A/N: Originally Chapter 43 and 44 were written as one chapter but it was too long.
Inside Natalie was struck by how warm it was. She shucked off her rain gear and sweatshirt. Looking down to take off her boots she noticed a huge trail of blood and decided to leave her footwear on. Josh pulled her behind him through the small ready room and into the galley. The floor was smeared with more blood and there was a steady stream of moaning coming from somewhere beyond the galley.
"How many are hurt?" asked Natalie.
"Two" said Josh.
Jonathan Hillstrand appeared from out of nowhere and gathered Natalie into a fierce hug.
"Thank God, you're here" said Jon.
"What's going on?" asked Natalie.
"We've got two guys and both are pretty badly hurt" explained Jon.
"Take me to them" said Natalie.
Josh lugged the huge medical kit down the narrow hallway occasionally hitting the walls. Natalie was sure there would be dents up and down the whole thing by the time they reached the patients.
"Ok, Fortner's in here" said Jon, pointing to a well lit stateroom. "And Andy is in here."
Andy was across the small hall from Fortner. Both patients were lying on queen size beds being attended to by one crew member each. Natalie went into Andy's room first and stared down at the contorted figure on the bed. There was no immediate sign of distress other than the pitiful moaning coming out of Andy's mouth.
"What's hurting?" asked Natalie.
"Shoulder" said Andy through gritted teeth.
Natalie reached for the sweatshirt covered arm and tried to lift the material. Andy immediately screamed and tried to pull away. Natalie snapped her hand back and scowled.
"I can't help you if you don't let me see the injury" she said angrily.
"It's fucking broken" said Andy.
"What medical school did you attend?" snarled Natalie.
"You are suppose to fucking help me" yelled Andy from the bed.
"I'm not psychic, how the hell am I suppose to know what's wrong if I can't see your arm?" asked Natalie shrilly. "You know what, I'm going to do the other guy first."
And with that pronouncement she stalked across the hall to the other room.
Andy was still yelling obscenities when Natalie crossed the hall into the room Mike Fourtner was currently laying in. His head was wrapped in a bloody towel and he was lying on the bed with his eyes closed. Kneeling down Natalie pulled open the medical box and pulled out a pair of gloves and a pen light. She walked to the bed and started feeling for a pulse. His pulse was fast and his breathing seemed labored.
"Hi, Fourtner" said Natalie.
"His name is Mike" said the deckhand sitting with him.
"Thanks" said Natalie. "What's your name?"
"Travis" said the deckhand.
"Ok Travis" said Natalie. "Has Mike been awake at all since this happened?"
"Yeah, off and on" said Travis. "We've been trying to keep him up."
"Good" said Natalie, her voice soothing.
She carefully pulled the bloody towel away from Mike's head in order to examine the wound. It was just above the temple on the left side of his head, the wound track looked strangely familiar. Deciding she needed to clean the site first she gathered her supplies and returned to the bed.
"Ok Travis, you are going to have to be my assistant" said Natalie plainly. "I'll point and you hand me the item, ok?"
"Roger" said Travis.
"Mike, I'm going to lay you down some more" explained Natalie. "I need to wash out the wound so I can see what I'm working with. If this starts to hurt I want you to squeeze Travis's hand. Don't grab mine."
Natalie placed Travis's hand into Mike's and gave him a pointed look.
"Tell me immediately if he squeezes" said Natalie.
Travis nodded. Natalie set up her supplies on a chuck pad. She placed a large stack of sponges on Mike's eye to shield it from the saline and then very slowly started to clean the gash. The more she cleaned the more she realized that the wound wasn't necessarily deep but it was long, it went well past his ear. Once the area was assessed and cleaned she set up her clean field.
"Ok Mike, I'm going to give you a shot of numbing agent and then I'm going to stitch you up" explained Natalie. "You should just feel a pinch and then nothing."
Natalie pulled off her long sleeve shirt which was covered in blood. Her T-shirt underneath was also stained so she pulled it off as well leaving her in just a tank top. Pulling on a clean pair of gloves she gave Mike the shot, waited a few seconds and then started stitching. She was halfway through when she felt someone standing behind her.
"Wow" was all Jonathan could say.
"I'll be done in a little while" said Natalie. "How's your brother?"
"Hurting" said Jonathan.
"Travis, there is a green whistle type thing in the medical bag, can you find it?" said Natalie.
"Is this it?" asked Travis.
"Yes" said Natalie. "Jonathan, give it to Andy, have him breath in regular breaths. It will help ease his pain."
"Roger" said Jonathan.
With Jonathan across the hall Natalie went back to the task at hand. She tried to make the stitches as even and neat as possible. While every fisherman thought scars were cool no one wanted to be disfigured. When the last stitch was placed Mike started to move. Natalie quickly cut the suture line and removed the sterile field and the instruments. Mike's eyes opened and he blinked up at her.
"I'm dead, aren't I" he said. "Are you an angel?"
"You aren't dead" said Natalie quietly. "You're going to be fine."
"You look like an angel" said Mike.
"Thanks" said Natalie. "I'm going to finish bandaging up your head and then give you something to help you rest. But you're going to be fine."
"Thanks angel" said Mike.
Natalie smiled to herself and quickly finished up covering Mike's wound before giving him a shot of pain medicine.
Natalie took a minute in the bathroom to wash her hands and splash water on her face. She tried very hard not to look in the mirror. She imagined her hair was a mess and her eyes were probably puffy but she still had one more patient to attend to before she could rest. Andy had stopped screaming obscenities once he'd had a few puffs of the green whistle, but it wouldn't last forever. Taking a deep breath Natalie opened the door and walked back down the hall.
"I think he's ready for you" said Jonathan when Natalie walked into the room.
Andy was awake and smiling. Natalie leaned over him and looked at his pupils. They were hugely dilated. She sighed and pulled the whistle out of his mouth. It was empty. Picking up a pair of scissors she began to cut off Andy's shirt.
"She's trying to get me naked" said Andy, his voice slurring slightly. "Tell her to do my pants next and then she can put that hot little mouth right over my..."
Jonathan slapped a hand over Andy's mouth so he couldn't finish his thought.
"That whistle is pretty powerful" said Jonathan with a nervous chuckle.
"Yep, but better him telling me to suck his cock then yelling at me" said Natalie.
Jonathan's mouth dropped open at Natalie's use of the word cock. Andy didn't miss it either and he began speaking enthusiastically into Jonathan's hand. When Andy's sweatshirt was off Natalie could easily see the problem.
"He has a shoulder dislocation" said Natalie.
"Can you fix it?" asked Jonathan.
"Yes, but we need a couple more guys in here to help" said Natalie.
Jonathan left the room to find two more assistants. With Jonathan's hand removed from Andy's mouth he started talking again.
"...and then I would just lick you all over" finished Andy.
Natalie grinned down at Andy.
"That sounds interesting" said Natalie. "And I will even let you do it..."
Andy's eyes lit up at the prospect.
"...if you don't scream when I fix your shoulder" finished Natalie.
"I can do that" said Andy. "I've been kicked by horses hundreds of times."
"You should probably learn to get out of the way" said Natalie.
"You're funny" said Andy. "And your boobs are amazing."
His good arm lifted shakily to make a pathetic attempt to pull Natalie's top down. She held Andy's arm down and carefully leaned over him until her mouth was next to his ear.
"I'll let you see them if you don't fight" she whispered into his ear, flicking her tongue out to trace the shell.
Andy shuttered and then nodded vigorously. Natalie leaned back and a moment later Josh and Travis were in the stateroom.
"Ok, we are going to do something called the Cunningham Shoulder Reduction" explained Natalie. "It's going to be easy. Who's the strongest?"
"I probably am" said Travis.
"Ok, you are going to sit behind Andy and hold him in place" said Natalie. "It's important that he doesn't struggle. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yeah sure" said Travis.
"He's all doped up so it shouldn't be too hard" said Natalie. "He also has some incentive to stay still."
She winked at Andy and he nodded his head like a puppy.
"Josh, I want you to pull his arm when I tell you to" said Natalie. "And I am going to massage his biceps and rotate the shoulder back where it belongs. You need to pull the arm slowly but purposefully. "
"What do you want me to do?" asked Jonathan.
"I want you to say the filthiest, craziest, funniest things you can think of to him" said Natalie. "I want him completely distracted."
Jonathan looked at her in confusion but eventually shrugged his shoulders and moved to sit on the bed next to Andy. Everyone was finally in position. Josh started to pull Andy's arm which made Andy jerk forward his body flailing. Travis's arms tightened around Andy's waist and Jonathan begin relaying a story about fisting.
"Stay still Andy, or you won't get anything" said Natalie.
Natalie massaged Andy's biceps while slowly rotating his shoulder back into the socket. She couldn't get the correct angle so she swung her leg over so she was straddling Andy's arm on the bed. Josh pulled the arm, sliding it in between Natalie's legs.
"I can feel her pussy" announced Andy.
Natalie pressed his shoulder hard and everyone in the room heard a thunk. Andy emitted a scream that would wake the dead.
"Congratulations, it's back in place" said Natalie getting off the bed.
Andy looked like he'd just run a marathon, he was sweating and shaky.
"Can you wiggle your fingers?" asked Natalie.
Andy slowly wiggled his fingers.
"Good, we'll work on lifting the arm tomorrow" said Natalie. "I'm going to give you something for the pain and then I want you to try to lay still and rest. I'll be back in a while to check on you."
After Andy was settled Natalie walked out of the room and down the hall to the galley. She sat down heavily and Josh put a hot cup of coffee down in front of her. Wrapping her hands around it she reveled in the warmth. Jonathan appeared a few minutes later.
"He's asleep" said Jonathan.
Natalie nodded and took a sip of her coffee. Jonathan slid into the seat across from her and smiled tiredly.
"So, are you going to tell me how Mike Fourtner got shot?" said Natalie pointedly.
"He didn't get shot" said Jonathan airly.
"He did, I worked in a Seattle area ER, I know a gunshot graze wound when I see one" said Natalie.
"It's kind of a funny story" said Jonathan.
The chuckle died in his throat when he saw the look Natalie was giving him. His mouth opened, then shut, then opened again and shut.
"Well" prompted Natalie. "I can't wait to hear this hilarious story."
"I mean, it's not funny ha ha it's more funny, um" began Jonathan.
"Just tell me what happened" said Natalie tiredly.
Jonathan took a long swallow of coffee and then stared down at his hands. After a moment he began talking.
"The guys were out breaking ice and they were bitching about why we'd come so far north and how cold it was. It was really wearing on Andy and I told him he should just fire a warning shot" explained Jonathan.
"You told him to shoot at his crew?" asked Natalie incredulously.
"No, a warning shot, like over the bow" said Jonathan. "So he goes out and aims at the mast, trying to get some of the ice off at the same time. Anyway one of the bullets ricocheted off the metal and hit Fourtner. It was a total accident."
"I don't see how shooting a gun on a boat full of people and then having someone actually get hurt is an accident" said Natalie. "But whatever, you're the captain. You are lucky no one died."
Natalie took another sip of coffee while pinning Jonathan with a look that said he was a complete idiot.
"So that explains Mike, how did Andy get hurt?" asked Natalie. "Was it kickback from the gun?"
"No, he fell down the stairs trying to get to Fourtner" said Jonathan. "He used his hands to break his fall and he hurt shoulder."
"That has to be the most fucked up karma I've ever heard of" said Natalie with a hysterical giggle.
The excitement of the day had finally caught up with her and she couldn't seem to stop laughing. After a few moments felt like she was going to pass out.
"I need to lie down" said Natalie.
"You can sleep in my bed" said Josh.
Natalie just nodded and docile as a kitten followed Josh to his stateroom.
Josh led her down the hallway, allowing her to stop in to check on both Andy and Mike. Both men were sleeping soundly and didn't show signs of distress. Josh helped her to move the medical box into his stateroom and then showed her the bed.
"It's not much but you'll be warm" said Josh.
"It's fine" said Natalie, her voice tired. "I just need to change clothes."
She cast a glance around the room and realized with a sinking feeling that she never took her duffle bag out of the stateroom on the Sea Star.
"Bloody hell" she said with a groan.
"Are you ok?" asked Josh.
"I forgot to bring my extra clothes from the Sea Star" said Natalie.
"You can wear something of mine" said Josh.
He bent down and scrounged through a suitcase for a moment before appearing with a pair of boxers and a black Time Bandit shirt. Natalie gratefully accepted the offered clothes with a smile. Josh turned his back to give Natalie some privacy. She slipped off her clothes and pulled on the shirt, it fell to just above her knees. She pulled the bottom of the shirt and tied it into a knot just below above her belly button. The boxers were a different story, even with the waist rolled they were still too big. She rolled the waist until the top and bottom of the boxers practically met. They sat low on her hips while still being ridiculously short.
"Ok, all decent" said Natalie.
Josh turned around, his eyes going slightly wide at the sight of her. Natalie's nipples were poking through the material of the shirt like little pencil erasers and the boxer shorts were pulled tight outlining her nether lips. She turned around and climbed into the bed, giving Josh a great view of her ass.
"You can sleep with me if you want" said Natalie sleepily. "I don't want to take your bed."
Josh bit his lip and stifled his immediate response.
"No, I'll sleep on Eddie's bed" said Josh, his voice straining.
"Where is it?" asked Natalie.
"Right across from you" said Josh, tossing clothes onto the floor in an effort to reveal the bed.
"Why didn't you tell me to sleep there?" asked Natalie, her eyes now closed.
"Because, I'm probably the cleanest guy on the boat" explained Josh. "I just washed the sheets yesterday and I'm pretty sure Eddie's never washed his."
"Well if it gets too stinky over there the offer stands" said Natalie, her voice drifting off at the end.
"Oh, ok" said Josh.
He got up a moment later and stood over Natalie's sleeping form. Sighing to himself he pulled the blanket around her shoulders and tucked her in. Then turned stiffly and walked back to the bed across the room.