"Through and through. Missed the artery, but she's still bleeding too heavily." Thalia dug into the med kit and pulled out what looked like gauze packed in a sealed bag. "Combat gauze. It'll help clot." She looked at me. "This is going to hurt."
"Everything hurts. Just do it."
She wasn't gentle — couldn't afford to be. She packed the entry wound first, stuffing the gauze deep into the hole, and I screamed into Fao's shoulder. Then the exit wound, even worse because it was bigger, messier. By the time she was done, I was shaking and crying and barely conscious.
"That'll hold her for now," Thalia said, wrapping a pressure bandage tight around my thigh. "But she needs proper treatment. The wound needs to be cleaned before Fao can heal it, or we risk sealing infection inside."
"What do you
