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Shit, I just killed a person.
Not a person, an alien. A human trafficking alien who stole me and my friends and was going to sell us. He deserved it. Even still, my stomach churns with the urge to vomit and the sour taste of bile burns my throat. I wipe the back of my hand across my mouth and take a shuddering breath.
I reach out and grab the now definitely dead alien by his legs, his damp, rubbery skin making my lip curl in disgust. Pulling him out of the seat, I drag his body over to Emily’s cell, grunting as I do. He’s not as heavy as I thought he would be, but I’m weak from days without proper nutrition and it’s slow going as I move across the slanting, debris-strewn floor.
I reach Emily’s cell and hold the alien’s head in front of the biometric scanner. Wrapping one arm around the slight body I use my free hand to lift his eyelid and expose one of his eyes. The small metal box emits a tiny red light before I hear the click of the cell door.
I drop the alien to the floor in a crumpled heap and test out the door. When it easily swings open, I release the breath I’d been holding in a big sigh. It worked.
Over the next several minutes, I drag the alien’s body down the line of cells to unlock the other doors and release my friends. As soon as I get Crystal’s door open, she shuffles out and immediately heads to Aria’s cell. Moments later, I hear some murmured words followed by a loud cry of pain.
They both emerge from the cell with Aria cradling her arm against her torso, and I look at Crystal in shock and stutter, “Did you just. . .?”
She responds with a shrug and a cryptic answer. “Something I picked up from another life.”
Crystal heads to where Isabella is still stuck in her bathroom, and she gestures for Jayden to follow her to help. I move back to Emily and hunker down beside her, along with Rose and Mara. I have no clue what to do to help her.
The only first aid I know is from tv, and I doubt that will do any of us any good. If only we could just call up 911 for help, but we’re on own here. I really hope Crystal knows more first aid than just how to pop a dislocated shoulder back in.
In the distance, I can hear grunts as they work to free Isabella from her bathroom prison. The screech of metal sounds loud in the quiet of the crashed ship as they finally free her.
Emily still hasn’t regained consciousness, and when I check her pulse, it feels weak. Her skin has an almost gray tint to it, now, and I keep expecting her to take her last breath. But her chest continues to rise and fall. True, it’s almost imperceptible, but at least she’s still breathing.
Together, Mara and I gently check Emily over and that’s when we realize the black shirt she’s wearing is saturated with blood. I glance up at the cut on her head, but it’s already stopped bleeding so that can’t be the source of all the blood. Then, I notice a small tear in the fabric of her shirt right where her shoulder meets her neck. I rip the fabric to make the hole bigger so that we can see the wound and my breath catches in my throat.
A deep puncture wound is slowly seeping out dark blood.
We look at each other helplessly. Fuck. I breathe out a sharp breath, then I remember the bandages and scramble for them.
“We need to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding,” Rose says, panic making her voice high and thready. I stuff a handful of the bandages in her hands, and she leans over Emily to press them against the deep wound. Mara and I watch silently as the white bandages turn red.
Crystal has settled down beside us, a worried crease between her brows. I look at her and ask, “Please tell me you’re a doctor or something?”
She holds her hands up, shaking her head. “You’ve already seen the extent of my medical knowledge.” Everyone but Jayden and Zoe have joined us in the cell, and I look around at them, hoping that someone, anyone will know what to do. But my heart sinks as they each shake their heads.
Rose looks up from her place, still holding pressure on the wound. “Why don’t we try the med scanner they put us in?” She nods towards the other room.
That’s right. The med scanner might be able to help Emily. I don’t know if it can heal her, but it can’t hurt to try. It’s not like we have any other options at this point.
“I’ll check and make sure it still works.” Isabella picks her way to the medic bay and quickly returns with assurances that the scanner seems to be undamaged and operational.
We debate moving Emily – what if we do more damage jostling her around, but we quickly decide it’s more important to get her to the scanner. Crystal scrounges up a metal door that was previously attached to a small utility closet - the door detached during the crash and was flung across the room.
We use the door as a stretcher of sorts and carefully ease Emily onto it with Rose keeping pressure on the wound. The bleeding has finally slowed to a trickle, but Emily’s skin is so gray, she looks near death. Mara, Rose, Crystal, and I slowly shuffle with her towards the medic bay and the scanner that I hope will be able to heal her. Reaching the scanner, there’s a moment of confusion as we try to figure out how to open it. Isabella joins us and closely studies the screen next to it.
“Fingers crossed this will work.” She taps an icon that looks like a horizontal bar. The scanner beeps and begins to whir as the door slowly rises open. A table just big enough to hold a person takes up the center of the device, and we gently easy Emily down on it and take a step back.
Emily’s still figure disappears from view as the door closes around her and the same disembodied robotic voice that I remember from my own time in the scanner calls out, “Medic scan commencing.”
Tense seconds tick by as we wait for the device to finish its job. The small room feels like it’s closing in on me, and the low hum of the scanner only makes it worse. When it does, I don’t know whether to smile or cry. “Scan complete. Subject exhibits a severe shoulder laceration with associated hemorrhagic hypovolemia. Approximately 10% total blood volume loss. Additionally, subject presents with a mild traumatic brain injury. Initiating appropriate emergency treatment protocol.”
A loud whining sound fills the room, and we wait in nervous anticipation. I look around at the others. Rose is pale, her eyes wide with fear. Crystal is biting her lip, a look of worry mixed with determination on her face. Even Aria is quiet, her cheerful demeanor cowed by the strain. No one speaks, but I know we’re all thinking the same thing. What if the medic scanner doesn’t heal Emily, and instead hurts her even more? Fuck, what if she dies?
I’ve only known the others for a short time, but the thought of losing any of them leaves a hollow ache in my chest. We’ve come this far together, and we’re going to make it. We have to.
Minutes slowly tick by as we huddle together, anxiously watching the scanner to see what will happen. Suddenly, a loud beep breaks the tension and the robotic voice announces, “Emergency procedure to halt blood loss completed.”
The door to the medic scanner slowly opens to reveal Emily lying still on the table inside. Her skin isn’t quite as deathly pale and the worrisome gray tint has faded. Her chest rises and falls slowly in a steady rhythm, accompanied by a light rumbling sound that I quickly realize is a snore. I can feel the worry and fear that had fallen over our group dissipate as it becomes clear that Emily is just sleeping.
