Cold.
That's how Connor felt holding onto Tasha's motionless body, his hands covered in her purple blood that has finally quit falling from her mouth and nose. He brought the blood to his lips, analyzing it for any possible cause of her condition, but nothing came up as going wrong in her system.
As Connor held onto her body, he noticed how cold she was. Her usual body temperature dropped lower than he had ever seen it, other than when she died, which only terrified him more.
"Connor!"
Connor felt relieved as he saw Hank and Kamski come into view.
When Kamski reached Tasha's side he was in shock. "Why didn't you tell me she was like this?! Her skin is stone cold!" Kamski pulled Tasha's hair away from her face.
Hank knelt beside Connor, fear evident on his face as he looked at his dying daughter.
"Not again. I won't lose you too." Hank took off, running towards the direction of the cars.
In the areas where Tasha's body had to be equipped with artificial parts, the skin had begun to disappear and left behind was the stark white of the plastic skeleton.
"Why is her skin disappearing?!"
"Her body isn't functioning enough to keep those parts working. She's lost too much blood."
"Please," Connor looked at Kamski with pleading eyes. "Save her. Please!"
Kamski looked from Connor to Tasha's body, "I can't guarantee I'll be able to save her, Connor. But I will do everything in my power."
As Hank arrived with the blood bags, Kamski hooked them up to her body. "This is going to hurt. Connor, I need you to hold her still. If she moves and she isn't fully healed, she could shut down."
Connor nodded, placing his hands against Tasha's arms as gently as he could, holding her to the ground as both thyrium and O negative blood began coursing through her veins.
Tasha stirred, her eyes slowly opening, looking around frantically. "Ow!" Tasha screamed out, the mixture of blood running through her felt like acid melting her insides. "Ow! Stop! That hurts!" Tasha cried, fighting against Connor's grip
"Why is she in so much pain?!" Hank asked Kamski frantically.
"Her body is refusing the transfusion. We just need to get her through this, then we can move her and I can have a better look to see if I can help her." Kamski explained as he continued to push the blood from the bags into the tube connected to her arms.
"Kid, we're here okay? Tash, we got you." Hank tried to sooth her, but she just continued to push against Connor's force.
"Hey! Tasha, Tasha! Look at me. Just look at me!" Though he was yelling, Connor's voice was soft and gentle.
"C-Connor." Tasha cried , her green eyes meeting his brown ones. "It hurts! Make it stop! Please, just — just make it stop."
"I know, my love, but you have to hold on. Just a little bit more and the pain will be gone." Connor promised, tears in his eyes threatening to spill out as Kamski pushed the last of the blood into her.
The scream Tasha let out broke Connor's heart. Hank was crying (though trying not to) as he watched Tasha, unable to help her. Tasha's body slowly began circulating the new blood into her system, the acid feeling turning to a dull ache as Tasha passed out.
After a few minutes, everyone began to realize that Tasha was growing paler rather than gain colour to her face, and her human skin hadn't came back on her neck or arm.
"Why isn't it working?!"
Kamski was silent as he looked down at Tasha.
"Why isn't it working?!" Connor asked again, his voice more frantic.
"It should be." Kamski said, and after a moment he reached his hand down towards Tasha's face.
Connor grabbed onto Kamski's hand before he could touch her, a stern look on his face.
"Connor, if you want Tasha to live, I need to check her temperature."
"Connor! Let him do what he has to do!"
Connor hesitantly let Kamski's wrist go, the man pressing his hand to Tasha's pale forehead.
"She's far too cold. And her skin — it's like it's made of glass. The mixture of thyrium and blood coursing through her human tissue is causing her to break down. We don't have much time." Kamski turned to Connor, a serious expression on his face. "We need to get her someplace warm."
Connor furrowed his brows as his mind races to find the nearest, safe, warm location.
Jericho.
"Jericho... the new location is nearby. It's our safest bet."
"Get those Deviants to get any equipment they can ready... we'll need all the help we can get."
As Connor lifted Tasha into his arms, he understood what Kamski meant when he called her skin glass. He held her so lightly and he could hear the soft shattering of tissue beneath his fingertips.
Please let this work.
•••
A/N: Hey everyone!!! I hope you're having an awesome day or night. I'll be streaming Detroit on my twitch (tashaplays1998 ) www.twitch.tv/tashaplays1998 around 11am pst (might be earlier or later, I'll post on here when I'm going live!)
I'll probably also be playing The last of us after my detroit stream! So more of you can tune in :)
If you have suggestions for me to write let me know!