[Merit +36]
[Merit +48]
[Merit +59]
Three shots. Three notifications.
For now, bullets were still pretty valuable, so Dexter didn't pull the trigger again. He turned and walked away.
Sustainability mattered.
Right on cue, a light-rail train rumbled past.
With the train's noise gone, Frank's screams—after collapsing to the ground—suddenly rang out loud and clear.
"Ahhh—!"
"Fxxk!"
"Motherfxxker!"
"Oh my God!"
"..."
Like a cockroach that just refused to die, Frank—despite taking three bullets to his left leg—didn't pass out. The pain blurred his vision, his body curled in on itself, but he stayed conscious, howling nonstop…
Dexter heard everything. And it made him feel great.
Trash like Frank deserved exactly this.
Maybe next time, I'll find a way to saw off one of his legs, Dexter thought.
A few minutes passed.
Dexter had already made a clean getaway from the crime scene.
Kevin was driving a beat-up little truck, hauling Fiona and the others, getting closer and closer to Frank, who was still screaming on the roadside.
Then—
Veronica, sitting in the passenger seat, spotted him first. Her eyes widened as she pointed ahead.
"Is that Frank?"
Fiona leaned forward immediately to look.
By now, with the truck closer, Kevin and the others could clearly hear Frank's agonized cries.
"Something happened to him!" Fiona said, her heart tightening with worry.
Kevin didn't hesitate. He pulled over fast and stopped right next to Frank.
As soon as the truck came to a halt—
Kevin, Veronica, and Fiona all jumped out at the same time.
Lip and Ian couldn't get out, so they straightened up as much as they could, craning their necks to look outside.
What had happened to Frank was painfully obvious.
"Holy shit!" Kevin realized almost instantly that Frank had been shot. Shocked, he whipped out his phone and dialed 911 for an ambulance.
Fiona's brow knitted tightly. She couldn't believe this was real. Her mind went blank, her expression dazed.
Out of the three of them, Veronica was the calmest.
Staying composed, she crouched down beside Frank.
Frank had lost a lot of blood. His consciousness was fading. He knew people were there, but he couldn't recognize Fiona or the others…
What was almost funny was that Frank was still cursing—
even though his voice was getting weaker by the second.
Without saying a word, Veronica quickly checked the wounds on Frank's left leg.
"Three bullets. All went straight through. That's actually… not terrible."
As she spoke, she decisively took off her jacket and wrapped it tightly around his leg to slow the bleeding.
Then she checked Frank's eyes and shouted to Fiona,
"Fiona! Talk to him—keep him awake until the ambulance gets here! Now!"
Fiona snapped out of it. Her eyes reddened as she hurriedly crouched down by Frank's head and started talking to him.
Kevin had just finished the call.
"V, what can I do?"
Veronica stayed cool.
"Drive Lip and Ian home. They just bailed on the hospital—being here is a bad idea."
Kevin: "..."
For a split second—completely inappropriate as it was—Kevin suddenly found the situation darkly hilarious.
A hospital running into the Gallaghers really must be cursed.
After a brief pause, Kevin didn't waste time. He got back in the truck and drove off.
Through the window, Lip and Ian watched Frank lying on the ground, unmistakable sadness written across their faces.
Soon—
They arrived at the Gallagher house.
"Kevin, someone's coming after us," Lip suddenly said.
Kevin had just gotten out and opened the door to carry Lip inside. He froze when he heard that.
"Huh?"
"First Frank's right leg gets broken out of nowhere. Then there were all those nails outside Karen's place. And now someone just shot Frank in the left leg…" Lip's face was tight with rage.
"Three things, back to back. No way that's a coincidence. Someone is definitely targeting us."
Hearing it laid out like that…
"Yeah… that actually makes sense," Kevin said. "But why? Going after Frank, I can kinda see. But why you guys?"
Lip hadn't pieced everything together yet, but his voice was firm.
"I'll figure it out. And when I do, I'll make them pay."
Kevin looked at him, clearly not wanting to get dragged into this mess. He changed the subject.
"Easy. Let me get you guys inside first. I've gotta go back and find Veronica."
---
Back with Veronica.
After Kevin left, Veronica immediately called the police.
Not long after—
The patrol car and the ambulance arrived almost at the same time.
Paramedics jumped out and efficiently lifted Frank onto a stretcher.
Tony stood off to the side, not interfering. Only after Frank was loaded into the ambulance did he walk over to Fiona, slipping fully into his white-knight mode.
"Fiona, don't worry. Frank's going to be okay."
Fiona rubbed her eyes and looked at him.
"Thank you. You have to find out who did this. There's no way this was random."
"I know," Tony nodded. Then he pointed to his colleagues searching the spot where Frank had been lying.
"Once we recover the bullets and shell casings, we'll run a comparison right away. We will find who did this."
Even though he wasn't all that confident inside, Tony said it with conviction.
"Thank you," Fiona sniffed and said again.
"It's my job," Tony replied with a small smile.
Just then—
Kevin came back.
Fiona saw him and said, "Tony, I need to head home first, then I'm going to the hospital. Call me if there's any news."
"Okay," Tony replied, clearly wishing he could say more.
Fiona didn't respond further. She and Veronica got into Kevin's truck and headed back to the Gallagher house.
Once inside—
They saw Lip, Ian, Debbie, and Carl sitting on the couch. It was obvious Debbie and Carl already knew what had happened…
Fiona couldn't hold it together anymore. Tears poured down her face.
Seeing this, Veronica quickly wrapped an arm around her and comforted her.
"Hey, hey—don't cry. Everything's going to be okay…"
Kevin wasn't great with emotional moments. He stayed quiet, walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, grabbed two beers, then sat down next to Lip and handed him one.
Lip took it, popped it open, and downed a couple big gulps.
"This is seriously fucked up," Kevin said after taking a drink, sounding heavy.
Lip nodded in agreement.
---
Dexter hadn't even made it back to the hotel yet.
Late at night, it was actually pretty cold.
"Maybe I should buy a car," he thought.