The Schemer

Stayin' Alive

"Dr Moore, Clara, now! The bed number fifty-two, shot it the lung, urgent surgery. Dr Moore? Dr Moore, there is no time, come here, he's drowning in his own blood!" 

"Scalpel, now!" 

"There ain't any clean ones, Daisy was sent to disinfect them!" 

"Hurry up, his brains are starving without oxygen!"

"Give me the holder. Shirley, keep an eye on her pulse. I'm cutting the old tissue out. Tom, sear her capillaries. James, pass me the liver." Sterile. Completely white, with shining scalpels and scissors, and needles, and saws. Beeping, beeping, only beeping, and slow, calm breaths. Low, rhythmic music could be heard somewhere in the background. Silent enough not to disturb, it was an inside trick of the surgeons to keep their movements rhythmical and steady, mind cool and clear. 'Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.' Long-fingered hands in blue gloves moved strategically inside the dark-skinned lady's body, careful to not cause any additional damage to fragile tissues, but determined to cut out the dysfunctional, fat-surrounded organ. 'Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin', and we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.'  - "Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive." Using her husky tone, which most vocal coaches would describe as an example of overused vocal fry, Clara murmured the lyrics underneath her breath, silently, to not disturb nurses and interns around. "Done. Clean the wound. Good job, everybody."

The smell of old blood and alcohol surrounded four people in the room, standing beside the bed with a dark '52' written on its end. One of them, a tall, dark-haired woman had her hands bloodied to her elbows, digging inside a man's chest. Shallow breaths were heard, gurgling and moaning followed. "Don't close your eyes, James. Don't you dare close your fucking eyes." Grey met brown, coolness colliding with soft warmness. "His third rib on the left is shattered. Pass me the retractor to keep his skin from folding over the wound. I need to gather the bone fragments, so they wouldn't damage anything further."  With a frantic rush, cutting, and sewing, they managed to minimize the bleeding. Not for long. Main arteries, damaged with sharp pieces of bone, continued their path of depleting James's body from its life juices. 

"Dr Moore? Dr Moore, wait! Clara! Can I call you Clara? Would you like to have lunch together?" Like a lost puppy, one of the interns, continuing his unwritten mission of seducing the woman, kept asking her. This young man, still a boy, had his own hopes and dreams. Once, they talked about them. Never again did Clara agree to have a meal with him. Although it wasn't a meal for her - not yet. She had a drink, for once exchanging her green tea for coffee. Unfortunately, Christian Brook failed to keep the woman's interest for longer than ten minutes.

"No, and no, thank you, Mr Brook. I'm afraid I need to fill in some files. A successful mission is always being followed by boring paperwork." Not waiting for his answer, nor seeing those large, blue puppy eyes, the woman went towards her office. There, put inside a small fridge, was her actual lunch. "Chicken breast. Protein. Broccoli. Brussel sprouts. Bell pepper. Vitamins and minerals. Seeds. Fats. Absolutely beautiful." Muttering, she boiled some water for her tea. The first actual meal of the day. Proteins and fats will keep her full, support muscle repair from the previous exercise. And then there will be supper later in the day. Steak, eggs, and a huge salad, to compensate for the lack of calories in the morning. Clara remembered having those gorgeous, ripe avocados. She will add them, too. And... 

Smiling softly, she opened a drawer, taking out a few pieces of the most incredible thing that human-kind managed to create while refining nature's gifts. Chocolate. Amazing dark chocolate.

Some people get obsessed over doughnuts, or pizza, or candy, peanut butter, or ice cream. Clara had her weak moments when it came to chocolate. A bar of really good quality chocolate could buy her love and loyalty.