Hatchetfield Stories

It Doesn't Have To Be Perfect

This one took me about 2 months to complete because ✨motivation✨ so I really hope you enjoy hahaha

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
-Injury
-Medical stuff by an inexperienced person
-Field medicine
-Amputation
-Death
-There's a bit of body horror at the end, not super graphic but just in case :)

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Paul sighed as he inspected the ugly wounds on both sides of Emma's leg as she caught her breath, the rebar that had been in her leg just seconds before now laying on the floor of Paul's living room.

"What do we do now?"

"We can't do anything," Emma replied, her voice strained and her face scrunched up in pain. "That bone is most likely shattered, and it won't be able to heal if we can't go to a doctor soon." She took a deep breath, letting her head fall back against the pillow. "God, it hurts like a bitch."

"So we'll just let you bleed out?!"

There was a short silence. Paul looked at Emma as if she would know how to magically fix an injury like this.

"Do you have a toolkit somewhere?"

"What?"

"We need a saw and a blowtorch. Oh, and alcohol."

The color drained from Paul's face as he realized what her plan was., but he nodded, leaving the room. He came back a minute later, the supplies in his arms.

"Okay, Paul, you have to disinfect everything. Your hands, the blade, and my skin. Pour the alcohol over it, okay?" She was rambling now, talking to distract her brain from the thought of what was about to happen. "No matter what I say, no matter how hard I scream, you have to keep going, okay? Just get it over with."

Emma winced as some of the alcohol he poured over her leg trickled into the wound "Cut my leg off just above the injury, and then use the blowtorch to heat up the saw so you can burn it shut. It doesn't have to be perfect, just so it stops bleeding. If we're lucky, help will arrive before it gets infected, and we can go to a hospital."

Paul gave a small nod, it was clear he was uncomfortable but tried to hide it for Emma's sake. She appreciated that.

"Emma?" "Yeah?"

"I don't know what I'm doing, I've never done anything like this and I don't like blood and you're going to die and-"

"Paul," she cut him off. "It doesn't have to be perfect, okay? Just getting it over with is good for now, and we'll worry about an infection later."

Paul nodded, avoiding her gaze as he grabbed the saw with shaking hands. He guided her to lie down, handing her a rolled-up cloth to bite down on.

"Just get it over with, okay?" Emma instructed, unable to keep her voice from shaking.

Paul rolled his shoulders a few times to get the tension out, and positioned the saw on her leg, the teeth digging into her skin, but he didn't press down yet. His face was pale as a ghost, and for a moment Emma thought he was going to faint, but then he looked at her, an awkward but reassuring smile on his face. "I'll be as fast as I can. Just try to hang on, okay?"

Emma gave a quiet hum through the rag in her mouth, biting down as she closed her eyes, clenching her fists as she tried to mentally prepare herself for what was about to happen.

She barely registered the saw ripping open her skin, but as soon as it hit her bone, her vision went white. There were no words to describe the sound that left her throat as her body tensed. Paul froze for a second, before continuing. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could rest.