damned_institute | Nightshift 30: M35, Clinic

[[ok i lied...]]

The drug had started taking effect and Yuuhi would have been perfectly happy to sleep the remainder of the night away, but it'd only been a few minutes when he felt a stabbing pain in his chest and opened a pair of groggy eyes. It took a moment to focus them and realize that it hurt so much because he was being moved again. He didn't want to sit up, he just wanted to lay down on his stomach with his face down in a pillow and sleep.

His fingers curled around Kurogane's wrist for support as another coughed wracked his body. He turned his head, but there was still plenty of blood. He spit, trying to rid his mouth of it, but it dribbled down in a thin line from the side of his mouth. The drugs dulled the pain, but addled his system, weakened his defenses. He shouldn't be trying so hard to survive, he ought to be glad to finally be released. He'd put himself in harm's way before, but never like this.

"I'm... scared," he admitted, brows knit together. He was broken in so many ways already. His hold on Kuro's wrist went slack and dropped to his side.

"Thank you," Tamaki said, trying to wrap the bandages as gently as he possibly could. But they needed to be a little bit snug....

"We don't have the equipment to treat internal injuries," he explained, quietly. "We usually have healers who can use magic, but I'm afraid something's happened and they aren't here. But I think he should be alright until morning."

And that was the important thing. "There we are," he continued to soothe his patient, nodding to Kurogane to let him know Fai could be set back down. "Now just try and rest," he went on, wiping at the bit of blood on Fai's face. "You're going to be just fine."

He nodded again to Tamaki, then watched while the boy worked once again, holding Fai still.

When Fai tried speaking again, he couldn't help but heave another sigh. "How many times do I have to say it..." he muttered, but let the main point go. The magician was clearly too pained to register or care for further scolding - he'd have shut up by now had the case been different. All Fai could grasp onto now was the pain and the fear. And, apparently, Kurogane's wrist as well. First his shirt, now this. At least this kind of clinging wasn't so annoying as the usual. Still, it was just as sad. Had the magician really never been so injured before?

Kurogane didn't attempt to pull away for the moment Fai held on, letting him do as he pleased if it would help somehow. He'd already consented into staying, so there was no point in refusing additional clinging now.

Tamaki was doing all he could but wouldn't be able to do everything with the supplies he had. That was fine so long as it helped. A healer would have been better (probably), but knowing Fai he wouldn't have wanted anything to do with anyone else's magic even if it had meant helping him. He could barely handle dealing with his own, as stood. Or that's how Kurogane saw it.

Slowly, he lowered Fai back to the bed once Tamaki had nodded that it was all right. Fai did need to rest if he really was "going to be just fine". However, judging by how popular the room was becoming, Kurogane had a feeling that resting here would not be the best. If anyone else came, things were bound to get even more hectic. "If someone else comes, I'll take him elsewhere," he said to Tamaki, "to clear the room."

Yuuhi gave a sigh and let his head roll back against the wall. He tried not to make much noise as the boy wrapped his ribs. It hurt for a while, but lessened slightly once he was finished. His breathing was starting to become slightly more regular, though it was weak. At least the medicine mad it easier to deal with things. It made him feel far away, disconnected to the here and now and he was just fine with that.

He said nothing more, but his expression wasn't quite so pained as it had been.

"There..." Tamaki smiled and nodded some. "That's all that we can do. And he shouldn't be moved! Not with his injuries, it will only make things worse. If anyone else comes in... well, we've ran out of beds before!" And piled blankets on the floor in a pinch.

"He should be alright now. Just let him rest, and if he needs anything, let one of us know." Since now he had Kyon to help him, thank goodness!

All right then, he wouldn't be taking the magician elsewhere. Tamaki seemed more than ready to face the challenge of a bed shortage, strangely so - almost as if he'd been Fai at the Cat's Eye back in Oto, ready to make due when the tables were filled with customers. Not just the enthusiasm was familiar but Tamaki's looks as well. Kurogane partly blamed the similar appearance for how easily Tamaki was comparing with the other blond in his mind. The connection was somewhat eerie.

"Fine," he consented to everything spoken, then folded his arms once more and leaned his back against the wall. If he'd been sure he could have taken a seat on the bed without hurting Fai, he'd have done that instead, but for now the wall was fine. It was as out of the way as possible for the room size (and for his own size) without him actually having to leave.

Leaving still remained an option though. Fai had been seen to and wasn't going to go anywhere with the state he was in. Kurogane could easily leave him in the M35 Clinic's care and go finish what he'd originally set out to do - find Fai, then find the others. That's what he should be doing now anyway, finding the others. It wasn't find Fai, then forget about the others and stay with Fai all night because he'd been stupid. And yet, that was exactly what the evening was about to turn into. One more glance down at Fai was all that was needed to know,

Kurogane wasn't about to just leave Fai in someone else's care. Tamaki had helped, and willingly, but the boy was still a stranger. From that fact alone, Kurogane couldn't bring himself to trust that Fai would be fine if he left. That meant he had no choice but to stay. He'd have done the same for any other member of their group, but still... "What a pain," he breathed silently, then closed his eyes and leaned his head back to the wall as well.

At least Fai was all right, for now.

His head was swimming, but at least the pain was diminishing. He opened his mouth for a moment to try to say more, but thought better of it, glancing down with a quiet breath. How could everything have taken such a turn so quickly?

It was hard to remain reasonable, otherwise he would have kicked himself for even saying half of the things he'd already slipped. He let his gaze fall on Kurogane for a moment, then closed them again, more than ready to let sleep take him.

[[feel free to skip for a few turns, unless someone wakes him up.]]

His eyes couldn't stay closed for very long; there was too much activity in the room for him to relax. More people had come in, first a young girl, then a blond that... might have been a girl for the looks, but that was male by the voice. Tamaki was quick with setting them to work when they offered, and he expected the young girl would be joining him with Fai momentarily by what he was hearing. If she was sure she could help somehow, then fine.

Then there were more, like a flood almost, and... green. Roronoa Zoro. Looked like he had his own blond to deal with as well as some others. The one he was ~~dragging~~ carrying looked to be in about the same condition as Fai, possibly worse since he was unconscious before being treated. That was never good.

He again considered pressing that he should take Fai to another room, but Tamaki was busy elsewhere, and he had a feeling the boy would refuse again.

His external wounds had all be taken care of, bandaged away neatly, but the internal damage was slowly growing worse. He'd been coughing blood for a while, but with the sedatives taking effect and how tired he felt, it was easy to just stop trying.

Yuuhi's breathing felt heavy and difficult, like there was a weight on his chest. His fist tightened at his side as it slowed, until he finally gave a weak sigh and didn't draw breath again. His heart still beat weakly, but the breathing had stopped completely. His hand went limp and lifeless at his side.

Kurogane kept to the far wall and went back to closing his eyes and listening instead. Keeping track of the presences in the room was easier that way especially with so many present now. He already had faces, so that was enough.

He would have been fine with staying silent and out of the way for the rest of the night. He wasn't going to leave Fai, so there was no possible way he'd be able to head for the basement as he'd set out to do. The night would be up soon enough. He'd have to wait for the next evening then. Or later if Fai was still...

The presence beside him was fading. His eyes snapped open, and his head jerked down at Fai. It didn't matter that Fai was in such a state, his presence should not have felt so weak in comparison to the rest. Not if he was still alive. Kurogane came away from the wall and leaned down over the bed, nudging a little at Fai's shoulder for some kind of response. "Oy," he tried at first. Something wasn't right. When he moved his hand up over Fai's mouth, his eyes widened further. He wasn't breathing! "Oy!"

Had he been near conscious, he might have heard Kurogane's familiar voice calling to him, but as it was, his body lay still, moving only slightly as Kuro nudged his shoulder. Yuuhi's head lolled to one side, skin cool to the touch and skin once pink and healthy began to take on a faintly bluish tint. His face was peaceful, as if in sleep, but no breath passed over his lips.

"Get a hold of yourself!" he called, a tinge of panic in his voice. Fai's color had drained, and there was still no breath. Not good.

Kurogane put both hands to Fai's shoulders, for the first time that evening releasing the metal stick, and gave the man a hard shake as the metal struck the floor. Shaking him was all Kurogane could think to do; he didn't know anything else. "Oy!" Fai had to breathe!

Mello turned to the doorway and scanned the new arrivals, running mental triage with his eyes narrow and the thin scissors still dangling from his fingers. If this was the type of thing that he had to worry about at night, he was even more determined not to venture beyond the nearby hallways. It had been a long time since he'd seen this much blood in one place.

Before moving towards the groups, he glanced over at the other patients to see if there was anyone who could be removed to make room for the new arrivals. The two at the other bed, an prone blond man and a tall man with dark hair, seemed to be having an argument of some sort. A one-sided argument. That was never a good sign in a hospital.

He moved over and took a place beside the taller man, immediately pressing his fingers to the bandaged man's throat. His eyes widened when he noticed the blood at the edge of his mouth--what the hell had Tamaki been thinking, asking him to suture someone while someone else was in shock from blood loss? The man's heartbeat was weak and irregular...standard, given his condition, but that was far from a good sign. "How long as he been bleeding like this?" he asked without glancing up. He tucked the scissors into the edge of his waistband (he'd try not to do anything that would cause him to regret that later) and pressed his other hand lightly against the bandage on the man's arm to test his reaction to pain. Hopefully, he wasn't too far gone to feel that.

He hadn't yet checked the patient's breathing, though he would as soon as he'd counted enough heartbeats to trust the pulse.

Kurogane was still reacting quickly to things as a result of the mild panic. His head shot up to the blond, not Tamaki this time, that had come over and started doing things and asking questions. "Bleeding? He's not breathing!" Which was a little more important than any injuries so far as Kurogane knew. Injuries could be seen to at any time. Someone not breathing was a different matter entirely.

...shit.

"Okay," Mello said. His voice was level as he continued to process as many details as possible. "Don't panic and answer my questions. Did he cough up this blood or vomit it?" He indicated the trickle at the edge of the man's lips. If his lungs were flooding with blood, this was going to be nearly impossible, but if it was a matter of blood pressure there was a chance. For a second, he seemed caught in deep concentration, but he quickly realized there wasn't time for that.

"No. Fuck that. Just do everything I tell you to do and this'll be okay. Understand?" He glanced up to make sure the order was heard, but immediately returned to his task. "I'm going to stop the bleeding, figure out if the blood's in his lungs, and monitor his pulse. You're going to get him breathing again." There was far more confidence in the tone than the situation warranted. Mello pushed the blond man's head back a little more forcefully than he should have, but he was in a rush. "Pinch his nose shut and breath into his mouth twice." He didn't wait for the man's reaction...it couldn't be good. Instead, he put his head against the blond's chest to listen for the gurgling that would indicate blood in his lungs. One person couldn't do both, and he knew what to listen for better than the tall man did.

The way the blond snapped to at that information was somehow reassuring. His expression said that the situation wasn't anything good, but that as well as his apparent confidence in his actions proved that he knew what to do. That was good.

While it was true that Kurogane was a little panicked, he wasn't so flustered that he couldn't answer the questions posed. "Coughed..." he provided, but to no end. It seemed the blond was thinking for the best course of action instead of mulling over questions. Kurogane was better with action than thinking anyway.

He nodded to the boy's first instructions, ready to follow. He had already resolved to do as told by someone who knew what they were doing, having done the same with Tamaki. The earlier instructions, however, had only involved blankets and helping Fai to sit up. Nothing then had involved breathing into his mouth twice. How the hell was that supposed to help?!

"You want me to what?"

"I want you to put air in his lungs so he doesn't die of oxygen deprivation," Mello said flatly, lifting his head. Was that so hard to understand? "I'd do it myself, but someone has to listen to his lungs, and you don't know what to listen for." Did this guy want his friend to live, or not? Mello couldn't waste time justifying every little detail. He knew what to do, the other man didn't. That should have been enough.

Again, things were said that Kurogane wasn't quite able to follow for the terminology. Even so, he could figure that the words once again amounted to breathe into his mouth twice.

"And that's going to help?" he sneered disbelievingly. The kid still sounded like he knew what he was doing, and Kurogane couldn't deny that, but some part of him just did not want to believe that something so... their mouths were going to have to... just how could that...! Fai still wasn't breathing, and this person wasn't pulling some kind of sick joke either. He'd even explained why he wasn't the one doing the breathing into his mouth twice part.

...

... he had no choice. Kurogane wasn't about to let the magician die because he couldn't handle all but kissing him. Unable to help how his lip twitched with the words, he finally forced out a, "Fine," with a hiss, then put his eyes on Fai's face, focusing on one particular feature. Dammit. This was not happening... it was not happening, and if Fai said anything later, he'd really die for the incident that didn't happen, plain and simple. The same went for any other idiot in the room that was watching.

Just two times... He thought as the only comfort, then took a deep breath, bent low, closed his eyes, and unwillingly gave away his first kiss.

Mello returned his head to the man's chest and listened closely. There was a low, rough sound as air was forced into his lungs, but the deep, gurgling rattle he'd expected to hear was absent. Fantastic. "Wait a second," he said as he listened to the sighing exhale. Three seconds, and nothing. He reached for the blond's unbandaged arm and held his fingers against the wrist as he counted seconds, waiting. Still weak. Weaker, it seemed, but that could be because he was measuring the radial pulse rather than the carotid. Five seconds, and still no inhale. That was long enough.

"Two more breaths, and then count five seconds," he said in a voice that clearly didn't expect argument. "I'm watching his pulse. Keep doing that until I tell you to stop."

Edited 2008-03-22 09:55 (UTC)

He paused when told, relieved for only having to give one breath before being stopped. The one had been bad enough, so he would have been more than happy not to have to follow through with the second. Unfortunately, as he could see thanks to how close he was with the magician's face, he could tell that Fai still was not breathing. One more then... until the blond went and changed his instructions.

"What...?!" his eyes shot back and glared. Two, he'd said only two! Now it was up to three and then two every five seconds?! The hell?! But Kurogane had already started with this breathing thing, so he couldn't very well back out now. This had better be helping! He drew in a breath again, this one sounding much more like a growl, then breathed into Fai's mouth again. If he answered the blond now, he'd end up too flustered to be able to do anything further.

Mello opened his mouth to tell the man to quit bitching and start breathing, but fortunately, he came to his senses quickly enough and resumed the task he'd been given. The man's pulse wasn't getting any stronger, but it wasn't getting weaker either. He didn't want to perform chest compressions on someone with fractured ribs and internal bleeding, but as long as his heart didn't stop, Mello was confident about his recovery. His brain was getting oxygen, and that was what mattered.

Because he had nothing at stake, Mello had remained calm through the ordeal, but even if he had nothing to lose he didn't enjoy being confronted with something he couldn't do. If this guy died, he'd be extremely, extremely annoyed.

"He's still got a pulse," he announced. "He'll be okay as long as he keeps getting air." It was possible that brain damage had occurred in the moments before they'd started treating him, but Mello could deal with that possibility later. Hopefully, the blond would start breathing on his own within a minute or two.

He'd long since gotten a taste of Fai's blood in his mouth, but there were worse problems that he was having to deal with. Breathing and counting was more annoying than one would have thought, and it took a bit more concentration than Kurogane really wanted to give. Every blasted second he had to count on the break was treated as a curse word in his mind.

"You mean I have to keep doing this?" he hissed on one of the five second counts. He hadn't stopped himself just yet, but the only reason behind that was because the blond hadn't told him he could. Now it sounded like he would be stuck doing this until the magician started breathing on his own. Not something he wanted to do.

"Well, he's not doing it himself," Mello said. This case was unusual, and he wasn't going to take any chances. It was rare for someone to stop breathing while they maintained a pulse, especially when their lungs weren't badly damaged. He had a long list of questions for the tall man once the blond was stable. The injuries covered a broad range of trauma: burns on his legs, heavy bleeding somewhere in his abdomen, what seemed to be a compound fracture based on the angle of his hand and the soaked gauze. Had all of this been caused by one creature?

Mello was grateful that the hospital's nurses would take over soon. He wasn't out of his depth (he was never out of his depth, he thought firmly) but the limited supplies would make keeping the man alive for more than thirty or forty minutes a very difficult task, even if he could breathe on his own.

Not what he wanted to hear either. He gave the kid another quick glare, but no words this time. He look should have said enough. Why wasn't he taking over with this now that he wasn't doing anything else? Of course, Kurogane could guess that the kid had no more intention of breathing for Fai than he did himself, but still, he wanted a way to not have to do this anymore!

Breathe, you idiot! he mentally yelled at Fai and kept at it.

One moment he'd been allowed to fall into a nice, quiet sleep, the next he was being rudely awakened, not for the first time this evening. He coughed and his throat felt raw, but the air passed through on its own. And while it certainly hurt plenty to keep breathing, he did so, breaths shallow and slow, but still coming once every few seconds.

His face scrunched up for a moment before he opened his eyes. His drug addled mind must be showing him some kind of hallucination, he concurred. Why else would Kurogane be leaning over him like... like he was some princess in a fairy tale? His expression was one of confusion, lasting only a few moments before it melted into a childish and entirely inappropriate smile.

Yuuhi's voice was hardly audible, but his lips still formed "Ku... ro..." and ended with a short giggle of "eh hee..."

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