Chapter 6
"Okay. Okay. Call Coulson and he'll get us out." Skye said as she pulled out her phone. "No problem. Out of here in no time." But, she tried to dial and then tried to send a text. "Fitz, Jemma, do either of you have your phones, and a signal, please tell me one of you has a phone that might actually connect or text because I'm getting nothing."
"Nothing here." Fitz said as he pulled out his phone but got the same results as Skye. "It's probably the shielding around the labs, and I think this level might be partially underground. That's probably blocking the signal."
"I left my phone upstairs, but, there has to be a way to contact someone from here. This was a lab, even if they seem to have turned it into a storeroom." Jemma looked up, worry in her eyes. "There has to be a connection to the comm system, or a phone. What if there was a lab accident? They would have to have a way to call for help."
"Right. We'll look." Fitz said with a nod. "You're right. There has to be something."
"Fitz, you look. I'm going to need a second pair of hands over here." Jemma said as she looked down at the reading on the thermometer and tried not to wince. 105.7. Not good, bordering on disastrous.
"What do you need me to do?" Skye asked as she hurried over and knelt on the floor, wincing herself when she saw the reading on the thermometer. Wasn't that a temperature they told you to cook things at?
"We need to try to get medicine and fluids into her. She's severely dehydrated, and her fever's dangerously high. I wish I had thought to bring along more supplies. She needs to be on an IV drip at the least." But how was she to know that they were going to end up trapped in a lab that was alarmingly ovenlike?
"Okay." Skye jumped up and hurried over to the cart. "Tamaflu. Will that even help right now?"
"Not immediately, but we need to get her started on it anyway." Jemma wet the torn sleeve Skye had made into a wet compress once more and gently ran it over Agent Hand's face and neck. With how hot the room was, and the air stuffy and heavy, she wasn't sure it would do much good as far as lowering the fever was concerned, but maybe it would comfort her a bit, and would let her know that there was someone there trying take care of her.
"Tamaflu and acetaminophen." She grabbed the box and a bottle of the medicine along with a couple more bottles of water before hurrying over to join Jemma. "Do you want me to lift her a little? She's never going to be able to swallow anything flat on her back."
"Right. Agent Hand? Ma'am, we have some medicine you need to take. Skye's going to raise you up a bit, so you can take it, alright? Just try to swallow. It might take a little bit, but it will help you feel better."
The voices around her sounded a bit like buzzing bees, but Victoria did pick out the words medicine and better, so she didn't struggle as she felt someone move behind her, her head and shudders being propped up, and first pills and then water being coaxed down her throat. But as soon as the liquid hit her stomach, nausea washed over her, and she moaned, trying to pull away before she was forced to swallow more of the liquid. "Sick."
"Okay, we'll try a little more later then. That's fine. You just rest, and let the medicine settle, alright?" Jemma said in what she hoped was a soothing tone as they got the sick agent laying down once more, letting her curl onto her side with the folded blanket as a pillow.
"Is there anything else we can do?" Surely there was something else besides medicine that would take who knows how long to kick in. Without even thinking she started to slowly rub Agent Hand's back in small circles, like the nuns had done what seemed like a lifetime ago when she had been sick. She wasn't sure why it had helped her then, probably the touch more than anything else, but maybe it would help now somehow too.
"Keep her as comfortable as possible given the circumstances, and keep her still. Try to get her to drink if she can at all without throwing up. Fitz, please tell me you've found a comm panel or a phone!"
"Found a comm panel, but it looks like someone's been scavenging it for parts. When she feels better, I'll bet Agent Hand is going to have a fit over this. I'm sure she didn't have a clue someone was taking the easy way of getting spare parts. I don't see any way I could get it running again, at least not with what we have here." Fitz called from behind piles of discarded items. "I found a sink, though. Would water that's at least a little bit colder help?"
"Cooler water would be perfect, as much of it as you can, but not too cold, lukewarm. We've got to get her temperature down, but we've got to be careful doing it."
"Do we need to get more of her clothes off?" Skye asked as Fitz came hurrying over with a container that looked a bit like a fishbowl filled with water.
"If you're taking clothes off, I might try working on that panel after all." Fitz said.
"No. If we could get some air flow going, undressing her might help, but with the way things are in here, best to leave everything in place. It might help hold the water against her skin for a bit longer, in any case. And Fitz, work on the door, if you can. There has to be a way out of here." Jemma said as she dipped the torn sleeve into the water, cool but not too cool, thank goodness. "Okay, we need to do this over the sides of the neck, the collar bones, anywhere there are large blood vessels." But even if what they were trying did help, it could only do so much. They had to figure a way out of there fast.