Legends of Amacia Attack on Tartarus
Chapter 30: Hannibal’s wounds

Hannibal’s wounds

Ten minutes after leaving the healing chamber, Enoch entered Hannibal’s quarters and laid him on the bed. Harry and Selina then assisted Enoch in removing Hannibal’s armor while Leila, Josephine, Emily, and Ana stood back, watching.

“Where do you want me to put the sword and scepter, Selina?” Ana asked.

“Put them on the weapons rack with the other weapons,” Selina answered, removing the Draken Gauntlets from Hannibal’s wrists. “It’s over there next to the closet.”

Ana quickly saw the rack and placed the sword and scepter with the Bane and Hellion. “I’ve never been this close to the Bane before,” Ana commented. “Just knowing Hannibal is the only one who can use it sends chills down my spine.”

“Is that really Grimm’s Bane?” Leila asked softly, not believing her eyes.

“It is,” Selina stated as she walked up to the rack, hanging the Draken Gauntlets on it. “And that’s really Beowulf’s sword, Hellion. Both were found in the armory here by Hanna before her restoration into Hannibal. Don’t you remember? He pulled the Hellion and unfolded Grimm’s Bane in your presence in this very room just before he went to Kartoom.” She quickly returned to the bed to help Enoch and Harry remove the armor.

“Oh, right,” Leila replied softly, suddenly recalling the incident and feeling embarrassed. “I can’t believe I forgot that. How could I forget that and remember stuff from before my wounding?”

“It’s quite all right,” Selina stated while helping to unbuckle Hannibal’s armor. “Don’t worry about it. At times, even I forget like that.”

“Most likely, Leila’s brain is still recalibrating,” Josephine suggested. “Because of the length of your stasis, your brain is slow to reopen memory pathways and sectors. That’s why you can’t remember much of your past, both from before and after your stasis. Once your brain fully recalibrates and recharges, you shouldn’t have trouble remembering. I give it a couple of days to a week before your memory gets back to working normally, Leila.”

“I agree,” Ana concurred. “Your stasis was unprecedented in its length, Leila. It’s a miracle you even remember who you are. Chances are your brain is still rebooting. Once it gets back to working properly, remembering things both short and long-term will not be a problem. Just be patient. We’ll help you out.”

“I appreciate the kind words and support,” Leila said softly, feeling her embarrassment lifting slightly. “I must admit that my mind is still a bit jumbled and disjointed, but it’s getting better. Still, it’s aggravating to not be able to put things together like I used to.”

“I’m sure it is,” Ana replied sympathetically, putting her organic hand on Leila’s shoulder. “Just don’t let it make you mad. You’ll work it out. You’ll see. I promise, and if you ever replace yourself needing help to straighten out that jumble in your mind, don’t hesitate to ask any of us. It’s what we’re here for, sister.”

“Thank you,” Leila answered gratefully. “I might take you up on that.”

“Anytime,” Ana chimed, smiling warmly at Leila before turning her worried eye to Hannibal as Enoch and Harry proceeded to physically remove Hannibal’s torso armor. “How bad is it, Enoch?” she asked, very concerned about the amount of blood she saw on Hannibal.

“This doesn’t look good at all,” Enoch commented after he and Harry removed Hannibal’s torso armor and chain mail, tossing it on the floor. “A good portion of the blood we’re seeing here is Hannibal’s blood. He has numerous deep lacerations and burns that are starting to fester.” Seeing the Caverias and Griffin Seals hanging around Hannibal’s neck, he removed them, setting them aside with the armor.

“I see that,” Harry stated, picking up the Caverias and Griffin Seals with the removed armor. “Josephine, can you come over and scan him to make sure he doesn’t have any significant internal injuries?” He then sat the armor in the corner and the Seals on Hannibal’s dresser.

“Of course,” Josephine answered, moving quickly to the bed as Selina and Enoch gently laid Hannibal down. She leaned over, scanning Hannibal with her cybernetic eye. “This isn’t good,” she declared, “But it could be much worse. He’s lost a fair amount of blood from the lacerations, and the burns need attention. Fortunately, even though the lacerations are deep, they didn’t hit anything vital. Miss Kida, you should go get the doctors, preferably Dr. Bishop since she’s had the most experience with Hannibal.”

“Right,” Kida answered, rushing out on a mission.

“Are you capable of using your healing touch on him, Ana?” Selina asked urgently.

“I’m afraid not,” Ana admitted wearily. “I truly wish I could. I just don’t have the energy to help. I used up my energy reserves healing the team, including him and this young lady. I barely have the strength to keep standing here. If I’m not careful, my cybernetics may go into emergency shutdown to keep me alive. As long as I don’t do anything strenuous right now, I think I can avoid that.”

“It’s quite all right,” Selina replied knowingly, “We understand. You should go take care of those low energy reserves right away, Ana. Hannibal would insist on it.”

“I know he would,” Ana agreed, “But I’m not leaving him. He came back for me in the transport when I couldn’t climb out because of my depleted energy reserves. He saved my life. I owe him this much.”

“Okay, but if you start feeling like you’re going to shut down, say something so we can get you some help,” Selina insisted.

“Yes, ma’am,” Ana replied wearily. “But I’m okay for now. After we replace out how bad off Hannibal is, I promise to go get fixed up.”

“All right, Ana,” Selina replied with a sober, concerned look. “Harry, get some clean towels so we can start cleaning the wounds.”

“Right,” Harry answered, darting for the bathroom.

Emily inched up to the bed, concern all over her face. “Is he...?” she asked, fearful to even finish the question as she stood there, hands clasp in front of her chest.

“No Emily,” Selina stated plainly. “He’s not dead, but he has lost a lot of blood according to Josephine. We have to stop the bleeding. ” Harry rushed back and tossed the towels on the bed. Selina picked one up and pressed on the wounds with it. Enoch did likewise as did Harry and Josephine.

Ana stood by Emily and watched as Selina, Enoch, Josephine, and Harry worked to clean the wounds and stop the bleeding. Leila rolled her wheelchair up beside Emily and watched as well, touching her on the hand, saying, “He’ll be all right, little one. You’ll see. He is much stronger and resilient than he looks.”

Moments later, Kida returned with Arabella, Naomi, Joshua, and Thomas. Arabella quickly moved in with Naomi and Joshua, climbing on the bed, saying, “All right, let’s see it.” Hannibal’s shirt was bloody and torn, as were the legs of his trousers. “All right, everyone out except for Selina, Harry, Naomi, and Josephine,” she barked as she went into her bag, putting on some latex surgical gloves. She then handed out pairs of the surgical gloves to Harry, Selina, and Naomi. Enoch got up and shooed everyone out. He and Kida then took Emily to get some clothes after Enoch cleaned up from treating Hannibal’s wounds. Looking up at Josephine, Arabella said, “I’m sorry I don’t have gloves for someone your size, but you can be of use. Do you have the ability to sterilize those machine hands of yours?”

“Absolutely,” Josephine stated, “In fact, I sterilized them before I put them on Hannibal.”

“Excellent,” Arabella chimed. “Okay people, let’s get to work. It looks like Hannibal made a mess of himself again.”

“It does indeed,” Selina agreed. “Are we going to have to put stitches in some of these lacerations?”

“Yes,” Arabella stated, surveying Hannibal’s wounded form. “Josephine, where would you suggest we start?”

“Start with the deepest lacerations first,” Josephine stated. “These ones on his side are particularly troubling. We need to deal with them immediately.”

“Just my thoughts too,” Arabella replied with a smile. “How are your medical skills, Josephine?”

“Please, call me Jo,” Josephine begged. “As for my medical skills, they’re comparable to Nemesis’ skills. The nano-machines that make up my cybernetic arms are capable to doing practically anything.”

“In that case, I’ll let you treat him and the rest of us will assist you,” Arabella stated. “Just let us know what you need.”

“You honor me, doctor,” Josephine said humbly. “First, we need to get his shirt and trousers off so we can get to the wounds unimpeded. Harry, go get us some water in a large bowl so we can clean the wounds.”

“Got it,” Harry replied, fetching a large bowl of water from the bathroom while Selina, Arabella, and Naomi undressed Hannibal down to his undershorts.

“Okay, let’s stitch our friend back together,” Josephine stated as Harry returned with the water.