â :: @all-the-suns-reachââ continued from here
Usually, if he found a trail of blood, Wheatley would just leave it alone. Trails of blood were best left alone. As was the occasionally mumbling he heard in the walls. The safest thing to do was to stay in the older abandoned part of the facility and try not to displease her.
 But something told him that this time he should follow the trail. He followed, and was surprised to find that the source of the blood appeared to still be alive and groaning up ahead. Whoever it was, they must have taken quite a few bullets to be bleeding this badly. The turrets werenât as effective as they should have been.
âHello? Hehâoh bloody Hell!â Wheatley gasped, not meaning it to be a pun. He flapped his hands in panic for a moment, before hurrying over. He was trying to take off his jacket as he did so. Wheatley slipped in Rickâs blood and fell with a loud cry of pain.
 It barely registered however, and he was soon wrapping his jacket as tightly as he could around Rickâs wound. âYou went into the test chambers, didnât you?â His voice was heavy with tears that had yet to show.
   Rick dropped his head into a single low nod with another drawn-out groan of pain. He had gone into the test chambers, and oh, he was paying the price. Turrets were not powerful, no, but they were accurate, and when those vicious machines found their target, a painful death would almost certainly swiftly follow if the subject wasnât quick to escape.
   It went without saying that Rick hadnât been quick to escape. He had been fast enough to spare himself death in the test chamber, but it was still so likely he had only prolonged the inevitable, that now he would just die from blood loss rather than organ damage, and that was a terrifying thought.
   He breathed in deeply, still shaking as though he were very cold.
   âW... Wheats, I was... lookinâ for ya...â he managed to say, his voice raspy and thin. â'm sorry... Didnât... mean for this tâ happen...â
   The pressure of Wheatleyâs jacket was soothing, reassuring in a way that he badly needed now. Wheatleyâs presence was even better, making him feel less alone, more like even if this was it for him, he would at least have someone by his side, somebody he cared about. Somebody he really would have liked to get to know a lot better.
   He sure would like to live to see that happen, he thought, as he started to sink against the wall. Oh, damn... he couldnât afford to lose consciousness now. He had to keep awake, stay focused, focus on Wheatley, now...
