hobo heart x reader. Perhaps we value each other?

Chapter 23

The clink of surgical steel against the sterile tray shattered the heavy silence in the room. Nurse Ann stepped under the bright, hot glow of the operating lights, her gloved hands efficient and completely devoid of hesitation. She didn't look at Jack or Marcy; her focus was locked entirely on my exposed chest.

They had removed my shirt while I was paying attention to Jack and Marcy.

"Commencing procedure," Ann announced, her voice flat, clinical, and echoing off the tiled walls like a pre-recorded log. "Patient is Molly. Presenting with total cardiac absence, currently sustained via supernatural proxy. Objective is the implantation of a secondary anomalous organ provided by donor Hobo Heart."

She reached for a heavy, pre-loaded syringe, tapping the glass side.

"Administering localized paralytic and neural block," Ann muttered, her eyes narrowing as she found the injection site near the base of my neck. "Inserting five milligrams of systemic stasis solution. This will freeze motor functions while leaving cognitive awareness completely intact."

The needle bit into my skin. Instantly, a freezing, heavy sensation poured down my spine. It felt like liquid concrete flooding my veins. My fingers twitched once, then went entirely numb. I tried to blink, but my eyelids felt like iron weights. I was trapped inside my own skull, unable to move a single muscle, but my hearing became terrifyingly sharp.

"Patient is fully immobilized," Ann noted, checking my unblinking eyes. "Heart rate is non-existent, but cellular oxygenation remains stable due to the donor's connection. Preparing the surgical site."

She grabbed a swab drenched in dark brown iodine, rubbing it in a wide, cold circle across my skin, from my collarbones down to the bottom of my ribs. The sharp, chemical smell of the antiseptic filled the air, cutting through the scent of old wood and ozone in the room.

"Draping the patient," Ann said. A blue, sterile paper sheet was laid over me, leaving only a rectangular window of brown-stained skin exposed over my sternum.

Dr. Smiley stepped into my limited line of sight, his fingers closing around a silver handle. The blade caught the harsh overhead light, throwing a blinding reflection across the ceiling.

"Scalpel," Ann confirmed out loud, handing it over. "First incision. Midline sternotomy."

I couldn't feel the sharp edge of the blade, but I could feel the bizarre, heavy pressure of it pressing down. I could hear it. A sickening, wet, parted sound as Dr. Smiley dragged the scalpel down the center of my chest, slicing through the skin and subcutaneous fat in one long, clean stroke.

"Incision made. Depth is three millimeters," Ann recited, her hands already moving with gauze to blot away the dark, sluggish ooze that began to pool at the edges of the cut. "Electro-cautery applied to minor vessels."

A sharp, buzzing hiss filled the room, followed by the acrid, terrifying smell of burning flesh as they sealed the tiny bleeders. I wanted to scream, to thrash against the table, but the stasis medication kept me completely pinned to the steel.

"Sternal saw prepared," Ann stated calmly, the heavy mechanical tool catching the light. "Beginning bone division."

The high-pitched, metallic whine of the sternal saw tore through the room. At the exact moment the blade touched my bone, Jack's long arms tightened around Marcy, lifting her slightly as he swiftly guided her out of the operating room, shielding her from the brutal noise. The heavy steel door hissed shut behind them, cutting off the sound of her muffled, trembling breaths.

I wanted to scream. Inside my head, the panic was a roaring wildfire, a blinding terror that I couldn't voice because my throat was completely paralyzed by the stasis medication.