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[crazyspacegirl]

River had, these past few weeks, been spending her mornings dancing. Usually she used the stage, very early in the mornings when no one else was there yet. She would leave before the play rehearsals started, not really ready for anyone to watch her yet, and it was as though she had never been there to anyone who did not rise with (or sometimes

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[purplensparkly]

Trance had been out scouting for locations for her soon-to-be house and had heard the yelp as well and went to go investigate. She stopped short when she saw River and her dog and her eyes widened when she saw the amount of blood.

"River? Stop for a minute, okay?" She started tearing off small pieces of her shirt. It wasn't perfect, but it would do better than the sweater. Smaller pieces equaled more pressure equaled a better chance of stopping the flow of blood. "I'll help carry him when I'm done."

[crazyspacegirl]

River stopped, holding tight to her whimpering dog. "Do you know how to help him?" she asked, more than a little bit desperate. "He was attacked by something with very sharp claws, and he needs a doctor."

At least she sounded as if she knew how to help, which was more than River was able to do.

[purplensparkly]

She glanced at the cut. Too much to take care of out here with nothing but her hands, but, "I can at least make it so it stops bleeding and then help you get him to the Compound." She knelt and patted a section of ground. "Put him here for a minute and I'll bind the wound."

She was all business, now, no trace of the somewhat naive bubblehead that she could be sometimes.

[crazyspacegirl]

River hesitated before placing Simon carefully on the ground. "Okay," she said, her voice shaking as much as the rest of her. "Please. Help. I don't know how."

She was only good for actual violence, and not for what came after.

[purplensparkly]

Slowly, Trance untied the sweater and examined the wound. "Okay," she said, making her voice as reassuring as possible. "There's a lot of blood, but I don't think the cut's as deep as I thought it was." Slowly, she used her piece of shirt to rewrap the wound, tighter this time. "But what you can do is calm down. We'll get him back to the Compound and clean and stitch his wound up." She glanced up at River. "No use making him worry over something that can be fixed, right?"

[crazyspacegirl]

"I'm calm," insisted River, though her trembling voice and hands gave her away. "You're sure he can be fixed?" She at least looked like she knew what she was doing, and that made River feel a little better. Hopeful, at least, though she was still very scared.

[purplensparkly]

"I've fixed lots of people," she assured River. "And I'm not going to give you hope when there is none. But believe me. He's going to be fine." She tied off the fabric and nodded for River to take half of the dog. "Two sets of arms will get him there faster. Ready?" And she took the other half, waiting for River to be ready on her end.

[crazyspacegirl]

Simon yelped when he was picked up, but it was easier with help. "Hear that?" she murmured. "You're going to be fine."

"I'm ready," she said. "Let's hurry, please."

[purplensparkly]

Trance started walking and then nodded at River. "I'm pretty spry. So you can set the pace and believe me, I'll keep up. The only thing we need to make sure is that we keep him pretty stable on the way there." They could run, in fact, but keeping the dog from getting jerked around was priority.

[crazyspacegirl]

River walked quickly but not too fast, careful to keep Simon from crying anymore. She couldn't stand it, to think that she was causing him any more pain.

She was glad to see the compound, and even glad to see the clinic when they got there, even if she still had to pause at the threshold before she could go in.

"You know where stuff is here?" he asked, glancing around for a doctor in case they needed more help.

[purplensparkly]

"No," Trance said, but she went almost unfailingly to where the medical supplies were. She wasn't able to find things quite as easily, but she was still better than a random chance. Anyway, it was a medical facility and they had to have some sort of order and it wasn't hard to figure out what that was. After a minute, she'd grabbed alcohol, gauze, scissors, a needle, and thread.

"What I need you to do is keep him calm. He's not going to like this next part." She ran a brief hand near his muzzle, both to reassure him and to give him her scent. Best to let him know that someone was working on him and didn't want to hurt him.

[crazyspacegirl]

"Okay." River could do that. She petted Simon's ears and spoke to him quietly in Chinese, a soft string of nonsense like Mal spoke to her sometimes, when she woke up afraid of some horrible nightmare. The words didn't mean anything, really, on their own, but all together it was just a safe sort of sound to River.

Simon Chicago seemed to agree; the puppy whimpered and whined and yipped, but he was still and as calm as he could be, under the circumstances.

[purplensparkly]

Carefully, Trance cut the fur around the wound to get a better look. Not bad. It would only need a couple of stitches. She cleaned the wound out carefully, running a hand carefully along the dog's muzzle whenever he whimpered. "Easy," she murmured. She considered getting painkillers, but unfortunately, she didn't know where they were or whether the doctors would really like her using them. She was sure they were in limited supply.

So she had another idea, if only she could remember. "Okay, I know there are pressure points on human bodies," she said to herself. "Pressure points that can make the pain go away, even if only for a little while. I just need to find one on him." Carefully, she started feeling the muscles around the dog's leg.