Fanfiction : Earthquake and Consequences - Chapter One

Earthquake and Consequences by Audrey Rameau

Chapter 1 – What happened ?

Outside, everything was fizzy, loud. Neil couldn’t open his eyes. He was so dizzy, so numb. What had just happened? He couldn’t tell. Just a few minutes away, he was drinking red wine with Lea and Dr. Glassman. And now he was lying on the floor. Oh damn! He was so cold. He didn’t manage to move. His legs were like paralyzed.

Then everything came back into his mind. The charity event, the earthquake, the building falling down. And him in the middle of everything. Around him, there were a lot of wounded people. He heard screams, cries, people asking for help. He knew he had to get up and go help these people. He was a doctor, a surgeon after all! He has to do something. He couldn’t let all these people suffer. As he tried to get on his feet, he slipped on the ground and his head hit the ground.

From that moment, he felt way better. This little knock on his head must have put everything in place. He was ready to help any person who was suffering. He started checking a woman with an head injury , then a man with what is supposed to be a fracture. Time fled when he was doing his job . He spearated people with light injuries from people with hard ones. He explained to people in good health how to help those who were in need. So he could focus on the people who were less lucky.

As he navigated the room, he recognized Marta he operated on years earlier. She was with Noreen, her wife and she was screaming. As soon as she saw him, she yelled at him for help. Marta was stuck under a huge beam. Only her head was safe from the weight of the wood.

“Hi Marta, hope you have fun”. Marta and Noreen calmed down right away. He liked to have this peaceful power over people. He focused on the wound as soon as both women were reassured and started analyzing the way he could save Marta. The task was not easy. She was trapped from the neck to the toes. Hard to know where to start. She must have at least have multiple fractures in her legs and arms. The spinal column could have been touched. Worst of all, her organs could have been compromised. He was drowning into all his supositions when he heard her voice.

“Dr. Melendez are you OK?”

She was there in front of him in her blue uniform, her helmet on the head.

“Let me see.. Are you dizzy? […] Let me see […] How much that hurt […] You’re gonna use a full evaluation” She didn’t stop talking. He could see she was anxious, worried. He tried to reassure her but she was so focused on examining him she put the lights in his eyes and checked his abdomen where he had a bruise. He told her about Marta but nothing could divert her from her ideas. She needed to check on him. And to be fair, Neil found this attitude nothing but cute. She was always like that and that was what made her who she was.

Eventually, he managed to lead her to Marta. She was under this huge beam. He explained to her his first conclusions. She listens to him carefully. It was a complicated medical case and each of them needed to be focused to fully understand the facts and act in the best way for the patient. Marta could end up paralyzed. That was when Claire proposed to remove the screw right away .A very ambitious idea but Marta had nothing to lose. Neil could only agree with this idea even if Noreen was not in the same mood. Marta approves even if she was scared. But it could be worse if they didn’t do something right now.

They went to the EMT to get all the useful materials. Tension was there. Especially when Noreen came to convince not to do the surgery. But both of them could feel it but they had to be calm and focused. Marta needed their help.

The talk between Noreen and Marta was deep, intense. At that moment, Neil felt like he was not where he was supposed to be. He didn’t want to interfere in this so personal moment. Hit wouldn’t be faire because these two women really loved each other. Like true love. He prevented him from looking at Claire at that moment. He knew he shouldn’t feel like that when he was around her. He was his superior? She was his resident? And this kind of feelings were not allowed at Bonaventure.

He’d rather focus on the surgery. At least he knew all the moves to do, Claire by his side. Like in the OR. Except they were not and Marta was bleeding more and more. For one second, he panicked until he saw Claire took the clamp and stop the bleeding. God, he loved when she was being such a badass doctor. But the problem remained the same. Marta was bleeding too much and if they didn’t stop it, she won’t survive the surgery. That was when he saw Claire got up and left their makeshift OR.

Where was she? What was she doing? A few minutes later, he showed her back with a beer pump. She made me place thin pipes into Marta. I looked at her. She was in her element. “We’re going pump her own blood into her” .

At that moment, I was so proud of her. The young resident from three years ago was not here anymore. In front of me was the Dr. Claire Browne. No matter the fact she still had six months of residency before being graduated, she already was a doctor, she had it in her heart, her soul, her blood. She was extraordinary and….

“Spend enough time around Dr. Browne, you’ll get used to incredible”

He glanced at her quickly. He would have like to look longer but he couldn’t. He had to fix Marta’s neck. He could look at her later. Or not. It was not appropriate for a surgeon to look at her resident that way. But he couldn’t stop. When he was around her, he was a better surgeon… A better person.

Marta was doing well when she was evacuated by the paramedics. Another success for Doctor Melendez! But his real prize was the smile on Noreen and Marta’s faces when Marta was able to squeeze the hand of her wife. They were so in love and he was touched by their love.

This moment of bliss came to an end when the aftershock struck. It was time to take Marta away. She needed to be safe in the hospital. She couldn’t stay here…. All of a sudden, Neil felt his oesophagus hurt and he threw up. All his abdomen was hurting, it felt like he was burning from the inside. “Are you alright?” was the only thing he heard before reaching the ground. The beautiful and melodic voice of Claire Browne. A sweet way of leaving this world…