EXCAVATOR: Tales from the Twelve Vessels

Chapter Seven: Learning to Crawl (pt. III)

Together, the two synchronously walked over to the trap door and headed down to the lower level of the 803rd lot.

Rufe spoke up as they descended the last couple steps. "Hey, Medical?" he called out.

They rounded the corner.

One of the doors Meera hadn't been in yet opened. A crew member with a long face and thin, choppy hair poked out. Their expression fell once they got a look at the two of them. "Oh geez, did you break the new meat, Rufe?"

Rufe chuckled nervously. "It was an accident, Carthy. Besides, I thought you'd want to get in on some of the action. When's the last time you actually patched someone up?"

Carthy frowned. "It depends, when was the last time you leaned against an EV's active engine?"

His expression turned sour. "Can you do the job or not?"

They let their head roll back and sighed. "Yeah, whatever." They stepped out of the way, revealing the entrance into the room.

The two hobbled inside.

Meera got whiplash from the complete tonal shift from space to space. This room was closer to the Jinsuo than anything she had encountered at the 803rd. The walls were white with a touch of blue when the right light hit it. To the left, a thin, white rectangular desk with a mid-size display hovering above its surface. To the right, a standard medical platform bed with a thin covering and an antiseptic sheen to it. The walls were filled with shelves containing all variety of vials, needles, and unidentifiable medical equipment.

She worked her way up onto the cold, hard examination table.

"All tight," Carthy said, waving off Rufe. "You can go now. This is my territory now."

He rolled his eyes. "Okey, whatever. Sorry, again. Didn't mean it." He hesitated, like he was thinking about saying something else, but decided against it and let the door close behind him as he left.

"Rufe usually breaks things instead of people," Carthy explained, sitting in their chair and rolling over to Meera. "So congratulations on helping him reach that milestone." They let out a sigh. "So where'd he break you?"

"Oh, uh." She held out her right ankle. "I twisted it."

"Well, at least that's not, like, the end of the world." They took her foot in hand.

Meera observed carefully as they began to take her shoe off. "Are you a doctor, Carthy?"

They didn't glance back at her as they worked. "Paramedic. Every excavation team is supposed to have one on site. But I bet you knew that, 134. What gave it away?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean—I know that, but I wasn't expecting—you don't fit what I assume a medical would be."

"And what were you expecting?"

She hesitated, looking for the nicest possible words she could muster. "I haven't been to many doctors in my life, I'll admit, but all of them had—I guess you could say—you know the term 'bedside manner'?"

Carthy peeled off her sock and held her foot up to investigate the ankle. "Oh, sure, throw a fork at a guy one time and suddenly you're incapable of your job."

"Was that the only time?"

"The only time you saw."

She fell quiet.

Their fingers prodded around the area. "Well, it's swollen."

They just let anyone be a doctor these days, huh.