Blood, Sweat, and Screams

Chapter VII

As Ryan arrived at the west emergency entrance as a Komodo Dragon was shouting instructions. "In a few minutes, the medical transports will be arriving. You should all know that the treatment is also an interrogation. Do not obstruct the camera in the room. Do you understand?" All of the personnel said, "Sir, yes, sir." He smiled. "Good. The transports are ariving. Get to work."

Several windowless ambulances began to pull up and started unloading. Ryan's patient was a tall timber wolf with a laser wound on his back. He loked like he was only fifteen or sixteen. He was afraid of all the military personnel. "Hi, I'm Ryan." He casually extended his hand. "What's your name?"

The wolf cautiously extended his hand, shook Ryan's hand, and said, "My name's John."

"You seem afraid of your comrades and our guards, care to explain?"

He looked around suspiciously, and said, "Close the curtain, and I'll tell you." Ryan closed the curtain, but left it open enough so that the camera's view wasn't obstructed. "You've seen my wound, right?" John leaned closer and whispered into Ryan's ear. "My comrades were the ones who shot me. They found out that I was defecting."

Ryan was shocked. He said, "Let me see you back." He took off the jacket he was wearing, and Ryan learned what a laser wound looked like. The spine was slightly exposed and burned. The fur around the wound was gone. Ryan had a look of disbelief on his face. "Your buddies did this to you?" John nodded, and Ryan was horrified.

John said, "I never wanted to fight, I'm a pacifist, but if I didn't jin the service, I would have been put to death. I've heard that your country tortures POW's for information. I don't want to be hurt." He began to cry. "I just want to go home. I don't want to die."

Ryan tried to calm him down. "It's ok. You're not going to die. I promise that they won't kill you. After I finish your stitches, I'll have the guards take you to my room. You can stay with me and Karin, my roommate."

John stopped crying. "Really?" Ryan nodded. John smiled and said, "Thank you."

Ryan finished the stitches and called for the guards. They showed up, and so did the CO, the komodo dragon. "Escort the soldier to Ryan's room. I need to talk to Ryan. Alone." The guards left.

Ryan said, "I thought you were going to send him to the brig, along with me."

"I wasn't planning to, not after he said he was defecting. I just needed to creat the illusion that you got in trouble for it, so that no one else tries to do the same. He can Stay with you, but you have to get him to trust us. I also want you to teach him about surgery. We need a few more surgeons. Just don't tell anyone that he's an Arcainian soldier."

"All right. And sir, thanks."

"This conversation never happened. Go back to your room, and tell John that he needs to meet with one of the psychiatrists tomorrow, and to meet with one every week." He left, and Ryan went back to his room.

As he walked in the door, he was assulted by hugs and kisses by Karin. Ryan kissed back and said, "Hey, honey."

Karin smiled and said, "I see you had an interesting time," and poinded at John.

"Thanks for what you did for me. I hear that you got in trouble for helping me." Karin had a look of disapointment on her face. "Ryan, why did you close the curtain? You knew you weren't supposed to prevent the camera from seeing you. You could've gotten thrown in the brig for that."

Ryan shook his head and chuckled. He said, "Karin, there's something you need to know." He explained all about John and how he had been wounded. "My CO ordered me to teach you all I know about surgery. Looks lik ehe wants you as a surgeon more than he wants you as a soldier. He also wants you to meet with a psychiatrist once a week, starting tomorrow. Go to Dr. Carteran's office at 9:00 A.M. Don't worry, he's a friend of mine. After you finish up with him, go to my office. I'll start teaching you then. You need to get some sleep. Good night."

"Wait," John said, "where do I sleep?" Ryan shot a look at Karin, and said, "If it's ok with Karin, you can take the bed. Karin?"

Karin nodded and said, "It's fine with me, me and Ryan can take the futon. The bed's too soft for me. It's nice to meet you, John. Good night."

John smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you too, Karin. Good night." He crawled into the bed, and went to sleep. Ryan sat down on the futon, and Karin sat down next to him. She huddled herself in Ryan's arms. "You did the right thing, Ryan."

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone about it. The CO's orders. Anyways, let's get some sleep, we definately need it."

The two got ready to go to bed, an dgot under the covers on the futon. Karin snuggled up in his arms and said, "Good night, Ryan." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Good night, Karin."

The two were ripped from their sleep by a blood-curdling scream. John was curled up in a ball. Karin went over to him and tried to shake him awake. "John? John, what's wrong?"

John was talking, and wasn't showing that he knew that someone was talking to him. "I don't want to fight. I don't want to die. I just want to go home." He was crying.

Karin said, "Ryan, go get Jerome, I'll take care of John." Ryan nodded, and ran out the door. "John, John, wake up." John woke up, and hugged Karin. "It's ok. John, tell me what's wrong."

"I can see the faces of my friends. They were shot like me. I think they're still alive. We have to go get them." Ryan and Jerome walked in and Karin told them what John just told her. Ryan got up and took every one with him. "Let's go and get his friends, if they're still alive, we can get enemy plans, and if they're dead, we can give them a proper burial." They arrived at the garage, where they were going to "borrow" a medical transport.