By Icelightning
Chapter 2: Darkness
Author's note: I probably should've put a bigger warning on this story, after all, it's very graphic in nature. Ah well, you've probably figured it out by now. At any rate, the last chapter didn't describe all of the boy's wounds, hence the title for this chapter. And it will get worse before it gets better, but I promise you, it *will* get better. Just slowly. Oh, and the POV might just disappear from the fanfic entirely . . . It's different from my other universe, making it harder to put the POVs in. =P You'll never see another chapter if I have to write them.
Author's second note: MAJOR thanks to Lily C.! Without
her help, I would've been extremely inaccurate about the situation with
Cammy.. And the proper medical procedures that Tanya would have ultilized
to help save him. Many, MANY thanks, Lily! And that thanks extends to my
grammar and spelling beta-reader, Orenda! If you think our current RP is
bad, just wait until Tanya starts brooding! *Cackles*
The trip back to the Pond was silent, only broken by the
occasional whisper from Tanya to the child she had rested on a blanket
she had found within the Migrator. She had already taken to mothering the
child as if the boy was one of her own, as she dressed and cleaned the
wounds on his arms and legs that she could with the limited supplies she
had stored on the Migrator. The rest, especially the ones that were infected,
would have to wait until they got the boy into the Infirmary.
Wildwing glanced back at the two during a red light, his
eyes softening as he regarded them. A child of the boy's age should not
be as still as he was. His body should have been full of energy and life,
instead of laying there like a limp ragdoll. It sickened Wildwing to think
that someone could have hurt such an innocent being. He was barely more
than a newborn duckling!
He sighed and pressed the gas pedal as the light turned
green, focusing again on the road. He thought about the others. How would
they react to the new addition?
And then he began to worry about how the sight of the
boy would affect them, Nosedive especially. Nosedive was still having nightmares
about the camps, although less often, but the sight of the child's wounds
would likely make them come back full force. He was more injured than Wildwing
and Nosedive had ever been from the camps put together. How could it not
scare Nosedive, who had gone through that hell at such a young age? To
see a child so much younger in a much greater pain . . . .
Wildwing lost himself in his worried thoughts, paying
more attention to them than to the road in front of him, driving as if
on auto-pilot. He was only jarred back into reality once more when he parked
the Migrator in the hangar and Drake One's alarms went off. Sighing, he
unbuckled his restraint and got out of his seat, glancing back to Tanya
as she carefully picked up the child once more. The child looked so impossibly
small and defenseless in her arms that Wildwing couldn't help but wonder
if the child had any chance of survival, even after the pep talk he had
given Tanya only a little bit earlier.
Shaking his head, he quickly pushed his doubts aside and
followed Tanya out of the Migrator. He'd have to deal with them later.
Right now, he needed to worry about the child and Nosedive. The only two
things they knew about his injuries were that they did not belong to a
body Chameleon created through his shape-shifting ability and that they
were serious. Tanya had also mentioned something about the child having
a lack of blood. Enough that she'd have to give him an artificial suppliment
for the blood he had lost.
As they went towards the Infirmary at their hurried pace,
Wildwing stopped briefly to shut off the alarm because it would most likely
terrify the youngster. He then jogged back up to Tanya's side, matching
the timing of his steps with hers once more as they walked through the
hall which housed their rooms. Wildwing knew that he could do little to
help Tanya with the boy, but at least he could make sure that she didn't
go through it alone.
They went along in hurried silence, neither speaking of
gravity of the situation, each too firmly lost in their own thoughts to
say them outloud to the other. Tanya looked down at the boy once more,
letting out an unconscious sigh as she went through the training she had
undergone to become a qualified team medic back on Puckworld which she
had finished shortly before their arrival on Earth. Knowledge that would
grant her the power to save the little life close held to her bosom.
She was silently thankful that she had taken a course
in the treatment for victims of the Saurians' cruelty; the course had been
called something else, some insanely huge scientific name, but it was essentially
that. Always desperate to be in control of any situation, Tanya had thought
it would be useful in the future, especially after they defeated Dragaunus.
But when they followed Dragaunus through the dimensional gateway and were
seperated from Puckworld, she was certain she'd never find a use for it
on Earth.
Tanya, in one of the few times of her life, had been wrong.
She envoked her memories of the course as best as she could, finding herself
pleasantly surprised when she realized she remembered nearly all of it.
The rest she would be able to find in the medical logs she had transferred
from the Aerowing to Drake One and the Infirmary's computer upon their
construction. She'd be able to do this, Tanya told herself, she'd be able
to save the little boy's life. She had to!
Wildwing concentrated on remaining as quiet as he could,
keeping his eyes open for Nosedive and the others as he worried about the
child. Despite if the child lived or died, Wildwing knew his brother's
nightmares would return. How strongly they would return would be based
on how badly the child would look when Nosedive would finally see him for
the first time. He'd prefer that his little brother didn't see the youngling
until after he had been cleaned and bandaged and if possible, not until
he was able to eat solids again. But Wildwing knew that the second possible
situation was, in fact, not a possibility. Nosedive would find out about
the boy and would wish to see him sooner than later because he'd figure
out something was wrong by Wildwing's disposition and would pester him
until the older mallard told him the truth, the full truth, even if he
was afraid to hear it.
That moment came even sooner than Wildwing had expected
when the door to his and Nosedive's room suddely slid open as the younger
of the two brothers stepped out into the hallway. Smiling, Nosedive gave
a sleepy wave and took a few steps towards them, his greeting lost in a
yawn. Wildwing panicked and stepped out in front of Tanya to hide the injured
child, but only succeeded in pulling Nosedive's attention to what he was
trying to keep out of Nosedive's sight. The teenager saw the boy.
The effect of seeing the broken child in Tanya's arms
was immediate. Nosedive's smile was replaced a look of blind terror akin
to the look of a deer caught in the headlights. He backed away frantically,
tripping over his own feet in his panic and falling onto his backside before
he started pushing himself away with his hands and feet, too scared to
even think about picking himself up off the ground, his beak opening in
a silent scream.
Wildwing rushed to his brother's side, kneeling by the
scared teen, who had begun to shake violently, and pulling him into an
embrace as he whispered words of comfort to Nosedive. The teenager struggled
in Wildwing's arms, desperate to get away from the memories. He only calmed
down when Wildwing blocked his view with his body and nuzzled his cheek.
In Wildwing's arms, Nosedive broke down and began to peep, clinging to
his brother's shirt as if his brother was his last link to sanity. Wildwing
sighed, stroking Nosedive's hair and nuzzling him from time to time.
"Tanya, I'll be there in a few, I just can't leave Nosedive
like this . . . " Wildwing stated gently, glancing up only briefly to Tanya
before returning his full attention back to his terrified sibling.
Tanya sighed as well, nodding softly even though she knew
Wildwing wasn't looking at her. "R-Right, I'll go start a body-scan."
She watched Wildwing hold his trembling sibling close
for a minute before she began to journey towards the Infimary once more,
going over in her mind what she would need to get ready while the body
scan was being completed. In truth, Tanya knew that Wildwing offered to
stay with her, and it wasn't because he could assist her in any great way,
but instead to help her stay calm and in control of herself. Well, as calm
and in control of herself as possible. Either way, she appreciated him
caring about her enough to make sure that she wasn't facing one of the
Saurians' evil deeds alone.
Sighing, Tanya laid the pale child onto one of the bio-beds
ever-so-gently, pausing for a moment to stroke the part of his fine hair
that wasn't coated in blood. So soft, like the rest of him. So innocent
and defenseless . . . .
The child let out a small whimper and she was brought
back to reality, looking down quickly at the tiny being in front of her.
He didn't move again, and she sighed sadly. Poor thing. Tanya walked over
to the Infirmary console and began typing into it rapidly. She couldn't
stand there; there wasn't time to waste!
"Oh, Nosedive . . . " Wildwing sighed as he terrified younger
brother clung to him, shivering, showing no signs of wanting to let go
anytime soon. "I know you're scared, but Tanya-"
He winced, falling silent as his brother clung to him
tighter, another peep escaping from the younger brother's beak. Wildwing's
eyes softened, regarding the teenager clinging to him with a concerned
gaze. It had been a long time since Nosedive had been too scared to cry
and could only peep in distress. He knew his brother was terrified of the
camps, but the teenager had never gotten so upset around the camps before
that he was beyond crying. At least, not when Wildwing was around to see
it.
"The boy's probably terrified," Wildwing began again,
stroking his brother's hair. "Just like you are, baby bro'. He's just as
scared as you are and probably more so. He's gone through the camps, like
we did."
Or so Wildwing assumed. How was he to know the awful truth?
The older brother sighed, not knowing what else to say.
The child needed much love and care to get through this. And the child
would recover all the faster if Nosedive helped with him. The hardest part,
however, would be getting Nosedive to conquer his fears.
"He needs us, baby bro'. . He doesn't have a big brother
to hold him close and tell him everything's okay. . . He doesn't have anyone."
Wildwing stroked his brother's hair, smiling sadly as Nosedive looked up
to him.
"N-Nobody . . . ?" Nosedive's voice was barely above a
whisper, shaking. "H-He's all alone. . . ?"
Wildwing only nodded softly in response, relaxing a little
mentally; Nosedive was finally beginning to understand.
"But h-he's so little!" Nosedive continued, becoming alarmed.
"H-He's really all alone?"
"He was," Wildwing corrected gently, directing his thoughts
to his brother. -C'mon Nosedive, put two-and-two together..-
"Was?" Nosedive's brow wrinkled slightly in confusion,
then his eyes widened as the realization of what Wildwing was trying to
convey hit him.
"H-He's got us now, though, r-right?" Nosedive replied
quickly, causing his brother to break out into a soft smile.
"The child has me and Tanya . . . Does he have you as
well?" Wildwing asked, hiding a grin, already knowing the answer.
"Of course he does!" Nosedive answered immediately. "I-I'll
be there for him like y-you were for me.. Since h-he doesn't have a big
brother to protect him like I-I did.. Like I do."
Nosedive smiled weakly, his smile growing a little more
when his brother nuzzled him once again. Wildwing smiled back to him in
obvious relief.
"W-We won't let him down," Nosedive whispered and Wildwing
nodded.
"We won't, baby bro'. You're right, we won't." Wildwing
shifted and stood up, offering Nosedive his hand. "So let's go start taking
care of him right now."
Nosedive took it and stood up, grinning a little bit more
to Wildwing, although he didn't let go of his brother's hand. "Yeah.."
Wildwing smiled at this, giving his brother's hand a gentle
squeeze. They'd get through this, and the boy would recover. He had to
. . .
They had started to make their way towards the Infirmary,
hand in hand, when Tanya suddenly let out a scream of shock and horror.
Glancing at each other quickly before looking back down the hall, the brothers
broke into a run, still holding onto each other. A minute later, they ran
into the Infirmary, finding Tanya trying to contain her tears . . . And
failing.
"No, no! T-These readings *can't* b-be right!" Tanya choked
back a sob, hands flying up to her beak as she backed away from the console.
"Tanya, what's wrong?" Wildwing asked in alarm, strided
over to her side with Nosedive hovering close to him as the teenager glanced
nerviously between Tanya and the boy.
"H-He's dying!" Tanya shook, looking back to the others
with horrified eyes.
Wildwing and Nosedive found themselves staring at her
in shock. The child was already going to leave them? Nosedive refused to
believe it. The child would survive, w-wouldn't he?
"He can't b-be dying!" The younger brother whispered after
a minute. "H-He has to live!"
Tanya shook her head. "I-I can't save him. . He's got
a rare bloodtype and there's no time to make a synthetic replacement b-before
h . . he . . ."
She cut herself off with a choked sob, turning away from
them to hide her tears.
Wildwing's eyes softened and he slowly let go of his brother's
hand, placing it on Tanya's shoulder instead. "It's okay Tanya, y-you did
your best . . ."
She let out another sob, turning back to them quickly,
and practically threw herself at Wildwing as she burst into full-blown
cries. He sighed, wrapping his arms around her as she clung with her arms
around his neck. Nosedive's heart dropped . . . If Tanya said the boy was
going to die, then they couldn't save him . . . But he hadn't the heart
to comfort her and looked away instead, towards the boy.
The fear he had felt before at the sight of the boy had
been replaced by an overwhelming sadness. The child was going to die without
even knowing he was free from the Saurians. If only there was a way to
save him . . . He didn't deserve to die now that he could finally be able
to learn how to be happy again! Nosedive wanted to help him, wanted to
save him, wanted to save himself from the fear. But now all of that was
impossible. The only thing they could do now was stay with the boy as he
faded away from the world . . . .
Nosedive glanced to the console with the child's fading
life stats, sighing as he stepped past Wildwing and Tanya to get a better
look at the console. He sighed and winced at what it reported. The child
was indeed dying of bloodloss. Tanya had managed to stop all the bleeding,
both internal and external, but the damage was already done. It was too
late.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Nosedive let his gaze wander
to regard the boy again. The boy already looked dead, his skin almost a
stark white, easily visible through his semitransparent feathers. Semitransparent?
Nosedive's eyes widened as he stared, horrified. The child had gone through
the camps? Was there no end to the Saurians' cruelty?
He knew the condition was caused by severe malnutrition,
to the point where the body just couldn't waste the energy to make the
pigments for the child's down. And in order for his entire feather coat
to be clear, it would have been months since he had a proper meal. In some
places, his feathers were missing entirely, but that wasn't because of
malnutrition, Nosedive suspected. Even in his sleep, there was a look of
sheer terror etched into his face. The teen regarding him clutched his
hands into fists, trying to push back the memories with his anger. He didn't
want to remember the time, still far too close in memory and time, where
his own feathers had been nearly the same hue. Nearly, as in the child
was in a worse state than he had ever been in his entire internment in
the camps.
The beeping of the boy's heartrate, a monitoring technique
Tanya had picked up from the humans, began to steadily get slower, drawing
Nosedive's attention back to the monitor. He would've felt better about
the entire situation if the child had been at rest. And if he had at least
waken up so they could've told him he was free and made his final moments
more comfortable ones.
Nosedive forced back tears as they began to obscure his
vision. He didn't need to cry right now. If there was anything he could
do for the boy, he wouldn't be able to do it if he gave into his emotions.
He needed to think! The least he could do was ease the boy's pain. The
least one victim could do for another.
His eyes scanned the screen as his wracked his brain trying
to remember what Tanya had told him the readings meant. Eventually, though,
he gave up and started concentrating on the few he did remember. Glancing
over them, he began to let out a sigh of dispair when he stiffened, his
blood running cold and his heart skipping more than one beat.
The child has his bloodtype.
His bloodtype.
And that meant there was still a chance they could save
him.
Nosedive's eyes lit up in determination, and he turned
his brother as he continued his failing efforts to comfort Tanya. "Wildwing!"
The older brother looked up, looking to his brother in
confusion at the sound of triumph in his voice. "Nosedive, what . . ?"
Tanya lifted her head to regard Nosedive as well.
"I have his bloodtype!" Nosedive exclaimed, trying to
keep his hope from overtaking him completely; in the end, though, he didn't
care. Any hope was better than having none. And he wanted to hope.
She stared at him in shock for a few moments before roughly
breaking away from Wildwing, rushing over to Nosedive's side. "A-Are you
sure?"
Nosedive nodded. "I'm positive!"
Wildwing walked briskly to the console in front of the
other two, then nodded. "He does."
"Then let's do it!" Nosedive begged, turning to Wildwing
before the older brother had time to react. "I can save him, 'Wing!"
The leader of the Mighty Ducks opened his mouth to ask
Nosedive if he was sure he wanted to go through with it, but one look into
his brother's eyes said it all. He had never seen such determination before,
even in the camps. Nosedive wanted to do it and nothing that Wildwing said
would deter him from that path. And Wildwing had not the mind to.
"Just be careful," Wildwing cracked an encouraging smile
to his younger brother and Nosedive grinned back his relief.
And without waiting another second, Tanya rushed Nosedive
to a bed adjacent to the child's, getting out the equipment in a hurry.
Every second counted and they had already waited too long to start helping
the child. She hurriedly ran to one of the cabinets, searching through
it desperately.
As Nosedive watched Tanya set up the equipment, he couldn't
help but smile weakly to the child. -Don't worry kid, I'm not letting you
down without a fight.-
There wasn't time for Nosedive to bleed into a bag for
Tanya to test the blood and make sure it was safe for the boy. Any minute
he could die and he would be dead by the time she got around to
testing the blood. Instead, she stuck a hollow needle into one of each
Puckworlders' arm, then had Nosedive's bed elevated so that gravity drew
Nosedive's blood into the boy's veins.
Nosedive made a point of looking above and away from his
arm, towards the boy's face, trying to ignore the sight of his blood flowing
into the boy's arm. He couldn't stand the sight of blood ever since . .
. Someone squeezed his other hand and Nosedive turned his head to smile
weakly to Wildwing as he sat down in a chair next to the medical bed Nosedive
was laying on.
"It's going to be okay, baby bro'," Wildwing's smile was
infinitely sadder with his inability to shake off his worry for his brother.
What if Tanya took too much blood from him?
"I know it's going to be okay," Nosedive replied quietly
after a minute's silence, sighing softly and shaking his head. "So stop
worrying about me."
Wildwing chuckled nervously, trying to hide his surprise
that Nosedive had read him so easily. "That's like asking Phil not to sign
us up for publicity stunts."
Nosedive's laugh was hollow, although he grinned to his
brother still. "Point. Then try and worry less."
"I'll try, but no guarentees," Wildwing stated, giving
his brother's hand another gentle squeeze.
Nosedive tore his sight away from the boy once more
and shared a look of hushed worry with his brother. He tried to speak,
tried to say something to lighten the grim sadness on Wildwing's face,
but his voice failed him.
Silence then drew its thick curtain and the room remained
deathly quiet until after Tanya had completed the procedure and was checking
the boy's life signs. Tanya broke the veil with a smile after a few minutes
of intense study regarding the output.
"His life signs are stablizing," She visibly relaxed,
answering the brothers' unspoken question. "Now all I have to do is give
him some anti-inflammatories for the concussion and he should phase into
regular sleep sometime tonight. Then, I can clean up the rest of his wounds
without injuring him further. He'll be too exhausted to wake up for the
next day or two, so we'll be able to bypass his reaction to the initial
cleansing."
The younger brother winced, remembering how much his own
wounds had hurt the first time they were treated properly after they had
escaped the camps. By the stars, how it hurt. He'd never want the
boy to go through that.
"Nosedive," Tanya's gaze zeroed in specifically on the
teenager as her eyes narrowed into an accusing glare. "You must not do any major exertions for the next few days or you'll overextend yourself.
Which means no hockey games, no battles, and absolutely no staying
up late."
"What? No staying up late?? C'mon, you know I can't fall
asleep before midnight!" Nosedive whined and Wildwing tried to hide his
amuse smile. "That's unfair!"
"I'm not going to chance you passing out and you need
a good night's sleep, so you're going to bed on time for the next couple
of days until your blood replenishes itself," Tanya stated. "And Wildwing
would agree with me."
Nosedive's eyes turned wide and begging as his attention
snapped to his brother's face.
"C'mon, 'Wing, you can't let her bench me . . . " Nosedive
whined and Wildwing smile finally showed through, although it was softer
and more adoring.
"Nosedive, I'm afraid she's right. The rest would do you
good, anyways." Wildwing replied, trying hard not to snicker at Nosedive's
groan. If Nosedive knew how close he was to laughing outloud, despite the
situation, Nosedive would kill him.
"You'll have to stay in here about an hour for observation,"
Tanya continued, hiding her own smile of amusement. "Then, you'll be free
to go."
"Oh, alright," Nosedive reluctantly agreed, although he
secretly admitted to himself that laying down sounded really nice at the
moment.
"All the others should be awake and still in the Pond
by then, so we can inform them of the situation then," Wildwing speculated,
before adding, "and Nosedive could take a nap while I give them the news."
"But, but!" Nosedive voiced his complaints again and Wildwing
shook his head.
"Sorry baby bro', but you need your rest, and if you take
a nap in a bit, you'll still have some energy left by nighttime. Otherwise
you'll find yourself drifting off early." Wildwing explained and Nosedive
sighed, nodding.
"I guess I could," Nosedive sighed after a moment, again
only admitting to himself the idea of a nap wasn't too unpleasant of one.
Tanya nodded, then started typing on the medical console's
keyboard again. "I'll start a more detailed body-scan while we wait."
Nosedive glanced back at the child, sighing softly. He
could already tell this was going to be a long day.
And he hoped, with all his heart, that it would be a long
day with a happy ending.
*End of Chapter Two*