Dirges In The Dark by SecondGuess

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The next time John Danziger surfaced, the landscape around him seemed frighteningly alien. Stirred from the maelstrom of nameless people and places of his opiate haze, he was swiftly struck with the sensation of falling. Jerking, his entire body tensing, he heard murmured voices soothing him, felt hands brushing his forehead and arms. Whether they were real or imagined, he didn’t have the slightest clue.

“’s cold…” He rasped, the pins and needles feeling he’d experienced so strongly just after his accident creeping into suddenly frigid extremities.

Seemingly senseless words seemed to float to him across a vast expanse, but the more he struggled to open his eyes the more leaden the lids became. The voices were male and female and, somewhere in there jumbled with the rest, was Devon.

“I know, John…trying…bleeding…”

“…nitrate…”

“…should I…True…”

“…NO!…”

“…get the other end…”

“…quickly…”

“ready, lift…”

The sensation of falling returned, much stronger this time. Like a slingshot he found himself propelled to full consciousness, unbearable pain ravaging his lower body. His red-rimmed eyes shot open, registering motion and bodies surrounding him, and strangely, the wall that should be behind him.

“Stop, please….DON‘T!” He found himself weakly shouting, and instantly Julia appeared above him, upside down, disorienting him further.

“It’s okay John, they’re done…we’re just elevating your legs a little bit…try to relax…” She assured, him, and from the edges of his blurry vision he could see Alonzo and Walman, gripping either foot of his listing cot. The pain began to recede in lazy ebbs, leaving him breathless.

“’s goin’ on?” He mumbled confusedly, his brain registering it’s surroundings in fits and starts. “Lonz…you’re back.”

Julia disappeared from view and Devon swept in to take her place, making him dizzy. Closing his eyes, he could feel her gripping his hand gently.

“Hey there, pal.” He heard Alonzo respond though the fog. “Doc’s just fixing you up.” The false cheer in the pilot’s tone was unmistakable.

A fit of shivers washed over Danziger, and he was suddenly aware of the cold air of the Med Tent, lapping every inch of his over sensitized skin.

“We’re gonna warm you up, John, just try and stay calm--”

“Keep squeezing that bag!” Devon’s quivering voice was cut off by a curt command from Julia, ominously hovering at the foot of the bed.

“No more, please…” He found himself begging, every slight brush of her hands on his legs igniting the flames anew.

“I’m sorry, John, we’ve got some new bleeding. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can, I promise you.” She spoke calmly, with the conviction Danziger had always found endearingly reassuring. “You’re going to be fine, okay? This is something I expected.” She lied.

A fit of lightheadedness overtook him, and in a desperate attempt to anchor himself to the present he pried open his eyes again to find Walman crouched at his right, watching him intently.

“That girl of yours is a genius, Danziger.” He grinned, edging himself closer to block the mechanic’s view of Julia’s activities. “She woke me up this morning, told me to get my lazy ass out of bed and come help her fix the Nav Beacon.” Immensely grateful for the distraction, despite the fear steadily rising within him, Danziger gasped out a snicker.

“You tell her…watch her language?” He asked thinly, smirking at his friend.

“Hell no! I know better than to talk back to a Danziger, size notwithstanding.” Walman countered.

Squeezing his eyes shut, John tried to rise above the pain. With all his might he concentrated on remembering what he had seen in the spiraling frenzy on top of the ‘Rover, aware this could be the only time he’d have to relay his findings.

“Rotator cuff’s rusted through…when she’s stationary, you can’t…should have thought…sooner.” He berated himself.

“Don’t worry, man…we’ve already started takin’ her apart…True’s retrofitting a rim from the DuneRail as we speak.” Walman informed him confidently.

“Smart cookie.” Danziger sighed, envisioning his little girl, sun glinting off of her messy braids as she tinkered with her tools, cross-legged on the soft earth. “Just like her mom.”

Walman nodded, patting John’s arm companionably.

“Did I ever tell you I think I met Elle once? Years ago, on a barge repair. I was never sure if she was your girl or not, but I borrowed her lazer cutter without asking and she nearly took my head clean off with it.”

Danziger guffawed, the unrestrained laugh morphing into a hiss of pain as Julia’s poking and prodding gained intensity. Her commanding murmurs growing louder.

“Yeah, that was her.” He confirmed through clenched teeth.

Walman chuckled a bit too loudly, barely masking Julia’s hushed instructions to Alonzo. Danziger struggled to lift his head from the mattress--did she just say amputate?

“Try not to move, John. Everything’s okay.” Devon assured him from her post behind him. She sounded like she was crying again.

“No…Julia, you can’t…” He his voice rose in panic, his free hand scrambling for purchase on something, anything solid. Handing Alonzo the instrument she’d been wielding, Julia left the foot of the bed and came to kneel next to him in the spot Walman had tactfully vacated.

“Danziger, listen to me.” She said seriously. “We’re going to stop this bleeding and you’re going to pull through this, understand?”

Blinking back the tears of exhaustion and fear, Danziger nodded faintly. At the corner of her mouth, their was suddenly a hairline crack in her facade, and before his eyes Julia Heller-- the woman he’d come to admire and care so much for in the past months-- broke through the chrysalis of her detached, professional demeanor.

“John, do you trust me to do what I have to, to keep you alive for your daughter?” She asked quietly. Danziger’s hand found hers, tracing the metal ridges of the DiaGlove until he could feel the soft pads of her fingers.

“Of course I do.” He whispered.

“Okay…” She whispered back with a watery smile. “Then I promise you two things: I promise you I’ll do everything I can to save your legs, and I promise you that I’ll find away to stop you from hurting anymore.”

Silent understanding coursing between the two of them and Danziger held her gaze until he could no longer keep his eyes open. With the warmth of Devon’s palm on his brow, he tried to breathe deeply as he felt Julia’s Hypogun rest lightly in the hollow of his jaw, sedaderm loaded. Then he felt nothing at all.

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