On occasion Warrior's back would give her troubles. Usually, it was manageable. Sometimes, she'd be slower than usual and wincing but she could still do her job if she put her mind to it. But on rare occasion it got really bad. And this time, the pain got so bad that she was confined to her berth, unable to move at all. Mary was worried. "Do you need me to get you anything?" She asked one afternoon. Next to her, in her usual spot at Berth 44, Warrior was leaning heavily against the dock. She was trying to read a book but was having a hard time focusing, having to go back to the same page over and over again. "A cup o' tha' tea ya have brewin' there woul' be nice." She replied. Her Irish brogue only became this heavy when she was exhausted, in pain or both. Mary sighed. "When was the last time you slept Warrior?" She asked. "Five, no six days ago, methinks. I forget." Warrior shrugged. Mary shook her head, digging through her staterooms until she found what she was looking for. "Here, take some ibuprofen." Warrior gratefully took the red pills, washing them down with a splash of Mary's tea. She sighed. "Thank ya Mary." She said. The anti-inflammatory did their work just long enough for Warrior to get a few hours rest but by the next morning, the pain had returned. And it was worse, much worse.
When Mary woke, she was greeted to a rather unpleasant sight. It was a cold drizzly day and Mary was about to grumble about typical English weather when she looked across the berth. To see any ship lying on their sides invoked a sense of fear. It usually meant that something was very, very wrong. "Warrior!" She gasped. Warrior shivered, giving a low moan in reply. "Tell me what to do, Warrior. Please..." Mary had never felt so helpless before. With Liz and Adonia both on separate cruises there was no one here to offer her any medical advice. She was on her own and she had no idea what she was going to do! "Mary, I'll be alright. I've had these pains before." Warrior rasped. "You've had this problem before?" Mary wondered. "Not quite this bad, but close. Several times." Warrior answered, groaning as another wave of pain hit her. Her hull quivered. Mary pressed her nose to her flank, pulling back almost immediately. "You're as cold as ice." She gasped, pulling out several large blankets to cover her with. She curled around her, using her own bulk to block the weather for good measure. Warrior immediately relaxed. Her muscles were still as tense as ever but she looked a bit more comfortable at least. "Thank you Mary." She coughed. Mary nuzzled her warmly in reply. Warrior raised her head, leaning into it but after a few second she winced and let her head fall back down again. Warrior could only sigh as Mary started work on her tense muscles, squeezing and rubbing them in an effort to loosen her up. Mary dosed her up with painkillers again before leaving for a meeting with Oriana and the other Carnival flagships.
Mary tried to focus, she really did. But AIDAbella's lecturing and Atlantica's droning speeches the meetings were boring enough as it was. Oriana was the only one who seemed to notice that something was off with Cunard's flagship. She leaned over. "What's bothering you Mary?" She whispered. "It's Warrior. She's not doing so good right now. I had to leave her to attend." Mary replied. Oriana frowned. She was one of only a handful of ships outside Cunard who knew Warrior's true identity. "I'll try and speed things along." She said and clearing her throat, she did just that. Mary made a note to thank her bonded later.
Warrior was still lying on her side when Mary arrived. She seemed to be resting but opened one crimson eye as she approached. "How was the meeting?" She asked. "Boring. Until Oriana sped things up. I owe her own." Mary answered. Warrior chuckled, wincing a bit as she shifted her position. "You hungry?" Mary asked. "Famished." Warrior replied. She was pleased when Mary made her some of her famous soup. Usually reserved for the sick and the invalid, it was almost worth being down for. Warrior couldn't rise up enough to eat it on her own so Mary spoon fed her. Warrior would be lying if she said this didn't wound what little pride she had but she accepted it because she had no other choice. Once she finished, Mary put her to bed. Oriana came by. Looking down at Warrior she said "Mary, she needs a drydock." "I know that. But there isn't one available here." Mary said. "There's always the Thompson dock." Oriana said. "In Belfast? She goes in there, they'll be sure to discover her identity. Oriana, are you certain she's ready for that?" Mary asked. "She can't stay hidden forever Mary. Nor can you always be around to hide her." Oriana said gently. Mary sighed, pressing her muzzle to her bonded's shoulder. "You're right. You're right." She relented. "I'll mind the port while you're gone." Oriana promised. "Oriana, what would I ever do without you?" Mary smiled for the first time all day. She grasped Warrior by the back of her neck and hauling her upright. Warrior gave a slight whimper of pain, fighting to stay in control of it. Instead of letting her settle on her keel, Mary lifted her up and Oriana helped to rest her across Mary's deck. "Thank you..." Warrior's voice trailed off. When Mary looked back she could see that the older ship had fallen asleep. Probably the first real sleep she had gotten in days.
It was a day and a half steam to Belfast. Mary took it nice and slow to avoid injuring Warrior further. The old ship's back was hurting her to the point where Mary was concerned that some damage had been done to the bone. Warrior was awake for the second half of the trip, but she was very quiet. The seas weren't rough but they weren't flat either and the slightest shift caused her to cry out in pain no matter how gentle Mary was. She was extra careful when they finally arrived in Belfast, gingerly setting her down in the drydock. Warrior whined, reaching up for Mary. "It's okay. I'm right here." She soothed her. Warrior relaxed a little and soon she was under a heavy dose of morphine. Workman swarmed her, checking every hull plate. They soon found the problem. "Ah Mary," One of them asked. "Did she ever have an accident severe enough to cause a graft?" "Aye." Mary felt her mouth turn dry as she said it. "She uh, hit something and it split her in half." A partial truth but it was accurate enough. "Well, whoever put her back together failed to take the lymphs into account." He said and Mary hissed, instantly understanding what the problem was. Her despair grew. Lymph nods, hundreds of them, lined a ships spine. Gathering points for the bundles of nerves that ran along a ship's back. Damage one of them, and they had a nasty habit of swelling. Putting pressure on the nerves and the spine until something gave. "Not to put down the job or anything. It was nice workmanship but for some reason, these lymphs aren't agreeing." Mary felt her heart sink even more at this even though she wasn't sure why. She felt somewhere that she had the answer. The workman did a few more checks before coming to the same conclusion that she had, subconsciously, already prepared herself to hear. "It's worse than we thought. Her body's rejecting the mods. Not much we can do about that, except if we could somehow replicate her original fittings." "Let's say for arguments sake that you can." Mary said, already coming to her decision. "What happens to her if you can't?" She asked. "To be blunt ma'am. She'll be dead in three months." Mary closed her eyes. Warrior would hate her for this, she knew. But she couldn't just let her die, not when she had the means to save her. "You can replicate her fittings. Most of them at least. I dunno how much time that would buy her but, you can do it." She said. "How?" The foreman asked. "Pull off one of her name plates. It's a fake. Her real name lies underneath and it should provide you with all the answers you need." Although puzzled, the men did as she suggested. Even after 107 years, the grooves in the hull plating were clearly visible. Spelling out her 7 lettered name, the most famous name in history. There were gasps and whispers amongst the workman. At last the foreman spoke up "I see." And Mary could see he did see, only too clearly. She did not pity the US Coast Guard right about now. Because they were going to get a taste of how vicious a pissed off Irishman could be.
That aside, work progressed. Although not everything could be replaced, some of it was replicatable. It wouldn't stop the inevitable but it would buy Warrior enough time to live at least a mostly full life. The life she'd been denied before. The last factor to deal with were the swollen lymphs. There was no easy way to deal with them. The quickest and easiest way was to drain them. A procedure that was probably the most torturous in all of maritime history. A ship couldn't be put under for it. Because her spinal fluids needed to be spread evenly throughout her body. Something that was impossible if she was asleep. Warrior was given as much morphine as doctors dare pump into her and ropes were lashed across her body, keeping her completely immobile. Mary took her wires in her own as the first lymph was drained. Warrior's eyes widened and she immediately started struggling. The ropes held fast, keeping her in place. At the second puncture she started to cry. By the third, she was screaming. She gripped Mary so tightly, Mary couldn't feel her wires but she held on whispering assurances to the stricken liner. Finally, it was over. Warrior was left trembling, the nerves in her spine sending mixed signals to her brain. She wasn't sure if she should be in pain, or if she should start moving. Mary made sure she stayed put.
A few days later, Warrior was put back in the water. Word was inevitably getting around, despite Harland and Wolf's oath to secrecy. And Mary knew she would have to tell Warrior what she had done. Before they arrived in Southampton and all those adoring, fans. She shuddered despite herself. No wonder Warrior wanted it kept quiet. She'd never have a moment's peace again after this. "What's the matter Mary? You look like you've just witnessed something obscene." Warrior asked, familiar with Mary's face of disapproval. "I witnessed myself doing something terrible a few days ago." Mary replied. "Oh? And what's that?" Warrior asked. Mary looked down, steeling herself. "I-I was trusted with something, important. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. But I did." She admitted. For a second, Warrior looked confused. Then, her eyes widened as she connected the dots. "Mary..." She whispered. "I know, I know. I shouldn't have. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But you were going to die if I didn't say something! They told me you only had three months if they couldn't replicate your fittings so I told them who you were. But I still told them. And I shouldn't have!" Mary wailed. "No, you shouldn't have." Warrior kept her cool but Mary could hear the disapproval in her voice. Mary really didn't want to, but out of respect she raised her head and met Warrior's gaze. The fact that Warrior didn't yell at her was bad enough. But seeing the look in her eyes was even worse. That look of betrayal, that complete and utter loss of trust, hurt more than anything else! "Warrior, I'm so so sorry..." "I never should've told you..." Warrior whispered, more to herself than Mary. And Mary knew then, that no matter what she did from that point on, Warrior would never trust her again. She'd given her this one chance, and Mary had failed her.