Disclaimer: As always I don't own InuYasha and the group, that's all on Rumiko, I just own the plot and a few hundred good books.
Chapter Two Doctor Steel
Sango got the fire going quickly thanks to one of Miroku's fire starter gadjets. She fed it some old panels from the floor around them and then sat there to wait. Kagome's heavy staggered breathing filled the quiet room echoing off the vast ceiling and open spaces. She tried to remember what Kagome had done all the times that she'd been injured, but it seemed like every accident she'd had she hadn't been very conscious, at least not enough to remember what to do.
Common sense told her to find the wound and stop the bleeding, but what if it wouldn't stop? She gave Kagome thirty minutes, wondering all the while where Miroku was and when he planned on showing up. Kagome still hadn't stirred after the long stretch of time and her breathing had quieted to where Sango couldn't hear the air moving into and out of her body.
Her chest was no longer rising and falling with each breath and Sango was instantly worried that she'd done the wrong thing by waiting. With her friend still out cold she turned her on her back and checked her pulse. It was still there signaling the strong beating of her heart, but the shallow breaths weren't enough to fill her lungs and keep her alive. Next she moved to find the injury. Her white blouse made it easy to discern that it hadn't hit any vital areas. She checked her arms and then once she was sure they were without injury she moved to her legs. She found it fast, on the back side of her right leg. The fabric around the bullet hole was shredded and small bits of metal where allowing her blood to flow freely from her body.
Whatever the weapon had been it wasn't just a gun, it had been modified to do a lot more damage. If this had hit her above the waist no doubt it would have killed her. Still the bleeding was bad, they needed Miroku to get here and take them to see a doctor. Of course Kagome was not going to go for that at all. Maybe they could get her there before she woke up. After a failed attempt at removing the tiny shards of metal Sango tried to tie a bandage around the wound instead to stall the bleeding. The metal protruding from her leg sliced through the thin fabric she'd torn from her own blouse making it a poor bandage. Waiting for Miroku wasn't making her nerves any better, and after another hour of waiting she couldn't wait any longer. Whatever was going on he was having trouble ditching Koga and they needed help.
Sango tried first to wake Kagome, but her blood loss had clearly taken her out of reality far enough to where she was completely unresponsive. Her limp body was too heavy for Sango to lift and Miroku had yet to create a gadjet that would help her with her current predicament. She had to leave Kagome alone in order to help her. She covered her friend with her own coat and pushed her closer to the fire—close enough to stay warm but not catch fire. "I'll be back as fast as I am able." She whispered hating the fact that she had to leave her in such a state. Then with one last glance over her shoulder she slipped out the front entrance and rushed off in the direction of Koga's townhouse.
The carriage was just pulling up the long driveway as Sango arrived. The coachman frowned at her as she ran up, stopping them, and yanked open the door.
"Sango?" Miroku's concerned voice met her ears and relief flooded her face, he would know what to do.
"Kagome is hurt! There was an accident, I got her as far as I could but she collapsed and I had to leave her. We have to hurry she's hurt bad." There was no time to explain to Koga or kick him out of the carriage she told the driver where to go before sitting in her seat shaking.
"What went wrong?" Koga was more panicked than Sango at the news that Kagome was hurt.
"Something went off, it caught her in the leg, I think it was one of those gadjets, it hit her in the back of the leg." Sango could lie flawlessly and Miroku understood perfectly.
"What kind of gadjet?" He was cautious with his question.
"It sounded like a gun when it went off, but it had metal shrapnel that lodged in her leg." Sango did her best to explain without hinting at Koga the reality of the situation.
"Modified?" Miroku frowned at the idea but seemed to understand what she was getting at.
"I think so, it'd have to be with the mess it left behind." Sango saw Koga's eyes widen in the light from a passing street lamp.
"Is she bleeding?" Miroku's voice not Koga's asked the question.
"Yes, I tried wrapping it but the metal wasn't making it easy." Miroku took notice of her missing sleeve and lack of a coat and took his from his shoulders offering it to her.
If she hadn't been shivering she would have refused but now was not the time for her stubbornness. "She's strong she'll be fine. We'll get her and take her to see a doctor."
Sango didn't have to tell him how much she wasn't going to like this idea. He gave a slight nod of apprehension at her uncertain look. "She was out cold when I left her, maybe if she's still sleeping it won't be a hassle getting her to the doctor."
Wishful thinking never ended well. The coach pulled to a stop and Sango was the first out followed by Miroku who told Koga to wait with the carriage they would bring Kagome and be back in seconds. Koga never was good at listening though.
Inside the Grandville Theater Sango stamped out the remaining coals from the fire while Miroku looked over Kagome's poorly bandaged leg. He patted her cheek rousing her more than Sango had been able to. "Wake up Kags, we're taking you to see the doctor, can you wake up and talk to me?" His voice was gentle and at first Sango thought he'd done it.
She nodded her head slightly agreeing to his words and then frowned. "No, no doctors, don't take me to an exam room."
"We can bring her to my townhouse and I'll have the doctor tend to her there." Koga stood over the trio, already decided.
"No doctor." Kagome muttered but Koga didn't hear her or chose to ignore her weak argument.
"We're going to take care of you whether you like it or not." He growled at her as he knelt down and lifted her. Some days Sango hated how likeable he was.
Kagome was a fighter but her fight was pointless against Koga's modified torso and shoulder. She hit the metal plates covering his flesh causing her more pain and doing nothing to harm him. "I dislike you right now." She murmured resting her head on his shoulder and giving up at last.
Koga chuckled at her but didn't give in to her scornful look. He slipped into the carriage followed by Sango and then Miroku and in no time they were back to Koga's townhouse and the doctor was being sent for.
"No worries, Dr. Steel is the best surgeon in the metro, he did my modifications after the explosion." Koga explained to Kagome trying to keep her calm. Her fear of doctors was evident in the sheen of sweat that had broken out over her face and the way her hands shook even after she was under the duvet and surely warming up significantly.
"What happened in the explosion? How did it happen?" Kagome had heard the story before, she was just looking for a distraction and as Sango recalled it was quite a story.
"It was a nitro explosion. I was out late, a great game of cards that I had won with a flush in red. I'd been drinking and was quite foxed. Sometime through the night I had dismissed my driver and when it came time to leave I had to walk home." He brushed her fingers with his gloved ones; her shaking had slowed to a slight quiver.
"There was a firework show going on, these bright colors exploding in the air, have you seen them before?" He knew she hadn't but he waited for her to shake her head before continuing. "I'll have to get a professional out here to show you." He always said that too, and still hadn't done it, not even for a woman that he loved, because the truth was he was terrified of the bright colors exploding in the sky. "I was watching them light up the sky when a small boy asked if I wanted one too. I should have said no, and just enjoyed the show, but I was quite foxed."
He pulled off the glove of his right hand revealing his titanium hand and the gears and joints that made up the parts. "I took the tube from the boy, held it in this hand. He offered me a light and then ran. I watched the man across the road light off his and let it fly into the air and so I mimicked his movement, kneeling down over my own firework." His other normal hand rubbed against the metal of his modified hand. "I lit the fuse but it went off too fast, I didn't even have a second to react. Later they told me it was a bomb, someone had wanted me dead. Can you imagine? Who would want such a thing?"
Sango didn't comment even though there were times when she wanted the exact thing. "Dr. Steel saved my life, and my face, the arm however was not going to make it and most of the skin on my upper body wouldn't take the skin graft. Titanium was the only option. It's a light alloy combination that is thin and protective." He rubbed his metal knuckles over his heart the metals clinking together even through the layer of cotton. "I met you four days after my operation."
Kagome smiled at him her face calm. "You were still very clumsy, are you sure they didn't replace a leg too?"
He laughed at that. "I would have fallen on my face either way."
Miroku stepped through the door with the doctor and Koga pushed himself off the bed and at the doctor whom he embraced. "Good to see you, thank you for coming at this hour."
"You were always a good patient and I respect a man who can take a modification like you can without any complaint. What has happened to the girl?" He was a good doctor, he didn't ask any irrelevant questions and didn't require an explanation. What he did ask for was privacy and he was left alone with Kagome so he could check her out and fix her up. It took him all of two hours to remove the bullet and shrapnel. At first Sango didn't know if any of them were going to be able to remain in the hallway, what with Kagome screaming despite the morphine in her system as the doctor removed the deeply embedded bullet.
She was patched up and when the doctor finally came out she was asleep again. He handed Sango the glass vial that held 18 pieces of jagged metal and one round iron bullet. "She'll live. It may be hard on her to walk for the next few days, I have left her an antibiotic that she knows how to take along with some stronger pain killers in case she needs them."
"Thank you, doctor. I'll see you to the door." Koga left with the doctor and Sango and Miroku wasted no time in going in to check on their friend.
"Kagome, wake up for me Kags." He patted her face and his soothing voice worked again to rouse her.
"Miroku? What is it? How long was I out?" Her eyes were heavy, barely open as she looked up at them.
"Not long, we're going to let you go back to sleep, but I need to know one thing while I have you alone. What did the gun sound like?" Miroku patted her cheek again as her eyes closed tightly.
"Handgun, but it was louder than a rifle. Modified maybe, but I'm not sure how. The house was modified in some ways too, and the box was a trap. Whoever is hiding the jewel they know people are looking for it." Her words ended and she was asleep again the pain killers and sedatives that the doctor had no doubt given her were strong.
"What did she mean the house was modified?" Miroku turned his attention to Sango now.
"I'm not sure, the box that we thought the jewel was in was a clockwork trinket though, it set off an alarm as soon as she opened it. Not to mention the cook had a good arm." The pot that had sailed at their heads just seconds after they'd hit the landing in the kitchen had struck Sango's shoulder, at the time she hadn't even noticed it, now the bruise acted as if it had just been stung. "Oh and your plan B didn't work."
"What do you mean it didn't work?" Miroku's never liked gadjets that backfired.
"Kagome activated hers and at first it worked it jumped up and attacked the man, went right for his throat, but then something must have happened, it got locked around his neck and then nothing." Sango explained trying to remember exactly how it had happened.
"Did she use the active word?" He held out his hand silently asking for her pack.
"Yeah, she said it, he had her up against a wall, holding her by her neck in the air. Maybe it was because she didn't sound normal, he voice was kind of strained." Sango offered the excuse handing over her pack.
He checked the pack for details he didn't bother explaining. "How many times did she say it?"
"Just the once, are we supposed to say it more than that?" Sango frowned at his glare.
"Yes! You say it every time you want it to activate! I said that a thousand times!" Miroku dropped his head not liking how he'd just yelled at Sango for something that couldn't be taken back now anyway. "I'm sorry."
"It was our fault too, but she's going to be okay, and next time we won't even have to use the plan B, we'll be much smarter about it. Especially equipped with your wonderful gadjets." She offered him a small smile and wanted to console him more, but there was nothing she could think to do.
"Time for bed then." He yawned and got up off the bed handing her back her pack.
They drifted to their separate rooms Sango's the room next to Kagome's and Miroku's one more down from there. They weren't asleep long before Kagome's scream woke them both.
End Chapter