Authors Note: Okay guys, the big chapter is finally here. After six different versions were scrapped, I finally came to this one. I didn't know if I was going to add in the gross stuff, but I decided that it would be a good part of the story. I studied a little bit of terminology, but I still don't know nearly enough to be perfect. Trust me guys, a lot of power went into this. 5 hours of non stop work and exhaustion is setting in. To top it all off, I want to get two more chapter out before I leave for my trip in two weeks. I don't want to spend my time in Florida without a computer and ideas floating around. Cheers!
Authors Note: I just read the ending to "Iron and Grace." I'm sad to see the story go since it is the reason why Ella and Ratchet are together today. If you haven't read it, go check it out. Don't forget to thank the author for the inspiration! We'll miss her!
Title: This Won't Hurt A Bit.
Left, right, left, right.
Tic…tic…tic…
Ella counted her steps as she walked passed her new bed. Her belongings surrounded her, most still unpacked. There was no time or motivation to place everything in its rightful spot.
Left, right, left, right.
Tic…tic…tic…
She passed her bed in the opposite direction. Her crutches clicked on the hard floor with each step. She never noticed it before, but now it was so loud she couldn't ignore it. It was highly annoying. The very high ceiling made it echo.
Left, right, left right.
Tic…tic…tic…
She wasn't sure how she was going to put up with a ceiling so high, but it had to be there for her bigger friends to enter. She didn't know it was actually an airplane hanger that Ratchet converted weeks ago.
Left, right, left right.
Tic…tic…tic…
The room was almost as big as the T.V. room back at her home, with a nice window to bring in some natural light. There were two different doors leading into the area. The first was big enough to support the Cybertronian owners of the base, the second was a human sized one freshly cut into the first. Right now, both were open. In it there was a bed the same size as the one she usually slept in, a small nightstand next to it with a lamp and several drawers.
Left, right, left right.
Tic…tic…tic…
Across the room was a television connected to a portable DVD player she had brought. The two sat on top of a nice dresser. In the left hand corner, just opposite of the door, was a small bathroom. It had everything she would need. This was the only place the ceiling was human sized. The only thing the room lacked was a closet, so Ella wasn't going to be able to hang up her clothes.
Left, right, left, right.
Tic…tic…tic…
This could be the last time she ever had to listen to that noise. She eyed her wheelchair sitting in the corner as she walked. She didn't really like the idea that she was going t end up back in that thing, but there wasn't much she could do about that. She probably wouldn't have to use it for long, but being stuck sitting in order to move wasn't fun.
Left, right, left, right.
Tic…tic…tic…
Suddenly, she looked to the side of her bed. In the hustle and chaos of the day, she had long forgotten about her backpack. The one thing she didn't think that she would forget.
Tic…tic…tic…tic…tic…
She carefully knelt down beside it, resting her butt on her unfeeling ankles. They dug into her uncomfortably, but she stayed in that position for convenience. Setting her crutches down, she picked up the bag. It was heavier now that she wasn't carrying it on her back. Hooking her right pinky finger around the zipper, she pulled it open to reveal what was inside. The sun glinted off the items as she looked down at them. She smiled as she pulled them out.
"Sorry for keeping you guys in there so long. I didn't want you to break." She whispered as she pulled out the first three framed pictures. She flipped through them to make sure the glass wasn't cracked.
"You three seem fine." She said, setting them onto the nightstand. The first two each held one picture of each sibling from a few school picture days back. Gracie looked so happy in her brand new pink shirt with her hair held back in a ponytail. Oliver didn't look nearly as pleased since he hadn't been allowed to where his favorite black shirt that day. Their mother always thought he looked good in green, so he looked cross in his hunter green polo. The last had all three of them smiling out at her. It was taking on a family trip years ago in front of the very vehicle she now called her friend. If she only knew then what she knew now. She reached back in and pulled out the final four.
"I should have known you would bring those." A voice chuckled from behind.
Ella wasn't surprised by him. With how badly the place echoed, she could hear him coming from a mile away. "How can I leave home without them? I need them to watch over me." She said, setting up the last ones. Two were full family pictures from a just before the accident, and one as far back as when she was a baby. The last one was the picture of her friends and her after they decorated the reluctant Ratchet.
"I will always hate that photograph." He glared at the last one.
"I'm not putting it back, so deal with it." She grinned. "You look so nice in pink."
"Are you feeling all right?"
Ella snorted back a laugh. "I'm hungry, really tired, my butt hurts from sitting so long, and I'm cranky because of Ironhide. What do you think?"
"It is better than I had expected, given the circumstances." He shrugged. "Do you like your living quarters?" He motioned around the room, mindful not to hit anything.
"It's great. Very clean." She had just begun to notice that this place smelled a bit like pool cleaner. "I didn't know you could get that pissed off. I swore you were going to blow something up with that gun. I thought you said you were the non-fighting type. I mean, you're mister peacemaker."
"Some moments in time call for such behavior." Ratchet shrugged. "I am known for my temper, and it was a proper place to use it in order to correct an issue."
Ella wasn't sure if he was kidding. "You're worse than I am with the frozen NERF balls. You would've blown his head clean off. Not that I'm complaining."
"I am sure you would not protest." He lifted a brow plate. "Besides, it would not be the first time he has lost a part in a fight with me. He has needed his servos put back into place after a few encounters with my blades."
"I like you more already."
"I knew you might enjoy that." Ratchet became more serious as he took a step forward and set an object beside her. "You need to get ready, Ella. I am ready to begin."
Ella picked up what he had dropped. It was a sterile back containing a pink hospital gown. She hated the fact that she was familiar with the ugly thing. "You're making me wear one of these?"
"I have to. I do not want to risk any infections from using your own attire." He watched as Ella pulled out the matching hairnet. "Also, I highly doubt you would be pleased if any life fluids were to spill onto your clothing."
"I totally didn't need to hear that. Gross." Her eyebrows dropped. She flicked her wrists a bit to spread the gown out. "This isn't going to be fun."
"That was never the intention." Ratchet knelt down beside her the best he could without disturbing her belongings. "Ella, do you understand what you are getting into?"
"Huh?"
"I need to know that you are absolutely certain you want to do this now. If you wish, I will wait until a better time. I will not do anything if you are not comfortable." His brow plates shifted upward to soften his look.
"Do you always ask your patients that?" She didn't look up.
"I never give them a chance."
"You are a scary, scary robot."
There was a pause. At first, Ratchet thought the young teenager was going to change her mind. Maybe she really wasn't ready for such a big step. He could just reschedule until the next summertime. She might even grow strong enough to walk on the legs she already had without the aid of crutches.
Then, she looked up at him with what seemed to be a fire in her eyes. "Dude, you're crazy! I didn't just spend all that time with Ironhide not to go through with this."
He hadn't thought of that. "All right," he stood back up, "please dress yourself in the proper attire. I will return in a short time."
"Wait!" She called after him as he started to leave. He stopped short of the door.
"Yes?"
"Do you want me to pull these suckers off?" She pointed to her fake legs. "You said you needed them."
"No, that will not be necessary. All I ask of you is to redress and wait for me to come for you."
"Okay." She followed him with her eye as he walked out of the room, his footsteps leading away. She looked back down at the pink gown. With the feel of the paper fabric, it was becoming more real. She wasn't going to see the night fall because her life was going to be changing.
"Oh boy." For the first time all day, she finally admitted to herself that she was nervous."
X
A very short time later, Ratchet returned to find the girl sitting on her bed. She had removed her regular clothes, and looked quite uncomfortable in the dressing gown. She kept reaching in back to close the little opening where the gown tied together. There was nothing more embarrassing than showing your underwear to a million years old robot.
"You couldn't get one without the open back?" She said, pinning the gown shut with her good hand.
"I use what I am given." He saw that her eye patch was now gone from her face and sitting next to the lamp.
"I don't like it! You can see my underwear and everything, you perv."
"It was not my choice, I told you that. You will just have to deal with it."
She was now looking up at him with the one eye she called 'the marble.' "I don't even want to know how you got all this stuff." She noticed two different needles in his hand. "Oh crap."
He followed her gaze up to his hand. He knew she didn't have a good history with needles being stuck into her skin. "I am sorry, Ella, but this is what I need to use to make you rest."
"Oh no you don't. I know they only use one needle to make me start getting sleepy." She pointed accusingly at the sharp objects.
Ratchet pushed her hand down and lifted her sleeve. "You must remain calm. I know what I am doing." He said.
Ella watched with wide eyes as he brought the needle closer. As it hovered above the skin on her right arm, she shut her eyes and turned away. She held her breath and waited.
"There."
Ella was surprised. She hadn't had a time where the needle didn't sting or anything. She opened her eyes and looked down at her arm. She couldn't even see a hole. "Wow Ratchet, that wasn't so…" She was cut off by a stinging sensation in her left arm. She looked over to see him pushing the plunger down on the first needle and let out a yelp as he pulled it out. Her head whipped around, her eye almost piercing his armor. "You jerk!"
"I needed you to be calm so the tension in your muscles would not hinder the nutrients." He said, placing the needle into a small bag to be disposed of later. "Some of your vitamin levels looked a little low for what your body is about to endure. What I have just injected into your arm should give you a proper boost until you can resume consuming nutrients through food items."
"That doesn't make you any less of a jerk." She grumbled, holding her arm.
"Stop acting like a little protoform. It was not a big deal." He rolled his optics at her as he brought the second needle down.
"I don't trust you with that thing." She said, guarding herself.
"Ella, I need you to put your hand down. This will start the process of your anesthetic." He was starting to become frustrated with the girl. Granted, she was far easier to work with than a fully built mech, but it was annoying none the less.
Ella glared at him for a second more before lowering her hands. "Fine." Again, she turned away when she knew the needle was coming. This time, Ratchet didn't lie. She felt the pain of the sharp object entering her upper left arm. She thought about how she was going to be sore in both arms when she woke up, not really remembering she was probably going to hurt in more places than that.
"There. That was not so bad, was it?" He asked, placed the second needle with the first. Ella didn't see where he placed the bag, but it disappeared within seconds. He then lowered his hand to her.
"You're going to carry me?" She looked with curiosity.
"If you would rather walk…" he started,
The girl shook her head. "Not really. That stuff works way too fast and I can't afford to get another bruise." She allowed herself to be tipped into his hand. It wasn't as comfortable as his shoulder, but she felt safe.
"Operation Ella has officially begun." He said as he walked from her room.
"That is so corny."
"As you humans say, 'no comments from the peanut gallery.'" He answered.
Within the few seconds since leaving the room, Ella began to feel light headed. Whatever he gave to her, it was working fast. "Am I supposed to feel drunk?" She slurred her words, but they were clear enough.
"How would you know what it feels to be drunk?" He looked down at her from the corners of his optics. As the girls' biosigns ran across his inner optic systems, it appeared her entire system was slowing down. The medicine was working just as planned.
"This stuff is nice." Ella gave a goofy smile as she started up into the large florescent lights. They were hypnotic as they passed by.
"It is a mild sedative. It will keep you calm so your system does not become overstressed before I can administer the anesthetics."
Ella tilted her head back. "What?"
It wouldn't do any good to explain anything now. She was three sheets to the wind and it was doubtful she would be able to remember anything past the needle argument. Ratchet stayed quiet as he passed through a set of double doors to enter his work area/repair bay.
"Whoa," the teenager breathed out. There were wires and random pieces of metal hanging from the ceiling and tables full of tools she couldn't have named even in her normal state. In the middle of the room was a long, shiny table with several straps hooked to it. On the table was a much smaller platform she figured was for her. Beside the area was a tray holding the box of her new parts, along with some very scary looking cutting tools. The only machines familiar to her was the ventilator and the IV stand.
"Stay calm. Most of my collection is not for you." Ratchet said, sensing a spike in the girls' heart rate.
"You try to!" She snapped.
The big bot ignored her. It was merely the sedative causing her emotions to become slightly off balanced.
"You will not feel anything in a short while. None of my tools will cause you any pain as long as you are in an induced sleep." He carefully laid her down on his modified operating table.
Ella had to squint her eye against the bright lights. She couldn't see what was happening around her.
"Ow," she murmured as her friend slipped the I.V. needle into the back of her good hand. She didn't want to know where all of the supplies came from. It was better to be left in the dark sometimes.
"Your aversion to needles is quite fascinating. Such a harmless object causing a tremendous fear response." He covered her torso with a paper blanket, leaving only the areas he would be working on exposed.
"Less studying, more knocking out." Her whole body was starting to feel heavy.
"No need to be rude." Ratchet said softly, still a bit annoyed with the girl. She was turning into a regular dented, vain Autobot. It kind of reminded him of home.
With gentle precision, he touched the tip of his finger to various parts of her exposed body. When she looked down, she saw little yellow markers had been left behind.
"Huh?" she looked at him, confused.
"They are monitors that feed right into my optics and auditory sensors. If anything were to happen, Primus forbid, I will see and hear it quickly." He said as he put the last one into place on her good wrist.
She picked her arm up slightly to look at it, but immediately had to set it back down. "Oh." She wondered if he heard her heart give a nervous flutter.
"Ella…are you ready?"
She looked up to see him holding a clear mask in his hand. There was no turning back now. "Do it before I change my mind."
"Everything will be all right."
"I know." She wanted to cry. "Even if it doesn't, I'll still love you."
Ratchet brought the mask down over her face "I need you to start reciting the alphabet."
She looked up at him and gave him a soft smile. "See you on the other side." Then, turning her gaze to the ceiling, she took a deep breath. As her friend turned the knobs of the tanks, the hiss of the gas coming through the tubes filled her ears. It would be the last sound she would be hearing in a long time.
For once, Ella didn't feel much like talking but she did as she was told. "A…B…C…" she started, slowly tapering off at the third letter. It had only taken seconds for the girl to fall under, but Ratchet knew there were still many hours to go.
"Sleep well, Ella." Her vital signs had slowed a bit, but remained stable.
Getting to work, he had to make sure the small human wasn't going to wake up before she was supposed to. From a nearby tray, he pulled off a breathing tube and the necessary attachments as he refocused his optic for a much closer look.
"Time is 3:25 pm." The computer next to him chirped in response. It had begun to record the data Ratchet was receiving from his optics.
Taking the mask off, he carefully pried Ellas mouth open. It wasn't as simple as it sounded since the girl clinched her jaw very tightly in her sleep. She had tried wearing a night brace before, but she broke about five before giving up. Finally, without having to resorted to a bit of bone breaking, her mouth fell open.
"Easy," he told himself as he threaded the tiny tube down Ellas trachea. Even with practice on handmade dummies, it was still extremely difficult to place it right. Not only was it being pushed a bit by her breathing, he had to make sure it wasn't going into her stomach.
"There," he said with much relief. It was in perfect position. Hooking it up to the tanks, he had one less thing to worry about.
It was starting to dawn on him how tiny this human really was as he taped her good eye closed. Sure, he could pick her up and she barely stood tall enough to reach the top of his foot, but she seemed even more helpless and small now. A tiny body filled with threads of organic circuitry and a skeleton make of calcium rather than metal. It could shatter by a force that seemed like nothing to him.
Yet, this girl was not as weak as she appeared. If she could survive a Decepticon bomb, she was strong enough to withstand this.
"Computer!" The computer system beeped to acknowledge him. "The procedure has begun. Relay this message to Optimus Prime and Bumblebee." He left Ironhide off on purpose. That bot wouldn't have given two lug nuts about this.
"Message relay engaged." The computer spoke back.
"Thank you."
He picked up a scalpel from his tray, magnifying his vision once more. Moving Ellas he brought the silver blade down to the flesh of the top of her appendage. The second the tip touched her it broke through the delicate epidermis, leaving behind a trail of red. Moving quickly, Ratchet sopped up the heavy liquid with one of many medical sponges waiting for this situation. He couldn't stop now. He continued to draw the knife draw the girls arm until he reached the last joint on the back of Ellas middle finger.
"Truly fascinating." He whispered to himself set the scalpel down and picked up was he usually used as a soldering gun. Its heating agent had been turn down substantially, but it was still hot enough to do it's job right. Little trails of smoke floated up to Ratchets face as the tool carefully parted fat and muscle from the white bone beneath. The tool kept the blood at bay as much as it could, but a few drops leaked every now and then. He could feel the wetness on his fingers, how warm it felt under the heavy lights. It was heavier than oil, but lighter than engergon. This simple liquid held much of the life force for his human friend.
He put the soldering gun down after finishing with the girls hand. He used a few braces to hold back the flesh, leaving only the bone exposed. He could see a few of her wrist bones had been fused, but this wasn't going to be much of a problem for the trained medic. He checked the girls vital signs again. Her blood pressure was holding, and her complete system was fairing very well given the circumstances.
"Good girl." He said to her. She couldn't hear him, but she needed all the encouragement she could get.
Placing the medical sponges within the flesh, he made sure nothing would get in the way of what he was about to do. He turned his attention to the second tray. Using his thumb and index fingers, he delicately picked up the inner workings of Ellas arm. Metal, gears, and wires were soon going to give the young teenager the proper movement she deserved.
"This may hurt." Ratchet let out by accident. He was so used to having his patients awake, it just slipped out. Shaking it off, he pushed the device on top of the sharp white bone he had exposed. He lined the elbow gears perfectly, snapping it into place. As his fingers moved along her arm, the metal was settling on the parts of the bone it had been programmed to. It even left the proper amount of space between the radius and the ulna. When he reached the carpals and metacarpals of the wrist, he took two wires from the device and brought them together.
"You better work." He hissed. In an instant, the new arm seemed to melt and shift. It was surrounding the bones like a blanket, bringing them back into their rightful place. He thanked Primus for giving his kind this technology to shift into different shapes and sizes, or this would have worked. As the last of the metacarpals were surrounded, he took the very last part into his fingers. Folding the fingers backward, he clicked the flat area to the back of the girls hand. With quick movements to ensure that nothing would become out of place, he slipped each finger in their slots, leaving the middle one for last.
"Okay." Every gear was now in place. The white of the bone was gone, replaced by the shining silver metal that had once belonged to Jazz. He felt a soft tug at his spark at the mere thought of his fallen comrade.
Pushing it from his memory, he gathered up the last of the wiring that made this part of the project complete. He pointed at the wires, his finger pulling back to reveal a special sealing tool. Simple human ties wouldn't have worked in this situation. He stuck the two ends of the wires into the built in tool, fusing them together. He could feel the power between them, the soft pulse of motion returning. He observed the arm. A shiver traced down the entire device, showing him it was now activated.
"Perfect!" He cried out. He looked around to make sure no one had heard that. He had a reputation as a level headed medic to maintain. He slipped the wires underneath the girl muscle, away from view and obstruction. Her arm was now complete.
Letting a bit of air out of his system, he pulled the medical sponges out of the wound, careful to count each one so none was left behind. After disposing the bloody lump of fabric into a dish, he began working to bring the muscles back together. It was as simple as rewiring an Autobot, if said Autobot had been full of bloody spaghetti. Everything had to be put back into its rightful home or he would have more work to do after everything started to heal. Once the several trails of muscles were back together, it was time to bring the skin back.
"Where is it?" He thought as he searched the trays. Finally, he spotted the surgical stapler. Stitches just weren't going to do the trick. Again, started at the elbow, he set a staple every few centimeters apart. Her skin came together slowly but surely. He reached as far as the back of her hand when he stopped. The staples would surely not fit on a finger so slender. Instead, he put the stapler away. It would just have to be old fashions thread and needle here. He had pre threaded it to save him precious time. The longer the girl was under anesthetic, the harder it could be to bring her back.
"Watch your strength." He need to constantly remind himself that this was just a little girl, a human child. The hooked needle pierced the skin several more times before Ratchet tied the final knot. Aside from the bits of metal and string holding it together, her arms looked fairly normal.
"Computer, send a second relay to Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. Tell them phase one has just been completed. Bandaging to commence and phase two beginning now."
"Message sent." The computer chirped back.
"Right." He turned his full attention back to his patient. Taking a second to sterilize his hands with self imposed heat, he grabbed the bandages from his nearby work station. He first wrapped her wound in soft cotton to keep the cast from chafing the girl to death. He then wrapped the arm several times in a soft layer of gauze. There would be no need for a hard top layer, since the soft one would be so thick. In short, her arm wasn't going anywhere until he determined it was healed. When finished, Ellas arm looked nothing short but a piece of an Egyptian mummy.
"One down, two more to go." There was no time for a break. He covered her arm under a paper blanket and moved onto phase two: the eye.
"Beginning phase two." He announced. He checked the girls vital signs once more. Everything was holding steady. Taking up two holders, he slipped them beneath the girls eyelids in over to hold them wide open. The tear duct would be paralyzed by the medicated given to Ella through the I.V. tubes at the moment, so nothing would get wet. The marble stared up at him, haunting him.
Extending the very tips of his index finger and thumb, they became a very fine tipped set of tweezers. Without hitting the pieces of wire holding back the lids, he used his fine fingertips to pluck the marble out of the eye socket.
The marble wasn't much of a sphere at all, but a curved piece of thick glass held in place by a pin. Even with all of the fundraising to get Ella a new eye, she had always refused it and took the marble instead. She said it made her feel more whole, whereas a fake eye would have creeped people out. She didn't want to scare people, so she settled on the marble and pink eye patch.
The marble gave a click as it landed in the dish next to the bloody sponges. It was a little sad to see it go, but it was such a big reminder of what had been lost. Half of Ellas world was left dark by that thing. Using the tweezers once more, he went to remove the pin from the flesh in the back of her eye socket. This was proving to be harder than first thought. Even the most careful tug didn't break it free.
"Stupid arcane ways." He rolled his optics, and returned to work. If the humans had just done a little more research, the too could learn the medical ways he learned in his years of research. Finally, with a tug that felt as though he would pull Ellas face off, the pin came out. With his free hand, he took a sponge to stop the bleeding of the small hole left behind as he dropped the pin along side the marble.
"Took long enough." He was not particularly happy at this point. If this had been one of the twins, he would have gladly smacked a wrench between their optics and told them to get of. Unfortunately, there was no way to vent his frustrations in this situation.
He took the sponge away, happy that the bleeding had subsided so quickly. He had to remind himself that even if things had been going right so far, there were going to be little annoyances every now and then.
He retracted the points back into his finger and thumb in order to pick up the new eyeball properly. It looked so much like his own optic, he didn't know how if could possibly work within a human body. For now, the special covering he had made for it would have to wait a bit longer. He looked at it closely under his magnification. Everything looked to be in proper order and clean.
From the back of the eye, he pulled out a short tendril of wires and a thin metal claw. It would have to be up to the technology rather than his own hands to connect the eyeball to the right optic nerves. He had already programmed it to recognize Ella damaged one and be able to right the problem within her own skull.
Carefully, he brought the metal claw to the eye socket. Instantly, it dug through the scar tissue, burrowing its way to what it was looking for. Switching his left eye to x-ray, he watched was the claw did it's job, connecting the wires to their places with ease. Ratchet constantly compared the bad eye to the good one, making sure everything was being hooked up right.
"Good, good." He murmured, holding the bulk of the eye on Ellas covered cheek. The wires and claw needed all the room they could get at this point. With all of the tiny pieces being put back together, he knew the girl was going to be complaining about at headache for a few days.
With the connection of the final wire, the claw zipped back out of the socket and melded perfectly with the optic itself. It would never need to be used again.
Ratchet had to suction the blood away before wiping it away. Far too much was started to collection in the socket itself. Once clean, Ratchet pushed the optic into the socket. It looked far too big at this time, but it was the same size as its organic twin. Satisfied that everything was all set, he pulled the lid holders out of Ellas eye. It stayed open for the first minute, the eye dark as night. Suddenly, its blue light shined through and the shutters around it moved. It was in working order, even if the girl couldn't see yet.
"Excellent." Nothing had gone horribly wrong yet, and phase two was now finished. He closed the girls eye and placed removable stitches over the eye to keep to closed. Again, he reached for the gauze.
"Computer, relay a message. Tell Optimus Prime and Bumblebee phase two is now complete. Moving onto phase three."
It hadn't seemed like much time had passed, but Ratchet could feel fatigue beginning to wash over him. It wasn't enough that would cause him to go offline in the middle of surgery, but it was a big enough reminder that he was going to need to rest for a while after everything was said and done. He checked his internal clock. The procedure so far had taken him until 9:14 pm already. He couldn't believe that it would most likely be dark outdoors already. Everything was rushing by him.
After wrapping the bandage around her head, mindful to avoid covering her good eye, he knew the hardest part was just beginning. Now he had work on her legs, the biggest pieces of the girls missing body.
"Do not give up now." He thought to himself as he put the gauze away. Now wasn't the time to get bogged down. The girl had already spent a good six hours under anesthetic, and it wouldn't be safe if it lasted too much longer. She needed to be finished and back in her room in no time, but there was no room for errors either.
He set up the blanket stand to shield the teenagers face from the bright lights. It was about time she was able to sleep in semi darkness. Moving to the end of the table, he disconnected two places just under what was left of the girls lets.
"Beginning phase three." After this, he never wanted to hear the word 'phase' again. He'd had enough of it for one lifetime.
With ease, he removed the legs the human doctors had fashioned for her. No more would she have to lumber around on them like a circus performer on stilts. He took off the stockings she used to keep the tops of the legs comfortable, but he could tell she had been sweating below them. It was no wonder why she was always so uncomfortable. He cleaned the stumps of her legs with a special antibacterial soap to take away the sweat, leaving behind the white skin.
He turned away from her, attention going to the fake legs. He set them on the try next to the legs he had fashion for her. They seemed to be waiting for their first movement, but that would take time. First, he had to add the human metals in order to keep Ellas body from rejecting them entirely.
With the ease of a knife through butter, Ratchet sent a laser beam through the fake legs where the metal met the holder. It was a clean cut, no debris left behind. Pushing the unneeded parts away, he shifted his attention to the ones he had built. With one quick motion, he opened both of them to reveal the hollow spots. He placed each of the human made legs into the hollow spots. It was a perfect fit right now to the soles of the feet.
"Please work." He said out loud as he closed the legs back up. He had never attempted to mix metals like this before, so he didn't know what was going to happen once he closed them.
At first, nothing appeared to be happening. There was no sound or movement from the two appendages. Suddenly, as if by magic, the legs began to shift. The seams began to close around the new metal objects and the rubber feet. The Cybertronian metal even worked it's way in-between the separate toes of the fake feet.
"Perfect." The legs were now ready for the teenagers body. She would be able to walk with them, grow with them, and move her toes around, even be tickled on the bottoms of her feet. Not that she really wanted that, but it was possible.
Since the legs needed time to warm down, it was time to place the braces that would hold everything. The braces would also provide a gateway for bone to mesh with metal, allowing the full range of sensations to happen.
He picked the brace up from the same table as the legs and set them down on the table Ella still lay. Each brace had a section in the middle that would remove the skin in the way of the bone and allow full access of the new leg to attach. It would be held in place by thick screws that would go straight into the bone in order to prevent one from coming loose too soon. He would need to check that every now and then throughout her life. Her blood pressure had dropped slightly, but not enough to stop everything. She was turning into one of his favorite patients.
Picking up another scalpel, he made cuts along the girls skin where the screws would be inserted. They would need a straight shot to the bone if this was going to work perfectly. When all four places were cut, he quickly went to work with the soldering gun. This area of the body bled much easier than the arm, so many sponges and a lot of suction was needed to keep the area clear. Finally, each cut was deep enough where he could see the white of the bone showing through the dense muscle and fat of the leg.
He placed the brace against the stump of her leg. Using the screwdriver built into his own hand, he began to push the screws into their final resting places. They made loud scraping noises as they broke through bone, but didn't shatter it. It wasn't nearly as difficult as he thought it was going to be.
After the last screw was in place, he moved onto the middle section of the brace. It had done its job by cutting away at the girls leg. He slowly turned the middle circle in a full motion. He could feel the muscles and tendons give away as it turned, snapping away as they were sliced. In a normal person, this would be a huge mistake. In this case, it was the only way it would happen. Ratchet opened the middle circle and pulled it out. Inside was a lump of flesh that would no longer be needed. It was still bleeding, but it wouldn't be damaging to the small human. As he took it away and placed it next to the other bloody tools, it seemed to still pulsated, wanting to resume its work within the body.
Ratchet turned his attention back to his task. He picked up the right new leg and slipped the metal tip stick out above the actual bulk of the leg into the cavity. This leg would need to connect with both the tibia and the fibula in order to work correctly. As the rest of the leg shifted itself around the brace, the connection lines disappeared. What was left behind was the perfect blend of human and Cybertronian.
Fatigue was growing even more within Ratchet as he checked the time around. It had taken him two hours to complete this much of the leg reattachment. He wasn't sure where the time what goes so quickly. This must have been what the humans meant by 'time flies.'
Things seemed like everything was going to end perfectly. It all came down to this last few pieces and they both could rest peacefully through what was left of the nighttime. That is, until things started to go horribly wrong.
He didn't know what caused it, but the bleeding of her second leg just wouldn't quit. Through the tracers, he could see Ellas heart rate start to become erratic and her blood pressure was falling fast. He just couldn't find where he had nicked the important artery in her leg.
"Ella, stay with me." He said, trying not to panic. This wasn't good. Her heart couldn't get a regular rhythm. He had to find the source of the severe bleeding, or she would die.
His hands were covered in so much blood, even the yellow parts were starting to turn red. If he had ever willingly watched a horror movie, it would have been just like this.
"Ella, come on!" He yelled out. He cleared the area around her chest and administered a shock. Her heart rate jumped, but didn't return to normal.
"No, no, no," he tried again, but it still didn't work. The girl was still bleeding out. Her body was starting to shut down as he watched. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't save her family, but he couldn't lose her as well.
"ELLA!"