CHAPTER 36: DEEP WOUNDS
Ulrich's life was slowly fading, and the town was still almost a half hour away even at top speed, but Davis still kept the driver going at full blast.
In the back of the truck, the paramedics worked with all their skills to keep Ulrich alive. They cleaned his wound to give them a better view of the straight cut across his body. The wound was cleared of blood, but it still kept bleeding slowly. The paramedics kept pressing gauze to his cut while gathering more medical supplies.
"His blood pressure is still dropping. We need to give him a blood transfusion until we reach the hospital." A human man medic said to them as he checked the blood pressure gauge on Ulrich's upper arm.
"Do any of you know his blood type? We don't have much time." A lizargian female medic said as she looked into the cabinets filled with blood pack for different species.
Yumi suddenly perked up from the medics questions. "We don't know what his blood type is, but it doesn't matter, my blood type is O positive. I can give him my blood." She said to the medics as she got up and went over to their side.
"Good, we'll get you set up." A aquariora female medic said to her as she got the transfusion machine started up.
Yumi rolled up her sleeve as the medic sterilized her inner elbow before sticking the needle in. Yumi winched from the pain, but to her the pain didn't matter, for Ulrich's was far worse. The medic put a needle into Ulrich's elbow and turned on the machine to begin the transfusion.
The molnuck medic was holding a syringe while filling it with a vial. "We need to give him an injection of this if he's going to survive." He said as he injected Ulrich in his other arm.
"What is that stuff suppose to be?" Odd asked.
"It's a medicine that will slow down his heartbeat enough so he doesn't bleed out and keep him alive." He replied while finishing the injection.
"Just do what you need to do. We can't lose him like this." William said to the medics with a calm voice.
"The medics are doing their best to help him, but it's up to Ulrich to pull through." Z said to him as the medics worked.
In the transport truck, the rest of the gang sat with quiet worry for Ulrich, and hoped they would reach the hospital in time. Alpha released Jeremie from his systems as the smart boy took his seat. He saw Ulrich from Alpha's point of view and was horrified by the cut across his chest, and what was worse, he saw Alpha's scans on him and his chances of living were in the very low double digits, and almost into the signal digits, and time was running out for him.
Ten long minutes passed as the medic truck finally arrived into the town thanks to driving at a almost reckless speed with a clear path for them straight to the small hospital while blaring the emergency sirens on the medic trucks top. They arrived at the small but three stories building with several doctors and medic staff waiting at the pick up bay. They got the radio call from Davis since he had a phone number to the hospital since they sent the severely injured troops to it all the time.
The medic truck pulled in backwards and the paramedics went to work as one of them took the needle out of Yumi's arm, and the doctors and scrubs went to work with Ulrich as they loaded him stretcher onto a wheeled one and began to work. The other four hopped out of the medic truck while the others got out of the transport truck with Alpha wearing his mask cloak. The doctors looked over Ulrich before they started calling out for things they needed as they rolled him into the hospital with the gang following close behind.
"Get some iv's, we're gonna need a lot of them." One of the doctors shouted.
"Put a oxygen mask on him, we need to keep his blood healthy, and keep him breathing." Another doctor called.
"Nurse, take this blood sample and find his blood type and get as many blood packets as you can." The head doctor said as he gave a swab sample to a nurse.
"Right away doctor." She said as she left to run the sample.
The doctors finally pulled into the operation room and began to work. The gang was escorted by Davis to a window to watch since he was very sure they wouldn't want to go in the waiting room, and he couldn't bring himself to argue with them as they watched the seven doctors begin to work.
The doctors pulled up many medical equipment and surgery tools. They had to gently take his top off since they couldn't cut it off because it was too thick with leather padding and then pull off his pants and boots, leaving him in his dark boxers, but didn't bother with his headband since it was of little importance.
They put his bloody top and pants, boots, and sheaths in a bin to clean and gather later. Odd put Ulrich's sabers in his arrows quiver since he was almost out of arrows anyway.
The doctors began to work on Ulrich's cut by clamping off the bleeding with forceps and clamps while reconnecting the veins. The doctor who was at the head of the surgery was calling out the things he needed. The head doctor was an unracanid man with dull brown hair, and looked almost middle aged, and wearing standard hospital clothes.
"We need to reconnect the veins before we began to close his cut. Get some more anesthetic in him and get his blood flow to slow down. Clean his mouth out before he chokes on his own blood." He said to his assistance's as they passed around tools and threw away used gauze and swabs.
The nurse that took Ulrich's blood sample came back into the room with a pole on wheels with ten large blood packs on hooks. "Doctor Renki, we have his blood type. It's AB positive." She said to Dr. Renki as she pulled up beside the operation table and hooked Ulrich up with a packet and gently squeezed it.
The steady and slow beat from the heart monitor was the only thing that was heard over the doctors chatter as they continued to slowly close up his cut as some of them used a camera light to see into the opening near his stomach to see if any of his internal organs had been cut.
"He's a very lucky boy, only his skin and muscles were cut, but none of his ribs or organs. But still, who could do something like this to a young man like him?" A doctor said as he finished his check.
It was over an hour as the doctors worked with the gang still watching. The blood on Yumi's body had long since dried up, and her cheeks were red and puffy from her crying. The doctors had gone through several blood packets and even had to send out for more with blood lightly dripping on the floor as the doctors used a suction tube to suck out any blood where it was not supposed to be in his body. Alpha continued to scan Ulrich through his mask, and his analysis still showed mixed results as he waited for the doctors progress. The doctors were beginning the final part of the surgery and closing the cut until they heard the steady flat line tone from the heart monitor. Everyone in the room instantly noticed as the gang tensed up from the dreaded tone.
"Doctor, he's flat-lining!" One of the doctors shouted to Renki.
"Get the defibrillator now!" Dr. Renki ordered as they rolled the machine up. He grabbed the two panels and rubbed them together, then placed them on Ulrich's chest. "Clear!" He shouted as he zapped a bolt into Ulrich's chest and arched his back from the shock. Nothing changed on the monitor except for a single beep.
"Ulrich, please no." Yumi said as she put her two dry blood covered hands on the window.
"Again, again now... clear!" Renki shouted as he zapped Ulrich again. "Come on boy, don't die like this, clear!" Another zap on Ulrich as his back arched with each zap.
"Doctor...there may be nothing more you can do. We've done all we could." A doctor said sadly.
"No, not yet. Not if I have anything to say about it...clear!" Renki replied as he zapped Ulrich again. "Come on kid, come back to us! There has to be something you need to do, there has to be someone you don't want to leave. Now come back, dammit! Clear!" Renki said to him as he zapped him again. "Come on, clear!" He shouted as he zapped him again.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
The steady sound of Ulrich's heart beating again on the monitor brought a sigh of relief from the doctors as Yumi almost fainted, and Odd and William had to catch her and keep her standing on her feet as Sam gently kept her conscious.
Dr. Renki sighed deeply as he put the panels away. "Let's finish up here and get his vitals stable. Good job everyone, we saved this boys life today." He said to his doctors as they went back to closing up Ulrich's cut.
After another hour the gang eventually tired of standing and had to leave the area. Davis escorted them to a small area in the hospital where they could clean up. Yumi had no choice but to take her clothes off since it was soaked in Ulrich's blood. She went into a locker room like shower area to take off her clothes. As she took off her kimono like top and wearing only a bra like top, she got a full look of her blood stained clothes just like her hands and almost broke down crying, which made the other girls of the group come in to help her calm down.
After a long shower, and her clothes thrown into a heavy duty washer to get the blood out of her uniform, Yumi had to settle for ordinary hospital scrubs until her clothes were clean. The rest of the gang was cleaned up to and waited for a doctor to come get them in the waiting room.
Finally a young catashire woman holding a clipboard came into the room and caught their attention quick. "He's stable now, you can all come to see him if you want." She said to the group.
The gang got up from their seats and followed her down the halls for a few minutes until they came to a resting area that was mostly unoccupied by patients except for Ulrich. The doctor lead them into the room where Ulrich laid. He had a heart monitor hooked onto his chest with the machine making steady beeps, he had an iv over his bed with the needle in the top part of his right hand. He looked horribly ragged, and almost as pale as Yumi's skin, which was not normal for him. He was only wearing hospital pants under his white sheets.
Dr. Renki was setting up a transfusion machine. "Oh good, I'm glad you're all here. I was setting up the transfusion machine for him because we're a little low on his blood type at the moment, and he still needs a little more since he bled through the surgery, and I understand one of you has blood type O." He said to the gang.
"I do, I have blood type O." Yumi said as she walked over to Ulrich's side and sat down in a chair.
"But Yumi, you already gave Ulrich a lot of blood on the way here." Odd reminded her.
"I'll give him as much as he needs Odd!" She snapped at him, which surprised the gang.
"He only needs another pint and a half to get him back to normal." Dr. Renki said to them as he cleaned Yumi's elbow, and stuck a new needle into her arm and turned on the machine.
()()()()()()()()()
Back on earth, Ulrich's parents heard their son being horribly injured. But it was far worse when they found an image of Ulrich being sliced open and almost dying. Ulrich's mother almost fainted from seeing her son bleeding, and all his father could do was try to comfort her as he once again became angry that he couldn't do anything for his son, but he needed to be strong for both his wife, and himself.
The rest of the parents were worried for the Stern's and how they will handle their son's condition, but they would help them anyway they could. Yumi's parents were filled with all kinds of new thoughts about Ulrich, because for a long time they had mixed feelings about him. Yumi's mother thought that he was a very misunderstood boy, while Yumi's father thought he was just like any other hooligan boy who only wanted one thing. But now they had a whole new respect for him that he would willingly put his life on the line for Yumi without a second thought, and hoped that he survives his wound. Because when the gang somehow get back to earth, they would show how much Ulrich meant to them for saving their daughter.
()()()()()()()()
Yumi was finally done with the transfusion as Dr. Renki gently pulled the needle out and put a large cotton pad and bandage on her vein. Yumi was a little dizzy from more blood being drained from her body, but she didn't care, all she wanted was Ulrich to pull through.
"Well that should be it for now. The only thing let is for him to wake up." Dr. Renki said to them.
"When will he wake up? How long is the anaesthetics suppose to last?" William asked the doctor.
"The anaesthetics have worn off a while go, but what I mean is due to the blood loss and dying on the operation table has caused him to fall in a light coma state. He could be out a few days or weeks, there's no way of telling how long he will be asleep. But we will take care of him until he wakes up." Dr. Renki explained to them.
"Then in that case we will settle here in this town until he wakes up." Z said to him.
"If you all want, there's an old room in the hospitals basement that served as a temporary living area. I'm sure you all would want to stay as close to your friend as possible." Dr. Renki said to them.
"I don't know, we've already have quite a hospital bill for Ulrich. We don't need to add more to it." Deotalus said to the doctor.
Dr. Renki chuckled a little from his comment. "Well it's not like we are gonna take his stitches out if you don't pay. And besides, Davis and the Grand Militant already payed for your friends bill since they send troops here all the time." Dr. Renki explained.
"Thank you, we'll get set up now if you don't mind." Sam said to him. "Yumi, are you coming?" She called to her.
"No, I'll stay here with Ulrich." Yumi said as she pulled her seat closer to his bed. The gang quietly decided not to push her and just leave the room to set up the basement room form them. Everyone left the room and closed the door, leaving the two alone. Yumi looked over to him and noticed his headband was still on. She gently took it off him and placed it on the desk stand next to the bed. She then put her hand on his head and gently stroked his hair. "I'm sorry Ulrich, I'm so sorry that I let this happen to you." She gently said as tears came to her eyes.
Yumi then glanced down to his sheet and saw the top part of his stitches at the top of his left shoulder. Yumi didn't know what made her do it, but she got up from her seat and gently moved his right arm with the iv in it and reached for the top of his sheet as her hand trembled while she pulled down the sheet to his waist. Yumi almost threw up from shock as she got a sick feeling in her stomach as she finally got a clear look at his injury. Across his chest was the stitching that closed up his wound that was a lot like a zipper pattern with tiny metal bars to hold the slash closed until the stitches harden into his body. Yumi almost fell to her knees as tears began to gently come down her face again.
()()()()()()()()()()
Down in the hospital the rest of the gang were setting up their beds while Alpha just stood in the corner while still wearing his mask cloak. Davis was in the room as the gang set up for the day.
"I hope we're not going to get any diseases down here." Knulgen said to them as he gently flopped onto his bed.
"We're nowhere near any hazardous material Knulgen, and they keep that stuff sealed to prevent any contamination." Z said to him as he finished making his bed. "By the way Davis, I suppose I need to give your assault rifle and grenade launcher back. I'm just a little upset I didn't get to use the launcher." Z said as he walked over to him while reaching for his weapons.
"I'm surprised no one got upset with you carrying weapons around in the opening." Kairaree said to him as she sat down on her bed.
Davis just raised his hand in rejection. "It's all right, you keep the weapons. You're a Zarcanion, so there's no one more better to trust those firearms with. Just come by later for more ammo." Davis said to him.
"Thanks, I'll make sure to use them well." Said Z as he secured the weapons back on him.
"Now then, I wouldn't mind a little more detail about your friend with the mask and cloak on him. I doubt that it's a big guy in big armor." Davis said as he looked over to Alpha.
Alpha grabbed the mask and pulled the cloak off him. "I suppose it would be pointless to deny it. My name is Alpha, and I am a robot." He said to him in a simple tone.
The gang was worried that Davis would want to know where Alpha came from, or if he was capable of anything dangerous as Davis looked over the eight foot robot.
Sensing their concern, Davis turned to the gang. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it, or I guess I should say 'him' to be polite." Davis chuckled.
"Yes, he is a robot being. It's a really long story, and I don't think we have the time to tell you everything. But I can assure you he wont harm any random person unless they attack us." Jeremie explained to Davis.
"That's okay, I'm not very tech savvy. I just mostly know how to pilot tanks and air drones. I know you kids aren't just any common wondering warriors, but this is something else." Davis said to them.
"Thanks, and we'll come collect our backpacks later. We just need some time to rest and get our heads straight." Deotalus said to him.
Davis nodded and headed to the door and turned to them. "In that case, I will head back to camp. I need to check on the injured and do a stock check on ammunition. We didn't lose any troops today, and that's as much of a victory. Also, don't worry about Ulrich, he's a strong warrior, and he will pull through." Davis said to them as he left the room.
The gang reflected on his words as some of them lied down on their beds and decided to rest up for awhile since it was just barely noon, and the day was still young. After an hour or so, the gang got up from their beds and decided to get up and look around town. Knulgen just stayed in his bed while Odd, William, Sam, Aelita, Jeremie, Kairaree, Z, and Aracane, went back to Ulrich's room to check on him. Yumi had put the sheet back over him with only his right arm over the sheet for the iv still in his arm.
She was still sitting in her seat as the others came in with her. "Hey Yumi, how are you doing?" Odd asked her, even though he knew the answer.
"Is there anything we can get you? Something to eat or drink?" Sam asked as she stood next to her.
"I'm fine." Yumi said to them bluntly.
"No you're not fine Yumi." Aelita said to her as she came over. "I know you blame yourself, but you have to know it's not your fault! It was that blademaster that did this to him. Ulrich was protecting you like he would with any of us, and you know that." Aelita said as she grabbed Yumi by the shoulders and spoke in a stern tone.
Yumi just sat there surprised for Aelita's bold tone, which was rare for her. But Yumi just sighed and leaned back in her seat.
"Tell me this Yumi." William suddenly said, catching her attention. "If you were in Ulrich's position, would you want him mopping around and blaming himself for what happened to you?" He asked her. William's words struck her deep as his words snapped a little sense back into her.
"What William's trying to say is that if Ulrich's going to get any better, we all need to help him every step of the way until he recovers." Kairaree added.
"We'll give you some space for now Yumi. Your clothes should be done soon, and we'll bring them up to you." Z said as they turned to the door to leave.
"Just to let you know Yumi, I doubt Ulrich was going to die from the beginning, he's just too stubborn." Aracane said to her before leaving the room.
Aelita turned to Yumi while reaching for the fan-blade she picked up from the battlefield that Yumi threw at the blademaster. "Here Yumi, you almost left this behind. I don't think you would want an uneven amount of fan-blades with you." She said as she gave Yumi's weapon back.
Yumi reluctantly took her weapon back as Aelita left the room with the rest of them. When they were gone, Yumi held the weapon up to her face and looked at it. She slowly opened it and looked at her reflection in the fans elegant design, and for a moment, almost forgot herself as she closed the weapon back up.
()()()()()()()()()
The rest of the gang decided to just take this as an opportunity to take a break from the fighting and think of their next plan of attack, and where they should go after Ulrich wakes up. Z and some of the others went back to the Grand Militants camp to gather their backpacks while Z went to load up on some more drum clips for his assault rifle and talk to Davis on any possible places the raiders would fall back after such a grave loss of their numbers and hopefully find the black armored troops again.
The day was beginning to come to an end as the others went back to the hospital basement for the night. They ate in the hospital cafeteria which surprisingly Odd didn't eat very much. Bel'la brought Yumi's clothes and weapons back while Aelita brought a tray of food for her. They went in with Yumi still at his side with only the sound of the heart monitor beeping. They gave her clothes back and persuaded her to eat, thanks to Bel'la jokingly warning her she would tie her down and force feed her if she didn't, and Yumi just decided to cave in and eat.
After she was done, the two left and Yumi went to put her clothes back on behind a rolling curtain in case Ulrich woke up, but she knew that was wishful thinking. With her battle clothes back on and looking almost new along with her yellow sash even clean and stain free, she sat back down in the large chair next to Ulrich. Even though her clothes were spotless, Yumi could still feel his warm blood on her as the images of him lying on the ground bleeding out came back to her, making her lean forward in her seat with her hands at her head. They have all gone through so much and have taken on so many responsibilities since they fought Xana on earth, then came to earthera to fight Xana in his true form. But nothing hurt her more then seeing Ulrich almost killed, and couldn't help wonder how much more they will suffer before this war against Xana is over?
The night finally settled in as the gang went to bed for the day. Aelita, William, Sam, and Leadonus came back to Ulrich's room to find Yumi asleep in her chair. Not wanting her to sprain her neck sleeping in that chair, Aelita asked William to carry her down to the basement and lay her in a bed as they called it a night with hopes of Ulrich waking up soon.
DAY 23
The gang started to wake from their sleep, another day to hope Ulrich will awaken soon. Odd looked over to see that Yumi was no longer in her bed.
"Hey, didn't you guys put Yumi in bed? Where did she go?" Odd asked them.
"Well there's only one place she could be." Knulgen said to Odd as he put his boots on. "Dumbass..." He then muttered under his breath.
"I heard that Knulgen." Aracane quietly warned him in a low tone as he put his boots on.
Everyone was ready to start the day as Jack, Aelita, Deotalus, Miodelus, and Sam went up to Ulrich's room and sure enough, Yumi was right at his bed, gently watching over him. She looked a lot better then yesterday, but she still looked shook up and hurting inside.
"Morning Yumi. When did you come back in here?" Miodelus asked her.
"Around three in the morning, I think. Who brought me to the beds downstairs?" She asked them without turning her gaze away from Ulrich.
"William carried you down to the basement and put you in bed." Sam answered her.
"We were just concerned on where you went Yumi, that's all." Jack said to her with a concern.
"Isn't there anything you can do for him Jack? You do wield magic, isn't there any healing magic that can help him?" Yumi asked the prince.
Jack stood there quietly to think of a response to her question, but decided to answer truthfully. "I'm sorry Yumi, but my magic training in healing is very limited. The best I know is how to heal small cuts and burns, and healing magic is very tricky, especially if deep cuts like that aren't set up right, or if broken bones are not fixed in the position it's suppose to be." Jack explained to her.
"I see." Yumi replied as she slumped back into her seat disappointed.
"You can't stay in here all day Yumi, you need to get out and take a break. Come on, we're about to have breakfast down in the cafeteria." Deotalus said to her.
Yumi just sighed and got up to join them. She knew it was once again pointless to argue with them and joined them and the rest of the gang in the cafeteria. The others were already eating, except for, Alpha, who was still in the basement. They were having casual conversations with each other, and once again, Aracane and Knulgen almost got in a fight over the last cinnamon roll. Yumi just picked at her food and ate it quickly, then went back to Ulrich's room. She arrived at his room to find three nurses working. They were changing his bed sheets and emptying his bedpan, then putting a tube in his throat to feed him, then finally brush his teeth.
Yumi just sat in the corner as the nurses worked. Finally Dr. Renki came into the room with a surgical tray in hand. "Hello there again Yumi, nice to see you." He said to her with a warm smile.
"Oh, hello doctor, what are you doing here?" Yumi asked him.
"I'm here to remove the metal clamps from his chest, then give him another layer of stitches just in case. I'm sure you young warriors are going to leave as soon as he wakes up. Dr. Renki said to her as the nurses finally finished up. Dr. Rennki removed his blanket and began to work on him as he removed the small metal clamps, then injected three shots of medicine right next to the stitches to numb any pain as he threaded a curved needle and thick medical thread and began to work.
Yumi slightly winced every time Dr. Renki pushed the needle through his body. "Dr. Renki, will he...will he have any scaring when it heals up?" She asked him.
Dr. Renki was down Ulrich's left peck as he answered her. "Well it's hard to tell right now, he needs to wait until the cut is completely healed before the stitches can be removed, and that will still be awhile since the cut went past his skin and into the muscle tissue, and he doesn't have any fat in him, so his organs were completely exposed, but amazingly unharmed. So he will most likely have scarring along his body. It's just a good thing the cut was clean, or the surgery would have been much more hard for us to treat." He gently explained to her as he worked.
Yumi just nodded to his response as he continued to work. After almost an hour of working, Dr. Renki was finally done with Ulrich and put all the medical tools back on the tray and left the room as Yumi went back to sitting at his side. When the doctor was gone, Yumi removed the blanket and looked at the new stitches embedded into his body as she gently ran her two fingers down it, feeling the rough but straight pattern until she reached his boxers as she suddenly realized she was at the hem of his boxers and quickly pulled her hand away as her cheeks turned deep red from embarrassment.
"Maybe I should get out a little more." She said to herself as she put his blanket back over him and left the room. She walked down the halls, lost in thought.
As she walked, Odd found her and quickly ran up to her. "Hey Yumi, I was just looking for you." He said to her.
"Hmm, what for?" She asked him curiously.
"Z went and talked to Davis back at the camp to convince the doctors to give us shots, since we earth born members are still not immune to this planets diseases and viruses." Odd explained to her. "But of course Z didn't tell Davis that we come from another planet, just that we need some shots." He whispered the last part to her with a hand beside his face.
"I suppose that makes sense, just show me where we need to go." Yumi said as she began to follow Odd.
The two made it to a large room that was like a check up room for patients. The gang was in the room except for Alpha as they got ready for shots as Dr. Renki was getting several trays of needles ready. Yumi saw another doctor taking a tray out of the room, most likely meant for Ulrich. The doctor and a few nurses began to inject the gang with several shots from syringes filled with different colored inoculations. The earthera members didn't have as many since they had their shots since they were little, but the three Surfane brothers had to hold Miodelus down since he was scared of needles, even though he only needed three shots.
The earth member had a lot more then the others, Z made up a story to Dr. Renki that they came from a more rural area, and didn't get as many shots like people do in towns and cities. They got shots for many major diseases and viruses, and also inoculations against illnesses that only effect humans, and shots only for catashire, since Odd is now one. After a few minutes, the gang was done getting shots and left the room as Yumi spotted the doctor that had the tray of syringes and noticed they were all empty, her guess about them being for Ulrich was right after all.
(A/N: I know I might seem to be making a big deal about them getting shots, but the reality is, being on a unknown planet without knowing what it's germs and pathogens could do to you is very dangerous and even a simple virus could kill you. Ask any scientist that studies the possibility of what could happen when a person is exposed to a new environment of another planet.)
Odd was rubbing his arm after having over a dozen shots in his arms. "Geez, they really stuck the needles in us. I'm surprised they didn't break the needles in our arms." He whined to them.
"Stop being a baby Odd, one of us is dealing with a lot worse then getting stuck with needles." Jeremie whispered to him as he looked over to where Yumi was.
Yumi was still lost in thought as she gently rubbed her arm, but she just shrugged and went back to Ulrich's room. Jack decided now was a good opportunity to fix Ulrich's suit. He went down to laundry room and gathered his belongings and found the clean as new top and pants in a bin, waiting for someone to pick it up. Jack took the small bin and grabbed Ulrich's boots and sheaths at the side and brought them back into their basement room.
()()()()()()()()()
Deotalus was building something in the middle of the room. He had a medical stretcher and several other items laid about and deep in thought of what he was doing. "Hello there Deotalus, what are you making there?" Jack asked him as he lied Ulrich's clothes on a bed.
Deo looked up from his materials on the floor to answer Jack. "Oh, het there Jack. I'm building a means to carry Ulrich around when he wakes up." Deo answered him. "I was thinking of using a normal stretcher and making it more sturdy to carry him on, and strap him down so he doesn't fall off. And I was also going to make six long handle bars for comfortable holding since we'll be carrying him for quite some time." Deo explained to him
"I see, that's a very good idea, I doubt Ulrich will be able to walk very well after an injury like that, and I know we will have to move on once he recovers." Jack said to the aquariora genius as he began to rummage through a backpack.
"True, I'm really surprised anyone could live through that, but I'm glad he's still with us." Deo said to him as he went back to work. "By the way, what are you doing with Ulrich's clothes anyway?" Deo asked him.
"I'm going to fix Ulrich's clothes for him. I'm sure he would look a foolish if he wonders around with a large opening across his clothes. That's why I'm looking for some thick leather and cloth in these backpacks. I will you my alchemy powers to mend the material into his clothes." Jack said as he finally found the things he was looking for.
"Oh wow! I would love to see this in action." Deo said as he got up from the floor.
Jack put the strips of material on the side of the bed as he found a mannequin like stand and set it up and then put Ulrich's top over it and began to work. The prince cut up the leather and cloth strips with some scissors that Deo had and placed them on the top of his clothes as he then placed his hands on it as his palms glowed white and spread across the clean rip until it finally dissipated and Ulrich's top was as good as new looking. With the top done, Jack went to work on the top part of Ulrich's pants and belt, fixing them just as fast, and making the clothes look like new.
"As much as I like science and building things, it's still amazing to see magic like this. I tell you Jack, if you weren't a prince, you may have ended up as a tailor." Deo said to him as he looked over Ulrich's fixed clothes.
"Well I figured our clothes are going to get torn and rip throughout our journey, so we'll be constantly in need of repairs to our clothes. In other words, we will need to get some better padding and armor plating under our clothes later." Jack said as he placed the clothes on a spare bed and grabbed Ulrich's swords in Odd's quiver and placed them back in the sheaths and placed them next to the clothes as Jack decided to help Deo continue to build his stretcher.
The day continued on as Yumi went back to sitting by Ulrich's while Z went back to the Grand Militants camp again to discuss any possible routes the raiders went, and where the black armored troops could have gone with the raider leader.
()()()()()()()()
Odd walked down to a local hunting store with William and Aracane to get more arrows for his quiver since he used most of them up the other day. It took a little persuasion to the store owner, but he managed to get thirty arrows by using the money they've had left on them as the three went back to the hospital.
()()()()()()()()
Some of them were outside behind the hospital in a large open alley, practicing with their weapons. Kairaree spent her time twirling and spinning her daggers in her hands and between her fingers while the twins Bel'la and Eli'ton spared together. Knulgen practiced quick draws and sheathing it back all in one motion. Aracane did various exercise with whatever he could use. The other three Surfane brothers also spared with each other while Deo was busy finishing Ulrich's stretcher as soon as possible.
()()()()()()()()
In another part of the hospital basement, Jeremie was working on Alpha by tightening any parts and tuning up his armor plating and parts. "You know Alpha, no matter how many times I look into your body, I'm still amazed by the internal structure and mechanical engineering of your body." Jeremie said as he was working on opened section of Alpha's right forearm, looking at all the amazing parts within Alpha's body.
"I only wish that I could find out where and when I was built. I keep trying to access my memory storage, but I can't unlock the encrypted files." Alpha replied as some of the parts in his arms that Jeremie was working on moved and clicked.
"Don't worry Alpha, we'll figure it out one way or another. Just as Ulrich will wake up soon, things will work out." Jeremie smiled to him as he finished with his arm and it closed shut.
"Ulrich's wound has really effected you all, hasn't it?" Alpha asked him.
"Well it's a lot worse then what we've dealt with in the past, but yeah it has effected us greatly. I'm mostly worried about Yumi and how she'll handle it even when he wakes up." Jeremie said as put the tools away.
"She has...deep affection for him, doesn't she?" Alpha asked him.
Jeremie chuckled at this as he put the last of the tools away. "Yeah, those two are clueless with each other. They really need to stop hiding their feelings and just come clean." Jeremie said as he sat down in a nearby chair.
"Your emotions and feeling of affection for one another are...complicated to understand and process. So many variables and data to process. I notice changes in Odd and Sam's biometrics when they are near each other." Alpha said to Jeremie.
"Heh, not surprising. Odd may have dated just about every girl in school, but he gets serious when Sam's around." Jeremie smiled as he leaned back in his seat.
"I have also analyzed Z and Kairaree during some of our battles and noticed they are becoming quite compatible." Alpha said as he looked over the two in his data.
"Really? Well Z does seem to loosen up with her, and Kairaree does seem to understand him better then any of us." Jeremie thought out loud as he put his hands behind his head.
"I also noticed Aelita and you drastically increase in compatibility when you two are near each other." Alpha added.
"Wh-what?!" Jeremie said shocked as he almost fell out of his seat. "Well me and Aelita...you see the thing is...I need to go do something with Deotalus anyway. I'll see you later." Jeremie said as he quickly got up and left the room as his cheeks began to turn red.
Alpha tilted his head as Jeremie was gone from the room. "It seems he has a hard time understanding his feelings for her too." He said to himself and even made an involuntary chuckle.
()()()()()()()()()
Back in Ulrich's room, Yumi was once again sitting at his side with Aelita as she talked to her to keep Yumi cheered up with the things they did back on earth when Xana wasn't attacking as Yumi still kept her eyes on him. She didn't really pay much attention to Aelita as she talked. Yumi was still filled with guilt as she began to doze off in her seat.
()()()()()()()()()
Yumi walked down a dirt road that was gray and desolate as she looked up to the sky to see that it to was dark and gray. She then took in her surrounding to see that it was the town they were in the day before, but it was also gray and dark, as if all the color in the world melted away, leaving it gray and dismal.
She felt like she was walking for hours in circles in a town that seemed to go on forever until she spotted a splatter of red on the ground as she kneeled down to look at it. She slowly touched the red splatter and it felt warm at her very fingertips.
"This can't be. Is it? Is this blood?!" She said to herself as she got back up and saw a small trail going down the road. She ran down the road while following the trail, turning corners and walkways until she came into the town center and saw that the trail got bigger until she looked up to see Ulrich lying in a pool of blood. "Ulrich no!" She called out to him.
She ran to his side and gasped at what she saw. Not only did Ulrich have the open cut across his chest, but his whole body was battered and bruised, his clothes were ripped and tattered, and stained deeply with blood from open cuts, and even his sabers were at his side, shattered into pieces.
"Ulrich!" She cried again as she fell to her knees and gathered him into her arms as tears fell freely. She held his head into the crook of her neck as her tears fell onto his blood and dirt stained face. "Please no Ulrich, please don't leave me like this. I'm so sorry Ulrich." She cried.
"What a shame." A voice said to her. Yumi turned sharply to see Vorro standing over her. "Don't worry young warrior, if his lost means so much to you, then I will gladly send you to him in hell." Vorro smiled as he grabbed the handle of his black sword and brought it down on her in one quick swing.
()()()()()()()()()
"Yumi! Yumi wake up!" Aelita cried as she shook Yumi who was muttering and twitching in her seat. Yumi's eyes shot open as she leaned forward in her seat and gasped with a little bit of sweat across her head. "Yumi what happened? You fell asleep and began groan in your sleep a few minutes later." Aelita asked her as Yumi calmed down.
"I just...I just had a bad dream is all." Yumi said as she leaned back into her seat.
"It was more then just a bad dream Yumi. It was about Ulrich, and something bad happened in it. Right?" Aelita asked her with a stern tone.
"In my dream, Ulrich was lying on the ground in the town we were in and he was dead, then Vorro was there and cut me down. And that's all I can really remember." Yumi explained to her as the images of her dream came back.
"Ulrich's going to be fine Yumi, it was a bad dream and nothing else." Aelita said as she got up from her seat. "Well, it's getting late, I'm going to go get some food from the cafeteria. The doctor said you need to eat plenty of fruits to get your blood pressure back to normal, I'll be back." She said to her as she left the room.
When Aelita was gone, Yumi looked back to Ulrich as she leaned back into her seat. "I swear, Ulrich, I will never let anything like that happen to you ever again." She said to herself.
()()()()()()()()()
The day was beginning to come to an end as the gang called it a night. They brought their food to the basement this time as Aelita brought a big tray of food to Yumi, and even ate her dinner with her. Later, some of the others came to check on Yumi and Ulrich and talked to her for a little bit until they decided to go back down to the basement for the night while Yumi told them to let her stay in his bedroom. They decided to let her be and they headed back down into basement.
A few hours passed as Yumi stayed in her seat. She watched some tv, but barely had the volume on and wasn't even paying attention to it as she flipped through channels, watching whatever was on for a few minutes before changing the channels. It was finally dark out as Yumi pulled her chair to Ulrich's right side. His bed was very low enough for her to put her elbows on the bed without discomfort.
"Another day and you still haven't woken up from your sleep. If I ever see that bastard again, I swear I will do whatever it takes to kill that man. I'll do whatever it takes to make him suffer for what he did to you." She began to say as her eyes began to get heavy. "I believe it's pretty obvious why you put your life on the line like that. We've had our ups and downs as we fought Xana and saved our world many times. We've been afraid to tell each other how we feel. Even back on earth you tried to tell me something... that you wanted... that you wanted to tell...me you...lo..." Yumi didn't finish her sentence as she fell asleep at his bed side with her right hand over his hand with a new iv in it, and her head down on his bed, and surprisingly not uncomfortable at the way she lied on the bed.
Hours passed as Yumi fell into a deep sleep. The room was pitch black with only the light from the moons shining in. The small moon was at a sliver of a crescent, the medium room was halfway behind the large moon as the light poured into the room.
In the darkest corner of the room the temperature began to lower to a point that some frost began to form on the side of the window. Suddenly a red light began to form. It started out as a round dot that then had a circle form around the red light as another circle formed with a bar at the top and three bars at the bottom, it was the symbol of Xana. He stepped out of the corner and into the moonlight. His body was almost like smoldering smoke frozen into a body shape with no details to the shadowy body except for his symbol glowing slightly.
He began to walk to the left side of Ulrich's bed as Yumi began to stir awake. Xana turned to her as his symbol shined green, and Yumi fell back into a deep sleep as if she just had an exhausting day. He leaned over Ulrich and looked him over as a look of disappointment seemed to radiate from behind his mask.
"How pathetic, almost throwing your life away for her, when I could have let you have everything you ever wanted and much more if you fools choose to be my apprentices." Xana said to him as he raised his hand over Ulrich's blanket and flicked his hand over it as the sheet went down his chest. "What a hideous mark across your body, and for what? Her? That girl there, would she even give you anything in return? Would she give you her love? Would she give her body to you? And in the end, is it even worth it? Just to get injured over and over for something as short lived and feeble as love and desire to protect someone else?" Xana questioned him as if Ulrich would somehow answer him.
Xana looked over Ulrich's stitched cut with his eyes under the mask. "But then again, maybe all is not lost for you. I sense a power growing in you even as I speak." Xana said as he held his finger over the cut by his hip and began to trace it without touching it until he reached Ulrich's left shoulder, then slowly put his hand around Ulrich's neck and turned his face to his as his symbol burned a bright red. "I can crush you right now if I wanted to!" Xana growled as he slightly tightened his ice cold grip around Ulrich's neck. "But I'm going to let you live despite my better judgement." Xana sneered as he let Ulrich go and turned away from him.
"I want to see how this power manifests, and when it does, your friends wont be able to stand you. And even your beloved Yumi will be too terrified and disgusted of what you have become. And then you will come to me, broken and defeated, and I will finally have my apprentice at my side." Xana said as he chuckled and walked back into the corner of the room and disappeared into the darkness, leaving the two alone again, never to know that Xana was in their room.
END CHAPTER.