#the way that inspector and calensk rush to sergiu's help when other guards are just dying in the bg

[jadzio-writing-prowess]

It’s gonna get worse, before it gets better (Papers Please fanfic)

Rated: T

Sergiu Volda & Calensk, Sergiu Volda & Calensk & Inspector (in bg)

A terrorist attack happens at the Grestin border checkpoint, Sergiu gets hurt and Calensk takes it upon himself to help his friend.

Warnings: Discriptions of blood and injury

Hurt/Comfort, Sick Fic (kinda), No Beta - We die like Sergiu when a terrorist attack, Developing Friendship

A03 link if you want to read it there

The cold barrel of the rifle is being held steadily, in Calensk's big hands. It's another slow winter day, at the border checkpoint. Line of immigration is moving lazily. The hollow voice of the Inspector, methodically breaks up the silence. A few detains here and there, nobody is putting up much of a fight today. The air is cold and clear. The sunlight is harsh, but not warm. It's starting to get late, ⅔ into his shift, soon they will be able to all go home. Calensk closes his eyes, lets them rest and tries to welcome, in his own way, the cold embrace of Arstotzkan winter.

After a few minutes, there is a stir in the line, uneasy steps and voices fill the air. Then quick and frantic taps of boots, against the concrete. Some gasps from the crowd. The terrorist speeds past Calensk, creating a small breeze and scales the border wall with ease.

Dammit, his pay. He hopes the detainment bonus will be enough to cover for it. Uneasy steps turn into panicked running. Calensk  opens his eyes. The line of immigrants is evacuating. His fellow guard is already retreating - not their side of the wall anymore. But he chooses to stay a little longer. He listens to the sounds of the commotion on the other side. Nothing, but frantic running and shots from the other guards. He waits for the Inspector to do his usual. “For Kolechia!” resounded against the concrete walls. A gunshot echoes in turn, from the Inspector's booth and a pained moan follows.

Explosion rumbles through the air on the ground. Pained moans multiply and Calensk can hear quick shuffling, mixed with swears from the booth, followed by a shrap door swing and sounds of running. Calensk starts to make his way toward it, an uneasy feeling creeping in. He steps through the still open checkpoint and starts running.

The tranq dart was accurate and made its way deep, in between the ribs of the terrorist. Effectively neutralizing the target in seconds, while not killing or doing any major damage. The guards weren't so lucky. The late shot didn't stop the grenade that was already flying through the air. Red stains decorate the post. A medium sized hole has been blown, before the guards and large rock chunks were sprinkled all around. 

All of the guards managed to back off far enough from the grenade, to still be clinging to life. The first one had pieces of debris lodged all over his leg. The middle one had been pushed back by the explosion, now he is lying on the ground, treated to grenade parts and sharp stones all over his body. And the last one - Sergiu, kneeling on the ground, clutching his right arm in pain. The Inspector is already tending to him.

Calensk runs up to them. “Calensk! Friend, don't worry, I didn't get hit hard. Pyotr is already helping me out.” Sergiu looks up at Calensk with a weak smile. His painfully trembling arm and panic in the Inspector's movement, contradict his words. Pyotr is muttering apologies for his slow reaction and gently wraps Sergiu's arm in his shawl. It's blood soaked by now. He turns to Calensk. “It's not good. He will have to be escorted to the hospital, with the rest of the guards.”

Sergiu objects at the idea. “What! No, it's fine, it's barely anything. I've lived through worse during the war.” Sergiu turns white, his voice weaker than before. “Sergiu, this is serious. Rocks and grenade parts are deep enough in your arm, to be piercing through your veins. If you were to remove them on your own, you might bleed out. And if you leave it like that, your whole arm can die. I also wouldn't be surprised if it got infected and after that, it'll be just a matter of time before it reaches your bloodstream.” Inspector tries his best to sound stern and commanding, but the mix of guilt and fear in his voice are unmistakable. Calensk can tell that he is exaggerating a little, but the amount of blood coming from Sergiu's arm, his pained expression and the injuries of the other guards, are enough of a sign that he needs immediate medical help.

But all this, does little to change Sergiu's mind. “I won't… I can't go. If I do… they will get me off this checkpoint. I will be assigned a new job, or in the best case, I'll be moved to a less busy checkpoint.” Sergiu's words are broken up by painful gasps for air. “I will be fine… I can take care of myself. I can take care of this wound, on my own. Nothing, some bandages, water and sleep won't fix.” He tries to stand up, but his legs quickly start wobbling and he almost falls to the ground. Inspector and Calensk quickly catch him, before he reaches the ground. Sergiu lets out a painful groan, but does his best to stand upright, with their help. He clings to Calensk's side.

“You can't be left alone, like this, to deal with it on your own. You can't address your wound properly, in this state. It won't heal right.” Calensk shifts a bit, to get a better grip on Sergiu. It causes his friend to slightly hiss in pain. “You need to get your wound cleaned by a doctor. You need to go to the hospital, Sergiu.” Sergiu is visibly in pain, but that doesn't stop his protests. “It's impossible, Calensk.” He's weak, but seems to get ready to put up a fight, if need be. If this argument goes for longer, he will inevitably tire himself and pass out. Calensk sighs, knowing his stubborn friend enough to tell that trying to argue more, will be futile. "Someone should go with you, to help. Do you have any bandages at your place?” Sergiu shifts a little and avoids eye contact with Calensk. “No… I hoped to get some, on my way home...”

The Inspector chimes in. “He can't go to his apartment. The Ministry of Information agent, will visit him in his apartment, for an interview about the attack today, if he doesn't go to the hospital with the others.” He looks over at the other guards.

“Won't that make him suspicious?” Calensk raises an eyebrow. At the same time, he almost never gets interviewed for terrorist attacks. Most of them happen on the other side of the wall. So he's not accustomed to after attack procedures.

“Not necessarily. The agents are used to those situations and if there is no one at home to open the door, they schedule the audit for the next day at work. Only after you don't show up to it either, do they start an investigation. The rules are stricter than this, but no agent wants to spend the rest of their day searching for someone, who - is, most likely, just at some bar getting too wasted to be answering any questions, when found.” The commotion on the other side starts to shift, they seem to be starting to get on with the transport of the guards. The supervisors start to take notice of the three.

“I see. Sergiu, you will go with me.” Calensk looks at Sergiu. “My apartment is close by and empty. My wife and kids went to visit my mother-in-law. I should have something at my place, to patch you up.” He said in a commanding tone. Sergiu was getting worse and worse, there was no point in drawing this out. Calensk trusted that his friend had a good reason to be so desperate. To stay at this checkpoint, wounded and sick.

The Inspector shoves 5 credits into Calensk's hand. “Should help cover the rent today. I might come around later, in the evening. My wife is sick, so I won't stay long, but I might be able to drop off something useful. I will try to get your supervisors off your back for now. And hey-” The Inspector lowers his voice. “take good care of him, ok?” Calensk takes the money, he will need it with today's cut pay. He could use an extra set of hands to help, but he nods along understandably. Sergiu stays silent, looking like he is going to pass out at any moment.

They split, Calensk and Sergiu go towards Calensk's apartment and the Inspector walks to the rest of the guards. The two friends slowly make their way to the apartment. It's close by, mere 2 streets from the checkpoint. But with Sergiu's dwindling health, it took a while. Calensk also lived on the 6th floor, so getting through the stairs was another hurdle on their way. Sergiu needed to catch a breath every two floors. Slowly, but surely they made their way up and got into Calensk's apartment.

It's small. No hall. You almost immediately walk into a room that's a fusion, between a living room and a kitchen. It's humble, just a sofa, table big enough for a family to eat together, and a bookshelf. On the kitchen side, a counter fused with a sink, some cabinets and a fridge. Deeper in, there are 3 doors leading presumably to a bathroom, bedroom and the kids bedroom.

Calensk helps Sergiu take off his rifle and the uniform, then does the same. He pulls two chairs from the table and puts them opposite to each other, next to the sink. He sits Sergiu down on one of them and takes a seat himself.

He gently, but decisively unwinds the flimsy, applied layer of shawl that substitutes for bandages. Finally getting to have a look at his friend's wound.

“Jesus Christ…” Calensk mumbles. He has definitely seen worse, in the years he served under the Arstotzkan government. But that doesn't compare. If the wound gets any worse, the consequences will be gruesome. Pieces of debris and the grenade are sticking out of Sergiu's mottled skin, inserted in deep. Blood was slowly dripping out of some tears, mixing with the dirt, creating smudges of brownish paint all over the arm. Some of it managed to dry into dark reddish-brown clumps of unnatural shapes. The whole gash was covered in dirt and pieces of concrete, after the fall. There wasn't any water on hand to clean it at the border. But now there was.

Calensk puts the bloodied arm under the tap and turns it on. Lukewarm water starts to swiftly make its way down the uneven path, taking chunks of blood and dirt with it. Sergiu hisses lightly at the sensation, but keeps his arm steadily under the flow. Water eventually brings some relief, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Sharp stone fragments still firmly in their place and some dirt, still stubbornly clings to his skin.

Calensk looks down at his hands, big and bulky, but most importantly incredibly dirty. Chunks of dirt and grime on the palms, some of Sergiu's blood and some cigarette residue under all of it. He feels that he is the last person that should carry out such a procedure…

But there is Sergiu, looking up at him. With trust and hope in his eyes. Calensk can see the fear and pain hidden deep within, but Sergiu puts his hopes in him and he was not going to leave him like that. He knows that the younger man, if left untreated, will probably end up trying to treat himself and end up infecting and opening his wounds even more.

So, he gingerly pushes his friend's arm to the side, to wash his hands. He does it with as much care and attention as he can, while also trying to not take too much time. He knows it’s not perfect, probably not even good. That it would take way more, to clean the cigarette traces off of his fingers. He wishes he had some clean gloves, but no luck. He puts Sergiu's arm back under the stream, goes to the nearest cabinet and grabs a bottle of ethyl alcohol. He pours it onto a kitchen cloth and wipes his hands clean. Then he goes to get a clean cloth and a pair of tweezers, runs them under the water and alcohol, lays them beside him and turns to his friend.

Calensk starts to work. He gently puts his hands on Sergiu's arm and slowly and methodically, scrubs any dirt the water didn't take care of yet. Even the slightest touch of Calensk fingers sends hot waves of pain through Sergiu's arm, but he does his best to keep it to himself. Once the skin is cleared, Calensk turns off the tap and lays Sergiu's arm on the counter. He wipes the wound with alcohol. To Sergiu, it feels like he is getting his arm, gradually roasted by a fire. To add to that, the sharp stones in his arm, no matter how delicate Calensk tries to be, dig deeper  and tear his skin. Calensk puts down the cloth and gets out the tweezers, but then immediately notices that half of the stone chunks are too big for them and he will have to use his hands again. He puts them aside and patiently, with as much care as he can, pulls out bits and pieces of debris and the grenade.

Sergiu bites his right fist to muffle the sounds of pain, he can't keep inside anymore. His vision starts going white, tears show themselves at the ends of his eyes and nausea starts to wreak his guts. His war deteriorated body and mind, are not what they used to be. He desperately tries to keep his clam and starts breathing heavily, desperately trying to stabilize himself.

Calensk stops and looks at Sergiu. He wants to say something, but he stops himself and immediately softens. “...Listen to me.” He puts his hand on the shoulder of his friend's healthy arm. “Focus on my voice. In one, in one two, in two three.” Calensk looks at him, patiently waiting. Sergiu's unfocused eyes and mind fail to catch his friend’s movement, but he manages to ground himself in his unusually soft voice. “...In one, in one two, in two three…” Voice weak and trembling like he was about to break into pieces. Slowly his vision comes back and the pain gives out a little. Calensk decided to pour him a cold glass of water, Sergiu slowly drank half of it. It helped with the nausea.

“Thank you my friend, I… my endurance is not the same as before.” Sergiu's eyes drift to the side, unable to face the judgmental look Calensk is probably giving him right now. Instead he gets a short response and an empathetic look. “I don't mind. War and Arstotzkan lifestyle took a toll on all of us. ..The thanks we get… .. Stupid terrorist. Just tell me when you need a break again.” Calensk's voice is back to normal. He's looking at his friend searching for any more signs of distress. “...I will keep that in mind. Thank you again, not everyone has as much patience when dealing with wounds and...” Sergiu gains a little courage to look at Calensk. His face is the same stone cold expression, he always carries and yet it feels a little softer now, a little more understanding. It gives Sergiu the courage and ease he needs. He releases a shaky breath.

Calensk resumes cleaning the wound. Picking out sharp, uneven rocks and grenade parts. Slow and tedious work, of digging out every speck of dirt from under the debris. Calensk, careful as before, does his best to not drag out the process. Sergiu lets himself catch a break, every few minutes. Calensk is always there, patiently waiting. Sergiu tries his best to break out the uncomfortable - in his mind - silence,  in those moments. But he gets more and more tired as time goes on and finds it harder and harder to speak. Calensk doesn't mind and always just silently listens or answers the best he can.

Time passes, the sun has hidden under the horizon a some time ago, but neither of the two men noticed. Finally, after a few hours of tireless work, it's done and Calensk is only left with going over Sergiu's wound, with alcohol, to make sure it won't get infected. Sergiu is too tired at this point to react to the burning sensation. His eyelids heavy, he still tries his best to stay conscious and help Calensk with what he can. 

Calensk after clearing the wound, stands up and looks around, searching for something to wrap the arm in. Unable to find a bandage and realizing it's far too late for any medicine shop to be open, he settles on tearing up a new shawl he bought recently for clean cloth.

“What… what, no don't use it on me…” Sergiu's weak protest, didn't even manage to register in Calensk mind, before he teared up the shawl and applied it to his wound. “Nonsense. It's cheap cloth that can't even retain heat properly.” He swiftly wraps Sergiu's arm and puts a firm knot at the end of it. “Besides, I can't let all this work to now go to waste.” He says in a no nonsense tone and shoots Sergiu a look. Sergiu relaxes a little. “I'm in debt to you friend.” Sergiu smiles at Calensk and looks around for a clock. “It's late, I should be going home. I'll find a way to make this up to you. Thank you for everything again…” He tries to get up, but his legs almost immediately give out. Thankfully Calensk managed to catch him in time, before he reached the floor. “You are all fired up. You are not going to go through Arstotzkan winter night, in this state. Especially if you hope to stand guard at the checkpoint tomorrow.”

Sergiu, overcome with dizziness, didn't protest much and gave in to the support of his friend. Calensk carefully held his friend upright and started to guide him to bed. Slow, ginger steps. Tired, but strong arms supporting the wounded. Sergiu broke out into fever shivers every few minutes, but Calensk managed, to safely, get him to lay down under a blanket. He wondered if he had any medicine left, that he could use to lower the fever. He searches through the cabinets and finds some leftover pills, from the time his wife fell ill. He also remembers an old blanket he had stashed in the closet and took it with him too.

Sergiu was already sweating bullets under the current blanket, but he appreciated the second layer. Calensk wondered if he had any clothes for tomorrow morning that would fit Sergiu. For now, he helps him to take the medication and brings him a glass of water. Sergiu downs it almost instantly.

He goes to refill it and comes back to Sergiu. He notices fresh tear stains, decorating his cheeks. “Are you in pain, my friend? Did I knot the bandage too tightly or is the sickness getting worse?” He isn't sure if Sergiu is even capable of answering him in this state, but he managed to mutter a few words. “No… no.. it's just..” He takes a few painful, desperate breaths. “I.. I think… I'm dying, Calensk …” Sergiu tries to muffle a wet sob that tumbles through him.

Calensk takes a close look at his friend - fever shivers still not giving out, sweat running down his face, the way he curls in pain and the way Segiu's eyes dart around the room. Calensk takes out a clean tissue cloth and wipes Sergiu's face. “Bullshit, you are not dying. You are strong enough to get through this fine.”

These words hit Sergiu deep, they act like a firm punch to his guts and everything unravels. “...I don't want to die.. not now.. not now.. when we are so close.. ..I can’t.. I need to see you again.. ..I can't now… ..I don't.. I can't…” Sergiu now fully breaks into muffled, ugly sobbing, mixed with incoherent mumbling.

Calensk, taken aback a little, tries to soften his approach. “Don't say that. Fever messes up your senses. You are going to be fine, I promise. Now deep breaths. Remember?” He tries to help Sergiu stabilize himself.  Slowly, uneven and deep breathing is the only sound breaking up the silence, with an exception for occasional sobs and shivers from Sergiu. Little by little, Sergiu calms himself.

Calensk stands up to find some clothes, he hopes will fit his smaller friend, for him to change into. He searches through the closet and the dresser. Not much luck, everything is at least two sizes too large. He wonders whether to use some of the clothes his wife left behind. But ends up settling for his for now, concluding that Sergiu's sleeping clothes can be a bit too big and decides to possibly use the other ones in the morning.

He takes the clothes, uncovers Sergiu and helps him to dress himself. Not the most grateful job. He would gladly leave up to Sergiu, but he knows that he can't when he is in this state. He goes from down to up. It goes semi smoothly with Calensk's help and Sergiu's collaboration. Sergiu is too weak to do much at this point, so Calensk gently removes Sergiu's two shirts himself and-

“Blyat! What happened?! When did this happen?” Calensk uncovered Sergiu's torso, to reveal a bandaged up stomach, blood staining his left side, mottled skin spreading from it. “Please, don't shout….” Sergiu takes a long pause to compose himself. “.I.. During the war.. near the end, I was shot.. they sent me away back into Arstotzka … to a hospital to get treated. I was unable to get help … There were many more like me ..and the civilians..  …and I wanted to quickly come back to Kolechia to finish some business… so I used the money they gave me for the hospital stay… to buy some supplies and I cleaned and patched myself up. It wasn’t much.” Sergiu with great effort strings together sentences. Calensk gives him a sign to stop talking and straining himself.

He carefully starts pulling back bandages. Thankfully they weren't that old. But what was under them... Calensk can't shout, no matter how much he wants to and just mutters: “Suka blyat. Here is the dog buried... When was the last time you cleaned this?” Sergiu squirms at the sensation, hot waves of pain overtaking him again. “It's fine, it's healing ok, it's just flaring up because of the arm and the stress-”

“It's not healing ok. I can still see parts of the bullet inside it. It's infected.” Calensk interrupts Sergiu, keeping his voice low, but stern. He remembers Inspector's words ‘I also wouldn't be surprised, if you got it infected and after that, it's just a matter of time before it reaches your bloodstream.’ They keep ringing through his mind. Where is he either way, he said he was going to be here, at some point.

The infected wound before him, Inspector and Sergiu's words mix in Calensk's mind. He is at the verge of passing out. He doesn't know if he has the strength to do this, nor what he would even use to clean it. He used up most of his supplies, for the arm. He lets out a big sigh. “Stay here. Rest and gather up energy. I'll be in the kitchen trying to figure out how to tackle this.” He takes one of his shirts out of the drawer and uses it to cover the wound for now. “Calensk…-” Sergiu tries to say something, but a stern look from Calensk is enough to stop him. Sergiu gets hit with a new wave of pain and nausea, so he tries to focus on that for now.

Calensk leaves his bedroom and goes to the kitchen, to brew himself a coffee. He will need it. Ramped thoughts course through his mind. As he is finishing boiling the water, he hears a knocking on the door. ‘About time…’ Calensk opens the door to a tired Inspector, holding a material bag in one of his hands. His eyes are bloodshot and the expression tired. “Apologies for the hour, she got worse...” His eyes darted to the side in shame. “But I managed to get some supplies. Though I'm not sure if they will be of any use now, you probably already took care of the wound. Well I hope it can at least compensate-” Calensk steps aside, in a clear sign for the Inspector to come in. “No, no… Come in. He… also just got worse and I was wondering what to do. My supplies had run dry.”

The Inspector came in and they went to the kitchen. Calensk poured more water into the now, lukewarm kettle and started to heat it up again. The Inspector sat down by the table, while Calensk tended to the coffee. “So what happened? Was the wound that serious?” Pyotr started to pull out his supplies on the table. “No, there wasn't much trouble with his arm. He will probably come out of it with some scarring. If he cleans it regularly, it shouldn’t get infected.” Kettle starts to boil, Calensk takes it off the fire, before it starts to wheeze. “It's just that… he got shot during the war. Never got treated for it and well you can imagine the rest yourself.”

Calensk turns toward the Inspector. On the table lined up neatly, were a roll of gauze and bandage, a pair of gloves, a safety pin, a medi pad and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. “Did… Did you rob a United Federation hospital, when you were gone?” Calensk raises an eyebrow at the lineup. He struggled to get a few cough pills out of the medicine shop, Arstotzkan stores being notoriously understocked. “Heh, no. I went to the hospital with the guards and the agents, was close to my apartment anyway. They keep the local hospital pretty well supplied, with all the attacks going on the border. It's not much, but I wouldn't be able to get half of it, if not for the fact that I work at the border and that some of the staff seems to know Sergiu and was willing to lend a hand.” 

Calensk finished brewing the coffee, handed one cup to the Inspector and sat beside him. “I'm impressed. This will surely come in handy. But I'm not sure if he will be able to come to work tomorrow, even if the wound gets cleaned.” Calensk takes a sip of the coffee, it's not much, being mostly water, but it's exactly what he needs right now. “Well you at least got time until 2pm. The Investigator will be out of town, with our Supervisor until then.” The Inspector sipped the coffee, his 4th cup today. He isn't sure if it will do anything at this point.

“Could use some extra hours. Thank you for the news and the supplies. …About the debt from the det-” Calensk starts, but gets interrupted by the Inspector. “Don't even mention it. You needed the money, I get it. Now I need time to be with my wife, rather than helping here… and you understand that. That being said” He stands up, having already finished the cup. “I'm afraid I need to go. Can I take a look at him before I go?”

“Sure. He's weak and resting now, so try to not wake him up, if he's sleeping.” Inspector nods and as quietly as possible, goes to see Sergiu.

Calensk finishes up the coffee, while he meditates over how he will tackle this whole thing. Inspector doesn't stay by Sergiu for long and quietly makes his exit. Calensk gives himself a few minutes, after the door closes to gather himself. He takes all the supplies from the table, grabs a pair of tweezers, a bottle of ethyl alcohol with whatever is still left in it, a new cloth for wiping, a bowl and a pair of scissors.

He comes into his bedroom. Sergiu is laying down, but clearly not sleeping. His eyes have a distant fog to them, not too unfamiliar for Sergiu to have. Calensk wonders what thoughts cloud his vision now. Is it the war, the terrorist attack, the image of his wounds, or is it simply clouded by pain and nausea. Calensk goes to grab another shirt, in case the bleeding gets worse. He puts down the supplies on the bed and floor, next to the bed. They lack the precise organization of the Inspector, but it will suffice. He kneels next to the wound.

Calensk looks at Sergiu, sweat and tear stains cover his face, his expression remains unchanged. He takes the cloth on the stand and wipes Sergiu's face. His face changes expression slightly, Calensk isn't sure what it exactly means, he just hopes it's a little of a relief.

“I'm sorry, I was too harsh to you before. I was tired …and worried.” Calensk takes a slight pause before saying the last part. His voice wobbles a little. “Don't worry, I've heard worse. At least you scream and swear, because you are worried about me. It's a nice change of pace.” Sergiu smiles weakly, but his eyes remain unchanged, still distant. “Don't say that. You deserve better.” Calensk eyes land on the floor, unable to look at Sergiu's face anymore. “Do I, though? I got my arm blown up, then refused to get professional help, becoming your burden. You already helped me so much, but I've taken up even more than you could give, or I could ever repay. You have the right to be upset.”

Calensk looks straight into Sergiu's eyes. “No, I do not. It’s not your fault that the terrorist attack happened,” Sergiu tries to interrupt Calensk, but he doesn't let him. “It's not your fault you are wounded. It's ok to get help from your friends. You didn't want to get to the hospital, for an unknown reason, I get it. But what is not ok and what I don't get, is why did you have to hide this from us too.” Calensk puts emphasis on certain words to hammer the point home. “You don't want to take more than you can give back, but… if we lost you, how do you imagine you could make up for that?”

Sergiu averts his eyes from Calensk's gaze. His expression changes, giving to a mix of sadness and distant grief. Calensk puts his hand gently on his friend's shoulder. “You don't need to hide anymore, you are among friends. You don't need to handle everything on your own. You are always ready to give a helpful hand to us, why not extend this kindness to yourself?” Sergiu's glances back at Calensk. His usually sharp features are softened, his face wearing the same sadness and grief to it as Sergiu. Except his grief feels closer and more tangible right now, than his.”You are right. Though I will find a way to repay you friend, it's only fair.” His voice gets quieter. “Trust me there is no need. So… ready for a round two? And don't you worry about the state of my medicine cabinet. When Pyotr came by, he made up for his absence by robbing a hospital.” A small smile graces both men's faces. Sergiu seems to be more at ease now. 

Before Calensk takes care of the wound. He unravels the shirt protecting the wound. It didn't get any better during all this time, maybe except for the bleeding slowing down. Sergiu winces at the sensation.

Calensk looks into Sergiu eyes. “It's gonna get a lot worse. It’s gonna get worse, before it gets better. Are you ready?” Sergiu takes in a shaky, deep breath. “I am ready.” Calensk gives him a small reassuring smile and the tissue cloth to wipe his face, if he needs to and to bite down on, instead of his hand. 

Calensk puts on the gloves and starts to dig out the dirt and grime out of the wound. He puts it in the bowl. Slowly and methodically, already familiarized himself with the rhythm. Segiu does his best to keep his pained moans and whimpers to a minimum. It feels like he is on fire again, but somehow it's even worse. Waves of nausea hit harder than before. His vision goes blank several times.

Calensk grabs the pair of tweezers every now and again to pull out a rock or a bullet fragment. He does his best to be gentle, but most of em had grown into the skin and had to be pushed and pulled out the flesh. Sergiu needs a moment, every time this happens. Calensk doesn't mind the countless trips to refill Sergiu glass, it's a neat break from the look and smell of the blood that starts to cling to him more and more.

It's been like that for hours. Digging dirt out, break, back to digging, break. It weighs on both of their minds and bodies. When it feels like it's almost over, Calensk takes off his gloves and Sergiu feels some relief. Before he hears a soft “I'm sorry.” from Calensk. He pours alcohol down into his wound, to disinfect the gash. Sergiu instinctively thrashes and Calensk gently and carefully holds him down, with his second hand. He breathes heavily, eyes hazy, alcohol digs deep into his flesh, scorching everything in its wake. Sergiu passes out from pain.

An unknown amount of time passes. When Sergiu gets dragged back to consciousness, his wound is bandaged up and the room cleaned from the medical supplies. Calensk is sitting on the floor by the bed, looking over him. When Sergiu opens his eyes, a relief washes over him. His cold hand brushes his face and stays on his forehead. “You are a strong horse, you will live through this. You already went through the worst, now you can only go up from there.” Sergiu enjoys the cold sensation of Calensk's hand on his face. “Your fever rises again, you need to take this.” He hands Sergiu some pills and water. He struggles to take them, but eventually manages to swallow them down. His eyelids are getting heavy and soon enough he lets himself drift off to sleep, tired and restless.

Calensk waits a few minutes, looking over his friend, checking if he is truly sleeping. When he confirms that Sergiu is deep in sleep, he takes the tissue again and wipes new sweat off of Sergiu's face. He puts his hand on his forehead and checks the temperature again. The medication should be slowly kicking in. He stands up, to go to sleep himself.

In the small living room, he opens his convertible sofa and thanks his grandfather for passing it onto him. With Sergiu occupying the only spare blanket, he makes due with his winter coat and an old sleeping bag, he hoped he would never have to use again. He changes his clothes into something more light, tosses the dirty and bloody ones in the laundry basket and settles on the sofa. Imagines of lines of immigrants, the terrorist's neutralized body, Sergiu's wounds, his distraught face, sounds of explosions, gunshots and soft sobbing fill Calensk mind as he drifts off. He knows full well that he is not the only one, with such things occupying his mind and that it will be a tough night, before Sergiu gets any better.

Sergiu's fever rises and falls throughout the night. Cold shivers break up his tired dreams. Sometimes he wakes up, nightmares, memories and reality meshing together into an unholy abomination that Calensk has to pull him out of. In the flurry of visions, seeing Calensk and his soft expression, his hand on his forehead, is like a lighthouse guiding him back to reality. Fever fights within him, slowly giving in to the medication, but never fully stops. Calensk is at least able to quickly fall back into calm, dreamless, but restless sleep every time. To be just as quickly, pulled from it by Sergiu. He doesn't mind it much. Be it his experience, with his sick kids, wife, or in service to Arstotzka. It's not his first night like this and it's not going to be his last.

Night quickly turns into a cold morning. Calensk wakes up, sun up above the horizon and gets himself ready. He finds some fresh spare clothes for Sergiu, for when he wakes up. Makes a light breakfast for both of them. Gets ready the last few remaining medicine pills and carries everything to his still sleeping friend. Sergiu sleeps deep,  drenched in sweat. Calensk checks Sergiu's temperature with the back of his hand. Still warm, but he doesn't shiver so much. He puts breakfast and the medicine on a small bedside stand, next to an empty glass. He goes to refill it and thinks what a shame it will be to wake Sergiu up like that. He could really use a day off and stay in bed, but from his yesterday's reaction, there was no convincing him to stay. Calensk understands.

What is left now is to hope - that the weather is better and that there are no terrorist attacks happening in the near future. But with the sharpshooting guardian angel, he has in the Inspector, Calensk's patient helping hand and his undying hope to live another day on that post, he just might make it out alive, long enough to see his lover.

[your-local-trash-can]

Stubborn

Today was another dreadful day at the border, Alexie and Calensk were detaining some entrants as usual.

although this time, an entrant who was being detained decided they wouldn't go down so easily.

Alexie and Calensk were standing at their guard posts, waiting for the signal from the booth. Alexie looked over to Calensk, who was just a few feet away from him. He always wondered how he was able to be so serious and fierce at all times. He was always on guard, ready to take on anyone who would hurt him or anybody else. He found it kind of cool to be honest..

But even though Calensk was strong, he was also kind and considerate, I mean, He helped Inspector even though he knew nothing about him! Alexie could've gone on about how he admires him but then loud beeps from the booth pulled him from his thoughts, Him and Calensk almost immediately went over to the booth and stood at the front of it.

"OUT OF THE BOOTH!" Alexie shouted, the entrant exited the booth and was turned around as Calensk handcuffed them. They both lead the detainee to the cells as the loud speakers makes it's usual 'Next' and the line continues on. Alexie was keeping an eye out for an open cell and Calensk was walking right behind the detainee so they wouldn't try to run.

Meanwhile, The detainee was furious, and glanced at Calensk then to Alexie, a plan forming in their head. Alexie was busy looking for a cell and was also having thoughts clouding his mind. The detainee started to crouch down slightly, their pace slowing down and then they suddenly launched their head backwards, hitting Calensk right in the face.

He stumbled back with tears clouding his vision from the broken nose he now had. Alexie quickly turned around only to have a knee rammed straight to his stomach and the detainee's leg pushing him head-first to the wall.

Calensk got himself together and hit the detainee in the back of the head with the handle of his gun, knocking them out cold.

He rushed to Alexie, dropping his gun and kneeling down to him. "Alexie! Are you alright!?" He asked, worried. Alexie slowly sat up, groaning and holding the side of his head. "Here, we should get a first aid kit and check for any serious wounds." Calensk added, helping him up and leading him to the medical room.

Two other guards were coming from the hallway to check up on them. "The chief and I were attacked by a detainee, go take them to a cell and take over from here, I'll take care of the chief." Calensk demanded since Alexie wasn't able to, the two guards nodded and ran past them to take care of the person who attacked them. Calensk and Alexie continued to the medical room.

°☆• a little while later.. •☆°

Calensk was sitting on a chair beside Alexie who was asleep on a medical bed, they both got their wounds patched up but they weren't able to go back and guard the border tomorrow since they had to give the wounds time to heal up a bit. The good news was that Alexie didn't have any major injuries from getting his head hit into the wall. Even so, Calensk was still worried about him, so he stayed with him and waited for him to wake up.

After an hour or so, Alexie slowly woke up, a headache making him hold his head again from pain. He looked over at Calensk who was still at his side. "Hey, you doing alright?" Calensk asked him, Alexie replied "Yeah, just have a little headache.." He then slowly sat up so he wouldn't make his headache worse.

Calensk sighs in relief "That's good, from what I've seen, you probably only have a bruise on your head, I'm glad it wasn't serious like a concussion." "You can tell? How?" Alexie asked him. He then answered "Well, when I was serving in the Six-Year War, we were short on troops in our area so some of us had to learn how to do medical work on the field." Alexie then beamed "You learned that from the war? That's so cool!" He smiled brightly. Calensk smirked and looked to the floor shyly "I never thought of it that way.."

He always felt comfortable around Alexie because of his optimistic nature, so much that when he said things like that he would be taken by surprise. He liked spending time with him and he could talk to him without any judgement, he didn't know what he would do without him around.

"..Alexie?" Calensk spoke. Alexie then asked "What is it Calensk?" He felt stupid about what he was going to say since he guessed what the outcome would be, but he took a deep breath and added "Didn't you say you were gonna be more careful this time?" Alexie then pouted "Hey, I didn't know what they were gonna do so that doesn't count!" He sighed "Still, you could've gotten seriously hurt, what if I wasn't there? You need to stop being so reckless."

Alexie then rejoiced "That's just it, I got you! You're always there when I get hurt like this so I don't need to worry too much!" Calensk looked to the floor feeling a familiar sense of grief. "But.. what if I'm not strong enough or I'm too late..?" He spoke with sorrow. Alexie calmed and listened to his worries.

"I might not be enough and you could get hurt, badly, I-I already made mistakes like that.. what if I do it again?" Calensk trembled. He lost many people that he deeply cared about, mostly in the war. He even almost lost his friend Sergiu, He never wants anything like that happening to any other friends he has, especially Alexie.

Alexie gently put his hands on the sides of Calensk's face, making them face eachother. "Calensk, you're always looking out for others and you do a great job at it! But you have to let me take care of myself sometimes, you're basicly a human shield at this point!" Alexie reassures him, then smiled at him "You aren't going to lose me or anybody else, you got that? You're always on my side, so let me be on yours." Calensk was suprised, then he smirked "Heh, alright, I'll stop nagging you, but you have to promise that you'll be less reckless." Alexie let go of him and grinned "I promise!"

Calensk felt better, Alexie always managed to do that, it was just something about him that always made him happy. He was pulled away from his thoughts when he suddenly got a gentle kiss on his nose and his face suddenly went red.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Alexie asked, confused. "Why did you kiss me??" Calensk asked. Alexie answered "I thought it would be nice, isn't it fine to kiss your friends?" Calensk shouted out of embarrassment "That's what couples do!" "But I saw Elisa and Sergiu do that." Alexie added, completely clueless. "They ARE a couple!!" He stated. "Oh, I didn't know that." Alexie replied and then laughed nervously, Calensk smirked and then laughed with him.

The end!