So he gets shot in the abdomen. I need to hit some vital organs because he has internal bleeding and blood's coming out of his mouth, but I can't have him die. I was thinking he gets shot in the intestines, but I'm not certain of what all could entail there. Does anyone have any information the effects of that? Also, he's part of a band. I wanted him to leave the hospital the next day to perform against the doctor's advice, but I'm thinking that's probably not going to work out, so if anyone has any advice on what I could do with that, I'd be very grateful. Thank you!
Depends on what your character is scheduled to be shot with. Large caliber is likely to go clean through; little hole in the front, bigger hole in the back. Think .40 .45 caliber. Smaller caliber like .22 is more likely to have enough energy to go in, but not enough to go out, so they tend to bounce around like a ping pong ball for a while and mess up a whole bunch of stuff. The .45 could just nip the stomach to cause some blood for him to puke up, I suppose. I doubt anyone is going to be up for playing a bar gig the day after getting shot, though. The show may have to go on, but it would be going on without me, I can tell you that much. Take a look at some web resources on the characteristics of gunshot wounds. This is a decent one. http://m.forensicmed.webnode.com/wounds/firearms/gunshot-wounds-rifled-weapons/
It does depend on the exact location of the wound and the trajectory of it. Also the amount of oomph behind the bullet, its shape, what it hits, the distance of the shot, and the material from which it's made. I've seen some pictures of high-caliber, high velocity bullets going into ballistic gel and it made quite a shock-wave. Part of the energy of a bullet (and it is considerable due to the velocity) is transferred to the object it hits (in this case the victim) resulting in damage and movement, part is consumed by deforming the bullet, and part is retained by the bullet until it exits the body or is dissipated within the body as it ricochets around inside. I recall seeing an article in a forensic magazine at work, where a police officer was shot at close range with a powerful handgun, high up on his chest, a bit below his left shoulder. His (kevlar) bullet-proof vest stopped the bullet penetrating his body, but the force of the projectile stretched and deformed the vest into a tube about 2.5 inches in diameter that did penetrate his body. The trauma and the shock-wave killed him. I've also seen pictures of "novel" gunshot wounds that have done massive damage to a thigh or arm. If he is shot in the abdomen and his intestines are punctured, infection from E. Coli is probably a major concern for the medics. Although E. Coli is a natural part of the body's flora, it has a great capacity to cause an infection if given the chance. In any event, I doubt he'd be walking a day after being shot. My knowledge of gunshot wounds is not extensive, but I think the flow of blood from the victim's mouth within seconds after being shot is a bit of Hollywood license. Think about it - the blood needs to enter the digestive tract no lower than the stomach, and at such a rate that it can build to a level where the victim either coughs or (even less likely) comes trickling or gushing from his mouth. Seems quite unlikely to me. Happy to be corrected on this though. There's a fair bit of research for you to do, Odile_Blud!
Gut shot is a death wound if not treated pretty quickly, and depending on what was hit and what was used, it has the chance to be deadly even with immediate care. If the stomach is hit, then the possibility of blood coming to the mouth is more likely, but intestines probably won't do it on their own. Blood is still going to find the path of least resistance to flow in. As far as the actual survivability of a gut shot is more a question for someone in the medical field, but from my personal knowledge, it's not an easy fix, and will require a lot of blood transfusion and quite some time in the ICU. I will say this, with all the drugs that will be used, the damage done and the time spent in surgery...no one will get up the next day after that and go to a picnic even, let alone a concert. Maybe after a week or two they'd get some strength back. If the bullet miraculously missed all organs, and was a clean wound with very little surgery needed...there is a very, very slight possibility that a real badass might get up the next day, but this is remote. The drugs alone would keep that person sedated for 12 hours or more depending on what was done. I've seen people get minimally invasive surgery be out for almost two days, not walking around much and taking some pain meds that kept them down most of the time. Everyone is different though, some people get up quicker, or can push through it all to appear a bit better, but it's still not fun.
Does it have to be a gut shot? What if the blood was being aspirated instead? If your character isn't a vocalist, a through and through clipping a lung might suffice.
Umm...Yeah...No. It would have to be a flesh wound for your rocker to be able to defy his doctors. The intestines would have multiple perforated points. Liver would be bad. Lets face it unless getting shot is something that is common for the person even then, they would be on heavy painkillers just to function through the pain. And even with them may not be functioning all that well, or become addicted to them as a result. My advice is make it small caliber, 9mm to .38 or .45 and not a hollowpoint, or anything more than a standard lead bullet from a pistol. There are rounds for the 9mm-.45 that can cause way more damage to soft tissues than a hollow point. Jacketed might do a through and through, which will leave an exit wound larger than the point of entry. While RIP (Rapidly Invasive Projectile) Ammo will send jacketed petals off in all directions at the point of impact, making a hollowpoint look down right tame. Though the Extreme Penatrator ammo will simply pass through the body at a higher velocity with a fairly narrow wound channel, and will pass through bone as well. Higher calibers can pass through bone just as easily due their weight. And then you get fun bullets like tracers and incendiary rounds. Which is a whole other ball park. Armor piercing rounds will act about the same as Extreme Pentrators with about the same effect and a bigger wound channel and exit. Shotguns will not be a part of this, as then your MC will have a host of problems on a much broader scale than a rifle or pistol shot. And the new Dragons Breath rounds for a shotgun don't sound all that pleasant. https://www.epainassist.com/personal-injury/gunshot-wound/abdominal-trauma https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000737.htm
May be he was wearing a vest , and is just suffering blunt force trauma (ie serious bruising/cracked ribs etc) from the vest stopping the round. But them he wouldnt be coughing up blood unless that's just from him biting is tongue or similar. Realistically if you get hit badly enough to be bleeding internally, you aren't performing on stage the next day or indeed the same week
Can you have him hit with light debris, say glass or wood from a ricochet? Instead of a straight blast to his abdomen, this could cause light enough wounding to produce the effects you want. Well, some of them. He has torn blood vessels that are light enough to only need observation. Or add blood thinner meds for the internal bleeding. Could be light enough to let him out the next day, but he's gonna be sick.
