#also lol lil call back (forward?) to how harrison opened his interrogation of David in canon

[whumpacabra]

19. At Anchor

Field medicine, medical treatment, implied nonconsensual drugging, implied past panic attack, bruising, needle use [IV], past trauma, referenced difficulty breathing, referenced starvation, referenced murder

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“That gonna happen again?”

Harrison looked up at Thomas’ question, dread sinking in his gut as the Wolf’s sobs softened and the anesthesia pulled him under. He shrugged, pulling the shock blanket around his shoulders tighter.

“It happens all the time, Tom.” Dan, for the blooming purple bruise along his jaw and throat, seemed chipper despite the disruption. With the Wolf’s bleeding stemmed and the threat of death put off by a fresh blood bag, the medic was far less intense. “Why don’t you help Mer get him into the house - she can finish cleaning him up. Might be more comfortable under, uh, a woman’s touch.”

Thomas hesitated - he had been outside on the radio for Harrison’s quiet confession. Merrill grabbed the young deputy by the shoulder and began to direct him how to hold the Wolf without aggravating his injuries.

Harrison started to stand to follow, but Dan clamped a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back to the ground.

“No you don’t - you need saline and antibiotics. He’s not going anywhere fast.” Dan’s grip eased as Harrison relaxed, cross legged on the concrete floor. The medic's inspection was brief - antiseptic and wound glue for the gash in Harrison’s hairline, an IV line full of liquids and antibiotics for his chest infection, and -

“How long has it been since you’ve eaten?” The old man’s eyes were shadowed, the question soft. Harrison shrugged, the mild painkillers in the IV easing the aches of his atrophied muscles. “Son, just give me an estimate.”

“A week or so.” He sighed; time in the Box was a fluid and fickle thing to keep track of. “Maybe longer. Not the longest I’ve gone. Had some saltines and water earlier and haven’t hacked it up so far.”

There was something tired in Dan’s eyes as he gestured to Harrison’s bloodstained clothes.

“That from him or you?” Harrison stared at the brown stained burgundy jacket.

“Neither. Wolf - Wolf took care of it. He - he’s dead now. He’s dead.”

“He the one that hurt you boys?”

“One of them. The worst of them.”

“I need you to be honest with me son: are there angry folk looking for you and your friend?”

“Oh, hell yeah.” Harrison nearly choked on the laugh in his throat. “They were pissed even before we - oh my god -” He shuddered, hands tangling in his matted hair to ground himself. “Oh my god they’re going to kill us.”

“Not if we have any say in it.” The deputy spoke with the weight of an older man as he couched next to Harrison’s shivering form. “I don’t know you boys or what you’ve done, but what’s been done to you ain’t right. Whoever hurt you isn’t gonna come within spitting distance without catching a .45 in their gut, I swear to you.”

Harrison swallowed back his bitter words. For Merrill and Thomas' reassurances, it only made the terror in his gut fester. What could the deputy of a one horse town do against helos and turret mounted humvees and whatever else those fuckers would use to scrub out any evidence of their dirty work? What would they do to anyone who stood in their way?

“Okay.” Was all he could settle to say in reply. Thomas’ smile was tight as he nodded to Dan.

“Mind if I ask him some questions?”

“So long as he pipes up if that concussion of his starts getting to him.” Dan had started stripping off his bloodied apron and gloves, tossing them into the puddles of blood on the tarp. “But you, son, best get some rest afterward and let the meds do their work. Fuckin’ miracle either of you are alive let alone up and walking.”

“Yessir.” Harrison nodded, a flash of nostalgia for Merrick’s foul mouthed debriefs. The tangled dog tags in his pockets burned.

“Alrighty then - start small.” Deputy Thomas had a yellow note pad and pencil in hand.

“Who the fuck are you Harrison?”

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(An AU of my Freelancers series)

#whump #field medicine #medical treatment #nonconsensual drugging #panic attacks #bruising #needle use #past trauma #difficulty breathing #starvation #murder #I’ll link the prev and Masterpost later #oops I was supposed to get up early and drive home and I slept thru all my alarms #my sleep schedule is WHACK lately yall guess lmao #also lol lil call back (forward?) to how harrison opened his interrogation of David in canon #the wolf and the hare au