Fortunately there is a solution.

I flip to page sixty-five.

Atop the page is an introductory paragraph, below it is a diagram, and instructions.

[Dextrorudin (K13) is a compound designed to overclock the kidneys and in order to remove large amounts of toxins from a patient's bloodstream…]

This will cure Claire’s blood toxin issue, the only problem is...

[Side effects include, kidney damage, kidney failure, stroke, death. Do not use if patient is pregnant, elderly, anemic, has pre-existing medical condition, or is missing a kidney. Do not use in conjunction with any other medications.]

‘Well shit. The side effects aren’t much better than the cure.’

…

‘But the alternative definitely worse.’

...

I’m not a doctor but it’s common sense that if I don’t do anything about the chemicals in her bloodstream then she will probably die, but if I do inject this ‘Dextrorudin’ then her kidneys will start to fail. It’s not a cure it’s just delaying the damage.

…

I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. I have to inject her.

I fold the corner of the page and set the book aside, then I look for the injector.

…

I find the ‘Dextrorudin’ with the other miscellanies injectors, most of the injectors look like slimmed down EpiPen, but the ‘Dextrorudin’ looks like a classic plastic syringe with a long needle, filled with a fluid that looks almost like fruit punch. I read the label again to make sure it’s the right stuff.

I go back to the page and look for instructions on how to administer the shot.

…

The instructions are long and complex, but ultimately it boils down to, uncap the syringe, stick the needle into the patients lower back, plunge it slowly, and throw it away when you are done.

I uncap the syringe, the needles longer than I thought

Even though I am not afraid of needles, looking at this thing makes me a little uncomfortable.

I flip Claire onto her back and put a barrier bandage over the spot marked on the diagram.

I plunge the syringe a little to remove any air, then I stick the long needle through the barrier bandage and into what I think is the kidney.

I inject the semitransparent red substance into Claire.

Once I inject every last drop I pull the needle out, and set the device out of the way.

Then I flip back to page one-hundred and sixty-seven and continue onto treating chemical contamination.

The rest of the instructions are simple and equate to flushing the eyes out with special eye drops to heal any vision loss, and treating the chemical burns themselves.

She doesn’t need the eye drops because the mask protected her face.

I take out a small tube of burn gel from the med-kit and apply it all over her chemical burns.

Claire is still unconscious, and looks like shit, and honestly will probably be scarred for life but she will live…

Unless something else kills us, or her kidneys fail before we get help, or we starve…

I’m so hungry...

I turn my attention back to the task at hand, food and water can wait.

I finish wrapping up some of the larger burns with gauze, and then I dress her with a garish yellow hospital gown.

Now, I just have to wait for her to wake up.