Elysium Dreams

Nineteen

I have never been a fan of hospitals. My current situation was doing nothing to improve my opinion of them. Since they didn't know what I had been injected with a doctor had given me a local and was now removing the blade from my back.

The local wasn't doing much. The skin was numb, but the muscles and nerves under it were not. It hurt like hell.

The blade hadn't damaged anything. It had hit a rib and lodged on it. I was going to have a scar on the bone, but that was it. It hadn't even been plunged in with enough force to break the rib.

"Just a little more," the doctor informed me. A string of responses came to mind, but I bit my lip as Xavier squeezed my hand.

Suddenly, the knife gave and slipped out. I felt every movement of it. If I were a weaker person, I probably would have been sick. Since things like that didn't bother my stomach, I consoled myself by swearing at the doctor in my head.

I felt the pressure as he stitched me up. When he finished, he moved to my arm. I put my face into the pillow as he stuck the needle into me to numb my arm. We still had two more to go. It seemed like it had been hours since he had started.

The medication went to work and there was no pain as he sliced into my arm and removed the needle remnants from the muscle. More pressure as I was stitched closed. Three more scars, two were going to be nasty looking. One was going to be noticeable.

"Ok, we're going to need you to lay on your side to do your neck. Think your arm can take it?" He asked.

With help, I rolled up on my side. There was some pain, but not enough to make me flinch. Someone removed the pillow and put something else under my head. This new thing was not soft and it put my head at an awkward angle, my scalp down further than my chin. My neck was stretched to the limits. Making the skin taut and exposing the wound that Xavier had cauterized on the scene.

"I'm going to give you a couple of shots, but it may still hurt. I need you to remain really still," the doctor told me.

I grunted at him. Xavier held my gaze, squatting down to make eye contact easier. His face said it all.

This was going to be dangerous. If I moved, there was a good chance I would start bleeding again. They were already running a transfusion IV into me.

I was feeling better though, even without the new blood. The searing pain that Xavier had pressed into my neck had made me feel better, brought me back into survival mode. My heart rate was steady and strong. My breathing regular and my O2 saturation levels normal. Even my hemoglobin count was good, despite the loss of blood. They had done a count when they drew it for analysis of whatever had been injected into Lucas and I.

"Tell me his hands are steady," I said to Xavier.

"They are," Xavier answered.

"Just remember, if he frucks up, you have to deal with Nyleena," I smiled.

"He isn't going to mess up. I'm sure he's dealt with worse."

"You realize I can hear you?" The doctor asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Just checking, now hold very still," the doctor's hand moved some of the skin on my neck.

An x-ray had shown that the needle was beneath the burnt flesh. It hadn't moved or entered my blood stream. However, it also showed that most of the burnt flesh was going to need to be removed to get at it. The vein it had nicked would need to be stitched. I didn't know if the doctor had ever done that before, but Xavier had assured me he was the best in the hospital.