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Medicine Man	By : Nicker Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 7405 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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“Listening.”

“Major Williams apparently, uh, stepped on some animal. We think it may have been poisonous.”

There was a short pause at the end of the line.

“Applied standard emergency medications?”

“Yes, she has her medkit,” Garrus replied, a bit lost. Ashley was suddenly very anxious, pulling one leg up to her chest, checking her injured foot. Her eyes were darting around, her moves nervous. She was starting to panic.
The wind picked up and blew steadily, the clouds moving fast ahead of the lightnings.

“Describe specimen,” Mordin said.

“Um, amphibian, vivid colors. Spikes.”

“Searching database. Will get back to you. Check major’s vital signs periodically.”

And then Mordin signed off.

Garrus knelt next to Ashley, trying to figure out what to do in a situation like this. It’s not like it was a wound or anything, not that he could help with that. Williams was obviously in distress, shivering. She was still wet. Suddenly her skin looked rough, full of tiny spots. He hesitantly reached out towards her naked shoulder to touch it.
“Is this normal?” he asked hesitantly.

Ashley snapped up, turning her head towards him. She looked at her shoulders.

“It’s just goosebumps,” she snorted impatiently. Garrus blinked. Ashley sighed. “Normal. It means I’m cold,” she added returning to the medkit, reading small leaflets, checking bottles, packing everything back in place and closing the lid. “Shit.” she whispered, resting her forehead on her knee, trying to calm down.
Garrus slid back, clueless about what to do. Human physiology was totally different from turian, he didn’t even know where to begin. Her skin felt cold, but that could be completely normal. Turians had a higher body temperature than humans, so he wouldn’t know.

“Shit shit shit,” Ashley muttered and scrambled for the blanket she used to lay on at the ledge. Garrus finally caught up and handed her the blanket. She promptly wrapped herself in it, pulled her legs up and folded her hands on her knees. Only her head was visible.
“Shouldn’t you dress up?” Garrus suggested.

“Yeah, yeah, I will. I just need a minute to dry off and pull myself together,” she sniffed. Dark circles started to appear around her eyes. Or maybe her face got paler. Or both.

“Um, Mordin said I should check your vital signs—” Garrus said. He tried to be helpful. “Can you describe?”

Ashley shot a glance at him. At first it was an angry stare again, but she quickly caught on and sighed. She closed her eyes to focus.

“Uh, anxiety, elevated heart rate, cold. Slightly feverish, I think. And stomach pains, I suppose.” she smiled weakly. “Or I’m just cold and nervous and panicking,” she chuckled. Her shivers were getting worse. It was better to rest her chin on her knees, she decided, snuggling deeper into the blankets.

The air was getting more humid by the minute. The rain was not far now.
A few minutes later Mordin reported in. “Found data. Cause for concern. Describe major's status.”

Garrus picked up the radio, and keeping an eye on Ashley, he started talking. He listed the things Ashley said, adding coughing to the mix as he spoke.

“Found 134 species of venomous amphibians in region,” Mordin said. “Assuming major took broad spectrum medication?”

“Yes. And cleaned the wounds as well.”

“Any sign of nausea or vomiting?” asked the salarian. At that precise moment Ashley started to gag and spasm, quickly rolling to the side and promptly threw up.

“Uh, I think we can safely say we’re there.”
“Broad spectrum medication slows down reaction but not enough. Need to see specimen. Can you bring sample and major down?”

“We wouldn’t make it before the storm even if she could walk. It’s getting worse. The— thing. We don’t have any sample of it.”

Silence.

“Problematic,” Mordin said. “Need to narrow down toxic agent to synthesize cure. Suggest keeping her warm. If vomiting continues try to hydrate. Meanwhile checking major’s medical history. Report if situation changes.”
Garrus acknowledged and put the radio down. He felt dumb, unable to do anything. He needed to be useful. He shuffled closer to the shivering Ashley, who shrunk deeper into the blanket. Now she was too exhausted to care about dressing up.

“Williams. How is it? Can you hold out? The storm is coming.” Ashley looked at him, blinking. Her eyes were getting red and she seemed dizzy.

“Huh? Sure. For what?”

“I’m going to grab our stuff and set up a shelter. We might be stuck here for a while.”

“Not going anywhere” she replied groggily. Seeing Garrus tilt his head, she involuntarily chuckled. He did look like a bird at that moment. “I’ll be fine.”
“Right.”

Garrus went to pick up their gear, hoarded them to the boulder where they were sitting. Within a few minutes, he found two dried branches that seemed strong enough to do the job and pulling out the canvas from Ashley’s backpack he made a makeshift roof over them at the foot of the boulder. He made sure it was secure and went back under it to check up on her. She just finished throwing up the rest of her lunch.

“How is it?”

“Peachy,” she croaked. “My foot burns.” She peeked her foot out from under the blanket. Garrus knelt down. Her feet was red, and definitely swollen up to her ankles. He had no idea what was normal for a human, though. The five fingers he could get used to. Down here, there were not many hard angles either. He tentatively held her foot in one clawed hand and reached for the other. He looked at her for permission. When she nodded he pulled away the blanket. “Oh.”
“What?”

“It’s definitely swollen. About twice the size. How bad is that?”

Ashley groaned. “Geez, Big Bird, what do you think?” she hissed as she tried to pull her leg away from him, which just made it hurt more. “I need to put something cold on it.”

Garrus started looking around.

“My shirt” Ashley suggested.
Garrus nodded, picked it up from the rock it was drying on and went to dip it in the pond. He was back quickly, carefully taking her leg and wrapping it around her foot. Ashley was still shivering, but it seemed she was holding up better for now. She looked on quietly as the turian neatly wrapped her foot in the wet t-shirt with his three-fingered, clawed hands. It felt nice. For once, it was not her taking care of her sisters, or a disinterested medic patching her up after a battle. She looked up at Garrus as he finished. He looked back.

“How are you?”

“I’m— It’s— better,” she stuttered. “Th-thank you,” she added whispering before she tore her gaze away and leaned her head back against the boulder.

And then the sky fell down.
There was a cold gush of wind before it, and then it started pouring. Garrus slipped under the canvas, sitting down next to Ashley.

“It’s cold,” Ashley said, her lips turning a darker shade of purple. Her face color definitely changed. “I think my fever is going up.”

Garrus nodded. He needs to tell Mordin. But first help her. He settled down next to her comfortably, and started to peel off the blanket.

“Garrus. What—?”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her to his side, before covering both of them up with the blanket.
“Oh” Ashley gasped. “So warm—” she sighed and immediately tried to shuffle closer to the turian.

Her body was definitely warmer than before, Garrus realized as she pressed herself to his side. He didn’t find this awkward, and doubted that Ashley would have cared even if she wasn’t sick. It made sense to do this. Holding her shoulder he marveled at how soft and squishy humans were. No wonder they needed those armors. Still. He saw Ashley take a couple of hits on the battlefield and she was really tough. Garrus wondered how is that even possible.
They sat quietly for a while, the rain pouring down, quickly turning everything to mud. The radio crackled again.
“Mordin here. What is the situation?”

“Her fever is rising. Her foot swollen to twice the size. She is not vomiting now. She trembles.”

“Lucidity?”

Garrus looked down at Ashley and realized that she was looking at him. He didn’t know for how long.

“I’m still here, doctor,” Ashley replied.

“Military record shows went through dextro-amino desensitization treatment, correct?”

“Y-yes.” she replied, blinking at Garrus, shaking her head in bafflement. “During training. We ate turian food and then threw up for a couple of days. Why?”
“Narrowed toxic agent down to 64 species. High possibility of slow-acting venom. Good news, yes?”

Garrus and Ashley looked at each other.

“I guess,” she replied, Garrus holding the radio up.

“Means we have some time before irreparable nerve damage. Possibly a few more hours.”

Ashley snorted, shifting under the blanket, clinging close to the warmth of the turian.

“How is that good news?”

“You are not dead yet, major.”

They waited for him to continue, before they realized that was the answer. It was unnerving.
“S-so what does this have to do with turian food?” Garrus asked, while Ashley stared at the radio speechless.

“Possibility that d-a desensitization slows down poison effect.”

“So what, I should eat some turian food?”

“Negative. Wouldn’t be effective. Food would pass through system fast without significant absorption.”

Ashley shuddered.

“However it is highly possible that inducing anaphylactic shock would flush system with inflammatory mediators and histamine that counteract venom.”
They froze. Ashley reached out to grab the radio, pushing herself away from Garrus to sit up. Pressing one hand on his chestplate, she looked into Garrus’s eyes scared. Garrus, however, was occupied with the soft touch of a five-fingered hand on his chest. This never happened before. Not this close anyway. And because she was feverish, her touch was warm. Almost like a turian’s.

“Isn’t that dangerous, doctor?” she said, her voice shaky. “I could die, right?”

“Counteragent is epinephrine. Found in every standard Alliance medkit. Once going into shock, administer epinephrine.”

“This is crazy, Mordin.”

“Agreed. However. Vakarian is trained in basic military first-aid. He can help.”
Garrus nodded reassuringly. “You know how it goes, Williams. We received similar trainings. I can do this.”

Still looking at Garrus with a frown, shivering from the cold, Ashley nodded, and spoke into the radio.

“Assuming it works, how do you propose I go into anaphylactic shock, Mordin?”

“Health records indicate no affinity for anaphylaxis, standard methods ineffective. Desensitization rules out dextro-amino food. Only alternative is ingesting high dosage of dextro-amino proteins. Most efficient agent to induce shock. Even if body repels most, rest will do the job.”
Garrus and Ashley exchanged baffled glances. Ashley started to speak.

“But where on earth are we supposed to get turian prot—” she froze, her eyes going wide, mouth open, a look of shock and disgust on her face.

It took a while for Garrus to catch up. He stiffened, sitting up suddenly. Ashley’s mouth opened into a silent “Nooo!” as she pulled away from the turian and wrapped herself tightly in the blankets. Mordin went on.

“Suggest rectal absorption. Quicker. More efficient. Gastro-intestinal digestion is good too.”
Ashley lost her voice. She sat there, staring at Garrus, paralyzed from the mere suggestion. Garrus carefully reached for the radio.

“Wh—” he gave up and let out a nervous chuckle. “I think we got the shock part down already, doctor. Let me get back to you in a few minutes.”

“Of course. Will be waiting.”

Garrus switched off the radio and stared into the pouring rain.
A couple of minutes passed. Ashley sat like a statue, well, a shivering statue, wrapped in blanket, feeling like she was violated.

“I had no idea— I mean I don’t— How would is even—” Garrus tried to formulate a thought that would be appropriate for the situation. He couldn’t.

Ashley’s shoulder slumped, she shrunk smaller into the blanket.

“I don’t believe this” she whispered.
Time passed quietly. The rain was still pouring heavily, darkness descending over the valley. It drummed loud on the canvas. After a while Garrus pulled out the camping lamps from their backpacks and switched them on. Ashley was sitting in the middle of the small shelter, shivering. Finally she started gagging again and leaned out into the rain to throw up again. It was mostly bile. She was gasping for air.
Garrus knelt up, trying to hold her shoulder, while her head got soaked by the tropical shower. She felt his claws on her and shrugged them away with an almost hysteric growl. She took deep breaths and crawled back under the canvas, hands muddy, and sat down pulling herself as small as possible under the blanket.
Garrus was also getting a bit cold. When he tried to sit next to the human and pull the blanket away to slip under it, she just glared at him. He didn’t want to upset her more, so he gave up. After the next retching episode, Ashley gave up and reached for the radio. Garrus politely gave it to her, and she snatched from his claws.

“Mordin.”

“Yes.”

“This solution is obviously not acceptable. What are my chances?”

“Mathematical. Taking more generic medication provides no significant delay. Status will deteriorate.”

“Are you sure?”

There was a polite snort at the other end of the line.

“Science rarely 100% sure. In case you survive the night, good chances for recovery. Except in case of nerve damage. Then full recovery is unlikely.”

“How do I know, Mordin?”

“Further symptoms are high fever, delirium, loss of nerve functions and irreversible nerve damage. Unavoidable.”
Ashley sighed, resting her forehead on her knees for a second. “I’ll take my chances.” She dropped the radio down, leaning back against the boulder.

“Come on, Ashley. At least let me keep you warm,” Garrus offered. Ashley shot a dark glance at him, all the more prominent because she was visibly getting worse. Cheeks flushed red, but her skin was pale and the circles around her eyes were getting darker. She had trouble staying still.

“No way, turian” she replied with some effort. “You’re just trying to get into my panties,” she chuckled painfully, sitting up again, hugging her knees under the blanket, rocking back and forth.

“Give me a break. It’s not like I was suggesting anything. I don’t even—” he stopped and fell quiet.

Ashley stopped rocking. She turned towards Garrus.
“Don’t even what, Garrus?” se croaked. She was visibly in pain. “Don’t even find me sexy? Is that it?”

“Hey, I just—”

“Something wrong with me? Didn’t you get a good look at me all week, huh?” she said with a quivering voice.

“No, It’s— I mean you’re not—”

Ashley started laughing. It was supposed to be a laugh, at least, but sounded more like sobs, clenching herself tighter by the end.

“I’m sorry, Garrus,” she said and looked at him with pain in her eyes. “Just kidding.”

Garrus relaxed, chuckling nervously at first. Then he imitated a headshot and splattering of brains with his hands. One of the few things Joker showed him. It worked better with five fingers though.
Ashley smiled sadly, trying to laugh, and then her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed. He caught her swiftly with one arm and reached for the radio.

“Mordin. She passed out. What now?”

“High fever. Need to cool her body down.”

“Cool down? You told me to keep her warm.”

“Does not work with high fever. Boils blood. Cooldown and keeping consciousness important. Not much time left to make choice, Vakarian. Prepared to make it for her?”

Garrus snorted in disdain. “I’m not gonna— while she— never mind!” he snapped, turning off the radio. He needed to act fast.
He unwrapped her from the blanket, and gathered her into his arms, walking out into the rain. He rushed to the pond and carefully walked into it. He remembered where it was shallow enough for him to be safe. The water was damn cold. He lowered the human into the lake, kneeling down, keeping her head above the water.
In a second, Williams was awake, drawing a shocked gasp, arms and legs flailing, her head going under. She wormed herself out from his arms and sunk like a rock. He reached under her arms and lifted her out quickly, standing up.

Ashley was blinking and gasping, trying to shake her head as she grabbed the turian’s arm for support. Her nipples stood out like little peaks from her sports bra, the fabric of her shorts and top clung wet to her body, almost transparent. She felt naked, too.
Pushing away from Garrus she tried walking away but her leg buckled under her. She fell into the mud at the shore of the pond, but Garrus lifted her up again carefully. She was like a soft, soaked ragdoll in the claws of a veiny, angular bird of prey. She was starting to hallucinate, Garrus’ features getting blurry, changing shape. She reached out towards his face with an open palm, wide-eyed, touching his deformed mandible.
Garrus was holding very still. There was this usually strong, hard human female warrior hanging from his arms, weak and helpless, a bunch of soft curves, much like the asaris, dark hair clinging to her head like seaweed, and she was touching his scar. He didn’t want to move or confuse her even more. It was strange, those gentle, feverish fingers tracing the lines of his face.
Her eyes were tearing up, and Garrus never felt this lost and confused in his whole life. What was this supposed to mean?

Ashley started crying, the strength running out from her and tried to grab his arms as she slid down. He caught her, and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her back to hold her close.

“I’m sorry,” Ashley sobbed, probably not speaking to him, but to some hallucination. He replied nonetheless.

“It’s okay, Ash. Let me take you back.”
He put her down under the canvas, wrapped her shivering form in the blanket and sat back watching her. He was trying to keep her talking, keep her cool by soaking her pants in the pond and putting it around her neck. She was telling him about her family but she kept loosing focus and switching between her sisters and her father. Soon she was retching again, shaking violently, nothing coming up. Her hands were muddy from trying to grab into the earth for support.
“Oh, fuck...” she groaned, shivering from the fever. She was a mess and she didn’t care any more. She pulled her hands out of the mud, shook most of it off and rolled back under the canvas, breathing heavily, resting her back against the still warm rock. She pulled up her legs and turned her head to look miserably at Garrus. She had trouble focusing on the turian, but she tried anyway.
“Fuck.” Pause. “Okay.” she sighed. She was trying to gather her strength. When she opened her eyes again, she seemed stronger. She turned her head towards Garrus and groaned like it hurt her to look at him. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
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Medicine Man