Chapter 70 - 69: Injured
Just as she was about to turn and leave, one of the accomplices who had been knocked to the ground fired a shot in Wendy Sutton’s direction.
Yvonne Lowell’s pupils constricted. With no time to think, she lunged forward, tightly shielding her parents.
With a soft THUD, the bullet sank into flesh.
A bloody hole appeared on the back of Yvonne Lowell’s shoulder, gushing fresh blood.
"Senior!"
Blake Paxton snapped to his senses and quickly finished the man off. This time, he was well and truly dead.
"Ngh." Yvonne Lowell winced, clutching her wound as she stood up.
The high-pressure gas that entered her body with the bullet exploded upon reaching her shoulder. For a moment, Yvonne Lowell thought she could even smell roasting flesh.
’Fuck! What a stupid mistake! I should’ve worn a damn vest. Why did I have to be so cocky...’
’And man, getting hit out of nowhere like that really fucking hurts!’
"Child! Are you alright? How could you be so foolish? You can get hurt, too!"
Wendy Sutton looked at the masked girl before her, her eyes red-rimmed.
She wanted to reach out and help, but she was afraid of causing more pain, leaving her looking utterly helpless.
’We never should have tried to act like a young couple on a romantic getaway. Traveling without even a single bodyguard... that’s how we got taken hostage and caused such a waste of manpower and resources.’
’And now, a young woman, no older than my own children, has been hurt trying to save me.’
Yvonne Lowell’s heart suddenly softened. ’See? That’s my mom.’
’She can show such kindness, even to a complete stranger.’
She scanned them over and, seeing they were unharmed, endured the pain and spoke softly to reassure them.
"Don’t be afraid. We’re here to take you home. You’re safe now."
Stanley Sutton ran up and offered his arm for support. "How are you? Let me help you get out of here!"
Yvonne Lowell took a few steps with him before shrugging off his hand. "It’s nothing. I should take care of the cleanup first."
"We only used firearms on the first floor, no abilities," Stanley Sutton said softly. "They’ll just need some psychological counseling afterward. The priority right now is your injury."
"Fine. You can let their people come in then. You keep an eye on things here. I can get out on my own."
After one last glance at her parents, Yvonne Lowell clutched her wound and slowly walked out.
As Charles Lowell comforted Wendy Sutton, he watched the retreating figure, finding her back somewhat familiar. He was lost in thought.
...
After telling the Japyrians guarding the entrance to go in and help, Yvonne Lowell walked toward Reed and Consultant Cole.
Seeing her emerge, Reed hurried over. "Oh my god, you’re injured?! Where’s the medic? Medic, get over here, now!"
A medic rushed forward with a first-aid kit and started staunching the blood. "We need to get the bullet out. Let’s go to the sterile treatment room in the vehicle now."
The medic was about to get a stretcher for her, but she waved him off. "No need. I can walk."
Reed started to object, but Yvonne Lowell was already striding toward the ambulance.
She hopped into the ambulance, stripped off her blood-soaked jacket, and tossed it aside.
Wearing just a camisole, she straddled the bench and lay face down. "Let’s go. Just take it out. No anesthetic."
She had just probed the wound herself; the bullet was only lodged in the muscle and hadn’t hit bone.
It wasn’t a major problem. Just pull it out, and that would be that.
It would hurt, sure, but the anesthetic would be an inconvenience later on.
She didn’t like that feeling of losing control.
Besides, she’d suffered far worse injuries than this in the past.
The medic tried to persuade her several times to no avail and finally had to relent.
First, he had to clean the wound. After disinfecting the area, he used a scalpel to make an incision along the entry point.
As the incision widened, the bullet slowly came into view.
He grasped the bullet with forceps and slowly extracted it from the wound.
Yvonne Lowell gritted her teeth. Beads of cold sweat trickled down her temples, dripping out from under her mask.
Her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles had turned white.
Even so, she didn’t make a sound.
After the medic confirmed there were no fragments left inside, he began to stitch and bandage the wound.
Once everything was done, the medic left, leaving Yvonne Lowell alone in the vehicle.
...
After catching her breath, Yvonne Lowell took off her mask and washed her face.
Looking at her own pale face in the mirror, Yvonne Lowell gave a self-deprecating smile.
’I’ve been living the good life for too long. My alertness and agility have slipped. To think I’d get wounded by a total scrub like that.’
’But at least Mom and Dad are safe.’
Hearing a BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ, Yvonne Lowell stepped over to her jacket and pulled out her phone.
’A video call from Harrison Lowell? It’s the middle of the night in Aurelia, why is he calling me?’
She answered, switching it to a voice call. "What’s up, Harrison?"
"Nola, where did you go? Why aren’t you back yet? You weren’t answering your phone or replying to messages. You just ran off without a word and scared us all half to death," Harrison Lowell complained from the other end.
"Sorry, Harrison. A friend of mine got in a car accident, and it’s pretty serious. I just rushed over—I’m at the hospital now. I haven’t even had a chance to look at my phone."
Yvonne Lowell rubbed her nose awkwardly. ’My apologies to this nameless friend of mine.’
"What? Which hospital? How are they now? Do you need me to come help?" Harrison Lowell fired off questions like a machine gun.
"No, no, it’s fine. I’m not in Kingsland. I might not be back for a few days, so I can’t hang out with you for a bit."
"Ah, well, that’s fine. A person’s life is more important," Harrison said casually. "I’ll mention it to everyone during my livestream tomorrow and tell them you’re taking a few days off. Worst case, I’ll just drag them along with me to my scheduled appearances."
"Okay, thanks, Harrison. It’s getting late, you should get some rest."
"You too. Don’t stay up too late. Hire a nurse or someone to keep watch over there."
"I know. Goodnight, Harrison."
...
After hanging up, she replied to messages from her family and Leo Grant.
Yvonne Lowell then put her mask and voice changer back on, threw her bloody jacket in the trash, and stepped out of the ambulance wearing just her camisole.
Seeing her get out, Stanley Sutton and the others hurried over.
"Senior! How are you? Are you okay?" Blake Paxton asked, his eyes filled with concern.
Theodore Zane was getting riled up again. "Damn it, just shooting them was letting them off easy! They shouldn’t have gotten such a quick death!"
"Alright, it’s just a scratch. Nothing serious," Yvonne Lowell said, waving a dismissive hand.
Stanley Sutton took off his own jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "Thank you for saving my aunt just now."
’If he had been the one to see it, he would have jumped in without a second thought, but Number 0 was a complete stranger to his family. For her to do something like that was truly remarkable.’
Yvonne Lowell froze for a second. "It’s fine. It’s my duty. I would’ve done the same for anyone else." ’As if,’ she added silently.
"Senior, the aunt and uncle were just looking for you," Theodore Zane said, pointing toward the crowd. "They said they want to thank you in person."
Stanley Sutton couldn’t risk exposing his identity, so he couldn’t go and greet them. He could only treat them like any other rescued civilian and assign his people to keep a closer watch on their group.
Yvonne Lowell glanced in their direction and pursed her lips. "That’s not necessary. When are we heading back?"