Grisly First-Aid
Damon was dismissed (by the smiling bay wolf) but with most of his questions answered, the drive that pushed him to forget his pain faded away, leaving him weak. He tried not to show his discomfort but it must have been notice since the four wolves, his new care takers, came to help.
Both he and the wolves were nervous of each other until they both realize they weren't going to kill each other and the wolves came to his aid. Damon drops to the earthen floor in order to put his arms around the wolves known as Humphrey and Garth and they dragged him back to his den, while Kate grabs his make shift cane for him.
All the while Damon switches his gaze between the four wolves, noting their color, height, size and even smell, everything he can think of to help him remember them. Then again, being saved by talking wolves was enough to help him to remember them.
The trip wasn't lengthy; they arrived back to Damon's temporally living quarters. He was disheartened to see it took them about two minutes to get from the hill to his den, when he traveled on his own the walk took him exactly five minutes to get there.
Gently, the males lowered him back on to the musty cave floor and step back a little to stand by the female wolves. The human and Wolves stared at one another, shifting their gaze occasionally but not before returning it to the other being in the room.
Damon was sure the awkwardness would last a while so he shifted to get more comfortable. Suddenly pain flared in his arm after he accidently bumps it against the wall. He clamps his mouth down on his tongue to prevent a scream from escaping, but the wolves saw his body go rigid and knew he was in pain.
Kate took a small breath before asking, "Well…you said you needed us to help heal you, so, umm, what you need?"
Damon glance at her, and mentally marked her as one of the reasonable ones before thinking of what he did need.
"Do you have anything to eat or maybe some water to drink?" he asks.
Uncertainly, the wolves look to one another before Humphrey spoke.
"Well, if you like bones, we can lend you some," he says with a grin.
Damon hoped beyond reason that he was joking, but them being creatures of the woods he supposed he was serious about the bones.
"No thanks," he said with as much conviction as he could, "err, what about water?"
Lilly answers next, "we can try to carry you to Duck pond; it's where we get our water."
Damon mauled this over, he already felt too tired to move just a limb, he doubt he could make it to the pond without passing out from the agony.
He sighs before making up his mind, "I think it's pretty obvious," he said to his new companions, "that I'll be a burden until we can get my body fix, so which one of you is the fastest?"
"I am," Garth and Kate said in unison, causing both of them to look at each competently.
Damon just waves the issue away, "Alright, look, you both can go, this is what I need you to do; do you know the place where the Federation soldiers are?"
Both wolves suddenly shrink a bit so Damon was quick to reassure them, "I'm not asking you go near them, I need you to go to my camp site and…do you know what a camp site is?"
"We use to see a whole lot of those before the humans stop coming," Kate said.
"Alright well my campsite is about three hundred yards East from the Federation camp," Damon pauses when he saw the blank looks on the wolves faces, "it's facing the sun on top of a ridge where you can see the enemy camp," seeing their faces clear he continues, "my campsite is hard to find, it's hidden," Damon explains, "you can smell scents right?" the wolves nod, "well just smell for my scent and bring back my bag, it's in hanging from a tall tree branch, maybe Marcel and Paddy can help you get it."
"Ok," Kate says, "what's in the bag?"
"Some supplies that I could use, but what I really need is the first aid kit," seeing the clouded expressions again, he elaborates, "a special box that holds tools I can use to take the bullets out of my body."
"Bullets?" asks Garth.
"The metal things our guns shoot out," Damon said patiently.
Garth nods before turning to Kate, "if we leave now we can be back in ten minutes."
Kate nods before giving Humphrey a rub as he whispers, "be careful," to which she replies with, "always."
Damon glances to the other wolves and saw the other couple rubbing each other. Deep down Damon hopes they'll be alright, he didn't want to be responsible for any more deaths.
Garth and Kate said their last farewells before turning and running out of the den. Humphrey watches them go while Lilly sighs and lied down.
Damon has watched his home get destroyed by what looks like science fictional alien technology, fought in America where it has not seen combat since the Civil War and became a Ghost, a creature that looks as if it belongs in a horror movie, but none of that prepared him for these wolves. They expressed so much emotion and seem almost human to him. They talk, they cuddle and they compete, if the human race was like wolves, this was probably how they would act.
Talking wolves, Damon thought to himself, this would have cracked Falkner up.
The sudden thought of his dead friend made his eyes prickle. Was it just yesterday when he told Damon of his fear of failing and his family has to pay the price? Was it really less than twenty four hours did he and Swans spat at the brochure of the map they received? Did Gordon really die right in front of him when they were so close to safety? So close, if he had lasted just a little bit longer, then maybe the wolves could have been able to save him too. This was too much, and against his will, his eyes started to leak, his right eye blurred and though he couldn't see out the left he could feel the tears building and releasing them.
"Are you alright?" Lilly's voice cut through his miserable thinking and brought him back to the present. The white wolf was looking at him with concern while Humphrey watches from the den's opening.
Remembering the claims he made of him being a deadly warrior, Damon wipes his tears and simply said, "I'm alright, it's just…this pain is unbearable," which was partially the truth.
Lilly nods and said "Don't worry, Kate and Garth will be back in less than ten minutes."
Damon slightly nods and smiles though he knows they can't see it, "I know," he replied, "I have complete faith in them."
One hour later
"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD," Damon suddenly shouts, "WHATS TAKING THEM SO LONG!"
Humphrey and Lilly both fell asleep, but they awoke to Damon's sudden outburst.
"Do you mind?" demanded Humphrey, "we're trying to sleep."
"Do you mind if I bleed to death over here?" asks Damon, "I swear I can't take much more of this!"
"Well there's no need to yell," said a slightly frighten Lilly as she shies away from him.
Realizing he's scaring them, Damon takes a deep breath, "sorry guys," he says in a calm voice, "I've just been hurting, mentally and physically, almost all day now."
"Mentally?" asks Humphrey, "I think I heard of physically before but not mentally, are you talking about the metal inside of you, those…bullets," he asks using the unfamiliar word in his mouth.
Damon smiles before responding, "No, mentally, it has to do with my mind, my head."
"Why? Did you hit your head?" asks Lilly.
"No, it means my head hurts…emotionally," he was glad to see the pair nodding their understanding.
"That's what happened to Lilly and I when we chose Kate and Garth as our mates," he turns to Lilly, "I don't know about you, but I felt like my head was going to blow from anxiety."
Lilly giggles at this, "actually that perfectly describes how I felt at the time."
Damon couldn't help but chuckle as well, remembering the night when he was Falkner's best man at his wedding; he actually thought he needed to undo the groom's tie so that he could breathe properly. He wonders if that's what it's like to be married, be full of worry and fear, not the happiness that was often promised.
Then again he remembers the wolves nuzzling their mates and knew that there was indeed joy in the act of matrimony.
Damon scratches his head, feeling the crust of the dried blood crack as he rubs his forehead area. Humphrey gave him a strange look before asking, "Why don't you take that face fabric off? Doesn't it bother you when you try to breathe?"
The solider shook his head, when he went through Ghost training; he was taught to hold his breath for up to at least eight minutes and was train in high altitude areas where oxygen was scarce.
"Well it looks pretty dirty, why don't you take it off?" Lilly asks as another thought crosses her mind, "you know what? We haven't even see your face, are you shy?" Humphrey tried not to laugh over the irony that the shyest wolf of the entire pack was asking a six foot tall human if he was shy himself.
Damon thought for a moment, Ghosts weren't supposed to reveal their identities to complete strangers, but than again who would these wolves tell and his face did feel rather irritated for wearing the mask for so long.
Yet something was holding him back; his appearance. Self-consciously his fingers touch his face and followed the path of the three lines that now permanently marks his face. The fresh wound still stung, but wasn't as serious as his other injuries. He hoped his new scars weren't too bad, he noted to himself he needs to check his face as soon as he could.
Seeing the wolves still waiting for him to make up his mind, Damon sighs before pulling off his mask, hoping it wasn't too badly damage.
Both Humphrey and Lilly had to refrain from gasping at what they were looking at. They have seen human faces before, but this one was unlike any they have ever seen. He had bright blonde hair that was almost golden, but it was hard to tell for it was cut so sort. He had a firm mouth, a small old scar on his lower chin and bright blue eyes that seem too innocent to be that of a deadly person. However the wolves found his new face feature disturbing, just like his mask, the three scars ran vertically on his face, staining the area around them with fresh blood, slicing into his forehead, marking his cheek and cutting into his lip. Yet they saw the fear and slight fearful look in his eyes, they both knew of his worries and tried to be gentle informing him.
"Well it's umm, its, uh, yeah," Humphrey said.
"Yes, that's exactly it," continues Lilly, "it has certain, um, a look that…yes, it looks exactly like that."
"Will you two use complete sentences already," demanded Damon, despite the toughness of his voice, the wolves could hear the edge of his tone pleading for the truth.
Lilly took a deep breath before saying, "well…honestly…it could look better if you could wash the blood off."
Damon tilts his head and asks, "That's it?"
The wolves were spared from having to answer when Kate and Garth return, with the male Alpha carrying a heavily loaded bag.
"Hey, sorry it took a while, you really did hide your-" Kate's voice cease when she saw Damon's face and her eyes widen.
Garth looks to what got her attention and couldn't help but let out an astonish yelp, "Whoa! What's wrong with your face?"
Damon stares at them before turning to face Humphrey and Lilly, "I thought you said it wasn't that bad."
"It isn't," insisted Humphrey, "Kate is shock by a lot of things and Garth easily gets jealous whenever he sees something…better looking than him."
"Better looking?" asks a dubious Damon as he leans back against the wall and closes his eyes.
A terrible stillness settled over them as the wolves tried to think of a way to move the conversation forward.
"Um, Damon, we brought you the bag you needed," Garth said and he brought the bag closer to the Ghost.
It took all of Damon's self-control not let himself look giddy as he dug into the bag. He found it all, spare cloths, bottled water, and a small supply of MREs. His body started to burn from his excited movements, but once again Damon ignored it as he rips of the lid of a water bottle and starts chugging it. It was three quarters empty before Damon releases it and eagerly tore into one of the MREs. The main course was a giant brown bar like a brownie but made with "all natural ingredients." Damon loath the stuff, but as he stuffs it down his throat he wishes the bag had included another. There was also a bag of dried fruits, some pieces of dried jerky, and a power bar. All the stuff was stale, but at the moment Damon felt like a king as he gobbled it down. He still felt hungry but resisted the temptation to open another bag, if bones were all the wolves eat, than he figures he needs to make his supplies last as long as possible.
The wolves' watches in amazement as the human easily demolish the food in front of him until there was nothing left, when he was done he leans back against the wall, closes his eyes and seems to have fallen asleep. Never had they ever witness anything like it, it was like watching a fellow wolf eating an entire caribou in less than a minute.
Garth grunted, "I guess he really was hungry."
They had assume the Ghost had drifted off to sleep, so they were surprise when he nods his head and replies with his eyes still closed, "if what you say is true, then I miss nearly a whole day's worth of eating."
Damon felt well enough to drift off into sleep, but knew he had to dig the bullets out now; otherwise the pain will intensifies for the coming days. He sighs, knowing what the procedure will ask of him as he sits up and begins rummaging in the bag. Soon he starts to panic when he could not find the First-Aid kit, he begins taking out the contents of the bag more hastily, looking for it but when the clothes and the attack dog vest was pulled out he discovered the First-Aid missing.
How, he wonders, all bags are to be pack with first aid, Archangel should have-
Damon's pondering cease and soon his whole body twitches with emotion. Archangel. No wonder they received lousy third class equipment, he was lowering their chances of success and survival without the team even realizing it.
Damon clench his fists, vowing to kill Estrada and Archangel, but first things first, he needed to heal himself. He had no access to medicine, no pain killers, leaving him with only one tool that could possibly help him. He sighs again as he digs in the bag of the MRE he had just finished eating and fishes out a knife.
It was a poor excuse of a blade, more plastic then steel in Damon's opinion, but it was the only thing he has. He starts rubbing the tool against a rock close to his leg, trying to get rid of the soft edge and replace it with a sharp one.
The wolves watch in confusion, wondering what the human was about to do next. Noticing the looks, Damon said, "Those of faint heart might want to leave the den."
This slightly concerns the small four legged family as they look to one another before Humphrey asks, "why?"
"The medicine, the uh, stuff I was going to use to heal myself with is missing, so I have to revert to the old ways to help me now," Damon explains, still not making sense to the wolves.
"What is it exactly you're going to do?" asks Kate.
Damon pauses to look them each in the eye before returning to his work, "I need to dig the bullets out of my body, and there's only one way to do it," he says as he lifts up the knife.
Lilly gasps as she realizes his intentions, "but you're going to hurt yourself even more!" she exclaims.
Damon was slightly taken back by the white wolf's feeling towards his well-being before he starts saying, "Lilly I need to do this, cause at this rate I'll be a liability and won't be of any use to anyone or myself." Seeing her doubtful face he continues, "Out here it's do or die right? Well if I don't do this I can't take care of myself," here he cast a look to the assembled wolves, "I have no doubt you guys will help me with anything at the moment, but you can't care for me all day long, that's something I have to do on my own."
They were all still worried so he says, "It's not like I'm going to butcher myself, I just need to remove the bullets and I'll patch myself up, no worries."
The wolves still look concern but it was Kate who asks, "You're sure you know what you're doing?"
He nods to her, "Positive."
She sighs before saying, "alright, we'll be outside if you need us," she led the way out of the den, all of whom look back at him, each with concern in their eyes.
Huh, he wonders to himself, and to think we've just met.
Damon picks up one of the extra shirts and cuts it into ten long strips and laid them next to him. He had no antibiotics, no tape and no proper bandages, but this was better than nothing at the moment.
He steels himself for what was coming next and looks down at the knife. He finally honed it to a wicked edge, making its thin steel look more menacing than it did before.
He painfully stretched his body and pulls off his shirt. His chest was nothing but pure muscle; however it was bloodied from the gore that had leaked out from his left arm and he felt similar moisture creeping down his back. He bares his teeth as he knows what was coming next as he stretches his left arm and places it in front of him, the dark red hole seem to glare at him.
Damon brought the knife to his wound and lightly touches it with the tip. Even that small contact made his flesh sting, which slightly intimidate him who was now unsure what to expect next.
He let out the breath he was holding as he slowly pushes the knife into the cavity. The agony was unbearable and he had only poked the tip in. Damon wanted nothing more than to dive the knife in and get it over with, but he knew he had to move slow or else he may heighten the chances of making the injury worse. He bit his lip hard as he continues with his work as fresh warm blood pump out of the wound. The knife went in, inch by inch, the suspense truly felt as if it was killing him.
Finally he struck a hard point that he was certain wasn't bone. He tilts the knife back to take hold of the object and slowly tug it out of his body. However, he soon hit bone and the pain exploded.
"Mother- Ahh!" Damon yells, the pain interrupting his curse.
"Come on," he says under his voice, "come on."
He took hold of the object once more, careful to avoid the hurting point in his arm and tugs it out of his system. In a geyser of blood, the knife withdrew the bloody piece of metal and it fell to the ground.
Damon groans as he takes one of the strips of clothing and uses ties it around the injury to stop the blood flow. He was happy and angry at the same time, smiling yet cursing. The agony was still fresh but he knew it wasn't the end, there was still his injured back to attend to, but he knew he couldn't get at it…not without help.
"Humphrey," he gasps, "Garth."
The wolves rushes inside, both concern for the human while they mates still await from outside.
"Damon," Humphrey says, "are you done? What do you need?"
Damon was still panting as he explains, "sorry to drag you two into this, but I need your help."
"That's what we're here for," Garth says as he steps forward, "what do you need?"
"I need you to dig in my back and-"
"Wait, what?!" asks a slightly revolted Humphrey.
"I need you to dig into my back and extract the bullet," he saw the revulsion on the male's faces, out of pain he cries, "come on guys, I need you, I can't yank this piece of junk out of me without your help."
The two wolves look at each other, and then gulps before Garth says, "ok."
Damon carefully lies face down on the dirt ground, grateful for its coolness. The two wolves look at his back and wince. There was indeed a cavity in his back and the blood surrounding it has dried, but the wound still looks painful.
"The round didn't get too deep," Damon says as he lays his head on the side, "just…feel around with your claw and pull it out, but be careful not to scratch up my insides ok?"
The wolves were still nervous as they gaze at the mauled back, hoping that they won't damage their friend.
"Um, ok," Garth says uncertainly and looks to Humphrey, "you try and widen the hole a bit and I'll dig, got it?"
"Got it," Humphrey says his throat drying as he thinks of the task in front of them.
Garth sighs and says "here goes nothing," as he positions himself on the left side of the human while Humphrey got on the other. The Omega stretches out a claw carefully, grabs the edge of the wound and pulls it open wider. Damon stiffens and tries his best not to groan. Sensing the human's discomfort, Garth quickly plunges his claw in and starts digging. Damon buries his face in the dirt to muffle his screams of pure pain as the wolves dug. Blood began to flow once more, sickening the grey wolf to the point of barfing before Garth victoriously shouts, "Got it!"
With that Garth casts caution aside and yanks the bullet out with a spray of blood. Damon momentarily black out for only a moment while tears of agony stream from his eyes. He suddenly became alert when he heard a thump next to him and whispers in a tired voice, "what was that?"
"Humphrey feinted," said a slightly amused Garth.
Damon forces a light chuckle and says, "I don't blame him," before righting himself up, his body aching from the procedure. He glances at the black and grey wolf and chuckled, he truly was passed out, laying on his side with his tongue slightly hanging out.
"What now?" asks a weary Garth who wasn't so sure he can help the human in any way now without throwing up.
"I just need your help wrap these strips around my waist," Damon says and holds up the ripped up clothing.
Garth nods and calls the females back in. Damon almost chuckles again when the girls started berating him for his "craziness" like mothers scolding their son. He waited until the girls pauses to catch their breaths and asks them to help start wrapping him up. Garth and the females did their best to cover the blood stained wounds while Damon was slumped against the wall, he didn't want to make their task harder, but he just felt drained of energy.
When they were finish, the wolves were shock to find Damon asleep, his soft breathing making almost no sound. For once, with the blood slightly cleaned up and being fed, the warrior known as a Ghost finally looked at peace.
Leaving their friend, the wolves grab Humphrey, Garth taking hold of the scruff of his neck like he was a puppy while Kate lifted his lower body.
The sun was setting as they left the cave and it was Garth who spoke, "I guess now we know who it is with the faint heart," he jokes as his eyes pointed at Humphrey.
They all laughed at that but Lilly suddenly stops and said in a chilled voice, "guys, up there."
They look ahead to see what has concern Lilly and saw the disturbance. Not too far away stood Oliver and his group of cronies, all of whom who had voted to kill Damon. Garth bared his teeth and growls a challenge. They couldn't see the look on the wolves' faces in the fading light, but they just turn and started walking back to the Dens.
With the danger past, Garth puts Humphrey down and says, "You two go ahead, I'm going to stay with Damon for a bit."
"Garth," Lilly says with a hint of worry in her voice.
The Alpha turns to his mate and nuzzles her affectingly, "don't worry, nothing is going to happen, it's just a…precaution."
Kate nods while picking up Humphrey, "come on Lilly, we'll tell dad and we can work out a watch shift."
Lilly sadly nods before whispering, "be careful," and licks Garth on the cheek before walking to Kate and helping her lift up the unconscious wolf.
Garth watches the females making their way to the dens before turning and heads back to Damon's den. The Ghost was still dozing, not wanting to disturbed him, Garth lays down close to the bushes to hide his body, even if he fell asleep he'll be able to detect if someone is nearby.
The night wore on and it wasn't long before Garth felt himself falling asleep, his last thoughts was asking is Oliver really crazy enough to do something like attack a guest?
The answer he wonder of wasn't reassuring.