EXCAVATOR: Tales from the Twelve Vessels

Chapter XIX: Reap

Sauk had been patched up by a handful of characters with questionable qualifications and expired certifications before. Xe was used to the practice-over-comfort, cure-over-caring, back door medicine administered by calloused hands.

But this sapien must have only operated in the undermost underbelly of the criminal world, because their treatment was torture.

Xe was having trouble recalling each moment that led up to this point. The taste of blood in xer mouth served as an anchoring memory, constantly pulling xem back in to remind xem of what was going on.

Xe didn't know how long it took xem to register the change in location. Xe only remembered the storage bay with empty containers and lounging shipmates before regaining awareness in a clean white room with walls stuffed with supplies and bright white lights screaming down from above.

The sapien was gone. Xer sapien was gone. Meera was gone, lost somewhere in the transition.

Now all that was left was the sapien with a long face and hair nearly as thin as an nkrey's, throwing off swears until they were background noise while rummaging around through xer insides.

Xe had no idea if anesthetics had been administered. There must have been, but it sure as hell didn't feel like it. Xe swore xe could feel all ten stubby sapien fingers digging around in there.

Sauk let out another swear, nerves too shot to retain any control. "DAMMIT--are you trying to kill me?" Xe tried to get a better look at the doc, but there were still stars in xer eyes.

"I took an oath that I would do no harm and you are very lucky that I did. This is all corrective work."

"Corre--ack--corrective? How broken am I? You do know nkrey stomachs don't go in the chest, right?"

"I figured it out," they hissed.

Xe rested xer head back, focusing xer energy on bracing for the next round. "Anything you could shoot me with so I can't feel you finger my guts? Painkiller? Laughing gas? I will literally take a decongestant if you have one."

The sapien didn't look up. "You are on as much crap as I can fill you with without putting you under." They reached out and tapped on xer arm, suddenly making xem aware of the tubes coming out of it. "

Sauk stared hard at the IV. "How about you just knock me out, then?"

"Not qualified to administer that level of anesthetic. It's for emergencies only."

"This isn't an emergency?"

"This is an inconvenience."

From the outside of Sauk's partially tunneled vision, xe could hear someone else speak up. As far as xe knew the two of them had been alone up until this point. The voice was familiar, but not the one xe was hoping for.

"Yoi, Carthy, how goes? I was just checking in to see if you'd offed the krey yet."

The doctor sputtered. "Sanji, this is a sterile environment. You can't come in here."

A pair of hands lifted in a show of innocence in Sauk's peripherals. "Relax, relax. I went through the decontam cycle, but if it makes you feel better I'll hang back here."

"I'd feel a lot better if you weren't here at all," they grumbled.

"Status update, then I'll cut. How's that?"

Carthy continued moving, but Sauk couldn't make out what they were doing. "Not much different from earlier. There's still a hole in xem."

"No shit, how're you fixing it?"