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i-eat-worlds · 4 months

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Stab O’clock

Phoenix gets stabbed, whump ensues.

Thanks to @snaillamp and @whumpy-daydreams for helping with the medical stuff in this! Aaron and Phoenix belong to @pigeonwhumps

cw: medical whump, dubcon medical care, past medical abuse, graphic depiction of medical procedures (tube thoracostomy), needles, blood, implied current abuse, fear of punishment, wound fingering, immortal whumpee, wishing for death, past death, comfort believe it or not

“Firebird!”

Phoenix rolled away from the voice calling their name, trying to drag themselves deeper into the alleyway. If they were discovered like this, it wouldn’t end well. You couldn’t fight if you could barely breathe.

“Firebird!”

A black, blue, and orange uniformed hero rounded the corner, and Phoenix shrunk back further. Absurdly, they wished they could bleed out and die quicker, so they could heal. Being found like this was sure to end badly. Injured heroes were useless heroes, and useless heroes got punished. The hero called out for them again, moving towards the alley way.

They held their breath, hoping the hero would walk by and ignore them.

They didn’t.

Instead, the hero turned into the alley, dropping to their knees in front of them. He mumbled something into his coms before he looked at them. “Hey Firebird, I’m Exhale, I’m a medic.” He gestured to the patch on his left arm. “I’m here to help you, yeah?”

Medics? Who had sent medics out for them? That was a gross waste of resources. Phoenix shook their head. “ ‘m immortal.”

Talking was hard. Every word stole precious, precious air that was getting harder to take in by the second.

Exhale nodded. “Good to know, thanks for telling me.” He quickly located the wound on their chest and started quickly cutting the fabric away.

“No, ‘m immortal.” Phoenix whispered, pushing his hands away. “You don’ need to do that.”

“Not how that works. Let me help.” Exhale pressed a clear, sticky bandage over their chest. It was clear he wasn’t planning on arguing.

His hands wrapped around them, checking their backside for another wound. “ ‘m sorry,” they wheezed.

“It’s alright.” His hands pulled away. “I need you to lay down. I’ll help, yeah?” Phoenix let him gently set them down on the ground. This moved them out of the shadows, casting streetlight over their upper body.

Their chest still felt heavy and tight, even though the weird bandages he’d put on helped a little bit. It did nothing for the pain, every movement of their rib cage extending the burning ache. In the distance, they could hear sirens. Stupidly, Phoenix wondered if the sirens were for them.

That was silly, though. Why would they need an ambulance? It wasn’t like they were going to die.

“I’m gonna need to decompress your chest,” he said. He was holding something in his gloved hand, but Phoenix couldn’t really see what it was. “It’ll probably hurt, but it’ll also make it easier to breathe.”

They whimpered as Exhale pressed his fingers next to their sternum, only a few inches away from the wound, then slid them across their chest. In the corner of their vision, they saw light glint of of a very long needle.

They didn’t have time to really process what it was until after it was driven through their chest.

Shocked, they gasped, breathing hitching and head popping off the ground. Exhale didn’t seem so surprised, pressing his hand onto their shoulder to keep them from moving too much. “You’re alright, you’re going great.”

It certainly didn’t feel like that.

“The ambulance is on its way, they’re a few minutes out.” For some reason, he was still gently squeezing their shoulder. It wasn’t that they minded, it was just odd.

It was easy to tell that the ambulance was coming, sirens screaming through the night. Phoenix closed their eyes to try and get away from bright flashing lights as it parked. It was so easy to keep them like that.

“Phoenix, can you open your eyes for me?” He shook their shoulder a bit, but when they didn’t respond, he switched to grinding his knuckles into their sternum.

Their eyes popped open, and they raised the arm on their uninjured side to try and push his hand away. “I need you to try and stay awake, for me, yeah?”

The ambulance ride passed in a blur. So much was going on. While Exhale was starting an IV, another paramedic was attaching them to a monitor. An oxygen mask was looped over their face and then they were covered by a blanket. They felt a strange coolth running up their arm, and they realized that they’d been given painkillers.

It was too much, really. All the care and attention would've been better spent on someone who wouldn’t live anyway. The thought of having to pay for this made them nauseous. Hopefully Kai will believe that they tried to say no, because Abbie wouldn’t care.

Phoenix heard the arrival alarm go off as they were rolled into HAL’s medbay. Aaron, along with a cache of other nurses met them by the door. They clumped around the stretcher, and Exhale started rattling off a long list of words and numbers that they didn’t understand at Aaron.

“ ‘m sorry,” they mumbled to them, but he was too busy talking to hear them. “I promise ‘m sorry, sir.”

Nobody responded. Of course they didn’t. They were being annoying, and they needed to shut up.

“Three, two, one, lift!” Somebody called, and they were hoisted off the stretcher and set back down on the table. The movement caused pain to flare in their chest, and they groaned loudly. The assault of hands returned as they were attached to the medbay’s monitor, nurses swarming around them.

“You with me, Phoenix?” Aaron was standing at their head. His face looked weird upside down.

They nodded, feeling the tears starting to build. “Yes, sir.”

“Good, good.” Aaron’s eyes flickered up, watching as their blood pressure cycled. “We’re gonna take an x-ray, okay. Just lie still for us.”

Someone pulled an x-ray machine over the bed, and Aaron backed away. There was an awkward moment of quiet as the machine hummed and wirred, and then everyone briey stared at the radiograph that Phoenix could neither see nor interpret. Aaron rattled o a list of stuff he needed done, and the room descended back into organized chaos.

“I’m gonna need to place a chest tube. You’ve got blood in your chest, so we're going to put a tube in and drain it out so you can breathe better,” he explained as he rubbed cleaning gel on his hands.

Phoenix swallowed nervously, giving up on holding back tears. They could feel the pain of the scalpel slicing through their chest, of cold metal pushing their ribs apart, of hands digging around inside them as they died and resurrected and died again.

“You’re lucky someone is willing to help you at all. You know you don’t deserve it.”

A nurse pulled the blanket all the way to their belly button, revealing the myriad scars that covered their body. Burns, several GSWs, an old wound from a spear, and the long, thick, almost keloid scar from the thoracotomy.

“If you stopped fucking moving I wouldn’t need to paralyze you. It’s not like you need to breathe.”

Their attention was drawn by Aaron’s voice. “Phoenix, I need you to keep breathing for me. In and out, in and out.” He looped a mask around his face, then plunged his arms into the sleeves of a waiting gown. While he spoke, the nurse wiped the skin around their chest and up their arm with a stinky orange solution.

“Please, ‘m sorry, sir,” they gasped. The monitors screeched as their heart rate spiked. “I promise, sir, ‘m sorry for getting hurt.”

Aaron’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not mad at you for getting hurt, Phoenix. I’ll never be.” Cold flared in their arms, but they were too scared to recognize it as pain medication. Latex snapped as he donned a pair of sterile gloves.

The squelching of viscera echoed in their brain.

“If you don’t stop screaming I’m going to cut it. I can literally see your aorta. Don’t test me.”

He started to unfold a drape on their chest, looking up at a nurse on the other side of the table. “Can you get Joseph in here? They need more support than I can provide while I’m doing this.”

Phoenix whimpered, tears rolling down freely down their cheeks. They’d known that Aaron’s kindness wouldn’t last forever, that it was too good to be true, but it still hurt. And Joseph as well? Was he going to hold them down while Aaron cut them open? Or would they just slit their throat and be done with it?

“I told you I wasn’t fucking around. You could’ve prevented this if you would’ve just kept still.”

“I‘m sorry, please, I promise, I’m sorry, sir.” They tried again, desperately. “I didn’t mean to get hurt. I know I don’t deserve it, sir. I know. I promise, sir, I know.”

They gasped for air, hand clawing at the tide of the table.

“Can someone gag them please? I don’t want to hear them breathing like that. It’s annoying.”

Joseph appeared in the entryway to the room, quickly crossing on the side away from Aaron. He was wearing his full INSUPA uniform, med patches and all, same second in command stripes as the person in the alley had. Was Joseph Exhale?

It didn’t really matter now. He was going to hurt them anyway.

“Can someone hold them down? They move too much when they resurrect.”

“Hey Phoenix, can you look at me?” He was smiling at them, but he still looked terrifying.

They tore their eyes from the needle in Aaron’s hand to look at him. “That’s good. Eyes on me, eyes on me.”

“Don’t look at me like that. You know it's your own fault.”

Joseph kept talking to them, voice low and calm. “Is it okay if I hold your hand?” They nodded, knowing their answer didn’t really matter anyway.

“We’re gonna take care of you. I know it’s scary.” His hands were calloused and hard, and he gently started to massage the top of their hand with his thumb.

Why hadn’t he killed them yet? What was he waiting for?

“Stop crying. It’s distracting me.”

Aaron touched their chest. Fear exploded in their gut, along with boiling waves of nausea. Even though they knew they’d come back, they didn’t want to die.

“Aaron’s starting the local now.” Joseph said, squeezing their hand a little.

“I don’t care that it hurts. Just keep still.”

The needle punctured their skin, and they did their best to not wiggle away. There was an acidic burn in their chest as the medication took hold.

“I know it burns, but it’s nearly over,” Aaron said, grabbing another syringe. “That’s the first round of local anesthetic in, you’re doing great.”

Joseph smiled at them again, and Phoenix wondered what the point of the medication was. Weren’t anesthetics supposed to make things hurt less? That couldn’t be right.

They were supposed to be dying.

“Pain meds? That would be wasted on you. I don’t think it’d even work.”

Aaron swamped out the syringe for a scalpel, and their eyes went wide with fear. This was how he was going to kill them then.

“Eyes on me, remember?” Joseph’s voice was commanding, and their eyes snapped back to his face.

“I’m sorry sir,” they said, voice filled with fear.

“I didn’t know you were too stupid to follow even simple instructions. Stop. Squirming.”

They prepared themselves for the pain of being sliced open, waiting for the agony to spread along their ribs.

“Tell me if it starts to hurt,” Aaron said. There was a strange pressure on the side of their chest, and the metallic smell of blood filled the air.

It was strange, but it didn’t hurt. It was supposed to hurt.

“It’ll go faster if you don’t cause problems.”

There was an uncomfortable tugging and pulling sensation, and then Aaron’s finger slid inside their chest. They suppressed the urge to cringe away.

“They need more local.” Joseph said, his tone switching from soft to business when he talked to Aaron.

“ ‘m okay,” they insisted. They didn’t need any more superfluous medication wasted on them. It already wasn’t as bad as they’d thought it’d be.

“I wouldn’t have had to do this if you’d just behaved.”

Joseph kept holding their hand as Aaron reached for another syringe. “You’re doing great, keep it up,” he assured them.

The burning sensation returned, and then they were being spread open again. A rush of blood splattered onto the floor, splashing on Aaron’s gown.

“What, are you afraid of a little blood?

He stuck his finger into their chest again, rotating it around inside them. “Any pain, Phoenix?”

“No, sir.” They were crying more now than before.

He snatched the tube off the tray. “Give them another point-two of Eropental.”

“If you complain that it hurts one more time, I’m going to just leave the rest of the shrapnel inside.”

Joseph let go of their hand to administer the medication, and for some reason, Phoenix didn’t like it.

Meanwhile, Aaron was deep in concentration. He carefully threaded the hard, plastic tube into their chest, then quickly connected them up to the strange looking drainage machine and opened up the clamp. “Tube’s in.”

It was quickly filled with blood. “Now all we gotta suture it in place. You’re nearly done, Phoenix.

“It’s kinda useless to stitch them, since they'll heal up anyway.”

This, at least, they were familiar with. Aaron had stitched them up way more times than was justied for any one person.

Joseph was back to holding their hand now. If they’d made it this far, the punishment would probably come later. “You did great, Phoenix.”

They didn’t believe him, but they weren’t going to argue.

“Just catch up after you heal. We don’t have the time to carry you back. You have to pull your own weight.”

Aaron dosed the wound liberally with another round of anesthetic before he covered it with several layers of gauze and tape.

The blood was practically flowing out of them, out of the tube and into the pump. “We’re gonna get you scanned next,” he said as he tore off his blood flecked gown and gloves. “Hopefully your healing is doing a good job of patching it up.”

Joseph squeezed their shoulder. “We gotcha.”

For a brief moment, Phoenix let themselves entertain the thought that they weren’t going to be killed at all. If Aaron was expecting them to heal, then maybe they’d be okay. But the anxiety settled in there chest again.

Now they had to do was survive what Abbie would dole out to them.

Aaron and Joseph had let them off easy.

Abbie wouldn’t.

Taglist: @/pigeonwhumps @rainydaywhump

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i-eat-worlds · 5 months

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Whumpcember Day 9 (Alt. 8, Tears)

@whumpcember

Phoenix and Aaron belong to @pigeonwhumps

cw: graphic depictions of injuries, medical procedures, blood, ongoing abuse, medical neglect, caretaking, fear of punishment, hospital setting

Phoenix was a mess.

Aaron had warned him about it before he went in, as well as apologizing for not being able to help more. Apparently, they’d been injured along with Abbie during a mission. Abbie’s injuries, however, were more severe. He’d have to heal her, which means he couldn’t take care of them. Halving a stranger treat them wouldn’t make things better.

Oh, and they’d put Phoenix in the room directly next to hers. That wasn’t helping either.

Joseph hadn’t been exactly expecting good things when he entered the room, but it was still much worse than he’d anticipated.

Phoenix wasn’t even on the exam table. Instead they were curled up in the far corner of the room, knees protecting their belly and arms raised to cover their head. Their camouflage was shorting out, covering their skin with bright flashes of color and odd shapes. Broken sobs occasionally escaped from the pile of limbs, but they were immediately cut off. The poor kid was trying to keep as quiet as possible. And the cherry on top? The blood from the injury on their thigh, which soaked their uniform and was smeared on the floor from them dragging themselves to the corner.

He grabbed a pair of gloves from the wall and started pulling them on while he crouched down in front of them. “Hey, Phoenix, I’m Joseph, I’m here to help you, alright?”

They didn’t seem to register the words at all. “Please, please, I’m sorry,” they blabbered. “Don’t tell Abbie, please, don’t let her know, I’m sorry, I promise, sir. Please.”

“I won’t tell her,” he said, keeping his tone relaxed. “I just wanna help you.”

“If she…If she sees me like this, she’ll…she’ll-” Their words were cut off by several panicked gasps. “Please…’m sorry.” They broke down into hiccuping sobs.

“I believe that you’re sorry, and I’m not going to…punish…you.” God, that felt wrong to say. “Aaron asked me to come help you. He’s worried about the injury on your leg.”

More fear filled their face at the mention of their injury. “I’m sorry, please, sir. I know it’s an inconvenience. I’m sorry for wasting your time. I can handle it on my own,” they sniffled, eyes brimming with tears. “Please. I know my place. I won’t waste. I won't. Please.”

Joseph kept silent for a second, trying to formulate a response. Their wound was still bleeding, and pretty badly at that. He needed to get them somewhere better than the floor. “I know it’s scary, but can you trust me, just for a little bit? I’m not going to hurt you.”

They waited for a second, then nodded tearfully, breaths still shaky. “Yes, sir.”

“Alright, I’m gonna have to touch you for this. Is that okay?”

Phoenix nodded again, lowering their arms. “Yes, sir,” they repeated.

“I know you can’t really stand right now, so I’m going to help get over to the exam table. That cool?” He smiled, placing a hand on their knee.

“Yes, sir.” They started to unfurl a little bit.

“So, first, I’m gonna put my arms around you, and then lift you up. You can use your good leg to help. It’s completely okay if you need to lean on me for support while I help you onto the exam table.”

He started to extend his arms towards them, moving slowly so that they wouldn’t get scared. Carefully, he snaked them behind Phoenix’s body and under their arms. “Can you put your arms on my shoulders?” They complied, far too quickly for comfort. “I’m gonna lift now. Just as a warning, it might hurt.”

It was worryingly easy to hoist them off the ground. Just as he expected, they immediately collapsed into his chest, leg unable to support their own weight. “‘m sorry,” they whimpered.

“You’re alright,” he comforted, using his arms to support them. “I’m going to get you up on the table now.” He lowered his arms so he could lift them onto the table.

Phoenix sniffled when he set them down, legs dangling. “Can you lay down for me?” Joseph asked. “You’re doing great.”

Even though they still looked absolutely terrified, they did look a little less uncomfortable now that they were laying down. “Thank…Thank you, sir,”

“You’re welcome.” The process of moving them had left blood smears all over his scrubs, and there were several spots on his arms as well. “I’m gonna look at your wound now, okay?”

This sent them spiraling again. “You…you don’t need to do that. It’ll heal. I don’t wanna be a waste. If she…if she found out-” their eyes wandered over to the wall that separated the room. She was right next door, and they knew it. “-it’d be bad. I’ll heal, sir. I promise I’ll heal.”

Joseph took a moment to collect himself. Who even does this to a person? “It’s not a waste to treat you, Phoenix. You deserve medical care just as much as any other hero, but I’m not going to do anything you don’t want me to.”

They looked at him with disbelieving eyes. “Please don't tell her.”

“I won’t kid, I promise.” He started to unfold his trauma shears. “I do need to look at it though. I’ll do my best to be quick.”

“Yes, sir,” they said, arms wrapped protectively around their core.

While he maneuvered the scissors, he did his best to keep them out of Phoenix’s sight. Their uniform was unnervingly easy to cut away. They hadn’t switched to the stab resistant fabric set. He’d need to talk to Aaron to make that change for this one’s replacement. With the amount of injuries they seemed to sustain, the switch should've been made ages ago.

The already torn fabric came away easily, revealing the wounds’s jagged, blood caked edges, along with a plethora of scars. There were burns as well as cuts, and some of them were handprint shaped. His stomach turned. Several of the scars were faded and old. They would’ve had to have happened when Phoenix was young. Who the fuck does this to anyone, much less a kid?

“That has to hurt,” he said as he examined the wound. They were already healing, the wound bed a healthy healing color. “I’ll get you hooked up to some pain meds and then I’ll clean it and bandage it, okay?” He quickly gathered the supplies needed for cannulation.

If he was being honest, he would’ve preferred to have another person in here, but Phoenix was barely tolerating his presence and he doubted they would be able to handle a second person. “Can I have your arm?”

Hesitantly, they moved it from its position around their belly and rested it at on the table. “I’m gonna put a line in. It’ll hurt a little bit, but it’ll be quick.”

The procedure went easily, and after he’d wrapped bandages around it to secure it, he prepared a syringe to push some pain control. “I’m gonna give you something to help with the pain.”

Phoenix started shaking their head again. “You don’t need to do that, sir. I don’t wanna waste. You can save them for heroes that need them. I'll..I’ll be okay.”

“It’s not a waste. We have plenty of meds, and we’re nowhere near close to running out. I don’t want you to be in pain when I treat you.” They tried to wrap their arm back over their body, wincing when the end of the cannula caught in their elbow. “O…okay,” Their face was tired, and it looked like they’d lost the energy to disagree with him.

Just as Joseph was about to push the meds, an outraged shriek came from the room over. “How dare you! Don’t you know who I am?” It was Abbie.

Phoenix immediately froze, numbly pushing the syringe away from their arm pulling their legs in close, balling up on the exam table. “‘m sorry,” they mumbled, only half present. “I wasn’t, I wasn’t gonna take them.” They hiccuped, tears rolling down their cheeks again. “I know…I know my place. I promise. Please. I’m sorry.”

“You’re okay, Phoenix. Abbie isn't here. She’s not going to hurt you.” Internally, Joseph cursued. That was it. They need to go somewhere else if Phoenix was ever going to calm down enough. “Phoenix, can you look at me?”

Their eyes flicked up, still wet from crying. “Yes, sir?”

“Would you feel better if we went somewhere else? I can ask Tori, the charge nurse about it.” Joseph didn’t care if he ended up doing this in a little tiny consulting room, as long as it was away from Abbie.

“You..you don’t need to do that.” They still looked absolutely terried. “I’m sorry for making a scene, sir.”

Joseph pushed his anger down. “It wouldn’t be too hard, and I don’t mind at all. I want to make sure you feel safe so that I can help, yeah? I want to help.”

“I’m sorry,” they said, slowly unfurling themselves. “Can I stay, please? It hurts to move.”

“Alright,” Joseph nodded. There were some battles that he wouldn’t fight unless he had to, and this was one of them. He’d bring it up again if they started panicking again. “I’m gonna go ahead and give you the pain meds so I can start working on your leg, yeah?”

They nodded their consent, and he pushed the drugs. “Tell me if it starts to hurt again.”

After he tossed the syringe, he was finally able to turn his attention back to their injury. They whimpered and wined as he lightly touched the wound. It wasn’t warm, and it didn't look inflamed, which was a good sign. “I’m gonna ush it out real quick, and then I’ll put a bandage over it to keep it clean.” He turned away to grab several things from one of the drawers.

Phoenix’s expression was a mixture of fear and confusion, but they nodded anyway. “If…um...can..I…can I ask why you’re…doing this?” They were barely even whispering, volume practically nonexistent.

Joseph looked up, surprised the Phoenix had dared to ask. “Because I don’t like seeing others in pain,” he answered truthfully.

“Oh…umm..thank you,” they said softly.

He smiled at them. “Always, kid, always.”

Taglist: @/pigeonwhumps @rainydaywhump

#worlds babbles #whump #medical whump #injury whump #abuse cw #blood #fear of punishment #caretaking #joseph oc #Phoenix not my oc #this got long whoops

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