Okay, so i finally found time to upload this, I've had it on my computer for a week or so now just haven't been able to get my laptop online. Anyway Thank you SO much for the lovely reviews they mean so much :)
"Open the gate!" Jim commanded as the rover hurtled towards the colony. The vehicle stormed through the gate and stopped just in front of the command centre. Reynolds was the first to exit the rover rushing over to the back passenger door. Taylor's legs swung out as Reynolds opened the door for him. Almost unconsciously Jim had made his way to Reynolds side placing a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. Although he was extremely protective of his daughter dating the soldier, he knew that Mark was a good man, he knew that he'd do his best to keep Maddy out of harms ways and would never dream of intentionally hurting her. He had a good head on his shoulders, of course he had to keep the boy in check that's what he's supposed to do right? Taylor had made his way to the other back passenger door and was carefully dragging the body of the unconscious Lieutenant slightly out so that he could scoop her up into his arms. When he had finally gathered her into his arms Jim could see the full extent of her injuries.
"She looks terrible." Jim said quietly.
"She'd kick your ass if she heard you say that." Reynolds replied with a small unconvincing smile. Taylor had turned abruptly and quickly headed past both Jim and Reynolds his face emotionless. Both Jim and Reynolds were hot on his heels when he quickened his pace up to a very fast run. Onlookers watched on with concern at the beloved Lieutenant on the brink of death being rushed to what would hopefully be the place where she'd be returned back to her full, healthy self.
"Did Elizabeth get all the equipment she needed?" Reynolds asked clearly out of breath due to the running. Taylor was a few paces in front of them and out of earshot, not that he could hear them anyway he hadn't said a word to Reynolds or Guzman since he and Wash were placed in the back of the rover.
"She's got all that we could gather up, we didn't know the extent of Wash's injuries so we gathered anything and everything. Elizabeth has being going through Wash's medical history, we had a back-up archive locked away in one of the infirmary cupboards. It just shows how much we rely on our technology now, it's taking her ages to make her way through all the papered documentation. All of the blood for transfusions are kept in a digitally locked storage space so we can't get in there. She's had to find Wash's blood type and try and find some matches which has apparently been a difficult task. In fact i still don't know if she's been able to find any matches." With that declaration they reached the infirmary. Elizabeth was waiting hands on hips in front of the double doors. She had nurses on either side of an infirmary bed ready to roll Alicia straight to surgery.
"Elizabeth!" Jim shouted. He paused for a few seconds so that he could catch his breath, while he was doing so, Taylor gently placed Wash on the infirmary bed. He hovered over her brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear, this didn't go unnoticed. "Do you think you've got everything you're going to need?" He said finally, brushing off Taylor's action. Elizabeth moved to Wash's side, shining a light into each of her eyes. "Pupils aren't responsive." She said to the nurses before turning her attention back to her husband. "We have all the equipment to do the surgery, but, the blood is still a problem. Wash has a rare blood type known as AB positive. It was rare in 2149 so it's even rarer now. I've not been able to go through everyone's medical history as it's on paper but I did manage to find four people who have the same blood type as Wash."
"Who are they?" Reynolds asked.
"One is Boylan ..." She paused and looked over to the Commander who was staring at nurses who were inserting tubes into Alicia's arms and placing an oxygen mask over her face. Elizabeth stepped closer to the two men and spoke in a hushed tone. "Another is the Commander but he doesn't seem to be in the right frame of mind to make the decision of giving blood."
"He knows that Wash needs help if she's going to survive and if she'd died and he could have done something it would well... It'd destroy him." Jim stated. Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "Who are the other two then?" Jim asked.
"Lucas Taylor and Corporal Reilly. Lucas's medical information must have been logged before he betrayed his father. So the final candidate would be the Corporal. You best radio both her and Mr Boylan, I'll explain the situation when they get here." After she had concluded Elizabeth moved to aid the nurses doing their tasks. Finally all was ready and Alicia was wheeled off to the surgery area. With no power, the infirmary seemed a whole lot more grimmer. Jim had gathered as much manual powered lanterns as possible and had scattered them around the surgery area. The nurses wheeled Wash into the center of the room and began cutting her shirt off to give full access to where the metal shard had penetrated her body. Taylor stood at her side, his hand over her own caressing her soft skin with his gentle fingers. "It's gonna be okay." He told her.
Within a matter of seconds of radioing both Boylan and Reilly they arrived in the infirmary. Jim had known that Wash was highly respected among the entire of the colony, however he didn't realize how highly up until now. A crowd of people had gathered outside the double doors and were beginning to enter. Jim hurried over to the large group and explained the circumstances. He directed them all to Boylan's bar where his son Josh was placed in charge up until Boylan himself returned. After the group of people finally dispatched, Jim headed over to Elizabeth, Reynolds, Reilly and Tom Boylan. Elizabeth had already begun explaining what Wash's condition was. "She's lost a vast amount of blood. Before I'm willing to operate we need to be able to replace the blood she's already lost and the blood she will lose during the operation. The time I've had to find matching blood types has been limited so I've only been able to come up with three candidates."
"Let's get this party started then." Boylan said cheerfully.
"It's not that simple." Elizabeth stated slightly irrated by Boylan's choice of words. This was not going to be a walk in the park.
"Well Doc, you take our blood and then you feed it Washington."
"Don't be so stupid Boylan." Reilly said with a huff followed by a deep breath. "What do ya mean Doc and who's the other candidate?"
"Taylor is the other" Elizabeth replied glancing over to him before answering the other question "As I only found you three, I'm going to have to take more blood than any normal blood donor would give. It might leave you all very weak for a day or two. The thing is the next pilgrimage will be arriving in two days and I'm not sure the Commander being out of action is a good idea."
"Guzman and your husband can be in charge Ma'am. Don't worry about the pilgrimage everything has been planned in advance, we'll just have to make a few alterations that's all. So lets get this over and done with."
"Very well." Elizabeth said, she didn't know Reilly but something told her that she was similar to Wash in many ways. Reilly was all soldier, brave, authoritative and smart, all of which the Lieutenant had seen in her as she framed her into the soldier that she was today.
The nurses had Wash all ready to go. Although Wash was still unconscious they'd anesthetized her just to be safe. Elizabeth had taken blood from both Boylan and Reilly who were now resting in infirmary beds. Taylor lay on his own bed while Elizabeth began drawing blood from him.
"Wash used to do this." He said still staring as the blood left his body. "Back in Somalia before she was medevaced. I always got myself into the most dangerous situations. If it hadn't been for her I'd probably not be here now. She was there for me, but i was't there for her." He concluded clearly in pain about the situation.
"You two are close aren't you." She stated waiting for him to respond. His eyes were still fixed on the task at hand but his brows twitched slightly and she was sure she heard a small chuckle.
"That we are. We've been through hell and back together and I wouldn't want to go there with anyone else. You will ... you know ... make her better wont you?" He asked. He almost sounded like a child.
"I'll do my best Commander. I swear to you I will."
The operation was grim and quite frankly one big mess. Elizabeth could only use the equipment that she had available, the amount of blood that she'd expected Wash to lose during the operation was as expected. As she'd pulled the metal shard out of Wash's abdomen a vast amount of her blood had covered both Elizabeth and the surrounding area, the nurses jumped back slightly in shock however Elizabeth stood her ground. For a long few minutes it was touch and go. Wash flat lined twice meaning that Elizabeth had to apply chest compressions, the second time took longer than the first to get her heart beating, she'd almost stopped but Taylor's words lingered in her mind make her better wont you, he had said. With all the will in the world Elizabeth had brought Wash back from the brink of death. She stitched up the soldier and bandaged and cleaned all of her wounds. As she was bandaged the abdominal wound Elizabeth noticed an old scar across her midsection. She remember going over Wash's medical records over and over but hadn't noticed any record logging this scar. The scar was strangely similar to a Cesarian scar she thought to herself. She finished bandaging the stitched up wound and made her way to where her husband, Reynolds and Guzman had been waiting. As she approached Jim he glanced at the dried blood that she hadn't cleaned from her clothes and upper arms. His expression was terrifyingly worried almost as though he'd already come up with the conclusion that Wash had died.
"Jim" Elizabeth said greeting him.
"She's gone isn't she?" He said moving his eyes down to the floor and placing a hand on his forehead. Guzman and Reynolds exchanged a worried glance.
"No. She made it through surgery." She replied with an exhausted smile. "Although she isn't quite out of the woods. Her heart stopped twice during the surgery, the second time was certainly touch and go. We've just got to hope that she regains consciousness." Jim pulled Elizabeth into a tight hug, while Guzman and Reynolds patted each other on the shoulder sharing huge smiles.
"When can we visit her?" Reynolds asked.
"Give it some time Mark. She's not even conscious, I assure you we're taking care of her. Come she her tomorrow." With that, Reynolds and Guzman bid them farewell. Elizabeth led her husband to the window in which saw into the Commander's room.
"Does he know?" Jim asked.
"He's been asleep since I took his share of blood for Wash." Elizabeth replied sadly. "I didn't think I should wake him, he'd probably want to go see her right now."
"Yeah of course." Jim stated reassuringly. "So how bad is her stomach wound?" He asked.
"It's manageable, we just have to keep an eye out for infection. Hey, which reminds me, do you know anything about Wash having a kid?"
"Wash have a kid? I most certainly haven't heard that." Jim replied shocked and confused.
"It's just I found an existing scar that looked pretty darn similar to a Cesarian scar. I mean I could be wrong but I've seen many in my time of being a doctor and I'm pretty sure that Wash has one."
"Maybe she lost the baby." Jim stated sadly.
"Maybe" Elizabeth replied. Both husband and wife directed their attention to the disturbed Commander tossing and turning in his bed. It was going to be a rough night Elizabeth thought to herself before kissing her husband on the cheek and parting to take a well earned sleep in one of the private rooms.
I really need to make these chapters longer :/ ... Okay I promise the next one will be longer and come sooner ... The next chapter will definitely involve more detail about Wash's past and we may even find out who her baby is :) ...Thanks again for the lovely reviews, you don't know how much they spur me on to write more :) Please find time to review again and give me your opinons !