Page 64 of Unraveling Connections

Luc nods, and sits down next to Pete in front of us with his medic bag in front of him, “I can do that, so first we find out exactly where the chip is using Peter’s scanner, then I use a little bit of numbing cream over the area before I inject the anestheticso it’s nice and numb and the person can’t feel anything, then I take this scalpel and make a tiny incision, the chips are smaller than your little fingernail, so it really doesn’t have to be very big, and then using tweezers I gently take it out, and put a little bandaid over it. They are so small that they don’t even need stitches.”

While he’s talking, I realize that he has added the extra step of the numbing cream for Joe, something that we don’t offer anyone else. Of course, the majority of people that we have to remove the microchips on are adults who have done horrific things. They can take a little jab from the needle to give them the topical anesthetic; I think some of them are fucking lucky they get anything.

Joe nods and looks back at Peter, “So, you want to check if I have one?”

Pete nods, “Yes, I do. We want to make sure that you’re safe, but we can't promise that if you have a chip, so we want to make sure, and if you do, we want to remove it so we can keep you safe.”

Joe nods, “Okay, I’m not sure I can stand up though.”

Peter nods, and smiles again as he says, “That’s okay, I don’t need you to stand to do this. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.”

Joe nods again looking slightly nervous, and I move out of the way so that Pete can scan him as thoroughly as possible, but hold out my hand to him, giving him the option to hold it. He grabs on to it tightly and I give him a squeeze.

“What’s the verdict?” he asks after a moment.

Peter crouches again, “You have one in your arm, right here.”

“Get it out,” he says firmly. He looks at Luc, “You can do it right. Please get it out.”

“Are you sure?” Luc asks.

The kid nods, “Yes, I want it out.”

“It’s okay, don’t panic,” I say gently, “Luc will get it out. I trust him with my life.”

Joe takes a deep breath, “Okay.”

Luc smiles, “I’m going to talk you through the whole process okay, if you want me to pause or stop at any point, you just say the word and I will stop immediately.”

“Okay,” he nods, his voice small and worried.

“I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere,” I add.

He looks at me and smiles slightly, “Thanks. Let’s get it over with.”

Luc pulls everything that he is going to need out of his bag and lays it out on one of the blankets, showing Joe each thing and explaining what it is and what it does. Joe listens intently to everything that Cash is saying and even asks a couple of questions.

“Did that make sense?” Luc asks.

Joe nods, “Yeah, it is the numbing cream first, right? So, the needle doesn’t hurt, yeah?”

Luc nods with a proud smile, “Yeah, that’s right. Good job, maybe you could be a medic when you get bigger?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Joe replies, focusing on what Luc is doing.

Jensen

That was probably one of the worst things that I have seen on this job, and I am so incredibly proud of Ever and the way that she is handling it. She is amazing, and the boy was almost immediately put at ease. While Luc, Peter, and Ever sit with the boy and attend to his wounds, the rest ofus decide to help with opening the crates. We don’t want to scare the kid any more than he already is, and he said that there were more people in the crates.

That is fucking concerning.

“We have got a few crowbars. We had some in the vehicles, but we also found some in one of the side rooms, so we have got plenty,” one of the agents I am not familiar with says as he approaches us and hands us each one from a giant pile that he is carrying.

Trick nods, “Great, the child has said that there is more than just him in the crates. We need to search them all. I have called Mr R and he is sending in more people, EMTs, the works. It is going to be a long night.”

“Fuck,” the guy says, shock overtaking his expression, “I’ll start spreading the word.”

“Thanks,” Trick replies, his expression solemn.

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