Reality in Motion

fix a hand, lend a hand

"No anesthetic?" The doctor asked, concern coloring his voice. Both because of the request and because he wanted to make sure he understood. The needle stayed poised above Dawson's hand even as Dawson shook his head.

"Nope, no way. I'm not letting you stick a needle in me filled with God knows what." he said matter-of-factly before repeating his request in Ukrainian to get the point across. The doctor glanced over to where Marina and Q were standing a few feet away as if looking for help or a different answer.

"You'll pass out from the pain." Q countered in English. Dawson shrugged, pulling down the corners of his mouth.

"Better that than being pumped with some sort of poison or whatever." his explanation made Marina scoff, tossing her hair back over her shoulder.

"Don't be so dramatic, dude." she crossed her arms over her chest, accent lilting her words, "Nothing like that is gonna happen." He had seen too many action movies.

"Right, because I'm not taking the anesthetic." he circled back to his original point, "Just let me have this okay?" he raised his other hand up with a sigh, annoyed with the argument that he started. Marina raised her hands up, making a face as she gave in. His eyes shifted over to Q, waiting for her response as well.

Instead of answering, she shifted her stance and grip on the semi-automatic in her hands. It was his hand after all. He could do whatever he wanted and deal with the consequences. And she understood his concern. They didn't know the man - he very well could do something like that to Dawson and he could lose his entire hand instead of having just a few mishealed fingers.

Nodding at her, Dawson turned back to the doctor. With a sigh, the man set down the needle back down on the tray and went back to examining the hand to find the breaks he needed to reset. Every so often, Dawson would wince or hiss in pain - which could've been avoided if he just took the anesthetic. They'd be doing a bedside reduction rather than inserting pins and plates into his hand. Mostly because the doctor they were visiting didn't have the required equipment needed to do so. And if Dawson was refusing anesthetic, he sure as shit wouldn't agree to being put under and letting the doctor open his hand up. Even with Q standing close by with her gun locked and loaded.

As predicted, once the doctor started to manually reset the breaks, Dawson immediately passed out from the pain. While it made it easier for the doctor to continue with the resetting, Q still kept a careful eye on him. She had felt herself get woozy at the sounds of bones moving together to fit back into place, but she forced herself to stay upright. She didn't trust the doctor Marina had taken them too, nor did she really trust Marina either. But she was grateful that Marina had gotten them to someone who could fix Dawson's hand, even despite how shady the place was.

The "office" was located in a deserted warehouse several kilometers away from the motel. Sheets of plastic made up the walls of the "room" and inside were a couple of makeshift appliances. The doctor himself looked nothing like the doctors both of them were used to - no white lab coat or stethoscope around his neck, just a man in plain clothes with a variety of medical tools at his disposal.

Marina and him seemed to be old friends, even though he called her by a name that wasn't hers. After greeting each other warmly, she had quickly explained the bare bones of the situation in Ukrainian, much too fast for either Q or Dawson to understand completely. But Q was able to catch a few words she understood and could piece it together. Thankfully, the doctor was willing to help - especially after Marina slipped him a thick stack of hryvnia notes.

Keeping one eye on the doctor, she kept the other eye on Marina. With her long, gentle curls of hair and bright, innocent-ish smile, she could see why she had connections with the likes of the doctor. Making herself easily trustable and non-threatening, she became likable no matter the circumstances which attracted people who were not. Adding her looks to her skillset, she had made herself sought after to be a liaison between unsavory parties who wanted to keep themselves and work secret, while also being able to use them for her own self-gain. Such as her relationship with the doctor.