Sineater asks: For Whumptober, 8. Back from the Dead - John.
Characters: John, Scott, EOS, Virgil
Warnings: Avalanche, Buried alive, Broken Bone, Medical Procedures, CPR
The circumstances that found International Rescue back on the mountainside at Aspen could not have been much more identical.
Same ski village. Same side of the mountain. Same disaster. Only the lives at stake were different.
That, and the fact that iR was on scene and helping out long before an hour had passed.
Chalets and cabins lay buried just as on that fateful day, but with EOS and Five's scanning range they were pinpointing and rescuing survivors in record time.
It was peak season and the mountain was full of life signs. Scott had brought John with him, for once his brother had been on home ground for three days, meaning no issues with gravity. In theory. These kinds of rescues meant all hands on deck and Kayo was flying over as was Penny and Parker. Kayo was due to arrive pretty soon, Shadow being faster than Two and FAB1, but the others would not arrive until quite a bit later.
So it was Scott and John who pulled the first people out of the mountain.
Scott had to admit to being unnerved about being here. He hated snow rescues at the best of times, and he knew his brothers weren't too far behind him in that regard. None of them had ever returned to the mountain and the cabin their Mom had bought as a Christmas present for their Dad all those years ago.
Now with Dad gone too, Scott found being here that much more difficult. He thought John probably felt the same, given that his brother hadn't left his side, but working together soothed his mind and banished the memories of the last time for now.
They welcomed the others when they arrived, and everyone worked in pairs. With the sheer numbers involved it meant that the rescue dragged on, but with EOS' help they could pinpoint weaker signals and concentrate on reaching those most at need the fastest.
Penny and Parker concentrated on those in the buried buildings while everyone else concentrated on the slopes with whatever volunteers and rescue services had turned up. Virgil was using the Sherpa pod to ferry rescued people up and down the mountain with Kayo's help.
Everything was going well.
And then John went and disappeared right in front of Scott's eyes.
The avalanche had pushed some people off the designated safe areas and the going was getting tricky. EOS' shout warning about a hidden crevasse came milliseconds too late as the ground decided that John was too much for it and gave way just as the man had begun to turn around. All Scott saw was a startled face and his brother was gone faster than he could draw his grapple gun. The fact that Scott was then forced to jump back to avoid being swallowed by the same hole was not lost on him, and the Commander of International Rescue cursed vividly.
'EOS! Report!' he barked out once he'd reached safe ground.
'I have John's life signal, it is strong, Commander, but he is not responding to my hales.'
'Unconscious?'
'Most likely.'
'How far down? Can I grapple down to him?'
'I would not recommend it. The area is unstable and it looks like John has fallen into a deep ice crevasse.'
'He has stopped falling quite a distance from the top. I recommend Two and its cable are needed to be able to reach John.'
'FAB, EOS. Virgil? You copy?'
'I'm here, Scott. EOS patched me through and I heard. Kayo is dropping me off as we speak. She'll continue up and down in the Sherpa. I'll be three minutes, Scott.'
'FAB, Virgil. EOS, is John's suit showing his telemetry?'
'Yes, Commander, although his temperature is dropping rapidly which tells me his suit has been compromised somehow.'
'Keep an eye on it, please.'
True to his words, Virgil was hovering over Scott and playing out the cable as the three minutes came to an end. Scott was clipped into the harness and being lowered down less than seven minutes after John's sudden disappearance.
The sides of the crevasse were smooth ice and Scott was so grateful for EOS' telling him that grappling down was a bad idea. It would have been a disaster. Even in the harness and with Virgil's steady hand it was slow going and by the time Scott's feet touched the floor he was sweating even in his specially designed cold-weather uniform.
He unclipped the cable and gave Virgil the all-clear to withdraw it so he could send the stretcher and large medkit down. Scott looked around, but he couldn't see John. He bit his lip and frowned. The floor sloped gently down and away from him, and he just knew John was farther down. It was Tracy luck after all. Scott resisted the temptation to head down, he needed to wait for the stretcher before he set off or he'd only have to return.
Thankfully Scott didn't have long to wait and he was off, stretcher hovering behind him with the medkit on.
Scott found John quite a way further down. His brother was clearly unconscious and, judging from the angle of his leg, Scott was very pleased about that. It also explained why John's suit was malfunctioning. EOS had been feeding him a constant stream of numbers, and Scott felt a little lost without her voice in his ear but the depth he was and the ice and snow always made comms fritz. He hoped she knew that he'd found John and told Virgil.
Being an International Rescue operative meant not being squeamish, although being a big brother had banished that many years before, but still open fractures were one injury that could still set his teeth on edge. Even worse when it was a brother. But Scott certainly knew how to compartmentalise to get the job done, and he lowered the stretcher to the floor and set to work.
One medscan later and Scott wasn't happy with the results. The compromised suit wasn't keeping John warm at all and his brother's heartbeat was worryingly slow and getting slower. The only other injuries looked like bruises to his left side – probably where he crumpled after landing on his feet – and a small knock to the head. His helmet showed a corresponding dent so that explained that.
Hoping that the scans had made it through to Virgil, Scott removed the emergency blanket from the medkit and covered John with it while he got the rest of the kit he'd need to stabilise John's leg before moving him.
The wound was sluggishly bleeding, the cold doing some good to slow the blood loss, and Scott dampened some gauze and gently placed it over the wound itself, careful to ensure that he didn't shift the bone in any way. Equally as careful, he padded the whole leg out with more gauze and bandages before applying splints to the top and bottom of the leg, missing the wounded section out completely.
Despite how fast he was working Scott was aware that every second counted as John's vitals continued to drop fast. He was thankful the helmet wasn't damaged as it kept up a steady supply of oxygen.
Manoeuvring John onto the stretcher on his own without disturbing the leg was slow and hard work. He was sweating by the end of it, but at least now he could move faster and he backtracked to the cable in quick time. Arriving at the bottom of the shaft Scott couldn't help but grin. Despite Virgil probably not knowing the condition John was in – judging from the fact that he was still working in silence Scott assumed that no information had been received – his medic brother had thought ahead. The cable was now in five so that he could safely attach the stretcher and be hoisted up with it, making sure it didn't get knocked or tipped.
John had only just been lifted off the ground when he stopped breathing.
Comms were now spotty, and the screech in his ear told him that there was a problem the same time the attached Medscanner alarmed, and their ascent paused as EOS obviously alerted Virgil. Scott knew that he couldn't do anything mid-air, and the choice of dropping back to the ground or being whisked up into Two quicker was made for him when they started moving upwards again and faster. He agreed with that decision. While he could do CPR down in the crevasse, if they needed an AED he didn't have one and the delay would be more costly then than it would be now.
Scott was ever so thankful that the crevasse was smooth, they got up to Two in record time, and before he could blink Virgil was moving the stretcher into its' designated bay. He didn't need orders just yet, the two of them worked well together and while Virgil dealt with getting John breathing again Scott's job was blankets and heat packs to warm their brother up slowly.
As he gathered them he couldn't help but remember the last time he and John had been in this situation on this very mountain. The shrill voice of the AED brought Scott sharply back to the now, and he almost dropped the load he had gathered to get back to assist Virgil. He layered the blankets and heat packs around John's lower torso and legs and began alternating CPR with his brother.
Chest compressions
Breathe
Chest compressions
Breathe
Analysing
Clear
Shock
Analysing
Chest compressions
Breathe
Chest compressions
Breathe
Analysing
Clear
Shock
Analysing
Chest compressions
Breathe
Chest compressions
Breathe
Analysing
Clear
Shock
Analysing
Both he and Virgil were sweating and aching by the time the AED gave them the all-clear and the Medscanner agreed that John was now breathing on his own. His pulse was still very low, but they covered him up and distributed the heat packs more evenly around his body, being careful of the newly broken ribs John had acquired.
Scott shivered. He was sure Virgil noticed, but the medic turned a blind eye, knowing that Scott wasn't cold, not really. That wasn't the issue.
No, Scott shivered as once more the mountain that had claimed their mother and their grandfather and had tried its' damnedest to take both John and Alan that first time almost claimed John this second time.
How many more lucky chances, how many more times could John return from the death the mountain seemed so desperately to want for him?
Almost as if John knew what his brother was feeling the hand Scott hadn't even realised he was holding squeezed minutely before falling still and Scott knew.
It didn't matter how many times he'd bring John back from the dead. Scott just knew he always would.
