-AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! –
This is bad. She is in death's door; we have to remove the burnt flesh immediately. Brennan is not as good a physician as Capran is, but he knows enough to treat her. He was the one that taught Zoe about dwemer automatons, and how they were built. He is aware that she had surpassed his knowledge of that subject long ago, and that she was the only one who would be able to modify her gauntlet into a prosthetic arm. But without the base she would need another operation to connect the nerves with the new limb.
He managed the knife with certain skill, the burned flesh needs to be removed before it infects and festers. He would need to cut her deeply, and that would be hard for her, severing the nerves would be necessary to connect the central nervous system with the machine that would substitute her arm. Even if Brennan lacked the required skills to build the arm itself he knew enough to create the base that would connect woman and machine.
The cuts were deep, and her screams were horrifying. As soon as he pierced her flesh a pungent odor filled the room. Brennan soon realized he would have to manage the bone saw as well if he intended to install the mechanical base for the prosthetic limb. Julia tried to keep her stable, but soon the pain was too much and her body started to shiver and twitch uncontrollably. Sophia was desperate; at this point it was difficult to tell which of the women was suffering more, Sophia was backed out at the corner, crying and biting on her nails with anxiety. Julia ordered the Argonian and his Dunmer friend to hold her back so she would not see this and suffer from an anxiety attack. This was easier said then done, as the massive Amazon was barely containing herself, we all knew that there was no real way to keep her from coming here, but they were doing the best they could.
I was starting to get dizzy from the smell; the imperials treating her were already accustomed to treating these kinds of wounds, but the rest of us were not, and going back and forth to fetch his tools soon made me sick. I could not handle that anymore, and soon enough I threw up in a bucket sitting in the corner. No time for this, my own disgust was not important now, they counted on me. Soon I regained my shit and returned with the water, clean cloths, and Lucius’s set of surgical equipment.
This part would be very delicate. Julia was sweating and pushing herself. She needed to, since Brennan had to administer a large dose of poison to keep Zoe's body paralyzed and stable. This was very dangerous, if Julia was not here she would be dead from the toxins, but unfortunately she was running out of magicka, fast. Sophia seemed close to a heart attack, she bit her lower lip so hard that it started to bleed, and was holding both Deestan and Ralthos away from her with one hand each. There was too much blood on the floor, we were running out of clean cloths and Julia was nearly fainting, but Brennan had already made the necessary cuts and was starting to connect the base of the machine with her nerves.
The poison was not enough to keep her down; fortunately she would only have to go through this once. She sat up suddenly and howled a mad cry of pain. Her move was so brisk that Julia fell to the ground; she had no strength left in her, but luckily I was able to quickly take her place. I am as proficient in the school of restoration as she is, but I am still full of energy. The room was suddenly silent as Brennan finished connecting the nerves. Zoe stopped moving.
Brennan felt her chest, his eyes widened and he began to sweat. There was no pulse; I could see it in his eyes. Sophia could not stand that anymore, she knocked both the Dunmer and the Argonian back and rushed to the pale body of her loved one. Brennan took a deep breath and regained his calm, we needed a cool temper to overcome this, and he knew that.
He ordered Sophia to breath into Zoe’s mouth to try to force her to breath, put both his hands on her chest and started to push down in timed intervals. He called upon Ralthos when he noticed his treatment was not working. Ralthos charged his hands with lighting and discharged it into the pale woman’s body. She moved, an inch, but she moved! This was working, good, no, great!
-Ralthos, lets do this simultaneously, I’ll charge up a restoration spell and then you use your lighting to start up her heart! – I said with a desperate tone
Brennan pushed her chest down a few more times, and Sophia filled her lungs with air.
-Clear! –
We released our magic simultaneously into the pale body of the young woman. And she moved! In fact, she jumped straight up! Her hair was standing, her skin was slightly burnt, but she was alive! She stood up quickly, but fell down when she tried to use her right hand for support.
The expression on her face changed after that, from the shock of escaping the cold embrace of the void to the tired, and shocked expression of blank acceptance. Now on the floor, she touched the blood drenched cloths with her left hand, then moved the now red fingers to touch the piece of metal that now covered her right elbow. Sophia held her tightly, but her expression did not change. Slowly but surely Zoe pushed Sophia back.
-I am tired, and I need some time to think. Please leave me alone – said Zoe
We left the room, while she began clutching the cold metal that guarded her shoulder. I never saw her like that, and I am sure that as soon as we left the room, I heard a quiet sob…
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