I'll Cry Instead

Chapter 3

Thankfully, John was right. The officers had contained the mob enough for the three Beatles and Officer Brown, the policeman assigned to help Paul, to get by. Now, the trouble was, quite obviously, Paul. Was he alright? Or had he been horribly wounded? It sent shivers down John's spine as he thought about it.

Since John had been so caught up in his roll of leadership, he didn't have time to worry about Paul. Though, now that he was closer to helping his friend, he was really beginning to get nervous.

"Hurry it up, mates!" he pushed anxiously.

"We're going as fast as we can, Mr. Lennon," Officer Brown said.

"There's always room to go faster," John replied.

"Well..." Officer Brown started, but was interrupted by George.

"Lads! Look! I think that's him!" he exclaimed as each man felt his chest tighten a bit from sudden worry, even though they were quite relieved to be near him again.

"Paul!" John cried out as he ran faster towards where his friend apparently laid.

"Why's that girl with him?" Ringo wondered aloud, which caused each man to glance at the teenage girl with long, blonde hair, who was cradling Paul in her arms. She appeared to be sobbing.

"She's probably the only one of the freaks who actually gives a darn about him," John scoffed as he finally reached Paul and the girl.

"J-John!" the girl half whispered half cried. "W-we've hurt h-him," she wept as she stroked Paul's bruised and bloody face, his dark-haired head in her lap. His eyes were closed and his face was so pale. He looked like a corpse.

"We freaking know...!" John started, as he stooped down to her level, trying to figure out how bad of shape Paul was in, until Ringo stopped him.

"How is he?" the drummer asked her.

"I don't know!" she cried. "Once everyone ran after you three, I stayed behind to talk to Paul, and then I realized he wasn't moving and his eyes were closed. He was just laying there! I was afraid we'd killed him!" she explained, having to stop for a moment because her emotions had gotten the best of her.

Once she had composed herself, she continued:

"I've been trying to wake him up, but he just won't budge. He's really hurt and it's all our fault!" she bawled.

"It's okay, luv, we're gonna get help," Ringo soothed as John told Officer Brown to call an ambulance.

Meanwhile, George had begun to examine Paul. So far, all he had found was that Paul's thick, black overcoat was basically in shreds, which told George that these girls were much stronger and animalistic than he had previously realized. He also found that Paul's temple was scraped and his entire face was mottled in bruises, and his nose was spurting blood. He also noticed that Paul's breathing seemed shallow and forced. Whether that was due to injury, the lead guitarist didn't know. Lastly, he observed, oddly enough, that one of Paul's shoes was missing.

"What a mess!" George thought sadly as he bent next to the girl, in order to get to Paul.

"Hey, Paulie. Can you hear me, mate? Come on, wake up," the lead guitarist tried as he brushed Paul's bangs off of his forehead.

It was then George also realized how terrible Paul's hair looked; it was missing in several places, and there was alarmingly blood on the pavement.

"John! Ringo!" he shrieked. "His head is bleeding!"

"Oh, freaking heck," John cursed as he bent down to Paul, George's, and the girl's level, who was now beginning to cry again.

"Where's that ambulance?" Ringo asked nervously.

"It better be here soon," John replied angrily as he examined the bloody bump on the back of Paul's skull. "He's got a great big bump on his head. I'm sure it's why he's not waking up," John determined.

"Oh gosh, this isn't good, John," Ringo worried as he bit his lip.

"I know it's not good, Ringo! I'm not daft!" John defended, which caused the girl to cry even harder.

But before Ringo had a chance to respond, a weak and thankfully familiar voice sounded. Everyone jumped in surprise and the girl let out a gasp of hope.

"Paul?" they all breathed.