Page 85 of Lorran
Lorran had a med kit in hand. He removed the woman’s shirt and inspected the wound.
Mikah sobbed, a strangled sound that hurt Wyn’s heart.
“Hold on to something!” Caldar shouted. The engine roared, and the ship lurched gracelessly into the sky.
“Sit,” Wyn said, pushing Mikah into the nearest seat. She struggled to fasten his safety harness, the force of takeoff pulling her this way and that.
“Assist your mate.” Mylomon shoved the med kit in her hands. He threw himself into the chair next to Caldar.
Wyn kneeled on the floor next to Lorran, the kit between them. “I don’t know how to do this,” she said.
“Put pressure here.” He placed her hands over a blood-soaked cloth covering the wound. “All your weight. Don’t be shy.”
“I’m not shy.” Wyn had no idea why she said that, but stress made people act funny, and seeing the woman take a plasma bolt to the chest was textbook stressful. Wyn leaned forward, letting gravity help.
The entire ship tilted, and they slid across the floor. Wyn scrambled to prevent herself from falling onto Saavi. Lorran grabbed the kit before the contents could spill everywhere.
“Incoming. Hold on,” Caldar shouted, a bit too late to be useful.
“Show off,” Lorran growled.
She wanted adventure. Shevolunteeredfor this.
Ghost ships. Abandoned amusement parks. Haunted military bases.
Trapped in a tin can with space lizards shooting at us.If she lived through this, she vowed to never do anything riskier than experimenting with new ice cream flavors.
“I hate this,” she muttered, needing to voice the poisonous thought but not wanting to cause a whole thing.
“This will be over shortly,” Lorran said.
Because we’ll be dead. Wyn kept that to herself.
Saavi moaned, her eyes fluttering. The pain had to be unbearable.
“Can we help her?” Wyn asked. She didn’t like the woman, and sure, she tried to use Wyn as a meat shield, but she didn’t want her to suffer.
“That is what I am attempting.” Lorran rifled through the med kit. “We need to stop the bleeding. This should do it.” He held up a palm-sized white packet. He ripped open one end and removed a thin, gauzy sheet. An antiseptic odor tickled her nose.
“Remove the cloth,” he ordered, and unfurled the sheet. It covered Saavi’s bare skin, forming a glossy barrier.
“Shouldn’t we have cleaned that, so she doesn’t get an infection?”
Lorran removed a slender vial from the kit. “No time. It is more important to stabilize. We’ll let the medics worry about the rest. Hold her arm.”
Wyn did, and Lorran injected the contents of the vial into Saavi. The moans quieted, and her breathing evened out.
“For the pain,” Lorran explained.
The ship tilted again, then shuddered. Mylomon grumbled something that sounded rather rude.
“That’s not good,” she said.
Lorran reached for her hand. “All is well.”
“I love you, but don’t lie to me.”
He tore open additional packets of sterile wipes. Carefully. he cleaned the splatter from Saavi’s face, arms, and abdomen. “I do not trust Caldar, but I trust his ability to survive. That one is difficult to kill.”
