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“Imy,” Shyla shouts. “You’ve got a patient coming in.”
“We’ve got one now,” I call back. “Can you help?”
She pops around the corner. “What do you need me to do?”
“We need to clean them up so we can find the active bleeds. I’ll start on this—”
“No.” Ecaeris stops me. “Go meet the next one. We can clean him up and give you a report.”
I nod, rushing out of operating room one and into the waiting area. I’ve barely gotten my sleeves rolled up when the next patience is within view.
Blood drips from a nub that hangs limp over the edge of the gurney. They leave a trail all the way to operating room two. Selmar slides through the doors of the building before I’m completely in the next operating room.
“Where do you want me?” Selmar asks, ever the calm mentor in the face of chaos.
“Check op one. Ecaeris and Shyla are cleaning up the first patient. I’ll head to op two.”
“Two attacked?” he murmurs to himself.
I shake my head. “Three, from what I can gather.”
“Is Raf on his way?” he inquires. “Or should I check on Shyla and prepare for operating room three?”
“I sent for him when I sent for you,” I divulge. “But if he isn’t, we’ll figure it out.”
“You should send for Ada,” Selmar advises as he opens the door to operating room two. “She can help you heal them.”
I nod to the guard on my left. “Find Talodus and Connak. Tell them to bring Ada now.” Then I take over the makeshift gurney and turn my attention to the second guard. “Have you noted any injuries?”
“No. He’s bleeding badly, but we couldn’t find the source, other than the missing hand.” He fights a shiver. “We just ran as fast as we could to get him here.”
“Did he tell you his name?”
“No. Just told us to get his granddaughter first.”
I stop cutting the elder man’s clothing to glare at the guard. “There was a child?”
“No, a woman,” he answers quickly. “It was a woman. And she was already on the move, but she wasn’t handling the transport so well. They had to stop and tie her down because she was wiggling.”
I nod and focus on my patient. “Take his boots off. Cut them if you have to.”
Commotion erupts at the clinic doors again, but I don’t stop what I’m doing. Raf’s voice carries through the building as he instructs another patient into operating room three.
Now that I’m looking at the damage to my patient, I begin to catalog each injury. He’s missing his left hand; we need to stop that bleeding immediately. Broken right arm. Scattered punctures and slices. Pupils dilated; possible concussion. Shock.
“What do you need?” Connak asks, slipping into the room as he dries his hands. “Ada ran in with Raf to help the woman. Talodus is on his way.”
“I’ve got to stop the bleeding,” I tell him, examining the end of the elder man’s arm. “Give me a tourniquet. Fourth cabinet, at the very top.”
“Got it,” Connak calls, his back facing us. “On the left?”
I nod again, moving toward the man’s head and neck to heal the severely seeping punctures. “Yeah. Mid forearm. Tighten it as much as you can. We’ve got to stop the blood flow below the elbow.”
Connak launches himself into action, wrapping the thick leather right below the elder man’s elbow. He tightens the tourniquet as quickly as possible without adding more injury. I take a moment to hold my finger in front of the man’s nose, hoping to detect breath.
It’s shallow. His chest is barely moving. I can feel him slipping away with each minute that passes by.
I motion for the guard to move to the other side of the table. “Hold his arms to his chest. Connak is going to help you roll him on his side so I can check his back.”
