Shadows of the Past

Part 53

(LOKI POV)
You carefully lay her on the exam table in the medical bay and slowly take a step back. The last thing you want to do right now is let her go, even for a second, but you know she needs to be examined as soon as possible. You fidget with your fingers anxiously and watch Y/N over Dr. Palmer’s shoulder. She quickly goes to work connecting all the wires from the various monitors to Y/N and then she moves onto the physical exam. Dr. Palmer listens to her heart and lungs then uses a small flashlight to check her pupils, nodding to herself as she goes but not saying anything.

She continues examining Y/N, taking note of each of her injuries as she cleans and bandages the ones needing attention. You grind your teeth with anger when you see the extent of her injuries. Y/N is covered in cuts of various sizes, some superficial and some deep, all at different stages of healing. There are bruises on her ankles and wrists from the restrains but one wound seems to catch Dr. Palmer by surprise.

“What is this?” she says to herself quietly when she lifts Y/N’s shirt to examine her chest and abdomen for injuries.

“What’s wrong?” you ask her, taking a step forward to see what she is looking at. There is a blood covered piece of gauze taped loosely to her chest, just below her left collar bone. It is the only wound so far that looks like it had any type of treatment. 

“Can you help me check her back?” she asks you.

You nod and carefully roll Y/N onto her side so Dr. Palmer can see her back. There is another piece of gauze on her back, also soaked with blood. You already know what that means but you wait for her to say it.

“She was shot, through and through from the looks of it. Based on the location, I would say she is lucky, it missed her heart and lungs,” she slowly peels off the piece of gauze on her back. Its still open and bleeding slowly so she cleans it and stiches the wound closed. After she redresses it, you gently roll Y/N onto her back again so Dr. Palmer can do the same for what you assume is the entry wound.

"I don't know much about bullet wounds in all honesty, but it seems odd they just literally put a bandage over it doesn’t it?" you ask.

She sighs, "I'm not sure they were worried about her surviving it. Most of her other injuries don’t appear to have been treated at all. It's almost as if they were inflicted and then just left to heal on their own."

You gently stroke Y/N's cheek and wonder what they had done to her. You feel a mix of sadness and guilt but also anger. If Marc was here right now, you would tear him apart slowly, making sure he suffered for whatever his part he played in Y/N's torture.

Once all of Y/N's injuries are cleaned, dressed and noted she begins to draw several tubes of blood to analyze when they reach the lab. You watch Y/N's face closely, wishing she would at least wince as the needle is inserted into her arm but she doesn't move at all. When Dr. Palmer is finished, she takes off her gloves and turns to face you.

"Tell me she's going to be ok... that she's going to wake up soon," you say, almost pleading for it to be true. You don't think you could bear it if you were too late to save Y/N.

She looks down for a moment and then at Y/N on the exam table, "I can't. I'm sorry, I wish I could give you better news but... I don't even know why she is unconscious. The tests I am able to run here all came back within normal ranges except for two things. Her temperature is a bit lower than normal and her pulse is weak but steady. Other than the bullet wound, she has no injuries that could be considered life threatening. When we get her back to the infirmary we can take her for an MRI and CT scan while we examine the blood samples but until then..." She pauses and looks at you, "There isn't much more we can do now except wait and hope she wakes up. I'm sorry Loki."