Save Who You Can

Posted on Wed Oct 25th, 2023 @ 22:51 by Freya Callaghan MD

Chapter: Days of Future Past
Location: Royal Victoria Hospital, Dundee, Scotland
Timeline: Early 1992
1665 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Freya had been on shift now for what seemed like forever. In fact it was only 2100 hours on a Friday evening and A&E was already filling up with idiots who were out on the town having too much of a good time, or those who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally there were also people there with sniffles, some broken bones, lacerations and whatnot but it was pretty much par the course for a Friday night in the bustling city called Dundee.

“Hey Freya.” came a soft announcement of Elijah’s presence near her.

He was older, had kind of taken her under his wing over the past few years and helped her find her feet in a new city. Edinburgh, where she had studied, was a little different from the rougher Dundee people.

“Dr Anderson. Has the people in the waiting room gone down AT ALL?” Freya emphasised.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Elijah?” he mused rhetorically. “We’ve been working together for years now and I’m not that much older than you.”

Freya chuckled to herself quietly. “Sorry, Elijah.”

He looked back triumphantly. “And yes, it’s gone down a wee bit. Not by much though.” he sighed. He’d been on longer than her.

There was a look between them that didn’t need words. Almost as if to say “sick people, right?” but it was interrupted by the sudden and unwanted ring of an old red phone that hung on the wall. Some playfully called it the bat phone but it wasn’t as popular as Michael Keaton in a cape. Sadly it was the emergency phone and if often meant trouble.

Elijah moved over to the phone and picked it up. “Royal Victoria Hospital, emergency department.” he said simply.

Moments passed as she listened to the muffled hurried tones on the other side of the line and then Elijah hung up the phone. For a moment he stood there as if thinking what to do before swinging into action.

“Can I have everyone’s attention please?!” he yelled as the room quietened down. Doctors and nurses, even some auxiliary staff, came into the communal staff space. You could hear a pin drop. “There has been a partial building collapse at Arthur’s nightclub. We don’t have proper numbers yet as we don’t know how many were in the building but we have multiple incoming. Injuries range from blunt force trauma, open head wounds, fractures and breaks, lacerations. Expect this to be a long night guys, if you need to use the bathroom do it now as the first ambulance will be here in 5 minutes. Let’s go, people!” he yelled and clapped his hands. This seemed to break people free of their shock and hustle and bustle was the name of the game before the first bus arrived.

Freya was shocked, she’d been in Arthur’s just last weekend. Good thing about her powers was that she could get exceptionally drunk and not have a hangover the next morning. Thank you regeneration! However, the thought became more sombre at the moment as she felt her heart quicken at the thought of all the injured coming in.

“Head in the game, Callaghan!” Elijah slapped her on the back forcing her to lunge forward a touch. She’d been gripping something and it nipped her causing a break in the skin. She winced and Elijah walked off to start coordinating the ER.

Freya watched as the small slice on her hand began to knit itself closed and instantly she was saddened that not everyone had the same ability. She licked her finger and wiped away the small droplet of blood and rose to her feet to follow Elijah.

As she approached the doors and walked outside to see him putting gloves on she could hear the sirens of the multiple ambulances on their way, the faint flash of blue lights off buildings and the cloudy night sky.

It was going to be a long night.

Back doors flung open. Cries of pain. Shouting out names of friends. The smell of iron, the blood in the air.

For a time the sounds of sirens drowned out the night but quickly she became numb to their piercing shrill pings in her ear drums.

BOOM! Doors open!!

“25 year old, white male. Blunt force trauma to the head.” the paramedic began. Freya was drawn to the amount of packing they had put into the wound. “Blood pressure is 90 over 60. We had to intubate due to a loss of airway en route to the hospital. He kept trying to code on the way here but we’ve stabilised him.”

“Bed one, now. Why isn’t he on a backboard?!” Freya exclaimed.

“We didn't have one…” the paramedic looked annoyed. “We were in the middle of an inventory and left it behind.”

“Get him transferred onto the bed quickly before he bleeds out.” Freya ordered as nurses came in to assist.

“We have a possible spinal injury. His blood pressure is dropping and there are signs of internal bleeding.” She noted as she lifted the man’s top to see dark purple bruising forming as they spoke. “That’s why we use a backboard!” she yelled at the paramedics.

There were mumbled words and a further exchange of information and Freya and the team went to work trying to save the man.

“GODDAMMIT!” Freya yelled after 45 minutes on the patient. He’d lost his fight, and so had she on his behalf.

“You need to call it Freya.” Lucy, one of the charge nurses said. “There are other people who need help.”

Freya looked at the clock and then down at her scrubs which had blood on them. “Time of death, 2209 hours.” she moved out past the curtain and closed her eyes whilst she sighed heavily.

That was only one. There were at least a hundred others.

Hours passed.

Freya looked in on another patient, the clock read 0132 and there were still people being brought in from under the rubble. She had seen enough of suffering and placed a hand over the man’s arm. It began to click and reform its shape as a low light emanated from her hands. Luckily he was unconscious… but Freya could feel the burn in her own arm as she felt her bone break under her skin even for a brief moment or two. Thankfully she healed a lot quicker than most but the downside to her healing power, a trade off if you will, was she took on their pain and suffering for a short time period.

A nurse came in as Freya removed her hands. “I thought he had shattered both his radius and ulna?” she questioned as she lifted up the chart.

Freya shrugged. “That’s what it said. I was just making sure but it seems they must have made a mistake. His arm is completely fine.”

The nurse frowned and stared at Freya. This wasn’t the first time tonight there had been a discrepancy in paramedic handovers. Freya thought nothing of it and moved out from behind the curtain to get herself a drink and see someone else.

As she passed another she heard a groan and walked in. Picking up the chart she could hear the wheezing in the background. 16 year old female. “Underage and drinking.” she shook her head but knew she’d done the same at her age. The young woman had a piece of a steel rod through the right side of her chest. She was going to die as the surgeon who dealt with this kind of thing was on holiday and the nearest on call was coming up from Newcastle where he’d been giving a speech on the need for further NHS funding.

Freya placed her hand on the young girls forehead. “I’m sorry this happened to you darlin’.” she fixed the girls hair out of her face.

“Mum? I’m sorry mum.” the girl almost pleaded not understanding where she was.

Freya looked away in almost as much anguish as the young girl on the bed. It was then she made a decision she swore she’d never do… heal a large injury, one that would drain her and potentially, probably raise a few eyebrows.

Quickly she moved to look outside to see if anyone was coming and thankfully the coast was clear before moving back to the girl.

Leaning in, she whispered, “This is going to hurt. I am sorry.”

Freya placed both her hands around the wound, the steel rod in the middle and focussed. Slowly the rod began to move upwards, as if it was being forced out of the body. The young girl moaned and tried to move but Freya stopped her.

On the back of Freya’s scrubs a blood patch had begun to form as the injury transferred. She became short of breath, struggled to focus a little as now blood found its way into her mouth and now the open wound on her chest.

CLANG!

The rod had fallen.

“Freya?” she heard as she turned weakly to see Elijah looking at her in shock and disbelief. “I didn’t want to believe it. The nurses…” he pointed bewilderedly down the hall. “They said some weird things were going on with your patient… but I didn’t think… this!”

He began to move slowly backwards. “Elijah, wait!” Freya said weakly without much power behind her words.

She clutched onto the bed as her body began to heal itself. It was taking a minute. She stumbled to her knees and by the time she’d picked herself up Elijah was gone.

What had she done? Something she swore she never would… use her powers on a grand scale to alter Human life… but you can only take seeing so much suffering right? Right??