Fanfiction : Earthquake and Consequences - Chapter two

Chapter 2 : Always forwards

When Claire felt the earthquake, she knew this day won't be as she pictured it. She was at Bonaventure in a patient room when she understood it was gonna be a very long day. But she liked being in à hurry and took carz of as many patients she could. She loved being à doctor and today was one of these Days when being a doctor was very important.

Lim called them in in the lobby to make a point, she knew the day was gonna be harder than she had imagine. She explained there was a lot of victims, that the hospital was gonna be oberwhelmed but everything Will be alright.

And then she asked me and Park to come with her to the charity event...

"Dr. Melendez and Dr. Glassman were there..."

Audrey nodded and then left the lobby. Claire didn't think and follow the chief of surgery. She needed to be in the action, she refused to worry about Neil. He wa fine for sure. He couldn't be otherwise. She prepared her bag with all she needed to help the victims there and joined Park and Lim in the helicopter on the roof.

While the helicopter led them to the charity event, no one could ever tell a word. Each of them was worried. Some of their colleagues were in there... Claire and Lim's looks met several times. Each one of them could read the anxiety on them.... Anxiety for Glassman but most of all for Melendez. Each of them had an history with him...

As soon as they landed, Audrey took the lead. She told Park to go to see the firefighters. Claire had to check on the EMT paramedics to know the number of identified victims. Everything was messy around. A lot of people were sit on the ground waiting to be healed. That must have been the ones with the slightest injuries. And still no trace of Neil.

Where was he ? Was he hurt ? Was he dead ? Claire prefered not to think about this. She needed to stay focused on her first mission : fixing people.

"Hey you ! I need hands to help me inside. I've People who need a doctor. You're a doctor, right ?"

Claire nodded. Here she went. It was time for her to do what she did the best: healing people.

As she entered the Ball room where the charity event was taking place, she understood the huge work she 'll have to do. She reassured an old couple who was just shaking, she helped to free a teenage stuck under a shelf, she fixed her forehead which was bleeding. Then she stabilized a double fracture and cleaned a wound.

She was focused on her job, and as she moved across the room, she saw him. He was lying on the floor, motionless. As soon as she saw him, she was paralyzed. One of her biggest fears was in front of her eyes. The man she loved was there and he was not moving. What does she do? A lot of people were hurting around her but she could think about was Neil.

She rushed by his side. She couldn’t fight her inner feelings. Her heart was racing and he was all she could think about. As she knelt near him, she checked for her pulse. It was weak but there. First sigh relief. He was alive, in a pretty bad shape but alive. She had to fix it. But where could she begin with? His right leg seemed to be broken, his left hand was swollen and his head seemed to have hit the floor.

The worst part was when she removed his shirt to examine his abdomen. Claire tried to remain professional but the man she loved was right here and she couldn’t help but crying. She focused on the abdomen and made the first conclusions. Neil was bleeding from the inside. The spleen or the liver must have been ruptured when he was hit by something when the earthquake struck. He needed to be bring to the hospital as soon as possible. His life depended on it.

Claire gathered all her courage and came to find some paramedics to help her to get him out of there. As the paramedics were putting Melendez on the stretcher, she called Dr. Lim with her talkie to tell her about Melendez. She could hear she was as worried as she was. But she was the doctor in charge and couldn’t come to help her because she had to take care of a teenage boy stuck under a beam with Park.

Claire promised to Lim she will take care of him and kept her posted as soon as she will get news about him. As soon as Melendez was on the stretcher, Claire became the doctor in charge. She asked to the paramedics to bring her and the patient the most quickly possible to Bonaventure hospital. In the EMT, she took place right next to Neil to check on his vitals. His heart was still racing low. They’d better arrive to the hospital quickly.

“How till we get the hospital?”

“5 minutes max”

Claire knew five minutes was too long. Neil was not gonna make it and she couldn’t accept he died under her watch, not like that, not without her telling him how she felt. She was ready to jump over him at any moment. And the moment happened. As they were only one minute from Bonaventure hospital, Neil’s heart stopped. As she saw the flatline on the screen, Claire jumped from her seat and started a cardiac massage. She yelled at the two paramedics to hurry because the patient was crashing.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, she was sitting on Neil to maintain him alive. Dr. Andrews was the one who was there where she entered the hospital in that position. He could see the tears in her eyes but told nothing about it. “What happened? “

“Neil… Dr. Melendez was at the charity ball when the earthquake struck. I found him unconscious and unresponsive on the floor as I was inspected the place. I checked on his vitals and his heart beat was very weak. I stabilized her right leg, his left hand and his head with a neck collar. I checked his abdomen and I suspect an internal bleeding coming either from the spleen, or the liver. And while we were in the EMT, his heart stopped.”

As she said her last sentence, her voice broke. “Don’t worry, Dr. Browne,. You’re doing well.”

As they reached the ER, Dr.Andrews used the AED to shock Neil. Claire stayed next to him, she was here and far away in the same time. She woke up from her torpor just a few minutes later.

“He’s good, Dr. Browne. We ‘re taking him into radiology to look for the bleeding. Would you like to assist me ?”

Claire nodded. No way she went out there. She needed to help him, she was there when it happened, she was the one who found him and now she will be the one to save him. No matter the cost!