"Garrus!" Jane shrieks and drops the tailgate with a bang to scramble up into the bed. In her panic, she stumbles against the dew covered metal and twists her wrist with a popping sound, but it goes completely unnoticed in her terrified state. "Please, god. Be alive!" She screams out into the darkness as she cups Garrus' face in trembling hands.
Blue eyes blink in confusion as his mandibles twitch under her hands. With a trill he speaks, "What's wrong? Why are you screaming?" Garrus moves a little to sit up, eyes locked with hers.
She blinks in shock, brows high in surprise. "You… You're okay?"
Rumbling with a nod Garrus chuckles softly. "I'm sorry I scared you. I was exhausted… I needed some rest… I'm fine. Really." It's now that he looks around, trying to figure out where they are, which is of course rather pointless. "So… where are we?"
Unable to stop herself, she barks a hysteric laugh of relief and cups his face, smashing her lips on his in bruising force. Not even noticing the pain of his plates on her lips, she pulls away and smiles brightly at the fact that he's still here, still with her.
"Come on," she says as she scoots to the tailgate and hops down. "We're far enough away from town and the base that I think it's safe to take care of your wounds." Yanking the tarp out of the truck bed completely, Jane lets it fall to the dry dirt and offers a hand to help him down.
Did she… was that? I… kiss? Really? I… me? Why?
I don't know… ask her!?
Not now!
Garrus coughs and hides his confusion as his three fingers wrap around her softer five, hopping off the truck and wincing a bit at the impact. "Where do you want to have me? I… I mean…" His free hand scratches his neck as it starts itching in embarrassment.
"Come on," Jane says softly, taking his hand and gently guiding him towards the passenger side of the truck. She opens the door and motions the single, long seat. "Please lay down and I'll see what I can do about your wounds."
A long and content sigh comes from the turian as he lays down and stretches out, propping his head on his arms to look at Jane. "The wound isn't… that bad… I need a transfusion more than stitches."
"Please." Her whisper is soft as she pulls the suture kit out and opens it on the floor board. "I want to help any way I can." Reaching up, she turns on the truck cab light. "Please, Garrus?"
"Of course." Garrus nods with a smile, snapping open his armor. "Can you take it off, please?"
Jane nods and steps up on the foot rail to reach in and gently remove his waist guard. It sticks a moment on his wounds and he hisses loud in pain before it finally comes loose. "I'm so sorry." She frowns and lays her hand on his thigh, tossing the piece of armor on the ground behind her. "I don't want to hurt you, Garrus." Her fingers ghost up to his waist, stained blue and incision holding together with some strange substance. "What is that?"
He looks down to his waist, the medigel obviously did one hell of a job to close it temporarily. "You mean the gel? It's medigel… closing wounds, stops bleeding and numbs pain."
She nods again and runs just the tips of her fingers over the gel, feeling it come off like a slick jelly. "Okay… okay." Taking a deep breath, Jane reaches for a piece of gauze and wipes away excess gel so she can work. "I'll try to be gentle."
She offers a weak smile in encouragement as she grabs a needle, tweezers, and sanitized thread. Stepping into the truck, she leans awkwardly over him and chuckles at the cramped situation.
"You like to be on top?" His remark is accompanied by an awkward chuckle and her shocked eyes widening. "Don't worry… stitching won't hurt me."
A soft smile is all she gives, unable to say anything behind another pointless apology or assurance. With a final, deep breath, she uses the tweezers to pull the thread through the needle and starts.
Needle in one side, under, and out the other. Tug gently to pull together and start the next. That's it, slow and precise. I'm so sorry, Garrus… this is going to scar…
One last pull on the filament and both edges of the wound are joined, leaving only the task of tying off. The entire task takes all too long, an eternity, to Jane and her hands feel like they are shaking more than her work will make her believe.
"I… did that hurt?" She sets the instruments aside and looks to him with a hopeful smile.
"What hurt? Oh, you're talking about the stitches? You already done? Didn't feel a thing" He purrs reassuringly, sitting back up look at the work done on his waist. "Medigel numbs everything… and damn, awesome job!"
A blush creeps over her cheeks as ducks her head to hide her smile. "It was nothing," she says as she helps him tuck his feet into the truck. "We should keep moving."
"Don't belittle your work… you did a good job, Jane." Garrus smiles at her before leaning back into the seat, waiting for Jane to get back into the car. His omnitool lights up as he checks for coordinates. "Okay… we're 57 miles away… head that way…" He rumbles and points towards the east.
With a nod, Jane rounds the truck and climbs in. She turns on the lights, more afraid of crashing in the dark than being found this far out into the desert. As she drives, she can see Garrus falling in and out of sleep from his short supply of blood and it sends pangs through her chest. Please let me get there in time. Surely he has something to fix this…
"Garrus? Hey." She reaches out with a clammy hand and nudges his leg. "Hey, you need to stay awake."
"I had no intent to black out and die here… don't worry." He chuckles and covers her hand with his, giving it a firm squeeze. "Just… get me to the ship… EDI will do the rest… good AI…"
"AI? You have a real AI?" She turns her hand in his and shifts her fingers so that their fingers link, his thumb, hers, his forefinger, her two first fingers, his 'pinky', and, then, her last two fingers. Despite the thought that it should feel awkward, she has to admit it's actually really nice. She'd never have the courage to admit that outwardly, however.
"Uh… ye… yeah. AI. Her name's EDI… she's an AI…" Great… just great. You sound like an idiot. Get a grip, Vakarian! Garrus gives her hand a squeeze, enjoying the touch a lot, feeling oddly perfect with the mismatching hands.
Jane smiles warmly at him, looking his way a moment to see his mandibles flicker without ever knowing the reason. "That's really cool," she says and slips her hand from his to hold the wheel as the ground becomes more rocky. There's an awful chill against her palm, but she has to focus on getting Garrus to his ship, to his home.
He's about to say something but instead closes his eyes and leans his head back, asleep the next second. Jane notices him drifting off, but his breath is long and heavy, a good sign towards sleep over losing consciousness. The drive seems to take so long without hearing his warm, soothing croon, but she knows he needs the rest.
Soon, Garrus' electronic arm computer begins to glow, flashing in an alert. She slows and glances over to take a look. "Garrus?" Gently, she turns his arm to look, at least knowing enough to pick out a map interface. From what she can tell, there is a blip that is either them or the ship and another, larger icon; both near to intersecting. "I…" She looks around out of the windshield and at the incline too steep for her truck. "I think we're here…"