savetheearth | [ voice, 12/18, after dark ]

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[ voice, 12/18, after dark ]

[ the voices are somewhat muffled because the phone is in his pocket. neither of them sound in good shape. ]

I'll-- I'll help you up. Let's go.

[ those who know nick will recognize the second voice as his: ] This is turning out to be a pretty crappy rescue, man, I'm sorry. [ this is followed by the sound of clothes rustling as the two dudes get up. ] It's this way.

[ the sound of snow crunching beneath shoes might be faintly heard. ]

Two trauma cases. First, hemorrhage, suspected class two. Second, penetrating trauma, chest, broken ribs. Not... No major blood loss yet. [ a pause. ] Where are we?

Just outside of town. [ this is followed by a more precise location. ]

Requesting aid. And if anyone can contact... Ravindra, that'd be great. Thanks.

[ a short stretch of silence. ]

Re- Recline your chair or lie in the backseat.

I can manage, your injuries sounded a lot worse. There's a first aid kit in the back. [ the muffled sound of a car door opening. ] I only have basic training, but if you tell me what to do I can help.

[ rustling as alex sits down, butt-ending the connection. ]

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[ suddenly uncomfortable.

it is one thing to admit that he'd been killed to someone who already knew that, and another to someone who does not, nevermind that alex hasn't really 'sat down' to think about his death himself.

that's some weird shit, man.

after a pause in reply, he reluctantly says, ] He... drove a stake through my chest...

[ the wince is practically audible. ]

[OH MY GOD WHAT. Ravi was already a little frantic but that news just makes it so much worse. All he can give in response is a tight mmhm in acknowledgment, he does not trust his voice to anything more than that and his brain isn't throwing anything useful at him anyway.]

['penetrating trauma, chest'--it makes sense now and he wishes it didn't. how did Alex survive? why is he not dead right now if he's human again? shit--if he's human again that means he doesn't have his accelerated healing, is he slowly bleeding out while he waits for Ravi to come? fuck. fuck. okay Ravi is officially freaking out now.]

[THIS HAPPENED AND HE HAD NO IDEA WHERE ALEX WAS AND THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME no don't start hyperventilating it's okay calm down keep driving, it's only another minute or two, it's okay, he'll fix this and then they'll figure something out, some plan for what to do if something like this happens again, something, just--he just has to fix this first. Focus on the present for now.]

[If Alex is listening closely he will be able to catch the quickened breathing and then the deliberate attempt to regulate it. It's about 30 seconds before Ravi speaks, mumbled and slightly rushed.] I am almost there.

[he hopes, anyway, as he pulls off the highway to get onto the backroad he needs to be on to find them]

[ alex is not listening closely, so he doesn't hear the quickened breathing. from the next comment, though, he can guess that his own admission had unsettled ravi.

he is kind of bleeding out, though, yeah. slowly, but steadily. ]

Okay.

[there it is. car, lights on, nothing else around. Ravi does not normally drive recklessly but he pulls up like a professional driver on a closed track, and if the car were any more top heavy it'd be a wonder if it didn't roll.]

[he doesn't even bother to kill the engine. he grabs his CLS bag and bursts out of the car, leaving the lights and engine on and the door open, shrugging one strap over his shoulder as he dashes to the other car. DON'T BE DEAD YET is all he's thinking right now.]

[ the reckless parking startles alex, who winces and takes his next breath sharply. now that he has a functional heart, he is capable of suffering a heart attack, you know!!

he reaches to open the door, but now that he's warm and has been sitting still for a while now, finds the act of moving enough to push the door open all the way too strenuous.

with a wry smile, he murmurs to nick, ] Cavalry.

[ nick, please still be conscious. ]

Edited (WORDS) 2013-12-19 20:23 (UTC)

[It startles Nick as well, out of whatever semi-conscious state he'd been in - he's pretty sure he hadn't actually fallen asleep, but it's a little fuzzy.

His heart rate doesn't slow, and it takes Nick a moment to realize it's not entirely because of the sudden screeching car.

Still, he manages to give a bit of a smile back.]

Worth the crappy wake up call, then.

[Alex doesn't need to push the door open all the way. Ravi snatches it from him and shoves it open the rest of the way, leaning into the car to assess him.]

[He lets out a quiet huff when he sees Alex, like releasing a held breath. It's almost relieved. Not quite. Relief is overruled by panic and concern because, frankly, Alex looks like hell.]

[He drops his CLS bag onto the floorboards.] Let me see it.

[ so here's the thing: whatever symptoms a trauma patient in alex's state exhibits have been somewhat purposefully downplayed over voice communication. somewhat because it wasn't terribly difficult to carry a conversation -- like in those freak accidents where the patient is carrying on like nbd? sort of like that.

now that ravi is present, alex doesn't feel the need to keep it up. he makes a lousy, half-wave at nick. ]

Him first. Blood loss. Easy.

[ because wowowow dnw nick to die because of him. a primitive and overly simple fear, but a deep fear nonetheless. ]

[Nick's lying in the back as well, propped up against the back seat next to Alex. His clothes, and the bandage around his neck, are smeared with dirt and blood, and he looks pale even under the car light. He doesn't say anything when Ravi opens then door, both because it's clear Ravi's focus is on Alex, where it should be, and because it doesn't seem worth the effort.

He's still stubborn enough to protest Alex's, though.]

You're worse off. I can manage.

[But he won't put up a fight beyond that, whatever Ravi does, because he knows better than to waste too much time arguing over who gets attended to first.]

[he glances up at Nick, but if he hasn't bled out by now from a neck wound then he can last another few minutes]

[...but Ravi has made a bad triage call before. he owes it to Xander to not make that mistake again.]

[he reaches over Alex, holding a hand out to Nick.] Give me your hand.

[he'll do that capillary refill test that Alex was trying to do in the dark before, to gauge how bad Nick's blood loss is.]

[Nick's fine.

Probably fine.

He doesn't actually know how much blood he's lost - he hadn't been too bad when John drank from him, but this feels different.

Still, he doesn't argue at all, just obediently reaches over to give Ravi his hand.]

[he takes Nick's hand, presses down on one of his nails, and then times how long it takes to go from white back to a healthy pink. longer than it should, but not so long that he would consider it an immediate concern, especially since he doesn't seem to be bleeding much at this point.]

[blood loss is easier to heal and doesn't take very long, but time is not the only resource Ravi has to worry about. he only has so much magic to go around, and he can't just heal Alex enough to let the doctors take over; he has to heal him completely. Nick, on the other hand, could easily be dealt with by a mundane blood transfusion. it's not something he wants to risk wasting mana on.]

[he releases Nick's hand and returns his attention to Alex]

You are bad at triage. Let me see it.

Him first.

[ there is an undercurrent of viciousness in his tone.

Alex knows his state is worse. this isn't about triage, it's about his conscience. ]

I only have so much magic to use, Alex. [if he sounds particularly vicious about that, it is because he is not here for Alex's shit. he doesn't care about conscience or whatever reason Alex is pressing this. he cares about fixing both of them, and you always take care of the more serious case first.]

[...apparently they are going to argue about who gets attended to first, and Nick no longer knows better than to not do that.]

Shit, Alex, I'm fine. You didn't do anything I wouldn't have offered in the first place and you have a hole in your chest, let the man fucking fix it.

[He's exhausted and stressed and really dizzy, and he just wants you to be okay, damn it Alex.]

[ nick, you traitor!

alas(?), he is temporarily dumbstruck by nick's admittance to protest. he would have offered his blood? That's disgusting. Alex isn't taking the whole picture into account right now -- that Nick might just feel similarly guilty for being part of the reason why they're all in this position to begin with -- he's dwelling only on his own faults and fears and the fact that Ravi had been grossed out when he gave him his blood, so why not Nick?

Oh, but Reilanin hadn't been grossed out, either... ]

[too stunned to protest? good enough. Ravi yanks the blanket away from Alex and puts a hand on his shoulder to guide him to lay down in the backseat. He isn't rough about it, but he is forceful, and any resistance is met with the same look he gives uncooperative patients.]

[Nick isn't the most observant at the moment - which is terrible for a detective, but there it is - so all he sees is Alex's lack of protest, which makes him relax a little.

He doesn't say a word when Ravi has Alex lay back, despite it meaning that Alex is more or less in his lap at the moment. Nick rests a hand on Alex's shoulder, for comfort or for assistance in holding him there while Ravi heals him, even he isn't really sure. ...not that he could probably provide much assistance in that right now, but still.

He'll stay quiet while Ravi heals him, waiting it out.]

[Ravi has to climb into the car and find space to arrange himself so he has both hands free to heal Alex with, so the positioning is pretty awkward, but the situation is urgent enough that he doesn't actually care.]

[he pulls his gloves off, letting them drop to the floor, and pushes the edges of Alex's shirt--bloody and dirt-encrusted and already sliced open--out of the way to bare his chest. despite the valiant effort of his gloves, his hands are still ice cold. sorry Alex. he folds them over the gauze-packed wound, closing his eyes to concentrate. he's not healing yet, he's just taking stock of the damage, sending waves of magic through his chest to get a feel for what needs to be done.]

[somebody telling you they got staked in the chest is altogether different from actually seeing it. there is a distressing void between his hands and Alex's heart, a nothing that his magic passes right through and returns no information on. he swallows down a lump in his throat because he can imagine what that translates to visually. God, and this idiot wanted him to waste mana on Nick first?]

[other than the obvious, his heart is fine, he's lost a lot of blood, and there are a couple broken ribs that Ravi knows he won't be able to heal. He takes care of the blood loss first, restoring a couple pints, because that's the most pressing of his concerns. It feels like warm sunlight in Alex's bones, mana seeping into marrow and turning into blood.]

[After that, he has to open his eyes and pull back to remove the bandages. He cannot effectively heal with those all up in the wound. He's very careful about it, at least, slowly peeling them away from the wound to avoid causing new damage. it is likely still an unpleasant sensation, and probably the opposite of what any emergency medical worker thinks needs to happen.]

[He does not look at the wound because he does not want to see it. The bandages get dropped to the floor as well, and then his hands--slightly warmer due to ~*sun magic*~ but still cold--go back to where they were before, folded over the puncture. He closes his eyes again and this time focuses on the healing proper.]

[he works slowly and carefully, to avoid generating scar tissue as much as possible. Alex won't be getting out of this without a nasty scar on his chest, but at least his insides will be fine. he can use the flesh healing to guide the ribs into the proper place to heal correctly, but that's about it. Alex will just have to avoid breathing deeply until those heal up.]

[The magic feels like warm sunshine, and the healing is completely painless, though it doesn't numb any of the pain Alex may already be feeling. That will fade on its own as the wound fills itself in and closes up.]

[ 'warm sunshine' is pretty welcomed tbh. also, one's ribs being moved is a subtly bizarre sensation. that's about the only part of the healing process that alex actually feels.

after the warmth fades, he slowly pulls himself up into sitting position, one hand on ravi's shoulder for leverage. he looks down at his chest, no longer holey, but whole, and gingerly touches it. yep, it's solid.

he lifts his eyes to ravi, breath held. he doesn't feel relieved, exactly -- it's still too early for that. rather, he's in state of shock despite calling ravi here to do just this, but it's a muted sort of shock, like the weight of his actions are still dawning on him.

he glances at nick, then back to ravi. his brows furrow. ]

Is there enough magic for him?

[he sits back once he's done. has to put a hand on the back of the seat to brace himself when Alex uses him for leverage.]

[wow, that healing took a lot out of him. it's not nearly as bad as he was by the end of the night on the day of the earthquake, but he feels like he just ran a marathon. healing a lot of serious injuries by minor degrees is markedly different from healing one serious injury all the way through. apparently, it gets exponentially harder the longer you have to work on it.]

[he doesn't even have time to be relieved that Alex is now safe, because the question reminds him that he still has work to do. he glances up at Nick. is there? there'd better be. he nods without actually considering the question, because he's going to do it whether the answer is yes or not.]

[he pulls back, retreating from the backseat, to circle the car to Nick's door. It's easier than trying to lean across Alex. he feels a little unsteady on his feet, but he tries his best to hide it, keeps a hand against the car to support himself.]

[he pulls open Nick's door and leans down to look at him, one arm planted against the hood of the car above the doorway.]

Which side is it? [slightly more mumbled than usual, but otherwise he mostly keeps the exhaustion out of his voice]

[He watches the whole time, both because he doesn't really have another option, and because part of him is fascinated. Knowing someone can heal and seeing it at work are two completely different things. Nick's had time to come to terms with werewolves and vampires, but this - this is new, and he stares pretty openly.

The relief he feels when Alex is healed up is overwhelming, enough that he only vaguely notices when Ravi pulls back to go around the car, and doesn't really connect it to anything until Ravi's looking down at him.

He grimaces at the question, trying to find a way to answer it that doesn't make him sound like a vampire magnet.]

...the one from tonight's on the right. There's another from a few days ago on the left.

[Yeah, that sounded pretty much as awkward outloud as in his head, so he switches gears, trying to get a closer look at Ravi.]

Are you okay to do this?

[his eyebrows rose slightly at the mention of two bites. there were other vampires among the numbered, he'd known that, but to be attacked by two different ones in the past few days? that was...a little concerning.]

[but, well, if it was dangerous Nick would be warning him, he figures. so asking is probably prying.]

I'm fine. [he's reasonably sure he'll be okay. blood restoration isn't very laborious, and fang punctures sound like fairly minor wounds.]

[before Nick can question him again, Ravi sets a hand on his shoulder and channels his magic. there's the signature golden glow, and the warm sunlight flowing through Nick's bones. he'll get however much he needs, up to two pints.]

[Nick has terrible luck, man. And a habit of getting himself into dangerous situations, although admittedly, the vampire thing has been new for him.

His eyes close again as Ravi's magic replaces his blood, which is - a very odd feeling, though not at all bad. Definitely not compared to the way he had been feeling.]

Thanks.

[He sounds grateful, but not nearly as relieved as he should be. Mostly because, well, with the healing out of the way, he's pretty sure the next part coming up is going to be questions, and explanations.

And maybe apologies, except he already knows there isn't really one good enough to cover the way things went.]

[ alex has since covered his shoulders with nick's blanket again because coooold. his eyes are on ravi's hand as the healing occurs, then dart up between nick and ravi proper.

he exhales. ]

Are we... are we all okay?

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