As soon as they arrive at the harbor, the Jeep stops and DS gets off real quick, running towards the Bulin ships. They are engulfed in flames. Not only that, the ammunition keeps exploding, causing small fires on board their decks while the dockyard cranes near them have been caught in the blast. Some of them have collapsed on top of the ships, causing further damage to the bridge area. It's quite the mess to be honest. How the ships are still afloat is nothing short of a miracle. Well, the ships are repairable, but the humans are not, which is why he needs to look for the two sisters.
He runs towards the ships where he sees the two Bulin sisters sitting down against one of the cranes. They seem to be heavily wounded. Universal appears to be bleeding from her left arm and her stomach, which appears to have a large cut. Her sister's wounds on the other hand, seem to be much lighter. A few scratches at the face and the legs, but that's just about it. It appears as if she's not feeling the wounds, cause she appears to be moving around normally. That's strange. A wound of that level would have paralyzed her. Yet she's still standing. Not only is it strange, but impressive as well. Looks like DS will have a lot of work to do here.
-'You okay?', aks DS as he kneels in front of Universal and opens his first aid kit. 'What happened?'.
-'A metal part of the crane fell on to me', replies Universal as she's coughing blood, struggling to speak. 'I got out of the way, but the sharp metal managed to cut in deep in my stomach'.
-'Don't move, it'll make the bleeding worse', says DS and takes out an elastic bandage, large enough for Universal's stomach cut. Normally, he would've used a plastic bandage, but the wound is so big such a small first aid tool. Even if he could use a plastic bandage, it is so thin that it wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding.
He quickly wraps the bandage around Universal's stomach, tightening as much as possible, and pulls out his two-way radio.
-'I need one of you ambulances at the harbor ASAP, life or death situation', he says to his ambulances through the radio. He then signals Vestal to approach as he cannot do all the medical work by himself. 'Keep pressure on the wound, it'll slow down the bleeding if not stop it', he continues. 'I can't treat her with this equipment, we have to wait for one of my ambulances'.
-'Understood', says Vestal and presses Universal's stomach. DS then takes out two tourniquets which he wraps around Universal's arm. Why two? Because the wound is too big, one tourniquet is not enough. If he wants to control the bleeding, he needs to double the amount of medicine, and that includes using the first aid tools.
After a few minutes, one of the Toyota HiAce ambulances arrives at the scene. It took a rather long time to get here. DS had made the call about fifteen minutes ago, and he did say life or death situation. It's not that big of an island for a ground vehicle to cover such a distance. Yet, for it to take 15 minutes to get here, that's a problem. If it's not due to the craters on the road, then it's something else. Regardless, it's not the time to be concerned about something like that. They have a wounded victim to take care of, and they must act quickly. Universal has lost a lot of blood, and DS doesn't know how much time she's got left.
Not wasting time, DS picks up Universal, and carries her to the ambulance like a wounded princess . As soon as she is placed on the stretcher, she immediately falls unconscious. Of course she would. She's lost too much blood and her pulses have slowed down. It's a good thing the ambulance arrived at this moment. Another minute and she might not have made it.
Vestal for some reason, can't help but feel jealous. Even in a life or death situation, her jealousy just got the best of her. Why couldn't she be carried like princess? She wants to know that feeling as well. On the other hand, she has to focus on her responsibility as a repair ship. All of her comrades are equal here, so even if she's at odds with someone from Azur Lane, she still needs to take care of them, because they are on the same side.
-'Will she be okay?', asks Bulin, sounding as anxious as ever.
-'I don't know', replies DS, not sure how to react. 'She's lost a lot of blood. And the wound is too deep. I'm afraid just a pair of stitches won't be enough. I think she needs surgery. There's a chance she might make it, but the odds are not in our favor right now'.
Hearing this Bulin loses her balance and falls to the ground. What DS just said has shocked her to her bones. Of course she would be shocked. It's her sister they are talking about. To her, her two sisters are her whole world. She doesn't care about anything else, as long as her sisters are fine. And now that one of them is in a life or death situation, she can't do anything to protect her.
-'It should have been me', she says, trying to hold back her tears. 'If I had gotten in the way, she wouldn't have been like that now. But I froze and did not react. It's because of me she is in that state'.
-'Don't say that about yourself', says DS, still not knowing how to react. 'It wouldn't have mattered. If you had gotten in the way, you would have been on that stretcher right now'.
Hearing this, Bulin can no longer hold her tears. They start flowing like a waterfall. Even if she's not to blame, she can't help but feel guilty. She always looked up to her sister, and always aspired to be strong like her. She always felt that it was her responsibility to look after her older sister. And now her sister is close to death. That's something a younger sister never wants to face. Yet here she is, facing the most difficult situation of her life.
-'Vestal, I need you to take care of Bulin's wounds. I'll start performing the surgery on Universal', says DS to Vestal. 'I might need help, so stay out here and wait till I call you'.
-'Understood', says Vestal and DS gives her his first aid kit.
DS then closes the door of the ambulance and Vestal kneels close to Bulin anfd begins examining her. She doesn't appear to have many wounds, other than a few flesh wounds and cuts. She is bleeding, but not as heavily as her sister. Compared to what DS is trying to do now, these wounds can be treated much easily.
-'Your wounds seem pretty slight', says Vestal, sounding rather impressed. 'I'm surprised you didn't get hit by any debris'.
-'My sister pushed me out of the way', replies Bulin, still in tears. 'Why did she do that? I should have been on that stretcher, not her'.
-'Hey, don't speak like that about yourself', says Vestal. 'Doctor Solace is right, it wouldn't have made a difference. Your sister was protecting you'.
-'But why would she do that?', asks Bulin, not expecting an answer. 'She's been protecting me for as long as I can remember. It was my chance to protect her for once. Why did she take that away from me?'.
-'Maybe because, as an older sister, she knows that you want to keep her safe', explains Vestal as she wraps another bandage around Bulin's arm. 'But she's more worried about you than you are for her. After all, you are one of her only two sisters. I can't imagine what it feels like to have a younger sister, but I can imagine the pain of losing someone. I'm sure she wouldn't be able to bear losing you or her other sister'.
-'You have a point, but she didn't have to do that', continues Bulin. 'It was I who was supposed to protect her for once'.
-'Well, I'm sure you'll get your chance at some point', says Vestal, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
Just then, the side door of the HiAce ambulance slides open and DS, who had been sitting on the seat, stands up. His hazmat suit is covered in blood and judging by his expressionless eyes, he seems rather anxious.
-'Vestal, I need your assistance', he says real quick. 'She's not looking so good'.
-'What's happening?', asks Bulin in a complete panic mode.
-'I'm struggling to stop the bleeding', replies DS real quick. 'As soon as I removed the bandage, blood started coming out again. I can't do the surgery by myself, I need assistance, and fast'.
-'I'm coming', says Vestal and gets up.
-'Get in from the back of the ambulance', says DS and the ambulance opens its trunk door.
-'I'm afraid you'll have to wait out here Bulin', says DS. 'No other patients allowed inside. You have to be patient', he says as he slides the side door closed.
Not wasting time, Vestal gets in the ambulance which closes its trunk. The next few minutes will be extremely critical. This is the first serious emergency DS is facing in such a long time. And while he's prepared to deal with something like that, it's been a really long time. He and Vestal are going to have to be extremely cautious as the slightest mistake can prove fatal. Universal's life is on DS' and Vestal's hands right now. DS has never lost a patient on his watch, and he sure is not going to lose one now. Sure he lost a few patients, but their wounds were much more heavy than what he is facing right now. All he can do is hope that everything will go as planned.
(And that's all for today's chapter. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Also, feel free to check out and subscribe to my Youtube (Literature Defense Force) and Dailymotion (PeacekeeperLDF) channels. Until then, see you next time. Remember, your opinion is always important).