Uncertainty

[Lance Howe]

Lance was surprised by the knock on the door and the accompanying announcement that there was a need for him at the port of all places. Had someone been injured loading cargo or from some kind of mechanical failure? Whatever it was it must have been bad by the tone and urgency of the request.

The doctor picked up his equipment and hurriedly followed after the messenger who led him to... an empty landing plot. It soon became clear that his prospective patient was being flown in for treatment and as he approached the landing site, a shuttle swooped in and landed. Odd though, it's trajectory, as if coming from orbit not someplace else on St. Albans. Questions aside, Lance walked right up to the shuttle door ready to board or immediately care for anyone who was about to disembark.

[Trace Kennet]

As the shuttle touched down, Trace jumped up from his seat. He punched the controls to open the doors, and walked over to them. He walked out into the snowy air of St. Albans, and found himself facing a man with a bag. "Are you the Doctor?" He asked, sounding rude without intending to. He didn't wait for a yes or a no, "Here, get inside."

[Lance Howe]

The door opened nearly immediately as a man hopped out asking if he was the doctor. 'No, I'm the mailman.' Apparently the stupidity of the question was not lost on the man because he immediately invited Lance in without receiving an answer.

There were two others on board the shuttle, a woman and a man, both injured, one being unconscious. "Talk to me. What happened?" Lance asked of the others as he quickly got to work on the man bleeding out in the shuttle. His wound had been dressed, though not well it would do. The doctor hurriedly gave him a quick injection and then added a fresh bandage atop the preexisting one. He then moved to check vital signs and the possibility of any other injuries on him. "Ma'am, I take it you're not in any serious condition and can wait?" Lance asked of Dru as he continued to work.

"Alright, we need to get him out of here and into some place where I can operate effectively. There's a little warehouse for the port just outside that should do fine. Fairly clean and has a few tables in there. I take it y'all ain't from around here so the cold probably won't be too good on his system but it's better than trying to pry the damn thing out in here."

[Drusilla Pardieu]

It was a fairly quiet flight down to the port, when they finally landed it was a good thing. 'Are you the doctor? Who else would be standing in this godforsaken weather for us?' Dru let off a sigh in Trace's direction as the doc got on board. "Don't mind him, he doesn't handle stress very well it seems."

When the man asked about what happened, well there was a short answer for that, "Pirates with guns didn't take kindly to us killing them." There was a slight grin with her answer as the doc checked over Lars. Dru only nodded when he asked if she could wait. Lars had taken a whole bullet where hers was just a fragment, so long as it was taken care of soon she could wait a bit longer.

The mercenary shrugged, time to carry Lars around again. "Let's get going then," She said as she grabbed hold of the captain's body.

[Lance Howe]

Lance helped pick the injured man up and carry him out of the shuttle. As expected, the shock of the cold caused a clear reaction even though the man was unconscious. They needed to hurry and get him out of the elements as soon as possible. He may have pushed his carrying assistant a little too hard considering her injuries but the doctor was focused on saving the man first and foremost.

Previous descriptions of the building may have been a little exaggerated. By 'clean and tables' he really meant that there were crates that could be used as an improvised operating table and that the rats wouldn't be too much of a problem. They set him down on the most suitable crate and Lance took a moment to set his equipment up for ease of access. This was going to be fun.

Before proceeding, the doctor gave Lars another injection just to make sure he stayed unconscious during the procedure. There was nothing worse than someone waking up to find someone else digging in their body. Well, there were probably worse things but it was still pretty bad both for doctor and patient. Best to keep him knocked out for this.

The original bandage was now fairly caked onto the wound providing another issue. Lance decided in a split second that he didn't care, cut the bandages loose, and just pulled them right off rather than pussyfooting around trying to remove them gingerly. He then liberally poured disinfectant on the wound and forced the hole open further. Yes, it was a good thing that the patient wasn't awake for this. Lance was known for his success not his history of choosing the least painful methods.

With the wound open and ready it was just a matter of plunging in and retrieving the slug still inside. Digging around in there was a little more dangerous than a strong but temporary burning sensation so Lance took his time with this part. After a short while he emerged with lead firmly gripped between forceps, it hadn't been too hard to find. A quickly inspection revealed that it had not fragmented and that there was no skeletal damaged from an impact, just flesh had been affected. The doctor applied silver nitrate where appropriate and then filled the wound with medical gel to aid healing. From there it was just a quick stitch until the patient was ready for recovery.

Lance gave the man a quick once over and then checked his vitals again to be sure that the worst was over with. Satisfied with patient number one, he turned to the woman who had helped carry him in here. She had been bandaged in two places, the severity impossible to tell at this point. "Are those just cuts or do I need to throw you up on a crate now?"

[Drusilla Pardieu]

The cold was a version of hell on it's own, mix in some incredible pain shooting through your body when you move. Yeah imagine that one. Dru was a trooper though, helping as quickly as possible to get Lars wherever the doc wanted him.

Dru stood by watching the doc work on Lars, good thing he was out. Looked painful. Then he looked at her, it was her turn. "Arm is just a graze, but could probably use some stitching. Thigh got hit by a ricochet bullet, just a fragment I'm guessing." She shrugged a bit, really she wasn't sure, putting the bullets in was Dru's thing. Not taking them out.

There was nothing he could do for the bruises that were forming on her face and various places that Josh had struck her. Nothing felt painful enough to be broken there. Dru took a seat on one of the crates, and tore her pants where the hole was so the doc could do his thing. "All yours doc, and thank you. Don't suppose you get too many cases like ours out here?"

[Lars Engström]

Lars returned to reality with a groan. His brain felt all fuzzy, and he couldn't think straight. He opened his eyes slowly, and the world began to go from a big blur to something semi recognizable. Lars didn't recognize his surroundings, and he tried to sit up, but found he couldn't control his body. No matter how hard he tried to move, his arms and legs remained firmly stationary. His arm was beginning to hurt again, although it seemed to be less painful now. Finding he could move his head, he looked over at his arm, which was now bandaged. Then he looked the other way, and found himself looking at Dru, and another man. "Wuz goin' on?" Lars mumbled, his mouth wasn't quite in sync with his brain yet. "Whooz zat?"

[Lance Howe]

"No, numerous bullet wounds ain't all too common out here but I get my fair share of practice. Ships coming in with wounded is what's more out of the ordinary." Lance said as he began to work on Dru's leg. "Y'all lose your doctor up there with them pirates?"

The wound did appear to be just a ricochet. It wasn't deep at all but had just tunneled off a bit parallel to the skin. Lance gave her something for the pain and a warning about what he was about to do before carefully extending the entry wound down to where the bullet now was and then just pulling it straight out. There was no digging and no deep wound that would take ages to heal. Now it was just a longer surface wound. A few finishing touches and it was cleaned, stitched, and bandaged again for good measure.

As the doctor turned his attention to the arm wound, Lars began to wake up. The drugs were supposed to wear off fairly quickly but this was a little faster than he had expected. Well, St. Albans never got top grade in any shipment, certainly not in medicine. Though conscious the young man didn't appear to have any major motor function. That being so, Lance still considered giving him another dose to knock him out again partly as a precaution and also because it would give him a cheap laugh. No, the medicine was too precious.

"You're on St. Albans. Apparently you had quite an adventure. Somebody decided they liked you enough to bring you here and save your life." Lance said as he switched patients again. As he spoke he performed a few tests mostly of Lars' sight and focus. "I'm Lance Howe. How are you feeling?"

[Lars Engström]

Lars was having trouble understanding his situation. His head was a little behind everything else, and he had to think for a good deal longer than he liked before he understood what the man had just said. "St. Albans? Good." He closed his eyes, and let his mind catch up. "My name's Lars, I'm a captain..." He had to stop again. "That there is Dru, My first mate." Had he been fully conscious, he might not have referred to Dru as first mate, but the combination of fatigue and drugs had him on his heels. He knew he was alive because of her, and though he couldn't remember all of the details, he felt like she had saved him several times. "Where are the others?" He had remembered his crew, "Trace? and Jordan?" He tried again to sit up, and this time he almost made it before he fell back. "They are ok right?"

[Drusilla Pardieu]

Dru shook her head at the doc's question, "Nope, didn't have one to begin with actually." She clenched to the edges of the crate, shaking slightly as the fragment was removed from her thigh. The drugs did alot to dull the pain but it was never one hundred percent. Dru let out a soft sigh once he finished the bandaging.

About that time Lars woke up, well sort of. She scoffed a little when the doc mentioned someone deciding they liked him enough. Dru raised a surprised brow at the mention of her being the first-mate. When did that happen and where was she during that conversation? "They're both ok for the most part Lars. Jeff as well. When did I stop being just a passenger by the way, I must have missed that memo." She grinned a bit at him.

Originally Dru had no intention of staying on the ship, but it seemed as though that had changed. Part of her was worried about Jordan as well, so far as she knew Dru was the only one who might be able to help her cope.

[Lars Engström]

Lars was pleasantly surprised by Dru's question. "I think," He said with a laugh, "you became first mate when you saved my ass 3 times." In his drug induced stupor, Lars found the fact that she hadn't figured that out very amusing. "I mean, if you want to stay on St. Albans, then fine, but i would really hope you might stay with me, if only for Jordan's sake." He managed to finally sit up. "Doc, what are your plans for the near future?" His mind was getting back to real time. "Cuz if you arn't busy, we could use a man like you." He looked at his arm, and shook his head. "Needless to say, I owe you one hell of a debt."

[Lance Howe]

"Easy there, big guy." Lance cautioned as Lars tried to fight the medication and get up. "See. Your crew is fine now take it easy. Fighting it and trying to regain mobility prematurely can be detrimental anyway. Just wait it out. Besides, I haven't finished with Miss Dru yet."

At that, he turned his attention back to the woman and her other injury. This one was nothing too serious. It was in a pretty awful spot and would inconvenience her plenty but there was nothing too serious about it, just a graze as she said. Warriors were generally halfway toward being doctors already... or at least the kind of doctor that he was, not some fancy labcoat theoretical type. The biggest problem with this wound was a few fibers dragged through the skin as it grazed. A careful cleaning and patch job and it too was done.

Just like he had for Lars, after taking care of the major injuries he looked her over a bit to check for anything else. She was fairly beat up but nothing too bad, mostly superficial bruising best left alone. It must have been a hell of a fight up there. And to think that they got into that kind of action without even having any crew member with medical training in the event of injury.

"Alright. Y'all are good to recover on your own given proper care to those bandages and nothing too strenuous to reopen your wounds. Lance announced.

Surprisingly, Lars then offered the doctor a job... on his ship which had just been shot to hell. Work was work and hopefully this would pay better than being the physician for the local poor community. Another doctor might have felt an obligation to the people here, a duty to stay until at least another could take his place. Well, technically he had a few hangers on who had learned a thing or two, enough to prevent the town from dying but none of them came close to his level of skill. The job promised pay and adventure which meant injuries to treat. It was tempting and the ship desperately needed a doctor if this rush surgery was any indicator.

"If I didn't know better, Mister Lars, I'd think you were trying to run out on the doctor bill." He said as he approached the captain and injected him with something new. "This should help negate the effects of the other drugs and get you on your way a little faster."

[Lars Engström]

"Please," Said Lars, "Just call me Lars, unless you want to accept my offer, and then i suppose you could call me Captain." Lars felt the new medication work almost at once, and he began to move his arms and legs. "As far as the bill is concerned, we don't have money with us right now, but if i can get back to the ship, ill set you up with the fee."
Lars closed his eyes for a moment, and he felt his exhaustion catch up with him. He had to fight just to open his eyes again. "Whenever you are ready Dru, we can head out, you coming Doc? Then again, Where exactly is the ship?"

[Lance Howe]

"I'm gonna level with you, Lars. I got a family to feed. If y'all can keep me in coin to support them then you might have found yourself a doctor." Lance said. He really would have preferred to sleep on something like this before deciding but it looked like the man wasn't looking for crew who were too into thinking, more into doing. Lance wasn't some unemployed drifter anyway. He was a member of a community and the main supporter of his family, grown as his siblings may be.

"Y'all came in a shuttle just right outside. Your pilot or somebody is still out there."

[Drusilla Pardieu]

Dru rolled her eyes at Lars' words, it must be the drugs talking for him. Even if she was going to be staying on the ship as first-mate, they would need to talk about a couple things first. "I'm not staying on St. Albans." The rest would have to come later when he wasn't under the influence.

She simply listened to Lars and the doc talk, he'd been offered a job. They could use a medic on board. Lars was talking as if they were leaving right away, trying to rush Lance into make a decision right here and now. "There isn't any rush Doc, the ship will be needing some repairs. We'll need to be landing for that, don't let him rush you into anything."

Nodding at the doc's confirmation on the shuttle, "We took the pirate's shuttle, left the Bjorn attached to the Revenge." They had left Jordan and Jeff on board, to scavenge parts and such. It was a big ship to go through, Dru hoped they had a decent amount of weaponry as well.