บท 72: Cat's Outta the Bag

Ori didn't need to tell Crystal to get them to a Ripperdoc, since they were already gonna head to one with the doll hostages. Still, to him having Rebecca's fingers reattached was far more important than getting some doll chips ripped out.

The van stunk of blood, mainly from the trio but the Moxes and hostages were also adding to the smell, the latter also tainted with other unmentionable fluids from their unpleasant time in the Tyger Claw's care.

"So you zeroed Oyakara and Manaka, how'd it go?" one chirpy Mox asks, despite the fact a quarter of the people who'd attended this mission were dead, with their corpses stuffed into the corner of the van...

"Oh, y'know, we challenged them to rock-paper-scissors and had the loser shoot themselves in the face. We won, obviously."

"You're... Being sarcastic, right...?"

"NOOO, YOU THINK!?" he retorts sending spittle at the rebuked girl.

"Hehehe, you're funny when you're like this... Ori..." Rebecca quietly giggles, bruises now apparently across most of her body.

"You be quiet and save your breath for the doc." he states, wondering if the blood loss was finally hitting her.

She just smiles at him and holds up her right hand covered in bloody bandages, "I'm gonna need your help from now on y'know..."

"How's that any different from usual?" he retorts, placating her.

Her lips twist into a mischievous grin, "Jilling off's gonna be hard without these fingers..."

"Oooooh" some of the Mox in the van coo, laugh, cackle, or perform a multitude of the former at that.

It takes a moment for Ori to mentally categorize what 'Jilling off' meant, but once he did his face flushed completely red. "Your fingers are cut off and you're making masturbation jokes..." he mutters completely confounded. He shakes his head, "Okay, we're talking about this later when you're not dying of blood loss."

Ori glances at Crystal who was just watching the scene with amused eyes, "How long we got?"

She shrugs, tapping her ear as if to draw attention to the sirens still blaring nearby, "NCPD are still tryin' to chase us, we'll probably circle past Northside and back to Kabuki. Twenty minutes at the most."

Ori chews his lips, looking down at Rebecca... That felt too long to him... There wasn't anything he could do about it thought, only sit at her side and attempt to apply pressure to her hand to stem the blood.

---------------------

Finally, the truck screeches to a halt inside some dingy alleyway in Kabuki, no far from Lizzie's Bar. They all jump out and Ori carries Rebecca, following Crystal as she leads them into the nearby building and to the Ripperdoc who was already waiting for them.

Not waiting another second, he dumps his friend on the medical chair and pulls the four, rather lukewarm fingers from his pocket, shoving them into the man's chest. "Reattach them, quickly!"

The doc sputters as he looks down at the digits but nods and begins inspecting them. He does so for about a minute before nodding, "They're still viable, but you'll have to keep the hand wrapped for a couple months at least." he states, knowing well that a merc's lifestyle wouldn't allow something like that.

Rebecca's face faults despite her anaemia, "What!? Fuck that! Toss them in the trash and gimme some metal ones!"

Ori just blinks at her, "'Becca, what the fuck! You can get them reattached, good as new!" he exclaims, shocked at her willingness to discard pieces of herself.

"And be outta a job for months? Hell no! I've been meaning to get an upgrade anyway!"

He turns to the doc, "She's anaemic and not thinking straight, just knock her out and reattach them."

"No!"

The doc wets his lips, "Sorry young man but, I'm not going to piss off what is perhaps the most volatile young woman I've ever had the displeasure to meet..."

"You heard him lampost! Piss off and mind your own damn biz!" she angrily shouts.

"Listen, you're not thinking straight-"

"I said get OUT!"

...

Ori shakes his head, silently stepping out into what could only be called the waiting room, closing the door behind him. Clearly, Rebecca wasn't in any mood to be sociable, not that he could blame her, she'd been beaten to a pulp and lost her fingers... He lets out a tired sigh and drops into a chair, glancing at the woman slowly awakening. It was one of the hostages, the doll groaning as she holds her face, waking up.

"Uuugh... W-what happened...?"

"We saved you..." he quietly answers, resting his weight on his knees.

She smiles slightly, as if getting rescued wasn't a big deal, "Have a spat with your output?"

...

"You're pretty calm for someone who's been through hell..." he wonders aloud.

"Ain't my first rodeo..." she squeezes her temples, "Name's Yelain... You?"

"Ori."

. . .

He glances at her, confused at the sudden silence. "Something up?"

"... Ori, as in... Orville...?" she tentatively questions, freezing him in his place... There were maybe only two people left alive who knew about that... Bats, and...

"If I said yes...?" he forces out, tone harsh.

"Then... I would say I'm sorry... For your loss." she states, causing him to clench his fists hard.

"Explain... Now."

"I met many girls in that place, you only saved the ones who didn't get sold... Cat was one of them..."

"No... No, you're-... You're fucking lying!" he growls, feeling his heart drop.

"They sold her to some Tyger Claw creep two weeks ago... I dunno his name but I remember his face well... If you wanna get back at him." she states, resting a hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

"I want to know everything." he breathes, "Leave nothing out. I wanna know what fucking that guy's fucking nose hairs look like, tell me, everything." he grouses.

She nods, "'Course, I want nothing more than to have all of those pieces of scop-shit skinned alive. Hell, give me a gun and I'll join you when the time comes."