With the help of Jack, I hobbled into the mess hall as Sophie went to retrieve the first aid kit. Hanji and Levi were already there, discussing something between them, most likely from the meeting with Erwin. Their eyes landed on the Special Operations Squad. We weren't looking our best, covered with patches of Titan blood, bruises, minor cuts and solemn expressions. Levi's eyes immediately moved over to me as I sat on a bench, gently cradling my dislocated ankle.
"What the hell happened to you?" Levi muttered, making his way over to me.
"So…how did the Water Gate mission go?" Hanji trailed behind the Captain.
"Just swimmingly." Steve replied without thinking and we all cringed as the picture of the blocked river resurfaced. Levi sat himself next to me on the bench, eyeing my ankle. By now, it had swelled to two times its regular size and was turning a lovely colour of prune.
"How bad is it?"
"Not as bad as you think." I commented, pressing a bag of ice softly around it. "It's just dislocated. Someone here has to force it back in." I grimaced at the thought. It was not going to pleasant.
"Here, I'll do it." Levi offered when Sophie finally came back with first aid supplies. I shifted away from him slightly at the thought.
"Hell no."
"You will do no such thing, Mr Ackerman." The doctor had followed Sophie in and rolled up his sleeves. "Push in the wrong direction with the wrong amount of power and you could fracture Miss Hazura's ankle bone here."
"Tch." The Captain rolled his eyes in defeat. The doctor gently motioned me to roll my ankle and lay it against the bench firmly. I shifted on the bench and almost fell off, if it weren't for Levi grabbing hold of me and lifting me back up. He caged me in his arms, securely holding me in place. Both of my arms automatically reached up to grasp his arms for balance.
"Don't get my uniform dirty and also don't flatter yourself." He murmured. I rolled my eyes.
"Thanks for the much needed encou-ARGH!"
A new pain swept over me, exploding every nerve in my right leg. My grip on Levi tightened to the point where I almost thought I was going to break his arm. Almost. The pain from my ankle drowned everything else out.
"Shit." I whimpered. It wasn't the first time that I had dislocated something but that didn't mean the pain got any easier. The white-hot pain started to slowly ebb but I kept on taking in short sharp breaths. Sweat collected on my forehead.
"Jesus, that looked like it hurt." Brian held a scared look in his eyes.
"Was that really necessary?" hissed Levi, his arms tightening a fraction around me. The good doctor shrugged and prepared to leave.
"It's best if she doesn't know when it's going to happen. The anticipation of an enormous amount of pain just makes the experience worse."
"Not like it gets any better, Doctor." I managed to wheeze out. He chuckled.
"I know it doesn't. Now try to keep yourself out of trouble, Officer Hazura. I don't want to see you any time soon." And he left the mess hall to attend to other patients.
"Likewise, Doc." I called after him. I slowed my breathing and wiped my forehead. "I hate dislocating my bones."
"Then avoid it." Levi stated. I glanced up at my best friend.
"Easier said than done, Mr I-can-do-anything." I shot back and slowly sat up, with his help. I moved into a more comfortable position and slapped the melting ice bag over my still hurting ankle.
"So, about the Water Gate?" Hanji prompted. Jack began the shortcut version of the tale.
"Water Gate itself is intact. Titans were gathering around there due to a…disturbing pile of…filth blocking the water way."
"Disturbing is an understatement." Brian pitched in.
"Filth?" Levi questioned, frowning at the vagueness.
"A mixture of Titan bones, bricks and corpses, if you will." I clarified, shuddering. Linda placed her hands on the sides of her temples and shook her head to rid of the images.
"So as for a rough plan, we inform Erwin, get Hanji to create some sort of mechanism to clear the water way, keep the Titans at bay while this happens, rid of the contaminated water and then restore it to its normal state." Jack ticked off his fingers.
"Oooh a project! I'm in!" Hanji leapt up enthusiastically, raising a hand high.
"We'll speak to Erwin tomorrow." Levi confirmed.
"So what is the solution to what problem that you wanted to propose?" Erwin leisurely sat down at the head of the table, folding his arms on the surface. Hanji, Levi, Mike, Seline and I all took a seat around the table. True, I wasn't a squadron captain but since I was a witness to the actual Water Gate incident and knew what caused it all, I had been invited to tag along.
"Propose that I can start a new project!" Hanji piped up, grinning widely. Erwin raised a bushy eyebrow.
"The amount of equipment and resources that we currently have may not be sufficient. Then again, that depends on what the project is."
"The proposal is that Hanji creates some kind of machine to clear away the junk blocking the Old City Water Gate." Levi filled in monotone voice.
"Junk?"
"There was a report during your previous meeting with Levi that Titans were spotted milling around the Water Gate. I took the Special Ops for some recon and found that a pile of Titan bones, debris and corpses blocked the river from entering through into our Eastern crops." I further clarified, trying not to picture the accident in my mind again. "There is a brief outline of a possible plan of action. We get Hanji to create some sort mechanical apparatus to clear the water way, keep the Titans at bay while this happens, rid of the contaminated water before then restoring it to its normal state."
"If I do approve this plan, how long do you think it will take?"
My eyes widened slightly at the question. "Well, honestly I haven't thought that far yet. It would be best to make it done as soon as possible so the water can be restored. Any longer than two weeks would be stretching it a bit."
Erwin glanced at Hanji. "Do you think you can finish up a plan and the actual building of the machine in two weeks come?"
Hanji tilted her head and scratched it. "The bigger it needs to be, the longer it would take probably. However, I do have some sort of idea of how to being the plans, so that part shouldnt take too long."
The Commander then turned to Seline and Mike.
"I want you two to go up the Water Gate and take a look of how big it is. Then judging from that, compile a group of soldiers that would do well to serve as a defence barrier during the clean-up."
He then turned his attention back to the rest of us.
"Considering the importance of our food supply, restoring the Water Gate back to its full activity is now a priority for the Survey Corps. The minute Hanji is done with the machine preparations, we mobilize and move it out."
"Yes Sir." we chorused.