Sorry for the delay, here is the next chapter!
Billy began to pace back and forth, wishing he could run back to Rebecca. Pull it together, Coen, she's fine. Keys is good enough to take care of her.
"Stop doing that, you are making me nervous." Lupo said, exhaling slowly while the tent continued to breathe around them. The cables squealed, and white flurries flooded in the cracks.
"Sorry." He apologized as he decided to sit back into the folding chair. "Is there anything else I don't know?" Billy asked..
She thought over it for a moment, "No. I think you know all I do." Billy nodded. All they could do was wait until Rebecca woke up. He became anxious as the minutes passed, slowly. Shouldn't they have her stable by now? How long does it take? But he also knew she would need time to heal, and facing hypothermia in the middle of nowhere in an unheated tent during a blizzard was perhaps the worst luck Rebecca had stumbled upon in her life. "Maybe you should go see her." Lupo suggested, seeing he was in deep thought, "If you're up to it...I'm not sure 'ow well she'll be able to respond to you. But I'm sure she'd like it."
Billy took Lupo's advice and braved the storm once again to get into the med tent. Keys gave him five minutes this time, seething that Lupo made a promise before she "okayed" it. It was her medical team, and she liked to run it, competing with Lupo for the role of the real female dog. Pulling up a nearby stool, he sat at Rebecca's side.
She did little more than breathe, suck in slow, wheezing breaths. Her face contorted occasionally, as if she was in pain or thinking deeply about something. Otherwise, aside from the bruises and cuts which flecked the exposed areas of her pale skin, she looked peaceful. Instead of dwelling on her injuries, Billy kept his eyes on her face. She still looked as young as she did when he'd last seen her.
He stroked her cheek several time and moved onto her hair, hoping to get some kind of response, but nothing happened. His muddled mind pulled up memories from long before, the rattling of the train under their feet, pouring rain, cracking thunder. Wet slaps of leeches upon the wooden floor. Her voice, which drowned out the other, less pleasant sounds. Billy longed to hear her speak now, to hear the musical words as they escaped her plump lips. How had she been then? Spry and bossy, a vital little thing. It was strange to see her this way, so quiet. She'd always been soft spoken, but this was too quiet, even for her.
"Dollface, you'll be fine and when you wake up, I'll be here to greet you." Billy told her. He heard something once: if a person was unconscious and you spoke to them, they could possibly hear. He hoped it was true, but was certainly no expert.
Her breath hitched for a moment before returning to its slow rhythm. Bruised eyes fluttered but refused to open. Billy saw the reaction and knew she was struggling to wake. Come on, you're okay, just open your eyes. Please, Becca, wake up.
"Come on out, Coen." Keys said, motioning to the door, "She needs her rest
"Can I please have a few more minutes?" Billy asked her. He hoped that would be long enough to at least see Rebecca open her eyes.
"Fine." She replied, seating herself on the opposite side of the tent. The woman glanced up anxiously as the lanterns billowed again. "Just don't bother her too much."
Billy said a silent thank you as he took his seat on the semi warm stool next to Rebecca's bedside. He laid a hand on her arm, although he wished her hands were free of the gauze. The girl seemed to flinch at his touch. Billy thought the lanterns that swung back and forth above him that danced the light and shadows were playing tricks on his eyes. But when he gently began to rub her arm, he did see her twitch a little. He smiled.
Rebecca stirred with a cough, perhaps seeing she was in an unfamiliar bed, and attempted to bolt upright. Though, pain stopped her halfway, and laced through her partially open, unseeing eyes. Keys spun around at the sudden movement.
Billy quickly stood as Keys joined him at her bedside. "Take it easy Rebecca, you're safe here." Keys said while touching her shoulder for comfort. The two partially forced her back down; she quickly gave up the fight against them, returning to her state with her eyes partially closed.
"Just breathe Rebecca." Billy told her softly.
She let out a whine, "C...co..ld."
Keys rested her hand upon Rebecca's forehead, "Can you hear me?" She asked, forcing the girl's eyes open, shining a small light into her pupils.
"Yes." Rebecca's voice was hoarse and rattling.
"There isn't too much we can do for you now, but your body is warming back up." After Keys examined her eyes, she slowly smiled. "Good, your eyesight isn't damaged."Keys withdrew and poured the contents of a water bottle into a mug, setting it into the microwave.
After a few minutes, the water was warm enough. Billy gently propped up Rebecca as Keys held the cup to her mouth.
"Can you swallow, honey?" Rebecca forced down a sip of the water, and nearly gagged on it.
"Try taking tiny sips, until you can do better." Keys added, "Do you know who you are?"
She turned her head away from the mug and leaned back on Billy's forearm, giving a small nod. "Rebecca...Chambers."
"Ms. Chambers, what is the year?"
"Nineteen...ninety nine..." She stirred, grimacing as she did so and squeezing her eyes shut. "Where am I?"
"Good. One more question, how old are you?" This was the last question for the night. Any more were going to wait until she came around further.
Rebecca paused, "Nineteen...Where...am i?"
Billy answered her, "Safe, at our base. You're in Siberia."She was getting tired, her body protested every movement she made and her eyelids grew heavy. It was difficult to focus on the blur of the woman's face.
"Billy?" She exhaled, reaching out weakly for him. Hands trembling.
"She's out of it, Ms. Chambers please rest. We'll talk a little more once you wake up." Keys said as she covered her body once more with the warm blankets.
Billy gently held her hands in his own. "I'm right here doll face." He beamed at her, glad she was awake, and as far as he could tell, doing alright.
Rebecca almost instantly fell back into unconsciousness. Billy sighed and stood up, motioning for Keys to follow him to the other side of the tent. "So…what's the prognosis, Keys?" He asked her in a low tone. He didn't want to wake up Rebecca, but she probably wouldn't hear them anyway.
She chewed the inside of her cheek, "I don't know how that girl just had a conversation with us..." She trailed off, "But, she'll get better, she should. She's pretty disoriented." A howl of wind made the medic jump, another shiver, hands running over her slicked back hair, "Unfortunately she's had a lot of physiological trauma. These injuries were inflicted by someone."
Billy felt a surge of anger at whoever hurt Rebecca. How could they? A doe eyed teenager, kind hearted and thoroughly harmless. Why? What did she do to possibly disserve the state she was in. He didn't express it outwardly, instead buried it inside. There was no point getting angry, he had to stay calm, especially for the traumatized girl. All they could do was wait until Rebecca could speak with them. "But in the end, she could make a full recovery right?"
"She should. But, you should stay with her tonight. Rebecca unfortunately may have nightmares." Billy nodded in understanding, more than happy to watch and sit by her side all night. What he didn't catch was the actual meaning behind Keys' words. She knew Ms. Chambers and Billy had a strong connection to each other, and Billy would be the best person to calm her fears.
She touched his arm, "Jackson will be in calling distance, just in case..." Keys trailed off before dodging out of the door, into the blizzard to leave at the end of her shift. Jackson replaced her, sitting down behind the curtains at the desk and resting beside the lantern.
