Gunfire and shouting are the only two things you can hear, aside from the roar of Brutes and occasional screaming Grunts. You try to keep your head down as plasma shoots past your ears and burns through the metal armor of it's target. You can smell flesh burning as you quickly patch up a marines leg, and help him into the shelter of a nearby cave. Zeta Halo had become a mess over the past few months, even with the help of the Master Chief, once again back from the dead. You hear a shout across the field outside as someone calls for a medic, and once the the injured marine is secured inside the cave, you rush back into the fight. Your boots hit the ground rapidly as you approach a group of marines trying to defend a figure lying in the grass, and that's when you see him. There, on the ground, the Master Chief himself lies motionless, and you feel your stomach drop.
"The Master Chief is down, we need a medic now!" one of the marines shouts in your direction. You're new to your job, and if there's one thing you've definitely never done, it's treat a Spartan for injury.
[["Give me some space marines," you yell as you make your approach. You've got to make this work.]]
[["Surely there's someone more qualified? I'm just a regular medic!" You shout, paniced at how out of your depth the situation is.]]You kneel down next to the Spartan, noting the damage to his torso where the plasma burns have all but destroyed his undersuit. The smell hits you, and you force yourself to breath through your mouth. After a few experimental tugs, you realize that his armor is not coming off, at least not by your hands. He's going to need heavy machineary to remove it. You couldn't help but feel surprised that the chest piece didn't break his bones and crush his lungs.
You quickly pulled a canaster of biofoam and antiseptics from your kit, and began treating the wound. His body jerked in response, as if the pain had brought him out of an agony induced daze. "Hang in there for me, Chief." you say, and he groans in response as you bandage the exposed burns. You move to the damage on the exposed portion of his left leg. The Spartan botls up gripping your wrist lightly in response.
[[You place your free hand on his chestplate. "Deep breath, Chief. This is going to sting," you state calmly.]]
[[You yank your wrist from his grasp, scooting back as you are very aware that he could hurt you unintentionally. "It's alright, Chief. I just need to patch you up before you bleed out," you explain, trying to reason with him.]]"You're the only medic we have on hand!" the marine called, and you felt your stomach drop. You'd never worked with a Spartan before. You didn't know if their biology was different or not. "Ma'am, we need you, NOW!" the marine shouted, and you burst into action. If anything happened to the Master Chief under your care...you didn't want to think about the reprocussions.
You kneel down next to the Spartan, noting the damage to his torso where the plasma burns have all but destroyed his undersuit. The smell hits you, and you force yourself to breath through your mouth. After a few experimental tugs, you ralize that his armor is not coming off, at least by your hands. He's going to need heavy machineary to remove it. You couldn't help but feel surprised that the chest piece didn't break his bones and crush his lungs.
You quickly pulled a canaster of biofoam and antiseptics from your kit, and began treating the wound. His body jerked in response, as if the pain had brought him out of an agony induced daze. "Hang in there for me, Chief." you say, and he groans in response as you bandage the exposed burns. You move to the damage on the exposed portion of his left leg. The Spartan botls up gripping your wrist lightly in response.
[[You place your free hand on his chestplate. "Deep breath, Chief. This is going to sting," you state calmly.]]
[[You yank your wrist from his grasp, scooting back as you are very aware that he could hurt you unintentionally. "It's alright, Chief. I just need to patch you up before you bleed out," you explain, trying to reason with him.]]The Spartan's helmeted head tilts downward, and for a moment you suspect he is assesing the damage he's taken. He releases your wrist, and gently places that hand over your own. Your eyes widen in surprise as the battle dies down around you, the Banished reatreating into the hills. He tilts his head almost drunkenly, and you wonder if he's entirely aware of what's going on until he whispers so softly you nearly miss it. "I've always wanted to do that."
[["Chief, I need to treat your leg. We need to get you mobile again. We can't stay here."]]
[["I don't understand," you murmured.]]"I'm not trying to hurt you," you said nervously, afraid you had upset him, or that he had confused you with a threat to be dealt with. He tilts his head almost drunkenly, and you wonder if he's entirely aware of what's going on until he whispers so softly you nearly miss it. "I've always wanted to do that."
[[Excuse me?"]]
[["I don't understand," you murmured.]]
[["Chief, I need to treat your leg. We need to get you mobile again. We can't stay here."]]
[["Can you make it back to the caves? We've set up a base there. It'd be safer than being out in the open."]]His body seemed to stifen at your words, and you felt unsure of how to proceed. "Apologies," he murmured, allowing you to return to your work. He was silent, and his visor was trained on you as you patched him up.
[["I think it's best we wait for transport. I'll call for a hog, you shouldn't be walking."]]
[["Can you make it back to the caves? We've set up a base there. It'd be safer than being out in the open."]]The Chief's visor settled on your face, and his grip on your hand loosened just enough for you to return it to his leg. He doesn't flinch this time when you treat his wound, just cocks his head at you curiously. "There's a cave across the field. Do you think you can make it there? It'd be safer than being out in the open."
The Chief nods and tries to tenderly get himself up and moving. It takes him far more time than you would have liked to be out in the open, but eventually you're able to regroup with the rest of the marines in the caves. "What's our status?" he asked, sounding more and more dazed.
[["We didn't lose many marines, thanks to you of course, but we're running low on resources."]]
[["Don't worry about that right now. You kept us alive, now you need to rest.]]"But we lost some," he muttered, his body seeming to sway even though he was sitting. You felt your concern for him deepen as you began to question if there was more damage than you were seeing.
[["Sir, would you be willing to remove your helmet?]]
[[Master Chief, I need you to remove your helmet. I'm concerned you may have a concussion."]]"It's my job to worry about you all, Ma'am," he said.
"Well right now it's my job to worry about you. Don't worry about the marines, or the Banished. What's your status?"
The Chief went quiet for a moment, as if he was battling with himself. It was his mission to take care of the marines, but he couldn't do that very well if he was dead.
"I lost a lot of blood," he said simply, as if it were completely normal. You nodded in understanding.
"Do you know what your blood type is? I don't know if we have an type O available, it would be good to have a backup," you suggested, but he shook his head. "All right, give me a minute," you said as you went to rumage through the supplies. Just as you'd feared, the last dose of type O had just been given to another marine. You swore under your breath at the inconvenience. You needed to get the Master Chief taken care of, but your options were limited?
[[Does anyone here have type O blood?" you asked one of the lead marines.]]
[[You grabbed your supplies and returned to the Spartan's side. "Ok Chief, I'm not usually fond of needles, but we're low on options at the moment."]]His visor's snappes to your face, and you can feel the intensity of that gazethrough the faceplate. "I'd rather not." he states firmly.
"It's all right, we're safe here for now," you assure him, but he shakes his head.
"I need to be able to monitor the battle-net at all times," he argued.
"Sir, with all due respect, you aren't going anywhere any time soon," you explained gently. "That leg is going to need time to heal, Your gut was close to spilling out of you, and I should really run diagnositics on your heart and blood preasure."
The Master Chief seemed to be regarding you aprehensively, before he finally relented, undoing the latch on his suit and releasing the helmet with a hydrolic hiss. He set it aside, his bright blue eyes trained on you as if you were a target. It wasn't the unusual color of his eyes, or the paleness of his face that had you freezing up. It was how exhausted the man in front of you appeared to be. His eyelids twitched from lack of sleep, but his gaze was sharp and alert. He was processing everything around him, albeit much slower than he usually could.
[["Dear Lord,When was the last time you slept?"]]
[["I need to know if you're experiencing anything...strange. Nausa, dissiness?"]]"Negative, Ma'am. I know what a concussion feels like."
"Yes, well something is clearly wrong. I need to determine what before you keel over on us. That would lessen our chances of survival greatly," you argued.
"Spartan's don't just keel over, Ma'am," he argued. You huffed in frustration as you tried to decide what to do with him.
[[As the only medical staff on hand, I highly suggest you remove your helmet so I can figure out what the hell is wrong with you, Sir."]]
[["Fine, but keep me posted on your status," you said. You had other soldiers to attend to and you weren't going to waste precious time arguing with him.]]He seemed taken by surprise at the tone of your voice, looking like a scolded child for a moment, and you realized it maybe wasn't an appropriate thing to ask. "I'm sorry... I mean...you look aweful, I mean not aweful, I'm sorry." You rubbled a palm across your face in embarassment, but a ligth chuckle drew your eyes back to his.
"It's allright. It's been...days," he admitted with a grimace.
You felt your face flush at the sound of his baritone laugh. "As a medical practioner, I'm recommending at least nine hours of sleep before you even think about looking at the battle-net again."
He shook his head in disagreement, but something in you just couldn't submit to that. "There's work to be done."
"Master Chief, you aren't going anywhere any time soon. You're not capable of it. And you won't be any good to us if you run yourself into the ground," you stated firmly.
The Spartan opened his mouth to rebuttle, but only a sigh escaped him. "Very well, Ma'am," he relented, leaning back against the cave wall as he allowed you to conduct a full field medical exam.
He needed a blood transfusion badly, and you were horrified that you'd had him walk back to the cave instead of waiting for transport.
"I need to gather some supplies, and check on the other wounded while I'm at it," you explained, watching as he struggled to hold his head up. "I know I said you need one hell of a power nap, but I need you to stay concious for now."
He nodded in undertanding, pressing his lips together in a grimace. "Understood, Ma'am."
"It's Y/N, and send one of the marines for me if you need anything in the meantime."
Ending 1The Chief swallowed thickly, flexing his fingers. "I can't move as quickly, my brain feels like it's processing everything more than once and I still don't understand the feedback," he seemed to become panicked as he attempted to explain his dilema.
"That's normal. You've lost a lot of blood, so you're going to feel strange. It might be best to get you a transfusion."
"Do we have enough?" he asked, closing his eyes as he took deep breaths.
"I'm sorry?" You didn't quite understand what he meant.
"Do we have enough blood supply? For the others?"
"Chief, if we don't get some blood in you, you're not going to make it out of this cave, and then we're all doomed. Just sit tight for a moment. Leave the priortizing to me for the moment, ok?"
The Chief looked unsure of how to respond, so you didn't wait for him to, and left to gather your supplies. The Chief wanted to argue with you, but you were already out of earshot to even for his raspy voice to reach you, weak as it was. He wasn't really sure what you were doing, but he hoped you were comming back soon.
Ending 2The Chief's visor held your stare for a moment, before he finally relented. A quick flashlight test told you that he most certainly did not have a concussion, put the palor of his face was still concerning. His pulse was weak, despite being steady, but it still made you nervous.
[[I think we should get some food and water in you and see where to go from there." you suggested]]
[[I'd like to run more tests, measure you blood preasure and stress levels..." you trailed off. You were almost certain that something was wrong with him.]]You left him in the corner, hoping that he would eventually come to his senses and let you help him. If he was aware enough to be arguing with you, he was probably fine. As you helped one of the marines into a knee brace, you heard shouting suddenly from the mouth of the cave.
"We need the medic!" someone close by shouted, and you let out a sigh.
"I'll get there when I can. I'm the only one here to treat you lot. Just give me a damn minute." You felt bad for snapping, but you were tired, and you still had work to do.
"Ma'am, the Master Chief-"
"He said he was fine. He didn't want my help when I offered it so now he gets to wait for his turn-"
"He's having a siezure!"
You pushed past the marine, darting towards the front of the cave where the Spartan was in fact having a sizure. "Oh Shit!" You didn't care about being polite or asking for permission as you began serching for the emergency release on his helmet. "Get him some oxygen!" you ordered, pulling his helmet off. "Damn it. If you live through this you better damn well listen to me next time," you huffed in irritation as you checked his pulse. It was weak, barely fluttering against your fingertips.
"He needs blood," you realized. "He needs blood! Get me some type O right now!" If the Master Chief died under your watch, your superiors were going to give you hell. "Damn it," you hissed. If you'd just been a little more patient, maybe you could have eased him into accepting your help. You should have trusted your gut. "Hang in there, Chief."
Ending 5"I need the helmet, Ma'am. It's the only way I can monitor the battle-net," he explained, although his voice was becomming slurred.
"No offense, Chief, but I don't think you're even capable of comprhending the battle-net right now. Off with the helmet and we'll get you an MRE."
"Someone needs to be aware of the situation-"
"We've got marines monitoring the COM chanels. Please, Chief." You were relieved when he finally removed his helmet, and motioned for a marine to bring him some rations. "I've got other soldiers to look at, but if you need anything, send a marine for me," you insisted before leaving him to finish his less than apetizing meal.
You were nearly finished treating a marine's broken leg, when one of the soldier's approached you. "Ma'am, the Spartan is puking up his meal, should we be concerned?"
You let out a sigh, and shook your head. "Let me finish with this and I'll check on him."
The Master Chief, despite having tried to put something in his stomach, looked even worse than when you'd left him. In fact, he no longer looked pale, he looked grey.
"Chief? What's wrong? Talk to me," you coaxed, placing a hand on his shoulder, but he was mostly unresponsive, save for the groan he offered in reply. Your eyes landed on the pile of puke, and you noticed that he hadn't even digested the food. He had lost a lot of blood, that could be the culprit for hindering his digestion. "Master Chief, listen to me carefully. I'm going to give you a blood transfusion. I need you to lie on your back, can you do that for me?"
The Chief nodded, shifting very slowly. "Marine, watch him closely. Don't let him get up unless you think he's going to drown in his own vomit." You rushed off to gather your supplies before it was too late.
Ending 3"I'm fine, Ma'am. There are other soldiers who need your attention," he argued.
"I'm not taking any risks with you, Chief. Something is wrong, and I wnat to know what before it kills you," you insisted, putting your foot down. He was your patient, and you were damn well going to make sure he was well cared for.
Ma'am-"
"Don't argue with me, Spartan. I'm trying to help you. I know you're not feeling all there, but let's at least try to be rational."
The Chief swallowed thickly, before he relented, removing his helmet and allowing you to run a thorough examination of his state. You didn't like what you found. "Oxygen levels are low, blood preasure is steadily dropping into the danger zone, are you experiencing any disiness or confusion?" you asked.
"Suit's sensors said I lost a lot of blood," he seemed to realize all of a sudden.
"The suit gives you medical data?" you perked up and he nodded. "What else can you tell me?"
"My rib is fractured, but I think that's the least of our concerns."
"You said you lost a lot of blood, lets work with that. Let me get my equipment," you said, preparing to stand from where you kneeled before him, but he grabbed your arm.
"Thank you, Ma'am." he murmured, and you felt your face flush. You shook the embarassment away however, and nodded.
"Of course, Chief. Just doing my job.
Ending 4"I'm afraid not, Ma'am. If that were the case we'd have a better supply on hand," the marine explained.
Damn, it was going to be up to you. You made your way back to the Chief, trying to keep the tremor out of your voice as you explained the siutation. "Looks like we're all out of stock for type O. Luckily they thought to station me here, or we'd be out of luck. Here's the thing though big guy. I don't do to well with needles.
"Ma'am?" the Master Chief questioned as you began prepping for the transfusion.
"I know it's silly, I'm a medic. I stick people with them all day long, but I still get antsy about them," you rambled.
"Ma'am this isn't necesary," he insisted, becoming incresingly concerned as your hands began to shake.
"Just do me a favor and keep me distracted, yeah?" you requested as you went about inserting the needle into his arm once it was connected to the tube.
The Spartan looked at you through that orange visor with concern but nodded, reaching up to take his helmet off, and his eyes immidiately connecting with yours. They were a startling sort of blue. "I've done this before, if you'd like me to help," he offered.
You offered him a polite smile. "Thanks Chief, but I've got it," you assured him. That didn't stop him from placing a hand on your arm as you inserted the other needle into your own vein.
It wasn't long before you were swaying on your feet as you tried to care for the rest of the marines. eventually, your superior officer had to order you to take a break and eat something. You grumbled about it under your breath, but you knew he was right.
Your eyes settled on the Chief, who was beginning to look a little less pale, and more aware of his surroundings, and contemplated your next move.
[[You moved towards the Spartan, sliding down that wall to sit next to him.]]
[[You took a seat across the cave where you could still keep an eye on him, the memory of his hand on your arm fresh in your mind.]]"Ma'am?" the Master Chief questioned as you began prepping for the transfusion.
"I know it's silly, I'm a medic. I stick people with them all day long, but I still get antsy about them," you rambled.
"Ma'am this isn't necesary," he insisted, becoming incresingly concerned as your hands began to shake.
"Just do me a favor and keep me distracted, yeah?" you requested as you went about inserting the needle into his arm once it was connected to the tube.
The Spartan looked at you through that orange visor with concern but nodded, reaching up to take his helmet off, and his eyes immidiately connecting with yours. They were a startling sort of blue. "I've done this before, if you'd like me to help," he offered.
You offered him a polite smile. "Thanks Chief, but I've got it," you assured him. That didn't stop him from placing a hand on your arm as you inserted the other needle into your own vein.
It wasn't long before you were swaying on your feet as you tried to care for the rest of the marines. eventually, your superior officer had to order you to take a break and eat something. You grumbled about it under your breath, but you knew he was right.
Your eyes settled on the Chief, who was beginning to look a little less pale, and more aware of his surroundings, and contemplated your next move.
[[You moved towards the Spartan, sliding down that wall to sit next to him.]]
[[You took a seat across the cave where you could still keep an eye on him, the memory of his hand on your arm fresh in your mind.]]"You hungry?" you asked, and he tilted his helmet down toward you curiously. You held up you MRE in offering but he shook his head. You shrugged, before allowing yourself to scarf down the meal, hoping if you were quick about it, you wouldn't have to think about how poorly it tasted.
The longer you sat there, the more you felt your fatigue setting in. the sky was becommming dark, and you hadn't slept well the previous night. As your eyes drifted closed, you could have sworn a large, armor plated arm wrapped around you shoulders.
Ending 8You noted that he had put his helmet back on, and you couldn't tell if he was asleep, or simply staring ahead. You supposed he must have been exhausted, and he was probably sleeping.
You let out a sigh and leaned your head back, a groan escaping your lips as you felt too tired to even touch your meal.
"You should eat. You're going to pass out otherwise."
Your eyes snapped open at the baritone sound of his voice, and you blinked in surprise when you noticed his visor was now pinned on you.
[["Is that an order?"]]
[["I thought I was the medic," you teased?]]"It is if I need to make it one. Your the only medic on staff. You're no good to us passed out on the floor."
You swallowed thickly, ignoring the dissapointment in you gut. It wasn't personal, it was his job to make sure the marines were safe and cared for, and that meant making sure you were useful to them. "Yeah, I'd be rather useless medic if I was unconscious," you agreed.
"And I'd be a rather useless Spartan without a good medic," he added.
You blinked in surprise. Did he just...did he just give you a compliment?
Ending 7"It's still my job to look after you."
You couldn't help but feel the way he said that seemed more personal than just his duty to the marines, but you shook those thoughts out of your head as you forced down the horrible taste of MRE. It wasn't like that. All you did was give him some of your blood. Nothing personal.
Ending 6"We'll be more exposed out here," he murmurs, but you ignored him as you radio for a hog to be delivered to your coordinates.
"We'll be fine, Chief," you assured him as you tried not to think about what would happen if you were ambused by a group of Brutes. "I know how to use a weapon, I'm not just a token medic."
After ten anxious minutes of waiting in the grass, the transport arrived, a senior medic and fresh batch of soldiers accompanying it. You couldn't help but feel relieved when the medic took over the job of running diagnostics on the Master Chief. She determined a plan of action much faster than you would have, and it wasn't long before the Master Chief was slowly climbing into the hog.
You climbed in as well, determined to help aid the rest of the injured marines taking shelter in the caves. There were so many of them, and you quickly found that you were swamped by the amount of marines in need of your assistance. It wasn't long before you were swaying on your feet as you tried to care for the rest of the marines. eventually, your superior officer had to order you to take a break and eat something. You grumbled about it under your breath, but you knew he was right.
Your eyes settled on the Chief, who was beginning to look a little more aware of his surroundings, and contemplated your next move.
[[You moved towards the Spartan, sliding down that wall to sit next to him.]]
[[You took a seat across the cave where you could still keep an eye on him, the memory of his hand on your arm fresh in your mind.]]The Chief nods and tries to tenderly get himself up and moving. It takes him far more time than you would have liked to be out in the open, but eventually you're able to regroup with the rest of the marines in the caves. "What's our status?" he asked, sounding more and more dazed.
[["We didn't lose many marines, thanks to you of course, but we're running low on resources."]]
[["Don't worry about that right now. You kept us alive, now you need to rest.]]His head tilted in confusion as if he wasn't sure where he was,or who you were for that matter. Not that you knew the Master Chief personally. "I'm sorry, she...said that to me," he mumbled, and you began to worry about his state of mind even more than before.
"Who said that to you?" you asked in blatant confusion.
"It's not important," he said, and you could tell every word was a struggle for him.
[["I think it's best we wait for transport. I'll call for a hog, you shouldn't be walking."]]
[["Can you make it back to the caves? We've set up a base there. It'd be safer than being out in the open."]]