SoS B1 C6 X5: Blood
The Engine cab was cramped enough without the extra bodies. Narissa watched Morkun the Aen and Stenem the young Gearheart play with dials and re-wire the control board. "That was a risky call," Morkun was commenting to the boy. Stenem shrugged.
"Worked didn't it?"
"You could have left us without heat."
"But I didn't!"
"Hello Morkun, Narissa, and Stenem. We can discuss whether Stenem could be punished later at a meeting if you wish it. At the moment, I recommend you all rest, eat, and probably drink. We're away from the ghosts for now. My thanks to you all, even if it was a bit of a gamble." Immuena smiled at them all, hoping they didn't notice how her injuries nor her stress.
"Immuena," Narissa greeted. She looked tired. She reached over and wiped ice flakes off of Immuena's shoulder where the ghostfrost had collected.
"That sounds like a fine idea. Stenem, I've got a baggie of jelly beans under my pillow, why don't you go ahead and help yourself to a few? Don't go past our cab, though."
"Why can't I go help Em? I've seen worse."
"I know," Narissa said. Her tone was heavy with regret. "But-"
"Stenem! To me!" Em called from the storage cab. The boy gave Narissa an apologetic look, hesitated, then jogged to his master. "Immuena, you too!"
The fourth cab was warm. Em had Tskhan producing a generous amount of heat so that Laemon didn't have to waste any function on the matter. "Close the door behind you, Immuena, let's not have Tskhan wasting any more meta than he needs.
The last two pieces of ivy had been thrown out the window. The wooden storage crates Laemon was splayed over were dark with blood, and his legs were an eviscerated mess of ragged skin and bared meat.
"Stenem, you have a steady hand, are you up to doing some stitchwork?" Em asked. The boy nodded.
"Good. Clean him up for now. Immuena, we're going to need to come to a dead stop before we stitch him up, I don't want to be moving around. There's also the matter of blood loss. I have it stopped for now, but he's going to be severely weakened and susceptible to all manner of infection and sickness."
They looked around, then focused on Immuena and Allarah. "There are only three people aboard who can give him blood, Immuena, Allarah, Synna," she nodded to Synna. "There are no other Verin aboard besides you three. Mir is a fringe race so I doubt she's compatible. Whoever does it is going to be weakened by it as well, so-"
"I'll do it," Synna cut in. Em shook their head.
"With all due respect, this is no time to be a hero. We must think tactically. If anyone should do it, it should be Immuena."
"Immuena has taken enough of a beating lately, losing enough blood to help Laemon might kill her!" Synna snapped.
Em fixed Synna with a withering gaze. "Between the two of you she's the more dispensable."
Immuena gave a heavy sigh, drinking everything in before speaking, "I'll do it." She gave Em a very cold, hard gaze as she spoke, "But, if Synna's willing, and I look on the verge of death, she could give me some of her blood. And I don't mean a lot, just enough for a damn chance at living another day or week. I want to at least see Laemon wake up from this."
Em nodded to Immuena as she loosened the tourniquet by a couple turns. Fresh blood wept from the wounds, but now that they were clean Em could see where to dab on more medigel. "That should work out well. If you don't take enough to harm her then I don't imagine it getting in the way unless she heavily exerts."
Allarah moved out of the way, having done enough damage for one day. She looked almost bored watching the exchange, glancing over to Stenem and Laemon to dull the meaning of their words. This only seemed to worsen the problem. One person could die today, and it would be because of her incompetence.
She looked down at her blood soaked hands and found it oddly symbolic. "Synna," Her voice rose, just above a whisper. It was a tired sound. "Em has a point that it shouldn’t be you." She clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. "Though taking blood from Immuena won't be necessary either. Em, I'm more compatible than either of them biologically. I'll also be less affected by the amount of blood he needs because I'm far larger. Take what he needs from me. I am the one who put him in that position."
Something about the look in her eye suggested she didn't want to debate the subject. "Besides, it's better to have only one other person to care for than two. We both know Laemon may need more than blood if he survives."
Em's pupils were flat and unchanging as she fixed her gaze on Allarah. "You're going to have to make that an order from Narissa as well before I comply to it, because you're the lead of this whole operation and putting you at risk is the stupidest proposition yet."
Allarah pushed herself off of the wall and walked to the intercom. "We need to pull over, let the Trundler rest and give Stenem a chance to sew up Laemon." She took a deep breath and continued. "Narissa, it appears as if I am in need of your assistance. Laemon will die unless a blood transfusion is performed. The problem is that Em would rather place my subordinate in a precarious, and very possibly deadly position to perform said transfusion. Laemon may still reject her blood, and both will die in that case, or it would require a second transfusion to be performed using Synna, thus weakening two crew members."
"I proposed she take what is needed from me instead. I am larger, therefore the chance of taking an amount that could kill me is lower than that for Immuena and Synna, my blood is more compatible with how close our races are and will most likely have an easier integration into his system. Em requires your order as well as mine to do this. In my eyes this is the only option other than letting him die because I'm not willing to place so many at risk. I can assure you that I will take all the proper precautions to ensure my own life, so please, Narissa... I need your support."
Standing in silence, Immeuna was almost more stressed by the deliberation than the prospect of her dying. The seconds ticking on notably ground on her exterior composure as she stared at Laemon.
The Meissner engine's hum faded and the thrum and clank of the trundler engines followed, bringing the trundler to a stop in a wide, foggy field. Dmitri's footsteps clanged on the ladder as he climbed up the outside of the vehicle to stand on top and look around.
Stenem worked on Laemon's wounds with a needle and suture. "At least he's already unconscious. Maybe we should have kept some of the vine as anesthetic.
"Em," Narissa said over the intercom.
"Narissa, be logical."
"I am, Em, do it."
Em nodded. They poked through the small chest of medical supplies and found some IV bags, some with saline, some empty. "We'll do a mix of saline and blood, shouldn't cause any problems."
They popped the needle cap off, examined it, then punctured it in a vein on Laemon's arm on the first try.
Laemon writhed, Stenem gasped as the motion pushed the needle into the Sauthe's muscle. He yanked his hand back, hissing at the prick through his glove and finger. "Ouch!"
"Tskhan, pin his legs," Em ordered before pressing the intercom. "Ijin! Need your muscles back here."
Ijin crowded in, pinning Laemon's arms as directed. The Verin was groaning now, eyes rolling under half-open sockets. "Immuena, talk to him. I think he's coming to."
Em grabbed another empty IV and put it into Allarah's arm with a sharp jab, then handed it to her. "Hold this. We want it filled to here." Em ordered. "After that, use the smallest bit of medi-gel you can to seal it."
"Understood." She nodded to Em. "Thank you. Unwilling or otherwise, I deeply appreciate everything you're doing. Synna, make sure he sees you as well. Try to keep him calm."
"Laemon, it's okay. We are doing a transfusion now." Immuena walked over and placed a hand on his forehead, brushing his hair back. Having never been in an operation room or the like, she didn't know what more to say or do than watch Laemon's temperature and continue iterating that it'll be okay.
Wild eyed and glistening with sweat, Laemon came to, groaning, then howling as the pain of it all began to settle in. Synna sat across from Immuena, murmuring to Laemon. "Come on... you can do it. We're almost done now."
"He lost a lot of blood. It's only going to get worse as we give him more and return circulation to his nerves," Em warned.
Laemon's flailing worsened as fresh agony blossomed in his legs. Groans had grown to hacking cries. His breast rose and fell, his forehead dripped with cold sweat. Tskhan was having a hard time keeping his legs pinned, but at the very least he was able to keep them flailing in a simple area.
"Immuena...?" He groaned. "I'm sorry I abandoned you before." His tone was as feverish as his forehead.
Em plucked the needle from Allarah's arm, plugged the saline into the pouch, and filtered the saline into Allarah's rich blood.
Laemon's flailing slowed as he tried to look into Immuena's eyes. His pupils were focusing at delay. "Sorry. So sorry.."
Em stuck the needle into his arm and held the pouch up. "Just a little longer, Laemon."
Immuena eyes welled up as she held back tears, '"It's okay. Don't worry about that, stay with me- us! Please..." She kept brushing his hair back, as gently as possible with all her anxiety.
"Yes. No, not running away this time, staying right here," he said, a little breathless. His jaw strained as he gritted his teeth and writhed in a fit of fresh agony. "What happened to me?" His voice was beginning to sound more clear.
Allarah looked over dabbing a small amount of medi-gel onto her arm, as Em had instructed. "How much do you remember? I can fill in the gaps."
He tried to reach up to run his hands through his hair while he thought, but Ijin's hands held him fast. He gave her a questioning look, and she one to Em, before Em nodded and his hands were released.
"I found a couple energy cells..." he mumbled. "In the basement. On the wall. There was ivy everywhere, like a garden and.." His voice trailed off, and a dazed look overcame him as he struggled with memory. "There was a skull... I think. Yeah, a skull on a pedestal. I don't remember anything else."
"My bag!" He tried to sit up suddenly and shrieked as the agony lanced his legs. "My legs! Why do they hurt so much!?"
"Your bag is over there. The skull must have put you in a trance. When we found you, you were standing staring at the wall as the ivy climbed up and burrowed into both of your legs. I managed to rip you free with Tskhan keeping the ivy from attacking further. We got you back to the trundler, but you were completely unresponsive."
"I imagine you have some muscle damage by how they burrowed through your legs. I started cutting them out of you but I nicked an artery in the process." She quieted for a moment, eyes downcast. "You lost a great deal of blood because of me. It's thanks to Em that you're still here."
Em said nothing. The transfusion was a quarter of the way through. "Not just Em," Synna corrected. "That's Allarah's blood coursing through your veins now. Em did all the medical work, though."
Laemon rest his head and stared at the roof, absorbing all that Allarah had said. "My legs... am I going to be able to move around again soon?"
Allarah was quiet for long time. "I don't know. Depending on the extent of the damage, just walking could be difficult."
Laemon fell silent, and remained as such for the rest of the procedure, responding to all other comments with grunts, nods, or shakes of the head.
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