Gears and Pistons | | Bayverse | | Book 1

Chapter 9 | | Am I Not Dead? | |

She shakes her head furiously, coughing violently. "I w-ant Ra-tch-et."

"No can do, kiddo," he ruffles her hair playfully. "He's quite a ways from here."

Toby shoots him her famous death-glare, finally recovering from her coughing fit. She moves her right arm to move her hair behind her ear, but freezes in shock at what she sees.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Toby, but there was nothing that could be done," his voice goes unheard as the woman examines her appendage.

Her arm stops at what once was her elbow, but graphic scars ripple through the flesh, a longer stretch of heavily damaged skin reaching up towards her shoulder. Fresh tears spring to her eyes as she realises what this means for her. No more mechanics. No more inventing. No more anything.

Then the numbness in her right leg feels more foreign, less real. Before her uncle can stop her, the covers are ripped off and the sight becomes more than she can bear. Nothing of her right leg exists any more, nothing but a useless stump that can't do anything more than shuffle.

She chokes on a sob, hiding her face in her hand. Her whole world is gone, the only thing that kept her going is now stripped from her. The tears keep coming, falling down her face and splashing on her hospital gown. Her hair plasters to her wet cheeks, often getting in her mouth as she sobs brokenly.

"Shh, shh. It's alright," Epps rubs her back, soothing her the best he can.

"No!" Toby screams at him, allowing herself to take out her anger on him. "Nothing's alright! I want Ratchet! I want Ironhide! I want Optimus! I want the Autobots! I want my family," she mutters the last bit, not really wanting her uncle to hear it.

"Look, I can't bring them in, but I can bring your dad," he tries to bargain.

"For Primus' sake! I don't want him! I left him! Just let me see my Autobots!" Toby collapses onto the hospital bed, her body shaking with sobs.

"Shh, just calm down. I'm sure we can work something out," her uncle pulls a chair closer, no longer intent on finding a doctor.

The woman sighs, sniffling slightly. "What happened to me?"

"Well, you know that you fought Megatron but we're assuming that during your fight with him, he got the upper hand and managed to cut off your arm and leg," Robert starts slowly, being careful not to cause a panic attack or something of the like. "You were practically dead by the time we got medics to you; Ratchet was on the verge of a breakdown, he was trying so desperately to help but he may have actually made your condition worse."

Toby stiffens, searching the man's eyes for any sign of a lie, though she knows he would never do such a thing. "What do you mean?"

"When you became unconscious, he was trembling. I don't know exactly what he did, but you were losing blood a lot faster than you were before, and our medics had to scream at him to let them take you.The only place we could go to at that time was Hoover Dam—it has like a serious Men in Black kinda thing there, labs and everything—and they had to clear out one of the medbay rooms to keep you alive."

The woman nods slowly, her shoulders shaking as she restrains herself from bursting into tears. Her uncle takes notice, calmly rubbing the back of her hand in a comforting motion.

"You woke up during surgery, and—if we're being honest—they don't know how you woke up," she tilts her head at the man in confusion. "You were on some serious sedatives that should have kept you under, but you still came to."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I, Tobbes, but it happened," Robert clears his throat, returning to his story. "Ratchet refused to leave your side during the procedure, and even tried to convince the doctors to let him help."