The dog pads down the hall and Alex follows him. He wonders if he's the one asleep; dreaming. Following a dog in an underground near-bunker beneath history-- Ulysses would hate it.
He hasn't thought about him in a while, Alex realizes. The other Courier, opposite and similar; Alex's past and prophecy and premonition. He is probably still in the Divide, Alex thinks. He may already be gone.
Alex stops in the hall, hands pressed to his face, and thinks he might sob. There is a warm body leaning against his leg, and he remembers he needs to move.
There is water at the end of the hall, as the kids attested. A pool of purified water leaking from somewhere higher in the project. At least, they aren't running out of water. Alex fills a few bottles of water, and grabs a handled pot on way back, coupled with a burner. He drops the bags to the floor, Neil's falling over, a couple things falling out, and sets up the burner on the table instead. Gets the water set to boiling, and remembers to breathe again.
ED-E watches him, but not as he did before.
"...Yeah, I know," he mumbles. "I'm fine. Just... off-guard. Didn't expect this." Of course he didn't expect this. Dogmeat returns to the corner he chose--lays down, head on paws to watch. ED-E hovers by Neil, and Alex breathes. Remembers to breathe.
The next part is easy. He's done enough quick fix surgeries on himself or others to know the basics by heart. Needles, catgut, scalpels, makeshift clamps--he sets it all up on the rolling table next to the gurney, dropping the things that need to be disinfected into the slowly bubbling water. He glances up, notes the Robco tech on the ceiling. "ED-E, can you hack that so it's light only?"
A simple question. ED-E beeps a cheery positive, and floats up to give a series of shocks to the gene projector.
By the time Alex has everything cleaned and set, cloth under Neil's head and neck for something wishing for cleanliness, ED-E has the gene projector in light mode and turned at an angle over Neil's head. It makes the thick thread look uglier, the unhealed cut red and angry. "Infected," he mutters angrily. "Of course."
He's going to have to undo everything first. Going to have to even fucking reset the broken bone of the skull--it's probably grating on something if Neil's in that much pain. Going to have to clean what he can, do what he can, get rid of the fucking infection that's probably making everything worse. And he if tries to do all of that while Neil's asleep, the kid is going to jolt and start, and then he'll be missing more of his brain in the end. And unlike Alex's inner self, Alex can't see it ending well if the kid is parted with more than he already has.
Alex watches Neil breath for a few minutes. Then reaches to grasp his shoulder. "Neil. Wake up, kid."
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He hasn't thought about him in a while, Alex realizes. The other Courier, opposite and similar; Alex's past and prophecy and premonition. He is probably still in the Divide, Alex thinks. He may already be gone.
Alex stops in the hall, hands pressed to his face, and thinks he might sob. There is a warm body leaning against his leg, and he remembers he needs to move.
There is water at the end of the hall, as the kids attested. A pool of purified water leaking from somewhere higher in the project. At least, they aren't running out of water. Alex fills a few bottles of water, and grabs a handled pot on way back, coupled with a burner. He drops the bags to the floor, Neil's falling over, a couple things falling out, and sets up the burner on the table instead. Gets the water set to boiling, and remembers to breathe again.
ED-E watches him, but not as he did before.
"...Yeah, I know," he mumbles. "I'm fine. Just... off-guard. Didn't expect this." Of course he didn't expect this. Dogmeat returns to the corner he chose--lays down, head on paws to watch. ED-E hovers by Neil, and Alex breathes. Remembers to breathe.
The next part is easy. He's done enough quick fix surgeries on himself or others to know the basics by heart. Needles, catgut, scalpels, makeshift clamps--he sets it all up on the rolling table next to the gurney, dropping the things that need to be disinfected into the slowly bubbling water. He glances up, notes the Robco tech on the ceiling. "ED-E, can you hack that so it's light only?"
A simple question. ED-E beeps a cheery positive, and floats up to give a series of shocks to the gene projector.
By the time Alex has everything cleaned and set, cloth under Neil's head and neck for something wishing for cleanliness, ED-E has the gene projector in light mode and turned at an angle over Neil's head. It makes the thick thread look uglier, the unhealed cut red and angry. "Infected," he mutters angrily. "Of course."
He's going to have to undo everything first. Going to have to even fucking reset the broken bone of the skull--it's probably grating on something if Neil's in that much pain. Going to have to clean what he can, do what he can, get rid of the fucking infection that's probably making everything worse. And he if tries to do all of that while Neil's asleep, the kid is going to jolt and start, and then he'll be missing more of his brain in the end. And unlike Alex's inner self, Alex can't see it ending well if the kid is parted with more than he already has.
Alex watches Neil breath for a few minutes. Then reaches to grasp his shoulder. "Neil. Wake up, kid."