Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Way Out is Through ❯ Waste ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

I do not own Evangelion.




The Way Out is Through
By Ovrboost

“Mien Gott…”

“Asuka?” she didn’t answer. She stood in the doorway, silently staring at the scene.

So much blood… Yuriy’s voice seemed strangely muted, far away, and not quite reaching her.

“Asuka!” her head jerked in his direction, eyes finally clear and focused. Seeing he finally had her attention, he motioned to the other body laying on the floor, still bleeding out. “Wanna give me a hand?”

“Uh… yea…” she said as she stepped around the mess that Yuriy was working on, toward the female. The girl was completely naked, her torn, and savagely ripped clothing lay in tatters by her side, soaking in the spreading pool of crimson. “What… What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to--”

“Papa?” came Svetlana’s small voice from the doorway, aid kit in hand. Her wide eyes looked so innocent, as they took in the carnage before her.

“Oh God…” Yuriy breathed the words. “Asuka, check for her pulse.” He said glancing quickly back in Asuka‘s direction. “Svetlana, give me the pack…” his daughter just stood there, frozen to the spot. “Svetlana!” She blinked. “The pack, honey… give it to me.”

“She’s alive, Yuriy, but it’s… her pulse is kinda weak.” she glanced up, and watched as Yuriy whispered something into his daughter’s ear, taking the pack from her hand. He turned her around, and gave her a gentle push out of the room.

“Okay… check for an exit wound.” he said to her, as he desperately tried to assess the dying man before him. “Turn her over… gently.” Okay Yuriy… you can do this. He’s still breathing. Two gunshot wounds, One to the shoulder, and one to the chest… Priorities. He looked to the chest wound, just above, and slightly to the right of the nipple, and saw small bubbles foaming around the wound. Tension Pnemothorax. Need to do a needle decompression, probably a chest tube. He reached for the pack.

“Okay, Yuriy… theres one in the small of her back… Jesus…”

“Alright, Asuka… Stay calm. Here’s what I need you to do. Grab some--” He was interrupted by a loud gasping sound, as the body beneath him arched it’s back slightly, struggling to draw in air. The gurgling, raspy sound immediately drew Yuriy’s attention. At the apex of the breath, the body suddenly collapsed back to the floor, a wet splotching sound preceded the drawn out release of breath. “Fuck.” Yuriy pressed two fingers to his patient’s neck, confirming his fears. “God damn it...” Yuriy muttered as he threw his leg over the body, and straddled him. He’s lost a lot of blood… As he began chest compressions, he could feel, and hear the muted pops of the breaking ribs… a sensation he had never managed to get used to. He paused, tilted the head back, and breathed into the lifeless body. He tossed the pack to Asuka. “Grab the IV bag, needle, and drip kit outta there. Keep an eye on her,” he nodded towards the injured girl, “if she starts to crash, do what I’m doing now.” He paused again, to administer another breath. “Make that two needles, and a pair of gloves….” Again, he checked for a pulse. God damn it… Come on… “Here…” he said, “Take over for me.” She did as she was told, straddling the young man’s body, putting her hands to his chest.

“He’s gonna die isn’t he.”

“No Asuka, like this.” He said, adjusting her hands, before tearing the needle from its packaging. “I don’t know if he’s gonna die, or not, but… fuck.” I blew a vein. Jesus Christ, old man, concentrate. “We’re gonna do the best we can.” A hurried moment passed. Finally! He adjusted the roll lock on the drip tube, and squeezed hard on the bag of saline, holding it above his head.

“Wait..” she said excitedly, the adrenaline rushing through her veins. “I think I got a pulse!”

“You do?” She nodded. “Great!” He quickly double checked, and nodded his approval. “Okay, you can get off him now.” he said, with a slight grin. He was in his element, this was what he had lived for. When he worked as the town’s only doctor, he hadn’t had many chances of treating trauma patients, as he had during his internship in Moscow. He almost missed it… almost.

He handed over two clear packages to her. “Here are a couple of chest seals. Peal off the backing, and put it over the center of the chest wound, on both sides… Once you’re done with that, put pressure on that shoulder wound. And for god sakes, keep an eye on his airway. I’m gonna check on her.”

“Yea… Okay” she said, eyeing the packages in her hand.

“Shit… Liver, possibly spleen…” Probably more… “Asuka, we got to get these two the clinic, and soon.” Another gurgling sound issued from the male patient, effectively underlining Yuriy’s assessment. “Tilt his head back!”

“Yuriy, we need stretchers.” Asuka intoned, as she tilted the young man’s head back. Poor bastard kinda looks like commander Ik…

“No, what we need is a fucking ambulance… But yea a stretcher would be nice.” He spoke with his back to her, as he did what he could, with what he was given. Which wasn’t much. “Moving her too much will probably kill her, but we don’t have much choice.” He leaned back on his ankles, quickly surveying the situation. “Asuka…” he said, looking at her from over his shoulder. “You’ll have to carry her.”

“But you just said that…”

“I know what I said. But it’s the best chance she’s… they got.” He continued his work on the stricken female beneath him, as he talked. “Listen, a person can survive with a sucking chest wound for awhile. But if you have a liver injury, with a possi- probable spleen rupture, like this poor girl, you’re a little limited on time. I’m gonna have to open her up, and I can‘t do that here…” Yuriy checked her slow, weak pulse one last time, with a slight shake of the head, before rising. “Lets move Asuka, there is not much time… be gentle.” She glared at him, but silently complied.

Yuriy already had the young man carefully perched upon his shoulders, in a fireman’s carry, IV bag clenched between his teeth. Asuka was having a hard time, as her right arm immediately gave out when confronted with the dead weight, dropping the girl like a sack of bricks, which had earned her a harsh admonishment from her companion. Using her other, less dominant, but stronger arm, she soon had her burden upon her back. On the way out of the blood soaked house, Yuriy mumbled for Svetlana to follow.

The sensation of having someone else’s blood soaking through her shirt, and running down her back nearly sent Asuka over the edge. It was bad enough that she had to carry the living corpse all the way to the clinic, let alone get bled all over. This girl is probably already dead, she just doesn’t know it yet…

“Okay, set her on the table. Gently!” Asuka complied, only to have her right arm once again fail her. The poor girl’s head rebounded off the steel table with a hollow, muted clang. “God damn it!” Asuka cringed at his sharp words. “What the fuck Asuka, are you trying to kill her?!” He laid his charge out on another table, beside the other, before hurrying over to check.

“I.. I can’t fucking help it Yuriy.” Asuka’s voiced cracked slightly, as she backed out of his way. He glared at her for a moment, taking her burning eyes into his own. She didn’t back down.

“Alright Asuka.” he breathed out, briefly closing his eyes. “ I’m going to need you to assist. Think you can manage?”

“Yeah.” she replied, with her bottom lip curled slightly over her teeth, “I think I can manage.” Her tone of voice served to relate her aggravation, as she glared back at the older man.

“Good. Hang another bag, and put some gloves on.” He said, breaking her gaze, and picking up the scalpel from a nearby tray. “Svetlana, honey I need you to keep an eye on the young man on that table, while me an Asuka try to help this girl. Okay honey?” His voice was noticeably softer, more reassuring, as he spoke to his daughter. The little girl nodded to her father in response, before taking her place beside the young man. He looked to Asuka, standing opposite him. “Ready?” he asked, the scalpel gleaming in the artificial light provided by a small lantern. She nodded, and he began to cut.

“Jesus…” She breathed the words, as she watched him slice the girl from sternum to belly button in abject horror. When he peeled the flesh apart, exposing the decimated organs within, she felt a cold sweat coming on. She tried not to throw up.

“Calm down Asuka, soak up some of that blood with the gauze.”

“Yeah…” She choked out, biting back the acrid taste forming in the back of her throat.

“Damn it… clamps.” There was a muted scraping of metal as she grabbed the required instrument off of the steel tray. The clamps clicked into place. “When you get shot, air is sucked in behind the projectile causing a kind of cavitation effect within the body.” He explained with clinical detachment. “More Gauze, Asuka… And it tends to tear organs to shreds…” he gently held up the tattered liver to prove his point. “Bigger the projectile… well, you get the idea… How is he, Svetlana?” he asked, switching languages mid-stride.

“Fine papa.”

“You’re doin real good, honey. Real good.” he reassured her with a gentle voice, as he tried to sort out the gore before him. “Looks like I was right about the spleen… The stomach is lacerated too… Another set of clamps, Asuka.”

“Here…” Another muted series of clicks followed, as they were put in place.

“We’re going to have to remove part of her liver… possibly her spleen too if I can’t reconnect those arteries…” Asuka couldn’t decide if he was talking for her benefit, or his own. “Gauze, Asuka… Come on.” She complied, pulling out the soaked gauze, creating dotted trails of freshly dripped blood marking their path along the already blood-smeared abdomen towards the small tray where the growing pile of used gauze continued to grow. “Okay, I’ve stopped the bleeding… Hand me the suture kit.”

“Where is it?”

“On the counter, behind you.” he said, rechecking the organs for more hemorrhaging.

“They’re all in Russian, I can’t read it.” Asuka called from across the room.

“Alright. Watch her, I’ll get it.” Asuka walked back over to the makeshift operating table, while Yuriy made his way towards the cabinets. She watched his back silently, as he searched through several cabinets, finally grasping onto the plastic container that housed the suture kit, and turning around. He caught her gaze, which she broke when their eyes met.

Asuka was looking towards the far wall, anything but the mess below her, or the man across from her. She was startled by the sudden rattle of the suture kit, as it hit the floor.

“God damn it!”

Huh? was Asuka’s only thought, as she spun her head around just in time to see Yuriy shove two fingers of his bloodied glove up against his patient’s throat. Glancing quickly back down to the opening in the girl’s abdomen, she saw that the organ’s within were half immersed in blood. She was bleeding again.

“Weren’t you watching?! Were you even fuckin’ paying attention?!” he roared at Asuka.

“I… yes, but… I mean…” she stumbled over her words, as he began chest compressions. His glare silenced her immediately. The look in his eyes scared her, accused her, and made her feel incredibly, impossibly small.

“Asuka” he growled, “Take over for a minute.”

“O..okay.” she said, still shell shocked. Yuriy paused a moment, to ensure she was indeed doing it right, before bolting to a nearby cabinet. He smashed the glass, grabbing a small bottle, and a syringe from the shelf. He jabbed the needle into the bottle’s top, and pulled the plunger back, filling the syringe with a clear liquid. Yuriy flicked the bubbles out, as he quickly strode back to his patient’s side, where he administered the shot.

“Keep going, I need to stop this bleeding.” Yuriy said, keeping his voice remarkably calm. The handful of gauze he used to soak up the pooling blood quickly became saturated, and he threw it to the floor. Two more handfuls later, and he had a clear view of the hemorrhage. The clamped artery leading to the shredded spleen had torn open. She’s lost too much… God damn it all, she’s lost too much. They both became lost in the frenzied attempt to restart the girl’s heart. It was a valiant attempt. Futile, but valiant.

“Yuriy…. It’s been twenty minutes.” Asuka said, tiredly. Both of her arms felt incredibly heavy, regardless of the fact that they had switched out ten minutes prior. He kept going. “Yuriy.” Her voice was soft, tired. He didn’t acknowledge her. Asuka watched him battle the gods for a few moments longer, before trying again, a bit louder. She knew he had heard him. His shoulders slumped, and his face fell towards the floor, but his hands remained clasped together upon her chest. His defeated sigh made her feel hollow. Slowly, reluctantly, he removed his hands from the young woman’s chest, releasing her to the cold grip of death.

What a waste… His thoughts were interrupted by Asuka, who had produced a white sheet, and was slowly pulling it up, and over the body of someone who should be very much alive. Should be, God we were so close... Yuriy couldn’t help but stare at the white sheet, as crimson soaked through. He stared at the second patient, in a career that had spanned well over a decade, almost two, to die under his care. In the periphery of his downcast eyes, Yuriy followed Asuka, as she walked around the table towards him. For a moment, he could almost believe, almost pretend it was his wife. Thus reminding him of the first patient. He felt a slender hand rest upon his shoulder, and he sighed.

“Papa? What’s wrong?” Her worried face looked so innocent, so pure. Almost angelic.

“Nothing, honey… Go on back out to the lobby, I‘ll be there in a sec.” The latex gloves snapped, as he pulled them off his fingers. “Svetlana?” he called out, stopping her at the doorway. He looked up, and into her small face. “I love you.” she smiled brightly, the type of smile only a child can produce, before it gets lost somewhere in the trappings of age. He could only produce the ghost of a smile.

“I love you too, papa.” she flashed that heart-stopping smile once more, before disappearing into the hall.

“You okay?” Asuka asked, her voice low, almost a whisper.

“Yeah…” he breathed, running a hand through his beard. “Lets finish up on him, before somebody else dies today.”

After having completely stabilized the stricken young man, Yuriy quietly left the room, leaving Asuka in the room to clean him up some. The pressure bandage on the shoulder had soaked through, and was dripping slowly onto the stainless steel examination table, where the blood pooled momentarily before continuing its journey towards the growing pool on the floor. Asuka tore open a new package of gauze, dabbing a piece in some diluted alcohol, and began to clean away the drying blood. She worked the gauze tenderly around the chest tube, which at one point, had spilt a large quantity of blood out from his chest cavity, and onto the floor. Watching that procedure had sent cold chills down her spine.

She began working on the blood splattered chest, switching out the crimson cotton pad, for another. This man wasn’t particularly muscular, very thin, almost feminine in stature. If not for the long hair, and lack of glasses… I’d swear I was looking at the commander as a twenty year old… maybe even twenty… one…. She stopped her work momentarily, to gaze at his face. Ikari… Heh, wouldn’t that be a laugh. She shook her head slightly, chuckling at the absurdity of her thoughts. Then she started to gently run the pad over his face, having to scrub at a a stubborn speck of dried blood on his cheek. Something caught her eye, and she stopped. Slowly, she drew her hand away, and gazed down at his face for a long moment. Seemingly of it‘s own volition, her right arm reached out, and gently cupped his jaw within the palm of her hand, sliding it slowly back towards her. Her fingertips lingered at the chin.

“Asuka.” Yuriy’s voice startled her, and she jerked around to face him. He almost smiled. “Finished?”

“Um… uh, yea.” She collected the gauze, and threw it into a nearby trash bin. “How’s Svetlana taking everything?”

“As well as can be expected, I guess… Children ought not have to see such things.” He took a deep breathe, letting it out slowly. “How’s his pulse?”

“Slow… but it’s stronger than what it was.”

“Good… You mind giving me a hand? I need to close the incision, and clean up this poor girl.” He suddenly sounded incredibly tired.

“Are you serious?” she asked incredulously, “Why bother, she’s… dead.” It was more of a statement than a question. His glare almost made her feel guilty. Almost.

“Because Asuka, it’s the right thing to do.” He sighed through his nose, before continuing. “If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. I can do it myself.”

“No… I’ll help, but…” She looked to the floor, where the two pools of deep crimson had met, between the beds they had originated from. The sight caused a few goose bumps to rise on Asuka’s neck. “…I’ll help.”

Overall it was a hell of a way to spend an afternoon. At least, that’s the way Asuka felt about it, as she set her shovel against the tree. The sun had burnt away the overcast sky around the time they had started digging, The beautiful blue sky seamed out of place to her eyes. How, she had wondered; can such a horrible moment have such beautiful weather? It just didn’t seem right.

“It is done.” said Yuriy, as he set a large stone at the head of the grave. He stood straight, and looked over towards Asuka, still in the blood stained clothes from earlier.

“Yea” she breathed out the words, looking towards the sun, hanging low on the horizon. “Should…Should we say something?” He didn’t reply, instead he just stared at the freshly churned dirt at his feet. After a long moment he finally spoke.

“I’m no minister.”

“So… that’s it then?”

“Yea.”

“Okay.” said Asuka, in a helpless voice. She gestured uselessly towards Yuriy, letting her hand slap against her leg as it fell. She couldn’t help it. She could feel her eyes fill, threatening to spill over. God, she pleaded; what’s… what… she sighed, picking up the shovel. What am I supposed to fucking do? Her back turned from her companion, as she walked back towards the house. Asuka felt the hot liquid roll quickly down her face. I hate this.

Yuriy watched her leave, sighing through his nose when she tossed the shovel into the dirt beside the door, and walked inside the house. Once again, he looked to the grave. He made a clicking sound with his mouth, as he grabbed up the pick axe. He took a step towards the small shed they had retrieved the tools from, when he stopped. “I’m sorry.” Looking down, he saw a solitary flower growing up against the tree. With a half smile, he knelt, and plucked the small flower from the ground. Yuriy twirled it with his fingers, gazing at, almost hypnotized. Standing, he tossed the yellow flower at the foot of the headstone, before walking off. A cool breeze kicked up out of the west, rustling the leaves in the tree.




A/N: Not much to say. I’m back from leave, I re-edited Ch 1, check it out if ya want to. I know this one is short, but I feel it was the best place to end it. Sorry for the wait, and if I offended anyone a chapter or two ago. ‘Shrugs’ It wasn’t intended. Thanks for reading, ~Rob