Fallout 4: AR

63. Venom Fever

Fortunately, Yefim at the Dugout Inn woke up just enough to take the caps for a week's stay and hand me the key, waving towards room #2. I went to move past him, then paused. He might recognize me, but I gotta chance it.

"My friend here is sick." Keeping my voice low and rough, I watched his groggy attention from the corner of my eye. "Got hit by a radscorpion and is burning up with fever. I'll pay you another fifty caps right now if you can get the doc here by the time I unload our gear and get him on the bed." I held my breath until his palm slowly extended to accept. Breathing a silent sigh of relief behind my bandanna, I poured out the extra fee. Nodding in approval at Yefim's swift departure, I stumbled towards our room. Good, now hopefully the radstorm outside will distract him from trying to figure out if he knows us.

My pack hit the floor as soon as I cleared the doorway and I nearly planted head-first into the bed. Catching myself with my trembling arms unbalanced MacCready enough that he slid down my shoulder to land awkwardly on his side just barely on the edge of the mattress. Good enough. I had been awake and on the move for nearly twenty-four hours at this point and ruthlessly pushed away the exhaustion creeping across my mind like a relentless fog. I tugged our weapons free from MacCready's back, setting them on the low table by the couch. His pack was next, and I was finally able to haul his unresisting body more fully onto the bed.

The doctor hadn't arrived yet, and a thread of anger burned away some of my fatigue. He'd better show, or I'll wake all of Diamond City and damn the consequences. MacCready was still unconscious, and I didn't know what to do. A quick examination showed his neck, shoulder, and wrist were all swollen and red. Is that from the venom? I thought in panic. I don't know how to deal with venom, especially if the wound is already closed. How many of those bugs are venomous? I lay the back of my hand on my partner's scorching forehead, feeling helpless.

The door suddenly swung open and an older Japanese man wearing a white doctor's coat entered the room. "I'm Doctor Sun. Yefim says you have an emergency?" he inquired in a brisk voice. At the sight of MacCready's flushed and swollen face, he launched into immediate action. Pushing me aside, he took out a diagnostic tool, starting his examination. "What can you tell me?"

"He..." my vision wavered as tears filled my eyes. "We were attacked by bugs. Lots of bugs," I added when I got control of my voice. "Bloodbugs, stingwings, and bloatflies. We were trying to fight them off, but there were so many. They kept going after him. And then a giant radscorpion..." I took a breath around the tired sob in my throat. "It went for me, but he pushed me out of the way..."

"And got stung. I see." Stung. Such a simple word that made a mockery of the intense agony my partner suffered, was probably still suffering. Doc Sun listened intently with his stethoscope while reading the diagnostic scanner, and I wrung my hands together, not wanting to disrupt him. "He has a dangerously high fever," the doctor pronounced, "most likely caused by a reaction to the multiple venomous attacks." He pocketed his scope and proceeded to unzip MacCready's leather jacket. "We have to cool him down, and fast. When did the fever start? How long has he been unconscious?"

Stepping around to assist in stripping my companion, I answered him tentatively. "I only know he was fevered when he started hallucinating, which was late afternoon. He said he hurt all over. Knowing how stubborn he can be, he probably had been feeling sick for a while." My guts wrenched at the thought. I bet he was fevered and hurting when he stopped ranging about. Why didn't I realize something was wrong with him? I am a horrible partner. "He was delirious for a while, but became completely unresponsive shortly after full dark last night. But I know he took a couple of stimpaks as soon as the fight was over. Why didn't they work?"