"We have an air ambulance inbound. Three minutes out with multiple gun shot wounds." Nurse Freeman said as she pushed the curtain aside.
Charlie was just finishing her rounds on the ICU floor but that could wait. She placed the patients chart back in the holder at the foot of the bed and took the one Nurse Freeman held out. She flipped through the details of the call out and frowned when she saw the shooting happened out of state.
"Why are we getting it?" She asked giving the file back. "There's dozens of hospitals between here and there."
"They wanted to come here, they're local. You'll understand when they get here." The nurse answered nervously.
Charlie made her way down to the operating theatre, that the on call team would hurriedly be preparing for the incoming patient. She had just completed her pre-op safety check when the bed was wheeled in. The air EMT had done well to keep the man alive and stable for the flight. He even had a breathing tube inserted already.
"1. 2. 3." The lead nurse called and they all lifted him onto the operating table.
"Left and right pneumothorax. Bullets still in position." The radiation specialist said as he placed the X-ray on the screen.
"Lower left abdominal bullet was through and through. Missed the kidney." The air EMT said from the side.
"Right, let's focus on repairing his lungs first. The quikclot looks like it's doing it's job." Charlie said taking the information in and making the decision.
Slowly she made progress, stemming the bleeds that erupted as each bullet was removed. She would move on to the next wound leaving the nurse to suture the wounds closed. Finally, she cut away the quikclot pressure bandage that packed the abdominal entry and exit wound. Four hours after entering the operating theatre, Charlie was removing her gloves and scrubs. She had done all she could and the rest was up to the patient. As Charlie left the surgical wing a group of men blocked the way.
"Doc!" A voice called out to her. "Any update on Ariza? We're family."
"Yes, he's stable but we had to place him in an induced coma for the ventilator." She answered. "He will be moved up to ICU within the hour. I can show you to the family room. This way."
She led the way up through the hospital to the ICU ward and into a large room that had coffee and tea available. It wasn't her place to judge the men that wore Mayans biker patches, she had treated a lot of criminals and most were nice people. So she just settled them in, answered their questions and went back to her rounds on the floor.
"Hey doc." One of the Mayans called out and they caught her between patients.
"Please, call me Charlie. What can I do for you?" She said politely.
"Can you give us a second opinion? Coco, he saw a doc up north but his eyes are bad." The stocky biker asked.
"I'm not an optician, if he needs glasses he can make an appointment downstairs." She replied.
"It's not like that. A Molotov exploded on his face, did something to his eyes." He explained.
Immediately her posture changed and she waved him ahead to show her to Coco. She hadn't noticed him when they first got there but more people had joined the group since. He had a crudely taped eye patch and blood was seeping out of the bottom of it.
"Shit." She said to herself quietly. "Coco, come with me."
"Gilly!" Coco hissed at the man who had come to me. "You know I don't got no insurance."
Charlie hated the whole medical system of this country. They made every doctor take the Hippocratic oath and then tell you to turn away the ones who can't pay. It wasn't in her to do that to the less fortunate.
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Chance Encounters
Fanfiction[COMPLETED] Everyone has grand plans for their life and Charlie was no different. She didn't know how those plans derailed so fast her head still spins. That's a lie, it all came down to one moment, a chance encounter. After that, nothing was the sa...
