*sigh*
It had been another long, thankless day for Mallie Cae, EMT. She wasn't sure if this was how things had always been in her line of work, but between robot medical assistants and urgent care booths, she was looking at a vanishing job field. Deciding to simply relax and enjoy the hover bus ride home, she leaned her head back over the seat and closed her eyes.
Mallie awoke to the most horrible noise she had ever heard, followed by a jolt so staggering, she was thrown to the floor. Vision blurry, she was already reaching for her medic bag as she tried to asses the current situation. The hover bus was ground level (thank goodness the cheap transportation method never went more than four stories high), on it's side. The Cygnoid driver was still strapped to his seat, unconscious, but looking at his head, Mallie winced. He had a nasty gash to his forehead, with one antennae barely hanging on. If he lost it, he would never be the same. Cygnoids use their antennae to balance, and without both, the poor man would end up constantly stumbling and falling. Unfortunately, they also had a pretty short time before necrosis would set in once it was separated from blood flow.
Carefully checking herself for damage, Mallie was relieved to find herself shaken, but no broken bones or missing limbs. She was sure to have some nasty bruises in the morning, but she would be fine. Cautiously raising to her feet, she made her way to the front of the hover bus, to radio the accident in.
"Transport Authority, this is Emergency Medical Technician 8990, Mallie Cae, reporting an accident. Hoverbus has crashed on the Halogen route. I am on scene, and the only other being aboard is the driver. Cause of crash is unknown, involvement of other vehicles is also unknown. Requesting emergency personnel response."
Having sent out the call for backup, she turned her attention to the upside-down, still unconscious driver. Digging through her bag quickly, she was able to find the sterilizing alcohol, butterfly stitches and gauze. Working gently, but as fast as possible, she lined the torn base of the antennae up to the head. Uncapping the alcohol with her teeth, she poured it around the ripped tissue. The Cygnoid groaned, and shifted in the seat, but remained unconscious. Carefully tearing the individual stitches out of their packaging as she went, Mallie began the slow, laborious process of attaching the limb back in place. After releasing it, she was satisfied it would hold. Wrapping it firmly in gauze, she was relieved as she heard the high pitched wail of the ambulance, no doubt phasing through traffic to reach the scene.
Mallie cut the restraint holding the driver in place, using all her weight to help him slide down to the roof of the Hoverbus. She smiled as she thought about how her presence had made all the difference for him- Had he been alone, who knows how long it would have taken for someone to alert emergency services. Without a doubt, he would have lost the antennae. Maybe there WAS still a need for those like her.
She was reminded of this again two weeks later, when she reported in to work to find a heartfelt, if poorly written, thank you letter from the Driver's family. With it was a picture of the man, fully recovered now, with his family, smiling.