Explosions. Gunfire racing up and down the streets, with the occasional frantic burst of radio traffic coming from the radio. Blake tuned it all out. Instead, he focused on the wolf in front of him, missing both of his legs.
"It hurts! God it hurts!" The wolf screamed, thrashing underneath Blake as he kneeled on his thighs, using the weight of his body to slow the bleeding.
"I know buddy." Blake said, trying to keep his voice calm. He secured the first tourniquet above the amputated leg and pulled a second one out of his bag, which was open and laying right beside him. "I know it hurts. I'll do something about that soon ok?"
"Please, god, just give me something!" The wolf cried out as he thrashed, but Blake was able to secure the tourniquet despite his movement. After verifying that the bleeding was controlled, he shifted off of the wolf's thighs, kneeling next to him as he continued his assessment.
Airway, patent. Breathing, equal rise and fall bilaterally. Circulation, bilateral radial pulses. Tourniquets still having positive effect. Blake continued to go through his assessment, and finally began to start working on getting an IV as soon as he knew it was safe too.
The wolf lay there, moaning in pain. Blake finally managed to land the stick, reaching back towards his bag to draw up the pain medication. As soon as he had the painkiller drawn up, he turned back and froze.
He was no longer kneeling in a street, with a wolf in front of him. Instead, he was kneeling over an otter. Blake let out a pained gasp and dropped the syringe, clutching at his chest. When he looked down at his hands, they were covered in blood. His blood. Looking back up, Blake saw the room that he had dragged his three fellow ASOC members into the night he had lost Finnaly. Looking back down, he realized he was kneeling over Otterton, who was laying on the floor, moaning in pain.
After sitting there stunned for a few seconds, trying to process the sight in front of him, Blake managed to pick up the syringe and inject the painkillers. Struggling up to his feet, Blake looked around the room, and saw SGT Oats on the ground, just to the right of Otterton. He could see the blood starting to pool around him. Stumbling as he moved, Blake tried to get to him, but he tripped and fell face first into the soft dirt.
"Get up! Get up! Get to cover!" He heard someone screaming, and Blake looked around wildly. He was in a poppy field, bullets snapping and cracking overhead. He heard a pained scream and he pushed himself onto his feet, and then the frantic cry of "Medic!" began to come from his left.
Moving with a purpose, Blake sprinted over towards the frantic cries. He slid into the trench that the wounded soldier was lying in, his hands blood soaked as he tried to put pressure on the wound in his neck.
Blake quickly set to work packing the wound, and then wrapping it with an elastic bandage. When he was certain he had the bleeding under control, he reassured the wounded mammal that he would be fine, and then sprinted up and out of the trench, heading towards the location of the platoon headquarters element.
As Blake ran forward, he half ignored all the bullets landing around him. He didn't stop moving until he reached the wall to the compound they were meant to be searching. As he stacked up on the wall, he fell into the stack as the 2nd man.
"Breaching!" The point man shouted, but as he turned the corner he caught two rounds and slammed down onto his back. Blake didn't hesitate. Adjusting his movement, he grabbed the soldier's vest by the drag handle and began to haul him into cover. As soon as they reached cover, Blake shrugged of his bag and dropped down to his knees, feeling himself thump into the ground.
The goat was moaning in agony, barely moving on the ground. Blake quickly got his gloves on and did a blood sweep, finding no major bleeds from his neck or extremities. His airway was intact, and black pulled the quick release tabs on the goats vest, lifting it clear of his chest.
Two holes stared up at Blake, both in the upper torso. Moving swiftly, Blake covered one of them with a hand while the other hand reached into his bag and pulled out his chest seals. Opening the first one, he grabbed it and positioned it to cover the first bullet hole.
"Exhale, exhale, exhale." He said loudly, yelling over the gunfire, before pressing the seal down over the wound and smoothing it out, making sure that the seal was good. He repeated the process for the second wound, and then began to assess his patient's breathing.
The chest rise and fall was greatly reduced, and Blake could tell the goat was struggling to breath. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a chest decompression needle and felt down the ribs. Upon finding his insertion point, Blake darted the chest, hearing the pop-hiss of air rushing out of the chest cavity as the catheter did its job.
The soldier shifted slightly, his helmet leaving his head at an odd angle. Unclipping the chinstrap, Blake slipped his helmet off, and then reached down and pulled off his combat goggles. He recognized the face instantly.
SGT Oats.
Jolting upright, Blake looked around the room, gasping for breath. Breathing deeply, Blake began to think back over the dream, trying to force himself to calm down.
That was...that was strange. I've never had that one before. All the mixing...does any of that mean anything?
After several minutes, Blake finally managed to calm himself down enough to lay back down. Closing his eyes, he felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep again.
Hopefully no more dreams this time.
Yeah, another short chapter. Sorry about that, but hey, the next one will be longer, I promise, but it might not contain all the answers that they seek. Only time(and tomorrow) will tell.
Once again, thank you for all the support from everyone. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story, which is actually one reason it has gone as long as it has. I'm glad it has gone this long too, as it's allowing me to further develop my characters in ways that I didn't expect them to go.
Either way, the adventure(and maybe healing?) will continue. As always, happy reading!