Lost & Found

Risky Sacrifices

Chapter 78: Risky Sacrifices
_____________________________________________

"Liza."

A muffled voice sounded from afar.

"Liza," It called again but seemed to get increasingly loud and sounded more clearer as it repeated my name.

"Can you hear me?"

A soft touch to my arm sent my entire body into flames and throbbing sensations full of pain though my brain hardly recognized the waves as it struggled to gain ahold of my surroundings. A bright light followed with a cool surface gently pressing against my face caused me to flutter my eyes.

My eyes fought to overcome the blurriness that covered the area around me and the booming headache that was causing a war.

"Liza?"

Suddenly a large figure popped into my view and the light only increased.

I forced my gaze to avoid being blinded only to have my head eased back into its previous position. "Liza, can you hear me? Speak to me."

The faint ringing in my ear cleared and I was finally able to latch onto the voice above me. "...Wha..." I took displeasure at my croaky tone and the lack of words that managed past my lips while I squinted my eyes to focus on the being hovering above me.

"R-Ratch..."

"Yes," My vision finally cleared and revealed the worried blue eyes of the humanized version of the medic above. "It's me."

"I-Is it really...y-you?" I pulled my arm back and attempted to reach for him, hissing at the fiery pain that soared throughout my body.

"Liza no." He scolded firmly as he grabbed my bandaged arm and set it back down.

"You're still healing. Relax."

"But..." I cringed at the dry crack in my voice.

"Liza..."

"I-I wanna know...it's you. It's not a d-dream...is it?"

A sigh came from his lips. "No Liz. It's not a dream. It's me." He gently grabbed ahold of my arm again and guided it to his head, allowing me to feel out the features of his face.

"See."

I couldn't do anything but let out a breath of relief, satisfied with the confirmation of Ratchet.

It was him. It wasn't a dream or a hallucination.

I was home.

Away from those Cons.

Away from him.

"Ratchet."

"It's okay." He smiled softly and removed my hand from his jaw. "You can rest now. You're safe."

"T-They're not gonna w-whip me anymore." I breathed weakly, fearing that someone would just walk right in and take me back to that wretched cold room.

"No sweetspark." He reached over and grabbed something out of my view.

"Y-You sure?"

There was a small pinch in my upper arm before tiredness began to settle over me once again.

"They're not here to hurt you anymore. You're safe now."

_______________________________________________

Ratchet made sure the medicine settled the girl into a deep sleep before ever so gently flipping her onto her stomach, mumbling quiet reassurance when she grumbled out an inaudible complaint and squirmed.