Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

29. Guilt and Gifts

Content Warning:
Graphic description of injury

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The metallic tang of blood and the sharp scent of cryoprotectants enveloped him as he stepped through the door of the examination room.

Leah looked up and gestured him to come closer. In front of the examination table stood a man in ragged clothes, who turned to look at Cyril as he approached. The look on both of their faces did not instill any further confidence in him. He knew what would be waiting for him – Leah's message had been brief but clear - and he should have been prepared. Still, the sight before him caught him off guard and made him falter for a second.

On the table between Leah and the man, there was the body of a girl. Her blood vessels shimmered bluish through her skin – she had clearly just come out of prolonged cryostasis. She seemed so pale that she was almost translucent, like a blue and silver ghost. Leah had hooked her up to life support already and the faint beeping of the machines and the data displayed on the screens next to the bed were the only things reassuring Cyril that she was, in fact, still alive. With the two of them standing beside her and the way she looked, the sight was rather reminiscent of a corpse being laid out.

After what he just talked about with Amy minutes before coming here, it felt like she was a ghost that had come from his past to haunt him.

The girl's injuries were worse than what the short message Leah had sent him could have conveyed. In stark contrast to her almost paper white skin, the girl's shirt was drenched in dark, dried blood, as was the cloth that covered a part of her face. Her hair looked ginger, but Cyril quickly realized that it was originally a pale shade of blonde and had just been dyed red by all the blood. The makeshift bandage above her eyes was completely soaked, and yet fresh trickles of blood had begun to trace down her temples and cheeks. Cryostasis had probably saved her from bleeding to death, but now she was thawing.

"How did this happen?" Cyril asked in a low voice as he stepped up to the table.

"Hunters..." the man next to him just said. His face was grey and he looked weary and pained as he held the girl's hand, caressing the back with his thumb. His clothes were blood-stained too, but there were no signs of injury on him. He had probably carried her here in his arms.

"Are you her father?" he asked.

The man shook his head. "Uncle. Her parents are dead."

"Don't worry," Leah reassured him. "You are safe now. We will take care of her."

Her voice was calm and compassionate, but Cyril knew her well enough to see that the sight of the girl shook her just as much as him, despite their years of medical experience. But they both had to retain their composure and professional demeanor even in situations as gruesome as this. Cyril gestured the man to stand back to give them room to work. He let go of the girl's hand reluctantly, but obeyed.

As Leah began to untie the bandage, the girl twitched and a muffled moan of pain escaped her lips.

"Isn't she anesthetized?" he asked Leah.

"She is. But I can't ramp up the dose any higher or her organs will give in. She's been out of cryo for barely twenty minutes, and her system hasn't yet cleared out all-"

"Increase the dose," he cut her off.

Leah looked up at him and raised an eye brow.

"She is suffering," he explained, barely keeping his voice from wavering. "The pain she's in could cause her body to give in from the shock just as well. Increase the dose, I can fix whatever organ damage that will cause later."