What Happened in the Morning...

Injuries and Heartbreaks

Ever since he heard about this highly anticipated "Quinceañera", Ratchet had been working day and night, forcing himself to repair more ships than the necessary quota for the day just for the sake of having enough bolts to afford Alice's fiesta de quince años. Of course he had no idea about most of traditions other than the waltz. Heck, he didn't even know what to wear for the occasion. But nonetheless, he worked his tail off trying to squeeze in a little extra pay. The hardest part of it all was trying to keep it a secret. Yeah, she had no idea about him literally working himself to death. As he tightened the last bolt with his Omniwrench, he stopped to wipe the sweat off his brow. Man, repairing ships is a hard job but in the end, it was all worth it. Ratchet grimaced as he felt a stinging feeling in his hands. He lifted them to eye-level only to see rips in his leather gloves with blood seeping through them. There was also a long, deep gash that ran down his forearm and dripped onto the garage floor. He groaned in frustration.

"Now I'm gonna be behind schedule," he growled as he grabbed his arm in pain. Unbeknownst to him, Alice came into the garage with a steaming plate of food. As soon as she walked in, her sensitive ears picked up a sound of distress coming from a particular Lombax. Alice placed the plate onto a counter before coming to Ratchet's side as he continued to grasp his bleeding arm, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Ratchet?" she asked. "Is everything okay?" He opened his green eyes, saw her worried glance, and let go of his arm, trying to shake off the pain.

"Nah, I'm fine," he said, trying hard not to grab onto his arm, which was now flowing heavier with blood. He gave a nervous laugh when he saw Alice cross her arms and shoot him a disapproving look.

"Ha ha...Fine, I give up," he breathed, shoulders slumping in defeat. Alice gave a victorious smirk. Nothing can get past her when it comes to injuries. Her smile turned into a frown when Ratchet grasped onto his arm, hissing in pain. She calmly placed her hand on his arm and squeezed it gently.

"Don't worry," she purred, trilling her r's as she gave him a warm smile. "I'll be right back with some bandages to dress your wounds." With that, she walked away, leaving Ratchet alone again. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free arm as the other was bleeding freely to the ground. Within seconds, Alice came back with a roll of gauze and the first aid kit.  She grabbed his arm to inspect the gash. It was pretty deep; a really sharp, metal object must have ripped through his skin. As she opened a packet containing a wipe, she struggled to keep a firm grip on his arm as he was squirming around in pain.

"I'm warning you now, this will hurt a little," she said, using a disinfecting wipe to clean the area around the wound. Alice then reached next to her with her other hand and grabbed the roll of gauze and disinfecting spray from the counter, still trying to keep a steady grip on Ratchet. She could feel him fidgeting as she cleansed the wound by flooding it with the spray. The dried blood around the gash has now been cleaned but there was the fresh blood running down his arm she had to deal with. After compressing the cut for a few short moments, the bleeding had stopped, but there was still the wound on his arm. She tightened her grip while she wrapped Ratchet's arm with the gauze, the male Lombax wincing in pain the tighter she wrapped it. He tried to pull away but Alice kept her grip tight and removed his gloves to check the cuts on his hands. As Alice touched one of the wounds, Ratchet hissed almost immediately. She felt her ears lower. It must have really been painful for him.

"Please hold still, Ratchet." she said as she noticed the other Lombax shut his eyes tightly while inhaling sharply. She knew that it must have hurt, but the sooner the wounds were clean, the sooner they would heal. Trying to be as gentle as possible, she removed the dry blood until there was only the fresh blood left to be cleaned. Once she finished disinfecting the cuts, she heard Ratchet sigh in relief, but noticed some tears began to well in his eyes. It was hard to see him in this much pain. She then started wrapping his palms with the remaining gauze. Once this was done, she daintily lifted his chin to see a tear rolling down his cheek.