Life Onboard Serenity: #42 - Of Jobs, Vaults and Things Gone Wrong
POSTED BY: EnglishIvy
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 22:19
VIEWED: 30582
PAGE 10 of 14
Infirmary
Quote:
Originally posted by GraysonCornwell:
"That means you too, Pain," Mal ordered softly as he stepped back inside the infirmary and laid a hand on the big man's shoulder. "Simon'll watch her for you."
Pain stood up, picking up her gun and placed a kiss on Ivy's forehead. He stood there looking at her for a minute before putting her gun in his waistband and leaving the infirmary. He didn't want to go and leave her side, but the captain had insisted and right now Pain wasn't in the mood to argue. He decided to go to his bunk and put away his guns while Simon worked on keeping Ivy alive. Pain watched Simon as he made his way up the stairs and then focused his eyes on the metal grating of the stairs once they were out of his sight. As he rounded the corner, he made a bee line to his bunk, not stopping to chat to those in the galley.
Pain and Ivy's Bunk
Pain climbed down the ladder and closed the hatch behind him. He slowly walked over to the weapons locker and opened the doors, slowly putting his guns and gear away as well as Ivy's gun. He didn't care that he didn't put them in their respectful places. As long as they were inside the locker was just fine to him. However he did take special care in placing her gun inside the locker. As he took the last piece of gear off, he closed the door and sat on the bed, burying his face in the palms of his hands. He sat there for who knew how long, sobbing and letting his emotions out.
Finally Pain stopped and got up off the bed. He walked over to the sink and pulled it out. Turning it on, he let the warm water flow through his fingers before dousing his face with the warm water. Sliding the sink back into the wall, Pain stood there looking into the mirror. He took a few breaths and grabbed a towel, drying his eyes and face on it. Putting the towel back on the hook, Pain headed for the ladder and climbed up it.
Galley
Once he left the confines of his bunk, Pain took the farthest seat in the galley and sat down. He didn't want to talk to anybody. He just wanted to sit there by himself and hope Ivy pulled through.
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I felt my head clear as the pain in my arm flared. As I walked to the door, my arm was tilted to keep the blood running down my it from dripping on the floor. As I made my way to the infirmary, I luckly didn't run into anyone.
'Good' I thought. 'I don't want anyone to see me like this. To know.' The door to the infirmary was infront of me.
'Crap, John's here. Just get in, get it, and leave. No contact.' I told myself. I strided into the infirmary, determinatly ignoring whatever John said to me. I found the gauze I had come for, grabed it and exited the room in haste.
Wrapping my wrist I made my way to the galley. I was thirsty. I entered and got myself a glass of water. As I turned, I noticed Pain looking depressed. I hadn't paid enough attention in the infirmary. "So," I announced to the room, "is the idiot chick dead yet?"
It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting
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Quote:
Originally posted by DocRagnarock:
"So, is the idiot chick dead yet?"
Before Doc could even get the glass of water to her lips, someone had grabbed her by the shirt and swung her against the wall.
"That idiot chick is still alive, which will be more than you will be if you don't shut up," Grayson snarled. He regarded her a little. "Hey! I know you!"
Grayson released her and backed away a couple of feet.
"You were the pō pó niáng who stopped me from searching this hunk of junk when we were dirtside! But you had to go and play games," Grayson continued. He clenched his teeth. "And I've never wanted to hit a woman before, but I am really close to wanting..."
Mal and Zoe pull Grayson back out of reach.
"Now let's just calm down," Mal said getting more than annoyed with the folk on his boat. As the words sunk in, he did a double take. "What do you mean by searching the ship when you were dirtside? You've been here before?"
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Dull pain radiated in my back complimenting the awnsering ache in my wrist and expounding my mental unbalance.
"Are you threatening me Cornwell? Because if you are, then I have to tell you that is one of the stupider things you have done. And that includes blowing me off and disobeying my orders planetside. And I never play games." The distain was clear in my voice.
I pushed myself off the wall that Cornwell had slamed me up against feeling the control that had been so carefuly regained wavering. It would hold. But I wasn't sure for how much longer, and I wasn't sure, when it fell, how much I would care.
Through the smiles and the tears, through the anger, and the laughter that follows...I know I will keep changing. This is my story.It'll be a good one.
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As the others left, John remained in the infirmary watching Simon work. He paid little attention to Doc as she entered and left, they would need to talk later however.
He watched as Ivy held to life. He could feel her presence, slightly seperate from her body. He was no River, but he had some psychic abilities. Calling upon these and expecting no answer, he reached out to Ivy.
"Look, Ivy. We've had our differences, but it's time to wake up now. I respect what you tried to do, helping during the job, but if you don't come back, all that will be for nothing. I'd like to help you become whole again. I can feel how fractured you are, but I can't do that if I'm worried abou a fed hurting the crew. I can't do that if you're asleep." He meant what he said. He had been too hard on her, and everyone deserved second chances.
johnttf
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Quote:
Originally posted by DocRagnarock:
"Are you threatening me Cornwell? Because if you are, then I have to tell you that is one of the stupider things you have done. And that includes blowing me off and disobeying my orders planetside. And I never play games."
"Hell, yes, I'm threatening you!" Grayson retorted as he lunged forward towards her again, managing to land a hand on her shoulder to push her backwards again. He snorted at her assertian that she outranked him. "Regarding disobeying your orders, you have no dominion over me and you know that."
And if it was possible, Grayson's face filled with even more disdain than before.
"And we all know you are a master at games, don't we?"
Mal swore under his breath and worked harder to keep the two Alliance people on his boat apart. Finally, tired of the whole thing, he pulled his sidearm and leveled at both of them.
"You!" he said looking at Grayson and motioning towards the end of the room where Pain was occupying. "Sit down there."
He turned to Doc.
"And you sit down here," he ordered. Neither Grayson nor Doc made any moves to comply. "NOW!"
It took the sound of Zoe's sidearm to get their attention and get them into their assigned places.
"Rule #3, people," Mal said through clenched teeth. "Is that you behave. You do something like this again and I'll have to revisit whether or not you'll be getting off my ship early."
Mal sat down across the table, but between the two of them. His gun still on the table as a warning.
"Would someone like to tell me why you all were even doing near my ship earlier?" Mal asked only to be answered by the silent glares Grayson and Doc were exchanging. "Now, I am about to lose all patience, so I am gonna say this really slow. What. Were. You. Doing?"
"I got a lead that Toms... er, Ivy... had boarded a Firefly," Grayson told Mal. "I knew she was in danger, I just didn't know how much.
"I tracked your merc back here. I'd seen him with a girl that was Toms' height and build. When asked, your people were less than helpful, so I called in a land lock and got the personell ready to search the place from top to bottom."
Mal shot an annoyed look at Zoe, knowing that she had to have been aware of what went on.
"You see I knew she was here. But then 'little-miss-self-absorbed' came along and recalled the soldiers I had planned on using, even though she had no right to do so. She was just posturing herself, trying to play top dog when she wasn't."
Grayson took a deep breath and softened a bit.
"And look where it got Toms. She'd be OK if I would have gotten her off then," Grayson told them. "Instead, she told me to go away because she wanted to choose her own path and move on with her life. Stand on her own two feet. She was so sure that her man would protect her. Well we saw where that got her. I should have made her tell me where she was and took her back where it was safe. Back to where I could watch her and make sure she got the care she needed."
River silently walked into the room.
"And back to where she could trade one type of slavery for another. Not being able to make her own decisions and having someone else run her life still made her a slave. She just changed geography."
Grayson whirled around to look at the person who suggested that he was in effect keeping Ivy a slave. He was about to open his mouth when seeing River made him snap his mouth shut. Now he was certain where he had seen the doctor who patched Ivy up was.
They were Simon and River Tam.
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr360/sha
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Ivy stood in the galley, witnessing the things around her.
Pain sat in the corner, lost in his own world. He seemed so sad and lost. She had done that to him. She was making him hurt and in turn, she hurt for him. Pain was replaying the job in his mind over and over again, looking for the point where he screwed up. If she lived, he would never let that mistake happen again.
Grayson and the other Alliance woman had come to blows over her. Mal and Zoe had to draw guns to break them up.
Then she heard Grayson's speech. He really thought she shouldn't have tried to be on her own. He didn't think she was ready to stand on her own two feet. Maybe he was right. Maybe he knew better than she did. But she couldn't go back. She had known freedom while on Serenity. She had Pain who made her feel welcome. But the others... If it wasn't for River and Kaylee, it would have been unbearable.
This was all wrong. There was too much pain and she had caused it all. She walked over to Pain and stroked his cheek. It caused him to shudder a little, then look around.
"I love you, Pain," she whispered in his ear and she left for the cargo bay.
*****
While Ivy was saying her goodbyes, River stiffened and whirled around to face Pain. Looking at the space around him, her hand came up to her chest.
"Ivy?" she asked softly.
At hearing her speak, Pain lifted his head sharply.
"What?" he asked sharply. "Did you feel something?"
"Just caught a glimpse," River said softly as she kept looking. "Haven't seen her since she came back. Just that once on the bridge."
"You've seen her since we got back?" Pain asked, not entirely sure he heard her right.
"She's confused. Been trying to decide."
Pain felt his heart quicken.
"Trying to decide what?" he asked, his heart in his throat.
"Whether or not to take the red pill or the blue," River murmured, her speech taking on a rather pre-Miranda tone. "Whether or not to go down the rabbit hole to where it is light."
"What?" came a voice from the other side of the room. It was Zoe. "She's trying to decide if she wants to live or die?"
Zoe was angry.
"Some people get the choice?" she asked. "And she has to think about it?"
Zoe scoffed and left the room, headed for her bunk. On the way, one more comment could be heard.
"Stupid rutting girl. Stupid."
Pain looked at Zoe's retreating form and back at River who had cocked her head to the side as if listening.
"You've known she's been wandering around the ship trying to decide and you didn't think we'd want to know?" Pain asked as he motioned slightly in Grayson's direction. He was getting a bit angry. "Why didn't you say anything?"
The rest of the room had changed their focus on the conversation that was developing.
"River?" Pain asked again, wanting an answer. "Why'd didn't you say anything?"
"She's decided..." River said, not much above a whisper.
Pain grabbed her arms and made her look at him, hoping she had good news. All it took was one look at her face to know that it wasn't good. Pain turned and sprinted for the infirmary, with Grayson not far behind him.
*****
In the infirmary, the monitors beeped, sounding the alarm that Ivy's heart rate was plummeting.
"No. no. no," whispered Simon as he started working on her faster. She flatlined as he worked trying to revive her, using the paddles several times. "Come on Ivy, stay with us..."
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Ivy seemed to have not heard him. 'Whatever,' he thought, 'she's not worth it.' He could feel the fight from down in the infirmary. Doc causing problems, the fed getting defensive, Pain feeling guilty, and then Ivy flatlined. John knew the hell that would reign down if she died and was not ready to deal with it.
He reached out to her again, this time unitentionally speaking out loud. "No, No little girl. You don't get to do that." He walked closer to the table. "You have too men up there crazy over what's going to happen to you and I Know you're strong enough to hang on. So gorram wake up. Now."
Simon prepared the paddles. "I've never heard of ranting to patients as an effective technique," he said not looking up, "Clear." He pressed her paddles to her chest and she spasmed as the jolt coursed through her. Her heartbeat, however, did not react.
"She's giving up, Simon. She's stronger than this, I can feel it."
"Well I'm not giving up on her." Simon increased the voltage again. "But there's not much more I can do for her. Clear"
johnttf
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I sat, all the while fumming internally,
'Little-miss-self-absorbed? He doesn't know me, none of them know the first thing about me!'
As Cornwell contiued his explination my anger was building and building untill I just couldn't keep it in any longer.
" Well, now that we've all heard you're nice little speach I think it's time I set somethings straight. One. I don't posture. Two. I am 'top dog', you can't even comprehend just how top dog I am. And third. You don't know me. None of you know me. Well, except John, but even he doesn't really know me. I am not 'little-miss' anything, even if I am a little self absorbed. Cornwell, don't you even dare try to blame what happens to the idiot girl on me. If she didn't know how to not get shot, then she never should have been on that job. And even if you have never wanted to hit a girl before now what's stoping you? Your lack of balls?"
I had stood up somting during my rate, and now strided twards the door. Reaching it, I nearly turned back, but I managed to pull together my control, and leave without shoting the man.
Through the smiles and the tears, through the anger, and the laughter that follows… I know I will keep changing. This is my story. It’ll be a good one.
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Infirmary
Quote:
Originally posted by johnthetheatrefreak:
"Well I'm not giving up on her." Simon increased the voltage again. "But there's not much more I can do for her. Clear"
Pain came into the infirmary just in time to see Simon apply the charge to the paddles he placed on Ivy's chest. Pain watched as Ivy's body reacted to the electrical charge that ran through it. As she collapsed back into the exam chair, Simon looked at her vitals on the monitor.
"Still nothing. Increasing the charge." replied Simon, oblivious to Pain's presence inside the infirmary.
There was an electronic whir as Simon increased the voltage on the defibrillators once more. Again Simon placed the paddles onto Ivy's chest and once more Ivy's body danced to the electrical beat that pulse through it. And yet again Ivy's heart refused to beat.
"Come on, baobei." Pain whispered, as he made his way to her side. Grabbing her hand in his, Pain pleaded, "Don't die on me. Please?"
Simon looked at Pain and shook his head in resignation as he told him, "I'm sorry, Pain. There's nothing more that I can do."
The color from Pain's face drained as Simon's words sunk in. The mercenary collapsed to his knees at Ivy's side as Simon began to take her off the ventilator. He couldn't and wouldn't believe that she'd give up like that and leave him. He didn't want to believe that she was gone forever and it was all his fault. Pain pressed her hand against his cheek, feeling tears run down them as his world came to a complete stop.
As he knelt there at Ivy's side with her hand against his face, Pain managed to bring himself to the grim reality that faced him and muttered, "She's gone and it's all my fault."
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