Pravesh paused and pricked his ears.

"Conrad?"
His eyes narrowed as he took the few steps to the rearmost cabin. The door was ajar, through the crack he vaguely recognized jeans and a pair of dark sneakers. Pravesh´s breathing quickened. Something was blocking the door from inside. Finally he managed to force it open. The sight it showed made him gasp.

Conrad lay crooky on his stomach, blood from a head wound on his temple mingling with the sour-smelling, nauseating fluidity on the floor. Immediately Pravesh squeezed through the door and crouched down next to his mentor. He exhaled in relief as his fingertips felt for the carotid artery and could feel a weak but steady pulse.

He heard the bathroom-door open and stared into the frightened eyes of a visitor of the ward.
"I need help here," Pravesh snapped at the visitor.
"Go get a nurse or a doctor, quick!"
The man turned on his heel and stormed out. Pravesh focussed on Hawkins again.
"Do not do that, Conrad. Please do not do that," he murmured as he turned Conrad to the side as gently as possible.

Moments later a puzzled male nurse poked his head through the bathroom door, followed by the even more puzzled face of Dr. Austin.
"He has a head injury and is unconscious." Pravesh reported.
"We need a neckbrace and a stretcher, fast."

The nurse turned on his heel to carry out the instructions while Dr. Austin for his part crouched down next to Conrads lifeless form and pulled out his stethoscope.
"Did he inhale vomit?" he asked as he let the stethoscope wander over the back of their unconscious patient.
"I can't say it, I just found him moments ago," replied Pravesh, earning a disapproving look from Austin.
"I can't hear aspiration, but his heartbeat is weak. We need to get him out of here as soon as possible."

"Here´s the neckbrace."
The male nurse handed the apparatus into the cabin. Together, the two doctors placed the device around the neck of the unconscious doctor to stabilize his head, then lifted and pulled him out of the cabin as gently as possible.

Outside the door, Henry the male nurse, had placed a stretcher. Conrad gave a small moan as several hands transferred him from the floor onto the stretcher, where Pravesh and Austin quick and with routine began examining the condition of their young colleague. While Austin kept an eye on the circulation system and gave instructions to the bystanders, Pravesh tried to bring Conrad back to consciousness. „Conrad? Conrad, can you hear me?"


Conrad groaned as he felt the floor move beneath him. Had he not already puked enough today? The stinging pain in his stomach now spread all over his entire side, back and shoulder seemed to be in flames.
All this now joined by a throbbing headache. How had he gotten himself into this situation?
And what was his situation anyway?

The dark washroom had been welcome as nausea and chills overcame him. He retched for an indefinite amount of time, got rid of his already small stomach contents until only gastric acid remained, making each heave even more painful.

At some point the gagging had died away, leaving Conrad bathed in sweat and leaning against the cabin wall, trembling. All he wanted was to close his eyes for a brief moment. But he could not do that. Something was very wrong, he knew that now. It was high time to ask Pravesh or one of his other colleagues for a bunk and an antiemetic.

Conrad took a deep breath and pushed his back against the wall. But his knees failed him: the fluid-loss, the little rest of the past days and the excruciating pain took their toll. Darkness rushed at him like a tunnel and he fell like a rock.