09-05-2016, 10:54 PM
He saw Natalie to the hospital himself. The battle in the Embassy district was fast and hot, as battles tend to go. But this one was almost pathetic in how quickly the power armored Legionnaires gained control of the shoddy trained, albeit larger, force. At the end of it, Jay moved Natalie away from the fire. But by then the heat of the inferno boiled the Sierra Leone air extra hot, sweat rolled down his face despite the suit's cooling systems. Natalie's slumber was uneasy, restless, but her consciousness remained. Vanders had healed her injury. On one hand, it was nothing short of a miracle. On the other, seemed completely normal.
With his own experience being subjected to the mage's healing, Jay moved heaven and earth to ensure a meal waited for Natalie for when she woke. All he was able to acquire was a sandwich, cup of applesauce and a carton of milk. It wouldn't be enough, but the food would take the edge off when she woke long enough to track down more.
His gaze shifted from the tray of food to the cot where she slept it off. Beds were in short supply in the Embassy district hospital, a few blocks away from where the short-lived battle took place. A cot was luxury compared to the floor. He knew. He remembered waking up from surgery to not but a blanket for a bed. At least Shredder had been there for some comfort. Poor thing. Jay hoped the little buggar made it- probably out there somewhere right now stalking grasshoppers for its evening meal.
All the doctors had been too busy to look Natalie over when he brought her in. It took a nurse only a few minutes to see that she was healthy and unhurt, but asleep. It was usually a bad sign to sleep through a head injury, but the cut on her scalp was closed. Her vitals strong. There was nothing to do but wait.
So Jay waited.
Having been in charge of the assault, Jay hadn't anyone to immediately answer to among the Legion. No officer to ask permission to leave. He simply left. Not without warning anyone though. He told Vanders he was taking Natalie to the hospital. Told him to make contact if he was needed. But as far as the Legion went, they couldn't have stopped him short of arresting him. And while he still wore the power armored suit, it would have taken another equally dressed soldier to take him out. He was used to fighting his way out of places. But fighting to get in, to save someone, that was new. Luckily, it didn't come to that. Not yet.
So, he was there when she stirred. In a flash he moved from the stool that occupied him all these hours and knelt alongside the cot. Color returned to her face. Smudges of ash he'd missed when wiping her cheeks tinged her hairline. Angelic was the wrong word for Natalie asleep. As much as it would have been for Shredder curled up in his arm. Even asleep that kitten was fierce. Natalie was the same. Yet the first word she uttered whispered at a battle between vulnerability and ferocity that set his senses ablaze. He brushed the hair away from her temple, then scrubbed a hand through his own. Not sure if he should do more to comfort her. A swallow, and he laid his hand across hers.
"Yeah, it's me. You're going to be alright. Just need to sleep it off. Light knows I did."
He blinked as bloodied memories rose, mixing his days in Freetown into one long vision that spanned eons. Dirt and blood. Shadow blacker than night edging closer. Resignation. Regret.
It passed quickly, and his voice shifted slightly as he added the explanation.
"You were in a fire. Something exploded. You're in a hospital, but the nurses aren't too concerned."
Actually, they weren't concerned at all. Jay should have left once she was deemed out of danger. The Legion would be waiting, but he would answer for it later. The worst that could happen was dismissal from the Legion, cut off from anything resembling life as a soldier, and shipped back home. There were worse fates than churning earth and planting corn. It wasn't like they were going to execute him and string his head up from the nearest tree.
With his own experience being subjected to the mage's healing, Jay moved heaven and earth to ensure a meal waited for Natalie for when she woke. All he was able to acquire was a sandwich, cup of applesauce and a carton of milk. It wouldn't be enough, but the food would take the edge off when she woke long enough to track down more.
His gaze shifted from the tray of food to the cot where she slept it off. Beds were in short supply in the Embassy district hospital, a few blocks away from where the short-lived battle took place. A cot was luxury compared to the floor. He knew. He remembered waking up from surgery to not but a blanket for a bed. At least Shredder had been there for some comfort. Poor thing. Jay hoped the little buggar made it- probably out there somewhere right now stalking grasshoppers for its evening meal.
All the doctors had been too busy to look Natalie over when he brought her in. It took a nurse only a few minutes to see that she was healthy and unhurt, but asleep. It was usually a bad sign to sleep through a head injury, but the cut on her scalp was closed. Her vitals strong. There was nothing to do but wait.
So Jay waited.
Having been in charge of the assault, Jay hadn't anyone to immediately answer to among the Legion. No officer to ask permission to leave. He simply left. Not without warning anyone though. He told Vanders he was taking Natalie to the hospital. Told him to make contact if he was needed. But as far as the Legion went, they couldn't have stopped him short of arresting him. And while he still wore the power armored suit, it would have taken another equally dressed soldier to take him out. He was used to fighting his way out of places. But fighting to get in, to save someone, that was new. Luckily, it didn't come to that. Not yet.
So, he was there when she stirred. In a flash he moved from the stool that occupied him all these hours and knelt alongside the cot. Color returned to her face. Smudges of ash he'd missed when wiping her cheeks tinged her hairline. Angelic was the wrong word for Natalie asleep. As much as it would have been for Shredder curled up in his arm. Even asleep that kitten was fierce. Natalie was the same. Yet the first word she uttered whispered at a battle between vulnerability and ferocity that set his senses ablaze. He brushed the hair away from her temple, then scrubbed a hand through his own. Not sure if he should do more to comfort her. A swallow, and he laid his hand across hers.
"Yeah, it's me. You're going to be alright. Just need to sleep it off. Light knows I did."
He blinked as bloodied memories rose, mixing his days in Freetown into one long vision that spanned eons. Dirt and blood. Shadow blacker than night edging closer. Resignation. Regret.
It passed quickly, and his voice shifted slightly as he added the explanation.
"You were in a fire. Something exploded. You're in a hospital, but the nurses aren't too concerned."
Actually, they weren't concerned at all. Jay should have left once she was deemed out of danger. The Legion would be waiting, but he would answer for it later. The worst that could happen was dismissal from the Legion, cut off from anything resembling life as a soldier, and shipped back home. There were worse fates than churning earth and planting corn. It wasn't like they were going to execute him and string his head up from the nearest tree.
Only darkness shows you the light.