In Search of Succor [Closed]

The streetlight flashed as it changed from green to red. Iara stared at the empty intersection for several moments before this registered. With a slight shake of her head, she forced herself to move forward, biting her lip slightly - the movement brought a new jolt of pain radiating down from her right shoulder and collarbone. No matter - she had to keep walking while it was still dark. With that thought she glanced up - the first rays of dawn were just starting to pierce through the darkness of the night sky, the sun itself still tucked away beyond the visible horizon. The streets were all but empty at this hour, but they wouldn't remain so for much longer, and that, Iara knew, would likely be a problem if she were still out.

The creature she'd followed out into the desert had turned to be rather...more than she'd expected. Not human, perhaps created or altered by some, but - she could ponder the details later, perhaps. It had been fast, with bladed claws that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight. The first time she'd allowed it to strike her, making no effort to dodge or duck despite the force behind the blow. Blades, bullets - such things were inconsequential, ordinarily. A miscalculation, this time - the thing was indeed unnatural, as much as she was. It's blades had cut into her flesh. It'd seemed confused, for a moment, as though it had expected to slice right through her. A few moments later it struck again, raking across her arm as she blocked more vulnerable parts of her body. She'd picked up quite a bit about combat, this last year or so, but she was no expert - stronger than someone her size should be but only somewhat so. Fortunately, her hunch about the creature's weak point had proved correct.

Afterwards, she'd spared a few moments of energy idly wishing she knew someone who could...examine such things, someone who knew science shit and could figure out what the creature was, but she'd have to content herself with the knowledge that the creature would not be preying on anyone else.

Iara did not remember much of the walk back from the desert, the transition to the outskirts of the city. She'd lost her shoes, at some point, perhaps during the fight, or after. No matter - nothing she walked on would so much as leave a scratch on the soles of her feet. Her clothes - black tights and a simple dark blue tunic dress - were soaked with blood from her injuries. The week-old gash across her stomach had opened up again too, at some point, adding to the mess. She knew how she looked, knew what would happen when people started to wake up and someone saw her. She couldn't deal with emergency services, not when she had no papers, no legal identity in this country, an accent (albeit mostly Australian). Not when a damn hospital couldn't do a bloody thing anyway, for her.

She needed to get back to her motel room. She had a first aid kit there, a cheap thing picked up from a CVS but she'd make do. Had to. Getting hurt was such a bitch when it did happen. She passed a bus stop, eyed the bench there longingly but no, keep walking. She wasn't even sure if she could die of exsanguination, not that she was bleeding that badly. Just, tired. Her thoughts were growing disjointed. She glanced up again at streaks of light in the sky as she turned a corner into a narrower street. Probably best to start avoiding busier ones, she decided.

Nursing was hell. Dina was only in her second semester and she was fairly sure she was going to die in a hospital. Granted, she'd be dying of exhaustion in the break room rather than in a bed herself, but that was a small comfort.

Ah well. Dina had made this decision and now she could deal with it. Sure a kid had thrown up on her today (Twice. The same kid.) but she was helping people. At least she hadn't gotten the bug that was rampaging through her practicum cohort.

With every step, Dina blessed her ugly nurse's shoes that were still comfortable after being on her feet all day. Scrubs were comfortable as hell and they came in cute patterns, so the dress code was definitely a perk. She shivered a bit in the evening breeze, pulling her arms deeper into the oversized hoodie she'd stolen from her brother. Mostly a perk.

Finally, Dina got to the part of her walk home she hated the most; when she turned off the main roads and walked the final three blocks to her apartment building. She didn't live in a bad neighborhood, but it was a bit run down and there were a lot of broken streetlights, and after all Dina was a 5' 2" black woman who certainly wasn't going to win any CrossFit medals. She was a nurse for crying out loud. If only cabs weren't so expensive.

Dina picked up her pace as she walked down the alleyway. Head up, shoulders back, walk like you know what you're doing, and no one will fuck with you. Her brother's words echoed in her head as she strode toward home. Once she got to her apartment, there would be a hot bath, and music, and Iphy and Timmy would climb on her lap and purr, and this gross walk and grosser day at work would all be a hazy memory.

She was so lost in her daydream of candles and Bride and Prejudice running in the background that she didn't see the splash of blue in the alleyway with her. She did hear the THUMP as that blue figure fell into a trash can. The smart thing would have been to sprint for home and leave the homeless guy or mugger or serial killer to fend for themself. Instead, Dina rushed over to the figure. "Oh my God, are you okay?"

As she knelt by the probable murderer she was relieved to see it was a young girl, probably a few years younger than her, which took the likelihood of getting murdered back down. Then Dina saw the blood spreading across the woman's dress, and her anxiety ratcheted [i]all[/] the way back up. There was a big, big difference between blood in the ER and blood in a dirty grungy alleyway with no direct light. "Okay, you're not okay, clearly not okay, um, okay. Come on sweetheart, let's take care of you, okay? Okay."

Iara opened her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings with more than a bit of confusion. She was in a narrow alley between two apartment buildings, empty but for a few trash cans and some assorted detritus. She furrowed her brows - what, how, where was she and why...

Her shoulder and arm were still aching, and as she looked down, took in the bloody mess that had been her dress. Looked around again. Fuck. It was no longer early-morning. It was no longer even day, really. She must have passed out walking back to her motel room, though apparently she'd at least had the sense to duck into an alley before doing so. Iara didn't remember that, which disturbed her, but well. At least she hadn't fucking fainted in the street, and at least no one had taken notice of her crumpled body during the day, which was certainly something to be thankful for.

She waited a while in the alleyway, breathing deeply and trying to clear her mind. It was growing dark again, evening, and fuck she'd somehow lost a day but okay, okay, she needed to get back to her room. Finally, with a sigh and a grimace, the woman pushed herself to her feet. She started to walk towards the entrance of the alley, but within a few steps she stumbled over some piece of trash, falling into a metal trash can with a loud thump.

"Fuck me," she muttered, a hint of a whine in her tone. She'd just braced herself to get off the trash receptacle when she heard a voice coming towards her. Fuck

She turned to get a better look at the woman approaching her with evident concern. Short, darker-skinned than herself, young, long hair. Her words, though, set Iara's hackles up. This was exactly the kind of situation she'd been trying to avoid. She pushed herself unsteadily to her feet and took a step back, away from the woman.

"I'm fine. I mean, I'm not, but. It's fine." she said. Her accent was evident, mostly Australian with just a hint of some other tongue in the pronunciation of certain vowels, if someone was paying attention. "Don't worry about it. I don't want a hospital or ambulance," she added, just to make herself perfectly clear. Hopefully the woman wouldn't be too insistent. She did not feel up to running away, not in her current state.

Legally, Dina knew that if someone declined medical care, all she could do was watch them trail blood away from her. Unless they passed out. She squinted at the girl. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but she didn't look like she was gonna pass out. If she was gonna refuse medical treatment, that was too bad.

"Listen," she said instead. "Clearly you just got mugged or stabbed or whatever, and I'm not gonna call the cops on you as long as you don't try to kill me, but I'm a nurse--" (mostly) "--and I can at least get you a change of clothes and" (Oh my God, she wasn't wearing shoes?? There was glass and garbage and who knows what in this alley, this was a nightmare)

"and some shoes, maybe? And maybe please some antibiotic, if you don't you might die, this alley is seriously gross, I live like a block away, please don't make me leave you here bleeding on the ground."

If this girl didn't agree, Dina was gonna have to come back out here with a first aid kit and take care of her once she passed out, which would mean being out even later, when maybe the area wasn't quite so empty. There was no way she was gonna leave her bleeding in an alley.

"No hospital, no ambulance, no cops," Dina concluded. "Just a change of clothes and maybe a bandaid? Please?"