[DVFP] Take a Bit off at the Knee (S 1.3)

Rich

Sierra,

You follow the folks who are carrying the stretcher with Reese's unconscious body on it. Three men and an older woman are moving quick but careful down the shaft. Sasha's run ahead to the clinic after telling them to bring him to Fleece. As you come closer behind them, you catch sight of Reese. He's sunburned and covered in dust and dried sweat. Caked with mud and dried blood. You see the drip-drip trail of blood that the stretcher has left on the rocky ground.

The clinic is located in a single-wide trailer that was dragged down the mine shaft a number of years ago. Fleece has set up here. She runs a clinic for all of The Irons, healing the sick, sometimes even working on preventative care. Of course, she sells "pain killers", and cooks up other stuff when she has the time or is low on jingle.

Sasha has already run up the three steps to the small porch, which serves as Fleece's "waiting room". She's pretty persnickety about cleanliness, tries to keep a sterile environment in her trailer. As the stretcher is brought up the steps, Sasha holds open the door for them, gesturing to bring Reese inside.

What do you do?

LadyAmalthea

I follow in behind the stretcher, trying to keep out of the way. I've met Fleece, but I've never actually been in the trailer. I'm impressed with the cleanliness. I nod at Sasha as I pass her at the door, my eyes searching for Fleece.

Rich

"Put him on the table." you hear Fleece's strident tone from another room. "Don't drop him. I'll be right there." Sasha moves over as they lower the stretcher to the floor and pick up Reese. The movement wakes him, and you see his broken leg flop like an octopus arm as he groans weakly and sucks in a breath.

"Hey flower," she says gently. "This is rough work. You don't need to see this." She isn't blocking you, but she is touching your arm, trying to keep your attention. "I'll come get you when Reese is up, if you like."

What do you do?

LadyAmalthea

I look at Sasha, I never know what to make of her. "I'm not going to lie, I've never seen anything like this before, but this is in part my business, and I intend to see it through."

I place my hand on top of hers, the one on my arm, asking gently for her to let go. "You understand that, don't you Sasha?"

I look to Reese, I'm not sure what to say. I bite my lip. "Reese, I'm here."

Rich

Sasha's mouth turns a little, she's not disappointed that you want to stay, but she didn't seem to expect it. She nods, then lets go. When you speak to Reese, he blinks his unswollen eye and looks around the dim room, then seems to fix on you.

"Ah, I see that Reese is my patient." Fleece says as she opens the accordion vinyl door that must lead back to her room. She's dressed in clean black clothing and a mask, topped with a cap. She looks around at everyone, then says, "Too many of you in here. This man has open wounds. Shoo shoo, flies. I have work. Who is footing this bill?"

The eldest of the ones who carried the stretcher says, "Norvell will pay for it. Just get him back up, we need him."

"Yes, yes. You need him. Of course, otherwise he'd be baking in the dust. Now get out of my clinic." She moves up to Reese, making dismissive gestures at the men, who move out of her commanding presence. She looks to you, "Sierra, are you staying or going?"

LadyAmalthea

I make myself tiny as the rest of the folks leave the room. "I'm staying if you don't think I would be too much of a bother."

I smile at Reese, moving to his bedside opposite Fleece, "Hi handsome," I say softly. I don't look away from Reese, but my tone changes, more business, "Fleece, let me know if there is anything I can do."

Rich

The others, even Sasha, leave. Sasha seems a little surprised that Fleece is letting you stay, but she doesn't comment on it. Reese is still watching you, Sierra, but doesn't speak.

"I will. You may not like it." Fleece says as she grabs some clean cloths, handing them to you, "There is sterile water in that jug. Pour it in the basin, wet those cloths and start wiping the blood off his face and neck. I'll look at the leg, but I need to see his head clearly to see if it's anything worse than a concussion." Fleece moves down to check out Reese's leg.
"Scorch me, this is a mess. I don't have meatmesh, bonepins or injectors here. Nothing I can do for it."

LadyAmalthea

I grab the basin quickly and wet a cloth from the pile on the surgical table. I risk a look down at the leg, "What can be done?"

Rich

The leg is twisted up like a ragdoll with white, broken chopsticks poking through. You see exposed muscle and ripped tendon. It's horrific.

"Take it off. I'll try to save the knee, will make working the prosthetic easier. No guarantees." She looks up, and through the lenses of her goggles, you see clear, concerned eyes in the shadows, "Did someone run over his cooking leg? ... no no, I don't want to know. I only heal the body, I don't judge." She moves over to a small tool box with drawers and starts pulling out instruments.

LadyAmalthea

I knew, I did, but it's hard to hear. I look back at Reese, "You hear that, Fleece is going to get you fixed up." I gently start cleaning his face, washing the sand, dirt, blood and other from his face.

I'm so nervous, I'm shaking, and I don't even realize that this is the first time I have touched a man of my own free will. "Fleece, would it bother you, if I sang?"

Rich

Reese continues looking at you, Sierra, his left eye swollen shut. His right eye clear. He swallows when you reassure him, then groans as Fleece starts to move his mangled foot.

"Not if you can hold a tune in a bucket, Sierra." Fleece says as she lays a cloth on a pan and sets out a vise, then a hacksaw, then a few other items.

LadyAmalthea

My eyes don't leave his. If I can distract Reese from the pain, I will do what I can. "I think I promised you a song. Apologies that Fleece is here, you can pick a new one once you're up and pestering me again," I say teasingly.

Misty Mountain Cold is a long song. I've never sang it all the way through before, but what better a time.

I smile and start out with a hum...





[OOC: Only full length version I could find by a lady... pickings were weak]

Rich

As you start the song, Reese watches, his face softening. I think you're activating Hypnotic here. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch Fleece working. She attaches the vise to Reese's leg and screws it down tight, then she takes up the hacksaw. She's going to use this distraction to do the work of sawing off his leg.

What do you do?

LadyAmalthea

I can feel the blood leave my face when I see Fleece lift the saw, but I don't stop. Even when my throat goes dry and I reach the end of the song I circle back to the beginning. His face clean now, I alternate from petting his hair to holding his hand.

I'm going to stick it out, for as long as I can be useful, just so I can see with my own eyes that Reese is going to be OK. Gloriana, I will worry about later. Right now, all my concentration is on Reese.

[OOC: activating Hypnotic]

LadyAmalthea

(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 6, 2. Total: 11)

LadyAmalthea

OOC: I have 3 holds against Reese

Rich

Your song covers over Reese's grunt of pain as the first teeth of the hacksaw cut into his calf.
Your words mask the sound of the saw ripping through flesh, and then bone.
By your second time through, Fleece is done, the leg is off, and she pours some kind of acid to cauterize it. Reese hisses in sudden pain and reaches up to take hold of your forearm. His grip starts hard, clutching, enough to leave bruises. But then he relaxes, when you hit the next note, he meets your eyes with his one good eye, and forces himself to calm, push past the pain. He's using a hold right now to do this, Sierra.

"Good news," Fleece says as she takes the leg and drops it into a plastic trash bag. "The knee is salvageable. I've got a prosthetic that should fit him just right." She takes the saw over to the basin, starts cleaning it with a rag.
"Reese is tough. And that eye will heal fine. Maybe his security days are done, but he can work at Diamond. Hell.. I'd pay to scrog him." She chuckles dryly. "You alright, Sierra? You've got some really good pipes."

LadyAmalthea

My arm hurts, but I couldn't care, I am so proud of Reese and so thankful to Fleece that I could burst. I know my eyes are getting shiny again. "I told you, she'd fixed you right up."

Reese is still sweating around the temples so I rinse a new cloth and wipe his brow, hoping the cool water will help. "Fleece, you're fracking fantastic. You got any morph on you? I'll find a way to pay for it." Reese should sleep if he can.

I ignore the compliment for now. It's not that I don't appreciate it, but it brings up complicated feelings I don't have the energy for.

Rich

Fleece looks up from her work cleaning. "Morph? Heh, haven't heard it called that in a long time. Not since..." she trails off. Then gestures to the cabinet, "There's a bottle in drawer B, third shelf. Blue one, says poison on it. It'll knock him out quickly."
She starts humming the song you just sang as she moves over to check out the rest of Reese carefully, "Rest of him looks rough, but he'll live. You sure you want to drug him? Hardly worth the price."

LadyAmalthea

I love how clean it is in Fleece's trailer. Is it weird to miss the smell of disinfectant? Maybe she'd let me work it off, there are worse places to pick up a gig.

I walk over to the cabinet, the bright blue of the morph obvious to anyone who knows what they are looking for. I snatch it without thinking twice. "Yeah, miners might be paying you to get him on his feet, but to heal right he'll need to sleep." I know it's a luxury down here. In the DVFP people just get by with the pain, but it's something I can do and Reese deserves kindness.

"Not enough to hook him, just enough to make him comfortable." I smile down at Reese, "Now you gotta think of a new song you want me to sing." I pat his hand and look and Fleece, handing her the bottle.

"How much?"

Rich

Fleece looks up from her work of listening to Reese's lungs, "I'm the one who determines what it takes to heal right, Sierra. Be thankful nobody else is here, or I'd take a sharper tone. Nobody comes in my clinic and tells me how to do my job."
She peers at you while you talk to Reese. When you ask "how much?" she answers with her own question, "Where did you up and learn what it takes a body to heal anyways, Sierra?"

LadyAmalthea

I flinch, properly scolded.

Farthoom, I'm a complete floop sometimes. Rest ain't just a luxury in the DVFP, it's a luxury on this fracking planet. I'm such an idiot.

I could lie. I could, but it would feel like too much of a betrayal after all she did. I bite my lip, a nervous tell that has been rearing it's ugly head all day.

I breathe out audibly and look Fleece in the eyes. "Same place I picked up how to read and speak. I was an attendant to a lady, they caught me trying to run away. So, I ended up here."

I shrug, trying to appear casual, but I heard the hurt slip in. I don't know if Fleece knows me well enough to pick up on it. "The water-rich out there always slept when they was ill. The doctor always bade me to make sure she wasn't disturbed." I don't mention all the nights Gloriana stayed by my bedside when I was ill, making sure I slept through the night. Complicated truths aren't worth mentioning.

"I'm so sorry Fleece, I didn't mean to question you or sound ungrateful. I'm still a little green here - I wasn't thinking proper."

[Would hypnotic activate here. Sharing an intimate moment?]

Rich

Fleece finishes her examination as you share a bit of your history, then she looks up, "Half the bottle will do for a fellow his size." She heads over to finish cleaning her instruments, removing her gloves to do so. You see her clean hands, nails filed meticulously. She moves over to an empty basin, pours more water, then washes her hands. "Go ahead and get Reese to sleep this off. I'll give him an IV in a moment, then strip him and put him in new clothes in a bit. Crisis is averted for now."

If you want to activate hypnotic, you'll need to hang around a little more. Fleece isn't the "opening up" kind most of the time.

LadyAmalthea

I measure out half the bottle and cradling Reese's head to ease the morph gently down his throat, shushing him gently.

"Rest now."

I stopper the bottle and place it back in the cabinet. I should leave, but Fleece's nails, so perfect and cared for needle me.

"What about you, Fleece? How do you know about bone pins and the like?"

Rich

Reese drinks, then eases into a deep sleep, no words spoken. He's tired and worn and weak. But he'll recover.

After Fleece finishes cleaning, then pulls off her mask. This is Fleece unmasked:

"I know about them because I'm a doctor, Sierra." Fleece replies smoothly. When she sees her curt answer won't slide past you, she continues, "On the outside, I was." She reaches back to unsnap her smock with practiced hands, then slides out of it. Underneath she's wearing a simple light pink dress. "Don't ask me how I got here, though. I'm just here." She moves over to her cabinets and pens a deep drawer, pulling out a small bottle. "Want a drink?"

Go ahead and hit hypnotic now.

LadyAmalthea

A real doctor. Even on the outside they were rare. I nod, accepting the drink.

"I'd appreciate that, been a derelict of a day." I'm curious now. A doctor is usually sponsored by a house. Where did she come from?

"So, why did you pick the Irons?" I smile, "Not that I'm not glad as grosh you did."

LadyAmalthea

(Rolled: 2d6+3 . Rolls: 5, 1. Total: 9)

Rich

She pulls two tumblers that don't match from the same drawer and pours a few fingers of an amber liquid for you, and for herself. She leans against the cabinet after handing you a glass, relaxes her shoulders slightly.
"The Irons? I could lie and tell you it's out of The Fat Man's reach, and close enough to Bordertown to get decent medical supplies. Would you like that?" She takes a sip, then laughs once, a sharp laugh, mostly at herself. "I came by on a call, then stayed because of someone is the truth of it."

LadyAmalthea

I can feel my lips quirk in a startled smile. "Love or lust?

Taking a sip of the amber liquid I could almost cry, it goes down so smooth. Better than the top shelf juice JD gave me this morning. It's fracking heaven. I can't help the low moan that escapes my throat.

Rich

Fleece stares into her glass for a long moment before answering. "First one. Then the other." She takes a long drink, draining her glass, probably to hide her expression, then turns her back to you to pour another glass.

She just spent a hold, giving you what you want. You can push for more on that, it's the same hold.

LadyAmalthea

I finish my drink and put the glass down gently. I want to know who, but if she wanted to tell me, she'd have mentioned a name.

I lick my lips, chasing the taste of the amber liquid. "I... Fleece... thank you. This is, weirdly normal." I laugh a bit, that sounded this side of simple, but maybe she gets it. "Maybe we can do this again, in fact I'd really like that, but I've got a lot of unfinished business today. I couldn't be more grateful to you - tell me how can I pay you back?"

Rich

Fleece picks up your glass and moves it with her own to sit by the basin to wash later. When you ask about paying her back, she responds with, "The miners will take care of the fee for Reese. And you can pay me back for the morph by coming around." She meets your eyes, "It does feel weirdly normal, just us talking."

LadyAmalthea

When she meets my eyes, it really hits me how effortlessly beautiful Fleece is. I'll have to ask about the mask another time. And when she mentions the "payment" a smile, a real honest to goodness smile, grows uncontrollably across my face. "You have a deal."

I look at Reese, sleeping, "You'll get word to me, when he wakes up?"

Rich

A thin smile makes it's honery way onto Fleece's fae. She rarely lets folks in like this, Sierra, it just feels that way to you. "Sure. I'll let you know. Now, go on to your other business. I've got to clean up my clinic and my patient, and work on his new leg."

LadyAmalthea

It hits me, the desire to touch. The idea of hugging her or kissing her on the cheek, but that's all it is. It's fleeting then gone, up behind the years of behavior and walls of survival.

I have a feeling she's more like me than Marigold, anyhow. I nod instead.

"Thanks, Doc." I say hoping my voice can carry the weight of the truth. "I'll see you soon."

I turn around, smile slowly fading and quietly make my way back to my room and new bed, hoping to grab a quick rest before sunset.

Rich

End Scene.