damned_institute | Nightshift 35: General Store

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)]]

Nightshift 35: General Store - Ruins

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