Chapter 24: Dunked in the Ice Bucket Part I
My head was pounding. The pain was so bad that I couldn't even open my eyes. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to open my eyes. I probably wouldn't like what I saw.
I started taking deep breaths. I could only be happy that my helmet had a built in air filtration system. Who knows what kind of fumes I'd be inhaling otherwise. I was able to feel my lungs working properly, which delighted me.
Next, I wiggled my fingers and toes. I could still feel everything! This was fantastic news!
Without opening my eyes, I reached down to my utility belt and grabbed a syringe. I extended my left arm, exposing the sleeve that sat under my armor. I jammed the syringe into my arm and pressed the button on the top.
My eyes shot open from the exuberant pleasure that overcame me. The rapid dissipation of pain from my head was euphoric and I nearly let out a moan of pleasure.
Looking around, I noticed a few people shifting around while many people weren't moving. Hopefully, they were just unconscious.
I reached up towards the top of the restraint bar and pressed the buttons on both sides. This disengaged the lock and the restraint bar slowly raised. I pushed it a bit to speed it along.
With nothing else stopping me, I slowly stood up. I did this to make sure I didn't fall over due to disorientation. This was another one of those things that I wasn't sure how I knew, but it was instinctual.
Feeling that I was fine, I grabbed my blaster rifle that I had placed in the rack that was in the center of the room and strapped it to my back.
Then, I looked around. The amount of troopers that had gotten up from their seats by now could be counted on one hand.
I smiled, realizing that this job would be a bit easier than I thought. With the 60 seats that were in the room, some help would be nice to get through them all.
Nodding to myself, I got to work. "Troopers, on me."
The troopers that were standing all looked towards me and nodded. They obviously recognized me since I was the one that got them a seat. They quickly walked to the weapon rack, grabbed their weapon, and strapped it to their back. Then, they walked in front of me and stood at attention.
I nodded in approval. These guys were pretty good. "First, do any of you need medical attention?"
I specifically asked this because one of them looked as if he was favoring his right leg over his left.
They all remained silent so I glared at him. "Don't hide anything. If you are injured, we need to get you treated."
The man's shoulders dropped as he nodded. "Sir, my right knee is in a lot of pain. I can still walk but…"
I nodded. "Alright, I'll take a look at it. The other three of you, we need to start taking care of the other troopers. You all have flashlights, correct?"
All four of them nodded but remained silent. With this, I continued. "Go up to each unconscious trooper and take off their helmet. Open their eyelids gently with your fingers, without touching the actual eye, and point the flashlight into their eyes. Watch for the contraction of their pupil… you guys know what a pupil is, right?"
Again, they nodded so I continued. "Okay good, make sure it gets smaller when you shine the light on the eye. If the pupil constricts, leave their helmet on the ground in front of them but keep the restraining bar locked. If the pupil doesn't constrict, put their helmet back on and leave them be."
"Lastly, if they are conscious, ask them if they are in any pain and send them to me if they are. Do you have any questions?"
One of them nervously scratched his arm and spoke up. "Why are we putting the helmets back on some of them?"
I shook my head. "Let's not worry about that. Anything else?" They didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Alright, get to work."
The three healthy ones nodded and walked away, immediately getting to work. With this, I turned my gaze back to my patient in front of me. "Alright, lay down on the floor."
He nodded and started struggling to get to the floor without falling. I immediately rushed forward and grabbed his arm, gently lowering him to the floor.
Once he was on the floor, I looked at him. "I'm going to examine your knee now. Let's get your armor off for starters."
I reached down and unclipped the armor plates on his shin, knee, and thigh. Placing them aside, I turned on the light that was attached to my helmet.
I looked at him again. "I'm going to put some gentle pressure on your knee. Tell me where it hurts the most."
First, I started with the top. He shook his head despite wincing a bit. Pain can radiate so this wasn't an uncommon reaction. Next, I felt the inward facing side of his knee. He shook his head again so I moved on.
After this, I felt the outward facing side of his knee. Instantly, he tensed up while nodding furiously. "Yeah! Right there!"
Now that I knew the location of the injury, I could make a better decision. Even on this side of the knee, the injury could be a number of things.
Thus, I reached for the emergency medical kit that was stuffed under the weapon rack. I opened it and found the scissors I needed. I quickly got to work cutting away the leggings that covered his knee.
As soon as I pulled the cloth away, I saw heavy bruising originating from the spot in question.
This bruising was a decent indicator that something was torn. I'd put my money on him having a torn LCL. Whether it was a partial tear or a full tear, I couldn't tell.
I sighed and looked at the man. "You have a torn ligament in your knee. I'm going to fashion a brace so you can walk but you must rest as much as possible. It's nothing permanent, but I'm not equipped nor qualified to do surgery."
He nodded, sighing in relief. "Thanks, Captain."
I smiled while reaching for another bag within the kit. This one was a vacuum sealed bag with a piece of what looked like foam inside. I pulled the bag open and quickly unfolded the foam sheet.
With no time to waste, I wrapped the foam around his leg and held it in place. It gradually solidified over the next 30 seconds until it became fully solid. Lastly, I took out a painkiller and injected it into his upper thigh.
I tossed the syringe aside and clapped my hands together. "Alright. All we need to do now is find you some crutches and you'll be in business. Scoot over to the side if you can so I can take care of the others." I nodded towards his back.
He turned his head and noticed a queue forming up behind him. "Gotcha, thanks again."
I smiled and nodded. "No problem."
-GE-
It had been about 20 minutes since the crash, or at least when I came to. Who knows how long I might have been out for?
Fortunately, I now had 15 helpers. Three of them were even medics! Fortunately, none of the medics that were in this room were injured. Summing it up, 8 were out of commission for now, 31 were nearly recovered from minor injuries such as concussions or a sprained joint, 16 including myself were healthy, and sadly, 5 were effectively dead.
This was honestly not as bad as I thought. On top of all that, of the 5 that were basically dead, 2 of them were in critical condition. I kept them stable with a periodic bacta injection but that was all I could do for now.
I stood up, having finished treating the last trooper in this room. "Alright, this room is done." The healthy troopers in the room looked towards me, eyes filled with hope. My gaze, however, was not on them. It was honed in on the airlock on the far end of the room. This was the next step. We had to leave the wreckage.
I turned my focus back to the group in front of me. "Medics, take two troopers each and start making your way down the corridor. Get the door open and start taking care of the troopers inside. Once everyone is taken care of, radio me to verify that it's safe to open the airlock."
"The rest of you, we're going outside. I highly doubt that this airlock is going to open to ground level so we'll need to set up some cable to get down. Our first objective is to set up a perimeter and evaluate our situation. Let's move."
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