3. Alive
"How do we get him out of the stone?" Arthur asked, seeing blood starting to seep from the boy's wounds.
"We can't lift him. Especially since we know he has spinal injuries," Ishizu said, walking around so she could see the boy's face straight on. Cold violet eyes opened slightly to look at her. "Don't move," Ishizu instructed, looking up at one of her co-workers. "Go get the spinal board. We'll have to place that under him. It'll probably be stuck on an angle, so we'll have to pull him up the board and slowly tilt it back until it's straight. Then we can put him on the stretcher and get him to the hospital."
"What will we say to the hospital? He has no ID. Nothing. He's not from this time," Solomon pointed out.
"Tell them he is a John Doe. Or tell them the truth. You've recorded the entire opening," Ishizu pointed out, gesturing to the camera at the foot of the sarcophagus as she and her co-workers pulled on gloves from a bag one of the nurses had brought in with them.
"I suppose," Solomon muttered while the co-worker and another went to get the stretcher and spinal board. He watched as Ishizu and the other two workers set about splinting the bones that they could see where broken based off the X-Rays.
While they did that, Arthur went into the other room to print a copy of the X-Rays so he could give them to the hospital. It would help save their time when he gets there. Especially if radiology is already backed up. Plus, it shows him in the sarcophagus.
Once the bones were splinted, Ishizu and her team lifted the boy's shirt to see the wounds underneath. There was a deep cut on the left side of his stomach. Ishizu grabbed a dressed and placed pressure onto the wound, looking up to notice that the boy had passed out once again. Securing the dressing, Ishizu shifted to check that the boy was still breathing. He was, but it was very shallow.
"I'm surprised he was conscious at all," one of the other doctors mentioned as he wrapped up a deep cut down the boy's right forearm.
"Me too… I wonder if it's the first time he awoke since the incident," Ishizu muttered, carefully removing the cracked crown from the boy's forehead. Underneath was a large cut that was bleeding quite a bit. As a head wound, that was to be expected though.
"Probably is," the other medic said as Ishizu covered the wound and applied pressure the best she could with the stone by his head.
The two nurses arrived back a moment later, the spinal board and a neck brace on top of the stretcher. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to brace his neck, so we grabbed it to be safe," one of the nurses said.
"It wouldn't hurt given his situation," Ishizu responded. "We'll have to put that on after we get him onto the stretcher. "Right, you two will place the board behind him while we roll him onto his side… Uh… We'll roll to his left side so we don't affect that shattered right shoulder. Solomon, hold his head. Keep it perfectly straight. I'll roll his shoulders. Marcus will control his hip and thigh. Maileen will control the knee and lower leg. Keep the spine straight while the nurses slip the board underneath."
Everyone nodded and got into position. On the count of three, they rolled the teen in the stone onto his side. Arthur ended up having to help the nurses with the board because of the trouble working around the shape of the sarcophagus. With great difficulty, they finally managed to get the board under him and allowed his body to roll flat against the board.
"How are we going to push him onto the board?" Solomon asked with a frown.
"We'll have to manipulate him in the same way that we just did. We'll have to move him while keeping his spine straight while they lower the board until it's flat," Ishizu responded.
"We're quite far under so it shouldn't be that difficult. Just ensure he doesn't fall off," one of the nurses said.
"Great. Right, on the count of three, you two start lowering the board. We'll make sure he stays on the board," Ishizu commented, the four on her side getting in position while the other three got ready to lower the board to a horizontal position.
On the count of three, the group moved once again. As the nurse said, the board was under the boy, but he was right on the edge. Still on the board though which was the main thing.
"We'll get him onto the stretcher and then correct his positioning. Otherwise we'll be leaning over the sarcophagus which isn't good for us or him," Ishizu said, seeing the others nod.
She and another medic moved around to support the board while the two nurses brought the stretcher closer. The four of them then transferred the spinal board onto the stretcher. Once safely on the stretcher, the seven people returned to their positions when they were working at the sarcophagus.
"Right. We'll all hang on like we did when we rolled him. You three will have to slip your arms under him as well to help pull him towards you. I think that's the best way to move him with minimal spinal movement," Ishizu suggested. Normally, they would use sheets to move patients around in the beds. But this wasn't a normal situation.
The seven worked together and soon the boy was safely in the centre of the spinal board. "Good job," Arthur said with a smile, watching Ishizu secure the neck brace to the boy while the nurses and other medics worked together to strap the boy to the stretcher.
"Agreed. Good job. You guys will have to follow us in your own car if you're coming. Five in the car is pushing the limit as it is," Ishizu said. To have everyone fit in the car, they shoved three people in the front and one nurse and one medic in the back with the stretcher.
"That's alright," Solomon said with a smile, walking behind them as they wheeled the boy out of the room.
"I don't know if they'll want these, but I have a copy of the X-Rays we took before we opened the sarcophagus," Arthur said, offering the envelope of X-Rays to the doctor.
"I don't know if they will either, but we'll give it to them. It's up to them if they use them," Ishizu said, accepting the envelope. "So… What's the story we're telling them?"
"Well, the X-Rays show the sarcophagus… So, I guess we'll tell the truth," Arthur responded.
"Fair enough. The cops will probably be contacted to try and find his identity though," Ishizu pointed out.
"They won't succeed," Solomon responded.
"I know… I can't help but notice he looks a lot like your son though… I wonder if he's one of your ancestors. Perhaps a distant cousin," Ishizu suggested.
"Possibly. We'll probably never know for sure though," Solomon replied. "He wouldn't know his heritage after his 'death'."
"True," Ishizu muttered, getting into the back of their ambulance. It wasn't one of the state ambulances, but they did have a pass that allowed them to work as an ambulance when required.
"We'll meet you at the hospital," Arthur said as the doors closed, the pair heading to their own car while Ishizu hooked the teen up to observation equipment. "Do you think he'll pull through?"
"No way to tell for sure… But he looks like a fighter. He had some nasty scars on his stomach that had already healed," Solomon responded as Arthur started the car and pulled out after the ambulance. "I hope he does."
In the ambulance, while they started to drive, Ishizu cut the boy's shirt off so she could attach ECG nodes so she could hook up continuous monitoring of the teen's heart. She found that his heart rate was sitting on 50 beats per minute. Without knowing his previous history, she wasn't sure if that was normal for him or a result of his injuries and blood loss. Whichever it is, it'll be her baseline for now. Any further deterioration and she would take action.
To allow herself to take action if required, Ishizu decided she needed to place a cannula into the boy's arm encase she needed to give him a shot of adrenaline or some other medication. Normally she wouldn't like to be putting a needle in while moving, but she didn't have much choice. As it is, the hospital was likely half hour away. If the traffic is bad, it could be even longer.
The nurse watched silently as Ishizu placed the cannula into the boy's right hand. The places she could place the needle was rather limited during to the injuries the boy had already sustained. Her first attempt didn't succeed so she was forced to try again. The second attempt succeeded which was good because she didn't know where else to try and place the needle.
"Should we put the blood pressure cuff on his right arm?" the nurse asked, worried about moving the left arm because of the shoulder injury.
"This leg will work. Just change the setting to leg," Ishizu answered, strapping the cuff around the teen's right leg. The stretched was against the right wall with his feet facing the door so the right side was easier to access for them.
The nurse tilted her head as Ishizu put the sats monitor onto the teen's index finger on his right hand. A frown formed on her face when he noticed that the boy's sats were sitting a bit low.
"Let's give him some oxygen," Ishizu muttered, handing the nurse an oxygen mask so she could hook it up.
The nurse nodded and placed the mask around the teen's mouth and nose, connecting the hose to the oxygen tank. "Looking at him, he should be dead. Why isn't he?"
Ishizu shrugged. "He's a fighter, I guess. I don't know him, but to keep going after all this, you have to be. Let's just hope he can fight long enough to reach help."
"Can we even save him? His injuries are quite severe. And we only really know the bone damage and the surface wounds," the nurse said with a frown, unconsciously setting about to stroke his hair. It was a comfort thing she had picked up while caring for young people after her own son was killed in a car accident. He was so unrecognisable after the accident that she didn't know she had been treating her son.
"Only time will tell… I hope we can… But I don't know what'll happen if he does," Ishizu answered.
"What do you mean?" the nurse asked with a tilt of her head.
"He has no ID. No home. No name. No family. Nothing. Everyone he loves is dead. He has no support to help him recover from these injuries. And who's going to pay his medical bills. Without ID he may not be eligible for medical cover," Ishizu responded. "And, depending on his age, he may end up in the care system. I don't know about you, but I don't think the care system will be very kind to him."
"What happened to you when they discovered your existence? I mean, you didn't have a birth certificate or anything," the nurse pointed out. "Can't they do what they did for you?"
"It was extremely difficult. And a miracle I succeeded. The only reason why I was granted documents was because I knew who I was. I didn't have amnesia. He will sound incredibly insane. He'll remember a life from centuries ago. He will have no knowledge of this time which will make people think he has some form of amnesia and possible false memories which means he may actually already have ID that we just don't know about," Ishizu explained. "If that happens, he can't get ID. I know we have the video of his sarcophagus being opened… But I'm not sure if it'll be believed. It could have been faked."
"Oh… What do we do then?" the nurse asked, seeing Ishizu shrug since she really didn't know.