“Stop!” She called to Minio in the driver’s seat.
“What?” He called back to her.
“Stop the bike!”
Minio made a strange noise but complied and the bike slid to a stop. Eleri leaped from her seat as soon as the bike slowed enough for her to avoid injuring herself. Someone was injured on the side of the road, slumped against their damaged bike. In this heat, damage from the suns was a concern along with dehydration. She fumbled in her bag to see if she’d been clever enough to bring any hydration pods or first aid supplies with her. All she could find was a single dusty hydropod and a tiny pack of bandages, which would be useless for a wreck this size.
Well, she’d have to do the best she could with what she had. “Hello? Can you hear me?” She called to the injured person and received no response. “I’m an IA healer in training, and I’m fully certified in universal first aid. I can help.” Eleri tapped at the interface on her wrist to display her medical badge and rushed forward despite Minio’s distant protests. She rounded the damaged bike to find S’samph slumped beside it with an enormous section of his left shoulder torn away. He lay with a puddle of coagulating green blood.
Stones below and stars above, this was far more than she was equipped to handle with a paltry box of bandages and a hydro pod. She knelt beside him and fished in her bag for a stretch of fabric, pulling free the dress he’d bought her. At least she could put it to good use. Eleri burst open the hydropod and sprayed the contents on S’samph’s face, trying to see if she could get a reaction out of him. Nothing. She set to work tearing the dress into neat strips to use as bandages. It was far from sterile, but they’d have to wait until they got back to Laurus to run a proper diagnostic and perform the necessary repairs.
With practiced hands, she wrapped the wound as best she could, tying tight at the junction of his shoulder to form a tourniquet and stop the bleeding. He might lose the arm if they didn’t hurry.
Minio finally made his way over, clearly realizing he was of no use by the bike. “Eleri what happened to him?”
“Help me get him on his bike.”
“His bike?”
“Yes. I’m going to ride tandem with him. I need to be able to stabilize him if anything happens.” Eleri leaned closer to his chest to hear the thundering of his six-chambered heart. It was a good sign. He was strong enough to make it back to Laurus by her judgment. She didn’t know as much about latil’e anatomy as she should, but they were clearly more resilient than most. The amount of blood staining the hard-packed dirt below would have killed a human, no doubt.
“But you don’t know how to drive his bike.”
“And you don’t know how to do first aid. I like my odds better.”
“I think this is a terrible idea.” Minio furled his wings tighter against his back as he examined the state of S’samph’s bike.
“We don’t have time for this. Are you going to help me or not?” Eleri snapped back at him. She might have trouble commanding anyone for her own purposes, but when it came to her patients, she would move the stars themselves out of the way. Minio seemed shocked by her tone and kept his mouth shut as he helped her right S’samph’s bike and got the other male situated in front, stabilized against the steering column.
“You go first, and I’ll follow you. Keep me in sight?”
“I dislike being asked to participate in this.” His expression was strange, but Eleri had little interest in taking the time to parse his reaction.
“Well, unless you have a better idea, this is what we’re doing.” She slung herself behind S’samph’s limp form in front of her on the bike. He was considerably heavier than her, but as long as she managed to keep the damn bike moving in a straight line, it should be fine.
The vehicle sputtered and protested as she ignited the engine, but she managed to wobble her way to the road. S’samph’s breathing was steady if somewhat labored as they made their way down the main road. He stirred slightly and Eleri placed her dominant hand on the steering column while using her other hand on the back of his neck to steady him. He wasn’t bleeding through her makeshift bandages, which was a relief. Not only was it a good sign for him, but it meant the skills she was learning were no doubt coming in handy.
By some miracle, they had reached Laurus without Eleri tipping the bike over and killing them both. She rolled toward the downtown center and managed to break to a stop with a lurch. S’samph pitched forward and Eleri dove forward to catch him before he fell from the bike and only succeeded in landing hard on the ground with S’samph’s limp form rolled on top of her. At least she had broken his fall. Minio and the other latil’e she’d met with S’samph the other day when he’d offered her aride home stared at her slack jawed.
“Well? Are you just going to stand there staring?” She groaned as she tried to heave herself free of S’samph’s weight. Neither of them moved. “Help me carry him over to the clinic! Why are you just gaping at me?”
The latil’e male moved first, darting forward with precise grace to brace around S’samph’s shoulders. Begrudgingly, Minio joined him and grabbed S’samph’s lower half.
“Are you alright?” Minio asked Eleri. She waved away his concern with an exasperated exhale and heaved to her feet.
“I’m fine. Let’s get moving.” The stiffness in her limbs and the fading adrenaline from her impromptu levibike drive back from Indras made her knees wobble, but she surged ahead, leading the way to the clinic with her two helpers hurrying behind. Eleri pushed the doors open and ushered them inside.
“Eleri?” Aglao appeared by the entrance, visibly disturbed by the rush of warm air coming in from outside. “Is all well?”
“I have a patient here. S’samph.” She paused to suck in a gasp of air, remembering the importance of breathing. “We found him on the roadside near Indras. Not sure what happened to him exactly. He had a severe bleeding wound on his left shoulder. I bandaged it to the best of my ability and formed a tourniquet, but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to save his arm.
“Ah. He is latil’e the arm will regenerate provided we do not allow infection to set in. You have done well, Eleri of Gaia. Come. Let us set to work on the next stages of his treatment.” Aglao turned their attention to the three males in the doorway.
“Place him here.” Aglao pressed a button to activate one of the patient beds near the diagnostic interface.
“I’m going to go get his sister.” The latil’e male darted out of the clinic with his frill raised high. Eleri had come to identify it as emotional heightening, but she assumed there was more nuance if she ever had the opportunity to ask.
“Do you need any help?”
