Caged With The Alien Warrior

29.

Aanya

"No, no, that can't be." I shook my head. We came so far. The AI's words replayed in my head. Odds of survival are 15%. 5% with no immediate medical attention.

"Yes, my calculations–"

I threw my hands in the air. They were still smeared with Ronan's dried purple blood. "I mean, what were the odds that we'd escape?" Low, and we did it so–

The AI cut off my thoughts. "Without help from Commander Hawke's team? Less than 1%."

"That was a rhetorical question, but okay. The odds were low then and we beat them so we'll beat the odds again," I said with more confidence than I felt. I squared my shoulders.

"What is a rhetorical question?" The voice inquired, curious.

I waved a hand. "I'll explain later. How– how far until we reach Rhodin? He can get medical attention there, right?"

"Correct, Rhodin is the closest planet equipped to provide medical attention to Rhodinians. Rhodin is three spans away at the ship's current capability. Thrusters were damaged in takeoff."

"Three spans..." I trailed off, remembering what Ronan had told me before. "Three spans, that's three weeks! Ronan can't make it that long."

"That is correct." The AI's voice was unflappable.

"Okay, okay." I paced, trying to think of what to do. "Are there any medical facilities here, on board?"

"No, this is a pleasure cruiser. Apart from the cockpit, there are two–"

"It's alright, tell me later." I wrung my hands, still pacing. "I'll have to patch him up, then."

"You are a trained medic?" The voice seemed sceptical.

"No, but I'm all we have." I sighed. Then, I perked up. Maybe the voice knew what to do. "Unless you know how to treat him?" Hope bloomed in my chest.

"Medical training is outside the scope of my programming." The voice almost sounded regretful.

"Right." I nodded, steeling my nerves. "I watched survival shows. I can do this. Where are the medical supplies?"

"We don't have them, this–"

"Is a pleasure cruiser. I got it." I scrubbed a hand over my face.

"We have a small aid kit, though." The voice led me to find the small blue box in the cockpit.

I brought it back to Ronan and opened it, rifling through the bandages. Didn't have much to work with here.

"What is this light thing?" I held it up, turning it on.

"Hold it over a wound to eliminate bacteria and prevent infection." I guess the AI knew about what was in this little kit.

The medicine was all in another language I couldn't read, not that I thought it would help Ronan.

"Is there something like morphine for the pain? Pain relief?"

"I am not sure, I have only seen the tool you asked about used, never any of the other medicine." So she didn't know about everything.

"Alright, I'll try and just apply pressure, but if that doesn't work to stop the bleeding, I'll have to cauterise the wound." I gulped at the thought. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. "I need a knife and a lighter."

"Both are in the kitchen." The voice led me there and I brought back the supplies.

I knelt next to Ronan with my medley of supplies. The axe stuck out of his chest, oozing blood. His face was pale. My heartbeat raced. I felt like puking– I'd never done well with seeing blood, even if it was purple blood.

Breathe, Aanya. You can do this for Ronan. I grabbed the handle of the axe.

"Okay. 3... 2... 1..." I pulled out the axe from his chest. Purple blood spurted out of the wound mixed with some green sludge. What the hell was that? Shit, shit, shit.

Thoughts frazzled, I grabbed the gauze from the kit and applied pressure, pressing down hard on his chest. Purple blood quickly saturated the gauze.

"No, no, no," I mumbled.

I grabbed more gauze, packing it on, but the blood was still soaking through. Blood ran through my fingers. This wasn't working– he was losing too much blood. Had he already lost too much blood, was he– no. I couldn't think like that.

"It's fine, it's fine," I spoke to myself. "I'll cauterise the wound."

I grabbed the UV light thing with one hand, pulled away the gauze with the other, and scanned the light over his chest. The green sludge was still there. It must've been something coating the blade.

"AI voice, I need something else to disinfect the wound!" My voice came out high and panicked. "I don't think this UV light is working!"

"I've only seen the medic use the light." Even she sounded stressed now.

I wracked my brain. Suddenly, I remembered. "Is there alcohol?"

I'd seen old movies where they used alcohol to disinfect wounds. Hopefully alien alcohol would work the same.

"Of course, this is a pleasure cruiser." There was something like censure in her tone. "But it is inadvisable to imbibe when performing–"

"Where is it?!" I yelled, not taking the time to explain.

"Kitchen." I sprinted through the ship and grabbed the strongest one, according to the AI. The bottle almost slipped through my fingers from the slippery blood on my hands.

I ran back to the cockpit. Please be okay Ronan, please be okay, please be okay, please be–

✶ ☾ ✶

AUTHOR'S NOTE

AHHHHH Ronan's hurt and Aanya's trying to help him. She's doing her best lol... thoughts on the chapter? 

What scene from CWTAW has stuck with you the most? 

Comments and votes are much appreciated.

Virtually yours,

Ro