Descension

CHAPTER 37

Dannika sits beside Joaquin's makeshift bed, suppressing the urge to stroke away the cold sweat building on his hairline. The coup's doctor, a cybernetics specialist, had closed Joaquin up to the best of his ability, and now monitors him with only his hands. The doctor's chromium fingers work deftly to check between temperature and pulse, and using the few medical supplies and scraps retrieved from the ports, had gathered together the materials to create makeshift limbs for Joaquin. They're crude; servos welded onto rusted fragments of ancient machinery, twisted and re-shaped into deformed, disturbing excuses for limbs.

"Ms. Molchan, I suggest you find somewhere else to preoccupy yourself. Perhaps outside," The doctor advises.

"No." Dannika seethes through her teeth, "I stay."

The doctor sighs, reluctant to allow her presence, "Alright. But you must not interfere, no matter how much he suffers through this."

Dannika nods in agreement. The doctor steps back and pulls on a pair of thick leather gloves, laying out the limbs on the table. He checks Joaquin's pulse one final time. Satisfied with his state, the doctor grabs a soldering iron and begins to implant the new limbs. He starts at the legs, welding together the rusted femur substitute to Joaquin's chrome hip. Joaquin's eyes glaze over as he enters his cyberneural interface against his own will. Once the doctor is satisfied with the attachment, he places two fingers on the back of Joaquin's neck and links with him, authorizing the connection to the new limb. The doctor taps just below Joaquin's new knee. Dannika gasps as his knee jerks, her eyes welling with tears as she gives a beaming grin.

"We aren't out of the clear just yet, Ms. Molchan. If you need to leave at any time, please don't hesitate."

Dannika bites her lip as she contains her hope. It had felt like a glimmering daybreak in her chest, a feeling she hadn't known for a long time. She gulps and sits back, tucking her hands under her crossed arms as she cements her foot to the ground to keep her knee from bouncing.

The doctor welds the second leg and arm just the same as the first leg, connects them, and tests the reflexes. They all respond correctly. The doctor takes a deep breath before setting down the soldering iron and picking up a different tool; a bone saw. Dannika's eyes snap wide open. The doctor meets them with his own, and beckons the question again, silently. Dannika steadies her breathing and furrows her brows. The doctor moves to work. He carefully extends Joaquin's mangled arm and holds the electric saw to the inside of his elbow, his eyes narrowing to a deep focus before turning it on. Joaquin immediately begins to convulse, his eyes flicking in and out of his cybervision and the material world. A horrid scream tears from his throat, the sound an unprocessed gurgle without his jaw.

"Hold him down!" The doctor calls to Dannika.

She jumps up from her seat and rushes over, throwing herself on top of Joaquin to keep him still. She closes her eyes and connects to their link. She feels his racing heartbeat as her own. She shares his pain.

Dani! He cries.

I'm here, my love, She whispers back, Let me hold on to the pain for you.

She radiates soothing warmth from her hands, pouring it into his body so that as it flows through his system it may numb his suffering. She feels his heart calm, his breathing even, and his racing thoughts still.

A beacon illuminates in the distance, and Dannika can feel another presence, then a new part of Joaquin's form.

Wait, Joaquin chokes out, Stay with me. Just a little longer.

Dannika melts further into his consciousness, As long as you need me, I'm here.

They stay bonded for a while longer, Dannika gently washing away his pain into ease. She can feel every burning nerve in his body, though it doesn't shake her; the need to comfort him outweighs the need to pull away. Another beacon, the doctor's presence, then darkness again.

Joaquin jolts awake with a gasp. It throws Dannika from their link, her head foggy as she blinks away the dizzy feeling. Joaquin pants for breath, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest as he drinks in his surroundings. He pats at the table with his new hands, then moves them to his legs, up his scarred torso, and to his tarnished jaw. Dannika sobs as she throws her arms around him and jumps up onto the table. Joaquin curls his hands into her hair as he presses his face to her chest, relishing in the feeling of her warmth, her light. They pull away from each other with a touch of their noses and a kiss, smiling against each other's lips as they savor the bond between them, and the promise kept: If you stay, I stay.

The doctor gestures for Joaquin to get up, "Try just a lap around the table."

Dannika holds Joaquin's hand as he adjusts to his new legs. Joaquin huffs as he curls his knees up to his chest, then slowly, achingly, swings them over the edge of the table. His feet touch the floor, and he hisses with pain. Dannika grips his hand. He thanks her silently with a squeeze back and lowers himself down all the way. He groans and leans against the table, shuffling around halfway before his knees buckle. He gasps and catches himself on the table, grunting as he stands back up and forces himself to make it back to the starting point, panting as he sits himself back on the cold metal.

The doctor nods approvingly, "That was good. Take time to rest. These parts weren't made to be limbs, or permanent, so they won't ever be painless or easy."

"Thank you, regardless," Joaquin speaks breathlessly, "You saved my life."

"And you did mine." The doctor clasps his hands and bows at the waist, "I am ever grateful for your coup's liberation of our labor camps." He smiles and leaves the makeshift room, "I'll leave you be until you need me again."

Dannika turns to Joaquin with tears in her eyes, grinning as she meets his mahogany irises. Wordlessly, he cups her cheek and pulls her into another kiss, their hearts beating in sync once more, in perfect harmony, as one being.