Memories are just where you laid them...

[Julius Sedaire]

Location: Teta System​

It had been ages since Declan had been to war. Years had flown by, blissfully merging into nightmares rather than day-walking monsters that swam before his eyes. Then it had happened. A conference he was a guest lecturer at had been swept up in a war. Not some little raid, but a full-fledged territorial genital measuring contest between two Galactic Powers who were honestly so little different beyond window trappings that it was almost a family affair.

When the first salvos were launched, the building shook, and the fine executives and hospitalists panicked. Few knew what to do. Their practices were sterile, clean, and removed from the world in ivory towers. Rarely did their hands get dirty with woe and suffering. Casualties mounted, and stunned civilians began to bring in the dead and wounded, seeing the medical emblem and hoping for a form of salvation.

They found none. What they found were panic and dissent... Declan had collected his things, ready to return to Denon and [member="Asherah"], until he saw a mother spinning about in the conference room. The woman was screaming for help, eyes wide and unseeing, a young boy in her arms with shrapnel in his chest. The stench of gunpowder and explosives were heavy on the air, but the scent that always caught him was the coppery tang of blood that carried the taste of it on the air.

And desperation. Too few realized emotions were not always processed in intangible ways.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_l4Ab5FRwM

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Striding forward, Henry came up behind Declan with a wave of his hand, and a table was cleared as an explosion of arms came from the droid, a shield snapping into place. His white coat covered in dust and soot, he took the limp child from a stunned mother.

"Ma'am, my name is Physician Ross... I'm here to help your boy but you have to let go of him. You can stand right here, but let me do what I can. We're calling for evac craft now..."

A glance to Henry made the comforting statement an order, and a light began beeping on the Droid as a powerful distress signal went out. A nurse on the outside of the shield stopped, seeing Declan ripping open the child's shirt as best he could. Suddenly other hands were beside the pair of Declan's own. Pressure was applied with a bunched up sweatshirt, and Henry began dispensing his med-kit. Screens folded out from the floating ball-droid, and the nurse smiled as ECG leads were attached and a stick-backed vitals monitoring patch was slapped on the carotid.

"93rd Infantry, Imperial Hospital Corps detachment. Surgical Assistant. Tell me what you need, Doctor."

There was minimal communication. Pointing, quick words that to others sounded terse and almost rude.

"First thing is first, Nurse ____ ... We need to see the extent of the damage. Then we decide treatment. Ma'am, can you pleased go step outside the barrier and find a Doctor Hunan... He would be helpful, he's a thoracic surgeon. Mon Calamari. Wearing a painfully bright purple shirt."

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G8QItjTSDA

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Beeping began sounding from Henry as data came in, and a warm but still synthetic voice spoke.

"BP 50/30, pulse at 184 and irregular. Pupils fixed, dilated. Extensive chest wall damage, possible Cardiac inclusion."

Muttering, Declan snapped his fingers and a tray of surgical instruments rolled out, including an aerosol spray that would sanitize his hands and the wounds, which he began applying as he watched readouts. Kid was circling the drain, and the mother nodded after the shock passed. She stepped out, searching for a Mon Cal who had elected not to show. It was a low trick, but doctors had been having family boil water and get 'clean white towels' for ages. Letting them watch was fine if you had a hospital around you, but for the moment, this was all he could manage.

"Kid's bad. Probable tamponade. The rest will be easy. I need you to get me a chest kit from the vendors hall, Nurse."

The woman, tall with wavy blond shoulder length hair that wouldn't quite stay out of her eyes even pushed behind her ears.. That woman nodded.

"Angie. I'll get the box doctor"

With that, his second set of hands turned and left, and Henry used his last two superflous limbs to assist in suction and pressure.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIQK4-9YFW0

 

[Julius Sedaire]

The shards came out almost too easily as he filled them with a hemostatic foam. It wouldn't last forever, but it was enough to last for a MedEvac. At least he hoped it was. The sensation of removing shrapnel was odd. It had a moment of almost tugging back, of resisting leaving it's host. Then, with surprising ease, it slid out. Quickly the wound was usually obscured by pooling blood, and thankfully Henry was able to suction just enough he clamped a few involved vessels, then filled the wound with clotting foam and moved on. The boy was turning pale, and biting back a curse, he sighed with relief as the Nurse stepped back into the shield carrying a chest surgery kit from the new product demo lab.

"Crack it. I need a needle kit, quickly"

His pulse was racing, sweat beading on the inner corners of his eyes and brow, forehead sheening with it as nerves kicked into place. The gunfire was a comforting symphony and agonizing tyrant both at once, and his hands seemed steadier the louder it grew and the more the place shook. Sparing a quick glance, he almost smiled. Others had begun doing the same. Civilians were being led to the personnel who hadn't fled. Demonstration and prototype med droid were being activated by the handfuls to assist. And throughout the lecture and demo hall, an ad-hoc treatment center was springing up. One Doctor that was shouting orders looked over to him, his hair still in a tight cut with the barest hint of stubble, and flipped him a casual salute in between barked orders.

Sometimes, it only took one to turn the tide for good or ill.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9zRQijCN5w