38. Infirmary
Retsu Unohana tended to the injured arrancar with the clinical detachment of a professional healer. In the fourth division, he wasn't an enemy combatant, a hollow, or a killer of shinigami...he was just another patient. Granted, one that had to be restrained and guarded at all times, but a patient nonetheless.
She was cautious and slow in her movements, making sure not to startle him and trying to keep him calm (hollows tended to bite when upset and she had no desire to use a muzzle). Thankfully, he wasn't a jumpy or vengeful fellow; even when he was initially brought into the room suspended in kido and forced onto the table to be restrained, he hadn't moved a muscle in protest. In fact, he hadn't even spoken.
At the moment he was watching quietly as she sewed the horrific gash on his chest back together as gently as possible, lacing as much kido as she dared into the wound. (The more effective spells could only be used once he'd healed a bit more.) But even though he tracked her movement, the expression in his eyes was blankly distant and she doubted he was really SEEING anything. An impressive feat of dissociation considering how much her ministrations must hurt.
The captain frowned slightly as she discovered another wound several inches below the first. This one was vertical and rather small and looked insignificant - she could see why it had been initially ignored. But she'd been a healer long enough to recognize an exit wound. From that angle, whatever weapon skewered him had come from behind and below straight through the spine.
"Arrancar-san, I must check your back."
"Hn?" He blinked rapidly, apparently coming back to himself, and flexed his hands, causing the heavy manacles around his wrists to clink dully against the side-rails to which they were fastened.
She watched carefully but he either did not notice or did not care that he was restrained.
"This injury could be serious." She gestured at the relevant puncture. "I need to look at the entry wound."
He arced an unimpressed eyebrow and pointedly clattered one chain against the metal bed. "Good luck, Taicho-san."
"I will call the guards to help with repositioning you. Please do not try to escape - this will be much easier and less painful if you cooperate."
He sighed heavily and muttered. "Not like there's anywhere to escape TO..."
But he remained quiet and pliant when the burly guards came in and manhandled him onto his side, chaining him in the awkward position and holding him still as Unohana treated his back. It wasn't as bad as the chest laceration, but for once she was glad he had a hollow hole. It might make conventional anatomy and treatment complicated, but it also made many of the internal structures necessary for the survival of humans and shinigami redundant in arrancar (such as the heart, lungs, aorta, specific arteries, skeletal structures, etc.). A hit that would have ruptured a human's heart and spine (causing death within minutes if not seconds) had gone untreated in the hollow for many hours and was already well on its way to healing with no lasting damage.
Finished, the healer resettled him back in his previous position and the guards left. She wound surgical wrap around his chest and abdomen to keep the dressings in place and stepped back to observe her handiwork.
He eyed her warily and she smiled in response.
The captive frowned. "What?"
"You have certainly been a model patient, Arrancar-san."
He grunted noncommittally and rattled his chains again. "How long do I have to wear these?"
"I will have to ask the Soutaicho. Do they hurt?"
"They're annoying." He shifted restlessly. "And I can't sleep."
"I'm sure it won't be long." She smiled but he just sighed and lay back, staring at the ceiling.
"Yeah, right."
When he did not continue and seemed disinclined to converse, she tidied up and left the room, turning the lights off (upon his request) on the way out. He was not the only patient in need of assistance and her mind was already moving on to new tasks. Even though all of the shinigami had been stabilized before she tended to the prisoner, many of them should be ready for check-ups soon.
Behind her, Starrk listened to the door click shut and closed his eyes with another deep sigh, almost a groan.
This was NOT going to be fun.
There was a series of one-shots I posted near the beginning of 'Howling at the Moon' that dealt with Starrk surviving the Karakura Battle and being brought to Soul Society by Ukitake. This chapter works off that idea, although it does not have a direct relation to anything that's happened so far.
(Also, this is the last of the transitional updates.)
I hope you enjoyed it; please read and review!