North took off the upper body portion of his armor he had an agonizing sensation emanating though his right side. Even with theta administering pain therapy He was having difficulty breathing.
South caressed her hands over his bare skin. "Your ribs are bruised or broken," she said placing soft pressure on his lower chest. His body would tremble, even spasm, but he would not cry out in pain."My vote is for broken." South, muttered.
"We have bandages, but York's healing factor might have come in handy." she added sarcastically as she removed her helmet to get a better look. There was severe bruising from every hit.
Looking through their supplies South located out an ampule of pain medication.
"Save that for yourself. Theta can take care me." North already knew she was destined to survive longer then he would.
"This will numb the area so I don't do any further damage." she said as she plunged the needle in to his ribs as he gasped for air. North coughed hard struggling to breathe.
"Sit up for me." she hated having to cause him more pain. But it wouldn't be the first time she bandaged his injured ribs. As she wrapped the tight bandages she could fell he was spiking a fever; South knew she needed to boil water to clean and cauterized the wound in his shoulder, but more importantly she needed to him conscious (if only for her own sanity).
"Hey, talk to me." she hugged him; resting her head on his back, "it's me." She said in a whisper, tracing a finger over a long scar that went from his shoulder to his almost to his ribs. He had always been the strong one, but South could already see how sick he was, she would be lucky if he survived another week.
"Please don't cry." He said in a weak labored breath.
"Don't tell me what to do!" she laughed as tears involuntarily streamed down her face. She moved in front of him, touching his face; his forehead, nose, cheek bones, as if to remember every detail.
His eyes; his light blue eyes were their mother's eyes. So light they looked like color contacts, or glaucoma. But to her his eyes were angelic. His nose, his jaw, were like their father's; strong, masculine, powerful. His lips; she kissed him holding long enough to savor the taste.
"Sorry," pulled away, that was a little awkward. The next words needed to come straight from her heart. "I just don't want to ever forget you."
"I'm still here," he said running his fingers though her hair. (Although he no idea of how much longer he would be.) He then kissed the tears from her cheeks holding her close with his strong, muscular arms.
She hated crying; how messy it was, how weak, how child-like. She needed to get away, to be with her own thoughts. She motioned for him to release her from his embrace.
"I need to tend to the fire" she backed away slowly, then ran outside, her heart was breaking. 'Maybe he would die in his sleep.' she said to herself; at this point it would be the best possible outcome.
She came back and boiled water on the fire. She moved a small amount to a pour-able container. She wasn't sure if she wanted him sitting up because the water would scald any exposed skin. But the cut was so massive there was no other feasible option.
"Do you want to bite down on something?"she already knew that was a stupid question. She poured boiling water over the massive wound in his shoulder. If they were back on the ship a real doctor would heal the gash easily, using lasers. All she could do was try to kill the infection. Thankfully, as usual, North didn't make a sound or even flinch. "just take deep breaths, ok" she put down the container and attempted to apply a cold compress to sooth any burned skin.
"Are you hungry?" she only asked because she was.
'I don't think I could hold anything down." all he felt was physically and emotionally exhausted.
"Here have some water." she offered him sips from the water she collected from the facility's water source. He tried to swallow but it triggered a gag reflex, causing him to cough up blood.
She decided to just let him rest, (without the upper body portion of his armor.) If they were attacked she would stand her ground against agent Maine (or just use a bubble shield for as long as possible.)
South had something to eat, then walked around for a while before going to sleep in full armor minus the helmet. She slept by his side, just like when they were kids. It felt nice. She held his hand as she tried to calm down enough to get some sleep.
'this isn't what I want.' South said to her self, she didn't want and AI, or her armor or her stupid leader board ranking!
At around 2 am he suffered a minor seizure, causing him to squeeze her hand. She could feel him slipping away. "I have a secret." she said, as she kissed the bare skin of his chest above his bandaged ribs.
"South?" he held the embrace, letting her cry in to his shoulder.
"Please, we're going to die out here, Sean, just call me Sara." she was gasping for air."All I want is to be Sara again." the feeling of his warmth, the sound of his still beating heart, gave her strength. "I have a secret..."
"I know," he didn't know what to say in that moment, but 'it's going to be ok' would have sounded inappropriate."I want my name back too." he said glossing over the last part.
"what is you name?" theta suddenly appeared to ask.
"Sean Harlington,"he said, turning his attention to the AI.
"Should I address you as Sean?" Theta asked.
"You can if you want, but If calling me North is easier I can be North a little longer." he answered, "Goodnight Theta." he turned his attention back to Sara.