A Trip Of Life (Shidge/Mallura/Klance AU)

Chapter 3 - Wondrous

Shiro struggled to free his arm from underneath the debris that crushed it while Katie tried her best to awake her nieces and nephew. The girls gave vibrant responses to her attempts, but Cain was silent. For a moment, she thought he was surely dead, dread and fear engulfing her palpitating heart, but his beating heart told her otherwise. Something was definitely wrong, however, and she couldn't understand what. With a racing mind, Katie attempted once more to wake the three children from their slumber, this time by slapping their cheeks instead of shaking their bodies.

Lemia shot up, eyes wide before wincing and clutching her shoulder. Scratches covered every exposed bit of skin the eldest had and a bruise was quickly forming on her left travicle. The girl looked around her, catching sight of her siblings and Shiro before finally meeting eyes with Katie. Tears overcame her and Lemia began to ball, hands rubbing dirt off of her face. The scene made Katie's heart stop for a second. It was devastating to watch Lemia, someone usually so strong and independent, break down in the depths of despair. Katie thought to offer her niece a hand to hold onto, but she did not want her to see the bloodied palm.

Trying not to dwell on it, she turned back to her problem at hand and the nineteen-year-old began to gently slap Delphie's face in hopes of waking the girl. Instead, Delphine brushed Katie's hand away, still passed out, displaying that the young girl was simply sleeping. It was a bit of a relief to see the girl that way, considering Lemia was crying and Cain was barely displaying any signs of life.

Then an idea hit Katie. She could check Cain's pulse. If there was anything wrong with the boy, checking his pulse would be a first step. Wrapping her dainty, frail hand around the boy's thin wrist, she lightly pressed in on the vein. She counted each pulse as a minute passed. His pulse was a tad bit slow, not dangerously unresponsive or weak, just lagging behind the normal beat per minute. A voice cut off her thoughts.

"I can't lift this piece of metal. I'll need assistance. You're hurt, so leave the children with me and go find the others. Matt, Allura, and Lance should be able to help," Shiro offered, admitting defeat in his tries at lifting the debris off of his arm. Katie met his eyes woefully. She hadn't seen her brother or his wife since they were tossed into another room by the twisting of the ship. The thought of losing Matt nerved her, the girl cautiously removing Cain and Delphie off of her lap as pain shot up through her body. Lemia stood, tears still falling to her left while Shiro laid on the floor in frustration.

Trying to stand, Katie found that moving would not be easy. "Lemia, take care of your siblings. Aunt is going to find the others to help with Shiro's situation," she whispered, clutching to the girl's shoulder, Lemia wincing at the action, "If something happens while I'm away, I want you to hide yourself and your siblings." Lemia stared up at her, eyes wide and teary with fear. The girl was losing her grip on herself and looked to be barely hanging on. Katie peered down at her with woe, engulfing the girl in a small hug that avoided the use of her wounded arm. She muttered, "It will be okay. Everything will be just fine."

Lemia nodded, eyes falling downward and landing on Katie's arm. "A-aunt Katie... Your arm!" the six-year-old exclaimed, eyes widened with shock. The reaction gave Katie a pit in her stomach, queasiness settling in her veins as she hesitantly looked down to her arm. Breath caught in her throat, she quickly closed her eyes tightly shut and grimaced. A broken piece of sharp, hardened clay that seemed to have been part of some plant vase jutted straight out of her arm, blood easing its way out of the wound through what little gap was available.

"Everything will be fine, Lemia. Watch Delphie and Cain, alright? This wound is nothing," Katie reassured, secretly hoping the clay fracture had not severed her brachial artery.

With those words, she stepped away, small hand going to hold onto her bleeding arm with a hiss. She did not make an attempt to remove the embedded object, though. She was too frightful that it was blocking an artery from bleeding out. Looking to Shiro one last time, the teenager left the room in the direction that Matt and Allura had been tossed towards.

"Matt? Allura?" Katie whispered loudly, lowering her head in caution. She stepped around the debris to her best ability but navigating around the littered metal and insulation was rough and dangerous. She slipped on a fragmented cloth, her ankle bending sharply during the half-fall before she caught herself with her other foot. Steading herself, she moved onward with fleeting hope.

Katie was beginning to doubt that her brother and his wife were even on the ship anymore or even alive. The fear started to consume her as her voice got sharper, desperate, and shrill. "Matt? Allura? Can you hear me?" she called, still trying to remain hushed but failing.
A cough erupted from her left. Katie's heart jumped and began to weakly kick some of the layered debris aside in search of whomever was there. "Matt?" she chimed, relief settling into her veins.

"No. It's Lance," a strained voice echoed from beneath the turned over couch. The tall latino crawled out from underneath the sofa, shirt ripped in multiple locations and blood seeping out from his knee into his ruined blue jeans. "A last minute decision was to dash underneath the couch. I don't know if that was the right choice. It hurt... a lot," Lance continued, dusting himself off and attempting to fix his messed up hair.

Giving the man a once-over, Katie sighed. "You're in better shape than the lot of us. Did you happen to see Matt and Allura?"

Lance raised a slitted eyebrow in thought. "They're not with you 'cause I have not seen them. I was kinda under a couch, Kaite. I wasn't paying attention. I was worried for my life," the brunette male stated, working his way around the mess of metal and ship parts. He started to walk past her, glancing in both directions, "So which way- Holy Altea Katie your arm! Oh stars, look at that side! Okay, we need to get this situated now."

Lance began to tear off the remains of his overshirt, ripping the bloodied parts off before pressing the makeshift gauze into her wound. "Don't pack it! It's too dangerous of a location and a lesser wound," Katie sharply battered, glaring at Lance and taking a step back.
Giving her a concerned look, the latino sighed in defeat. "Then let me at least pack your arm. Leaving that giant shard in there is not going to help in the long run if we cannot find medical help," the boy explained, guiding Katie to sit on the overturned couch.

In two swift pulls, the clay fracture was ripped out. As soon as the blood started pooling, Lance began to shove the torn shirt into the wound, packing it tightly into the injury. Once he had run out of the material, he tore Katie's shawl off its strings and shoved it in along with his overshirt, tying it off with some of Katie's skirt. Back in their home of Altea this was commonality, for Lance studied medical aid with Katie's occasional presence. Lance was passionate for first aid and medical functionalities with Katie as less into the study. She only learned it with him for its practicality.

With her marjory injury cared for to an extent, the two resumed the search for Matt and Allura. On their way there, Katie's arm slung over Lance's shoulder for support, the girl explained her nieces, nephew, and Shiro's condition. The two walked through the ship, silence eventually enveloping them as the eerie tranquility instilled unrest amongst their beating chests.
________
Okay this is officially starting but you guys know I have a terrible publishing schedules...