A/N: New chapter! This one is super long...but I figure the more the merrier...right?
Disclaimer: What do you think
"Disaster is a natural part of my evolution towards tragedy and dissolution."
-Chuck Palahniuk
The first thing Thirteen did on Monday morning was respond to a 911 triage page-and when she finally arrived at the hospital, she widened her eyes at the clusterfuck that was the ER.
'Holy shit.'
"What happened?!" She asked Kutner who practically ran past her with both arms full with supplies.
"Ferry boat crash. Go check in, then pick a triage team-you can either stay here or go to the scene. Taub is going while Foreman, Chase, and I are staying here." Kutner had to yell the last part of his answer as he was practically being pulled away by the crowd that seemed to be going in a thousand different directions at once.
Thirteen's heart started to pound as she recalled Cameron telling her that she was coming back that morning from New York on a ferry boat.
"Where's Dr. Cameron?" She asked the nurse running the desk as she signed in.
"We're not sure-that's part of why this place is a mess. She hasn't responded to her page and we called her, but it went straight to voicemail."
'So her cell is either dead or at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Or turned off.'
Thirteen turned back to the crowd, took a deep sigh, and fought her way to get to the side where the teams that were going on scene were meeting. She had her arm grabbed more than a few times, and she nearly got stuck with a needle-twice. Finally, she made it to the ambulance entrance.
"Thirteen!" Taub called to her.
"Hey, so what's the deal?"
"Dr. Hadley, are you going to come with us to do on-sight triage?" Smith-one of the ambulance drivers and an EMT-caught her attention.
She simply nodded.
"Alright, grab a coat and a bag, we're heading out in a few minutes. We're the second team to go out. You know the drill-green tags for people who are okay and can leave, yellow for those that need urgent medical attention, and red for deceased."
She took a heavy paramedic's jacket and supplies, and went back to stand next to Taub.
"So all this chaos is because they're prepping for these people to come back?"
Taub nodded,
"Perks of being the hospital closest to the Princeton bay. Once the people who don't need as much care are stabilized, we're sending them to Princeton General."
Thirteen felt her heart beating faster, and her palms were sweating-she so hoped Cameron would turn up soon, and in perfect condition.
"Alright let's head out! We're taking numbers three through eight!"
Thirteen and Taub headed into the lot, and sat down next to each other on the ride out. Taub noticed how tense she was, and she saw him look at her with concern out of the corner of her eye-he didn't even have to ask the question.
"Cameron is supposed to be taking a ferry boat this morning. It would just…suck if someone we knew was hurt, or worse."
Taub nodded, and they were silent.
"Get going! Work as quickly and efficiently as you can, and pace yourselves-some of you may be out here until dark."
Thirteen shivered as the cool early winter air blew in her face, and she followed Smith's orders. She'd never seen such a mess in person-there were boat parts that looked as if they'd exploded scattered everywhere, and there had to be at least five hundred victims right in front of her. She took a left, and got to work, subconsciously reminding herself to keep her eyes peeled for long blonde curls.
The first person Thirteen crouched next to was a man who's face was so swollen even his family might not recognize him. Before she said a word, she checked for a pulse-nothing. She continued to take her stethoscope and press it to his chest-no breath sounds, no heartbeat. He was dead. She grabbed a red bracelet out of her bag, wrote the date and time and started to search his pockets for an ID. She quickly found his wallet-and in it, his driver's license.
"Sorry Richard."
She then wrote his name on the bracelet, placed it around his wrist, and continued on. The next person she assessed was a woman-she was pretty, with red hair and flawless porcelain skin. She seemed okay-with the exception of a large gash going all the way down the outside of her leg, and she seemed to be in excruciating pain.
"Ma'am? My name is Dr. Hadley, you were in an accident. Where does it hurt?"
The woman winced and barely managed to communicate,
"My head, it feels like it's going to explode."
"Okay, you probably have a concussion. I'm going to bandage your leg and elevate your head, and we're going to get you in an ambulance soon so you can go to Princeton General by the end of the day. Do you understand?"
The woman nodded.
"Great. What's your name?"
"Rebecca McDermott."
"Alright Rebecca, hold on for me. Do you have anymore pain besides your head and your leg?"
Rebecca shook her head, and Thirteen moved to her leg. She cut the woman's pant leg open and used a gauze pad with alcohol to cleanse the wound, then she wrapped it in thick dressing. She then proceeded to take a couple more sheets of dressing, folded them, and set them under Rebecca's head. As she filled out a yellow bracelet, she flinched as a helicopter flew past them. She was just standing up when a blonde head caught her eye. The mystery blonde was about Cameron's height, and she had an identical frame.
"Allison?" Thirteen rushed over to the blonde and grabbed her shoulder. The stranger jumped at her touch,
"No, my name is Sarah."
Thirteen sighed,
"I'm sorry Sarah. My name is Dr. Hadley, are you hurt?"
"No, but I would like to go look for my husband."
Thirteen pulled out a green bracelet, filled out the information she knew, and handed it and her marker to Sarah to fill out the rest,
"Go back towards the city, away from the dock, and you'll see a station of police that are taking names of missing people. Show them your bracelet, tell them your husband's name, and they'll handle it from there-and again, I'm sorry. I'm looking for my friend and from the back you look like her."
Sarah smiled,
"It's perfectly fine, thank you so much."
Thirteen nodded and turned back to the chaos. Another team came flooding in, and the first thirty people in front of her were either dead or were already being tended to.
'Screw this, I'm finding Allison.'
She started to speed walk past everyone, looking for Cameron.
"Allison! Allison, where are you?! Dr. Cameron?"
She sped up to a run until she stopped at a pile of wreckage. She walked along it, looking for blonde hair sticking out.
"Allison!"
She stopped when she heard a groan that vaguely sounded like Cameron's voice. She scanned for the source of the sound, and nearly cried when she finally found the older doctor.
"Allison! Jesus, this is a complete disaster."
Cameron had a long, thick metal pole crushing her chest, and she had burns everywhere.
"Okay, I have to lift this pole-and it's probably going to hurt when I get this pressure off your ribs. Ready?"
Cameron nodded.
"Okay, here goes nothing."
Thirteen placed her hands under the pole, and lifted with all her might. She got it a few inches away from Cameron's body, and quickly darted to get it away from them. She finally got it a good two feet away from where she needed to work, and dropped it on the ground.
"Where does it hurt?"
Cameron was gasping as she caught her breath,
"My…ribs. Arm too, and my torso."
Thirteen looked at Cameron's already cut up hand,
"Yeah, I think that injured hand and wrist are probably now sprained, maybe even broken. Your ribs were crushed so I'm sure some of those broke too, and I'm going to order an ultrasound to see if there's any internal bleeding because I can't examine your skin-it's covered in burns. I know it hurts, but I'm not going to leave you until we get back to the hospital, alright?"
Cameron started to say something, but instantly started to choke.
"Shit, I think your left lung collapsed!"
Thirteen dug into the bag for a needle, pulled up Cameron's shirt, and jabbed the needle into her lung-and was relieved when Cameron's breathing eased again.
"Your whole left side is a mess-you've got more bruises and burns there than I can count, that arm is a magnet for injuries, and I'd bet at least half your lefthand ribs are cracked or broken."
Cameron laughed a little as Thirteen started to fill out a yellow bracelet,
"Remy, please-don't leave me. Stay with me."
Thirteen made eye contact with her,
"I won't-I promise." She put the bracelet on Cameron's good arm, and looked up, "We need some help over here! Emergency transport please!"
She sighed as no one heard her, and looked back at Cameron,
"You must be freezing, and something tell's me we're going to be here for awhile."
Thirteen took off her coat and her grey cardigan-leaving her in just a short sleeved shirt. She took her sweater and placed it over Cameron's upper body, and pulled her coat back on. She sat back, and was shocked when Cameron's cold hand grabbed hers. She gripped it tightly, as if willing the warmth to help heal her friend just a little bit faster.
Nearly an hour later, a duo of paramedics reached them with a gurney.
The younger one approached them first,
"Dr. Hadley, and-oh god, Dr. Cameron. Is she alright?"
"For now but if you don't get us in a damn ambulance that answer might change."
The pair carefully set Cameron on the gurney, and made their way to the edge of the crowd-where an ambulance was waiting for them.
The older paramedic stopped Thirteen before she could follow Cameron into the ambulance,
"I heard you say 'us'?"
Thirteen rolled her eyes,
"Yes, I'll be overseeing Dr. Cameron's care. Now can I please get in? It's freezing out here."
He nodded her in, and she instantly took Cameron's hand again. The ride back to the hospital was silent-and Thirteen was somewhat grateful for the fact. She could only imagine the chaos that would uprise when Cameron would be rolled into her own ER-especially in her current condition.
Thirteen's prediction was right-nearly every person they'd asked to help froze for a good minute before snapping back and obeying orders. They took Cameron into a trauma room, and Thirteen watched on as she told them everything that was wrong and all the tests that were needed.
"No! Do the ultrasound and then treat her burns-you need to check for internal bleeding, because if you treat the burns and then in an hour she's coughing up blood because one of her ribs shattered and perforated her lung, it's going to be all our asses that take the fall, not to mention that all the trauma surgeons are already busy with cases and we don't need to add to their load with something that's totally preventable!" The physicians all listened to her, and Thirteen held her breath as they checked both her lungs.
"All clear Dr. Hadley. Do you mind if we go over her uterus to double check for pregnancy while we're at this?"
Thirteen sighed-they could have been doing better things with their time,
"Go for it."
Nothing. Thirteen was relieved that everything going on inside Cameron was alright-for now. They treated Cameron's burns then took her for an urgent CT. After everything was through, Cameron was admitted and taken up to the ICU-with Thirteen practically glued to her side.
They were silent as they awaited the results of the CT scan. Cameron couldn't take it-she needed to be distracted.
"Remy, I was so scared…I've never been in so much pain."
Thirteen looked at her, tears threatening to make their way down her cheeks,
"Damn it Allison, I thought you were dead. Don't ever scare me like that again-if something is happening just call me so I can be prepared with my own ambulance just for you, okay?"
Cameron started to cry, but she smiled and chuckled a little,
"Okay."
Thirteen smiled at her,
"You're going to be okay, and I'll be here the whole time."
They squeezed one another's hands, and jumped a little when the door opened and a radiologist with Cameron's scans in his hands walked in.
"Well Dr. Cameron, you've got seven damaged ribs-five on the left and two on the right; three breaks, two hairline fractures, one linear fracture, and one with a small crack. Also that left wrist of yours has a pretty bad break in it. Everything else looks good, but if you have any pain in your pelvis or collarbone you need to tell us, because those bones took harsh impact too, and they're more than likely bruised. We'll cast the wrist and get a brace to set your ribs, and we're going to keep you for the next twenty four hours in the general patient rooms for observation, then you can go home."
Thirteen and Cameron sighed at the relatively good news.
"Thank you, that's great." Cameron said politely, while Thirteen simply nodded her thanks.
The radiologist left, and Thirteen looked back at Cameron,
"That could have ended so much worse than it did…thank goodness you're alright."
She reached over and lightly hugged Cameron, who-despite still being in pain-felt her heart go into her throat as Thirteen treated her with such immense kindness-and it was finally safe to say that they were getting close.
