burn. mark sloan

31

"Yang."
"Yes?"
"Stay with the Chief, take care of the incoming wounded. The rest of you come on."
"Stevens was inappropriate."

We all squeezed into the crowded ambulance. I had to sit in between George and Alex. I looked down at my red kit looking like a sad tired puppy.

"Oh everybody. Move your id's to the outside of your jacket. When we get there remember triage. Karev?" Bailey interrupted the silence unless you count the sirens, but I blocked those out. I pulled out my ID that read Dr. Lucy Moore. Just like that Lucy Allen is gone as quick as she came.

"Green tags non emergent, yellow tags delayed care, red tags need immediate treatment." Alex answered while looking at me who still hasn't looked up.

"Good. Assess carefully, tag, then get all critical patients into the ambulances as fast as possible. Don't get in the way of search and rescue and stay calm." Bailey instructed as I finally looked up and made eye contact with her.

"Any word yet on what happened?" Alex asked.

"All we know is there are multiple traumas." Bailey replied.

Our ambulance arrives and George helped the others out of the bus. I don't take his hand to help me I just ignore him completely and get off.  Every one of us interns faces is full of utter shock.

"Holy mother of..." Izzie exclaimed as we saw the scene.
There are injured people and support personnel everywhere. There is a ferry boat on fire and the devastation is massive.

"Dr. Bailey, where do you need us?" I questioned opening my mouth for the first time today.

"Where should we start first?" Meredith basically asked the same thing I did after Bailey didn't answer.

"Dr. Bailey?" Izzie raised her voice to get Baileys attention.

"Ok, um, I don't have time to hold your hands. You know the protocol. Go do it." Bailey demanded and we all immediately spilt up.

I went straight to the first person who caught my eye. It was a young boy no older than six and yet no one was helping him. I rushed over to him and started the triage process.

"I'm Dr. Moore. Can you tell me your name?" I asked as checked his pulse. It wasn't steady but it was there.

"Z-zach." Zach took a good five seconds to say his name. He looked scared and confused. He also didn't seem to be in much pain for a six year old covered in small wounds.

"Okay Zach. I like that name." I questioned as I checked his heart beat with my stethoscope which also isn't normal but that's expected. I started checking his pupils and he had slightest reaction but I think he has a head trauma that's causing him to be in a state of shock which is making him not feel the pain from his injuries.

"Zach. I have to go help other people but I'm gonna give you this tag so they will take you in one of those big red cars to a hospital where they will check you out." I explained as I handed him a yellow tag that he didn't take. He just crossed his arms.

"Don't go." Zach let out as he slightly grabbed the end of my pants.

I picked Zach up and took him over to the huge yellow circle where I kept him company.

"Zach did you have a parent on the ferry?" I questioned as I held his hand since that was the one thing that seemed to comfort him.

He nodded. "My mom."

I checked his pupils once more and there was no reaction this time and his answers to my questions got shorter and shorter.

After about an hour I got Zach into an ambulance as quickly as I could. The ambulance was filled to the brim with supplies that were meant to be dropped off already.

As soon as we got into the ambulance there was a sudden change in Zach's breathing pattern. He was taking a breath every second.

"You need to calm down Zach. What gets you to calm down?" I asked the young boy but didn't get any answer this time.

"Sing twinkle twinkle little star that one always gets my kid to stop crying." The paramedic suggested as continued trying to give Zach different drugs to help his heart beat.

"Uhh. Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are." I sing as I put the mask from the oxygen tank on Zach as he became wheezing and gasping for air.

"Up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky." I continue to sing the song to Zach not even realizing that a heavy box fell on my head and left a pretty deep cut. I was focused and determined to save Zach's life, that's all I cared about and I was losing him.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are." I sing in a raspy numb voice as I checked his heart rate and it was dropping rapidly. I injected Azithromycin but still nothing.

"You gotta stay with me Zach. We're almost there." I told him as my voice cracked and my eyes filled with tears. I don't know what else to do to save him. This ambulance has nothing but boxes filled with bandaids.

"Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are." I restart the song and hold his hand. I can't just open his head up and solve the problem.

I checked his heartbeat while still singing. It was gone. I tried giving him cpr but nothing happened.

I lose patients everyday but something about this one just hurt. "Time of death 8:32." I called out as we finally made it back go Seattle Grace.

"Doctor you have blood dripping down the side of your face." The woman paramedic told me as she opened the door for me. I slowly got out of the ambulance and just hummed twinkle twinkle little star as a nurse took Zach's dead body away.

1564 words
"All I did was try my best"