Black Market Merchant

"I can help him." Lisa continued passing through the small crowd towards the sailors carrying the injured man. She held up her medical kit. "I have anti-infection solutions."

"Lisa!" Sadie hissed at her, while weaving around the crowd. "Even I know those are expensive. You don't even know the guy!"

"True but take every opportunity you can. This could have its benefits." Lisa replied. Though she herself knew this was likely a bad idea.

"Oh wonderful!" The Captain replied following behind the stretcher coming off the sailboat. "I was worried that we wouldn't find someone with medicine so quickly. He’s in a dangerous position."

Lisa came up to them as the sailors put down the stretcher. Lisa knelt beside the injured man and opened her medical kit. From inside she pulled out a wrapper, containing a single use pair of sterile medical use rated nylon gloves. Since she didn't have an appropriate sink or soap to wash her hands, this was the best option for her to take in this situation.

Taking one look at the wound on the shirtless man’s side, Lisa knew fixing this wound was going to be beyond her medical training. The wound looked like jelly covered bread that had been torn apart. Lisa could see deeply inside, to the point that the undamaged intestines were nearly visible. The wound was relatively fresh and still bleeding lightly, but thankfully there was no apparent immediate threat to the man’s life.

Lisa looked up at the Captain and asked, "So what happened to this man?"

The Captain shook his head. "I do not know the cause. My sailors spotted him floating in the river, stuck to a log." The Captain then pulled out the Tiger Claws that they had removed from the man. "He had these on, and they were stuck into the log saving him from drowning. There had to have been something going on over on the other side of the river. We had been hearing lots of gunfire all morning."

"Interesting." Lisa replied. "Sadie, you still have that thermos with the boiled water?"

"I do." Sadie replied turning around her backpack and taking out the water to give it to Lisa. The sight of the blood and nasty wound didn't bother her on bit. She had seen plenty of blood and wounded people from the Match Fights.

Lisa carefully poured the water on the wound, trying to wash away any foreign materials from around and in the wound. Reaching back into the kit Lisa then took out the anti-infection solution bottle and applied it to the now cleaner looking wound. Then, carefully, she took a bit of gauss from the kit and dabbed at the deeper parts of the wound best she could.

Next, she took out from the kit a sealed plastic bag containing a medical staple gun. "This won't close the wound, but it will hold everything together. At least until I can see if Joan can help us, she used to be an EMT personnel." Lisa said looking up at Sadie, who nodded in understandably.

Taking the staple gun out she pinched the top and bottom parts of the ragged wound together and with five staples, temporarily closing the wound. Taking out another longer strip of gauss she placed it over the wound, then using medical glue, glued it to the man’s side. When she finished blood already had started soaking into the gauss.

Then Lisa glanced over the rest of the man’s body for any other damages. Though he had been in the river the marks, cuts, and bruises all over him made it apparent that he had gone through something intense.

"What can you tell me about the other side of the river Capt.…" Lisa said at first, but then realized that the Captain and crew were not there. Jumping up she turned to look towards to sailboat. It was already sailing away!

The Captain waved back seeing Lisa's surprised look. "No hard feeling, but we can't take responsibility for him. He's all yours miss!"

"Why that horrible man! How could he abandon him just after saving him?" Sadie shouted crossly.

"It's a cruel world." Lisa said turning away with a sigh. "There goes my possible trade opportunity." Then looking down at the unconscious man she thought, “Guess I’ll just make do with you somehow.”

The crowd had started to disperse seeing that nothing really was going on anymore. Looking around it was clear no one intended to get involved. Same as the sailors.

"What are we going to do with him? I'm no expert, but we can move him much with that wound." Sadie pointed out to Lisa.

"Just leave him laying here while I go get Joan. I’ll be quick." Lisa suggested.

"Wait, are you leaving me here, with him, alone on this dock?" Sadie said putting her hands on her hips. "There is no way I can do that. What if he wakes up and starts going crazy or something!"

Lisa knew that might be a possible outcome, but what else could she do? She couldn't carry him in her arms without damaging the gauss or wound further and Sadie wasn't strong enough to help carry him on the stretcher.

"Psst, hey ladies." Someone called to them from further down the dock.

Looking that way, they spotted an old man leaning heavily on a cane. He was smiling with a toothless smile and beckoning to them with his wrinkled hand. He seemed like a crazy old man from the extravagantly patterned and somewhat soiled clothing he wore, but Lisa's intuition was telling her that things were alright.

"I have a suggestion for you." The old man spoke gruffly to them. "You need a place to put that young man and I have one. For a price."

Lisa figured that there would be a catch. "What did you have in mind old timer? Let's see it." Lisa said going his way. "Wait here with him, Sadie. I won't be long."

"Ah, fine." Sadie huffed and crosses her arms to glair at Lisa as she followed the old man.

The old man led Lisa to a large shack nearby on the dock. Above the doorway it read, "Ulster's Shop". The old man hobbled inside, and Lisa followed, bending low to get her coffin through the doorway. It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting inside. Besides the natural light coming from the door and a small window, there were only a few dim candles scattered around the room.

When her eyes fully adjusted, she saw a teenaged boy sitting on a stool working on something on a work desk. All around the room were a lot of odd mechanical parts, wires, tools, and kitchen appliances. There was another room further back that Lisa couldn't see what might be in it.

"Hey, Tom. Go out back and get a mattress. She needs a bed for an urgent matter." The old man called out to the teen.

Tom turned around to look at them. "What for? She buying? You know grandpa that we have to sell stuff, not give it away." The teen boy lifted a pair of tinted soldering goggles onto his forehead and started eyeing Lisa with cautious blue eyes.

The old man cackled and spoke to Lisa. "Don't mind my grandson. He is easily grumpy.” Then turning back to the teen, "Yes, she is buying. She needs too." He glanced at Lisa giving a crafty smirk.

Lisa couldn't help but chuckle. "Actually, your assumptions are half right. I want to buy three mattresses. Assuming they are relatively clean and in good shape."

The old man laughed hardily. "That's the spirt missy! I know how to peg a buyer, that is for sure. Hurry up kid! Get this lady those mattresses."

Tom got up from the stool and hurried out to the back of the shack. They could hear him moving things around, likely to make room to move the mattresses. Tapping his cane on the floor, the old man faced Lisa.

"So, what do you have to trade for these three mattresses?" The old man said eyeing the coffin on Lisa's back.

"No trade. I can pay you twenty dollars cash, right now." Lisa said removing the coffin and opening the lid. She made sure the old man couldn't see it contents. He was definitely a craft character that probably wouldn’t let something go if he saw value in it.

"Deal." The old man replied abruptly.

Lisa was moderately surprised. She was sure that the old man would have tried to haggle the price up some more.

"Those skimpy sailors don't hardly ever pay me money. Those mattresses are just in the way as well. Better that they get used." The old man said holding out his hand to Lisa expectantly.

Lisa chuckled and took out the money and gave it to the man. He quickly pocketed it, after holding it up to the window to make sure it was real. By then Tom had pulled out the first mattress. It was still in its original wrapping, and though it had a few holes in the dusty plastic, it was in great condition.

"Are the other two like this one?" Lisa asked looking over it to be sure.

"Of course." The old man said giving a nod. "I don't cheat my costumers, especially pretty ones." He let out a bit of laughter.

"Grandpa!" Tom complained.

But Lisa payed the comment no mind. Old people tended to be like that.

"Can I leave it in here with the wounded man until I can move him?" Lisa asked.

"For another dollar, if you got it." The old man said after a moment’s thought.

"Deal. I'll pay when he's gone." Lisa replied.

Lisa went back to carefully move the man into the shack and onto the mattress. Then making sure Sadie was fine being at the shop she left to go get Joan.

It took her over an hour to go find Joan and bring her back to the shack by the dock. Joan was happy to help. She had mentioned before that she wished she could still be an EMT, so this opportunity was exciting for her.

Looking over the wound Joan nodded in approval. "Nice job Lisa. You took care of this very well. I can stitch it up best I can. I don't have much stitching materials left, so I can't straighten out the torn flesh. It's going to leave a nasty looking scar."

"I'm sure he won't mind. Better then dying." Lisa replied.

“As long as he doesn’t succumb to any major infection or his constitution gets too weak from the blood loss and gets the better of him, I think he will recover.” Joan said picking out the needle and thread to fix the wound. “As for recovery time, it depends on whether or not he’s had healing modifications put in his DNA. Could be weeks to months.”

Lisa had heard of healing modifications before, back at the military base. Soldiers were all required to take it and, for once, the government was right for mandating it. The healing modifications boosted the bodes natural healing and immune systems nearly one hundred percent. Before the cyborg units rebelled, they too took it as well.

It wasn't long before Joan finished up re-cleaning the wound, stitching it up and reapplying the gauss. Though she claimed it had been a while since she had fixed someone with a wound like that, she appeared to do it flawlessly. Her skills were in no way lacking. Lisa thanked her and promised to repay her later. Joan agreed happily and after saying goodbye, said she would be fine returning alone home.

"Now, how to move all of this?" Sadie remarked after finding out the three mattresses were now theirs.

"We have a truck bed wagon you can rent." Tom replied.

"Ah, the apple really doesn't fall far." Lisa said shaking her head. "Fine I'll pay."

After paying the old man the fees, loading up the bedding and still unconscious man into the Toyota truck bed, were they ready to go home. Though Lisa insisted that she could pull the makeshift wagon, Tom insisted that he pull it.

"I don't want you stealing it." Was Toms reasoning. Fortunately, it wasn't far away so Lisa agreed.

…

Zane opened his eyes slowly. At first, his vision was all blurred, but soon he focused on the unfamiliar ceiling. He tried to sit up, but both his head and side was struck with a sharp pain.

"Gah! Where am I?" He moaned aloud laying back down immediately.

"You're awake at last. It's about time." A woman's voice called to him.

Zane turned to see an imposing tall, slim woman looking down at him with cold grey eyes.