damned_institute | Nightshift 35: General Store

She'd hoped that things would be okay, but Bridget's wounds must have been worse than he'd let on. Once they were inside the dilapidated building, he collapsed on the floor. She tumbled out of the coat when he unbuttoned it, worry and concern showing as much as was possible on her little pig features. Even if her face couldn't say it, her voice could.

"Bridget?" she tapped his cheek with one little hoof. "Bridget, hang on! I'll... I find something, don't worry okay?!" She took a few hesitant steps back, still favoring the injured leg before she started nosing around the building. Even if there weren't medical supplies, there had to be something helpful!

Bridget opened his eyes and followed her small shape. "Be careful," he said, voice soft and breathy. Shock. It hardly even hurt now.

"There might be.... cloth. Or a ... sewing kit." He tried to get his thoughts into something resembling order. "Don'.... go too far."

There was nothing in the store but old canned food that looked like it'd been picked over, and some tools here and there. There was a half-used spool of thread and after a little more rooting she found a broken open sewing kit. Most of the pieces were missing, but there was still a small needle. Problem was, she lacked any opposable thumbs to use it with.

She picked up the supplies and set them beside Bridget. "I can't... use these right now, but um..." she said quietly once she'd dropped them, "I'm going to go see if I can find anything nearby. I'll be right back, please be ok!"

Kagura didn't dare hesitate another moment before she bolted out the door. She was hampered slightly as she was unable to go as quickly as normal, but so long as no predators came along, she'd be alright.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/474039.html)]]

[[and right back where she came from]]

When Kagura returned, she wasn't the tiny brown pig anymore. She was a full sized nineteen-year-old girl and every scrap of clothing she'd owned was all the way back at the institute where she'd first transformed.

She couldn't think about that now though. She had to keep reminding herself that Bridget was the one who needed help. And if something awful happened to him just because she was worried over clothes, then she'd never forgive herself! Besides, she'd been like this around Kyo before and it never even bothered him!

Bridget didn't seem to be in any better shape now, and her heart raced with worry as she knelt beside him. "Bridget?" she said quietly. "Bridget I'm back. I'm... I'm sorry that took so long." She'd probably only been gone for ten or fifteen minutes, but to him it must have seemed like forever.

Bridget had been drifting between semi-consiousness and total black out when Kagura returned. Blinking open hiseyes, he looked up at her, a part of his mind registering that she wasn't a little pig any longer.

"It's.... fine." He tried a smile. "Did... you find any...thing?"

She was so relieved that he actually answered, she forgot about her own embarrassment. Much as she wanted to throw her arms around him, she had to treat him before things got any worse.

"I... yes, I found some supplies," she told him. But the mechanics of it all quite honestly escaped her. She wasn't as inept as Yuki with things like this, but she didn't know if she could treat him if it was really bad.

"Do... do you want a painkiller first or should I um... just start treating your wounds?" she asked, picking up the sewing kit she'd found earlier. She was really good at sewing, but she wasn't sure she could handle sewing another person.

Bridget shook his head. Well, technically, he sort of turned his head to one side... but it was in the negative. "'M fine. Your leg.... needs to be ... cleaned.... and closed up."

The arms of his coat were tacky with blood, but they served as something of a make-shift bandage at the moment. The blood coming from his arms had by no means stopped, but as it dried on the cloth, it helped slow the flow of it.

"I'll be okay," she assured him, ignoring his feeble protests, and reaching first for the painkillers. Those would take a while to take effect, but by the time they did, he'd probably be glad of them. She fumbled with the bottle before it popped open, and she took a couple in hand.

Reaching carefully under his neck, she helped lift his head. "You'll have to take them without water, is that ok?" she asked, pausing only a moment before she held them in front of his mouth. Once that was taken care of, she could start on his wounds. The thought frightened her, but she had to, for Bridget's sake.

Bridget winced when he moved, a good sign since he was actually feeling pain. Not really thinking about it, he took the pills, dry-swallowing them without too much difficulty, then sighed.

"Hemorrhage..." He had memorized all of this, but he couldn't get his thoughts together. "Need to .... lie down, arms above ... m' heart." His breath was coming fast and shallow and he was having a hard time speaking. "Shock...." All color had drained from his face and he couldn't focus. He was cold and thirsty.

Very thirsty.

She was glad that he was actually able to swallow the pills without trouble, and listened carefully to his instructions. His face was pale and cool to the touch, which worried her, but she tried to carefully help move him so that he was laying down and his arms were above his heart. It was no easy task, since she was unable to get too close. She didn't want to risk changing back now, not when he needed a human's help.

"Stay with me," she ordered, voice surprisingly firm for how frightened she was.

It was hard to see the extent of the damage with the coat in the way and as she moved his arms, she could feel just how blood soaked the fabric was. Thinking about what it must look like underneath made her toes curl, but she had to help! There was more blood, much more, on his left sleeve, so she'd probably better start there. The coat's fabric was too thick to just tear away, so she did what she could to ease the arm from the sleeve.

She choked back a cry when she saw how torn up it was. Skin was hanging away in some places, bites gone so deep she could see bone in places. I can't, I can't, I can't, she told herself, but there was no other option. She had to. Realizing now what the needle and thread were for, she took the tools in hand, placing his left arm on her lap, while the other rested over his chest.

Sewing toys or clothes was easy, but sewing people was something else entirely! She used one hand to hold the two separated sides of the wound together, while the other pierced the skin with tiny holes, pulling it closed. She knew there should be more to it, that the wounds should be cleaned up better, that the needle should probably be sterilized, but there was just no way she could get all of that done and if she didn't stop the bleeding soon, she'd lose her friend.

She worked quickly, trying to numb herself to the experience, but she slowly sewed up each of the larger wounds as best she could. It was messy and haphazard in places, but it would hold for now. Taking the bandages in hand, she wrapped it all up tightly, relieved that for at least a little while she wouldn't have to look at the terrible wounds.

Bridget closed his eyes when she started to dress the worst of the bites on his left forearm. He wondered, in a distant way, if he would lose the use of that hand. He heard her voice order him to 'stay with me', so he forced his eyes open and weakly smiled up at her.

"Sorry," he managed just before choking on a gasp when she hit a particularly painful spot. He lost a bit of time there, and when he was next conscious, Kagura was already wrapping his arm up.

"thank...s" His breath was still coming in short, ragged pants. A good thing, since it meant his body was still fighting for life. He could ~~kind of~~ think and he was still aware of what was going on around him. Good things. Maybe he'd live after all.

He was quiet and it worried her, but he was still talking every now and again and she laid his left arm down gently on his chest before she tried to tackle the other one. She breathed a silent sigh of relief when she saw it wasn't nearly as bad as the other arm had been.

Taking a moment to re-situate herself, she sewed up the deeper cuts and wrapped it when she'd finished, tying it all off securely before setting the other arm gently down. Rather than try to put his arms back inside the coat, she pulled the rest out from under him, trying not to move him too much, then draped it over him like a blanket. With how cold he was, he'd need it most.

Turning her back to him for a moment, she looked down balefully at her own injury. It wasn't too horribly deep, but she was angry she'd gotten it in the first place. First the cuts on her back, then that awful spider thing and now this, it was terrible! She tried to wipe away the blood as best she could before she put the bandage wrappings on. She couldn't bother Bridget with it, especially not with how bad his own were. He could probably barely sit up, let alone do something like this.

Bridget tried to help as much as he could when Kagura moved him, but he kept blacking out. After a moment of silence, when he felt he might be able to string a few words together, he opened his eyes again.

"Miss ... Sohma?" He paused to try to catch his breath, which was starting to slow. "May be .... clothes... here. You... cold?" If he was freezing with his coat on, she must be even worse! That didn't seem right.

She was cold. Without her bristly coat to keep her warm, it wouldn't be long before she was shivering too, but a few minutes ago, that hadn't really been her greatest concern. She turned her head shyly at the sound of his voice. Despite the cold, she still managed to pink slightly in embarrassment.

"I... I'm sorry... I..." In the Sohma house, it never really bothered anyone for one of the zodiacs to show up in the nude from time to time. It just sort of happened. But here was definitely different and she wasn't sure what she could even do about it. When she'd searched before, she'd found cans and broken old boxes of food, but no clothes, and she'd already limped all the way back here on her chewed up leg. Besides that, she really didn't want to leave Bridget alone any longer than she had to.

There was a momentary silence as she tried to figure out what to do, then quietly crept over and lifted the right side of Bridget's coat. She scrunched herself up beside him as best she could on the dusty wooden floor, but was careful not to put her arms around. She rested her head on his chest, just below his right arm and pulled the half-side of the coat down over her, tucking her legs up close to her chest. It didn't cover nearly as much as she'd like, but she was too tired to care.

"'s fine." Bridget winced but shifted as much as he was able to offer her more of his coat. He knew that his own chill was more from blood loss than the actual chill in the air.

"Y-your leg?" He'd finally started to shiver, very minute tremors, but he took that as a good sign. Now all he had to do was try to stay awake.

Even if she wasn't in her pig form, it still felt safe to be with someone like Bridget. As long as she wasn't alone, she felt like she could make it through alright. She shook her head. "It'll be okay," she assured him, hoping he wouldn't fret too much. After the scare he'd given her, it was only his own health he ought to be worried about.

"You're shivering!" her hand clung to the fabric of his shirt. She couldn't even hold him to keep him warm. It was all she could do to stay beside him. If she were a normal girl, she'd be able to do more to help.

"G-good." He smiled weakly, eyes still closed. "Means... I'm not... done y-yet." He fell silent for a moment then tried to open his eyes again. "M-m-miss Sohma. I'm... sorry. For the ... mess." That didn't really come out right.

Even if it was girly and weak, Kagura couldn't help crying. Whether it was tears of relief or tears of quiet frustration at just how hopeless everything had become, she couldn't say for sure, but try as she might, she couldn't stop them.

"Don't be sorry!" she sniffled. "You were brave. Really really brave. You carried me all the way here, even though you were hurt even worse. You always protected me, even though you hardly knew me, even though I couldn't even tell you about my own secrets. You... you don't have to say you're sorry!"

That got his eyes open. Frowning, Bridget tried to look at Kagura, but gave up when it took too much energy. "O-of course I ...did. You...re m-my friend! Fr-friends look ... after ea... other."

He didn't like seeing her cry. He didn't like seeing any one cry, but especially not Kagura. "D-don' cry. We'll... be ...okay."

Kagura wasn't sure how to reply, it felt good to get some of the tears out, but she quieted, only sniffling occasionally into the side of his shirt.

"Next time," she said softly, "next time we'll run. We don't have to fight. I don't want to see you get hurt like this again." There were other people that could fight. She could defend herself from normal attacks, but the monsters here were terrible! How were they supposed to get through this? Even if they did run, every path was turning into a dead end.

Bridget smiled slightly and shut his eyes. "Run. R-right. I can.... run."

He wanted his yo-yos back. And Roger. He really could use Roger. He had up-to-date programming on first aid. He'd just upgraded his files before .... here. "You ... too. Don't want to s-see you ... h-h-hurt." His right hand twitched as a shot of pain lanced through his arm, but he managed to keep silent. "Y-you...re v-v-very strong M...miss Sohma."

She sighed, wiping her eyes on the hem of his shirt. No matter how far they ran, they were back in the same place in the morning. She didn't want to give up, she wanted to keep trying, but what if there was nothing left to try for? She didn't know if she believed she had that kind of strength, but it was kind of Bridget to say so.

Kagura leaned on her elbow so she could reach up and take Bridget's hand. The fingers were cold, but at least she could try to help warm them. His shivering was worrisome, whether or not he thought so.

Bridget could just feel her hand on his and, had he been in his usual stateof mind, would have blushed. As it was, he smiled and tried to hold her hand in a reassuring way. Fingers twitched. "S-sorry," he managed. "I-I can't... make a ... good p-pillo-w r-right now."

Shivering meant his body was trying to warm itself, which meant he wasn't falling into the last stages of shock from blood loss. He was still hovering in the middle, but at least he wouldn't die .... right away.

"Dummy," she sniffled, fingers closing around his as she offered him a little smile. "I told you, no apologizing."

If she couldn't raise his body temperature just by being beside him, she might have to go look again and see if they could find somewhere warmer, or at least some blankets. Much as she hated the thought of leaving him or of going anywhere by herself, she might have to if he didn't improve.

"R-right." Bridget smiled weakly. "N...no ap....ologizing." Hisheart was beating quickly, trying to compensate for the fact that his body just couldn't produce enough blood to keep all his systems up and running. "I... I m-might not... be able to... stay... a-awake."

She didn't know what to do to help him. If it would be better or worse to let him sleep, if she should do something more... she didn't have this sort of training at all!

"I need you to stay with me," Kagura said, her expression growing ever more concerned.

Right. Right, he couldn't leave Kagura to defend herself alone. That wouldn't be right. Strugglung up out of the haze his mindhad become, he forced his eyes back open.

"I...I'm here." His breath was still coming in short, shallow gasps as his body fought for oxygen even as he shook. "I-I need.... need you to ... listen c-c-carefu...lly M-miss Sohma." He paused for breath.

"F-find... bla...kets. C-clothes. A-any...thing we....we can... both use." He tried to think. "Go...Don't go ...f-far. Danger..." Eyes closing, he panted for a few more moments.

"I.... I can't m-move." If he tried, or if Kagura tried to move him right now, that would be worse and might well wind up killing him. "Y-you... Have to ... alone." He smiled again, the expression fleeting but warm. "I ... trust.You."

Kagura didn't want to go. Her leg hurt and it was cold and she was really scared to be alone out there. She might be a good fighter, but she was still a selfish child in many respects. She kept hoping that if she waited around long enough someone would come and save the day and everything would be ok.

But this wasn't a storybook. This was real. And nightmarish as it was, there wasn't going to be a happy ending unless she made it happen.

Hesitantly, she stood, taking the staff in hand and leaving Bridget with the coat for a meager amount of warmth. She had direction, if only a little, and when Bridget said he trusted her to do it, she had to swallow back her fears and do her best.

"I'll do my best," she promised, trying not to shake.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/472387.html?thread=38089795#t38089795)]]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/472387.html?thread=38124611#t38124611)]

Bourne walked into the ruined store and noticed droplets of blood on the ground. There were cans here, lots and lots of cans and...more cans. There was a cash register that looked broken, and some bills on the ground. He didn't even need a safety deposit box this time, though he could use the guns...

The asset stooped down near the register, collecting some of the bills on the ground, when he caught sight of the sad little bundle propped up against the wall. Intrigued, he approached, shining his flashlight on the body. A teenager, with freshly-sutured wounds. Was this the one who'd fought off the dog?

"Hey," he said, crouching down next to the shivering figure. "What happened?" He usually wasn't the one to start conversations, especially not with random casualties, but this one had to be a fellow escapee. That at least gave them a common goal.

Bridget blinked open his eyes and looked up at an unfamilair face. He tried to pull his thoughts together into something resembling order before speaking.

"D...dog," he managed between chattering teeth and shallow breaths. "S-sev...ered a..artery." He knew the name of the artery, but it just wouldn't come. Radial. That was it. He couldremember from all the lessons and all the drill from Roger.

"Sohma..." His right hand twtiched in the direction of the door. He couldn't worry about himself now... right. Kagura was still out there.

If only he could think.

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/476479.html)]]

Kagura hurried all the way back from the church, ignoring the pain in her feet as she stepped on rocks and old branches and limped on her bad leg. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and that scary old church as she could.

She thundered back into the broken down store, only to promptly drop the cardboard box of blankets when she saw another person in the room. Taking her staff firmly in hand, she pointed it at the offender, a frown crossing her usually sweet features. "You... you get away from him!" she shouted, trying to look as fierce as she could in only an over-sized, half-buttoned dress shirt and brandishing what had once been a broom stick.

The injured one's response had confirmed his initial suspicions. He was about to ask more questions when he heard loud footsteps, heavy breathing, and something being dropped to the floor. Bourne turned towards the intruder, a half-naked teenage girl wielding some sort of stick and looking very angry.

It would be almost comical if it wasn't so depressing. He could have easily - easily! - gotten the stick from the girl and proceeded to incapacitate her, if he had felt threatened. Luckily for her, he had no desire to fight a child. Memories of that night aboard Wombosi's boat sprang unbidden to his mind, and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ward off a headache. He didn't need to have a fit, not right now. It probably wouldn't endear him to the injured one's caretaker.

Him. So the teenager propped up against the wall was a boy. "Relax," he said to the staff-wielding girl, but did as he was bidden, rising from his crouch and raising his hands. "He says a dog severed an artery. Do you have any medical supplies in that box?" Usually, he wouldn't be bothered with trying to help out, but if these two had escaped from the Institute as well, maybe they could help each other.

When Kagura ran in, Bridget had to take a moment to process what,exactly, he was seeing. ... He gave up after a few brief moments and tried instead to sit up a bit.

Bad idea. His vision whited out for a moment and he couldn't get any air into his lungs at all. It seemed like he was going to just die right there... but then it cleared again and his breathing kicked back in.

Bad. Moving bad. "M..Mi-iss S-sohmm....a..."

Kagura did relax when she saw that one, the person was human and not some gross monster, and two, that he was trying to help them. Her tough facade began to crack almost instantly, replaced by the quiet, shy, and helpless girl she tried to be. "I... We did get attacked. I tried to sew up the wounds, to stop the bleeding, but I don't know if I did it right."

There were still a couple rolls of bandages left after she'd wrapped up Bridget's arms and her own leg. "They're over there," she pointed, picking up the box again and carrying it over, though she was still wary of the new person. "I found some blankets, and some alcohol, I thought might be good for cleaning out the wound. I saw it in a movie once."

"It'll help to disinfect the wound, if nothing else," Bourne said, rifling through the box to find the alcohol. It wasn't the most sterile stuff in the world - God only knew how long it had been sitting out - but it was what they had to work with, and he wasn't about to complain. After all, he'd had to make do with worse.

At the girl's comment about seeing it in a movie once, he almost smirked, and almost reprimanded her. This was real life, not some Hollywood fantasy. Of course she knew that - it was why she was so scared, after all. She didn't know if her friend was going to be all right. But at least this time the moviemakers had gotten it right. "Looks like you didn't do a bad job," he said as he inspected the hasty suturing. He'd definitely seen worse, and it would probably make her feel better, hearing praise for her handiwork. Under any other circumstances, he wasn't too concerned with others' feelings, but the girl couldn't be more than twenty, and scared half to death by what had happened to her and her companion. "Start disinfecting," he said, taking a small wad of bandages and pouring alcohol on it, making a rudimentary cleaning pad. "Then we can start to get him wrapped up in the blankets."

The key here was moving quickly. He didn't want some dogs to be the end of these two, and damned if he was just going to leave them here.

He couldn't get enough air. He didn't know how long he would be able to even stay in the half-consious state before drifting off into that void that wanted to swallow him whole.

And he was so cold.

Bridget was only partially aware of what was going on at this point. The bandages on his arm had started to soak through, seeping past the sutures faster once the cloth was removed. His face, pale naturally, had gone ashen. He wondered in a distant way what would happen to him if he died here. Would he wake up at home? Wake up in the hospital again? Or would he die for real?

Kagura glanced worriedly between Bridget and the new person, watching as Bridget's condition seemed to grow worse and worse. When the man told her she'd done an alright job of helping Bridget, her face broke into a haphazard smile and tears dotted the edge of her vision. Really? She'd helped him?

When she was assigned to the new task, she went about it with diligence, carefully dabbing at the boy's wounds with her makeshift disinfectant. It didn't look like the bleeding had stopped yet though, which seemed cause for worry. "Is.. is he going to be okay?" she asked in a tiny, shy voice.

Bourne had his doubts about the boy's condition. If they were back in the hospital, then maybe he could help more...! But the hospital was exactly what they were trying to escape. It was ironic that the only place nearby that could help save the boy was the one place they'd all run from.

"I don't know," he said to the girl, and took a few of the blankets from the box. "We need to get him warmed up." Their patient looked to be slipping into an even worse state. If he could survive the night, odds were he would recover. But were they going to wait for days while he got better, hiding out in the ruins? When their escape was discovered, this would likely be one of the first places the staff searched. God knew what they would do to him then. He'd already stolen a car, and escape on top of that would likely get him drugged up to the moon and stuck in some sort of solitary confinement for far too long.

If he stayed, he would be caught. If he left...he'd be leaving them both to the mercy of the elements. Perhaps Jason Bourne, Treadstone asset, would have abandoned them. But Jason Bourne, fugitive, had some humanity left to him. He made his decision, and began to tuck the blankets around the boy. If the staff came for them, he would fight to give the other two a chance to get away.

"B-be f-f-f-ine." Bridget fought to open eyes that didn't seem to want to work. "D-da-ay s-soon-n."

How funny it would be if they'd managed to get outside the doctor's influence and he woke up out here. He'd have to tell Kagura to leave him, as much as he didn't want to. With this other man here, she could still get out. "Y-you s-s-should g-g-go."

Warmed up? Kagura finished cleaning the wounds and helped re-wrap his arms, but when it came to warming Bridget up, she couldn't do much to help. She was getting pretty cold herself. At least she'd managed to find some of those blankets. She pulled them from her box and handed them to the man, looking a bit unsure of herself.

"I... I can't pick him up," she shook her head, afraid to get too close to him again. All she needed was another person to find out about her secret.

When Bridget spoke, she immediately objected. "You're not fine! I'm not going to leave you!" After the last two nights, she fully expected to wind up in her own bed in the morning and she wasn't going to risk Bridget's life just to test that theory.

Nightshift 35: General Store - Ruins

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