What's Beyond the Trees?

Chapter 7 Surgery Time

Raine's POV

I take a look around and there is plenty of light to see, but also lot's of heat to feel with it being late morning. I stand up and opening the little windows while grabbing the first aid kits and towels. I strip my shirt off and lay it down besides me just showing the white spaghetti strap shirt I have on under my button up.. I know it's going to get messy so I don't want to ruin my work shirt that I have only had for a little bit. I kneel down next to the motionless lump of fur on the floor.. I check again to make sure he is breathing and luckily he still is.. That's a good start.

I roll the bear onto his back as I check out what wounds he might have on his stomach.. That's the area where I know some crutial wounds that need extra attention are, so that's where I will start and move around his body from there.. I see blood, dried and fresh, but with his thick fur it's hard to see where the main sources of the blood is coming from. First thing that needs to get taken care of is clean up to see the damage at hand, so I jump up looking around the storage room for anything that could hold water.. I see a small bucket on a shelf so I reach up quickly grabbing what I need to really start this.. I take a bucket and run down to the river, filling it with as much water as I can.. Once I get back I take the rag soaking it as I clean off his wounds, trying to see how bad the damage really is.

A knife or dagger was used to stab him.. it doesn't look like it goes very deep and the wound itself isn't huge so it should be easier to stitch up. I don't have stitches obviously, so I have to use the needle and thread to sew it up. I take out the needle with the thread already attached like most sewing kits do. I knot the end as I let out a deep breath, looking down to notice that the needle is shaking in my hold.. This isn't even the scariest part, so I can't let all this action and adrenaline get to me.

I know it's just a bear that I have no prior relationship with, but to me it's a type of redemption for the family I wasn't able to save years ago.. It won't bring them back but it will help with a type of peace of mind.. My family was killed off and with my father's last words he commanded Orion to take me and protect me at all costs.. I had to watch my family I loved so much, die in from of me with nothing to do to save them.. But I took some classes in hopes that if anything else were to happen in the future, that I might be able to help the ones in need.. But since we moved from place to place, not staying too long, I wasn't able to do the schooling I wanted to be a doctor.. But I take what I can get by taking multiple classes here and there to learn what I can.

I let out my deep breathe as I push the tip of the needle through the soft skin, sending a chill down my spine that I never expected. I make the needle go from one side to the next pulling the two pieces of skin together with the thin thread as I cringe to myself, just hating this but knowing at that moment I'm helping. I get to the end of this quicker than expected as I tie a knot at that end of the thread, cutting the end and standing up without hesitation. I head outside to give myself a breath of fresh air to help calm my lungs and heart at that mind-blowing moment.

I have done plenty of trainings.. but training and doing, are two completely different things and it was rough to say the least.. But I have to appreciate the fact that I did it and it worked.. that's a step in the right direction. I nod to myself liking that self-encouragement before turning around to continue this. I kneel back down beside him, looking at the hole in his side with the bullet.. I don't know much about bullet wounds, but from what I have seen in a ton of movies is that I have to remove the bullet first.

So I take the tweezers that are in the first aid box, holding them tight into my grip. I suck in a sharp breath before letting it back out, then reaching into this hole that probably only a couple inches deep, but feels like the Alice in wonderland hole that she drops into... feeling almost endless.. I reach all around trying to just feel it and nothing.. I reach in deeper than before moving the tweezers around in a circle just hoping to bump the tip of this into it. I dig deeper for the buried treasure with my eyes squinting closed as my jaw clenches tight, hating how everything feels and smells. This whole situation got too real, too quickly and man it's overwhelming.. But if I don't do this then who will.

I feel the tip of the tweezers brush up on something hard as my eyes fly open just excited I have made some type of contact with something. I let out a deep breath as I try to grip it into the tweezers hold.. This is nothing that the game of operation can prepare you for.. Each movement I make doesn't create a buzzing sound but creates more blood that I have to pool through just to try to access this obstacle that's in the way of this poor being healing properly. I finally get hold of whatever this is, just hoping when I pull it out that it will be the bullet I have been searching so hard for.

I know I haven't been doing this for a long time but somehow it feels like an eternity, but I think that my mind is getting the best of me in this hard situation.. I stare down intently at the squished up item between the tips of the tweezers, dropping it on the floor to the side of me as I drip water over it, trying to wash off all the deep red blood covering it completely, to try to confirm what this is, before I sew him up.

The blood washes off as I see the metal bit that's bunched together by the impact with his muscle-filled body.. I let out a sigh of relief at the thought that I actually got it and on my own. "F*ck Yes!" I congratulate myself, feeling good about all this. I take more water onto the rag and cleaning the wound off before grabbing the needle and thread once more. I have to practically pump myself up for this because this time, I know what to expect and I hated the feeling of pushing the needle through the skin the first time. Just that thought alone, gets my skin crawling.

But I have to keep telling myself if I don't then he will die.. I nod to myself as I let out a deep breath, tying the end of the string and trying to pretend I'm sewing together two pieces of cloth like I have done plenty of times before. It works at first until I see the blood still coming through and feeling how soft everything is, making me feel almost nauseous at the texture. I take a couple deep breathes while pushing the needle back and forth through the skin, just pulling the thread tight, securing this action to make sure I don't have to do this again.. So I have to do it right the first time.

I keep this going until I feel like the wound is sealed up enough so I can tear myself from this stressful situation, going back outside for another breath of fresh air.. F*ck fresh air right now, I need to smoke some weed after that. That was intense and I'm not done just yet. I suck in a deep breath as I bend down breathing it out slowly, calming my body before I throw up after all that.. It was overwhelming to all my senses to say the least and believe me it was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life.. In a good and bad way.. I'm scarred for life just like this bear will be.

I instinctively wipe my hand off on my shirt as I realize this poor white spaghetti strap that I have had with me for years is forever tainted with the blood stains of my patient I can hopefully save. This is something I will obviously not be holding onto after I'm done with all this.. That even includes my poor pants too.. I didn't think about that.. So hopefully Shayne won't be mad at me when I ask for a replacement pants, because there is no way I'm wearing these after all this.. But as soon as I can I will be running inside and getting rid of my clothing and changing into something better.. cleaner.. after a long shower of course.. I can't wait.

I turn around and head back into the shed or operation room, as I should say.. cleaning off the rest of his stomach making sure I didn't miss anything.. There are plenty of little cuts, that don't need stitching, but at least cleaned. So I take the rag and cleaning every last little cut off. I see multiple scars that are healed over from other battles.. But by how big they are. I can't help but slide my fingertips over each scar, staring at every last bit.. The only thing I could think of that would make this much damage, would be another bear or wolves and that's a scary thought in itself.

I slowly turn his huge body over inch by inch, looking at every last bit, trying to make sure I clean everything up so hopefully this guy won't have an infection to deal with on his own. I keep finding little scratches I can clean up here and there. That is until I get to his back and the scratches on his back look.. unbearbale.. But this looks like the size of the scars that he has healed up.. So does that mean that he was not only attacked by poachers but also wolves or bears? That's so sad.. This poor guy.. I wonder why they would be coming after something so beautiful.

I have never seen a bear so close up and luckily I can see this beautiful specimen because he is subdued, so this is an enchanting moment for myself. I can't help but run my hands through his fur as I stare at just the enormous size of him.. I'm so happy he is not awake because he would probably kill me for the pain I would be causing him in this long moment together. I can keep hearing his deep breathing, showing me he is still alive, just enduring the pain.. But the pain is probably what saved him, because it looks like his body has shut down from the pain to try to help him heal and right now, rest is what he really needs.

I take the wash cloth, dipping it back into the water just to ring it out as I softly drape it over his back, gently cleaning every last bit of dried blood off.. He has big long cuts on his back all parallel to each other, showing his claws. I keep cleaning until they look good, but luckily for me and probably him, they're not deep enough for stitches. I just put gauze across it and tape it up just hoping it will stay there and the bear won't mess with it.

When I finally finish this very long process, I find out it's late afternoon.. I didn't think that much time had passed.. It's crazy how time just flies by when you're getting completely scarred for life mentally by something like this. I never even noticed it was as if I was stuck in my own type of time warp, letting time either slow down or stop completely around me as I continued on my personal mission.

I slowly clean up most of my mess, setting it up and to the side.. just making sure it's out of the way. I sit back down on the floor next to this lifeless body as I let out a deep breath.

"Is everything alright?" Orion asks startling me as I jump up and staring at him. He throws his hands up in surrender, showing me it's just him as I nod and reply. "Yeah I just finished and successfully removed the bullet and sewed him up before cleaning everything off.." I say almost sounding out of breath as I sit back and try to relax, even if it's just for a moment.

"That's great to hear.. just try to give yourself a moment to relax and I'll go to our room and grab you something to change into." I smile and nod as I lay my head back against the wall, stretching out, just enjoying the nice cooling air that chills straight through me, helping cool myself off with the nice autumn air. You can feel there is a cold front heading in and to say I have been asking for it is a complete understatement.. This is my favorite time of year because I love this weather, it is very calming. I feel my eyes closing as I keep taking in deep breathes, relaxing for this small moment, just giving myself an internal celebration and reward. Before I even know it, I have let the exhaustion from the adrenaline and long hike consume into this much needed rest.