Crash Into Me || A Seth MacFarlane AU

Chapter Four

As she approached the river area again she could hear singing. It wasn't very loud, but as she drew closer she knew it was him. She supposed that she shouldn't have been shocked because the only other person out there was him but it was so good for a second she thought that he'd found a radio or was using his phone. The fact that he was creating that sound himself, despite the state he was in, amazed her. When she came into his line of sight he stopped abruptly and looked in her direction.

"Don't stop for my sake." She said, walking over to where he was and setting down the bag of stuff she had brought back. Most of it was first aid supplies but she'd grabbed some of the packaged food and booze that they had found at the beach.

"I was just trying to pass the time," He said, looking her over. She had taken the time to get changed into a sundress that she had found among the luggage that they had pulled onto the shore. It was a bit too tight on her but not uncomfortable, so she could understand why he was staring.

"It was good, the only musical thing I'm good at is the violin and really only because my parents wanted me to be." She told him, reaching into the bag to get some latex gloves which were included in the first aid kit that she had found.

"Violin? That's not an easy instrument."

"No, it's not. My parents were always on my ass about it in school. They wanted me to be good at everything I guess. I still play now but only because I figure that I took time to learn the skill I shouldn't lose it." She laughed. No one ever heard her play except for close friends, and she didn't think she was that good at it. She certainly was not as musically inclined as he obviously was. "I'm going to check your leg now."

"You'll be gentle right? I'm not a corpse, I'm a living guy." He said with a bit of a nervous laugh behind his voice.

"I think I can tell the difference." She said, "Besides, I'm gentle with corpses too. Don't want to disrespect the dead." Her gloved hands reached out and pulled down the rest of the bandage on his thigh even though most of it was already falling away as it was. It should have been changed far before that moment but she hadn't thought of it.

"Huh, good to know." He muttered.

"Why? Planning on dying in such a weird way you'll need an autopsy?" She asked, "I wouldn't be the one doing it unless you died in New York City and I also happened to be assigned to it you know."

"Like you wouldn't volunteer." He snickered.

"I don't know." She smiled, "I guess it would depend on what mood I'm in. Lay on your side it'll be easier to do this. Did you take those pills?"

"Yeah, yeah," He muttered and shifted so he was laying on his side looking out towards the river. She grabbed the bottle of peroxide and a pair of tweezers. Peroxide was not the best thing to use in this situation, really. It could damage the skin and the wound area which would probably leave a permanent scar but she didn't really have a choice. Her only other option would have been to make a saline solution but they didn't have enough salt for that even if they could get enough clean water so it was better than nothing.

"Try to stay still, I know it won't be easy but...try." She said then disinfected the tweezers and moved in to work. He nodded and she heard him take in a deep breath and hold it. She cleaned out the wound a bit by irrigating it with some peroxide and then looked into it, gently prying it open with her fingers. Other than the fact there was puss in there, and it didn't smell particularly great, she could see something shiny. Probably metal. It was possible a piece of shrapnel got stuck inside of him which would explain why the infection was progressing so rapidly. Getting that out would make a world of difference but it was going to be agonizing.