Solace & Taproots

2.5

The rain had abated to a much more civil constant shower, like the kind people used to simulate with bedside sound machines to soothe themselves to sleep. Bex wasn't about to come down from her adrenaline surge and doze off, but until it made her arm start burning again, she had to admit the cooling rain was pleasantly refreshing after all the stress and exertion. Pat and Chris were getting soaked for the first time though, whereas she hadn't dried out that much during the excitement below and quickly reached peak dampness again.

The rain washed the blood already clinging to her upper arm away, and diluted what was still seeping out, but that also meant more volume dripping away as they hastened through the rain with their loads. She mentioned her worry about balancing opening up some distance from any pursuers against leaving a trackable trail, and Ronnie led them on a course change in the middle of an asphalt paved intersection, then two more, so any blood spatter would be lost on the wet, black surface. After several blocks, she started to lead them towards a restaurant storefront but slowed when Bex balked.

"Oh god, Ronnie, no. You know my luck with restaurants."

Granted, it was a fair point, so they detoured to a dentist's office a few doors down. Inside, Rhonda had the kids drop the bag behind the reception desk, then left Pat there with Bex and cleared the office with Christine.

Once they were secure, she had Pat keep watch and Chris search for any meds or useful chemicals, surgical instruments, or remaining wound care supplies, like gauze or gloves. Then, she took Bex's backpack off and ushered her to an exam chair under a skylight.

Bex decided a padded seat with armrests was something she didn't mind being ordered into, and closed her eyes with a weary sigh. Her breathing gradually slowed while she heard Ronnie rifling through drawers and cabinets — she was definitely crashing after running all-out for so long. She opened her eyes groggily at Ronnie's voice, and rolled her head that direction against the headrest.

"Okay, hon. You were right. This is better than a pho restaurant. Your wound has a lot of dirt and ash in it, and something looks gnarly about it, so I'm going to have to clean it.

She held up an oral irrigator, one of those squirty syringes that Bex had been given after she'd had teeth extracted as a kid to wash out the socket. Bex nodded wearily and watched Ronnie pour filtered water from Bex's hydration reservoir into a paper "rinse and spit" cup, then place a towel across Bex's arm at her elbow, and fill the syringe from the cup.

Bex smiled as Ronnie rested her hand on her forearm and wondered why she did it, but bit her lip and whimpered when Ronnie started a thin stream of water along the upper edge of the wound. She knew from past experience that Ronnie would be sympathetic, but methodical, and tried to focus on breathing smoothly while she reached over and held onto Ronnie's free hand.

"You must have caught a ricochet. Maybe a tumbling bullet, or a chunk of debris, because this is more of a ragged gouge than clean slash. I'm going to have to rinse more inside it, and it's probably going to hurt like a bitch." Ronnie briefly thought about moving Bex's right hand to Jaime's amulet, but decided if she wasn't already reaching for a bittersweet crutch, maybe it was better in the long run. She settled for shifting her hand so she could rub the back of Bex's thumb reassuringly with hers.

Bex nodded, and Ronnie tried to ignore when Bex's grip on her off hand tightened while she worked. Poor kid wasn't born into or raised for this life... though when Ronnie thought about Pat and Chris, mostly safe-ish, she was impressed with her little apprentice.

Apparently the Black Tusk troops really were a bunch of wusses, as their medkit antiseptic sprays were laced with topical anesthetics. Between that, and the wound being cleaned and no longer exposed, Bex started to feel better almost immediately as Ronnie dressed and covered it. She was impressed and a little touched when Ronnie cut and flattened one of those free sample / dental goodie bags and taped it around her arm to waterproof the bandage. Being patched up by her always felt like being doted on by the biggest, baddest alpha mama wolf. Or bear, if you wanted to be cliché. Frankly, Bex didn't get to feel safe very often. Ronnie was still sitting on a stool next to her, so she leaned over the side of the chair and rested her head against what she could reach of her. It turned out to be mostly nylon weave and webbing, but she could still feel some of her radiant body heat and found it comforting.