'Dr Knight,' Zoe Hanna summoned upon entering the lobby, 'Dr Hardy.'
The two men came to a stop side by side in front of the consultant, a chorus response of 'Dr Hanna' ringing between them.
'There's been a major RTC near the canal. A bus and a lorry collided not far from the water; multiple casualties. They've assessed the scene, we're scrambling a HART team and I want you two to be a part of it.'
While one brother quietly rejoiced at the idea of being part of such a huge operation, the younger of the two silently nudged his glasses up his nose as he pondered the numerous outcomes. So many people could be hurt. So many people could die. What if people were in the water? Was there a fire? Why did they need a HART team unless the whole incident was bigger than his brother's mini fist pump implied?
'Come on, Nibbles,' Cal tapped his brother on the forehead with his clipboard. 'You heard what she said. We're leaving in less than two minutes.' Then he disappeared round the corner, his body bouncing with anticipation.
Ethan cleared his throat quietly, if not to actually clear his throat but to bring himself back to reality. 'Right,' he commented idly, following Cal round the corner to change. 'Less than two minutes.'
The ride to the site felt rocky and unsafe, but perhaps that was just Cal's adrenaline-fuelled foot knocking against the floor.
'Ethan!'
He scurried over to the voice as soon as the ambulance doors opened; there was no time to even assess the severity of the incident. Pull yourself together, idiot.
Iain greeted him and briefly shook his hand before pulling him towards the canal. 'We've got two casualties in the water, father and daughter. They were thrown off the top of the bus. Both conscious and responsive. I'm going to assist David,' Iain gestured to a fireman who was sorting out equipment, 'in the rescue but once they're out, I need you to assess their condition. Clear?'
Ethan gave a quick nod and Iain mirrored his action. 'Good lad. Let's do this,' he said, turning back to the water.
Cal had not been summoned by anyone when he and his brother had arrived, so, naturally, he sprinted straight for the most perilous looking part of the scene. Keen to make obvious how skilled he was, he used the railings of the overturned sight-seeing bus to swing himself and his equipment on top, where several patients were being treated.
'Dixie,' he greeted the paramedic as he approached her. 'Where do you need me?'
The woman sighed, exasperated, lightly shrugging. 'Where to start? We've got a couple John Does down there; walking wounded…' She looked him dead in the eye. 'Don't even try the lorry. There's nothing left of 'em,' she warned, throwing a glance toward the ablaze vehicle over twenty metres away. Cal wondered how fast the vehicles had to have been going to have landed so far apart and in such bad condition. 'We're using the bus as a temporary treatment centre. Pick a patient and get to work.' Then she resumed her position, next to a woman who had clearly had her legs crushed.
Down by the canal, Iain and David had rescued the daughter who had been thrown into the water. Ethan was checking her over but he could tell she was finding it hard to concentrate without her father being safe too.
'So where were you sitting on the bus, Maeve?' Ethan asked to distract the teenager. 'Open your eyes wide for me,' he said, shining his pocket torch in her eyes.
'Um,' she replied, her voice choked with shock, 'the front. We were at the front. Have they got my dad yet?'
'No, not yet,' Ethan responded gently, tipping her chin and feeling around her jaw. 'Do you remember hitting your face at all? Does it hurt?' She shook her head. 'Okay. Do you always sit at the front of the bus? My mother always used to sit at the front too.'
'Yes,' she replied, her face curling into a deeper frown. 'It's my fault. I asked him to sit at the front. I said I wouldn't be able to see otherwise. It's my fault, isn't it? You think it's my fault.'
'Of course not,' Ethan soothed, perplexed by Maeve's lack of injuries. 'You didn't know this was going to happen. As it happens, it looks like you've had a lucky escape. You seem healthy. Cold,' he flashed his best charming smile, 'but healthy.' He was satisfied with his work so far.
Cal had worked on three patients since arriving at the scene. He had pronounced one dead and sent two, stable, to hospital. Pronouncing the death of someone was something Cal could never quite detach from. He could easily detach from all sorts of gruesome injuries and procedures, but pronouncing a death was just so… final. He was literally ending a person's life, preventing this once-living, breathing, moving, talking creature from all of these privileges. He'd had nothing to do with the events that had caused this person's decline, but he was the one concluding that their life was over. Did he even have that right?
He crouched down next to Dixie, who was still treating the casualty with severe crush injuries. 'Alright, Dix? What do you need me to do?'
Dixie directed him towards the woman's legs. 'This is Laura; 36; her legs were crushed by the seats in front of her. Possible spinal injury. I'm waiting on a backboard to take her in; we're running out of supplies until the next ambulance gets here. I've done a quick assessment on her legs and the pulse in her right foot is irregular and weak but it's there. Can you try to stem the bleeding for me and keep an eye on that pulse? I'm checking her over for head and neck injuries until that backboard gets here.'
Cal nodded and set to work. As he was monitoring Laura's pulse, he took a quick glance up and took in his surroundings. In front of him, twenty feet away, was his younger brother, pulling thermal blankets close around a teenage girl who'd been pulled from the canal. Her father had just been rescued too, and Ethan was getting ready to tend to him. Cal wondered briefly if Ethan had checked the girl for head and neck injuries, but rational thinking set in. Of course Ethan would check for such injuries. Ethan was one of the best.
Iain approached Ethan moments after he had helped successfully rescue the two casualties. 'Are you alright here? I need to triage the remaining passengers.'
'Yes, of course, no problem,' Ethan assured, smiling confidently. He crouched next to the girl's father, ready to examine the cut on his forehead. 'I'm fine here.'
'Good man,' Iain winked. 'Thanks for the help, Dr Hardy,' he commended, before sprinting towards the bus.
'Alright, how are we doing here, sir? My name is Dr Hardy; I'm a registrar at Holby City hospital. Do you know where you are?'
'I don't know and I don't care,' the girl's father replied, shoving Ethan's shoulder roughly. As Ethan struggled to maintain his balance, the man continued: 'Focus on my daughter.'
You've dealt with this before. 'Alright, sir, I have already examined your daughter and she looks to be in quite good shape considering. You've got quite the gash on your forehead though so I just need to –' Ethan reached out to take a look but the man shoved his shoulders and Ethan had to throw his hands backwards so he didn't fall too violently.
Cal was distracted. He was trying so hard to find a pulse in Laura's foot – Dixie said it was there just a couple of moments ago – but he couldn't keep his mind focused long enough. The man Ethan was treating was arguing with him, and Cal strained to hear what was being said. He couldn't help. Maybe Ethan didn't need help, but Cal's older brother mind-set had kicked in far before that thought even occurred to him.
'Sir, this would be a lot easier if you cooperated with me,' Ethan said, lifting himself up and approaching the highly agitated man. 'As I mentioned before, while you were in the water, I did check Maeve over and, although she does need to go to hospital for observation, she should be just fine. My main priority now is –'
'My daughter is your priority. I do not need any help. Can't you see my daughter needs your attention?' The man was getting louder and more infuriated.
Who's the doctor here? Me. I am. Do your job, Ethan. Ethan pushed his glasses up his nose and changed tack. 'Maeve? Do you feel okay?' Maeve nodded. 'Are you going to be alright while I treat your father?' She nodded again.
Ethan looked up at the girl's father, but suddenly he was a lot closer than he anticipated. 'Don't try and turn my daughter against me!'
Cal kept willing his younger brother to look up and catch his gaze, so he could ask him with his eyes whether he needed help, but Ethan was preoccupied. His mind was nowhere close to needing Cal to save the day. He could deal with this on his own.
Ethan was at least half a foot smaller than the man in front of him. He was shouting at him so close to his face that Ethan could see spit on his glasses. He remembered thinking that the man in front of him was about Cal's height. Where was Cal?
Then, out of nowhere, the man reeled back and his fist collided with Ethan's face. The younger man heard a crack, and, in the moments while he stumbled, sincerely hoped that the sound came from his glasses and not his nose. He briefly wondered if anyone else could hear that ringing sound that deafened him and threw him off balance. Trying to fall forwards, he couldn't get his bearings, and although he felt the chain that lined the edge of the canal dig into the back of his knees, he still couldn't focus on where he was. When his body lurched backwards, his legs caught by the chain, Ethan kept expecting the ground to break his fall, to feel the smack of concrete against the crown of his head, but all he felt was sharp, bitter pain all over his body as ice cold water enveloped him.
