the occupant wasn’t sleeping. There was no response for a moment, then a tired voice spoke out, “Come in.”
She pushed the door open, not really surprised to find that Sorilla had her vest and boots off, her pants the only clothing she still wore. What did surprise her, however, was the extent of injuries she saw on the soldier’s torso.
“My God...” The nurse whispered, “What happened?”
Sorilla looked up, her lips twisted in some emotion Tara couldn’t quite place, “Someone thought that throwing rocks would be a laugh riot.”
Tara winced as she moved closer, eyeing the injuries. There were multiple gashes along the sergeant’s arms, blood stains coating what skin was left unmarred. Bruises covered her breasts and hard abdomen muscles, some of them quite obviously deep in nature. Sorilla remained in place as Tara stepped behind her and waited as the nurse hissed.
“Bad?” She sighed.
“Could be worse,” Tara admitted after a moment, “But not much worse without killing you.”
“Missed the kidneys then.”
“Just.”
Sorilla nodded, “I was pretty sure they had.”
Tara shook her head, then gently took the sergeant’s shoulder and pushed her back. “Let me check you out.”
The soldier didn’t argue with her, and just lay back slightly, hissing as the pressure was put on her bruised back. Tara winced in sympathy, but just went on with a quick examination that focused mostly on finding anything more serious than the bruises and lacerations that were already healing.
She didn’t find any broken bones, but a quick glance at the Sergeant’s feet were enough to tell her that the woman wasn’t walking anywhere for a while. Both feet were swelling up nastily, now that the pressure of the boots had been removed, and the right ankle looked really bad.
“How does this feel?” She asked, gently prodding the ankle.
Sorilla smiled ironically, “It doesn’t, which isn’t a great sign.”
“I wish I had more advanced tools...” Tara said, shaking her head.
Sorilla pointed to the coffin shaped kit on the floor, “Open that up and pass me the kit with the red cross on it. My armor would do better, but there’s no point wasting its power reserves.”
Tara located the kit easily enough, the dark brown-green case didn’t exactly identify it well, but the red cross centered on it did. She opened it as she brought it back and raised her eyebrows as she saw the equipment inside.
“That has to be about twenty thousand dollars’ worth of equipment,” She said as Aida took out a compact diagnostic scanner.
“Try eighty,” The Sergeant smiled, eyes glowing a faint green as she accessed the device’s computer through her implants. “though you can get better on the open market for fifty. We pay a premium for the ‘ruggedized’ version. It does the job, though.”
The scanner was a small instrument package that resembled larger ones Tara herself used in the clinic back before they had been forced out of the colony, but appeared to be more advanced. The Colony’s equipment had been top of the line when it was founded, but new upgrades, even to medical equipment, were slow to come.
“Nothing broken,” Sorilla sighed after a moment, passing the instrument over to Tara and turning on the built in display so the nurse could see for herself.
Tara looked and nodded. “Bad sprain, and you made it worse by walking on it, I’ll bet.”
“You’re not winning any suckers bets tonight,” the weary soldier sighed, smiling slightly. “But it’ll heal.”
Tara nodded, “With proper care... three days.”
“I’ll be ok by tomorrow evening, if you’ll just help me splint it up properly.” Sorilla motioned.
Tara raised an eyebrow, but did as she was asked, using the plastic splints from the pack to lock the injured joint in place, wrapping it with straps, and then pinning them off. “There. Now let’s do something about those cuts before you get an
She pushed the door open, not really surprised to find that Sorilla had her vest and boots off, her pants the only clothing she still wore. What did surprise her, however, was the extent of injuries she saw on the soldier’s torso.
“My God...” The nurse whispered, “What happened?”
Sorilla looked up, her lips twisted in some emotion Tara couldn’t quite place, “Someone thought that throwing rocks would be a laugh riot.”
Tara winced as she moved closer, eyeing the injuries. There were multiple gashes along the sergeant’s arms, blood stains coating what skin was left unmarred. Bruises covered her breasts and hard abdomen muscles, some of them quite obviously deep in nature. Sorilla remained in place as Tara stepped behind her and waited as the nurse hissed.
“Bad?” She sighed.
“Could be worse,” Tara admitted after a moment, “But not much worse without killing you.”
“Missed the kidneys then.”
“Just.”
Sorilla nodded, “I was pretty sure they had.”
Tara shook her head, then gently took the sergeant’s shoulder and pushed her back. “Let me check you out.”
The soldier didn’t argue with her, and just lay back slightly, hissing as the pressure was put on her bruised back. Tara winced in sympathy, but just went on with a quick examination that focused mostly on finding anything more serious than the bruises and lacerations that were already healing.
She didn’t find any broken bones, but a quick glance at the Sergeant’s feet were enough to tell her that the woman wasn’t walking anywhere for a while. Both feet were swelling up nastily, now that the pressure of the boots had been removed, and the right ankle looked really bad.
“How does this feel?” She asked, gently prodding the ankle.
Sorilla smiled ironically, “It doesn’t, which isn’t a great sign.”
“I wish I had more advanced tools...” Tara said, shaking her head.
Sorilla pointed to the coffin shaped kit on the floor, “Open that up and pass me the kit with the red cross on it. My armor would do better, but there’s no point wasting its power reserves.”
Tara located the kit easily enough, the dark brown-green case didn’t exactly identify it well, but the red cross centered on it did. She opened it as she brought it back and raised her eyebrows as she saw the equipment inside.
“That has to be about twenty thousand dollars’ worth of equipment,” She said as Aida took out a compact diagnostic scanner.
“Try eighty,” The Sergeant smiled, eyes glowing a faint green as she accessed the device’s computer through her implants. “though you can get better on the open market for fifty. We pay a premium for the ‘ruggedized’ version. It does the job, though.”
The scanner was a small instrument package that resembled larger ones Tara herself used in the clinic back before they had been forced out of the colony, but appeared to be more advanced. The Colony’s equipment had been top of the line when it was founded, but new upgrades, even to medical equipment, were slow to come.
“Nothing broken,” Sorilla sighed after a moment, passing the instrument over to Tara and turning on the built in display so the nurse could see for herself.
Tara looked and nodded. “Bad sprain, and you made it worse by walking on it, I’ll bet.”
“You’re not winning any suckers bets tonight,” the weary soldier sighed, smiling slightly. “But it’ll heal.”
Tara nodded, “With proper care... three days.”
“I’ll be ok by tomorrow evening, if you’ll just help me splint it up properly.” Sorilla motioned.
Tara raised an eyebrow, but did as she was asked, using the plastic splints from the pack to lock the injured joint in place, wrapping it with straps, and then pinning them off. “There. Now let’s do something about those cuts before you get an
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