Hello everyone! This is probably my last update boefore Christmas so just in case, I give you a 'Merry Christmas' hug ;p
I wrote this chapter in french long time ago, but I didn't have time to translate it, so there we go. I hope you will enjoy it (as usual).
Again merry Christmas !
Jimmy came back outside, and Boben came at him without warning.
"Borelli! How is Casey going?"
"I don't know much chief. I don't know much more than you".
Boden sighed and closed his eyes. It made him sick to know that his men was there, under the rubble, with almost no outside help, without someone to interviene.
"Structure are there, and I asked the paramedics to prepare more stock for you. A doctor will come to help Gabby when we will have a contact with the three Musketeers".
"I'll tell her".
Vermulen passed him a bottle of water, he almost emptied it before taking the road down the rubble. Tony was waiting for him in the air pocket because the tunnel was too tight. Suddenly, a concrete block fell on them. Tony grabbed his radio and shouted.
"Stop! Stop what you're doing! STOP!"
Some seconds later, there were no sounds from outside anymore. Tony ran toward Jimmy and pulled the block out.
"You okay Borelli?"
"Yeah... Just... Back aches. I think I will have a bruise!"
Tony sighed in relief, and friendly tapped his shoulder.
"Tony, report!"
"Chef? Be very careful when you're digging. It's collapsing!"
"Understood. You and Jimmy, go near Gabby and the others, and give them the stuffs. Then come back a little to place some distress calls so we can find you, and come back to the others. I can't risk your lifes in there".
"Chief..."
"That's an order Tony".
Tony understood perfectly boden. If the structure was beginning to collapse, then it will continue. They need to find a secured place and the only secured place was under the stabilized structures, which meant near the rest of the firemen under the rubble.
"Copy that chief".
Jimmy stood up groaning of pain and with the help of Tony.
"You sure you okay?"
"Yeah... I think uh... I think I'm gonna throw up".
He just had the time to turn his head to the left before throwing up his breakfast. Despite his disguss feelings, Tony helped him to sit down a few minutes and tried to calm his neausea.
"Gabby will examine you when we come cack to her".
Borelli couldn't help but nod, because he still wanted to throw up.
On the other side, Matt was beginning to breathe on his own again, but it was labourious. Even with the oxygen mask, it was hard. It hurted him so bad on his chest. He wasn't a huge pain, but he had his eyes closed, frowning, he was dealing with this pain that was lacerating him despite the morphine that Gabby injected into his system. Kelly was also on the ground, less petrified than Matt but as bad as his best friend. He was beginning to have fever, but the heat that was invading the space began to weight on and under their organisms. Borelli and Tony came back with the structure and began to place them strategicly between the ground where they were and the concrete slab just above them, this slab that threatened to collapse on them, this one that kept Kelly prisoner for several minutes.
"Vermulen and his team are digging just above the air pocket, but there is a high risk of collapsing, so chief ordered us to stay together".
Gabby nodded and turned toward the injured guys. Matt had still his eyes closed but she could see he wasn't unconscious. He was still dealing with the pain, but she couldn't increase the dose of morphine. If she did it, we would go to sleep, which could turn into a coma, worse even. It could kill him. Kelly was also trying to deal with this pain that was filling his stomach. His shape was deteriorating. And Hermann was sitting near them, holding his hand on his chest. He had a few broken and cracked ribs, and that was probably what was causing the pain. She turned again to Tony.
"Tony, sit down for five minutes. I'm going to change your bandage on your back".
Knowing he wouldn't have a chance against her, he sighed then obeyed. He removed his gear then his shirt slowly and carefully. His skin was aching, gauzed and bands were soiled. Gabby gritted her teeth and asked Borelli to bring her the medical bags and give her gauzes and blands.
"I need to get these gauzes and bands out, but your back is beginning to ooze. Your body is reacting to the burn and it's normal. Some will maybe be glued so I'm sorry in advance if I'm going to hurt you".
"Don't be Gabby. Don't worry, I'll be fine".
Tony trusted Gabby. He saw her work as a PIC on the ambulance 61 during seven years, so he knew that she knew what she was doing. Slowly, to not hurt him, she got the gauzes out one by one, disnfected his back with saline then put some fresh and sterile gauzes on it.
"You need to examine Borelli too. He took a concrete slab on his back and... I don't know if it's the pain, but he threw up".
Turning to him, she sew he wasn't fine at all. He was pale. She made him sit near the others and examined him.
"You hit your head?"
"Uh... I don't remenbber... Maybe, I really don't know".
She took her penlight and checked his pupils quickly.
"Your pupils are slightly dilated, probably a slight concussion. Do you know if you lost consciousness?"
"Uh... I can't tell you. I do'nt think so. Or a micro-second".
He closed his eyes, put one of his hands on his forehead and sighed.
"Headache?"
He couldn't talk. A wave of nausea came haunting him. So he nodded. He had the feeling that his head was a punching-ball: hit, hit, hit. Without stop, until exhaustion. And he was dizzy.
"Let me see your back, the shock you received and the pain can give you this kind of symptoms. Not nausea or dizzyness?"
Again, he nodded. He wanted to vomit so much that he put his left hand on his mouth to try to avoid this wave of nausea to turn into vomiting. Seeing this, Gabby grabbed a paper bag that was in one of the medical bags, emptied it and tended it to Jimmy. Hurriedly, he grabbed it, put it to his mouth, then threw up again. Gabby rubbed his upper back slightly, at the level of his spine, as to try to calm his nausea and vomiting. Borelli closed his eyes, by pain but also by exhaustion. Gabby continued to examine him: taking his pulse, his BP, with Tony's help.
"Borelli, focus on my voice okay?"
She waited a nod before continuing.
"You have a slight concussion, that's why you're nauseous and you have a headache. You also have a big hematoma on your back, on your D3 vertebra. This is causing your pain on your back, and your vomiting. You're going to lay down near Kelly and Matt, lightly on your side to avoid the hematoma to be in contact with the ground and avoid the pain. I can't give you morphine because Kelly and Mattt need it more than you".
"They're okay?"
Gabby sighed deeply and took a deep breath.
"Kelly has a peritonitis because of the iron bar that was on his flank. And Matt has a broken pelvis, and he's breathing hardly. And Herman has broken ribs, which casuing him pain on his chest".
Borelli shook his head, understanding what Gabby told him. She turned to the injured group and accompanied Jimmy near them to lay him down. She got his gear out and placed it under the candidate to raise his right side. He gritted his teeth a few seconds the time to lay down on the ground. With this noise, Matt opened his eyes and turned them to this noise, this person who was scrzaming of pain.
"Hey sleepy head!"
Through the oxygen mask, she could see a small smile on his lips.
"Everything is okay?"
She knew he couldn't answer that everything was okay, but she wanted to give him a chance to answer honestly. He closed his eyes then tried to take a deep breath. But he stopped suddenly and frowned.
"Hey Mat, don't force okay? Slow and shallow breath".
After several seconds, he nodded. He reopened his eyes, a blurred vision was invading him.
"Matt? You okay?"
He closed his eyes again, then reopened them. He did this process a few times as to evacuate this blurred vision.
"Blurr..."
"Blurr? Your vision is a blurr, isn't it?"
Again, he nodded.
"A pain somewhere? In a unusual place?"
He slowly shook his head up to down.
"S-stomach-..."
"Your stomach is hurting?"
He closed his eyes, frowned, then reopened them. And nodded.
"Your lower stomach? Here?"
Gabby palpated the are, near hiss bladder, hoping that Matt could feel her hand on this area.
"Mh..."
It didn't really hurt, mostly a discomfort.
"Matt? Listen to me okay? This pain is normal: your pelvic fracture is compressing your nerves from your legs and your lower belly. This is causing your pain and the discomfort in your bladder area. You understand?"
He nodded. At least, Matt was responding to her voice, to the pain, was conscious and was talking. This was a good thing. But they needed to get out of this quickly. Before it was too late.