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Sitting in a mostly empty infirmary, on a small chair by the only occupied bed, far in the back, your eyes gazed tiredly towards the floor, tears having stained your cheeks from hours of crying, your thumb gently rubs the back of the hand you are holding. You are hurting, hurting for the man whom lays incapacitated before you, the man who you have known since childhood on Eden, the one who somehow survived a whole life time supply of trauma in just a week.
Simon laid there on the bed, his chest slowly rising and falling, he had been intubated, put into a medically induced coma to allow his body the chance to heal without him having to deal with constant pain. He was bandaged to the point that he looked like he was being prepared to be mummified. Bloody blisters, bruises and radiation burns littered his entire body underneath the treated bandages, his left arm had been torn off from the middle of his bicep; they had to amputate up to his shoulder because of the amount of ripped and decaying flesh that was hanging off of what remained of his arm. His left eye was also heavily damaged from the radiation poisoning, so it too had to be removed, there was even a chance he might need skin grafts, but they needed to wait to see how the radiation burns and blisters do over the following days.
You shivered, and tried to shake your head clear of the memory of when they had brought back up the SM-13 submersible from the blood ocean on the moon AT-5, but it was impossible, with it so fresh in your mind, only having happened two days prior to today. The condition the submersible was in was gut wrenching; fresh tears springing to your eyes as images of it flash through your mind. It had looked more like discarded scrap than a sub, mostly crushed, with part of it having been ripped clean(not really) off; it was covered in what looked like a mass of dark vines and roots, shimmering as the blood poured down the subs exterior, out of the cracks and openings, trickling down through the metal grates beneath the sub, draining back into the cruel blood ocean below. The first thing on your mind was if Simon's blood was mixed with it. Aside from the rumbling of machines and rattling of chains settling, the room was dead silent.
Terror rushed through your blood, unable to move, lip trembling as you tried to say something. Ava, the one in charge of the mission was the first to move, running towards the largest opening she could find on the wreckage, looking inside, her hand shooting up to her face to cover her mouth, good eye wide in shock, she looked towards the medics waiting beside you, her eye had lingered on you for only a couple seconds but it was long enough for you to notice, before calling the medics over. They rushed over, as a mechanic also ran over with what they call the Jaws of life, to pry open the metal that had been crushed together, the medics jumping into the sub with their med kits and supplies as soon as it was wide enough. You couldn't see what was going on, you had to move, you needed to see how bad it really was, knees wobbling, you took a step, nearly falling over, Ava seen this and ran over to grab you, holding you up. "(R/n)... you should not look in there." She hesitated, voice wavering "I am going to be blunt with you kid. He is not looking good." You trembled, and let out a sob, voice weak as you spoke "I need to see him... oh god.. please..!"
She sighed, shaking her head, "if you are sure.." you nodded, looking up at her with tears building up in your eyes, so she helped you over, her own hands trembling on your arm "It will be your own fault if you become traumatised." When you rounded the edge and your eyes landed on Simon, it felt like a spike of terror was shoved into your gut, like your heart was throbbing in your throat. It was all red, Simon laid on the flattest spot left in the sub, on his back, positioned by the medics. His right side was towards you, his skin was bloody and covered in blisters, cuts and gashes, and the same vines that coated the entirety of the SM-13. A sob wracked through your body, tears now falling down your cheeks. "Holy fuck! Simon..!" you climbed in, pushing Ava off when she tried to stop you "you shouldn't! It's not safe in there!" You continued, legs almost giving out when you had seen the condition of his left side, it was so much worse than you could have ever imagined. You stumbled until you were crouching behind his head, out of the way of the medics but close enough to gently cradle his head in your trembling hands, holding it still. They had tied a tourniquet onto the top of his left arm, which was missing from the bicep down, his left eye had been engulfed in nasty blisters, you winced, this was not going to be an easy process.
As the adrenaline starts whitteling away you almost gag at the pungent smell surrounding you, rusting iron, blood and the smell of death. You sobbed, watching Simon's still, bloody form as the medics worked on him, one was doing chest compressions, they must not have felt a pulse before you had gotten over to the sub. The other was setting up the portable vitals machine they had brought with, attaching the wire pads to him wiping his skin with a rag the best they could where they placed each pad, there was no pulse, yet, and it made you break down, "Simon, oh god! Please, you need to come back to me..!" The medic hesitated giving mouth-to-mouth to him, nose scrunching as he struggled not to gag at the sight of his disfigured and blistered face, so you jumped into action instead, shifting so you were on Simon's right side, the medic that had been doing chest compressions on the left. You used the sleeve of your shirt to gently wipe his mouth so it was somewhat clean, and leaned down, mouth gently resting over Simon's lips, you reached your left arm up and plugged his nose, wincing at the feeling of how the blisters felt under your fingers, starting mouth-to-mouth the medic resumed chest compressions.
After 2 minutes of continuous chest compressions they were about to give up, not feeling it was worth saving him, he was a convict after all, but you begged them to continue horrified of the thought of loosing Simon. But when you leaned down to do another try at mouth-to-mouth Simon sputtered, his body jolting as blood splattering across your face, you flinched, moving back a foot to give him room as the medic turned him onto his right side so he could throw up the liquid without choking on it. Simon coughed, vomiting more blood, you prayed that it wasn't his blood, and only blood from the ocean, but you knew that wasn't the case. You reached over, placing a hand on Simon's shoulder to steady him. He flinched, groaning after he was finished spitting out what he could, you laid him onto his back again and he whimpered in pain, you wiped his 'good' eye with your other sleeve, allowing him to open it, his blood red eye met your teary eyes first, and you let out a cry of relief, going back to kneeling behind his head, out of the way of the medic again, your hands gently holding his head steady once more. Leaning down, you rest your forehead against Simon's, tears trailing down your blood splattered face. "Hold in there... holy fuck.. thank you for coming back to me... please hold in there, they will fix you up.."