I'll just reiterate the fact that I'm not a Doctor…
Chapter 3 - Tension
Jennifer and Rodney continued to walk towards the Gate along the path. They were making slow progress much to Jennifer's frustration as they were in danger of being attacked and speed was important.
Jennifer suddenly saw something move amongst the trees a little way ahead of them. She turned her wide-eyed gaze to look at Rodney to see if he had spotted it too. She noticed in growing fright that he was looking down at his feet with his eyes narrowed and brow furrowed. He seemed to be deep in thought about something unpleasant.
A large snapping sound of a twig directly in front of the pair made Jennifer jump and she threw out her arm in front of Rodney to stop him in his tracks. She quickly put her hand against his chest and wheeled him around behind a tree.
He said, "Hey," indignantly just before his breathing sped up and he grimaced.
She pushed her hand more firmly against him and pressed him up closer to the tree. She put a finger up to her lips to indicate for him to be quiet. He clenched his teeth as he nodded. Jennifer frowned in confusion at him as she felt his body trembling under her hand. She could feel his heart pounding in fear against her fingertips.
Rodney lifted up the life signs detector. Jennifer felt annoyed that he had not seen the approaching threat as he was supposed to be watching out for them in the dangerous forest. He held it out to the side so that they could both look at the screen. A shiver ran down his arm and his hand shook making it hard to see the tiny glowing screen.
Jennifer grabbed his wrist to keep it steady and he did not flinch or draw back. They both watched tensely as the single life sign tracking them paused a short distance away on the other side of the tree.
Rodney's breathing was loud through his nose and he winced as he drew his other hand up to his mouth and covered it to minimize the noise. He closed his eyes and Jennifer felt another shudder pass through him.
The life sign on the screen soon walked away in the opposite direction and Rodney lowered his hand away from his face and let out a long shaky sigh. They waited for a few more minutes until the blip was a safe distance away.
The scanner suddenly slipped out of Rodney's hand and turned in the air as it fell down into the undergrowth where the screen went black. Jennifer followed the device with her eyes as it settled on the ground, but then she saw the palm of Rodney's hand as she still held his wrist and she drew in a quick breath in shock.
His hand was a rusty red colour and she knew it was dried blood. She looked up into his pale face and took her hand away from his chest as he slid down the tree to a crouch and then pitched over so that he lay curled up on his side on the ground.
She knelt down next to him and he closed his eyes as his body trembled. She studied him and saw something shining on the front of his tac vest. She carefully put her hand against the area, which elicited a hiss and a moan from Rodney.
She drew her hand back and turned it over to see that it was coated with blood. She gazed down at her hand blankly for a moment and then her mind filled with anger mingled with worry and sadness.
She quickly blocked the emotions overwhelming her and switched to being a Doctor. She slipped the rucksack off her back and grabbed the life signs detector from where it had landed. She pocketed it for the time being, she would need Rodney to activate it, but at present she needed both of her hands free to help him.
She said quietly, "Rodney? Can you roll onto your back for me? I need to see what you've done."
His face just screwed up in pain in response and his only movement was to draw his hands up to his midsection and curl his legs up even closer to his chest.
She gently put one hand on his shoulder and pushed slowly so that he rolled onto his back. He gasped at the movement, but offered no resistance and Jennifer wondered how he had managed to hold himself together and not let the pain show through earlier if it had been causing him this much grief. She frowned when she realised that she may have inadvertently done something to worsen his condition by shoving him against the tree so quickly.
Rodney's knees stayed up so she used her other hand on his upper legs to uncurl them away so that she could get access to look at him. He was too weak to prevent the movement even though it made him shake violently and groan.
Jennifer pulled out the life signs detector and placed her other hand on his face gently. He opened his eyes and squinted up at her. He blinked through the tears of pain that were forming. "Rodney? I want you to keep an eye on this and make sure we're still safe."
He nodded and lifted a blood-soaked and trembling hand away from his stomach and took it from her. He turned his face away from her and dropped his hand down to his side limply, but he kept hold of the scanner in his palm so that she could see the screen.
Jennifer noted that there were only two life signs visible and then set to work.
She slowly unzipped his tac vest and he hissed through his teeth and closed his eyes. His shirt underneath was drenched with blood and stuck to his skin as she lifted it away. She found out then that he had at least tried to help himself by tying a pressure bandage around his waist. It was soaked through and slipped away from the injury as she watched.
Jennifer asked him, "Rodney? What happened to you?"
He blinked tiredly at her and mumbled, "I got stabbed." He sighed as he closed his eyes again and tilted his head back so that his hair was filled with dead leaves and small twigs from the ground underneath.
She slowly lifted away the now useless bandage. It came away easily and she found the ugly bleeding gash just to the left of his navel.
She gently put her fingers on his belly around the cut so that she could examine it more thoroughly. He flinched and shivered as she worked. She frowned down at his bloodstained skin and could now see that he had a life-threatening puncture wound to his abdomen.
Sucking in a breath through his clenched teeth Rodney mumbled, "Your hands are cold."
Jennifer drew them back and looked up at his face, which was showing a small amount of amusement even through the pain. She frowned as she said, "Sorry, Rodney. I'll do what I can for you now, but this is a deep stab wound and you're going to need surgery to repair the damage."
Rodney's face deflated and he muttered a quiet, "Oh," before becoming silent and pensive once more.
She leant over and unzipped her backpack. She retrieved a suture kit from inside and looked up at Rodney's frightened face. He was staring at the pouch in her hands with wide eyes.
"Haven't you got any morphine in there? I don't think I'd be able to…I can't…" his voice trailed off.
Jennifer looked away from him sadly, "I'm really sorry. As you said before, we need to get back to the gate." She gestured down at him, "Now more than ever."
Jennifer's hands cleaned the wound and then she deftly and carefully pushed the needle through Rodney's skin and drew the edges of the cut together tightly. He would wince and murmur sometimes if she tugged too much and made him shift.
His one free hand was balled into a fist by his side to stop him from reaching up and grabbing her wrists to make her stop what she was doing. She noticed that he valiantly held onto the scanner so that she could still see it even though his hand shook. She could see the tension in his body as he tried desperately not to move even though he was in pain and was probably fighting the urge to writhe to get away from her.
She suddenly felt the emotions building up inside her again as she worked on Rodney's injury and she could no longer control them as she watched the life literally draining out of the man in front of her. She felt a confusing mix of anger and sadness as she asked, "Why oh why didn't you tell me about this before?"
He drew in a slow breath and pried his eyes open to look at her. She kept her focus on his abdomen as she finished the stitches. He said sadly, "Needed to get you to safety."
She tried to understand what he had done but it was difficult. Instead the anger came to the surface again and she did not hide it from her voice, "I've been letting you walk with this!"
She finished off the stitches and looked away as tears started to well in her eyes. She blinked slowly to clear the stinging fog from her vision and then peered back down at Rodney's pale and pain lined face.
He softened his features slightly and frowned at her in concern. "Are you alright?"
"Am I?" Jennifer sighed. "Am I alright? Rodney you've been bleeding for who knows how long now. I think it should be you I'm more worried about."
He became silent again and then squirmed a little to try and get away from her as she cleaned the cut again and pressed a fresh bandage against him.
She steeled herself to continue. "Rodney can you sit up so I can tie this off around your back?"
He closed his eyes and sighed. "I don't know if I can move at all. I think I've just about bled to death now."
Jennifer ran a hand through his hair and his eyes snapped open in surprise and he looked up at her questioningly. She said reassuringly, all traces of anger now gone and replaced with concern, "Not quite. We're probably close to the Gate now, but I need you to hold on a little longer. Can you do that, for me?"
She emphasized the 'for me' and Rodney seemed to notice. She slipped her hand behind his shoulders and supported him while she passed the tapes of the bandage around his back with her free hand. She then slowly and gently lay him back down and tied the material off around his front.
"So what exactly happened?" She asked as she pulled down Rodney's shirt to cover the bandage and then packed up her gear.
"Isn't it obvious! I got stabbed with a large pointy knife."
Jennifer frowned, "Yes, that part I know. Who attacked you though and why?"
She zipped up the rucksack and put it on her back, now she understood why Rodney had not taken the other one.
He looked away from her and lifted up the scanner to look at the small screen. He suddenly stiffened up in fright and gasped, "Uh…we've got company!"
TBC