Missing Streams

Prepping - 32

"James, wake up." Scarlet hissed in my ear, shaking me awake.

It was just light enough for me to make out Simon standing behind her. I wondered what was happening.

"Tonight's the night." She whispered, and I caught a look in her eyes I didn't recognize.

Genuine fear.

"We're-"

"Yes." Scar grabbed my hand, "Simon and I have been packing and getting ready. You can have a few minutes to pack, then we just need to do some quick surgery."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I still had the trackers behind my ears. Fuck.

***

"Okay, Simon and I have a backpack each. They're holding our own stuff but we've also got food, medical stuff, whatever we might need on the road. Once you decide what you're taking we'll fill your bag with other supplies." Scarlet smiled, strength emanating from her presence, "Then we'll find Simon in the bathroom. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." I offered her a smile, but it must have betrayed my fear because Scar laughed and punched me in the arm.

"C'mon bud, it'll be okay." She laughed and grinned at me, "You think I can't do this?"

I laughed, a laugh so genuine it filled me with joy, "You can do anything, Scar!"

"You bet I can." She grinned and flexed her arms, "But before we go anywhere, I might have to find a vet."

"Why?" I didn't even register how absurd that statement was.

"Because these pythons are sick!" Scar flexed her arms again, making me burst out laughing.

***

I looked up at Scar while I packed some clothes away, who was leaning against a locker and thinking deeply. I couldn't even see her hair from beneath the black beanie she was wearing, which I was not used to. She had exchanged her nose ring for a stud, and still wore her eyebrow piercing. She had exchanged the combat boots for well worn sneakers, and wore a pair of grey sweats. Finally she wore the shirt I had first ever seen her wearing, and a black sweater I'd never seen before.

I must have spaced out, because Scarlet looked at me and laughed, "You wanna take a picture?"

"No." I smiled, "Because you'll last forever."

Scar shot me finger guns, "You bet I will."

***

"All ready, bud?" Scarlet slapped me on the back, grinning at me. She had just draped a towel over my shoulder, and Simon was prepping anesthesia for me.

"I guess so." I offered her a smile, and she seemed to accept it.

"You'll be fine, I promise." Scar wrapped her fingers between mine, "Simon's gonna numb you up, okay? Then you won't feel a thing."

I smiled, "Okay."

***

"Can you feel that?" Simon asked, probably poking my ear or something.

"Not at all." I took a deep breath, and Scarlet moved to hold my hands. I let her.

"Simon has to do more prep before he actually starts working on you, so you'll be able to feel him doing work before he's actually taking them out. That means you're not allowed to freak out yet, okay?"

I laughed, "I'll try my best."

She smiled, "Good. I understand this is scary for you. I've been in similar situations."

"You mean other than getting your trackers removed?"

She grinned, "Oh, definitely. Like this baby." She point at the scar across her cheek with one hand, holding mine with the other, "I stitched that up myself. Also bandaged it."

"Does it go all the way through?"

"Yes. I had to bandage the inside of my mouth, and nearly puked from swallowing too much blood."

"How did you manage that?"

"Well, you see, you're not supposed to swallow blood, so your stomach-"

"Not that." I laughed. "I meant bandaging the inside of your mouth."

"Oh, right. Heh. A regular bandage wouldn't hold, so I ended up putting a few of those down and securing it with medical tape. It went through three sets of bandages before it had clotted enough that I could keep the bandage off."

"Wow, that's crazy."

"I know." She grinned and pulled at her cheek, stressing her scar, "You can see, if you look close enough, that the stitches also left behind scars."

I didn't have the guts to look close enough, and trusted her instead, "Is that all?"

"That was the biggest thing. Everything else of that magnitude - like my ear - I was in the hospital for. I've stitched up other stuff, and bandaged myself after cutting, but I was better by then."

"Wait, you took our Simon's trackers, didn't you?"

Scar grinned, "You bet I did. I'm not half bad in the medical field."

Simon laughed, "We did it in front of the mirror so I could help you every step of the way."

"Fuck you, I'm great." She laughed and flipped him off, "Aren't I, James?"

"You fuckin' bet." I laughed, and noticed Simon walking into my sights.

"Okay, we're all done." He smiled at me.

"So you'll start removing them?" I swallowed hard.

"No, you're all done." Simon choked back laughter as he opened his hand to reveal two trackers, "I told Scar it wouldn't work."

"I told Simon I'd blow you if I had to, my plan was gonna work." Scar stuck her tongue out at me while I blushed.

"You can blow James all you want once we're out of here and safe. Comprendo?"

"Comprendo." Scarlet jumped to her feet, wearing a triumphant grin, "We're all ready to go then, right?"

"Scarlet, I-" Simon sighed and closed his eyes, "You're the only one who's dressed, and James and I still need to take showers. Then we're ready to go, okay?"

"Fine." Scar snatched the trackers from him, "I'll put these in James' pillow and keep a look out."

I looked at her, "What will you do if someone notices what we're doing?"

She shrugged, "Probably knock them out and put them back to bed."

I couldn't help but snicker.

"Come on James, let's go shower and get changed. No idea what awaits us, so we'd better do what we can while we can. Right?"

I smiled, "Right."