Starfist: A World of Hurt by David Sherman & Dan Cragg

own."
    "Right," Summers said, taking the canteen.
    Kerr checked Doyle's other canteen. It was also full. The water reservoir in his pack was less than a quarter emptied. He shook his head. Doyle had more than twice as much water as he did. If he'd been drinking all along, he wouldn't be suffering from heat exhaustion.
    "Kerr, where are you?" HM3 Hough's voice came over Kerr's helmet radio.
    "Over here, Doc," Kerr said. He slipped a cuff out of a glove and raised his arm to let the sleeve slide down. The sudden exposure made his arm feel like he'd just stuck it in an oven; sweat broke out all over it and started flowing down.
    "I have you," Doc Hough said, and Kerr gratefully covered his arm and resealed the cuff into the glove. He checked the indicators; the ambient air temperature was over 40 degrees centigrade. No wonder Doyle was sweating so heavily. Why didn't he have his cooler on, and why hadn't he been drinking? If he didn't replace fluids and lower his temperature, he could be in serious trouble.
    Hough sloshed up to them and quickly checked Doyle's diagnostics. "Classic heat exhaustion," he said, shaking his head. He didn't raise his shields, but did keep the clear screen down so the three Marines could see his face. "How much of that have you given him?" he asked Summers.
    "Not much, Doc. He doesn't want to swallow." Most of the water trickling into Doyle's mouth dribbled back out of his lax lips.
    "Stop for now. If he swallows suddenly he might choke on it."
    Summers withdrew the canteen.
    "Help me prop him up." Kerr helped Hough shift Doyle so his head and shoulders were elevated. Most of the water in his mouth flowed out. "I've got to open him up, get access to his throat," the corpsman said. "Take his helmet."
    Kerr removed Doyle's helmet while Hough unfastened the neck of his chameleons, exposing his neck and upper chest.
    "Hold his shoulders like this," Hough told Kerr, and positioned Doyle the way he wanted him. "Give me the canteen." He took it from Summers and held it to Doyle's mouth. "Take a swallow, Corporal, you can do it." He tipped the canteen so a light flow of water went into Doyle's mouth. He tilted the canteen up and said, "Close your mouth and swallow. You can do it, Marine."
    Doyle rolled his head from side to side.
    "Yes you can, you're a Marine, Corporal. You can do anything."
    Doyle closed his mouth and worked his jaw, but his throat was still, he wasn't swallowing.
    "Swallow, Corporal. You can do it." Hough massaged Doyle's throat and he suddenly gulped. His mouth dropped open; the water was gone. "Have another drink." Hough poured more water in Doyle's mouth, and he swallowed it. "Good man." He slipped a hand into his medkit and checked the label on the medpack he pulled out. "We've got to replace your electrolytes." One-handed, he opened the pack and withdrew a capsule. "I'm going to put this on your tongue, then give you more water. I want you to swallow it. Understand?"
    Doyle's eyes wandered, but he nodded.
    Hough dropped the resealed medpack back into its place in his medkit and put the capsule on Doyle's tongue, then tipped the canteen over his mouth again. "Now close your mouth and swallow."
    Doyle did as he was told.
    "Drink some more water." Hough visually examined Doyle as the corporal took another drink. He was still sweating copiously; his temperature needed to be lowered. "I'm going to close you back up and I want you to turn your cooler on. Do you understand?"
    "It was too cold," Doyle said weakly.
    "You can adjust it." Hough resealed the chest and neck of Doyle's shirt. He added to Kerr,
    "Put his helmet back on, all shields up." When Kerr did, he reached inside to make sure the nipple from the pack water reservoir was in Doyle's mouth, then toggled on the cooler unit.
    "Let me know when you start to get chilled," he said, and settled back to watch Doyle's diagnostics.
    Staff Sergeant Hyakowa had joined them while Doc Hough was working on Doyle, but he stayed back and kept