✯Rewrite The Stars✯

Chapter 18 - Shock

The days after, Carol hadn't gotten any better. She was crying a lot, and no one knew why exactly. Maria, Monica and Thor tried their best to comfort her, but she didn't talk. Also her nightmares appeared to get more frequent, something that worried Thor a lot.

Around the 8th day Carol hadn't woken up that morning. Thor had let her sleep a bit longer, but when he returned and she still wasn't awake he attempted to wake her up. Without any success. She looked pale and sweat covered her forehead. Thor immediately called Maria, who rushed up the stairs.

"What's happening to her," Maria asked worries. "I don't know, it looks like she's sick, but I have no clue as to what she has. She's also not waking up," Thor bit his lip, he could impossibly take her back to Asgard, the bifrost would be her death, but the doctors here on Midgard weren't advanced enough. He grabbed Carol's hand and places a soft, reassuring kiss against her knuckles.

"She's not... She's not dying, right? She can't be," Maria stuttered. Thor just shook his head, Carol was still breathing, but in no way healthy. "There must be something we can do?" Maria looked at Thor with hope in her eyes. "I don't know, I can try to wash her body, cool her down a bit, maybe it'll help her?" Thor was just guessing around, he didn't know a single thing about Kree biology.

Maria nodded and left the room, so that Carol could have her privacy, even though she wasn't conscious. Thor went to the bathroom and filled the bathtub with lukewarm water. He carefully stripped Carol from her sweaty pyjamas. Quickly he noticed a red bruise like spot on her lower stomach. He placed his hand over it, it was warm. Maybe she was suffering from an infection.

Midgardian antibiotics wouldn't help, neither would Asgardian ones. Thor lifted her up, holding her close and went to the bathroom, where he places her body in the bathtub. He held her head above to water abd started to wipe her body. In the meantime he contacted Heimdall, asking him to deliver a message to Loki, to look through Carol ship, seeing if he could find any medication, if he couldn't, he should confront Yon-Rogg.

This has to be done fast, she must've had this infection for at least a week if not longer. He tried understanding what it was that caused it, and why she couldn't heal from it. Her Kree biology should allow her to heal infections in mere hours, why was this one different. He carefully placed his hand over the infected area. What if... What if she didn't have the willpower to survive this?

He shook his head, if course she had. Still, he couldn't forget about the idea, that maybe, Yon-Rogg had manipulated so much that she had fallen into a depressed. When he felt something hard under her skin, he realized it must be the birth control implant. Maybe it had broken and the sharp edges had caused wounds, which would mean... That he had to remove it as soon as possible.

After a few minutes of gathering Maria's first aid kit, a couple of small but sharp knives from her kitchen drawers and draining the bathwater enough that she most definitely wouldn't drown, he sat before her. He didn't want to do this, but sooner or later she had to get it removed, at least, if it was up to him.

Thor didn't have any anesthetics, so he prayed that she wouldn't wake up and be in pain. He knew basic first aid, he had learned to stitch big wounds on the battlefield, cutting her open was the part that scared him the most. He looked around, making sure towels were within hand reach.

He grabbed one of the knifes with shaking hand and places the point on her bare skin. Her Kree biology would help her heal fast from the wound, but he would obviously let it be checked by doctors again.

He pressed the knife down, and he saw blue blood well up from the small wound. He dragged the knife further, and quickly noticed small pieces of what once was the birth control implant. He grabbed a towel and held it in a way it would soak up all the blood.

He took the pieces of scrap out with the tweezers, placing them on the floor next to him, in a way it looked like the device was disassembled, so he would know how much there was still left.

After what felt like hours he had gotten to the last piece, but it was stuck, and her wound had started healing faster than he planned to. Thor had a firm grip on the tweezers, and gave a tug, finally taking the piece out. Attached to it were three small wires, who glowed blue at first, but died down now.

He stared at it confused for a split second, but quickly he realized she needed to be stitched up, no matter how fast her healing ability was.

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"So you had a surgery in my bathroom without telling me," Maria looked like she was about to faint. "Yes, but you were out for groceries, I didn't really have the time to call," Thor looked at carol, who was laying on the bed in the guest room, "if I hadn't done it right then and there, who knows if she would still be alive."

"So that thing blocked her healing abilities and only made everything worse?" Maria looked at the piece with the wires. "I suppose, I want to take it back to Asgard and let the scientists take a look at it," Thor grabbed Carol's hand.

In the hour after she had gotten so much better, she hadn't woken up yet, but the colour in her face had returned and her fever had subdued. He felt her fingers move the slightest bit. His lips curled up a bit into a smile.

"I'll go prepare dinner then, I suppose," Maria mumbled awkwardly as she turned to the door and left. Carol's eyes fluttered a bit before opening. Thor smiled and pressed one hand against her cheek, "you're awake."

She opened her mouth and tried to talk, but ended up being overwhelmed by a shower of coughs. He grabbed the glass from the nightstand and let her take a few sips. After a good minute she tried again, "how... Long."

"You've been out sinds yesterday evening, around 18 hours I would say," Thor helped her sit up. Carol leaned heavily against him, causing him to wrap his arms around her small body. "The Kree... They... For days.... Intelligence..." To and outsider it would look like random mumbles, but Thor knew exactly what happened.

The birth control implant had connected Carol's mind to the intelligence for days. They had tormented her for days. That's why when she was awake she looked as lifeless as a doll. That's why she cried so much, they mentally tortured her. That's why her nightmares were so bad.

Thor softly rocked her back and forth. "You're safe now, you're safe," he whispered, unsure how she would react. "They did horrible things to me," she mumbled as she kept staring in the distance. "I know baby, but now you're safe, they can't get to you anymore," he placed a small kiss in her hair.

"Now let's go downstairs, Maria is making us dinner, we don't want to leave her hanging, do we," Thor looked at her. She looked back, giving him her best version of a smile.