hc_bingo Prompt: Loss of Limb
Oct. 2nd, 2012 12:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breezeshadowBad brain spell, tonight. So I inked the drawing for my friend, loaded up Sims, and typed this up on my iPad:
He woke up slowly, multiple times, sometimes from one dream into another. For a while he had no clear recollection; his mind was empty of memories or consciousness. Then, something flickered on, and Gareth felt as if he was trapped within a cavern of nightmares, climbing from one edge to the next with no end in sight. But instead of the dark wet of a cave, he was surrounded by the horrible roar and heat of fire, smelling of gunpowder and death.
Slowly, though, it receded, and Gareth began to feel the world. A breeze brushed over him, blankets protecting him from its chill. He laid on something scratchy but yielding, but it did not feel right. As noises drifted to him, vague voices and the call of a coyote, he tried to figure out what. Instinct told him to feel for his body; he wiggled his toes, twitched his legs, expanded his chest as he breathed--
He could not feel his arm. He tried again, but while his right arm responded, there was an eerie NOTHING from his left.
It had to be a nightmare, and Gareth laid still for a while, waiting for it to move on. When it did not, he reluctantly opened his eyes. At first he thought the brightness was fire, and thought with some relief he would wake soon. As his eyes adjusted, though, he realized it was sunlight filtering through holes in the ceiling.
"Can you hear me?"
The voice was sharp yet exhausted all the same. With a groan, Gareth creaked his head in its direction. The woman watching him was entirely unfamiliar; with large eyes but a small nose, she looked oddly like a child, an image ruined by her womanly figure. Her hair was shorter than most women's he had seen, and she looked in desperate need of a bath and clean, blood-free set of clothes.
"Yes." The word came out as a painful croak, and the woman immediately reached behind her and gave him a cup full of sooty water. He was so parched he drank it anyway.
"good, maybe your friends can stop bugging me about you." She took the glass from him. "Not so fast unless you want to puke."
"Where am I?" The place seemed vaguely familiar, but his mind felt like mud.
"Wereanimal tribe." She reached over and felt his forehead, then his pulse. "You were teleported in by a vampire. Found you dying of blood loss in some ruined building."
Her words brought it all back, though slowly. He remembered vaguely the sounds of bombs, fire, a great blast... But then nothing.
"I don't remember." It sounded idiotic the moment he said it, and so he rushed onward. "Who are you? And what happened to my-"
"Kader." She offered no hand to shake, instead getting up and moving to his left side. He wanted to squirm away, to stay forever in the dark, thinking that maybe he just was not awake enough yet -- but she reached out and touched a part of his upper arm that he KNEW should be continuing into the rest of the limb.
He could not avoid it any longer, then, and looked over. What remained of his left arm was a stump ending just past the shoulder, wrapping in bloody, sooted bandages. He swore and closed his eyes, turning his head away.
"It's better than what you came in with." Kader began unwrapping the bandages; he refused to cry out from the pain, or even the lack there of. "Most of it was gone. Where your elbow should have been was a mess of hanging tendons mixed with bone chips. The best way to save you was to remove it."
"Did you really need to give exact fucking detail?" he hissed through gritted teeth.
"You asked." He swore at her in response, but Kader ignored him. "You're lucky. No infection."
"Lucky? My arm--"
"Yes, lucky, because a lot of people are DEAD from less." He could feel her glare, and opened his eyes to meet her. She looked more exhausted than he realized at first.
"Fine. Who brought me in?"
"I'll get them as soon as I wash the wound."
He saw no reason to talk further, and pretended he was still in a dream. Perhaps, once she finished and called them in, he'd wake up; he'd be back in bed with Andy, and it'd be time to go to work and meet with Rose about the Demi case...
These delusions kept him quiet and still while Kader washed out the stump; he felt it should hurt more, but it seemed distant, as if it was someone else's arm. Soon she was finished, and he listened to her walk out of the structure...
Something SOLID slammed the door open; he almost passed out trying to sit up to see it. Black spots danced across his vision while he fought the urge to vomit, hearing Kader shouting but not understanding the words... But the whine and growl that responded DID penetrate his mind.
"Andy." He hated the sob in his voice.
He could see his boyfriend by then -- in wolf form, all chocolate brown fur and bright yellow eyes, his head reached Kader's thigh. Patches of fur were missing, and the tips of his ears were singed, though his silver earring looked undamaged. He moved with the slightest limp over to Gareth's bed and sniffed at him frantically, licking at Gareth's bandaged stump.
"Yes, Andy, it's gone. I'm aware." Gareth ignored his lover's growl.
"Gareth!" Her voice was so hoarse that he almost did not recognize it; but then he saw Rose enter, lightly supported by Nur, who gave Gareth a sad smile and soothing thoughts.
"Rose." Gareth gave her his best fake smile while absently petting Andy's head; the werewolf had moved to his right side.
"We were so worried. I swear Kader and ______ perform miracles." Rose sat in Kader's former seat, but the woman did not seem to mind, instead taking the moment to examine her patient. "Nur was terrified when she found you."
"You would be too." The vampire's voice was beyond exhausted. She looked unscathed, but her scars spoke of past experience with flames.
The _____ is for the name of the doctor, which I have forgotten and will look up later. Obviously, this scene is not finished yet since there isn't much comfort in there, but I imagine it will be pretty short.
Now to sleep.
Tschuess.
He woke up slowly, multiple times, sometimes from one dream into another. For a while he had no clear recollection; his mind was empty of memories or consciousness. Then, something flickered on, and Gareth felt as if he was trapped within a cavern of nightmares, climbing from one edge to the next with no end in sight. But instead of the dark wet of a cave, he was surrounded by the horrible roar and heat of fire, smelling of gunpowder and death.
Slowly, though, it receded, and Gareth began to feel the world. A breeze brushed over him, blankets protecting him from its chill. He laid on something scratchy but yielding, but it did not feel right. As noises drifted to him, vague voices and the call of a coyote, he tried to figure out what. Instinct told him to feel for his body; he wiggled his toes, twitched his legs, expanded his chest as he breathed--
He could not feel his arm. He tried again, but while his right arm responded, there was an eerie NOTHING from his left.
It had to be a nightmare, and Gareth laid still for a while, waiting for it to move on. When it did not, he reluctantly opened his eyes. At first he thought the brightness was fire, and thought with some relief he would wake soon. As his eyes adjusted, though, he realized it was sunlight filtering through holes in the ceiling.
"Can you hear me?"
The voice was sharp yet exhausted all the same. With a groan, Gareth creaked his head in its direction. The woman watching him was entirely unfamiliar; with large eyes but a small nose, she looked oddly like a child, an image ruined by her womanly figure. Her hair was shorter than most women's he had seen, and she looked in desperate need of a bath and clean, blood-free set of clothes.
"Yes." The word came out as a painful croak, and the woman immediately reached behind her and gave him a cup full of sooty water. He was so parched he drank it anyway.
"good, maybe your friends can stop bugging me about you." She took the glass from him. "Not so fast unless you want to puke."
"Where am I?" The place seemed vaguely familiar, but his mind felt like mud.
"Wereanimal tribe." She reached over and felt his forehead, then his pulse. "You were teleported in by a vampire. Found you dying of blood loss in some ruined building."
Her words brought it all back, though slowly. He remembered vaguely the sounds of bombs, fire, a great blast... But then nothing.
"I don't remember." It sounded idiotic the moment he said it, and so he rushed onward. "Who are you? And what happened to my-"
"Kader." She offered no hand to shake, instead getting up and moving to his left side. He wanted to squirm away, to stay forever in the dark, thinking that maybe he just was not awake enough yet -- but she reached out and touched a part of his upper arm that he KNEW should be continuing into the rest of the limb.
He could not avoid it any longer, then, and looked over. What remained of his left arm was a stump ending just past the shoulder, wrapping in bloody, sooted bandages. He swore and closed his eyes, turning his head away.
"It's better than what you came in with." Kader began unwrapping the bandages; he refused to cry out from the pain, or even the lack there of. "Most of it was gone. Where your elbow should have been was a mess of hanging tendons mixed with bone chips. The best way to save you was to remove it."
"Did you really need to give exact fucking detail?" he hissed through gritted teeth.
"You asked." He swore at her in response, but Kader ignored him. "You're lucky. No infection."
"Lucky? My arm--"
"Yes, lucky, because a lot of people are DEAD from less." He could feel her glare, and opened his eyes to meet her. She looked more exhausted than he realized at first.
"Fine. Who brought me in?"
"I'll get them as soon as I wash the wound."
He saw no reason to talk further, and pretended he was still in a dream. Perhaps, once she finished and called them in, he'd wake up; he'd be back in bed with Andy, and it'd be time to go to work and meet with Rose about the Demi case...
These delusions kept him quiet and still while Kader washed out the stump; he felt it should hurt more, but it seemed distant, as if it was someone else's arm. Soon she was finished, and he listened to her walk out of the structure...
Something SOLID slammed the door open; he almost passed out trying to sit up to see it. Black spots danced across his vision while he fought the urge to vomit, hearing Kader shouting but not understanding the words... But the whine and growl that responded DID penetrate his mind.
"Andy." He hated the sob in his voice.
He could see his boyfriend by then -- in wolf form, all chocolate brown fur and bright yellow eyes, his head reached Kader's thigh. Patches of fur were missing, and the tips of his ears were singed, though his silver earring looked undamaged. He moved with the slightest limp over to Gareth's bed and sniffed at him frantically, licking at Gareth's bandaged stump.
"Yes, Andy, it's gone. I'm aware." Gareth ignored his lover's growl.
"Gareth!" Her voice was so hoarse that he almost did not recognize it; but then he saw Rose enter, lightly supported by Nur, who gave Gareth a sad smile and soothing thoughts.
"Rose." Gareth gave her his best fake smile while absently petting Andy's head; the werewolf had moved to his right side.
"We were so worried. I swear Kader and ______ perform miracles." Rose sat in Kader's former seat, but the woman did not seem to mind, instead taking the moment to examine her patient. "Nur was terrified when she found you."
"You would be too." The vampire's voice was beyond exhausted. She looked unscathed, but her scars spoke of past experience with flames.
The _____ is for the name of the doctor, which I have forgotten and will look up later. Obviously, this scene is not finished yet since there isn't much comfort in there, but I imagine it will be pretty short.
Now to sleep.
Tschuess.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-02 01:02 pm (UTC)My only question is: is Gareth under any sort of strong/continuous painkillers? I'm only asking because I've actually known a few amputees (before and after surgery) and the first few days post-op especially are very much not a numb or pain-free experience; they're generally in agony because here is a lot of tissue swelling, a lot of jacked up nerve responses and misfires, and generally great cause for "ouch."
no subject
Date: 2012-10-02 04:32 pm (UTC)