"Negative on that request," a tired voice crackled back through the speaker. "Medical's currently at full capacity dealing with casualties. Had a major riot break out in C-Block last night. Unless she's actively dying right now, she goes on the waiting list."
The female guard looked down at Shuyin's broken, battered form sprawled on the bottom bunk. "Is she dying?"
Tank shrugged with elaborate unconcern. "She's still breathing without assistance. She's conscious when you wake her up. She was talking a little bit earlier. Probably just badly bruised up from the falls."
"Then she waits her turn like everyone else," the male guard said with finality. He pointed a thick finger directly at Tank, his expression hard. "But we're going to be watching this cell very carefully from now on. Anything else happens to her, anything at all, you three are going straight to Isolation for an extended stay. You understand me?"
"Crystal clear, boss," Tank said with exaggerated, mocking respect, giving a little salute.
The guards moved on down the corridor, continuing their morning count through the rest of the block, their voices fading into the distance.
When their footsteps had completely faded away, Razor let out a long, relieved breath. "That was way too close for comfort."
"They know something happened," Blade said quietly, stating the obvious. "They're not stupid. They just can't prove anything concrete."
"Which is exactly how we need to keep it," Tank agreed. "Let them suspect whatever they want. As long as they can't prove anything specific, we stay clear of serious trouble."
She climbed down from her bunk and knelt beside Shuyin's mattress, her scarred face coming into view. "You did well just now, princess. Didn't rat us out to the guards. Didn't contradict our story or try to tell them what really happened."
"Why would I do that?" Shuyin whispered through her painfully swollen lips. "You're the ones keeping me alive right now."
"For the moment, yeah," Tank reminded her, though her voice had lost some of its earlier harsh edge. "You need to eat something soon. Breakfast gets called in about an hour. You gonna be able to walk to the cafeteria?"
The mere thought of moving her body made Shuyin want to cry, but she forced herself to nod fractionally. "I have to."
"Yeah, you do," Tank agreed seriously. "Because if you don't get up, if you show too much weakness right now, they'll come for you again. The pit bosses who run the fights. The corrupt guards are on their payroll. Whoever's pulling all the strings from outside. They'll know you're completely broken, and they'll finish the job they started."
"How do I..." Shuyin's voice cracked with pain and fear. "How do I possibly walk when I can barely move?"
"Through the pain," Blade said with brutal simplicity. "You just push through it because there's no other choice available."
"And you absolutely cannot let them see you crying," Razor added seriously. "Can't let anyone see you looking weak and defeated. You put on a mask to hide everything. You pretend you're basically fine even when you're dying inside."
Shuyin almost laughed at the cruel, bitter irony of those words. That's exactly what she'd done throughout her entire life, worn elaborate masks, pretended everything was perfectly fine to maintain appearances. But this was fundamentally different.
Back then, she was hiding unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Now she had to hide the complete physical breakdown and the very real possibility of death.
"Can you sit up at all?" Tank asked, watching her carefully.
Shuyin tried to rise, engaging her abdominal muscles but they screamed in protest immediately, her broken ribs grinding against each other with every movement. Halfway up, she had to stop completely, gasping for air through the pain.
"Come on, you can do this," Tank encouraged, her tone not exactly kind but not cruel either. "Just breathe through the pain. Take shallow breaths, don't try to fill your lungs completely."
Shuyin followed the instructions as best she could, taking small, careful breaths that didn't expand her damaged ribcage too much.
The pain remained crushing and omnipresent, but it became slightly more manageable. She pushed herself the rest of the way upright using only her undamaged hand for leverage.
The cell room spun violently around her, the walls seeming to tilt. Nausea rolled through her stomach in powerful waves.
"Don't you dare puke," Razor warned sharply. "You start puking, you might not be able to stop. With those broken ribs in your condition, you could actually choke to death on your own vomit."
Shuyin swallowed hard, fighting desperately to force down the rising bile burning in her throat.
Slowly, gradually, the world stopped its violent spinning and stabilized.
"Good job," Tank said with genuine approval. She reached out and grabbed Shuyin's undamaged arm firmly. "Now comes the hard part. Stand up."