Author's Note: I've had the time to write, so I don't really have much of an excuse for such a late update, but I just didn't have the motivation to write, and you faithful ~Dreamers deserve my work at its best. This isn't really proof read at all, so please excuse the typos peppered in here and there.

I'm also gonna apologize now for this terrible cliff hanger.

You've been warned.

...Enjoy?

A Reason to Survive

-37-

It was Petra's coughing that motivated Levi to get the others moving.

"Tell me what you need and we'll get it," Levi addressed the doctor.

"The smallest, cleanest knife you have, alcohol to keep things sterile, beer or wine will do, bandages, lots of them, needle and thread or some sort of string to sew her up when I'm done," the doctor looked at Levi gravely as the shorter man scrambled the members to procure said supplies. "All I can do for her is drain the excess fluid in her lungs, but open chest surgery is off the table. Without access to proper medical equipment or some form of life support and oxygen, your friend will die either from the shock, cardiac arrest, or as it stands, internal bleeding."

Levi nodded once, hating the verdict. His eyes never left Petra.

"What else do you need?" Levi pressed impatiently. Petra was getting paler.

Hanji knelt beside them then, and the three of them began to cut away Petra's shirt and jacket. They left her on the ground, not wanting to risk lifting her off the ground and messing with her chest. Levi tried to make her as comfortable as possible. He made a point to keep her breasts covered, with as many eyes that were on her, including a stranger's and his young son. Petra's clothes were still on her back, and her arms.

Her wrist was covered, obscured from everyone's view.

A grimness seemed to fall over the room at the sight of Petra's wounds. Football sized bruises bloomed at either of Petra's sides, shades of purple deepening to black. The doctor gently poked at Petra's ribs, feeling for breaks. After a long two moments of this, he gestured for Levi to come closer.

"Feel her ribs here," the man directed, and Levi did as he was instructed. "That's completely solid, no breaks there. Now feel over here," the man told him, and Levi did. "Still mostly solid, but those bumps are likely fractures. Not clean breaks, so they're not the ones causing her internal bleeding. If I had to hazard a guess, then her breaks are focused around these purple areas. Feel here...and here."

The doctor directed Levi's hands to the darkest of Petra's bruises, located on her left side, just under the swell of her breast, near her heart. Beneath Levi's fingers, the tissue was far too soft, both bone an flesh caving under his touch. Levi fought back the urge to throw up.

"I have no means of x-raying her chest, but given what we can see and what we can feel, I believe its safe to say that this is likely the region where her lungs have been punctured by her ribs." The doctor measured out a section of flesh between his fingers, marking a thin line at Petra's more injured side. "I need a pen, the inside tube. Once we clean the ink out of it, we can insert the tube into her side, let the blood drain that way, and at a slow, controllable pace."

After ransacking Petra's art supplies for a solid two minutes, someone finally found a pen. It was ball point. Perfect.

"The first chance any of you get, whenever the Titans have cleared out, we need to hit a hospital," Levi commanded. "She's going to need much stronger painkillers than what we've got on us now."

"I doubt we'll find anything as strong as morphine left in any of the abandoned hospitals. The one's left are either crawling with Titans," Eren pointed out realistically.

"Or have already been ransacked by addicts," Jean added.

Levi shot them a warning glare, shutting the two boys up immediately.

"What about an animal hospital?" the boy added hesitantly.

"That may be our only option," the doctor agreed, before explaining. "Animals like cats and dogs use the same medications that we do. A vet or any animal clinic in this city may be your best chance at finding the supplies your friend will need during her...recovery," the man hesitated, and it was clear to all that he was uncertain if Petra would survive. "She's also going to need lots of blood. Do any of you happen to know her blood type?"

"...o positive," someone answered quietly, and it took everyone a few seconds to realize that it was Petra.

"Shit, kid, you're still conscious?" Levi snapped, more in surprise than in anger. He brushed her hair from her face. Despite the sub-zero temperatures outside, she was sweating.

"...L-Levi?" Petra asked weakly, and in response Levi knelt down to her level, bringing his ear to her mouth so she wouldn't have to strain herself to project.

"I'm here, Petra," Levi told her tenderly, not caring that he had an audience. Petra tugged helplessly at the sleeve of his jacket. "What is it?"

"~Please knock me out," Petra whimpered pitifully below him, fresh tears streaming from her face to the floor. Levi's face hardened.

"...Alright, kid," Levi conceded, pulling his cravat loose from his neck, before folding the cloth neatly into a square. He pulled Petra into his lap then, so that she could feel him around her, and then firmly pressed the cloth to her mouth and nose. Levi essentially smothered her, until she fainted from lack of oxygen. Her body was too weak to even attempt to fight him off, but Levi promptly removed the cloth the second he confirmed she was out. He checked her breathing, shaky but steady enough. She was stable, but likely wouldn't be for much longer.

Everyone in the room could only watch helplessly as the scene played out before them.

"Anyone else O positive?" Levi asked the room. Armin, Eld, and Hanji raised their hands. Armin was way too light, so Levi knew it was gonna have to be either Eld or Hanji. "Alright Doc, any idea how we're gonna perform a blood transfusion?"

"I need some sort of thin tube, and the largest syringe we can find. Two syringes, to avoid contaminating the blood of both your friend and her donor," the doctor answered. "Also a bag to collect the blood of the donor. If we have those materials, I can create a makeshift IV, one I can hopefully siphon into Petra at a controllable rate."

"Got it. Auroro, Gunther, Reiner, Jean," Levi commanded, gathering the best uninjured members concerning Maneuver Gear, who needed no other words to follow his lead. Levi glanced at Petra for what he was determined wouldn't be the last time. "We'll be back in 30." All concerned stood to leave, Levi carefully returning Petra from his lap to the floor.

But then Petra's wounds started to steam.