, hospitals make Billy uncomfortable. The kind of uncomfortable that makes you want to crawl out of your skin. Hospitals have never been anything other than bad news for him, a prison more than help, because doctors and nurses never fucking listen, but if he has any chance of surviving, his makeshift patch-up job isnât going to cut it.Â
Itâs better to just drive there, because itâs more of a promise of getting him there than it is turning around back towards the mall. Besides....he doesnât want to go back there. What if that thing is still back there? He hates the way he takes in a panicked breath, the idea of going back to that place sending a wave of overwhelming anxiety over him.Â
âIâm not going back there. Take me to the hospital. If I die, I die.â Once they reach Mateoâs van and the doors are opened for him, Billy uses whatever remaining strength he has to climb inside before he shifts, turning to lay down on the only part of his body that hadnât gotten injured, his uninjured side.Â
The floor of the van is cold â or is that the blood loss? Either way, Billy is shivering like a leaf shaking in the wind, teeth audibly chattering together. He doesnât complain, doesnât ask for heat; in a way, the biting cold is a strange comfort. It reminds him that heâs still alive. If heâs uncomfortable, it means heâs still alive; he still has a pretty decent chance at surviving this.Â