Page 86 of Ranger's Rise
He goes to Doc with his tablet and they talk, but I’m watching Freedom. She’s talking to VP about Daniel and Lorelei. She loves them. I’m glad she has her people. Now that Victory moved away, she needs them.
Patcher takes the gauze off my hand and I look at it. The bubbles are gone, but it looks red, wet and not like my hand. The skin is wavy all the way up past my wrist, it’s got a weird floating look to it, almost like I could just smooth it out. “I’m so lucky to have been in the Flight gear.”
He nods. VP makes me laugh. “Because you’d expect a flame thrower while on a flight. I should have warned you, shit happens around Cort. He doesn’t have to do anything but show up. It’s never normal shit either. Midgets, the sledgehammer dick. For the dick in a dish we were just riding and he was screaming throwing shit on the front lawn.”
Patcher laughs. “Come to Jesus was the best. They pissed on the food in the delivery truck.”
I laugh and it pulls hard on my ear and I feel it in my fucking eye, so I clench my teeth together. VP swings his head. “The explosion at the jail was good. Fucking inmates.”
Shit. He makes me laugh again. “Stop. I get it. It hurts when I laugh.”
VP nods. “We’ll keep Cort away from you then.”
I fucking laugh and can’t hold my ear. “VP, Freedom, wait outside while we apply this.” Doc and Alder move in front of me with masks on. When they leave he swings his head. “Raid needs to be kept away from you. He’s the funniest Brother here. Cort would be bored without him.”
I breathe deep. “He is funny.” They both are, but Doc is right.
“This is the ReCell that has your cells, we can mix it here now. This has an herbal mix that will make it work faster. At two, I’ll do the test and see if the progression is sped up. If it is, we’ll mix it for the rest.”
“Thanks, Doc and Alder. I’ll thank Asa when I see him.” They nod.
“You haven’t asked any questions since you woke up. I know you have them. Alder is a medic and has passed enough to be a resident. He won’t repeat what you say in here.”
I clamp my jaw and feel it. Fuck. “Sorry, struck me as funny. He doesn’t talk much.”
Doc laughs while spraying my hand. “No, he doesn’t. He can, but with WebMDs on the Internet now, he won’t have to.”
That’s fucking smart. “I’m proud of you, Alder. That’s a great way to use what you know and help where you can.”
Alder smiles. “Brotherhood.”
“Yes. Will I be able to see out of my eye? Everything was blurry when they sprayed it.”
“Covered, contact like,” Alder says.
Doc turns my hand to the side and keeps spraying, but helps me out. “There’s a film covering it like a contact. We’ll be changing it out tomorrow morning. It keeps your eye wet so I bet it looked blurry. From the way the skin around it burnt, you didn’t just close your eye, you were holding it tight. That saved it.”
I’m so fucking relieved. “For my hand to be burnt so bad it doesn’t really hurt.”
“You’ll have some deadened nerves, but should retain all function. The worst is the knuckles. The new skin will be sensitive to light and heat. When we take the cover off, you’ll need hats and a glove.”
Alder shows me his hand and points to just before his fingers. “No pain, but still work.”
“Yes, you’ll have to watch that.” Doc looks up and smiles. “Hitting someone won’t hurt you a bit.”
I clamp my mouth shut and breathe so I don’t laugh. “My ear?”
“They took what would have died and fallen off with a laser so it will heal smooth. The deep cells from that are what we’re using here. The thicker part of your ear will be intact, but the outside is gone. At two we’ll get you uncovered and you can see all of it. The ReCell makes everything look liquidy so it’s hard to imagine what the new skin will look like, but you’re already responding to the new cells.”
“Thanks. I thought I could just smooth it out when I saw my hand.”
Alder smiles. “No touching. New cover will help.”
“The new cover is a special fabric that will keep germs out and the cells covered without losing anything when we take it off. That’s what we’ll use for your hand right now and at two apply to the rest.”
They’ve done everything to make sure this works. I’m swallowing hard, but get out, “Thanks for all of it.”
Doc stands and Alder moves to the side I can’t see. “Cort got the As working on a way to make this better for you. Everyone did their part. I’m not sure you remember what happened. The boys showed us on their phones. When Cort yelled, the guy pointed the thrower at him. You stepped in the line of fire and shot him. You stopped Cort from being hit - with your body, Brother. Every Brother in this Club will do anything and everything to make this better and easy for you. We do that because you showed us how, Brother. You protected Cort.” He swings his head. “I can only hope to have that kind of courage if I’m ever in a position like that.”
