vaccination | TLV

"Not that I saw," is the answer to both of those first questions - he doesn't know if anything weird is going on, because he hadn't seen anyone else. Both of them appear to be normal, at least.

And he hadn't seen her get anyone else. But, "It doesn't mean she didn't, but - I haven't heard anything, if she did." Maybe he ought to go do a quick patrol, but now that he's back and can see how drained - hah, literally - Ellie looks, he's loath to just get up and leave her again.

"I guess so. The cell in Zero'll stay locked up to seven days, but - it'll open on its own after that, if you don't unlock it before then. I guess if we need to turn her right back around and lock her in for another week... then that's what we do."

But at least Tess can't do more damage from in there, and she can't get out. It hadn't dampened the thing at all, either, though, which isn't exactly reassuring, but if it's a disease, like Ellie had said - then no. Zero wouldn't affect that.

So he focuses back in on Ellie, who's at least looking at him and clearly comprehending things just find. More good signs. "Yeah, I'm sure. I think half your blood's out in the hall, custodial might have a bone to pick." He offers her a dumb smile, reaching over carefully to tilt her head and check that she hasn't bled through the bandage.

"It's Tess' body, but that's not Tess," Ellie thinks to clarify now that she can think a little bit clearer. She still feels like shit, limbs heavy and body sore, but--that's something that had brought her peace, in a way. "The... cordyceps infection, it's in the brain. The host is dead. So."

Is Tess dead, now? Fuck. Ellie doesn't know. And if not--well, she's going to have a rude awakening when (if?) things go back to normal and she can tell Ellie what it was like, being infected.

She lets Steve move her head with a small wince. There's a little bit of blood, but it's clearly not pouring out of her as it was before.

"I don't wanna cause a whole panic, but if she bit other people, they wouldn't just be fucked up like me. They'd turn, become infected like her, and then..." Spread. "I mean, it's... probably good we're not hearing screaming and fighting?"

There are a million stories of life going to hell in seconds when the outbreak occurred.

Steve nods, eyes on her neck, but at least he's satisfied there. And as for the concept, he does understand it, but it's still never easy to fight something with a familiar face. Even if all you're doing is wrestling them into a cell.

And if Tess is dead, and the only thing that will bring her back is killing her body... they can deal with that later. He can deal with that later, because who the hell ever knows what the Admiral considers an exception and what he doesn't.

"Probably a good thing," he agrees, reaching down for her hand to take her pulse, because pressing fingers to her neck is kind of out of the question. "The ship's not exactly large, and it doesn't take a lot of time to run into people if that's your plan." Such as it is. "I think the quiet is a good thing, but I'll keep an ear out."

And in the meantime, "You think you could drink something?" he asks, because if she's lost all that blood, then she's going to need to replace it. And it's not like he's got the equipment sitting around here to do that intravenously. Nor does he think that anyone in the infirmary would give it to him. "Pretty sure orange juice is the norm, but I'll get you anything you want."

She hasn't been this fucked up since Abby wiped the floor with her in Seattle.

It doesn't do anything for her mood.

"As long as it doesn't come out of my neck," Ellie mutters. No, the hole didn't even come close to your throat, Ellie. "Am I gonna make it, doc?"

"Ha, ha," is Steve's reply to that, but he's smiling, just the tiniest bit, at the dumb joke.

"Yeah," he confirms, although he figures she knew that. "But you lost a lot of blood and you're gonna feel awful for a while, unless you want to go up to the infirmary and replace it. I think you're out of the woods, but you're gonna be dizzy and off-balance and I think you should at least drink something and sleep for a couple hours in here."

At the very least until he (or he and B, because he might have plans to call him in) can get Ellie's room cleaned up and secured. Until he can figure out what's going on, in general.

He points to the desk, even if she might not really want to turn her head to look. "Your journal's over there. I - thanks. I didn't look at it or anything."

"I trust you." It's why she came to him for help, why she trusted him with her warden item.

"Just--don't tell anyone I got bit. I don't want some dumbass thinking I'm infected. And maybe don't tell B. He'll freak."

She has a feeling Steve might tell B anyway.

"I won't tell anyone," he confirms - although yeah, he has to add, "Are you sure you don't want me to tell him anything?"

He frowns a little, but more because, "He's gonna figure out something happened the next time he sees you. I hate to say it, Ellie, but you're not gonna bounce back overnight. You'll probably be able to fake feeling okay if you take it easy for a few days, but your neck'll be harder to hide."

And while she really can tell pretty much anyone else to fuck off, he doubts B is going to take that for an answer.

He's got a point. Ellie's brain isn't functioning at full capacity, and she sighs. Even after it heals--

"This is where I got bitten," she says, and while she can't really manage lifting her arm, that it moves a little is indication enough. "I used to hide my arm. The bite scar. Until I burned it off and got my tattoo."

The bumped, scarred skin is harder to notice with the ink.

"I can hide from B 'til I think of a new tattoo."

"Or I just snap your neck right now and you wake up in an hour with no scar, no blood loss, and a sore neck for a couple of days."

It is not a real suggestion, and the quiet, flat tone of his voice should tell her that. He would never, ever. Ever.

But her plan is about that reasonable, okay. That's all he's saying.

Then he sighs. "If you really don't want anyone to notice, then I'd better clean up the hallway. And get you a scarf from the wardrobe, maybe."

After he gets changed and hikes up to the mess to get her something to drink.

That Ellie snorts should be signal enough that she gets he's just being dramatic.

There's a weak attempt to reach for his arm with the hand that's closest to him.

"No, that's--you've cleaned up enough," she says. Enough of her blood, and she's gotten it on his floor and bed. She's not happy about that. "You've done enough."

Everything in here that she's gotten bloody can be cleaned or replaced. It's not a big deal, but anyone walking down the hall is going to notice the trail from her door to his. And the less obvious one Tess left behind. "It's fine. I'm not gonna make you or Tess clean it up. Don't worry about it."

But if it'll make her feel better, he'll do it while she's asleep.

"Let me get you something to drink, at least. I'm being a terrible host."

"I'm being a shitty warden, so." There's a weak laugh. He shouldn't be dealing with this shit, and she made him go to the pool, but that wasn't really her fault, and wow her head is swimming.

"You're forgiven."

"Oh, I've had worse," Steve assures her with a smile; honestly, at least all this shit is straightforward. He feels useful. Like he can do some good, help her out.

And the pool was definitely not her fault.

"Seriously, though. You're dehydrated. Can't make more blood out of nothing." He moves to stand up, so he can get changed and get her what she needs. "Are you cold? You need more blankets?"

Pity party consisting of one. Ellie wants to grab another blanket herself, or at least sit up, but she can't.

"Yeah. My hands hurt," she mutters. And no, she wouldn't have mentioned it unless he asked.

Hey, just consider it forced naptime.

(Yeah, Steve's bad at just accepting when he has to lie around, too. He gets it.)

He frowns at the admission, though, simultaneously pulling another blanket up while reaching down to check one hand and make sure there wasn't something he missed, but he suspects it has more to do with the fact that her body's going to prioritize getting what blood is left to her organs and not her hands or feet. "Keep 'em down by your sides," he suggests. "Wish I had some plasma, but I don't even know if the infirmary stocks it."

"It's okay," she reassures. "You're doing great."

Since, you know. It probably helps to hear that after she tumbled in, bitten and bloodied and sent him on a mission.

"I'll be okay."

It... weirdly does help, in this almost surprising way, just because he hadn't expected her to say that kind of thing. "You will," he confirms, tucking the blanket carefully - not restrictively - around her, letting out a slow breath. "We'll figure out what happened, and we'll find a way to help Tess if she needs it." Because he doesn't think this was her fault at all, either. Not if it's a disease, even one she might have somehow brought with her (although why it's cropped up now, he doesn't know).

For a moment, he considers getting changed back into civvies to run up to the mess - he can't pull a hoodie on over the uniform because he kind of just tore up his last one. But in the end, he just shrugs out of the top to leave him in a t-shirt underneath, and figures the tac pants don't look too out of place like that. "I'll be right back with something to drink." And maybe something to eat that can sit for a while, he doesn't expect her to want food just yet.

"Tess is going to be so fucked up by this," she says, closing her eyes again. But there's nothing to do about that right now, and Ellie's not sure how much help to Tess she can even be.

"I don't know what's going on out there." More infected? More bullshit? "Be careful."

Not that he really needs it, given who he is, but. She has to say it.

Steve's mouth twists unhappily - just the Barge being the Barge, probably, leaving the victims to deal with the fallout. But that's not going to change, so, "We'll do what we can for her," he says, quietly, even though it feels like too little too late. He barely knows Tess, isn't sure he's liked a lot of what he's seen, but she still doesn't deserve this. They'll figure something out, even if it's just making sure she knows they know it was shitty. Sometimes, that's all you can do. Sometimes, that's all you want.

He pauses with his hand on the door handle and nods. "Me, either, but it was pretty quiet." Either way, "I will. I won't be long."

He takes the stairs up at a run, at least. He has to be a little more careful, coming back down, so he doesn't spill the two glasses of juice he's carrying; plus, there are a few apples shoved into his pockets.

It's still weirdly quiet - maybe even more so than he expects, but maybe he's just on edge. He opens the door carefully with one elbow, maybe half expecting Ellie to be asleep.

She's about to give in and doze off when Steve returns. There's a slight start from her, but then she relaxes, hoping he didn't catch that reaction.

"Hope you brought a straw."

Sitting up is going to suck.

Get it. Suck. Straw.

If he caught it, he doesn't say anything about it, just shaking his head a little as he sets the glasses down on the desk. "Sorry, no. I don't even know where I'd get one around here."

Even if he had one, though, she's going to have to sit up to drink either way. Which... yeah, is not gonna be fun, but it's probably best just to get it overwith. He settles back down on the bed for a minute, considering before, "If I just pull you up, how much am I going to pay for it later?"

She really hates being this helpless. She made it back to Jackson with a broken shoulder and face, but this is worse. That shit hurt, but her strength came back as soon as she picked herself up off the floor. This is just sort of humiliating and there's the looming threat of things becoming worse before they get better. But.

"Pretty sure my pride bled out a while ago. Just do it," she sighs. If she really wanted, she could manage, but she knows it's no trouble for Steve to pull her up. He's carried her like she weighs nothing.

He knows what it's like, and he knows how much it stings when you can't do things for yourself. "You know, I've probably mentioned, but B's probably put in more hours dealing with me than most actual nurses will in a lifetime," he offers softly, scooting a little more onto the bed and carefully reaching under Ellie's shoulders to pull her upright, bracing her with one hand at her back while he shuffles the pillow against the wall so between it and him, she can lean on it and stay up. Then he reaches over and pulls over one glass, waiting patiently to see if she's got enough control with her hands to get it.

The attack has her whole body feeling like a giant bruise even if it's the blood loss she's mostly struggling with, now. Ellie bites down on her lip as she's moved, swearing softly once she's mostly up, and letting out a breath. Her head feels heavy.

"Nurse Steve is enough for me. Nurse B can stay in retirement," Ellie says. She eyes the glass, then slowly holds out two shaky hands to try and take it. "There's a few lines in your file about how things were for you before."

Or at least a few that Ellie read.

"Yeah, he definitely deserves the break," Steve agrees, letting her take it but keeping a hand under it for extra support, because he wants to give her what autonomy he can, but he also figures neither of them want her to spill it all over the bed, either. He's still trying to work out how pissed she'll be if he tries to get her to put on something without tacky, drying blood all over it.

He hums, because he's not surprised the file includes it. "Yeah. You could've taken me out without breaking a sweat," he says, and honestly, he's not even really exaggerating much. "But a bad cold would floor me just as bad as a good punch. Hell, even on the Barge, I got knocked flat a couple times. I brought something back from a breach, once. I'm that talented."

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vaccination - 2021-08-26 04:00 (UTC) - Expand

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punched_hitler - 2021-08-26 14:35 (UTC) - Expand

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