Chest & Ribs: Revolver: Lodged Deep

The ball punched between two ribs, tore the lung's edge and stopped somewhere no knife in this territory dares to follow. Every doctor who listens to your chest goes quiet, and the pink froth on your lips tells the rest. Cutting it out is death; leaving it in is likely the same, only slower.

• Bedridden and propped upright, lying flat starts the drowning feeling within a minute
• Speak only in short whispers for up to 7 days; anything more brings coughing fits flecked with red
• /me presses a trembling hand flat against the bandaged chest, breath rattling wet and shallow
• If you live, the ball stays in you forever, a cold ache behind the breastbone every winter

Recovery 7 days abed under a doctor's constant care if you pull through at all, alone, this is your deathbed·Doctor, urgently

The ball found lung. The doctor knows it the moment he hears air whistle under his palm and sees the bloody foam you cough into your sleeve, so he plugs the hole, straps your chest and props you upright, no sawbones this side of a city hospital will open a chest to chase lead.

• Sleep sitting up for 5 days, flat on your back the breath goes bubbly and thin
• No riding faster than a walk and no lifting for 5 days; a single cough doubles you over
• You carry the ball from here on, a dull weight that aches deep when the weather turns
• /me coughs into a fist and studies the red fleck on the knuckles before wiping it away

Recovery 6 days propped up under a doctor's daily watch, without one the fever takes hold and doubles it·Doctor, urgently

The ball smashed through a rib on the way in and dragged bone chips deep with it. The doctor spends a lamp-lit hour with probe and forceps fishing out slivers of rib and shreds of shirt before he even touches the flattened lead, and you feel every minute of it through the whiskey.

• Chest strapped tight for 5 days; deep breaths, laughter and shouting all cost you dearly
• Arm on that side stays low, no shouldering a rifle or throwing a rope for 5 days
• A puckered entry scar with a hard knot of healed rib beneath it, tender to any press

Recovery 5 days strapped and resting with a doctor's care, 10 and a rattling fever without·Doctor, urgently

The doctor probes twice, sweating, and both times the forceps close on nothing but muscle. The ball sits somewhere behind the broken rib, too deep to chase, so he packs the wound with carbolic gauze and tells you plainly: you will carry that lead until they bury you with it.

• Wound packed and dressed twice daily for 4 days; skipping a dressing invites the fever
• No hauling, digging or brawling for 6 days while the channel closes over the ball
• A deep ache under the ribs whenever rain is coming, you will feel weather before you see it

Recovery 6 days of packed dressings under a doctor, and twice that gambling with fever if untended·Doctor required

The ball flattened against a rib and stopped, and now it has to come out the way it went in. Three pulls of whiskey, a leather strap between your teeth, and the doctor goes in with the long forceps while two friends hold your shoulders to the table.

• Chest sore and bruised deep; keep the arm on that side quiet for 3 days
• The dressing weeps for 2 days, change it or smell it
• /me bites down on the strap, back arching as the forceps grate against the rib
• You keep the flattened ball in a pocket; it makes a fine story at the card table

Recovery 3 days with a doctor's clean extraction, 7 and a festering wound digging it out yourself·Doctor required

The ball skated off a rib, tunneled beneath the muscle and came to rest under your shoulder blade, of all places. The doctor cuts a second, fresh hole in your back to reach it, so you end the night with one bullet and two wounds.

• Two dressings, chest and back, changed daily for 4 days
• Raising that arm above the shoulder pulls the back incision; keep it low for 4 days
• Twin scars, front and back, that read like a through-and-through and make liars of you

Recovery 4 days for both cuts to knit under a doctor's care, 8 if the back wound fends for itself·Doctor required

The soft ball dragged a plug of coat wool and shirt cotton into the channel ahead of it, and cloth rots faster than lead ever will. The doctor draws out the ball and then goes back for the threads, one crimson scrap at a time, because a single fiber left behind will fester by Friday.

• Wound flushed with carbolic daily for 4 days, it burns worse than the bullet did
• Low fever the first 2 days; you sweat through your shirt by noon
• No swimming or dusty work for 4 days while the channel stays open to drain

Recovery 4 days with a doctor's flushing, or a hot festering week and a lanced abscess without·Doctor required

The ball struck your sternum square and flattened into a lead coin, stuck in the bone like an axe head in a stump. The doctor pries it loose with more force than dignity, and the bruise beneath goes bone-deep, every heartbeat throbs against it for days.

• A deep central ache; no running, wrestling or heavy lifting for 3 days
• Crossing your arms tight or hugging anybody is out of the question for 3 days
• /me winces and lays a flat palm over the breastbone when the laughter starts
• A round scar dead center of the chest that draws every bathhouse stare

Recovery 3 days of rest with a doctor's care, 6 aching days if you skip the visit·Doctor required

Fired from long range or through something first, the ball arrived tired and buried itself only a thumb's depth into the chest muscle. The doctor finds it on the first probe and has it out before the whiskey even settles in your belly.

• Sore, stitched knot on the chest; no sparring or roping for 2 days
• The bruise spreads wider and uglier for 3 days before it fades, it looks worse than it is

Recovery 2 days with a doctor's stitches, 4 with a camp-knife job and a prayer·Doctor advised

The ball met the ninth rib at an angle and stopped cold against it, a hard marble you can feel through the skin. The cutting is quick but the rib is cracked beneath, and it will remind you of that every time you sneeze.

• Cracked rib beneath the cut, no heavy lifting or hard riding for 4 days
• Sneezing and coughing double you over; you learn to brace a hand first
• A short scar over the rib with a dent in the bone your fingers can find forever

Recovery 4 days easy living with a doctor's wrap, 7 without one·Doctor advised

The ball slid off the curve of your ribs and bedded in the thick muscle of your flank, a hot lump you can cup with your palm. The doctor takes it out through a two-inch cut and holds it up to the lamp like a prize tooth.

• Twisting at the waist pulls the stitches; mount your horse from the other side for 3 days
• Stitched cut along the ribs, dressed daily for 3 days
• /me eases down into the chair sideways, one hand guarding the ribs

Recovery 3 days with stitches and clean dressings, 5 to 6 if it is left to close rough·Doctor advised

For once the probe finds lead on the first pass and the forceps come out with the whole ball gripped tight, no splinters, no cloth, one clean pull. The channel is short and honest, and the doctor almost looks disappointed.

• Packed channel wound in the chest muscle, tender for 3 days
• Keep the dressing dry for 2 days, no bathing above the waist
• A neat puckered scar the size of a shirt button, low on the chest

Recovery 3 days with a doctor's dressing, 5 on your own·Doctor advised

The ball spent everything getting through the chest muscle and stopped just under the skin of your back, a bulge like a knuckle you can roll under a finger. The doctor slices it free from behind in less time than it takes to boil coffee.

• Two wounds, a small entry up front and a fresh cut behind; both dressed for 3 days
• Leaning back hard against a chair or a bedroll seam stings for 3 days

Recovery 3 days for both to seal with care, 5 untended·Doctor advised

Barely under the hide of your chest, the ball sits in the shallow fat like a stone in a peach. One flick of a lancet and a squeeze and it is out, chased by a bead of blood and a curse.

• A small dressed cut over the chest, tender to a poke for 2 days
• Bruised where the ball struck; wearing a bandolier across it is misery for 2 days

Recovery 2 days with a clean dressing, 3 if you ignore it entirely·No doctor needed

The ball wormed a short track through the chest muscle and quit within finger's reach. Digging it out takes longer than stitching the hole, three loops of silk and a splash of carbolic and you are back on your feet by supper.

• Three silk stitches in the chest; no brawling for 2 days
• The carbolic sting keeps you honest every time the dressing changes

Recovery 2 days with a doctor's needlework, 4 with your own·Doctor advised

Half-spent, the ball slapped into your chest and stopped in the first inch of muscle, sitting in the middle of a bruise the size of a hand. It comes out easy; the bruise is the part that stays to argue.

• A hand-sized bruise blooming green and purple over the ribs for 4 days
• Sore to lie on that side for 2 nights

Recovery 2 days for the cut, 4 for the bruise to quit yelling, doctor or no·No doctor needed

The ball barely broke through the skin over your ribs, spent as a beggar's promise. Somebody heats a pair of tweezers over the campfire, pinches it out, and pours whiskey on the hole and the rest down your throat.

• A dressed nick over the ribs, tender for a day or two
• /me hisses through clenched teeth as the hot tweezers pinch the lead free
• A little round scar you will point at in bars for years

Recovery A day or two with any clean dressing at all·No doctor needed

The ball buried itself in a cartridge loop of your bandolier and only the tail of it kissed the skin beneath. You dig it out of the leather with a thumbnail, standing there breathing hard at the little dent it left in your chest.

• A coin-sized welt on the chest, sore to press for a day
• The bandolier wears a hole and a story from now on

Recovery A day of soreness, no more·No doctor needed

The little testament in your breast pocket is ruined, the ball drove through Genesis and quit somewhere near the Psalms with its nose just pricking your skin. You will let people think what they want about that.

• A pinprick scab and a spectacular bruise over the heart for 2 days
• /me thumbs the mushroomed ball out of the ruined book and sets both on the table without a word

Recovery 2 days for the bruise to fade; nothing else to heal·No doctor needed

A dead ring of brass and a stopped hour hand, your pocket watch took the whole ball, cases crushed together around the lead like a fist. The chest beneath owns a red circle that is already fading, and every soul who hears it will buy the next round.

• A perfect round welt over the heart, gone in a day
• The crushed watch with the ball inside it, the finest proof of luck a pocket ever held
• /me dangles the flattened watch by its chain, letting the whole saloon get a look

Recovery Nothing to heal but the welt, gone by tomorrow·No doctor needed