Whump in the Woods

This is, of course, for @brutal-nemesis’s forest day, which totally should have been called “whump in the woods.”

Anyway, we’ve got a double whammy here today, but only one of them is directly related to the forest…

Oh and Victor has a new boyfriend, Samson Buhle, MD.

Trigger Warnings – Also Tagged: blood mention, weapons, crossbows, collapsing, medication

———–

“Thanks for inviting us. A triple camping date was totally the best way to introduce Samson to everyone,” Victor says. He continues down the trail, holding his boyfriend’s hand. He is joined by Chaia and Maria and Kai and Juliet, both couples clasping hands as well.

“Of course. Maria and I love it here. It’s the only forest in the state she’s not allergic to,” Chaia responds. She stares down at her wife’s hands, unconsciously scanning them for hives.

A sudden noise rings out in the distance.

“What was that?” Juliet asks.

“I don’t know. It’s probably a bird,” Kai reassures her as the group turns right along the trail. To their right, a creek flows from the waterfall at the end of the trail.

“Hey, can we pause so that I can tie my shoelace?” Samson asks.

“Of course,” Victor replies. He reaches his arm out and leans against the trunk of a big oak tree.

The sound rings out again. This time, it’s noise is more distinctive. The sound is the firing of a crossbow.

“Everyone get down!” Kai shouts to the group. He crouches down and shouts into the distance, “We are people not game!”

Juliet is rushed down by Kai and Samson stays low to the ground after tying his shoe. Chaia is taken down by the sudden weakness of Maria.

“You know how I said that Maria doesn’t react to this forest? Well, I was wrong,” she says, laying Maria flat on the ground and opening her backpack. She pulls out an emergency kit containing Maria’s rescue meds, a pulse oximeter, and a blood pressure cuff. “Maria, what’s going on?”

“I feel faint and my arms are itchy.” Maria’s arms and face slowly turn a shade of bright red.

“Okay. I got you, Mar.” Chaia slides the blood pressure cuff onto Maria’s arm and clips the pulse oximeter onto Maria’s finger. She digs through the med bag and pulls out a box of benadryl. “Blood pressure is a little lower than normal, but I don’t think that you’re in anaphylaxis right now. Take this.” She hands her wife a bright pink chewable tablet.

“Wow, Chaia you are so good at this,” Kai remarks. He pauses for a moment, then says, “Where’s Victor?”

Victor’s legs remain near the tree he had leaned against, but his upper half had not lowered when the rest of the group ducked. Victor cannot duck, as his left hand has been impaled by the cross bow’s arrow and stuck to the tree. “Up here,” Victor manages, pained.

Samson and Kai rush to their feet to attend to Victor. “Oh, babe, that does not look good,” Samson remarks. “But we are gonna help you. How’s the pain?”

“Bad.”

“Can you wiggle your fingers?” Kai follows up.

Victor attempts to move his fingers against the blood-stained bark. He grimaces in pain. “Not really.”

“Okay,” Kai responds. “Chaia, do you have pain meds and an ace bandage in your bag?”
“I’ve got both.” She digs through the bag and pulls the items out.

Samson lightly grasps Victor’s right hand. “As you probably know, it’s not safe to remove the arrow until we get you to the hospital, but we do need to detach you from the tree.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Victor replies.

“We have to do it,” Samson replies, sending a knowing look to Kai.

Kai grasps the edge of the arrow while Samson pulls Victor into a restraining hug.

“No,” Victor pleads, as Kai lightly wiggles the arrow free of the tree.

“I need to move your hand up to ensure that it stays on the arrow when I remove it from the tree, okay?” Kai didn’t wait for Victor to respond. He slowly slid Victor’s hand up the arrow just enough for him to fit his hand between Victor’s hand and the tree. Victor cried out in pain.

“I know,” Samson whispers to Victor. “We’re almost done.” Sampson gives Victor a reassuring (and more restraining) squeeze.

“On tree, we move off the tree,” Kai tells Victor. He lightly laughs at his own joke. “Get it? Like three? No? Okay. One, two, tree.” He pulls the arrow out of the tree, making sure that Victor’s hand did not come off the arrow. Once again, Victor screamed in pain.

“All done,” Samson told Victor. We’re gonna wrap it to hold the arrow in place and you can take some ibuprofen for right now. Let’s take this triple date to the hospital,” he says, watching Chaia help Maria to her feet.

Saltwater Day

It is saltwater day (brought to you by @brutal-nemesis), and I am finally done with this fic. I would like to thank Nemi for forcing me to create content once again.

Trigger Warnings – also tagged: blood

WC: 966

————

There was no scream, but Kai could tell that something was wrong. A young man seemed to be dragging his leg through the ocean. Kai looked around for the beach’s lifeguard, who gave no response to Kai’s cries for help. He’d have to do it himself.

As Kai neared the man, he noticed a trail of red following the obviously injured leg. Kai held his hand out for the man, hoping to get a response. “My name is Kai. You look like you could use some help.”

The man, wearing a blue swim shirt that matched his floral swim trunks, shook his head. “I’m fine, man.”

“I don’t think you are.” Kai pointed to the man’s leg, which was being followed by an ever-growing red blotch.

“I said I’m fine,” the man insisted. He continued to drag his leg until he reached the shore. Before he could get both feet out of the water, he collapsed onto the wet sand.

Kai rushed over to the man, whose face was now being covered with salty ocean water every time the waves crashed against the shore. He picked the man’s head up and gently stroked it. “Hey, man, can you hear me?” The man’s eyes fluttered open, but Kai got no response. “What’s your name?”

“Roman,” the man managed.

“Okay, Roman, I am Kai, and I am a paramedic. I’m going to take a look at that leg.” Kai pulled Roman up the beach to get his leg out of the water.

On Roman’s left leg, bright red blood clashed against the tanned skin of his ankle. Sand filled the gash that ran from the arch of his foot to the center of his shin about two inches above the ankle. Roman took a peek at his foot and winced, slowly becoming aware of the pain he was in.

“What happened?” Kai asked.

“I don’t know,” Roman responded, a tinge of pain in his voice.

Kai paused, analyzing the injury. “You are going to need to go to the hospital.”

“I can’t drive right now? Should I call an Uber?”

“I know, but no. I can take you. More importantly, I’m going to need to get the sand out of your wound and put some bandage on it before we go.”

“Oh. Okay.” Roman sighed and peered down at his leg.

“I will be right back,” Kai told Roman. He ran up the beach to his stuff. He shook out his purple beach towel and placed it into his black mesh bag, which he then slung over his shoulder. On his way back to Roman, he stopped at the blanket of a family with two young children, both making sandcastles. After a short conference with the parents, Kai approached a young girl. “A man at the shore needs my help, and I need a bucket to do that. Would I be able to borrow yours? I will give it right back when I am done?”

The little girl looked up at Kai and smiled. “Yes!” she cried out, leading Kai over to her family’s pile of beach toys. After studying the pile, she handed Kai a medium-sized purple bucket. “I help,” she said.

“Yes. Thank you,” Kai said to the little girl. After accepting the bucket, he took off running toward Roman. He set his bag down on the sand. Kai shifted his attention to Roman. “Here’s the plan: I am going to get as much sand as I can out of that wound. Then I am going to wrap it in my beach towel. I will then carry you to my car and we will go to the hospital. I can grab your stuff. You ready?”

“No.”

“No?”

“Is this really necessary?”

Kai looked Roman in the eyes. “I need to put pressure on that wound to slow the bleeding and help it be stable until we get to the hospital. It’s not healthy for that much debris to be pressed into the wound.” He grabbed Roman’s hand. “I know it’ll sting, but it’s better to get it done now than needing a huge debriding job at the hospital.”

Roman nodded. “Just get it done,” he said.

“Okay.” Kai grabbed the bucket and scooped up some water from the incoming tide, being careful not to get any sand in. He placed the bucket next to Roman’s leg and quickly applied some hand sanitizer from the bottle he kept in his bag. He used his left hand to brace Roman’s leg just above the cut. With his right hand, Kai slowly poured the salt water over the wound. He moved his left hand to brush out some of the sand. He continued pouring until Roman lurched forward in pain.

“Ow. Ow. Please stop. It hurts.” Roman tried to grab at his foot, but Kai held a firm grip on Roman’s leg.

“I am almost done.” Kai scooped up another bucket of water. “How about you lie back for this?” Kai placed the bucket on the ground again and used his right arm to coax Roman into lying back. Kai picked up the bucket once more and restarted the slow pour.

Roman grimaced in pain and whimpered. Finally, Kai was satisfied with the amount of sand he had cleared. Without warning, he dumped the rest of the water on Roman’s leg, causing him to bolt back up.

“I’m done,” Kai assured him. Kai grabbed his beach towel from his bag and tightly wrapped it around Roman’s leg. He tied a knot and tucked the ends into the wrap. “Ready to head out?”

Roman nodded.

As Kai scooped Roman up, he noticed the beginnings of blood stains forming on his towel. At least he had brought his towel, and not the one Juliet had bought him for his birthday.

Plant Day

This is, of course, a RSS story for @brutal-nemesis’s Plant Day 2021.

And please don’t kill me, but I kinda feel like I bent the rules here. The assailant here is not a fungus or protist. It is a part of the plant kingdom, but not like that.Anyway, on to the story part of this.

Trigger Warnings – also tagged: choking, alcohol, knives, blood, surgery

WC: 897

———-

“911, what is your emergency?”

A panicked voice came from the other end of the phone. “My boyfriend is choking and we can’t get it out!”

“Okay. Where are you?”

“Middle of the quad at OakU.”

“Any landmarks nearby?”
“Across the street from the ADG house.”

Victor entered the location into his computer and pulled up a map of the OakU campus. “Okay, help is on the way. My name is Victor. And you are?”
“Raegan.”
“Okay, Raegan. You said that your boyfriend is choking?”

“Yeah,” Raegan said, panic once again rising in her voice.

“And you tried the heimlich?” Victor asked.

“Yeah. It didn’t work. One of my friends tried that and they tried smacking his back. Nothing helped.”

“Okay. What is his name?”

“Hugo.”

“Raegan, put me on speaker.” Victor paused briefly as he waited for Raegan to oblige. “Okay, Hugo, if you can hear me, please give Raegan a thumbs up.”

Hugo barely moved. He was rocking back and forth, his arms slowly reaching at his neck, but his hands made no attempt to show Raegan a thumbs up. His olive skin slowly grew bluer.

On the other end of the phone, a message popped up on Victor’s computer. EMS was on the way, but Raegan and Hugo were not accessible by road. It would be at least 15 minutes until help could arrive.

Victor’s attention was pulled back to the call when Raegan began screaming.

“Victor, he’s not moving anymore! How much longer?”

“Your location is pretty far from any roads, so it’ll be 15-20 minutes. Can you try the heimlich again?” Victor pulled out his phone and texted Kai.

“I know you’re off, but I need help. College age male choking. Heimlich not helping. EMS 15-20 out. I am conferencing you in.”

Kai responded with a thumbs up and Victor entered his number into the console. “Raegan,” Victor said, “this is my friend Kai. He is a paramedic. He is going to help you.”

Kai cleared his throat into the phone. “Raegan, can you tell me exactly what happened?”

Raegan sighed as tears made their way from her eyes to her chin. “I was working on a project for my photography class. It was, uh, humans in nature. We were doing a shoot and Hugo decided he wanted a picture biting an acorn. I got a couple shots and then he tripped over a tree root. He must’ve swallowed the acorn and it got stuck because he can’t breathe and it’s not between his teeth anymore.”

Kai took a deep breath. “I am going to recommend something crazy, but it should save Hugo, alright? I think that you should attempt a field cricothyrotomy.”

“You want me to cut open my boyfriend’s neck?”
“Raegan, it will save his life,” Victor said. “Now, before I ask you this, I want to remind you that these calls are recorded, but I do want to help.” He paused. “Does someone over the age of 21 in the ADG house have alcohol, a knife, and a straw?”

“Yeah,” Raegan responded, but it wasn’t entirely true. She always carried a pocket knife and metal straw, and she had filled her water bottle with vodka at a party the night before. Victor didn’t need to know where it came from.

“Raegan, I need you to sterilize everything. Dump the alcohol on your hands, his neck, the knife, and the straw,” Victor commanded.

Raegan carefully poured the alcohol out of her bottle, through the straw, and onto her hands, her knife, and Hugo’s neck. “Done,” she said, putting her phone on speaker and placing next to Hugo’s short, scruffy black hair.

Kai took a breath and began to instruct Raegan. “Raegan, you are going to find the cricothyroid membrane, it is–”

“In that indentation below the Adam’s Apple,” Raegan finished.

“Yes,” Kai said with a slight bit of surprise in his voice.

“You sound surprised,” Raegan responded. “I find that knowing human anatomy is incredibly important to my art.”

“Alright then,” Kai continued, “You are going to make a 1-inch long incision. You are going to drive your knife in until you feel a bit of a pop. That means you are in the trachea.”

Raegan squeezed her eyes shut before busting them open again. She grasped the handle of her pocket knife and slid the blade across her boyfriend’s olive-colored skin. Dark red blood oozed from the opening. At the center of the incision, Raegan pushed down on the knife until she felt something different than the feeling of slicing through fascia and muscle. She slid her finger into the cavity and there certainly was a hole in something. “Done,” she informed Kai and Victor as she pulled her finger out of Hugo’s neck.

“Slip the straw into the hole in the trachea and take a breath into it,” Kai instructed.

Raegan slid her metal straw into the hole that had just held her finger. She wrapped her lips around her purple silicone straw topper. She gently exhaled through the straw. Surprised, she pulled back when she saw Hugo’s chest rise in his green hoodie. “He is breathing!” she exclaimed.

“Good,” Victor said. “Paramedics are about 5 minutes out. I can stay with you until they get there, okay?”
“Thank you,” Raegan replied softly. She buried her face into Hugo’s shoulder. Her tears joined the bloodstains on his hoodie.

Spiral Day

This is also a combined (ooh snazzy) sequel to Ice DayandKneecap Day. This work can stand on its own, but some characters make more sense in the context of the past two fics.

And of course, this is a RSS story for @brutal-nemesis’s Spiral Day 2021.

Trigger Warnings–also tagged: Hospitals

———-

“Jaydyn, you said that your cousin is Chaia Glassman, right?” Anna asked.

Without looking up from his hospital crossword, Jaydyn replied, “Yeah. Why?”

“Just making sure.” Anna replied, trying to not sound conspicuous. She walked over to the entrance to the ED, where a stretcher lay in wait. “Bring her over to trauma 2,” Anna commanded.

Chaia hadn’t said a word since the ambulance left the lake. Lucy had agreed to let Maria sit on the stretcher with Chaia when they got to the hospital. Maria’s hand reached into the metallic blob at the head of the stretcher.

Upon their arrival at the trauma bay, Maria jumped off the stretcher. “Hey, lifey,” she said, “we need to move you again.”

Chaia squirmed in Aaron’s arms as he lifted her from the stretcher to the exam table. Chaia kept her legs unusually still, which, while concerning, helped Aaron stay safe during the transfer.

Anna walked over and peeled the metallic warming blanket off Chaia’s cold, wet body. “Chaia, it’s Anna,” she said in a slow soft voice. She slipped her hand into her pants pocket, discreetly pulling out her pen light. “Can you look at me?” Chaia didn’t budge. She kept her head firmly in her soaked sweater. “Please?” Anna tried again, sliding her free hand under Chaia’s chin. As Anna gently tilted Chaia’s head to face out, the movement caused Chaia’s eyes to open. They were open just long enough for Anna to shine the penlight and confirm that Chaia’s pupils were reactive. “It’s over,” Anna assured Chaia, sliding the light back into her pants pocket. “What do you say we get you out of these wet clothes?” Anna bent into a white cabinet next to the exam table and grabbed a dotted hospital gown and patient belonging bag.

Maria placed herself at the foot of the exam table and grasped Chaia’s hands. “Up, up,” she said, gently tugging on Chaia’s arms to sit her upright. With Chaia sitting slumped slightly forward, Maria reached down to the bottom of Chaia’s sweater and began to pull it up and off of her wife. She slipped Chaia’s wet, curly head out of the neck hole and pulled the sweater off Chaia’s arms. Maria shifted to Anna, trading the wet sweater for the hospital gown. Anna placed the sweater in the patient belongings bag. Maria draped the gown over Chaia and buttoned the back snaps. She gently lowered Chaia to a resting position on the exam table.

“Now, let’s get those skates off.” Anna grabbed a pair of scissors and walked down to Chaia’s feet. She easily unlaced Chaia’s left skate and slid it off her wet foot. She swapped Chaia’s sopping wet wool sock for a bright red hospital sock and carefully placed the skates on the floor away from the table. Chaia’s right foot, on the other hand, was a bit more complicated. The right skate was entangled in green slimy plants and looked to be filled by a larger foot than the left skate. Anna cut through the mangled lakeweed to expose the skate’s laces. She carefully untied the bunny ears knot and began to unthread the laces from the eyelets.

At the second eyelet pair, Chaia whimpered and thrust a flapping hand toward her foot. Maria took hold of the hand and placed it against her sweater. “I’m right here, lifey. Squeeze when it hurts.”

Anna returned to meticulously unlacing the skates. As the unlacing neared the ankle bend, Chaia seemed increasingly agitated. Her whimpers turned to moans. Tears made their way down her still-puffy face. She finally managed a single word. “Stop,” she said weakly.

“I’m almost done,” Anna assured Chaia. She sighed and picked up the scissors. She loosened the remaining laces and cut down the middle. “Okay. I am going to take the skate off in three, two, one.” Anna placed one hand on Chaia’s shin and the other under Chaia’s heel. She braced Chaia’s leg and pulled the skate off.

As soon as her foot was free, Chaia folded into a ball.

Anna looked over at Maria. “I need to talk to you out here,” she said, pointing towards the center of the ED.

Maria planted a kiss on Chaia’s head. “I’ll be right back.” She joined Anna beyond the end of the side curtain of the trauma bay.

Jaydyn had heard the chaos on the other side of the curtain and was getting curious, so it was surprising when Maria appeared from the other side of the curtain. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Um.” Maria paused. She pulled back the curtain separating Jaydyn and Chaia’s sections of trauma treatment. “Ice skating accident.”

“Wh- what happened?” Jaydyn asked. He was shocked to see his cousin crumpled almost entirely into a pathetic wet ball. The only exception, of course, was Chaia’s bright purple ankle, which rested against the white sheet on the exam table.

At that moment, Rory walked in and headed for the back wall, where the portable X-ray had been left. “I am so glad that radiology forgot this here today. Oh, and, uh, Jaydyn, your surgery is scheduled for 2:30. They’ll come by to get you prepped shortly.” Rory grabbed the X-ray and headed over to Chaia.

Maria looked over at Jaydyn. “Surgery?”

Jaydyn nodded. “Something about taking out whatever is left of my kneecap. That’s not important right now. I need to help Chaia.” He glanced over at Chaia, who was doing a lousy job of telling Rory to get away from her. Jaydyn shifted forward in his hospital bed, but was promptly stopped by Anna.

“You, sir, are not getting up,” she commanded. “However, I can wheel you over there.” Anna walked to the head of Jaydyn’s bed and unlocked the brakes on the wheels. Slowly, she pushed the bed to align with Chaia’s. She locked the brakes.

“Chaia, it’s me, Jaydyn. Do you wanna hold my hand?” Jaydyn reached for Chaia’s flapping hand.

Chaia uncrumpled and rotated to look Jaydyn in the eyes. “Hey, loser,” she mumbled.

Rory let out an exasperated sigh. “Chaia, I know it hurts, but please stop moving for a minute.”

Jaydyn saw the pain and fear in Chaia’s eyes. “Look at me,” he said. “I have no clue what I am going to tell your mom. Or my mom.” He let out a little laugh. “Oh gosh, what am I going to tell Bubbe? How am I supposed to explain that her two grandchildren got injured in unrelated accidents at the same time?” He waited for Chaia to react but got nothing. “Come on, it is kinda funny.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jaydyn saw Rory pull X-ray images up on the computer. “So, Dr. Byrne, what’s the good word?”

“So, Chaia,” Dr. Byrne started, but he didn’t have Chaia’s attention. She was numbly staring at the ceiling over Jaydyn’s shoulder. However, a short nudge on Jaydyn’s part brought her focus over to Rory’s computer. Rory continued, “it appears that you have a spiral fracture in your Talus bone, which is in your ankle.” He used his cursor to circle an area of white bone with a black line down the middle. “There is some good news. It has remained stable and does not require surgery. Your body temperature appears to be steady and normal, so we just need to focus on getting a cast on that leg. Okay?”

With her free hand, Chaia reached for Maria, who immediately took hold. Chaia locked eyes with Rory and gave him an unsure nod.

Darkness Day 2022

Darkness Day for @brutal-nemesis

This one has a prologue, but before I begin:
CW: Antisemitism, terrorism
(full triggers for the work are at the end of the prologue)

LastSaturday, the 15th of January, a synagogue in Texas was taken hostage by an armed Islamist. Very few non-Jewish sources covered the attack, and those that did often refused to acknowledge antisemitism’s role in the situation. I could write a long essay about the situation, but that’s not why I’m making this post. What I’m really mad about at this point is that no one acknowledges antisemitism in American society. It is an incredibly prevalent issue from all areas of the political spectrum: Neonazis are not the only people prone to violent antisemitism.

Why is this relevant to whump, you ask. Good question. Writing is a political tool. And I had no inspiration for this month’s prompt, so I wrote a story about darkness and antisemitism. The story I am about to tell is not a depiction of events I know have occurred in real life. But they could happen. Most of the whump I write is realistic fiction, and this is no different. An attack on a synagogue is not some far-off myth. It is real. It happened last week. The hostages last week were lucky that they did not get hurt. They were lucky that the Rabbi had been trained for a situation just like that. It could have ended much differently, but it didn’t. So I wasn’t ready to have my characters get injured as a result of antisemitism. This story is mostly emotional whump, but it mirrors the real thoughts and feelings of Jews.

I recognize that I take a huge risk by posting this. I let the world know that I am Jewish and that I will not be quiet about it. I’m turning commenting off. All antisemitic reblogs will be blocked and reported. You do not have to read the story if you do not want to.

One final disclaimer: I do not condone any of the behaviors in this story. I am not endorsing anything in this story. I am not lying about real experiences; this is a work of fiction.

HEAVY Trigger Warnings: antisemitism, terrorism, guns, anti-jewish slurs, lockdowns

“We turn to page 157 for Maariv Aravim,” Rabbi Harwitz says.

Chaia couldn’t even turn the page before she could no longer see the siddur in her hands. A sudden darkness encapsulates the sanctuary. The only light came from the eternal light above the ark and the two Shabbat candles on the bimah. This isn’t supposed to happen, Chaia thinks, there must be a power outage.

“Well, that’s ironic,” the rabbi jests into the still-on microphone. “I’m sure we’ll find out what’s going on shortly.”

The power can’t be out if the microphone is still on. The microphone is almost always on so it doesn’t need to be turned on during Shabbat, but lights are also almost always on. Something is wrong.

James, Maria’s favorite security guard, rushes into the sanctuary carrying a flashlight. “We are dealing with a situation out front. I need everyone to take cover on the floor in front of your seats and remain absolutely quiet.” The light disappears as fast as it appeared. James runs back to the lobby.

Chaia slides off the velvet cushion of her seat, joining her purse on the floor. She curls up in a ball, tucking her siddur between her legs and her chest. Maria does the same. So this is it, Chaia thinks. Hundreds of years after Maria’s family fled Spain and decades after my family fled Germany, we’re still targets. We should’ve moved to Israel after Maria finished culinary school.

Chaia’s thoughts are interrupted by a thud outside the sanctuary. A loud voice shouts, “They will pay! The Jews, the Zios. They are Nazis. They control the world, pulling strings that make life harder for people like me!”

The words send a chill down Chaia’s spine. Terrified, she pulls her wife closer and into an embrace. Her hand subconsciously finds Maria’s pulse. It’s hard and rapid. Even without being able to time it with her watch, Chaia knows that Maria’s heart is beating more than 150 times per minute. Is this a panic attack or a tachycardia episode? Chaia can’t tell and she can’t ask Maria. She gently feels the floor around her, searching for her purse. She instinctively grabs the pulse oximeter but realizes it’d be pretty bright in the darkness, which wouldn’t be great. It isn’t even what she is really looking for. Finally, she wraps her hand around the water bottle she’d packed. Chaia gently unscrews the lid. She grabs Maria’s right arm and places it against the bottle. Next, she slowly feels for Maria’s face with the hand the lid is in. She guides that bottle to Maria’s mouth.

Maria gratefully accepts the water, gulping down what had to be at least ten ounces in thirty seconds. She slowly lowers her upper half to the ground, allowing her heart to be at the same level as her head.

Moments later, a chorus of footsteps storms into the room. As they enter, the lights turn back on. “SWAT Team keep your hands where we can see them!” one calls out.

The entire congregation tentatively raises their hands into the air. Chaia slowly stands up, making sure that her hands are visible to everyone else at all times. As per her expectation, all the black-clad figures in the room shift to aim their machine guns at her. “My name is Chaia Glassman,” she states in an oddly calm voice. “My wife is having a medical emergency and needs assistance. She is on the floor next to me.” Despite her outward appearance, Chaia is freaking out. Her stomach flutters. Her legs are numb. Her eyes well with tears.

One of the figures turns into the radio on his vest. “We need medical.” He then turns his attention to the whole congregation. “We need you to evacuate through the back door over there.” He points to the door he entered the sanctuary from. “Keep your hands where we can see them. You may take your things, but they will be screened when you get outside.”

“What about our coats at the front door? It’s cold out!” a scared voice asks.

“You must exit through the back door. There is a warming station set up outside.” The officer responded.

“Why?” another voice chimed in.

“We have reports there may be a bomb out there. The bomb squad is sweeping the place.”

Rabbi Harwitz rises, keeping his hands interlocked behind his head. He walks to the door and a SWAT officer accompanies him out. Others follow suit, but Chaia waits attentively by Maria.

After almost everyone else is out, EMTs surrounded by seemingly an entire SWAT unit enter the sanctuary. “Over here!” Chaia cries out.

The EMTs park the stretcher in the aisle beside the row of seats Chaia and Maria are in. “Ma’am, you have to go outside now,” one of them tells Chaia.

Chaia hooks her foot through her purse and shuffles into the aisle to get out of the way of EMS. “She has dysautonomia and mast cell activation syndrome and- you know what, her emergency medical booklet is in my purse.”

An officer kneels down beside Chaia’s purse. “May I?” he asks, picking Chaia’s purse up to find the booklet. As he does that, one of the EMTs picks Maria up and lays her on the stretcher.

The other EMT takes the booklet from the officer and flips through it. He looks at Chaia. “She’s in good hands. We’ll start treatment once we get outside.”

Neck Day 2021

It’s whump of the month’s one-year anniversary! Woo!

This is, of course, for @brutal-nemesis’s Neck Day 2021.

Word Count: 579

Trigger Warnings – Also Tagged: blood & hospitals

———-

Victor presses his hands into his sister’s bleeding neck. “How much longer?” he asks the paramedic.

“We’re there,” the medic responds. The ambulance’s lights and sirens die down. The paramedic jumps out the front and opens the back two doors.

The other paramedic, Elissa, slowly pushes the stretcher out the back of the ambulance, where it is stabilized by the first paramedic. Victor remains on top of the stretcher, straddling his sister’s body, hands pressed into the towel on her neck. Elissa pushes the stretcher through the ambulance entrance doors.

“Clare Sosa, 27-year-old female with severe neck laceration and carotid trauma,” Elissa calls out. “Heart rate is 125 and BP is at 80/54 and dropping. Pressure has been applied to the wound for,” she shifts her gaze to Victor.

“28 and a half minutes,” he finishes.

A small group of doctors and nurses in yellow trauma gowns approach the stretcher. One of them asks, “Is she conscious?”
“In and out,” Victor replies, his eyes meeting a familiar face in the crowd.

“Victor,” Samson calls out, making his way forward in the rush. “3, and then straight to the OR,” he tells Elissa, walking alongside her. Samson turns to a nurse. “Maven, page Dr. Riley. Get him down here stat. Oh and call the blood bank. We’ll need as many units of O neg as we can get our hands on.”

“Aren’t you also a trauma surgeon?” Maven responds.

“I am, but I will need the help. Thank you,” Samson fires back. Maven splits from the group as they pass the nurse’s station. Samson unwraps gauze and hands it to another nurse. “Opal, when we get to three, you’re gonna switch out with Victor, okay?”

“Yes,” Opal says.

“I can’t leave her,” Victor pleads.

The group stops at ED bay 3, where Dr. Riley has appeared. “What is the matter Dr. Buhle?” he asks.

“Carotid trauma,” Samson replies. “I need you to take a look and start the surgery. There is something more immediate I need to take care of.” Samson gazes at Victor. “On the count of three, you are going to get off of your sister and lift the towel. Dr. Riley will take a look and Opal will resume pressure on the wound. Then they’ll take her up to surgery. Ready?”

“No.”

“Victor, you have to do this. Please take my hand and get down.” Samson extends his arm. “Please let us do our jobs.”

Victor takes his boyfriend’s hand. He slowly climbs down from the stretcher and lifts his hand, but he leaves the towel. Samson doesn’t care about the towel. He helps Victor to a nearby chair.

Dr. Riley peeks under the towel and signals to Opal to resume pressure on the wound. He grasps the stretcher and begins wheeling it to the OR.

Samson peels his gloves off and gets Victor a hand wipe. He slowly wipes the blood off of Victor’s hands and allows them to wrap around his yellow gown into a tight embrace. Samson hugs back. “We are going to do everything we can,” he reassures Victor. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Victor says, his voice breaking. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.” He sobs into Samson’s shoulder. “I just heard a noise, so I went to check on her, and I found her like this.”

“That’s okay. She’s in good hands. It’s gonna be okay.” Samson ignores the page that he knows is from Dr. Riley.