Seal My Wounds with Steel

Chapter 6

"What if it is?" He asked slyly.

"Then I'll kick your ass!" I shouted up at the Autobot with a smirk.

"I don't believe that."

"Set up targets! Either that or I'll just shoot you seeing as 'it won't hurt you'." My smile only widened when he smirked back.

"Alright. I'll set up some targets." He said. "But don't you start gettin' angry at me when you don't hit anything."

"Sure, sure. We'll see what you say after I win this thing." I walked over to my guns, but suddenly lost balance halfway there. My arms flailed as I tried to keep myself from falling only to land on the ground as I toppled left. Next thing I know, I'm looking up at the ceiling.

"Bella, are you okay?" His worried face appeared in my field of vision. It seemed as if his head were slowly rotating counterclockwise, but at the same time, not. I tried to blink it away, but I remained dizzy.

"The room is spinning." I stated with a dazed expression.

"Frag." Ironhide muttered. I closed my eyes when I felt him scoop me up from the ground to keep myself from getting sick. My body could feel the vibrations he produced as he yelled for Ratchet. I could feel gravity's slight change with every step he took.

"What, Ironhide?!" Ratchet yelled angrily. "Can't you see that I'm- what's wrong with her?" He asked when he saw my form.

"I think she's about to pass out!" I could hear the medic take a sharp intake of breath.

"Bring her here." Ratchet ordered. My back slide from one metal surface to another.

"Arabella, can you hear me?" He asked in calm voice. I squinted my eyes open and looked up at him. The dizzy spell had passed, but I felt very weak.

"Yeah. I was walking and then I just got dizzy." I said slowly.

"How do you feel now?"

"Weak, but I think I'm better now." I tried to sit up, but the neon green Autobot pushed me back down gently with one digit.

"Lay there and stay still. I'm going to scan you." He left no room for argument in his tone of voice. A green light went over my form. It was a warm light, like as if you put your hand near a heat lamp. Ratchet hummed he, I assume, looked over my scan results.

"Lift your shirt. I want to check the metal." He instructed as he helped me sit up. I nodded and lifted my shirt to where my bra ended. The bot kneeled to get his optics closer to me. He shook his head as soon as he looked.

"Slag..." He murmured. "It's spreading faster than I predicted." He seemed to be talking more to himself than anyone else. The metal had spread over most of my abdomen. There was no longer separate dots from when I was exposed, but one large area of metal tissue.

"What's that mean, Ratchet?" My guardian asked worriedly. I looked up at the worried face of Ironhide. He looked at the medic's face closely for answers.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked when he didn't receive an answer.

"It means she may not have two months." Ratchet spoke sadly. "The process could be over by the end of the week. The metal right now, as it is, isn't far from a large blood vessel. Once it reaches that, it will progress through the blood rapidly." Silence weighed heavily on our shoulders. A dread set into my stomach. My eyes travel over to my guardian and the bots that I now noticed behind him. His shoulders were sagging. I could see the sadness and despair when he made eye contact with me. Shaking my head, I looked away and back to Ratchet.