Report - W.Caravan - ... WIC edition

Chapter 17.2 - Not Over Yet

I fell on my back on that sweaty lice pile. No one will ever know how long I laid down on top of that damned creation. Then I hear something walk as my heart sinks. I turn my head and a couple rangers appear.
"B2, YOU JUS-" I raise my palm and drop it.
As I'm still grasping for air I cannot think of anything besides falling asleep right then and there.
"Find everyone *gasp* and bring them back"
"Sir, we never left, fled perhaps, but everyone's returned"
I can't even muster the strength to raise my head to look. The chance of me falling asleep on there was immense were it not for someone calling someone else. It was a conversation between him and someone else. He was calling and yet the only audbile responses were gasps for air. I knew something was wrong before I woke up and jumped down in an instant.
"THE INJURED! BRING THEM HERE NOW!"
He was right the trees were lined with all sorts of men. The screams became clearer as the survivors called out. No rest just yet. This time they know what to do. Every box and every material is pulled out.
"Bring the injection boxes and bring me the medics!"
"Sir, a shot for you!" In any other situation I would break his hand for thievery.
"No it doesn't do anything for me." A legbreaker without his weapon and helmet sprints towards me.
"F, gloves and gel then get those injections back there. Do you know where to inject?"
"Arms and if heavily bleeding or fractured then shoulders are preferable"
"Good, what about sleep injections?"
"Only know about the gel that gets put up your nose"
"Aim for the hip"
"Understood"
"Everyone else grab bandages. If slightly injured grab the soft ones and cover the wounds and place their arms on top. Before that wipe the wounds, even basic clean water work. Strip them and cover any part of the body that's bleeding then move to the next one. Await further instructions for heavy cuts," And so it begins.
Too dispersed to be brought normally so now their recovery chances are in lucks hands. First some rangers are brought to me. Most didn't get hit by the giant and instead fell, suffering fractures in their legs, arms and hips. 
"These ones will live"
Some legbreaker is brought to me.
"He was launched by the giant and hit his head against a tree"
"Don't remove the helmet! Put him down and put a towel across his neck," I don't know anyone from the GC that could sustain that hit and not be bleeding.
"Everyone else awaiting someone look closely. Towel or really anything made out of linen or other soft materials, douse, preferably in actual disinfectants or at least something that kills bacteria, but again I repeat that water is viable, wipe, bandage, douse, cover, press and done. Leave infections and such to me"
Slowly everyone far and near is brought forward as most people drop everything to step in and help. It' s a maze of the injured and dying, too cluttered for me to even tell who is seriously injured.
"Sir, extreme bleeding here!" New target acquired.
"What are we looking at?"
"We're looking at someone that should be completely enveloped in bandages"
"Oh right! Everyone, remove helmets last in case their bleeding up there and cover their necks with something as an extra precaution and only then slowly remove the helmet," Forgot about that one.
"Right, come here," Wipe and disinfect then bandage.
A terrifying sight indeed. Miners falling down mineshafts and people in collapsed buildings don't look this bad. Most doctors on a clean surgical table with everything in arms reach, with two additional assistants, would struggle a bit, nice way to describe this trip if we're being honest.
"You, run back and pass me an injection. It'll have a big 'Z' written on it and the gel as well, same logo and color, and in the same section"
Sleep medication isn't very viable, but the more and more injuries we sustain the higher the risk of sickness and infection becomes. The one good thing, those exist, has been a lack of major outbreaks. Out here a bad case of the flu could mean death so an infection is as close to a death sentence as one can get. There is no time to disinfect everything with the highest accuracy so I must turn to the second biggest threat to their survival in these crucial minutes - internal bleeding - technically displaced or pierced organs could be worse, but unless they impaled themselves on something they should be fine. Even if it was a single patient I doubt my chances to perform surgery so I must put them to sleep, reducing their pulse and bodily functions to the smallest amount is the only thing I have at my disposal. 
"Arms clear and we shoot here. Now wrap the bandages around and prepare to move on to others who need help. He'll be counting birds in a few seconds," Hopefully in the moment I didn't shake the needle too much while it was in his arms.
"Sir, emergency!"
"What?"
"We gave him some of the painkillers, but he's suffocating!" Something's very wrong.
"What did you use?"
"He was struggling before so we didn't give an injection and instead used gel"
"Right, right... hold on soldier," One arm pressing him down.
"Can you speak?" He makes verbal noises, but the tears and the coughs make it incomprehensible to all.
"Hold him up straight! Any major injuries?"
"Nothing yet! No deep gashes only fractures here and there!" I see nothing major on his back nor his front.
"Right... I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do." In a similar way as to grabbing someone choking, I place one arm around his stomach, but the other one around his lungs, if he really is drowning in his own blood then that could already be in there and in the heart. Placing my knee behind him for force I pull back with all strength I can. As if the most direct punch had been launched straight into his heart, he coughed out a miniature river of blood, apologies to the people behind him. 
"Now what's wrong?"
"Heart is hurt *cough*"
"Hold him," I can't put him to sleep just yet, especially if he appears to be losing consciousness.
"Alright men lay him on his stomach," If it's something akin to a collapsed lung then he will die.
There was a bruise along his back, ye ye shocker I know funny, but there was a really, really dark red point around the back of his shoulders. The top of his spine, before going into the neck, may have been displaced and was currently limiting blood flow to the brain. If true then his blood is pumping correctly, but sporadically and sending it everywhere all at once, getting stuck around the neck and flowing back in an attempt to not choke, either drowning him by flowing into the lungs and heart or damaging some other organ.
"Hold him"
Two fingers glide across his spine. There's a dislocation near the top. Both thumbs are placed to the left of it and pressed forward with maximum strength. A scream is yelled out before an audible crack rings out. 
"Men, watch him. Gently grab your hands and place all fingers together then press from below his neck down. Then take this," The needle is passed to one of them.
"Do this for a minute before injecting this into either of his arms. Repeat the massage until he falls asleep. ANY QUESTIONS!?"
"No, understood!"
I saw a group of some 4 men huddled across someone. The tears and desperation on their face tells me enough as they repeatedly press on his stomach, in other situations I would leave them to finish the cpr, but even with my senses everywhere all at once I check it out.
"Report"
"He's begining to breath less and less!"
"Everything applied?"
"Yes, and we sent one back to gather that sleep injection"
Everythings been done correctly, but he is having severe trouble breathing. Heart is beating and there is no signs of deep cuts or fatal fractures. The back is blue-ish red in several spots, but at worst he should be in crutches for several months. I don't like doing it, but I gently raise the hair covering his forehead and I gauge the temperature. ... Below average... very below average. 
"Do you hear me?" The eyes jitter downwards to stare at me, but just barely.
I grab his hand, his thigh and the area around his heart. Only the heart is at a stable temperature... everything else is in the process of dying. Soon enough his skin will begin to lose color as his brain begins shutting down. ..................... I remember my professor and what he reminded me of on my first major surgical experience.
"B2 remember. If you have empathy and a brain that can process emotion along with your own experiences then... you know what must be done if it's too late"
"Will I face that eventuality today?"
"That's why you were called in. No one here knows what to expect. A fight occurred and several people are injured. Your exam is arriving and I can't promise any other chances to prove yourself"
"If I must... what should I do?"
"Do you have your knife with you?"
"Always"
"Remember what you were taught?"
"With tremors, like the rest"
"And do you still trust me when I say there are other methods that are disregarded by most physicians and textbooks, but which are frequently applied in certain conditions?"
"Yes"
..................... I grab my knife.
"B2? Sir what a-"
"Hold him down"
If I had more time I would give him something to alleviate the pain or make some sort of positive illusion, but I don't have the luxury of choice. I raise the blade slowly in front of his face. I stop when I am past his head. I place my other hand below his chin and wrap the palm around his chin, and below his lips. One will push downards and the other upwards. I strike downwards. If he was lucky then he would have passed from the shock before I pierced the eye.
"I'm sorry. May the Central Repository bring him into its warm embrace"
Standing up I turn around. Mass of bandages and screams fill the sight. Reminds me of the stories of the first siege.
"B2, one more!"
Turning away from the confusing mass of pain a group of 2 men appear. In their arms they carry a bloody figure holding itself by their necks, just barely.
"It's Cl sir and he's not looking good." Sigh.
"Did he try being a hero?"
"When we were behind the giant he ordered us to go right to try and hit it from its sides for some reason" 
I may be pessimistic about him, but anyone would doubt he was following a code. He was chasing glory. Most likely it was an attempt to inspire confidence and regain his standing after the recent events. It's a shame when they get told what to do and they know how to do it and then fate seemingly gives them a second chance. Luck really is a two-faced asshole.
"Strip him"
Wipe, bandage. A larger and larger collection of voices grow behind me.
"Sir the first bandages have been applied when should we remove them and get the medicine on?"
"Everyone who doesn't have deep cuts or fractures remove the bandages and apply the second coating, the rest wait until the medics come by"
Bruises, fractures, nearly immobilized arm, hopefully dizziness, otherwise he dies here. 
"No deep cuts and it would appear that the skeleton hasn't been fatally dislodged. If only I could tell if he's dying or in shock"
"He was like this back there"
"What did he land on?"
"We found him against a tree"
"How did he land?"
"Well he was on his stomach, but he was turned diagonally against the tree. We don't know if he tried to move or he landed that way," A sideways crash against a tree huh.
"Don't laugh, but... how wet are his pants?"
"Everyones pants are wet sir"
"I meant literally and I don't mean no pellets from the grass. I'm asking you, what is the likelihood that the puddle down there indicates that he has lost a kidney or his bladder is broken?"
"Ah, yup there's something here alright"
"Hold him down"
One injection into the front of the shoulders, hopefully it's straight. If he wasn't lying then CL should live. Now having a bladder and eating solid foods is a separate question though alive he should be. Now the final check.
"Everyone clear the field and bring together those that are deeply cut!"
If they could scream then they would tear their hearts out begging them not to be touched. That's why we force muted them.
"Right, watch me. Add disinfectants to the wound and its surrounding area. Assuming you've given them painkillers then prepare to put them to sleep. If something is in the wounds then remove them and don't look at the face of agony over there. If the wound is too large then cauterize it, I can sow it back together. Hold... and release. Apply medication and bandage. Now repeat!"
With a face of confusion they all grab the meds and some rope. With the face a surgeon makes when he opens a chest cavity for the first time, they approach them.
"Bandage and leave it"
One more glance around. Everyone who is done is standing up. Everyone is standing up. We are the last ones.
"Complete?"
"Yes sir, final bandages being applied"
"Encamp now"
I lack the energy to say much more before I attempt to sit down, too tired to hold up my weight as I descend so I guess laying on the cold grass it is.
"Sir, you alright?"
"You could ask that to everyone here"
"There's blood on you?"
"And you, so? I said encamp and use the giants body as a portion of the wall"
The construction goes smoothly, turns out most are far more energetic after sitting out the battle. My tent is made first and I am requested to sleep. Every single part of me screams no.
"Sir, we can handle it we didn't fight as much, we've got the energy that you clearly lack," If I was to die I would gladly spend the last of my energy making sure these guys don't get to choose their own leader.
"Garrison take that guy as your commander for this night he will dictate everything," Just barely I gathered the strength to point out the 1 who clearly has some former experience.
As I fall into the straw bag on the ground I'm flooded with so many ideas 'choose someone good' 'atleast burn the hallucinogens so if they wake in pain or pass off then they can spend the moment in illusionary bliss' 'look over the factions and evaluate the rest for CL can't' 'scout the perime-'.