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mtap-comics · 3 years ago

Text

Here comes the next fill in for my Bad Things Happen Bingo Card:

Fandom: My time at Portia

Pairing: Arlo x Female Builder

Summary: Elenya was just mining some iron ore when the earthquake hit.

Word count: (too much) 10'657

Prompt: Crush Injury

Author's note: This one got waaaay out of hand. It got a lot angstier and a lot longer than I intended to, and I have the feeling it's a bit boring at some places, but I hope you get trought to the end.

Warnings: mention of blood

Read on AO3: Link

Rocky Rain

It was a warm spring day in Portia and Elenya was currently in the abandoned Ruin 2, having run out of iron ore again. She had just replenished her supply 2 weeks ago and it was now empty again. Even after more than 2 years as a builder in Portia, she was always amazed at how quickly she used up that stuff. Her whole life in general always took a very surprising course here.

When she arrived here, she would never have expected what she would accomplish here and especially not that she would get married. To the kindest, most just and handsomest man she had ever met.

At the thought of Arlo, she paused her mining for a moment and smiled dreamily to herself. They married last winter, almost half a year ago and she was still as in love with him as she had been the first time they kissed. She sometimes still couldn't believe that he had chosen to share the rest of his life with her.

Continuing to smile, she put her pickaxe back in place to continue digging her next tunnel. Over the last two years, she had worked out a strategy for collecting the most ores and relics. She always dug a tunnel first until she came across a good spot with ore. Then she mined everything until she was standing in a more or less large cave. From there, she dug further in all directions to pick up everything useful along the way. If she came across a good spot with ore again, she would build another cave. Arlo called it her mouse maze.

She was currently working on a new tunnel and was not far from her first cave. It must have been about 2 p.m. when suddenly the ground beneath her began to tremble and stones and sand began to trickle down on her.

What was that? An earthquake?

She quickly dropped her pickaxe and ran back into her cave. She had supported it with a wooden beam and hoped that this was the safest place. More and more pieces of stone fell from the ceiling and just as she burst into the open space, one of them hit her in the head and everything went black around her.

~~~~~~

She couldn’t have been out for long, because when she came to, the dust around her was still settling. Her head hurt like hell and she was laying on her back, the jet-pack digging uncomfortably into her back.

Fuck, what happened?

The relic scanner laid beside her, the lenses cracked, but luckily the headlight was still working, so she was able to see the destruction around her. How she could still be alive was a mystery to her. All around her were large chunks of stones and ores. The individual passages that led away from her were all buried, only her small cave had barely survived the earthquake. If she hadn't put up the support beam in the middle, the ceiling would probably have collapsed completely over her.

Damn it, she was completely trapped.

Her first instinct was to panic, but she tried to suppress it. That wouldn't help her now.

Cautiously, Elenya first tried to assess her head wound. She could feel something warm running down her temple, so it was definitely a laceration, but while her head hurt awfully, she didn't feel woozy. With some luck, she escaped a concussion.

Next she tried to take off her jet-pack, but as soon as she tried to sit up, excruciating pain shot through her left leg, causing her to choke on a scream. She fell back, her vision going black for a moment. When she regained consciousness, she was on her back again, her breath coming in gasps and her stomach twisting with nausea.

Oh God, what was that? She never felt such pain before.

It took her a moment to regain her composure, but when the worst of the pain had passed, she tried to sit up again, this time without moving her legs. Her head complained about the movement, but she needed to get rid of the jetpack and she needed to know what was wrong with her leg.

When Elenya finally sat, her vision momentarily blurred in front of her, and it took her a moment to focus her eyes again. She wished she had stayed put. A large chunk of rock had landed on her shin, just below her knee, burying it completely underneath. Her nausea intensified at the sight and she had to take a few deep breaths in and out to keep from retching.

When she had regained her bearings somewhat, she tried to make out the extent of her injuries. Her right leg was spared except for a few bloody scrapes and when she concentrated through the pain, she could fortunately feel her left foot, which indicated that it was also spared. Her free arms had also received minor scrapes and she was covered in dust from top to bottom, but otherwise her leg was probably the main problem.

Removing her jet-pack, she carefully let herself fall back to the ground. Her head was swimming and she had trouble keeping her rising panic at bay. God, what if someone else was buried? Someone who might not have been as lucky as she was…

Her breathing quickened, images of crushed bodies appearing in her mind. The nausea became stronger again and she had to swallow deeply a few times.

Fuck, she couldn't think like that! She had to think positively or she would go crazy down here.

She just had to be patient. The earthquake had certainly been felt throughout Portia, so the collapse must have been noticed. The Civil Corps was probably already on its way to clear the ruins, along with Albert and Mint's help. She just had to wait.

Elenya tried to distract herself with the thought of her open commissions, ignoring the fact that she would probably not be able to fulfil them. She couldn't tell exactly how much time passed, it could have been 5 minutes or 20 minutes, when suddenly a voice sounded to her right, slightly above her head. A voice she would recognise anywhere, even through the thick layer of stone that separated her from him.

"Elenya, sweetheart, can you hear me? Are you in there?"

Arlo. He was here. He found her.

Relief washed over her.

"Arlo! I'm here!" Her loud call sent stabbing pains through her head, but it was worth it.

"Thank God. How are you? Are you hurt?"

His voice was laced with concern and she would have liked nothing more than to deny his question, but she had to tell him what was going on.

"Could be better. I hurt my head and my left leg is buried. I can't get up..."

Her voice broke on the last words, her suppressed panic coming back full force.

"Fuck fuck fuck, I'm so sorry, darling. Please hold on a little longer. We're about to secure everything so we can get you out of here. Just a little longer, okay?"

Worry could be heard in his every word, but his warm voice alone helped her quickly quell the panic. Then a second voice rang out, but it was too muffled for her to understand.

"I'm afraid I have to leave for a moment, sweetie. They need my help. I'll be back to check on you in a bit though, okay?", Arlo's regretful voice then came through to her.

No, he couldn't be leaving!

"Wait! Was anyone else hurt?" She needed to know, but even more she needed to hear his voice a little more.

“Don't worry, sweetheart. Everyone else was able to free themselves and only got a few scrapes. Just focus on yourself. We'll have you out of here soon, too. Promise." Arlo sounded firm and left no doubt about his statement. Elenya could hear his retreating footsteps and tried to cling to his words.

Just a little longer. She just had to hold on a little longer.

With difficulty, she continued to try to suppress the pain in her leg. Thought instead of her warm bed, Arlo right beside her, tenderly caressing her cheek...

After about 5 minutes, she was snapped out of her daydream when she could hear footsteps again, this time followed by a loud "clang" echoing through the small cave. Startled, she flinched, but then was able to assign the sound to a pickaxe. Someone was picking away at the collapsed wall.

A few blows later a few stones trickled in to her and a small hole became visible. "Elenya? Are you still with me? Can you tell me where you are exactly? I can't see you from here, I'm afraid." Arlo was back. And now she could hear his suppressed concern even better, which he tried to drown out with his "Captain" voice.

"I'm still here. Don't worry, except for my leg, I'm relatively fine. I'm lying just to your left." Grateful that she didn't have to yell now, she spoke to him as calmly as she could. She knew her husband, didn't have to see him to know that he was just being eaten up inside by worry and guilt. And she couldn't let that stand. Her own panic and pain completely faded into the background, only her wonderful, self-sacrificing idiot of a captain mattered to her now.

"Please don't worry so much. You guys will get me out of here, Dr. Xu will patch up my leg, and then you can take me home and coddle me all you want, okay?" A slight chuckle from the other side brought a smile to her face. Mission accomplished.

"Of course. Mint, Albert and Higgins, with the help of Sam and Remi, are diligently securing the ruins entrance and slowly working their way here." A brief pause. "Does that mean you'll do everything I tell you for once? Let me take care of you?" His fond voice let her smile deepen.

"Yes Arlo, I will. Just please don't blame yourself for this, okay? You can protect me from almost anything, but even you don't stand a chance against Mother Nature. Can you promise me that?"

Silence.

With a sigh, the smile disappeared from her lips. Mission only partially successful. So she had at least something to do when Arlo will keep her captive in bed.

"Elenya?" The second voice from before sounded again, but this time she could identify it as Remington's. "Hello there. How's my favourite builder holding up?" He sounded concerned too, and she was sorry that she was causing everyone so much worry.

"Hey Remy, as well as can be expected. But the sooner I'm out of here, the better." She sounded lighter than she felt and a deep laugh came back in reply.

"As strong as ever. But we'll get that done. I'm afraid I'm going to have to steal Arlo from you again for a moment to do that, though." Her heart grew heavy. She didn't want to be alone, but of course they needed every helping hand they could get.

As if he had read her thoughts, Arlo's voice rang out again. "I'm sorry, darling, I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" "Okay..."

Over the next 30 minutes it dragged on like that. Arlo helped with the tasks and came back every few minutes to talk to her briefly. Sam also came over once to relieve her loneliness.

But something felt wrong. The more time passed, the stranger she felt. She felt cold, the nausea returned and even lying down made her dizzy. A haze settled around her vision and it became harder and harder to concentrate. In addition, her skin was covered in cold sweat and her heartbeat accelerated.

Arlo had just been with her again, he had asked her something and she must have answered, but she couldn't remember what. By now she could also hear the voices of the others, so they must be on the verge of breaking through to her, but the sounds became more and more blurred. A deep exhaustion overcame her and she lost the fight against consciousness. Everything went black.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Arlo had just returned from his patrol of South Block when the earthquake hit. He was about to enter the Civil Corps headquarters when the ground beneath him began to vibrate. It wasn't too strong, but still he quickly pulled Spacer out from under the stall and got as far away from the building as possible in case something collapsed.

The tremor lasted about 30 seconds, then everything was quiet again. A quick glance over Portia told him that all the buildings had held and the residents were cautiously coming out of their houses. Hopefully no one was injured.

But before he could think any more about it, a loud crash sounded to his right, directly from abandoned Ruin 2. Startled, he turned around and his heart sank.

Oh no, has the ruin collapsed?

Before he knew it, he was already on the platform directly behind the elevator door of the ruin, looking down into the chaos of stone, ore and sand. The individual tunnels that were still there this morning during his check-up were partially buried and in several places the ground has caved in.

A quick glance at the jet-packs told him that four people must be in the ruins and fear spread through him. Were all four buried?

He would have liked nothing better than to grab a jet-pack himself and start searching immediately, but he knew that doing so alone was far too dangerous. Reluctantly, he left the ruins again and could see with relief that Sam and Remington were just coming up the path to the headquarters.

"Sam, Remy! Get over here!" he called to them and quickly the two hurried towards him. "Arlo! What's going on? What happened?" Remy reached him first and noticed his panicked look. He quickly filled them in. "The earthquake caused the ruin to collapse."

"Oh no..." Sam had also reached them by now and horror spread through the other two civil corps members. "How many people are in there?" asked she immediately, her gaze hardening with determination. "Four jet-packs are missing, but I don't know who is..." Arlo couldn't finish his sentence.

Suddenly the conversation with Elenya from this morning came to his mind. She said she had run out of iron ore for a commission and that she wanted to stock up this afternoon. In the abandoned Ruin 2...

Everything inside him contracted painfully and horror ran through him. Oh no…

“Arlo? What’s wrong?” Remington shook his shoulder slightly and he looked at his two teammates in horror. "Elenya..."

"She's in there?" "Yes, she needed iron ore..." Sam's face looked just as horrified as he felt, only Remy had a better grip on his emotions. "Don't worry about it. We'll find her. Along with the other three people who were inside."

With difficulty he managed to bury his panic under his captain persona and nodded gravely. Four people were in danger and the fact that one of them was his wife was something he had to ignore for now. He was responsible for the safety of everyone in the city and could not allow himself to be distracted.

~~~~~~

The three of them now made their way into the ruin and each grabbed a jet-pack. But before they could even start looking for the missing people, a commotion sounded to their left. Surprised, they looked in that direction and shortly after, Higgins burst out of the ground, two tourists in tow.

"Damn earthquake. I don't have time for this shit!" Cursing to himself, he wiped the dust off his clothes.

Brief relief spread through Arlo. At least 3 of the 4 missing are so far well, even if the most important one for him was still missing.

"Higgins! Are you okay?" Tensely, Arlo watched the three people approach the platform with cautious steps. At first glance he could not see any serious injuries, but that could be deceptive.

"Yes, everything's fine so far. I just came across these two... tourists... when the earthquake hit. We were lucky and close to the surface, so I was able to get us out of here." By now they had reached the platform and flew up to them with their, thankfully still intact, jet-packs.

Sam and Remy immediately turned their attention to the distraught visitors and Arlo turned to Higgins with a serious look. "I’m glad you are okay. Can you estimate approximately how much of the ruin has collapsed?" Sceptically, Higgins looked up at him. "Why do you ask? Is there anyone still down there?" With a heavy swallow, Arlo nodded. "Yes, Elenya."

Concern was briefly visible in Higgins' gaze before he covered it with an annoyed look. "My rival always manages to get herself into trouble, of course. I'd say the most collapsed on our right, as far as I could sense. How do you plan to find her in here? The area is huge."

That worried him a lot too, but he already had an idea where she might be. Two weeks ago, she had accompanied him to the ruins in the morning because she was looking for a certain relic part. There she had shown him her latest "mouse maze" and he still knew where the entrance was. He had also seen it during his patrol this morning. Exactly where Higgins suspected the biggest collapse...

Damn, why hadn't he noticed this morning that the ruin was unstable? It's only because of him that Elenya is now under there, trapped or maybe even buried....

He couldn't even think about it. That his little builder, the light of his life, might be lying buried under stones, alone, frightened, or maybe even....

He quickly shook off the thought. He had no time to wallow in fear. Elenya needed him now, trusted that he would find and save her.

Determined, he straightened his shoulders and finally answered Higgins: "I might know where she is. But to get her out safely, we need the help of Albert, Mint and you. Can you get those two for me and tell them what happened here?"

With a now also serious nod, Higgins put down his jet pack and relic scanner and made his way out. Satisfied that the first step had been taken care of, he turned to Sam and Remy. In the meantime, the two of them were able to calm the two tourists down and convince them to go outside.

"Remy, you come with me. Sam, you wait here." His captain's mask sat perfectly again and confused looks met him. "All right, but what's going on? What am I waiting for?", Sam asked him worriedly. "I think I know where Elenya is. The problem is, the spot is exactly where Higgins thinks the biggest collapse was. So we have to hurry. Higgins is just getting Albert and Mint so they can help restore stability. You wait for them here. Remy, we're leaving."

He sounded very harsh, he knew that, but he could apologise later. Ignoring the worried look on his best friend's face, he strapped a jet-pack to his back and flew off in the direction he hoped to find Elenya's tunnel still intact.

A little further back, just before the wall, a hole did indeed appear. Arlo landed as lightly as possible in front of it, so as not to trigger possible landslides by further vibrations.

"I'll go in. Wait here and show the others where to go in, once they arrive." Remy obviously didn't like his plan, but didn't object. "Okay, please be careful though, Arlo. We don't know how unstable it is down there."

He didn't bother replying and instead took the first step into the tunnel. Elenya wasn't a fan of the jet-packs, that's why her paths were always slightly downwards, so that one could walk down without any problems. With light steps he followed the path until, after only about 20 metres, he found himself in front of a wall full of boulders.

Damn!

But if he remembered correctly, just behind the debris should be her first cave. On a hunch, he called out to her. "Elenya, sweetheart, can you hear me? Are you in there?" And sure enough, "Arlo! I'm here!"

Pure relief flooded through him. He had found her.

"Thank God. How are you? Are you hurt?" He hoped so much that she was just locked up, even if he knew that was just wishful thinking. If it were, she would have freed herself by now.

"Could be better. I hurt my head and my left leg is buried. I can't get up..."

Her voice broke on the last words and his heart overflowed with worry. She was in pain and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Fuck fuck fuck, I'm so sorry darling. Please hold on a little longer. We're about to secure everything so we can get you out of here. Just a little longer, okay?" Before she could answer, Remy appeared behind him.

"Hey, you found her? Very good. How's she doing? Is she hurt?" Concerned eyes looked towards him. "Yeah, she has a head injury and her leg got buried. But other than that, I think she's fine so far." "That's not so good news. But Albert and Mint have arrived and we need your help in deciding how to proceed."

With a heavy heart, he parted from Elenya and made his way back to the surface. There he first told the others what the situation was and how Elenya was doing. Everyone was very worried and a plan was quickly worked out.

Higgins and Sam were sent to bring in as many beams as they could, a ramp was placed from the platform to the surface of the mine for easier transport and Mint set about inspecting the tunnel. Dr. Xu was also alerted but was told to wait outside until they had finished the stabilisation work. The fewer people who put themselves in danger, the better.

They worked for the next half hour. Mint calculated as best he could where the support pillars needed to be, Albert drew the plans and Higgins cut them with Sam's help. Remy and he then set them up while he talked to Elenya from time to time. He was allowed to knock a small hole in the wall to understand her better, but further shaking would have been too dangerous.

While talking to her, he once again was surprised by her strength. Although she was the one who was injured and trapped, she was more concerned about other people, tried to calm him down and even in front of Remy she did not let herself show any weakness. But just as they were about to stabilise the last section, there was suddenly no response from her.

His painstakingly suppressed panic finally burst out and he desperately called out to her. "Elenya! What happened? Answer me, please..."

Silence.

"Arlo, what's wrong?" Remy's voice rang out behind him and distressed, he turned to the others. "Something is very wrong... She's not answering anymore..." Horrified looks met his eyes. Even Higgins no longer bothered to hide his worried look.

What had happened? She had been fine until just now, considering the circumstances. Why didn't she answer any more?

Everything in him cried out to simply tear down the wall in front of him, ignoring all caution, and only with great difficulty did he manage to close off his feelings again. "Mint, how long until we can finally tear down this damned wall?" The young engineer looked from him to the wall, just as worried about Elenya as everyone else, and then up at the ceiling of the tunnel.

"One more support beam right here, then we should be able to carefully remove the rubble. The less vibration we cause the better. I don't know how stable the cave behind it is." His words were confident and Albert immediately set about measuring the height so Higgins could cut the beam accordingly.

Less than 5 minutes later, there was finally a gap big enough for someone to squeeze through. Without even having to ask, Higgins stepped aside to let Arlo through and relieved, he did just that.

But as soon as his lamp hit Elenya, everything in him froze in shock. His gaze briefly fell on the large boulder lying on her leg, but what shocked him the most was her face. It was devoid of any colour, there were deep shadows under her eyes and the dried blood from the head wound drew a grotesque contrast against her pale skin. She looked as if she was...

Oh God, please, she can't be...

Before he knew it, he was kneeling beside her, ripping off his gloves and pressing his fingers against her neck. Fear and panic were eating him up, choking him and bringing tears to his eyes. His trembling hands took an agonising moment, but then he finally felt it. A heartbeat. Weak and far too fast, but it was there...

A single tear spilled over and his shoulders slumped in relief. She wasn't dead. She was still with him...

But, what was wrong? Why was she unconscious? The head wound didn't look deep and apart from her trapped leg, he couldn't see any serious injury.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder and he looked startled into Remington's face. He had not noticed that the others had widened the gap and had now also come into the cave and were looking at him anxiously.

He cleared his throat briefly to get rid of the lump in his throat and then told them all in a firm voice. "She has a pulse, but it's weak and very fast. We need to get her out of here, now."

More quietly, he then asked Remy desperately. "What's wrong with her? Why isn't she waking up?"

"I can imagine why." With a grim face, Remy pointed his lamp at the rock resting on Elenya's leg. Confused, Arlo looked at the horrible sight and it took him a moment to see what Remy was pointing at. It was hard to see on the dark floor, but a pool of blood had formed under the stone, already large enough for it to peek out from underneath.

"Fuck... The stone must have cut her leg. The weight is probably the only thing that has saved her from bleeding out so far. We need Dr. Xu in here, now!" Arlo said the last loudly to the crowd and Sam immediately ran off towards the exit.

He felt sick at the thought that she could have bled to death here all by herself without him being able to do anything about it. To get this image out of his head, he quickly turned back to Elenya, placed his right hand against her pulse again and with his left he gently caressed her cheek. Her skin was cold and clammy, but the faint pulse under his hand soothed him.

"Oh sweetheart, please hold on a little longer...", Arlo whispered softly to her, stroking from her cheek up through her hair. He was about to turn back to Remy to ask him to take the lead, since he definitely won't leave Elenya's side again, when a soft whimper sounded from the very same.

His head immediately snapped back to her and he gently called her name. "Elenya! Darling, can you hear me?" Another whimper sounded. Arlo could feel the whole room tensely holding its breath and after a few encouraging words from him, confused green eyes opened.

"Hi there..." With a relieved smile, he looked down at her and gently cupped her left cheek with his right hand, carefully guiding her gaze to him. It took a moment, but her slightly clouded eyes managed to focus on him.

When she recognized him, a slight smile spread across her lips and another weight fell from his heart.

She was awake!

"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Stupid question, but he had to make sure she stayed awake as well. "Hurts..." Her voice was raspy and pained and tears filled her eyes. It hurt him. "I bet it does. If I could, I'd take the pain on myself, believe me. But you just have to hang in there a little longer, okay? Like you said, we'll have you out of here in a minute, Dr. Xu will patch you up, and pretty soon you'll be driving me crazy trying to get back to work."

A tear escaped from the corner of her eye, but as hoped, the slight smile came back to her lips and gently he wiped the tear away with his thumb. "Everything will be fine, okay?" "Okay."

Remington, meanwhile, had taken the lead without prompting and was planning with the others how to get the rock off Elenya as painlessly as possible. Arlo paid them no further attention, trusting his people and focusing instead entirely on Elenya.

To distract her from her pain and to keep her awake, he quietly started to tell her about his first trip to the Collapsed Wastelands, just 10 years old and armed with a wooden sword. As he did so, he caressed her cheek incessantly and ran his fingers through her hair to further soothe her.

Her misty gaze told him she couldn't really follow his words, but his voice seemed to help and she leaned into his gentle touch. In mid-sentence, however, she suddenly interrupted him. "Arlo?" Her voice was barely audible, but he was close enough that he had no trouble understanding her. He immediately fell silent and looked down at her questioningly. "I'm... cold..." Her body had begun to shake slightly and her breathing quickened.

Damn, her body was going further into shock! He quickly took off his jacket and threw it over her torso. They had to keep her warm somehow!

However, before he could ask for help, Sam and Dr. Xu finally arrived. Sam was carrying a stretcher on her back and Dr. Xu was dragging a large doctor's bag.

"Dr. Xu! Quick, her body is shutting down! Help her, please." The panic was back. They were so close to finally having her out of here and now this.

"I was already afraid of something like this, so I brought everything we need. Here, take this blanket and try to keep her warm. I need to tie off her thigh to stop the bleeding. Otherwise, we won't be able to lift the rock off of her. Is she conscious?" Dr. Xu quickly rushed toward them, already rummaging in his bag to throw him a shock blanket.

Arlo quickly spread it over Elenya and then bent over her head again. Her eyes were closed, but as soon as he put his hand back to her cheek, they opened again and wandered unfocused over his face.

Fear constricted his throat, but he managed to answer Dr. Xu. "Barely. But her eyes are still open." "That's good. Unfortunately, this is about to be very painful for her, but you have to keep her awake at all costs, okay?" Dr. Xu looked at him seriously and he could only nod. He knew what the doctor was trying to say. If she were to pass out now, she might never wake up again.

Before this scenario could even settle in his mind, he immediately suppressed it. Elenya needed him now with a clear head. He couldn't permit such thoughts to enter his mind.

At his nod, Dr. Xu set about tying off her thigh and Arlo turned his attention back to Elenya. She followed his movements sluggishly and confusedly, and he smiled reassuringly down at her. "Hey sweetie, it's going to be okay. Dr. Xu is taking care of your leg right now and Higgins and Remy are going to lift the rock off of you right after. I just need you to stay awake for me, okay? Can you do that for me?"

It took a moment for her brain to process his words, but then she answered him with a slight nod. "That's great. Just focus on me. Nothing else matters, okay?" Softly, he started to pet her hair again with his left hand. With his other, he gently took her right hand in his and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

She flinched briefly as Dr. Xu tightened the tourniquet on her thigh, but otherwise didn't let anything on, and her eyes remained fixed on his.

He was about to continue his story from earlier when a short piece of wood was held under his nose. Confused, he followed the hand to Dr. Xu's serious face. "Put this between her teeth. She might bite her tongue off, if you don't." Comprehension spread through him as he saw Remy and Higgins behind the doctor, tampering with the rock, and his heart contracted painfully at the thought of what was about to happen.

With a grim nod, he took the piece of wood and gently slid it between Elenya's teeth. She let it happen without resistance and just continued to look him silently in the eyes.

"Sam?" Dr. Xu turned to the blonde-haired woman. "Can you hold her hips down? She can't move her leg once it's free." With an equally grim nod, she positioned herself behind Arlo to keep a steady grip on Elenya's hips on the floor.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but this is about to really hurt." Carefully Arlo slid his left hand under her head so she wouldn't accidentally slam it against the hard floor and with the other he took her hand in his again.

Behind him they counted to 3 and then the rock was lifted. Elenya's eyes instantly snapped open in shock and her hand cramped in his. Bruises would probably remain, but that was the least of his worries.

To escape the pain, she instinctively pushed her head back against his hand and squirmed against Sam's grip. Tears streamed from her eyes and her pain-filled whimpering could be heard even through the wood.

His heart broke in two and tears came to his eyes as well. He couldn't bear to see her in such pain.

As soon as her leg was exposed, shocked gasps went through the cave. Arlo didn't even want to know what the leg looked like, instead holding Elenya's gaze captive with his. She was still writhing in pain and her eyes looked up at him in despair. At a loss of what to do, he leaned down further to press his forehead gently against hers and whispered soothing words to her, hoping to give her some comfort.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay. I'm here. Dr. Xu will be done with your leg in a minute, so your blood will finally stay where it belongs. Just a little longer, sweetie. You can do this. You're my strong little builder after all."

"Okay, her leg is splinted and there's a pressure bandage over the wound. I'll take the tourniquet off now, then we can move her. She needs a blood transfusion as soon as possible. Remington, Arlo, can you lift her onto the gurney?"

Startled, Arlo looked up when he heard his name. He was so focused on Elenya that he didn't even notice how Sam had gotten up in the meantime and led everyone but him, Dr. Xu and Remy out of the ruin to clear the way. As the words registered in his brain, Arlo broke away from Elenya with a gentle kiss to her forehead. The adrenaline triggered by the pain had left her by now and she lay motionless, her eyes barely open. The piece of wood that was between her teeth lay unnoticed on the floor and her head lolled to the side as soon as he pulled his hand out from under it.

They couldn't waste any more time.

Carefully they lifted her onto the stretcher Sam had brought with her, Dr. Xu making sure that the pressure bandage did not slip. Remy then took the handles by her head and Arlo took the ones by her feet. With sure steps, they wound their way through the narrow path to the surface, Dr. Xu right on their heels.

~~~~~~

As they stepped out of the ruin, Arlo was first blinded by the sunlight. The sun still shone bright and warm, regardless of the fact that his entire world just lay broken and injured before him, barely conscious. In the sunlight, he was also reminded of how terrible Elenya looked. Her whole body was coated with dust and covered in small cuts, her face pale and sunken, and the first drops of blood could already be seen through the bandages.

He had never been so glad to enter the clinic. Phyllis was already waiting for them and they quickly loaded Elenya onto the hospital bed. He wanted to stay by her side, but Remy pulled him aside so the two medics could get to work.

As soon as Elenya was no longer in his field of vision, however, something inside him broke. It was as if all the suppressed fear and panic returned in one fell swoop. His legs buckled out from under him and it was only thanks to Remy's firm grip on his upper arm that prevented him from hitting the ground with his knees.

Everything inside him contracted painfully and this time he couldn't stop the tears. His wife, his everything, was almost taken from him and the thought ate him up inside. He didn't even notice how Remy led him out of the clinic and only became aware of something again when he suddenly found himself on the couch at Civil Corps headquarters. Immediately he wanted to jump up again, but a hand on his shoulder prevented that.

No! He couldn't leave her alone!

"Arlo! Calm down! Elenya is in the best hands. Dr. Xu and Phyllis are taking care of her and you would just be in the way. Please, get a hold of yourself." Brown eyes pierced his with concern, and only then did he notice how frantic his breathing had become. Strained, he took a few deep breaths and slowly, his racing heart calmed down.

Anguished, he ran his hand through his hair and then buried his face in his hands. "God, Remy, why did something like this have to happen?" His friend dropped down beside him with an exhausted sigh and put a comforting hand on his back. "I don't know, Arlo. But it's going to be okay. Our Elenya won't be brought down that easily. Especially not by a rock. Stone and ore are shaped by her, not the other way around."

A short surprised laugh escaped him, but Remy was right. He was always surprised at what these little hands could create with just a few tools. The proof could be seen all over Portia.

With the help of his friend, he made it through the next hour without losing his mind. Not a soul disturbed them in that time and he wondered if Sam had something to do with it. He was infinitely grateful to his two comrades for keeping a cool head, even though Elenya was also their friend. As much as he hated it, he wouldn't be able to fulfil his duties as captain at all right now.

He was just wondering how much longer they would have to wait when the door to the headquarters was finally pushed open and Dr. Xu came in. He looked exhausted, but his expression was calm and collected. Immediately, Arlo and Remy jumped up and looked at the doctor expectantly. He did not hesitate with his information.

"Okay, I don't know how, but Elenya was very lucky overall. The blood loss was the main problem. Fortunately, she had donated a whole unit of blood a few weeks ago, so we were able to stabilise her for the time being. Her body should be able to regenerate the rest of the lost blood by itself. There's not much to say about her head wound, it was mainly superficial and we just cleaned and bandaged it."

With a sigh, Dr. Xu dropped into the chair next to the couch and instructed the two to sit down as well. Reluctantly, Arlo complied with the request, though he would love nothing more than to rush out the door and wrap Elenya in his arms.

"Now for her leg. The impact of the rock tore her skin and in addition several blood vessels were injured by sharp edges. We were able to stop the bleeding and stitched up the wound. As for her tibia, I was pleasantly surprised. Besides the crush injury, the bone is broken in two places, but the fractures are very clear and there were no splinters, which I had actually expected. I've set the fracture, but as long as the swelling is still so bad and the wound hasn't started to heal, I can't put a cast on her yet. What still worries me a bit is her foot. The blood supply was not completely cut off, but unfortunately I can't completely rule out nerve damage. However, we won't be able to determine that until she wakes up."

Relief flooded through Arlo. It all sounded terrible, but she would get back on her feet. Soon he could take her home and shower her with love. But something about Dr. Xu's voice told him that he still had something unpleasant to say.

"Thank you very much Dr. Xu. It all sounds good so far, but I sense that there is still a 'but'..."

"Well, she was trapped down there for a good hour, surrounded by rock and sand. While the flowing blood regularly flushed some of the dirt out of the wound and I cleaned it as best I could, I still fear that an infection cannot be averted. Her weakened body will react strongly to it, so we'll have to watch her closely for the next few hours."

Renewed concern mingled with relief and he couldn't take it anymore. He had to see her. Now.

Dr. Xu must have seen it in his eyes, because he said, "Yes, you can go see her. Phyllis should be done with cleaning up by now."

Arlo didn't need to be told twice and quickly made his way back to the clinic. When he pushed open the door, he was greeted by a reassuringly smiling Phyllis, but he only had eyes for the room divider behind which his wife lay. Fortunately, Phyllis did not stop him and with careful steps he approached the hospital bed. He had trouble associating the figure lying there with the otherwise energetic woman he loved.

Her face was still far too pale, a square compress was taped over her head wound and her left leg was heavily bandaged. It peeked out from under the thin blanket that lay over her and was elevated with several pillows. All the blood and dirt got washed away and an IV line carried a clear fluid into the back of her right hand. She looked even smaller than usual.

With a heavy heart, he stepped completely up to the bed and carefully took her right hand in his, mindful of the IV needle. His index finger automatically found her pulse at her wrist and the steady heartbeat underneath it let even the last tension flow out of his body. Exhausted, he sank onto the stool next to the bed and a last, relieved tear escaped his right eye.

"Oh, sweetheart, please get well quickly. We need you. I need you." Without letting go of her hand, Arlo leaned over her and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. Then he leaned back and began to watch over her sleep, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

He didn't know exactly how long he sat there, when suddenly a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Surprised, he looked up, straight into Sam's green eyes. "Hey boss, looks like our favourite builder is getting back on her feet. Knew nothing would knock her out that fast." She grinned encouragingly down at him, and Remy, standing behind her, nodded at him with a smile as well.

He smiled back, but it didn't feel right. Until Elenya woke up, he would continue to worry.

Their smiles dimmed a little and Remy spoke up this time, "Don't worry too much, it'll be fine. And you don't have to worry about Portia either. Sam and I can manage without you for a while. Concentrate fully on Elenya. She's going to need you at full strength." "Exactly," Sam agreed with him, "we'll manage. Speaking of which, you might want to take a trip home for a bit. A shower would do you good and you can bring Elenya something comfortable to wear while you're at it. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to lie around in that piece of cloth called a hospital gown any longer than absolutely necessary."

Confused, Arlo looked down at himself and noticed that he was also covered in dust from top to bottom due to the rescue operation. A shower would definitely be in order, but he just couldn't let Elenya out of his sight. On the other hand, Sam was right and she would definitely feel more comfortable if she could put on something familiar. Struggling inwardly with herself, Remy finally took the decision from him.

"Go freshen up and eat something, Arlo. Sam and I will stay here and keep an eye on her, okay?" Remy's voice was as calm as ever and Arlo conceded defeat. His best friend, as always, knew what was going on inside him and what to tell him.

With a heavy heart, Arlo stood up and said goodbye to Elenya with a gentle kiss on the forehead and a soft, "I'll be right back, darling." With a slight nod to Sam and Remy, he made his way home.

He decided to walk to clear his head a little. His insides were a jumble of emotions, from fear, to relief, to guilt, it was all there. Strangely, no one ran into him, but he was only aware of that subconsciously and paid it no further attention.

But even when he arrived home, his thoughts were still as confused as before. Plagued by "What ifs..." and "What could he have done better?", he made himself a sandwich with automated movements, ate it and then stood under the shower. He tried hard not to think about how Elenya had been happily buzzing around him just this morning while they were both getting ready for the day. His heart clenched for what felt like the thousandth time that day and a few tears mingled with the water.

After the shower he felt marginally better and he picked out the most comfortable clothes Elenya owned. He packed for several days, both for Elenya and for himself. The book she was reading also went into the backpack and just as he was about to leave, his eyes fell on the grey sweater lying over the back of her couch. Actually, it was his, but Elenya probably wore it more often than he did. It was old and soft and swallowed her small frame every time she wore it. She loved that sweater, especially when it smelled like him. Said it made her feel safe, especially when he had to stay out late.

He quickly threw the jumper into the backpack as well and headed back up to the clinic.

Just as he passed the west gate, Mayor Gale came rushing up to him. Immediately, more guilt welled up inside him. Portia had been rocked by an earthquake just a few hours ago and he hadn't even checked to see how the other residents were doing. What kind of Civil Corps captain was he, after all?

"Arlo, good thing I caught you." Slightly out of breath, the man stopped in front of him. "Hey boss, sorry about that. Is everyone all right? Was anyone else hurt?" Gale waved him off. "Don't worry about that. Everyone's fine and apart from a few broken plates and pieces of furniture, nothing happened. Nothing that can't be fixed with a few hardworking builders, at least. But I didn't come to see you to talk to Captain Arlo, I came to see Arlo, a loving husband. I sincerely hope Elenya feels better soon. I know what it's like to lose a loved one and am very glad you were spared that today. Please don't think too much about what could have been, but what is. Your loving wife may be a little battered, but she is still with you, breathing and alive."

Sadness wavered in Gale's eyes and Arlo once again marvelled at how strong the mayor was going through life despite his loss. After that afternoon, he didn't know if he could have done that himself.

"Thank you very much... Gale. I will try to follow your advice." A warm smile came in reply. "That's all I expect. Now go back to your wife. We can manage without you for a while, so don't worry about Portia. I'll also try to calm any anxious minds so you won't be swamped with visitors right away. She will need her rest."

With another thank you and a quick goodbye, he hurried on up the hill with his head now a little clearer.

He was gone for maybe an hour in total, when he pushed open the door to the clinik once again, but what greeted him there made him freeze for a moment. Dr. Xu and Phyllis were standing around Elenya's bed talking animatedly. Sam and Remy stood right next to the door and watched the two with a worried look.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Panicked, he looked to his two best friends and Remy, thankfully, didn't hesitate with his answer. "As already feared, her leg has become badly infected. She suddenly developed a high fever and they have trouble getting it down.”

"Oh, darling..."

~~~~~~

What followed were three days of worry and sleepless nights. Elenya was barely responsive, plagued by high fever and pain, her eyes were always hazy and the only thing she responded to was his voice and touch.

Arlo himself hardly got any sleep. He incessantly wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck with a cold cloth, helped her eat soup, read to her from her book and generally did everything to make her as comfortable as possible. Dr. Xu and Phyllis tried different medicines to bring down the fever, but the only thing that really helped were regular cold wraps around her thighs and arms.

He was completely exhausted. Sam and Remy made him sleep at least a few hours every day in his old room at headquarters, while one of them watched over Elenya, but he never slept more than two to three hours a night. Fear, worry and guilt drove the most horrible images into his head. Each time he woke up plagued by nightmares and could only calm down again when he held Elenya's hand securely in his.

At the end of the third day, the fever finally broke and Elenya's face relaxed for the first time in a long time and she slept peacefully. Relieved, Arlo watched her for a while, repeatedly brushing gently through her hair and across her cheek, until exhaustion caught up with him as well. With his head pillowed right next to her hand on the mattress, he fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Elenya woke up, she felt completely exhausted. Her limbs were heavy and opening her eyes alone was exhausting, but she could finally think more clearly again. She remembered the last few days only vaguely. Most of what remained was unbearable heat, pain and a warm voice. Along with gentle touches and the feeling of safety.

Arlo.

With difficulty, she turned her head to the right and squinted against the bright morning light. Searching, her eyes wandered around the room until they finally lingered on her familiar redhead. His head lay not far from her hand, pillowed on his own arms and his face turned toward her. His eyes were closed and his features relaxed. An affectionate smile settled on her lips.

He had stayed with her all this time.

Carefully she raised her hand. Her whole arm trembled with effort, but she managed to place her hand gently on his cheek. As soon as her fingers touched his skin, however, Arlo startled and looked around the room in confusion. "What...?" When his gaze finally noticed her open eyes, his own widened in surprise and a relieved smile spread across his face.

"Elenya, sweetheart, you're awake." "Hey Arlo..." Her voice was all raspy from not using it and she was assaulted by a coughing fit. The movement jolted her left leg and a whimper escaped her. Damn, that hurt.

Arlo jumped up at the sound and reached for the glass of water on the small table next to the bed. Gently, he lifted her head with his left hand and put the glass to her lips. "Here, drink slowly, or you'll choke even more." She tried to listen to him, but it was hard. Her throat was completely parched and if he hadn't held the glass back, that's probably what would have happened.

When the glass was empty, he carefully placed her head back on the pillow and sat on the edge of the bed. His right hand first rested briefly on her forehead and then slid down to gently cup her cheek. With a happy sigh, she leaned into his touch.

"Good, your fever is finally down. How are you feeling?" Blue eyes eyed her anxiously, and Elenya tried to smile reassuringly at him. "I feel drained, but I can think again, and as long as I keep my leg still, hardly anything hurts. I guess Dr. Xu gave me the good stuff."

"Yes, he did. Even though it didn't do much for a while, I'm glad you're feeling better so far." His shoulders slumped in exhaustion and comfortingly she nuzzled against his hand. A loving smile and gentle caress of his thumb against her cheek told her she had done the right thing.

Her eyes threatened to close again, but an important question was buzzing around in her head, which she absolutely had to ask. For a while longer she enjoyed the warmth of Arlo's hand and smile, and then hesitantly asked. "Arlo... What exactly happened?" As she already feared, the smile immediately disappeared from his lips and with a sigh he leaned back a bit, taking his hand with him.

"What's the last thing you remember?" "I... was in the ruin. Then there was an... earthquake and part of it collapsed. I got trapped and... couldn't get away, but then... you found me. We... talked, but then... everything went black..." Exhaustion made it difficult for her to speak, but she fought it. She just had to know what had happened.

"God, I was so scared when you suddenly stopped answering me. I think I aged 20 years in the last four days." Tormented, he looked down at her and her heart contracted painfully. She could not let that stand. Desperately she tried to lift her hand to his cheek, but halfway her body gave up. Arlo, fortunately, saw what she was about to do and quickly grabbed her hand before it fell back onto the bed and cradled it against his own cheek.

"You look pretty good for a 50 year old though," she tried to cheer him up. He may had deep shadows under his eyes, his hair was dishevelled and his beard could use a shave, but in her eyes he was still the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. The fond smile he gave in response only emphasised that even more.

"Very funny, sweetheart." He pressed a gentle kiss to her palm and then lowered their intertwined hands into his lap. With a serious look, he then continued with his narrative. "The rock that fell on you had torn a big wound in your leg and you were slowly bleeding out. When we finally reached you, you had already lost a great deal, but we were just in time. Dr. Xu and Phyllis fixed you up, but the wound had become infected. You had a high fever for the last 3 days and were unresponsive. As for your leg otherwise, the bone is broken in 2 places and will probably take a good 10 weeks to heal completely. But that's nothing that either of us couldn't handle."

10 weeks? 10 weeks in which she couldn't work properly? She would go crazy!

But before she could worry about that, Arlo made a noise as if he wanted to say more. He swallowed hard once and to her horror tears sprang to his eyes. "God, I'm so sorry my darling. This is all my fault. If I had inspected the ruin better that morning, no one would have even been allowed in until it was secured.... I put all the people in Portia in danger..." A tear escaped from his eyes and he sat completely slumped on the edge of her bed.

All sleepiness disappeared from her and desperately she tried to sit up, but her body wouldn't play along and instead she just jolted her broken leg. Pain shot up from it and made her hiss. Immediately, two strong hands gently pushed her back into the pillows and Arlo looked at her indignantly. "Elenya, what are you doing?"

A frustrated grumble escaped her. Her wonderful husband was being a complete moron again, and she couldn't even sit up to hug him!

"I want to hug you! But my damn body won't cooperate..." She pouted, eliciting a soft laugh from Arlo. "Your body's been fighting a bad infection for the last few days, you're going to have to give it some time to recover. But wait, I'll help you." He slid back a little more on the edge of the bed until he was sitting level with her thighs, then leaned down to her and gently slid his arms under her shoulder blades. He had to contort himself quite a bit to do this, but that didn't seem to bother him much. Slowly he pulled her up until she was sitting upright with her head resting against his right shoulder. But even the slight movement made her dizzy and she buried her face in his neck, whimpering softly.

His arms shifted their grip slightly and he pulled her protectively against his chest. The dizziness luckily quickly subsided and happily she snuggled against him even more. Being wrapped in his arms has always been the best feeling for her. And as she hoped, it helped Arlo too, because although his grip didn't loosen, she felt the last of the tension release from his shoulders and a relieved sigh escaping him.

They stayed like this for a while, enjoying each other's closeness, when Elenya remembered why she had originally wanted to hug him. With effort, she disengaged her head from his shoulder and tried to catch Arlo's gaze. She didn't have to search for long, because he was already looking down at her in confusion.

"What's wrong, sweetheart? Do you need to lie down again?" His blue eyes were laced with concern and she gave him a soft smile. "In a minute, I first have to get those stupid thoughts out of your head. After all, as your wife, that's my job." A furrow appeared between his eyebrows and she would have liked to smooth it out with her thumb, but she was already struggling to keep her head up with her own strength.

"Will I ever be able to convince you that not everything bad that happens in Portia is your fault? You're the captain of the Civil Corps and a strong fighter, yes, but even you can't beat Mother Nature. Accidents happen, love." A sheepish shrug was the only response she got.

Okay, that hasn't worked so far. Then she had to approach it differently.

With a sigh, her eyes closed exhaustedly without her consent, and Arlo immediately took that as an excuse to duck out of the conversation. "You should lie back down, honey. You need to rest."

Damn that stubborn man!

"No, I'm not done with you yet. Would you blame Sam or Remy for the collapse if one of them had controlled the ruin that day?" Challengingly, she looked up at him, and scandalised, he looked back. "Of course not. How could they have known something like that would happen?"

Waiting patiently, she looked at him until he realised what he had just said himself. Silently, he averted his eyes from her and her expression turned sad.

"Then… why are you doing this to yourself, Arlo?" Instead of answering, he hugged her tightly to his chest again and buried his face in her hair. She let him take the time he needed to sort out his thoughts and instead listened to the strong heartbeat beneath her ear.

"I... I was so scared for you. I can't stop thinking about what I could have done better. As soon as I close my eyes, I see your deathly pale face and the pool of blood under that rock in front of me. I could have lost you..." His voice broke at the last words and so did her heart.

His arms around her back tightened and so she spoke against his chest. "You did everything you could, Arlo. You found me, got me out of there in time, and now I'm here, with you..."

A hand detached from her back and instead placed itself against her cheek to lift her head. Warm lips settled on hers and lovingly Elenya returned his desperate kiss.

"I'm so glad we found you." Arlo pressed another soft kiss to her lips and then looked at her with love. "Me too..." A heavy yawn came over her and this time she allowed him to gently lay her back on the bed. He pulled the blanket that had slipped down up to her chin and brushed a loose strand from her forehead.

All her energy spent, her eyes fell closed, but something prevented her from falling asleep. Tiredly, her eyes opened again and, seeking help, she looked at Arlo, who was just about to sit down again on the chair next to the bed. "Arlo?" " Yeah?" "I'm really cold..." Now that Arlo's body heat was missing, she felt how cold she was. The thin T-shirt she was wearing under the equally thin blanket and a pair of short sweatpants didn’t do a really good job at keeping her warm.

"Oh, wait, I have just the thing. Actually, I brought it for you, but because of your high fever I wasn't allowed to put it on you. Here." Confused, she watched him take off the sweater he was wearing and only then did she notice that it was the one she liked best. With his help, she managed to pull it on and was immediately enveloped in warmth and his wonderful scent. Relieved, her eyes closed again and a soft smile crossed her lips.

"Rest, my darling. I will be here when you wake up. I love you." A soft kiss on her forehead was the last thing she registered before she fell into a finally restful sleep.

In the end, she couldn't say whether she had said her reciprocated "I love you too" aloud or not.

She slept.

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