Sorry this took so long. The next few will be sooner, I'm typing them up right now. Enjoy this chap :)
JD put his hand to his head. No physical damage at least. He moved his hand in front of his eyes. Vision was fine too. He'd live.
Wait, why am I on my back…?
JD was certain he had fallen forwards.
He sat up. "Oh God."
The entire bar had been reduced to a pile of rubble. Two men were standing on the stones, looking for survivors. JD guessed that it was they who had moved him.
He moved over to join them. Some of the rubble pieces were huge. He began work.
He could see the men better from here. They were both young; one looked to be mid-twenties. The other was only a teenager.
Both had taken off their shirts, but their skin still glistened with sweat with the exertion.
The older one noticed JD.
"Are you sure you should be doing this?" he called, still shifting debris. "You were unconscious. Maybe you should lie down."
JD waved his point away. "I'm a doctor, I know what my body can take."
Now the man did pause. "A doctor?"
"We've done as much as we know how, but I'm guessing you could do better."
JD regarded his patient. He vaguely recognised him as a regular at the bar.
"I don't know what I can do without equipment, but I'll do my best."
The man nodded.
"Have you called an ambulance?"
"No. None of us had mobiles. But we've sent someone for help."
JD felt for his own phone. It was still at the apartment. Damn.
"I just hope there's an ambulance available," the man continued. "It was a pretty big earthquake. They might all be busy."
"Nah. This place is pretty secluded. It's probably the only place affected." He took off his jacket. "You should go back and help your friend."
JD's patient was unconscious, but had apparently been awake when he was found. After a quick examination, JD guessed that this man had at least two broken ribs on his right hand side.
The men who were doing the rescuing had put him into the recovery position lying on his left side. Worried that the man would have difficulty breathing, JD rolled him so that he lay on his injured side, leaving his good side as free as possible.
He then carefully felt under the man's shirt for any signs of internal bleeding, even if there was nothing he could do for it.
When JD had finished and done all he could, he stayed by the patient's side in case he woke up, until:
"Doctor!"
He ran over, and took the new patient from the arms of the teenager.
Ten minutes and three patients later, the hideous wailing of ambulance sirens was music to JD's ears. Somewhere in the distance was the sound of a fire engine too.
Still, JD did not stop until a paramedic pulled him away. She was a women of about 35, with a kind, round face. She gave him a blanket that he wore around his shoulders, and asked him questions, like who he was, what medical experience he had, if he knew anyone in the bar. When he said that he was a doctor, she asked to see some ID. JD showed her, his eyes trained on the movement of survivors from the rubble the whole time.
When the woman was satisfied, she let him go. It was beginning to get dark, and all sorts of people had turned up now. Sitting at one side, JD noticed the young men who had been there first, taking a break. He moved over and joined them.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"You two alright?"
The older one glanced at his companion. "As alright as we could be, I guess."
JD sat down. "You know," he said, "it's funny. The four people that make up nearly my entire life were in there, but I can't bring myself to help anymore."
"I know how you feel. Our parents are in there. Still no sign of them."
Our?
"You two brothers?"
"Yeah."
There was a pause.
"What's your name?"
"James. James Long. This is Chris."
"JD. Nice to meet you… I just wish they were better circumstances."
"Yeah. Well."
They watched the work some more.
"Your girlfriend in there, then?" asked James.
"No. The girl I love, my best friend, his wife, and my mentor are in there."
-Pause-
"So how old are your parents?"
Before James had time to answer, a sudden frantic burst of diggers from one of the rescuers caught their attention.
"He's found someone," muttered JD, getting up.
The man's face lit up. "Docto-"
The familiar call was cut short. A hush of realisation smothered them.
"Oh God." JD began to move forwards. "Someone's dead."
His walk turned to a jog, his jog to a run, until he reached the scene. He caught sight of the body.
Thank God.
Relief washed over him, but something about the young woman worried him.
And then he realised.
This woman, the first that had been found dead had been standing right next to his friends' table when it happened.
Please R and R, I get such a high from those.