Who says Ion cannot be a decent surgeon (or assistant) himself :P
And after figuring out how many words are in this story, this one is now my longest one to date, the first one to break 6000 beating out "A Tale of Talons, Fangs and Claws" 5800 words as my last longest story (and yes I only count the words between the squiggles, nothing before or after as they are not part of the stories)
~ Ion had thought he reached an understanding with his cousin Meeka, it was an offer that Ion had previously rejected, with her leaving him alone for a little bit but for the past couple of days, she began pestering him on it once more and knowing her she would let up about it unless he would at least try her offer. So thats how Ion ended up here as he walked into the Hunter's Hospital, though unlike the last year and a half, this time not as a patient, checking in at the front desk, the attendant was made aware of his impending arrival and directed him to go to the cardiac unit, where Meeka would be station for the day. While not normally a cardiac surgeon, Meeka has the ability to fill in on more minor to medium heart procedures and with the Hunter's Hospital short staffed on cardiac surgeons at the moment, she was kind of forced temporarily out of her normal field to help out. With that short staffing as well, a few weeks ago Meeka offered Ion a proposition, she needed an assistant and with Ion's recent injuries she was kind of hoping he would listen to reason and retire from being a Hunter to become her assistant in the operating room to help the Hunters in that way, Medic Hunters were widely respected in the Hunter ranks as there was a saying among them, there is only a matter of time before you go under one's knife, the life of a Hunter is dangerous and serious injuries are a given no matter how skilled you are. It is also not like Ion didn't have the smarts to do it either, he was extremely bright in the metal way, Meeka knew he could pass all medical exams with flying colours, it also helped coming from a medical family, both her parents were surgeons in their own right and before Ion's father took his place as the Overseer, he was a doctor himself, Meeka kind of thought if things were a bit different, if Ion's father was aloud to continue to be a doctor, especially with his younger brother, her father, being a surgeon and how close they were as a family, Ion would have gone down the medical path as well. That what she hoped would happen now when she gave Ion that offer a while back but he was dead set on continuing his Hunter journey, even at the cost to himself, cardiacade syndrome, a disease that continually weakens the structure of the heart over time, one that had no full cure but could be managed depending on the severity, it was the disease Ion's departed friend Flint was born with, the one that took his life even when he fought it so hard, even Ion having a huge helping hand with Flint's disease it wasn't enough.
But there may have been a reason for that, as luck would have it, while Ion was recovering from his serious injury, he had started developing some symptoms that became very worrying, this was though to be a result of the cardiac arrest he suffered as part of that serious injury, as his heart took a bit of damage but further testing revealed that Ion suffered from cardiacade syndrome as well, a more mild version of it but serious enough that required him to have a pacemaker implanted as part of the operation for his mechanical arm, to reduce the stress placed on his damaged heart from it's use. Though since cardiacade syndrome is a disease you are normally born with, one that Ion's cardiac injury could not have been the root cause for, it was assumed that Ion had had this condition for a long time, though more dormant, but with the injury, it accelerated the syndrome's hold on his heart. Then again it was not normal for this disease to just show up in someone Ion's age, it was almost always found in childhood, with the more serious cases not having a good outlook but advances were making headway, one Ion was even apart of for Flint, donating some of what was thought healthy heart tissue to Flint so his heart could be restructured, it did work for a while, it did give flint four years without any cardiac surgery but then again he passed away from the disease suddenly after those years, something now Ion though he had a hand in with the discovery of the disease within himself. But it is something that still didn't make sense to Ion, as part of being approved to be a donor to Flint, he was put through many tests and exams, especially on his heart and nothing wrong was found at that time, cardiacade syndrome would have surely had been detected back then. But that didn't matter now, Ion had many tests confirm he has the syndrome and now it would only be a matter of time before he would need to undergo heart repairs to keep it functioning mostly normally. "Is this what this is all about?" Ion thought as he was standing in the elevator going up to the cardiac ward on Meeka pressing him to help with a surgery while she was stationed there, "hoping to change my mind?" Ion continued to think as he left the elevator and walked down the hall to the ward, he knew continuing to be a Hunter would accelerate the timeline for those repair surgeries, something Meeka was really worried about but the prognosis was good on Ion's condition, he had a mild case of cardiacade syndrome and while surgery would be unavoidable, he was not in danger of complete heart failure like Flint was, still being a Hunter would not adversely affect him, just the timeline between surgeries would be a lot shorter then if he was not, Meeka was just being her over worried self.
Entering the cardiac ward, the attendant there directed Ion to pre-op area, where Meeka was waiting for him, "it is about time you showed up, we have less then ten minutes before the surgery begins so here change into this and meet me by our patient's waiting bed, in stall 114" Meeka said as she handed Ion his surgical scrubs, taking them Ion went into the nearby change room and got ready, unlike Meeka who was wearing a more full gown, Ion has handed more of a nurses' garments, with pants and a light t-shirt, he was going to be the assistant after all. After getting dressed, Ion dropped off his regular clothing in a nearby locker and headed towards the pre-op patient stalls, "number 114" Ion muttered as checked the tags on the stalls he passed by, most of them empty until he found to one he was suppose to arrive at, with someone unexpected waiting in the gurney. "Salt? Your the one undergoing surgery today? I talked to you last week... why didn't you mention any of this?" Ion asked the slightly younger fennec fox, the younger brother of Flint who had became a friend in the years after Flint's passing. "Well I was going to mention it" Salt started saying, "but then Meeka was telling me about how she got you to finally try being her assistant and the fact that you were scheduled to operate on me with her, she didn't want you to have second thoughts about doing it, knowing that it would be me you would be operating on." he continued as Ion was still taken aback. "Sorry about that though, but..." Salt started saying again, "but I wanted you to be with me as I went through this, you mean a lot to me as you did my older brother... I felt a bit better knowing you would be watching over me as well as I went through this for the first time" he continued with a smile on his face. "And that is the first goal of us medical professionals, making our patients feel better!" Meeka said cheerfully towards Ion as she walked into the stall, "let that be your first lesson while you are here, the most important one!" she continued as Ion cracked a embarrassed smile. "So how did you become Salt's surgeon? Not complaining but isn't this the hospital for Hunters? Unless I am mistaken Salt is not one." Ion asked, "Ion you should know this, the Hunter's Hospital takes care of any of the tribal people" Meeka replied, "even Flint was treated here don't you remember?" Ion thought about it for a minute but he did have a recollection of these hospital walls from when he was younger and the fact that the Hunter's Hospital took care of the Overseer's family as well, since he kind of first met Flint while he was recovering from a broken arm, well the first time he was really able to talk to him after first meeting him by the waterfall with the bunny poofs it made sense. "Now then, the operating room is ready, so Salt are you ready to get all fixed up?" Meeka asked in her cheery voice as Salt looked back over to Ion, then back to her and smiled, "yes sempai" he said in a bit of a nervous voice. "Good! Alright Ion, take Salt's hand and we will walk him to the room" Meeka commanded, as Salt reached out his hand towards Ion, who took it and helped him get to his feet, "now hold onto him tight now, he is our patient and we are responsible for his well being" she continued Ion looked a bit dumbfounded but it gave Salt a little laugh.
Walking down the hall, hand in hand with his friend, Ion though back to the same journey he had numerous times, both during his childhood and while recovering from his recent injury of being taken to the operating room, the one that stuck out at him the most right now was the first time he ever underwent open heart surgery, walking side by side with Flint for that tissue donation procedure, walking with Salt now, felt eerily similar but this time, he would be on the other side of the knife to help repair his friend's heart. "Are you doing alright?" Ion asked Salt softly as he could feel him trembling a bit, "I... I think so... you and Flint have done this many times so I know I will be alright, it is not like I never expected this to happen some day, as I do have a milder version of the same disease my brother had, it was only a matter of time before it was my turn" Salt said with a nervous smile. It was something Ion had forgotten about, Salt was diagnosed with cardiacade syndrome as well at a young age, though like he said it was a mild version that didn't require him to have any surgery during childhood like the many Flint needed, it was one of the reasons why Flint also fought so hard against his disease to always inspire his younger brother to keep on fighting if things ever got worse for him, even if Flint himself would no longer be around to help, it even made more sense now why Salt was happy that Ion would be by his side during this time of need. As they entered the operating room, Meeka told Ion to wait by the table so he could help Salt get up onto it as she helped him disrobe from the hospital gown, Ion blushed a bit seeing the nudity of his friend, more so due to that fact out of the three of them in the room he was the only one without any clothing on, but it was something Ion experience in Salt's position as well. As Salt walked over to Ion, he cracked a small smile, "see something you like?" Salt blurted out as Ion's face got redder, "I see those eyes looking between my legs, so how does my sheath compare to Zephyr's?" Salt pressed Ion who was still in shock from the earlier comment, as Meeka just burst out laughing. Ion was at a loss for words, "come on now Ion, be professional and help Salt onto the table" Meeka called out while still trying to contain her laughter, annoyed at Meeka, Ion helped his friend onto the operating table, Meeka walked over soon after, fully prepared in her mask and gloves, "ok Ion, go over to the station over there, put on your mask, wash your hands and put on the gloves I left by the table, just be sure to follow the procedural instructions on the poster on the wall and I will start getting Salt set up" She said while grabbing the heart monitor electrodes from the nearby equipment. Ion did as he was told, putting on the mask and running his hands under the faucet, making sure to get them clean, a beeping sound at rhythm started to fill the room as Salt's heart beat could be heard from the monitoring equipment, "I guess we are doing this" Ion thought to himself as he started to feel a bit nervous, "why am I shaking, I am not the one undergoing surgery" he continued to think as he closed his eyes and calmed himself, recentred, Ion opened his eyes and pulled on his gloves, "ok lets do this, I am ready!"
Walking back over to the operating table Meeka handed Ion a small but long tube and he knew where she was going with this, "here you insert his catheter since you seam so interested in his nether region" Meeka said with a small chuckle, "we are a bit behind and I need to do the intravenous since you are not experienced, but this is something you can handle" She continued with a devious smile. Ion was about to protest but from the table, Salt cut in, "what are you so afraid of Ion? Afraid you might enjoy the feel?" he said with his own devious smile, "did you two come up with this?" Ion blurted out, "I don't know what you are talking about" Meeka replied coyly, "don't look at me, I am just the patient" Salt added in. Ion grunted as he went over to Salt's groin area, "don't forget to use the lube, it is on the shelf under that table, don;t want to injure a sensitive part of our patient now" Meeka called over to Ion, "Right..." Ion replied as he grabbed the bottle and poured some of the liquid onto the tube. Taking his hand, Ion slid a finger into Salt's sheath and pulled the fur back a bit, he poured some more lube inside before sliding the catheter down Salt's urethra, Salt giggling through the whole ordeal, "thats it get your finger nice an deep now" Salt chuckled from the table. "Done having your fun yet?" Meeka called out, again annoyed, Ion called back "yes" to which Meeka replied, "good, then just attach the end of the tube to that bag hanging from the side of the table." Ion again did as he was told as Meeka placed a blanket over Salts body that had an opening that exposed Salt's chest area, before handing Ion a gas mask, "here when you are ready, place this over Salt's snout, once he is asleep I will switch the gas over to oxygen and we can begin the procedure" she said before taking her position to Salt's side. Ion walked over to Salt's head and gently asked him, "are you ready?" Salt looked to think it over for a moment before saying with a coy smile, "so did you enjoy yourself?" Again Ion was taken aback as Meeka just chuckled, "well did you? You know after I recover, you can just ask and you can play with my sheath as much as you want!" Salt continued, letting off a nervous laugh. "What is with you today?" Ion begrudgingly asked, blushing behind his mask, "oh come on now, I know you want to, I felt the way those fingers caressed it" Salt replied, "what are you trying to get at?" Ion asked back, "I am picking up where Flint left off, don't think Zephyr won just yet!" Salt replied. "I think it is time for you to go to sleep now" Ion said as he pressed the mask over Salt's nose, "so nighty night" Ion continued as he looked into Salt's nervous eyes, "and don't worry, I will be there when you wake up" he continued as Salt smiled before drifting off to sleep.
With Salt's eyes closed, his breathing relaxed when Meeka changed his mask output to oxygen, his heart rate was steady with the monitor keeping track as Ion took a quick glance at the moving line on the screen before turning back towards Meeka, "ready to begin?" she asked, Ion took a deep breath before replying, "as ready as I will be." "Ok then here I would like you to do the incision" Meeka said, handing Ion a scalpel, "just make a straight line down the centre of the window in the blanket from top to bottom, applying a bit of pressure and don't worry when you see blood, I will follow you with the suction." Ion nodded as he placed the tip of the scalpel near the top of Salt's chest, after applying some pressure, the knife dug in with a bit of blood dripping out near the tip, taking another deep breath, Ion gently slid the scalpel down Salt's chest, blood oozing from where the knife passed but Meeka was quick with the suction. "That good Ion, now go back to the top of the incision and cut down again, you can cut a bit faster if you like and keep repeating this until you feel the scalpel scraping against something hard as once we are at the sternum, we will have to change tools for a moment" Meeka said as Ion nodded. Taking the scalpel, Ion retraced his cuts a few more times, as more and more of Salt's chest tissues severed apart with the incision getting deeper before the scalpel started grinding against bone. "I think we are at the sternum" Ion called out as Meeka placed her hand inside the incision and felt around, "yep we are, ok I am just going to go around with the electronic scalpel and clean up some bleeding vessels, can you go over to the table over there and grab me the sternal saw, it looks like a drill with a little saw blade poking out the end with a guard around it." she replied as Ion nodded. Walking over to the equipment table, Ion eyed the device Meeka asked for, grabbing it and bringing to her as she was about done cleaning up the incision, "alright Ion, place your finger here and just lift up slightly on Salt's sternum as I get the cutter into place" Meeka said, with Ion following her instructions. With Ion lifting up Salt's sternum, Meeka was able to get the sternal saw in place, before asking Ion to let go as she switched the power on and cut upwards inside the incision, the sound coming from the blade intensifying as it cut through the bone before the sound died down when it was finished. Meeka placed the sternal saw back on it's table before handing Ion what looked like a cream tube, "here apply some of this to the side Ion Salt's sternum as it will block the bone vessels from bleeding, you do the right side while I will do the left" Meeka said with Ion nodding as they both applied the substance to their respective sides of the severed sternum. Meeka made one last check to make sure any bleeding had stopped before asking Ion to grab the chest retractor, "ok, I will slightly pry apart the sternum, Ion you just place the retractor in as I do ok" she said, "ok" Ion replied as he placed the metal instrument into Salt's incision, "does this look good?"
"Perfect!" Meeka replied, "now just turn the crank and don't be afraid to use some force, the wider we make it, the more resistance Salt's rib cage will put on the retractor, just keep going until I say stop, even if you hear some popping, his ribs shouldn't break but with the stress they will be under you may hear some pops." All... alright..." Ion responded as he started rotating the leaver, with the opening in Salt's chest getting wider and wider as he did, Meeka was right, every turn of the crank Ion had to put more force on it, even coming to one point where he had to shift his weight to get leverage, he heard some pops as he did but Meeka looked unconcerned. Ion pulled on the handle one last time, forcing all his weight on it as he struggled to move it but the retractor eventually clicked, "ok that is enough" Meeka said as Ion let go of the handle, feeling a bit tired out from the unexpected work out, "sure none of them are broken?" Ion asked with a bit of concern in his voice. "Yep" Meeka replied as she ran her hand down the side of Salt's ribcage, telling Ion to do the same since he was so worried, "you can feel they are all still in one piece, under a lot of pressure though but they are strong enough to withstand this much." Ion ran his hand down the side of Salt's ribcage just as Meeka told him to, feeling that they were still in one piece just as Meeka said though this did get him thinking back when he was ten years old and underwent that open heart surgery for Flint, was this much force needed to open up his ribcage? "Meeka I have a question for you" Ion started saying, "is this the norm for opening up a chest? Even for some one around half or so of Salt's age?" Meeka was a bit confused at the randomness of Ion's question, then it hit her, "are you talking about ten years ago when you underwent a similar surgery?" she asked to which Ion nodded, "while it is true a child's bones, even the ribcage would still be growing at that age, they would still be fairly strong and put up a similar resistance, so I would say yes when the surgeons were operating on you and Flint, when they were prying apart your sternum they would be using the same amount of force" she continued, "I guess for you it is interesting seeing what happen to you when you were put out all those year ago." "Kind of" Ion responded, "no wonder my chest ached so much when I woke up, didn't realize just how much stress everything is under during a surgery like this, back then when I was ten and eight months ago when this arm was grafted to me" Ion continued, lifting up his left mechanical arm.
"And how much extra stress your body will be put under when you will have to undergo one of these surgeries for the cardiacade syndrome, especially if you continue being a Hunter and the frequency of them is increased" Meeka replied in a more serious tone. "Are you getting at that again? It that the reason you pressured me into helping you with this?" Ion asked, "look Meeka, I already told you when we went out for our run, I am dedicated to continuing my dream, even if it means I will have to have more surgeries, even ones like this more often and you promised to support me in that remember?" "I know" Meeka responded, "I still just wanted you to have the picture of what will be, but that is not the main reason why I asked you to help me today, it really was for Salt, he does care for you and wanted you here with him, he was the one who asked if I could get you to be my assistant for his operation when I was talking to him about my offer to you during the pre-op consultations." Ion felt a little bad about what he said after hearing Meeka's words, "sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, I do know you are just looking out for me" Ion replied, "but now we have a job to do for Salt's sake, so why don't we get back to fixing up his heart.' "Right on!" Meeka said as she handed Ion a pair of tweezers, "now I want you to gently lift up the layers of tissues while I cut through them, we are close to Salt's heart so I want to be extra careful, so I will make these cuts." Ion agreed as he helped Meeka get through the layers of tissue that were under the sternum, quickly getting to a layer that started pulsing in rhythm with the beeps of the heart monitor, "alright, we are now at the pericardium, once we cut through this, we will be able to see Salt's heart" Meeka said as Ion was starting to get a bit excited, he had never seen a beating heart before though he was able to feel his own beating in the open air during the surgery where his arm got grafted, that was the closest and he had to admit, this sort of stuff interested him. Meeka made the incision through the pericardium, as a bit of fluid drained out but then there it was, Salt's heart beating for the world to see, "go on, don't be afraid to touch it, just don't squeeze it, let it beat against your hand as you give it a quick examine and let me know if you feel anything off" Meeka said as Ion placed his hand on Salt's beating heart, "here don't be afraid to cup it and just let it beat in your hand, again we want to make sure there is no outside abnormalities" Meeka continued as she took Ion's hand and scooped up Salt's beating heart with it, "there you go, just let it beat in your hand for a minute and just see if there are any abnormalities' in the pulses." Ion stood there for a minute as he just let Salt's powerful organ pulsate in his hand, again thinking back to the surgeons who would have done this to his own all those years ago and how they felt holding it or the first time they held a beating heart in their hands, there was just something mystifying about it, holding the organ that give you life in the palm of your hand.
"Well does anything feel off?" Meeka asked to break the silence as Ion snapped back to reality, "no... no I don't feel anything abnormal" he replied, gently lowering Salt's heart back into his chest and removing his hand. "How was it? Feeling something important like that in the palm of your hands, something not may people can ever experience, pretty cool don't you think?" Meeka continued asking, "Yes I would say so, it is not something I ever expected to do but I did enjoy it" Ion replied, "see, I knew you would find some enjoyment in this" Meeka responded, "but one of the best feelings is making those repairs and seeing your patient feel good again, knowing that you were able to do something not a lot of people can do to make it happen, so lets get the job done!" "Yes lets!" Ion said in his own cheery voice, "I can't wait to see Salt back in form with all the other tribal warriors." "And feel great in the fact that you had an important hand in getting Salt back to that form, that your patient can live normally once again" Meeka interjected, "thats what drives me to do this and I hope you can get the same feeling." "I hope so too!" Ion added, "I am actually glad to get to experience your perspective on these things, while I still will be a Hunter, I am actually happy you were able to talk me into at least trying this." Meeka smiled under her mask at Ion's words, "my pleasure little bro" she responded, "but like I said we have a job to do, now I believe we will be able to make the repairs needed without having to put Salt on bypass, I know this was something you would have been put on during your surgery ten years ago so sorry would won't be able to re-experience it in this way." "Not a problem at all" Ion said, "this is about helping Salt, not about my past experiences, we will do what is best for him" Ion continued as Meeka nodded. For the next several hours, Meeka and Ion took great care in repairing the damaged tissues in Salt's heart, mostly grafting synthetic tissues where needed to strengthen the heart's weakened walls as Salt did not need any live tissue donations like Flint did at least for now.
When Meeka was satisfied with the work done and that Salt's heart would be able to continue beating strong, they started the process of closing the incision. She stitched back together the pericardium and tissues layers, Ion holding closed Salt's sternum as Meeka drilled in closure plates to keep both sides connected while they would fuse back together during the healing process which would take quite a while and to provide protection to Salt's weakened sternum due to having to sever it. "Why don't you try suturing closed the fur incision?" Meeka asked Ion, "you are really dexterous, so I think you would do a good job with it", "ok" Ion replied as he took the suture needle from Meeka and went to work. 'That's it, wow you are really good at this!" Meeka gleefully said as Ion blushed a little as he was finishing up, "all done... how does it look?" he asked. Meeka looked over Ion's handy work and gave it her seal of approval, "beautiful! See I knew you had a knack for this, maybe if being a Hunter doesn't work out and you still don't want to be my assistant, you would make a good seamstress!" Meeka replied with a bit of coy in her voice, "hey... hey" Ion responded back, "what is that suppose to mean?" "Well like I said you are dexterous and are really good at stitching, just another career option if things don't work out!" Meeka said with a laugh as Ion gave her a glare, "No? No interest? Oh well I guess you better make sure you make it as a Hunter, my offer might not always be on the table" Meeka continued though she was lying about the last part, if Ion ever wanted to give up being a Hunter and work with her, she would always welcome it. With Salt all closed up, Meeka quickly left the operating room to grab an empty gurney as Ion just kept an eye on Salt to make sure there were no complications, when Meeka got back, he helped her lift Salt onto the gurney and wheel him to intensive care where he would stay for a few days. Getting all the monitoring equipment back attached to him, Ion sat down in a chair near the bed as Meeka went to meet with Salt's family to give them the good news.
It wasn't before long that Salt's eyes started opening, "hey there, how are you feeling?" Ion asked the groggy Salt, "tired... I feel like I was hit by a train, my chest really aches as well..." Salt responded. "Well that is to be expected" Ion replied, "here Meeka said I could up your pain killer dose a bit if you were feeling any pain" Ion continued as he pushed the dial on the intravenous up a tiny bit. "Thank you" Salt softly said at Ion's gesture, "no problem, like I said I am here for you" Ion replied, "no, thank you Ion, you don't know just how nervous I was just before the operation started, thank you for putting up with my antics as it help me calm myself seeing you so flustered" Salt replied back trying to crack a smile. "Think nothing of it" Ion answered, "glad you were able to have some fun in the mist of your situation, even if it was at my expense." "So what do you have to say about my offer?" Salt asked, "what offer?" Ion asked back, "you know, the one I was talking about before you put me out..." Salt began saying. "You mean the one about playing with your sheath?" Ion answered in an annoyed tone to which Salt smiled, "See you remember, I saw the way you looked at me when I had to strip, you liked my naked body and enjoyed touching my sheath, just admit it!" Salt continued with Ion flustered he was still going on about this, but they were alone right now, maybe they could have a conversation like this together. "Ok I will admit it" Ion started saying, "you have a cute body and a really cute sheath, maybe even cuter then Zephyr's, if you are serious about it... I wouldn't mind... well you know... playing with it... You, once in a while..." Salt smile got even bigger, "oh I mean it when I said all you have to do is ask, as long as I get my turn getting my hands on yours, that is my only condition" Salt replied, "sure, sure when you are better and are ok to do some physical activity, I don't mind us making out from time to time" Ion responded, "promise?" Salt asked as Ion leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "that one would have been on the lips if you didn't have to have your oxygen mask on, I am sure you know my answer from that" Ion said playfully but serious.
"I will hold you to it" Salt said, "oh I know" Ion replied back, "but for now try and get some rest, your heart will thank you for it." "And don't worry, I got a good set of hands, I will give Zephyr a run for his money" Salt retorted back, "I see you are still going to go on about this and ignore my advice" Ion said back, "like I said, the fight is not over, Zephyr has not won yet, I will win you over just you see" Salt replied with a smile as Meeka came back into the room with Salt's family in toe. "We can chat more latter" Ion started saying, "but for now, enjoy your family being here with you, I will stop by a little bit after ok" Ion continued as he and Meeka left the room. "That was heartwarming you two getting along like that" Meeka started saying, "ya, I just hope I didn;t promise him too much" Ion answered, "I am sure Zephyr would understand, you are in an open relationship are you not?" Meeka asked, "true" Ion replied, "there is room for giving love to both, I would have done the same if Flint were still here." "You know he doesn't replace him?" Meeka said, "oh I know, but I do love Salt in his own way, I like him for who he is, not because of his relation to Flint" Ion replied, "good, I just wanted to make sure" Meeka said to Ion's response. "Now there is one more matter I want to speak to you about" Meeka started saying, "I know that you are still going to be a Hunter but for the time being, do you want to help me out with my surgeries? You are still at least a couple of months before being cleared to go back out into the field, it would give you something to do and not only help me out but the Hunters as well." "Sure why not" Ion answered, "I did enjoy myself today and would love to experence your world a bit more" he continued as Meeka's face lite up. "Awesome!, Well some good news, I will only be assigned to the cardiac unit for another week or so before going back to my normal post doing abdominal surgeries, so you will get some experience in other areas of my work and see what you went through while I was mending your recent injuries" Meeka went on saying excited about the work she and Ion would do, Ion just listened to what she had to say as he was just happy to make his big sis's day. ~
cardiacade syndrome is not a real medical disease but is one I created for my world as it lets me delve into some non real world medical procedures and be creative in some of my medical stories which I like to write from time to time (and it is nice to have a name for Ion's and really Flint's medical heart condition where I can have some control on how it progresses)
