Chapter Text
022 BLEEDING THROUGH BANDAGES – tourniquet, reopening wounds, “oh, that’s not good”
“I feel a bit cold, Cupcake.”
“Hmm?” Caitlyn whipped around immediately, alarm bells ringing. Vi never admitted to something she perceived as a weakness, not where anyone could hear her at least. Most of the time she wouldn’t even admit how her aches and pains bothered her to Caitlyn. But that was something they were working on. It was slow progress, but they were making it.
Ever chivalrous on the rare occasion they ventured into Piltover for dinner or drinks, Vi would insist on giving Caitlyn her jacket for their walk home, even in biting winds. She’d hold Caitlyn’s hand gently, guiding her back to her own manor before bowing lowly with exaggerated flair.
Then, within the privacy of their home, Vi would sprawl dramatically on the softa, shivering and groaning until Caitlyn, laughing at the display, fetched their fluffiest blanket and wrapped her up like the bean burrito she wished to be.
But out here, on the grimy, dank streets of Zaun. Vi was loathe to even acknowledge a downpour. Yet here she was, pale and swaying, lagging behind with unsteady steps.
Caitlyn’s heart sank. She had been mentally filling out the paperwork they would have to complete once they returned to the station. So lost in a world of duty that she had failed to notice Vi slowing down gradually behind her. Her expression fell when she noticed how the colour had drained from Vi’s face.
“Vi, are you alright?” She asked, her voice tight as she closed the distance between then. She reached out, her fingertips brushing Vi’s cheek with a featherlight touch. Vi’s skin felt clammy, it appeared grey in the low light of the alleyway. “Were you hit?” Caitlyn asked, panic creping into her tone uninvited. Once inside, the panic was determined to stay.
“Hit?” Vi echoed the question sluggishly, her brow furrowing as she tried to process it. “I mean, sure, Cupcake. But no more than I hit.” Her lips curved into a lopsided grin as she made a clumsy attempt to swing her fists, a one-two jab she could normally do blindfolded but now it sent her stumbling forward. Caitlyn lunged to catch her, her arms wrapping under Vi’s arms just in time to prevent her collapse.
“I didn’t mean to do that.” Vi muttered dumbfounded. She glared at the ground as though it had betrayed her.
“You need to sit down, Vi.” Caitlyn’s tone left no room for argument as she eased Vi to the ground, gently guiding Vi’s head to rest on her thigh. The position was awkward, the damp concrete pressing against Caitlyn’s knees, but she didn’t care.
Caitlyn brought her radio to her lips. “Medical support. I need medical support urgently to November-Bravo-Lima— North Bathysphere Lane,” she barked into the receiver, her voice urgent. Her field medical kit was open before Vi knew what was happening.
Caitlyn reached down, smoothing back a damp strand of Vi’s bright pink hair that had fallen across her eyes, her fingers lingered for a moment across the scar cutting through Vi’s eyebrow. Vi’s temperature had dropped significantly, despite the oppressive heat of Zaun. It was always oppresively humid near outskirts of the lanes.
“Vi,” she implored, “I need to find your wound. Do you know where it hurts?”
“It always hurts, Caitlyn,” Vi frowned, half-heartedly swatting Caitlyn’s hand away. When Caitlyn didn’t move to let her back up, she pushed up at Caitlyn weakly to get off of her. “I don’t want to lie on the floor,” she complained, “I want to go home. I’m really cold.”
Vi was going into shock.
“I know, I know, just hold on a second, okay?” Caitlyn’s voice trembled as she kept a steadying hand on Vi’s shoulder, her thumb rubbing small but frantic circles over the fabric of Vi’s shirt in an attempt to sooth. Her hands moved quickly, scanning Vi’s uniform for any sign of injury. There was no obvious blood on the front of her shirt, but Vi’s pallor and unresponsiveness told Caitlyn something terrible had happened.
Vi groaned faintly, shifting against Caitlyn’s lap. “We’re in public, Cait,” she murmured, the sound startlingly close to a giggle. The loose, delirious edge to her voice sent a chill down Caitlyn’s spine. Caitlyn gritted her teeth, her pulse racing. She wondered if she Vi was bleeding internally, maybe her wound was on her back.
Caitlyn moved her hand up Vi’s back and she finally felt the warm stickiness of blood. “You’re bleeding.” She stated, pulling her hand back to see crimson staining her fingers. Vi didn’t bother look at the evidence, her eyes kept fluttering shut. How had she not noticed? She forced her panic down and reached for her training.
“I need to take a proper look, Vi. I need to cut your shirt off.”
Vi blinked up at her with glassy eyes. “Whatever you need, Cupcake” she murmured, “but I’d rather we do this at home. It’s cold down here.”
“I know, I know. Just hold on for me. Just for a minute for me. Can you do that?” Caitlyn shuffled through the medikit, Vi’s blood staining the various equipment there as she reached for the trauma shears
Vi nodded and Caitlyn begun slicing through the fabric of Vi’s shirt with quick, efficient motions. The front of her torso revealed only minor bruising and some serious swelling indicating a prolonged internal bleed. “I need to check your back,” Caitlyn whispered, her voice barely audible as she gently turned Vi onto her side.
Vi groaned as she was turned, her arms weakly pushing at the floor, whether she was trying to help Caitlyn or get away from her, Caitlyn couldn’t be sure. Either way, Vi’s attempts were ineffectual.
But there it was. A gunshot wound near her kidney. How on earth had Vi not realised she’d been shot? The bullet had entered around her kidney but looking by the swelling had maybe found itself a home in her liver.
“Officer shot.” She barked into her radio, in spite of the fact a medical evac was already enroute. “Severe internal bleeding! I need medical here now!”
“Ma’am they’re enroute.” The dispatcher replied, through the calm professionalism of the voice grated against Caitlyn’s nerves.
“Get them here faster!” Caitlyn snapped, pulling gauze from her kit and beginning to pack the wound.
“Caitlyn,” Vi complained, “let me up, please. I hate the cold. You know I do.”
“I can’t, Vi. I’m sorry.” She grabbed a survival blanket and tore it open, trying to drape it over Vi without impeding her work.
Caitlyn’s pulse raced as tried to roll Vi onto another survival blanket, she’d ripped out of its packaging. Components of the kit were strewn about the filthy street; Caitlyn knew she should have kept it inside the bag but in her desperate haste it had been too difficult. She moved, kneeling beside Vi and reaching into the pack for adrenaline, morphine and packing gauze. She strained to recall her training, what was she supposed to do about internal bleeding.
“Nothing you can do, just pack the wound and hope it isn’t too late.” Her instructor at their mandatory field first aid course had told her.
Was it too late? Had they wasted, too much time not realising Vi had been shot. When had she even been shot?
“You look so worried, Cupcake.” Vi smiled up at Caitlyn through half-lidded eyes, her eyes softened by the daze which had overcome her. She rustled inside the blanket, seemingly soothed by the thin fabric.
“You’ve been shot, Vi.”
“Oh… that’s not good.” Vi slurred, tilting her head to get a look at Caitlyn desperately trying to pack gauze into her wound. The fact she didn’t react to that disturbed Caitlyn. She hadn’t even used the pain relief but Vi seemed utterly unbothered as she stuffed material into her body. The gauze soaked through quickly. Cotton white turned crimson in seconds.
Vi’s eyes fluttered open, confusion clouding her gaze. “Y’know, I’ve never been shot before. Unless Tasers count. But I don’t think they do.” Vi yawned, “weird though right, that I’ve…” Her head drooped as she mumbled on, “weird I’ve never been shot before.”
Vi’s eyes fluttered shut and her breathing began to shallow. Caitlyn’s heart clenched, “Vi? Vi! I need you to stay awake honey.” She rubbed Vi’s clammy back and thought about running her knuckle against Vi’s sternum to wake her.
“M’awake.”
“The bullet, Vi.” Caitlyn wanted to keep her talking, though she felt her topic of choice was poor. “You didn’t feel it?” Caitlyn asked, heart pounding in her chest as she applied more pressure to Vi’s back. Vi was awkwardly placed on her side, awkwardly looking over her shoulder to look at Caitlyn.
Vi tried to shrug, the grimace on her face told Caitlyn she felt it now. “I just FEEL like I don’t want to be on the floor anymore.”
“I know, I’m sorry. Just a little longer while we wait for help to arrive, sweetie. Just a little longer.” Caitlyn scanned the street, searching for blaring lights that would promise help was enroute. The only light was the dim light of a chem powered streetlight. The green glow illuminated the puddles around them. It reminded her of something.
Vi drifted away from her again and Caitlyn knew she should be doing more to keep her talking, to keep her alert.
“Vi!” Caitlyn called, her voice strained and firm. “What’s the name of that ridiculous drink you like? You made me try it. I swear it smelled and tasted like motor oil!”
“Motor oil? You on at my hair again? I thought we were pass—passed that.”
“No Vi, the drink. The cocktail, remember?”
Vi’s lips twitched faintly, her head lolling to the side. “Zaunshine? It’s an acquired, an acquired taste.” Her words were slurred but Caitlyn seized on the flicker of engagement.
“It was horrible,” “I can’t believe you pay to drink that.”
“You’re just… fancy, Kiramman.” Vi murmerred sleepily, “only…wine and tiny… tiny little cakes for Caitlyn Kiramman.”
“I’ll have you know I’ve eaten plenty of things that aren’t fancy,” Caitlyn teased.
“Oh yeah?” Vi amended with a slurred chuckle, “like me?”
Caitlyn could have cried, even like this, Vi was still cracking jokes. The moment was short lived as Vi’s weak laugh died when her breathing hitched, her chest rising and falling erratically.
“I feel so weird, Cait.” Vi tried to sit up, only for Caitlyn to push her back down with a firm hand. Vi did not resist. Vi’s skin was cold to the touch, the faint sheen of sweat across her forehead had started to plaster her hair across her forehead.
“Vi, you need to stay still, please” Caitlyn urged, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. “What’s your ETA?” She called into her radio only to hear a commotion on the other end. Static burst through the channel and Caitlyn desperately tried to adjust the frequency to override it.
“Cait, can you get off of me please? I’m tired.”
“I promise you; you can sleep later. I need you stay awake for now, for me.”
“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.” Vi muttered, “that shit’ll haunt you, trust me.”
“I won’t. Not this time.” Caitlyn said to Vi gently, she turned her face away and shouted into her walkie talkie. “I need an update on the medica evac now!”
“We’ve in the Bathysphere ma’am, ETA 5 minutes.”
Caitlyn clenched her jaw, her hands steady as she worked to control the bleeding. “Just hold on, Vi,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Just hold on.” She didn’t know if they had 5 minutes.