Your caretakers set the whumpee up in the common room/area, so they can keep an eye on them.
The whumpee takes a few days to realise this, as the caretakers brought things from the whumpees bunk/room to keep them comfortable. Maybe even at times, they mistake their surroundings for a hospital as the cartetaker's truly think of everything the whumpee might need. ("...why is an IV bag hanging from the curtain rail?" "Don't worry about it, go back to sleep.")
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Medical setting, medical care, painful biomechanics, spinal injury, fear for others safety, bedside vigil
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Vera, wrapped in a shiny heated blanket and cradling a cup of weak tea in her hands, watched the operation with bated breath. Kay was sedated, oxygen mask obscuring his face from her view.
(She felt guilty. She wanted those big, brown eyes to open so she could apologize for not realizing how badly that infernal machine hurt him.)
Patel had shown her the X-rays. That machine had cut through Kay’s coat, anchoring itself to his spine. It explained the excess hardware they had seen in his chest X-ray. It protected his spine from the sharp, powerful claws of the machine. At least, it protected his spine from being severed. His flesh, on the other hand, was bloodied and torn.
It took them over an hour to figure out how to make the machine retract its hold on him. Even that was painful and tedious; like the machine wasn’t meant to be separated from him.
“It’s clear; get it out of here.” Patel’s voice was muffled by the mask and the glass separating her from the operating room. The black box was lifted off of Kay’s back - it took two pairs of hands to keep the heavy machine from crashing to the floor - and set it aside. Patel worked quickly to cut away Kay’s coat and clothes, Vera’s throat bobbing as Kay’s bloodied back was bared to the surgical team.
(The old scars across his back were painted red with fresh blood.)
It was hard to see much as they mopped up the blood and stitched Kay back together, so Vera focused on the monitor screen. Kay’s heartbeat. His breathing. Numbers all green and steady. Despite that, a sinking dread was curdling in her gut.
(She would need to explain what happened. Why Kay had that - that thing attached to him. What Kay was.)
Even sitting next to his bed, hours later, Vera didn’t have an answer when Patel came knocking. (Kay was still asleep, face relaxed and eyes moving slowly under the depths of a dream.) For several heartbeats they both just watched him, the movement of his chest mesmerizing.
Until Patel broke the silence.
“I’ve seen a lot of crazy injuries but Kay takes the cake. Where the hell did you even find that - that thing?”
“…Federico’s. They were dead.”
“…oh, Vera, I’m so sorry - ”
“I’ll be fine. Kay found Bruno.”
“I noticed.” Patel shifted with a sigh, stepping away from the door to sink into the chair next to her. “…you know that’s not what I was asking, though.”
“…I know. I just don’t think I have the answers you want.”
They were both quiet for some time, only Kay’s pneumatic breathing and the soft chirps of the monitors filling the small room. But Patel couldn’t stand silence, and Vera couldn’t interrupt him. She didn’t want to.
“The full body scan is still processing the finer details, but that hardware around Kay’s spine saved his life…probably is meant to. That - that machine, those contacts with his hardware had needles. Guess it was something like a lumbar puncture. Except instead of taking out some spinal fluid, it was meant to pump something else in.
“We tested some of the broken tubing.” Patel’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, breathing before continuing. “I’m not surprised that thing is meant to be used with what should be a lethal amount of painkillers and stimulants. But that makes the fact that Kay made do without any analgesia or stims…”
It shouldn’t have been possible. (It should have killed him. But it didn’t.) It made the reality that Kay not only used that infernal machine but used it to get Vera and Bruno and Mimi and himself here, safe, all the more heart wrenching.
(Had he not expected to survive?)
“Is he gonna be alright?” Vera finally found her voice. Patel glanced down at her, brow furrowed with sympathy.
“The physical damage was fairly severe but no organs were damaged. Until the full scan finishes processing, the best I can say is his spinal column seems to be intact. He was on his feet - more or less - when you got here, so I don’t think his spinal cord was significantly damaged, but we won’t know for sure until he wakes up.”
“When will he wake up?” Vera, as much as she hated seeing Kay like this, preferred the dire conversation to discussing Kay’s part in the Wave.
“Hopefully soon.” Patel swallowed. “He had lost of a lot of blood, but not enough to lose consciousness. The next few hours will tell us more.”
Vera wasn’t sure if he meant the scan processing or Kay’s natural rising from sleep. He probably meant both. She finally took a sip of her tea, now cold, and grimaced. It was weak and barely suggested a tea leaf had been involved in its making. It was probably that awful instant tea Patel had in the office waiting room.
“I could bring a cot in here for you.” Her eyes shot up to Patel, furrowed brow relaxing with a surprised gratitude. “I know you sure as hell won’t leave his side. And I doubt he would want to wake up to anyone but you.”
“I’d really appreciate that, Patel. Thank you.” Patel stood to leave, stretching dramatically. He patted Vera’s shoulder, whispering under his breath.
“There’s a State Inspector here. Said she wanted to audit our records but I think she was only interested in his.” Patel gave Vera a grim smile. “Don’t worry; she barely got in the door before the Wave came down. Saved by the siren, I guess.”
Vera sighed, looking at the rise and fall of Kay’s chest. She hadn’t had time to think about what happened after the Wave. She didn’t think she would survive to see the end of this Wave. Now, she would have to face reality:
Kay wasn’t merely an undocumented resident of the State. He was from the Wave itself. He was under orders to infiltrate and surveil the citizens of the State. He was supposed to report back before the Wave.
But he hadn’t. And Vera wasn’t sure what that meant.
