-SIX DAYS AFTER THIRD
IMPACT
TOKYO-3, JAPAN-
Maya Ibuki was, first and foremost, a woman of the sciences. Even after she graduated at the top of her class in military school, and even after she'd opted to transfer from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to the United Nations peacekeeping forces, she considered her lieutenant officer's rank as something she merely picked up along the way of her scientific career. To her, the military meant access to nearly-unlimited research funds, and the opportunity to work with the leading scientific minds to have survived the Second Impact.
Still, despite her several years working as a biotechnologist in the United Nations' Project-E, her training as a field medical officer in the military automatically took over as soon as she saw followed the gurney carrying Asuka to a nearby unobstructed corner.
"Dear God," she gasped, instantly reaching for her wrist to check for vital signs. She glanced at three other Nerv personnel, only one of whom was a trained medical officer. It would have to do. "You there, help. I need chemical light sticks posted everywhere to properly see what we're doing. Shigeru, What happened to her?"
"Friendly fire," her colleague and firend said, as he deftly sliced open her clothes with a knife. "Afer seeing a smokefire from the lakeside beach, we encountered the Children with their school professor," he continued, pointing a brief glance at Professor La, being held at both elbows by two personnel.
He said, "It was probably a case of mistaken identity and paranoia. I didn't see what happened, or who shot first, but Asuka was caught in the middle of it. Oh, and take him away," he told the two officers without bothering to glance at them.
"How long's she been like this?" Maya poured some alcohol into a shiny metal bowl and dipped her hands into it, then opened an emergency medical cabinet that hung on a nearby wall. Taking a cursory glance at what was available, she grimaced slightly as she donned a face mask.
Shigeru glanced briefly at his watch. "Almost seven hours. We unfortunately took the long way down here, because--"
"...Of the LCL," Maya finished for him. She pointed down to her still-damp pants legs. "We saw that for ourselves, when we tried to find other passages out of the GeoFront." She turned to another Nerv personnel beside her. "Keep pressure on that arm. The wound's close to a major artery. I don't want to lose her, now that she's made it this far."
Maya's hands were a blur, as if she were back working on a keyboard once again. Though usually squeamish at the sight of blood, Maya had seen enough bloodshed from the attempted coup'detat from Marduke's forces to last her a lifetime. No, she corrected in her head; they'd succeeded all right, and left a grisly body count to prove it.
Her forehead creased as she forced herself to pay attention. Asuka was the important thing, now.... Without her noticing, the medical officer in her took over, as if she'd been doing it all her life.
"Inject her with morphine. She might come out of her coma, and immediately enter shock. It's strong stuff, but she'll thank us later...
"Sterilize that hole-- it's only a flesh wound, but it looks like grains of sand are still embedded. Use what's left of the peroxide, and go grab several bottles more. Hurry....
"Somebody get some chemical heat packs... alot of them! Her body's ice-cold! You there, keep rubbing your hands on her till we can get the packs here. The friction'll create some heat, and we need all that we can find...
"Shigeru, find something to keep her legs elevated two degrees, to raise the extrimities above her heart. You there, apply direct pressure with your fingertips to exert wider pressure. Also, find some pure granulated sugar. Then pour it in the worst of the wounds in the extremities..."
Shigeru paused as he handed Maya a towel. "Are you sure?"
She wiped her brow feverishly. "We don't have the best of resources right now, and the sugar will decrease bleeding, promote clotting, and discourage bacteria." Beside her, the medical officer nodded his chin towards Shigeru.
He nodded, and after a moment, joked, "Good thing she's not a diabetic."
Maya let out a laugh-- the first in what felt like many, many weeks. She glanced at him, and smiled as she continued working. "Thanks for the help."
"Thank me when our job's done," he said, simply, with a brief smile.
Shinji stepped forward, horrified by the sight of Asuka's body. Her exposed adolescent breasts were pale and cold, where they were not ripped by jagged bullet wounds or covered with drying, sticky blood. "Will she be alright?" he said, weakly.
Maya looked at him gravely as if she just realized he was there all along. "You have to leave, Shinji-kun. This is no place for you. We're going to operate very quickly now, and we've got to concentrate. Kids shouldn't have to see this sort of thing."
"But--," he began to protest, but Maya was already engrossed in the makeshift operating area. Shigeru smiled reassuringly at him behind his mask, then turned back to assist her.
"Don't worry, Shinji-kun," someone said, clamping a hand down on his shoulder and turning him away. Shinji looked up at the technician, and felt a brief wave of relief to see that it was Makoto Hyuuga, another Nerv operator. "It's good to see you again, Shinji-kun. Come; we've got to let them work."
Shinji Ikari followed him, but only after giving one last look over his shoulder.
