The downtown's great avenue, which was usually peaceful at nap-time, was assaulted by an emergency vehicle driving at full speed, every warning activated, which upset the locals and pedestrians.
For once, the Martel clinic's ambulance seemed in a hurry to get to the health center rather than to get out of it, to everyone's surprise. No sooner had it parked – though you couldn't call it parked – on the parking space reserved to emergencies, than a mountain of a man popped out from the driver's door and jumped at the back of the vehicle, opening wide the two doors before seizing a patient cart on which a woman was lying and yelling at the top of her lungs. Three other passengers got out of the ambulance and followed this noisy and hasty procession inside the clinic.
"Would you calm down please, madam? Screaming won't make the things smoother, you know!" The tall man stated with his low voice.
"Yes, he's right, Rutee! And at least, they will take good care of y..." The blond man was interrupted:
"SHUT UP YOU, BECAUSE IT'S JUST BECAUSE OF YOU THAT I'M SCREAMING! WHY A CLINIC?! THE HOSPITAL WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH?! DO YOU REALIZE THAT WE'LL HAVE TO PAY TREMENDOUS FEES OF... ARGHHH!" The woman stopped her lecture because of a violent pain.
"That's my dear sister for you. As greedy as always, even at a moment that important of her life." A black haired man said, following this peculiar convoy through the corridors which were like a maze.
"It's like for your wedding! Do you remember Stahn?! Rutee didn't even want a dress or to call the catering! In the end, I made a meal for all the guests!" The last in the line exclaimed.
"... Yes, I remember really well, Lilith! Hey she's suffering, we're getting closer or what, mister..." Stahn couldn't remember the name of their guide.
"Malik Caesar... And I'm sorry, I'm only an ambulanceman, so I'm not used to locating the different departments, but it shouldn't be far now..." The robust man answered, turning at another corridor's curve.
There there were...
Strong birth pangs didn't spare poor Rutee. Her whining added to the commotion of the place, the staff being urged by an unusual amount of patients. While she was being accompanied in the labor room, a high pitched scream was heard:
"EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK! It's too hot, are you crazy?!"
"COME BACK HERE, YOU PERV'!"
This so unexpected show enabled the future mom to forget her pain for a short while. She saw a young red haired man running through the corridor, chased after by a young woman whose gaze was darkened with fury. The former smelled tea very much and his face was covered with drops, most likely because the drink had been kindly thrown at him. Provided that the black haired woman had other mugs with the same content, she didn't intend to stop now...
They reached the labor room, but unfortunately, it was already in use. Indeed, they saw surgeons focused on what seemed to be an extremely delicate operation. But Malik dared to talk to them:
"We're going to have a delivery here, a little help and space would be welcome!"
One of the men lifted his head towards the ambulanceman. He readjusted his glasses and answered, with his usual syrupy tone:
"Oh, hello Malik. Well, the surgery room is free, and there should be all the stuff needed there... Meredy, shall you fetch Zelos and Sheena?
"Right away Mr CURTISS!" The nurse's aid answered him, before dashing out.
"Say Jade, how is it that you're operating someone here, and not there then?" The hospital porter asked.
"Well, the air conditioning was out of order, so... Anyway, do not waste more time, go!"
The Martel clinic was given a weird reputation. Though the medical staff of the health center was skilled, their personality and lack of organization conveyed a feeling closed to amateurishness. Thus, few people were really confident to entrust their lives to someone in this clinic.
Rutee was well aware of it, but it wasn't the case of her relatives, mostly of the future father, who thought that a smaller and more convivial place was more adequate than a public hospital. In the end, she didn't got her say when Stahn had already grabbed the phone to call the clinic which was the nearest health center.
"Here we are, we just have to wait for their arrival..." The ambulanceman said.
"Can't you help me?!" The pregnant woman exclaimed.
"I am an ambulanceman, not a midwife..." Malik replied.
That's when entered a peculiar trio: Meredy, the young man chased after, and his pursuer. The latter spoke:
"But I am! It's alright Malik, you can go, I'll take care of her..."
"Yeah, I will too!" Zelos added.
"But we don't need your help, you MR GYNECOLOGIST!" She exclaimed.
"Did you forget, my dear, that as such, I'm empowered to help this poor woman to give birth?" The man retorted.
"You have the point. But don't you dare playing perv' with our patient, mostly because it won't take long before she delivers..." She warned with some reluctance.
"Tell me, my lady, when was your last breast palpation?" Zelos asked to a Rutee who still had birth pangs.
"Do you think it's proper time for asking such things!? I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" The young midwife got mad and hit her colleague with her usual energy.
BAÏBA! It's going astray! I'd better fetch Mr CURTISS! Meredy hastily left to find the ER chief, to prevent another birth from being a failure. Rutee was more and more worried for her child, surrounded by an unskilled ambulanceman and an arguing pairing supposed to help her.
Jade came to handle the situation in less than three minutes after Meredy's departure:
"Sheena, Zelos, enough! I think I've already warned you many times, but if you keep on this way, I'll fire you, am I being clear!?"
He didn't like to use his upper rank as a threat, but he had to admit it could prove very useful to overcome this kind of troubles. He spoke again soon after:
"Don't you think something is missing for our patient?"
"Huh... No, I don't!" The gynecologist exclaimed.
"To be honest, me neither..." His girlfriend added (though she didn't look like it).
"I don't know either!" Meredy said.
"No idea!" Malik ended.
"Oh, I see... So you're planning to make her giving birth standing?"
"..."
"You, silly! Go take a stretcher, a bed, whatever, we cannot let her give birth standing or lying on the floor! Hurry!"
The three of them left at full speed to find something suitable as soon as possible. In the meanwhile, the former fomicry researcher apologized to the future mother.
"I am deeply sorry, missis KATREA, please know that we will do whatever it takes for the delivery to go well. Do you want me to fetch your relatives?" He proposed with a kind gaze.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I'll not have a bank overdraft because of you, bunch of avaricious!"
"Were you talking about me?" Stahn asked, shyly entering the room.
"You may stay... But only you!" Rutee answered.
"But I'm the father, you know..." The blond justified himself, closing the door.
Geez, what's wrong with that door!? The blazing future father began to lose his temper. It wouldn't close and made a strange noise. It was only after several trials that he succeeded. What he didn't know was that anytime he would push it, Zelos was banged in the nose. Indeed the three staffs were back with their finds. But as Stahn didn't notice they were to enter the room, he didn't know he was hurting the poor gynecologist. The midwife and the nurse's aid had been smarter and stayed away from the dangerous door.
When Rutee's husband quit slamming it, the trio was allowed inside and showed their finds. Zelos spoke:
"Hey, you! You broke my nose son of a..." He began to insult Stahn.
"We're back, boss!" Sheena exclaimed, happy to interrupt her colleague with a good fist colliding with his cheek.
"That's all we've found, Mr CURTISS!" Meredy said to her superior.
"Tell me, you three... Are my glasses making a fool out of me, or is that chairs from the entrance I see!?" He asked, trying to keep his composure.
"It was the only thing available, Jade!" Zelos stated.
"But what did you do with the stretcher?!" The ER chief roared.
"That, I know! Guys of the accounts department took it from me earlier, saying that they needed it..." Malik answered.
"The accounts... But why would they care about a damn stretcher! Why did you hand it over, you idiot?"
"Say, do you mind taking care of me? Because I've to remind you I'm about to give birth now..." Rutee interrupted them, more and more desperate.
"Oh well, we'll manage with the chairs then! Malik, go search for something comfortable for the baby, will you? As for you three, you're going to help me, we'll take care of her! Now!"
It was a bustle of a fight. Everyone was focused on making up for the little difficulties they underwent until now. For Jade, the goal was clear: finally have a successful delivery at the Martel clinic. He wasn't here the previous times, therefore he didn't know how his staff, usually skilled, could miss all the births they had to handle. Was it "bad luck"? A bad combination of circumstances? A lack of material? A matter of coordination? Given the recent events he was faced with, he told himself that actually, it was a because of it all, and that he had to schedule a meeting for all the medical staff to significantly reorganize the clinic's functioning. Rutee felt as if she had been entrusted to a peculiar clinic: indeed, she had never heard of being laid down on a row of uncomfortable chairs for a delivery. She was to be faced with other difficulties...
"Unbelievable!"
"What is it, Sheena?" Jade asked.
"The baby won't get out! We'll have to make a cesarean!"
"Oh no! DO SOMETHING, YOU TWAT!" Rutee panicked.
"Crap! We certainly don't have the right material!" The ER chief cursed.
"BAÏBA! I'm going to find something!" Meredy said, before rushing outside.
"Hang in there, darling..." Stahn tried to cheer Rutee up.
"SHUT UP!" She retaliated.
"But you can do it, I'm sure! Be strong!"
"Are you kidding me, Stahn?! It hurts like hell, and the baby won't get out... And look at that! They're making me delivering on fucking chairs! Next time, I will decide of the place!"
After several seconds that felt like an eternity to Rutee, Meredy came back, victorious:
"Found it! A certain Lilith gave me that!"
"Huh, Meredy, do you know it's a ladle?" Jade asked her.
"A ladle..." Zelos repeated.
The others were silent.
"... My family sure have dumb ideas!" Rutee complained.
"I'm afraid we have no choice, unfortunately... Who will handle this?" Jade asked, peering across the staff in search of a motivated colleague.
"Who will take this BLOODY job?" Zelos added, trying to relax in his own way.
"... Boss, can I kill him?" Sheena asked, full of hope.
"I see... Meredy, here you go!" Jade said, before giving her the ladle again.
Crap, couldn't he do it himself!? It's not a clinic, it's a circus! In addition to her pain, poor Rutee was totally pissed off by all this commotion.
After "digging" enough to reach the baby, Meredy put the ladle down and took the baby in her arms.
"Congratulations, it's a boy!" She said to the pairing.
"Well now, how do we cut the umbilical cord?" Stahn asked.
"huh..."
"If you haven't scissors, I'll kill you all..." Rutee threatened, her eyes throwing daggers.
"We don't, but I have something else!" Jade retorted.
The ER chief used his power to materialize his faithful spear. Even though it lacked subtlety, it was sharp enough. But the new mother was rather reluctant to using such tool:
"There's NO WAY I let you cut the cord with THAT, barbarians!"
"You're the one to talk..." The new father mumbled.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"
"Nothing!"
"I'm back!" Malik said, closing the door behind him.
"So, what did you find for the newborn baby?" Jade asked.
"I wasn't very efficient either..." The ambulanceman retorted, before showing his find.
"A bucket!? Unbelievable!"
"Sorry, I couldn't do better than that... Besides, there still was cleaning agent inside, so I had to wash it so that it didn't smell bleach too much, and..."
Needless of more details for Rutee's heart to stop beating. It was the final blow for her, who had piled up bad surprises since she had been admitted in this clinic for her child.
"Damn it, she has a heart attack! Sheena, go find Raven! I'll see what I can do for now! Hurry!" Jade ordered to the midwife, after a quick diagnostic.
The latter complied and ran hastily to fetch the cardiologist.
As expected, Sheena didn't find anyone once she arrived at the cardiology department, and she hurried up to go back on her tracks, jumping over several stairs and dashing to the entrance coffee machine, where she wasn't surprised to find him, drinking his usual black coffee cup. Beside him was standing Lilith who seemed to enjoy their conversation.
"RAVEN! We have an emergency! We're having a successful delivery, but we're losing the mother!"
He scratched his ear, a bit suspicious.
"Can you repeat, please, dear? I think I've heard you were having a successful delivery..."
"That's what I've just said, and did you hear the next sentence too?! Move your ass!" She roared, grabbing his sleeve and resuming her race through corridors and staircases.
"Hey, my coffee! Easy, it's too fast for an old man!"
"Stop whining and save our patient!" She reprimanded.
They finally got to the decisive room. Without more waiting, Raven took the defibrillator which was at the bottom of the room, tangled with old brooms and drip stands. He put the machine closer to the made-shift delivery table, where Jade was performing a heart massage, while a cute little being was yelling inside what seemed to be a bucket. The cardiologist turned it on in vain. The device wouldn't work, and the electrocardiogram was still flat.
"Crap! We won't make it! Someone go find the entrance defibrillator, quick!" Raven exclaimed, replacing Jade for the heart massage.
Meredy was to comply, but it was no use. Indeed, the ER chief began to see red (sorry for the bad play on words) because of all this useless and hopeless commotion. If they were to fail again in this department, the clinic's maternity would close, and Jade wouldn't allow them to lose more patients, since the health center was already unprofitable. A sudden wrath made him use the final way:
"INDIGNATION!" He shouted before the lightning stroke the new mother's lifeless body, which jumped because of the impact.
She got on her elbows, with a burning lock of hair, wide eyed, and breathing at the top of her lungs. She was alive again. And she didn't waste more time to prove it:
"DO YOU KNOW YOU REALLY SUCK?! I could see you from above, and you were managing like newbies!"
"But... It means you were a ghost?! How does it feel?" The gynecologist asked.
"A g...ghost?!" His girlfriend repeated.
"BAÏBA! Congratulations Mr CURTISS!" The nurse's aid praised with admiration.
"Talk about congratulations! If I had been dead, you can be sure I would have haunted you until you pay my family off! Now get out, and I'll leave RIGHT AWAY with my man, my brother, my sister in law, and my baby! And be sure that I won't praise your 'prestigious' clinic!" She threatened the staff with her finger.
"At least, tell us your baby's name!" The midwife begged.
"What about Kyle, my frail quail?" The new father suggested.
"Kyle, Stahn, Brutus, whatever! Let's get out, before I smash this place to ashes!"
The birth of little Kyle signed the first victory of the Martel clinic's maternity, as well as the umpteenth proof of its bad management.
And this is how ends the first chapter of Tales of Surgery, and we* hope you liked it! Let us* give you a little piece of advice: Never go to Martel clinic to give birth (mostly when you're a girl ;) ) XD
Edit (02/22/2013): Mine-game is over for the chapter 2, thank you for your participation!
We* also set up a mini-game at the end of each chapter. YOU will help us* for the plot of the next chapters, by choosing yourself the next patient(s)! But how? Here are the rules:
-You can choose up to 3 candidates (for example: Colette, Estelle, Luke...)
-You send me a PM to vote (we* won't accept your choices if they are published on reviews)
-If the character you want to be participating is already in the staff, your choice will be invalid (ex: Meredy, Jade...)
-Some members of the staffs are still to be unveiled, so if you unfortunately choose one of them, your vote won't be taken into account.
-A character who has already been featured in a chapter as a patient, or patient's relative (ex: Rutee, Stahn, Leon, Lilith...) is not eligible.
-If the characters you've chosen don't appear in the next chapters, you are free to propose them again later!
-This mini-game is available for two weeks after its publication. You will have to wait for chapter 2 to play it again if you missed the deadline.
Example: You have until Thursday the 21th of February to vote for chapter 2's patients, and you will have to wait for chapter 2 to be released to select characters for chapter 3, and so on.
Please, feedback is really appreciated, don't hesitate to leave reviews or correct the probable mistakes, English not being our* first language!
*Tales of Surgery has been written with the help of Celice Chalphy.
English translation made by Celice Chalphy
Disclaimer : We do not own any characters, all of them are properties of Namco Bandai. All rights reserved.