The Mission CHAPTER 4
STARS-NEMESIS: Glad you liked the introspection as there is next to nil this chapter :3 Lots of stuff coming up though. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*
ArynDrago: Here's the next chapter, glad you liked the last! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*
termert: I'm not sure how much 'cute' there will end up being in this story XD Hopefully enough though, I really love these two. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*
This chapter took FOREVER because I had to do so much freaking medical research GAH! I don't think this is even viable, but I have a sister who's a biology major and she gave me the OK on this so I believe her! Hopefully it's alright. Enjoy!
"We think we've come up with a possible treatment for your current condition Mr. Nivens," Dr. Wolfam explained as she stood at the bedside Piers was still confined to. Chris stood on the opposite side wanting to know what they wanted to do. The female doctor had taken over Piers' case after his little freak out and Chris was glad she didn't seem too bothered about it, there was an age and weariness in her gray eyes, of having seen too much that reminded the older soldier of himself.
"We've studied the effects of Mr. Muller's antibodies on your blood and tissue samples and injecting them directly into you, since all your blood is infected will have the effect of destroying all of your blood cells. There is a way to cure the infection but the cost is rather high Mr. Nivens. I'll explain the procedure and allow you to decide for yourself."
"Well, what is it?" Whatever got this virus out of his body he was game for.
"First, since your arm is infected tissue it will probably have to be amputated. Tests have shown that your normal tissues will not take significant damage from introducing the antibodies."
"Probably?" he wondered.
The woman looked away and sighed, playing with a few loose strands of her black hair. "I say probably because it is the safest course of action. There is the possibility that by introducing the antibodies it will get rid of the infected cells and slowly replace them with healthy cells. However if something doesn't react favorably then it could put your life in danger. If it reacts unfavorably and we catch it in time we'll still have to amputate, if not, then you won't have to worry about it because it will likely be fatal."
"I thought you said that putting in the antibodies will destroy all my blood. Why would you put it in my arm?"
"Well, you see, that's the procedure. It would be removing most of your infected blood and replacing it with donated blood infused with the antibodies. We'll start by removing some of your blood and then we'll begin the transfusion of the replacement blood as we remove more of your blood we'll continue to replace it. The procedure itself is also very dangerous as when we start to add the blood the antibodies will quickly begin to attack your own cells and destroy your current supply while we work. So it's dangerous and there's no guarantee that it will work because no one has ever tried it before."
Piers thought about it for a long moment, lightly biting the inside of his lip.
"And…well, are there any other options?"
"The only other option is to stay as you are now. The virus seems to be stable, it's not mutating you further. However you are just as contagious as anyone else that has the virus and could pass it on."
"And I'll never be able to go outside again,"
She sighed but didn't disagree. "I'll leave you for now to think about it. I'm sorry we don't have any better options," she said sympathetically, placing a hand on his shoulder before turning to leave the room.
"What are the chances it reacts badly?" Chris called out.
She glanced back over her shoulder. "Excuse me?"
"What are the chances that his arm reacts badly?"
"Oh…well, I'd give it a sixty to sixty-five percent chance that it will react unfavorably," she answered slowly.
"Alright, thank you."
She nodded and exited, closing the door behind her.
"Why did you ask that?" the younger man wondered.
"Because I figured that you'd want to know."
"The numbers aren't really necessary…I already know that they're not taking my arm. Not like that. Only if I have to. They can do whatever they want to monitor me to find out if it's not going to accept the antibodies, but…if there's a…even a slim chance that I can keep my arm-that it might go back to normal…I have to take it. I have to," he murmured.
"I know. I would do the same thing," he said with a shrug of his shoulder.
Piers felt a light smile tug at his lips. "Thanks."
He chuckled lightly. "For what? Giving my opinion?"
"No, not that. For…for getting me out of there…for not leaving me behind. For believing in me. If it weren't for you I'd be dead at the bottom of the ocean."
"I don't ever leave a man behind Piers. You should know me better than that."
"I do…that's…why I tried to get you the hell out of there. I know now that it was a stupid decision-to sacrifice myself when I might not have needed to. Not that you'll have to worry about it anymore."
"What do you mean by that?" the captain asked, trying to keep worry from tinting his voice.
"Well…you did say that you weren't going to stay in the BSAA," he answered carefully, trying to keep his tone neutral.
"That was…I wanted you to take my place Piers. And I've just…I've seen too much, been through too much. Maybe I should've quit while I was ahead. But then…I never would have met you."
The young sniper felt goose bumps prickle over his skin. "No, I guess not. I'm going to take the treatment and…if everything goes well…and I can keep my arm…I'm going back to the BSAA. I would…prefer if you were still there Captain."
Chris smiled and shook his head a little. "That's a tall order soldier."
"You've rarely been one to disappoint," he said softly.
"…I'll think about it," he promised.
"I hope you will," he murmured, before grabbing the nurse call button beside his bed and looking at the red button for a long moment before pressing it. "Well, sooner I get this over with the better."
The procedure was scheduled to begin in three days time after they made sure they had adequate supplies to replace all of his blood and then some, and to do an emergency amputation if it was required… They also made sure they had all the monitors that would be needed in case he started to have a reaction to the antibodies.
Piers was laying half reclined in the bed, his chest bare except for the different sensors attached to the monitors around him. He had a monitor for each his heart beat, blood pressure, breathing, and blood oxygenation. So he could feel and hear his heart pounding via the lovely beep from the machine. The doctors were trying to keep him relaxed but due to the delicate nature of this procedure couldn't give him any drugs to do it for him.
Piers had been pumping his own blood out of his body through his left arm for the last fifteen minutes and had almost emptied the first pint of blood needed before they could introduce the transfusion. That was the part he was worried about. No one really knew what was going to happen. There had been mixed results when the samples they'd taken of his blood and tissue were introduced to the antibodies. It had been entirely positive with his normal blood and skin but when tested on samples from his mutated arm it either accepted the antibodies and began healing, or it got destroyed by them.
They were prepping the first bag of blood to be transfused when he worked up his courage.
"Doctor," he called out directing Dr. Wolfram's attention back to him. "Could you let Chris stay with me?"
"Well, I don't know if that's such a good idea the procedure is very…delicate and-"
"I know about the damn procedure," he spat impatiently. He wasn't usually like this, but he was nervous, dizzy and tired and he didn't want any damn excuses. If he might die today he at least wanted to talk to his captain first. "It might calm me down."
She paused for a long moment before nodding and turning to one of the nurses instructing him to go get Mr. Redfield.
Chris was there in a matter of moments, worried something had already gone wrong with his partner. He hadn't let the nurse finish explaining just heard that they needed him for something and came as quickly as he could.
After seeing no one was panicking or rushing around, Piers was clearly conscious and stable, he slowly walked towards the sniper.
"Mr. Nivans wanted to see you. This procedure as I've explained will take several days and he will need round the clock supervision. He may also need round the clock support, you've been doing quite well so far with that Mr. Redfield," the doctor stated kindly as she set up the donated blood near Piers' right shoulder, readying it for transfusion.
Piers' heartbeat jumped as Chris came to stand on his left side and rested his hand on that shoulder. "You're gonna make it through it though, aren't ya soldier?"
"Yeah," he tried, but his voice wavered, uncertain.
"Everything is gonna go fine Piers. There's an entire team of doctors here just to make sure you don't have any complications, I'm here for moral support and you probably don't even need it because you are tough as nails. After all the BOWs you've faced and taken down this is nothing."
Piers smiled a bit his heart calming a little "Thanks for the pep talk Captain."
The doctor smiled at seeing his heart rate slow, perhaps it was a good idea to leave Chris in the room. "I am going to start the transfusion now Mr. Nivens. Are you ready?"
He sighed softly before nodding. "As ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this over with."
Leave me a review! Until next time!
Ja ne!
~Bitbyboth Novemeber 19, 2012