She turned off her emotions to keep herself together and noticed other wrecked vehicles. Some were worse than others. Knowing those people might need medical assistance, she counted to herself. After exactly one minute without hearing or seeing another crash, Valerie pushed as hard as she could on her seat belt, but it did not budge. Unhooking the rescue tool from her keychain, she made easy work of her restraints.
Something horrible was going on. Regardless if it was just in the immediate area or broader spread, Valerie was obligated to render aid to those who needed it. Though her car would offer a slight barrier from debris, she determined if a plane landed on top of her, there was no kind of shelter that would stop it from killing her. This measurement she did not take lightly. Her mom had been killed just outside her vehicle the year before, helping others in a snowstorm.
Once free, Valerie shouldered her bag and assessed the scene. There had not been any impacts for a few minutes. Passersby worked together to assist people who were in similar situations as herself.
“I’m a nurse. Is anyone injured?” she called out as far as her voice would carry.
“No, ma’am,” a few soldiers hollered back.
“There is a small ER on the top of this hill. You can send casualties there. The next closest hospital is General.”
Once her instructions were met with affirmation, she began the short walk to the facility. She came upon a mother crying and holding a baby to her chest while a little girl and a slightly older boy clung to each leg.
“Are you okay?” Valerie’s heart was crushed. She could not imagine having her son with her in this mess.
“I don’t know. I’m fine, and they were in their car seats, but she won’t stop crying.” The woman held her baby up for Valerie to see.
“Come with me. There’s an emergency room at the top of this hill. She’s probably just scared, Mama.” Valerie took the child and cradled her against her chest. The baby quieted immediately. She looked down at the little girl who returned her gaze and cooed.
“Oh, she’s super cute.” Valerie smiled at the woman. “I think she’s just fine. Come on.”
The woman picked up the middle child and held the oldest by his hand, and they followed Valerie. She kept her emotions at bay. She made small talk about their names and where they were from because, in a military town, few are actually from there.
Valerie turned into the parking lot of the emergency room, still holding the baby who played with the zipper from the shoulder strap of Valerie’s bag. The facility had once been an old movie rental store converted into a seven-bed emergency room with X-ray, lab, and CT scan capabilities. Stand-alone emergency rooms were a new concept in the area, and most of the community was skeptical of the novelty. The ER shared the parking lot with a chain drugstore, which people were running into empty-handed with just as many coming out with their hands full of random merchandise—looting, no doubt. Chaos had erupted in the strip mall across the four-lane intersection. People were screaming and running frantically.
Valerie quickly shuffled the mother and children into the emergency room waiting room, which was surprisingly empty.
"I'm Valerie. I’m covering for Shawna today," she announced to the grey-haired lady at the front desk. The woman said nothing but stared at Valerie and pushed a button to activate the door from the waiting room to the nurse's station. The night shift nurse and a tall Hispanic gentleman who popped his tongue and waved his wrist around while checking equipment were the only people she saw in the facility.
“Where’s the doctor?” Valerie demanded. She did not have time for pleasant small talk. They would start receiving casualties any minute.
“I didn't know there was a student on shift today,” the night shift nurse said at Valerie but to no one in particular.
In the midst of everything, Valerie completely forgot about her age regression. She no longer looked like a seasoned emergency room nurse, but a young college girl without the required experience to work for the company. Valerie knew the events of the day would catch up to her emotionally, but now was not the time to think of all the things that could have gone wrong. She had a job to do and lives to save. This fellow medical professional would, hopefully, share the same ethic.
“I normally work in Denver; I’m just filling in for Shawna.” Valerie was not offended. She did not have time to be.
“Well, are you going to do this medication count or not?”
“You’re not leaving,” Valerie informed her counterpart. “There are planes down and car accidents. We need to start prepping to receive patients.”
“Are you even old enough to work here?” the woman challenged.
Valerie could no longer mask her frustration.
“What is wrong with you?” Valerie yelled. She took a breath and coaxed her emotions back under control. She clenched her teeth. “I’ve been an ER nurse for thirteen years. I am thirty-five years old and fully qualified to do this job. Now, are you done interrogating me? Because I’m sure your job is not human resources. There is a mass casualty situation right outside the front doors of this place.”
“I just can’t handle this. Not today,” the nurse said to the ceiling and let herself out the back doors where the ambulance was parked.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Valerie threw her hands in the air. A ball knotted itself in her throat, and her heart raced. She wanted to follow the woman out the door and drive home. Any other logical human in any other field of work would be doing just that. Besides, the facility was not meant to support an emergency of this magnitude. She thought about the twelve planes, the car accidents, the static that shot from her hands.
“Umm, Ms. Valerie,” the older woman said with a shaky voice. “We’ve received an e-message from the main hospital outlining the disaster plan for our facility.”
Valerie followed the woman to her desk that sat in front of a window to the waiting room.
“I’ll have you back in just a second. Are you doing okay?” Valerie called out to the waiting woman.
The mother nodded and smiled.
Valerie took a seat at the desk. The receptionist walked out to the lobby to have the woman fill out some paperwork to have her children seen. The radiology technician sat with his back to Valerie at another computer, headphones on and pounding his keyboard fast and dutifully.
The office where the doctor worked remained closed. The separation aggravated Valerie to a point almost unbearable. All she could think about was opening the door. She was uncomfortable not knowing if there was even a physician in the building since she had met neither the night shift nor the day shift doctors. She stood up to knock on the door but sat back down. There was something wrong. Like when Scott first brought her transformation to her attention. With a deep breath, she willed her raging thoughts to stop. He needed to be out here, to know what exactly was happening outside the door. But there was something else making her want to tear down the door. Valerie was not usually a nervous person. In fact, there were few who were as calm as she was under pressure, but still. She had a feeling deep down that the worst had not come. Something else was not right. Even the atmosphere in the facility kept the hair on her arms standing up. No one else seemed to notice the lack of patients or the absence of the physician.
Valerie tapped her fingers on the desk in front of her, trying to still her nerves. She needed to calm down and read through her next instructions before knocking on the door. That way, she could map out the plan before demanding action.
Valerie rubbed her face with both hands and reached out to the computer in front of her to scroll down the page to see the full message. When her fingers touched the keyboard, sparks flew to the device, cracking and melting the plastic frame. The electricity surged from the keyboard to the screen, shattering the glass as well. Valerie pushed her chair back away from the machine and stood up. The tech did the same, throwing his headphones at his computer. The electricity fizzled out at the wire connected to the wall.
&nbs
p; “What the hell did you do?” he shrieked.
“Oh dear,” the receptionist said, rushing back to the desk.
The doctor’s office opened, much to Valerie's relief. Destroying hospital property was not the first impression she wanted to make, but at least there was a physician in the building. The door did not open all the way at first but swung back and forth a couple of times before a tall man in a white physician coat walked out. After only a few steps he stopped, turned, and walked back into the office and shut the door.
The moment it closed again was when Valerie finally lost her cool. She needed that man, in any capacity to be in the room with her. But if no one else was going to take charge, she would.
“I am sorry I didn’t catch your name,” Valerie asked the receptionist.
“Oh, it’s Betty. And don’t you mind Roy, here.” Betty motioned to the technician as if she were swatting a fly. “He just comes off rude, but he’s nice. We are used to having different staff every day. We can’t even keep the same rotating doctors. I have not even heard of the one that is on today.”
Valerie sensed the irritation in Betty’s voice when referring to the doctor who was hiding out in his office.
“Your computer exploded," Valerie said plainly, unable to explain exactly what occurred. “Has this ever happened before?” She knew without a doubt she had caused the malfunction. She felt the energy surge down her arms and release from the tips of her fingers into the machine. There had been nothing wrong with the computer before she touched the keyboard but found the idea hard to express to the strangers staring at her in alarm.
“I’d call in a ticket, but everything else kind of blew up, too, before you got here,” Betty said. “Most of the lights anyway. I can start cleaning up the glass, I guess.”
As if on cue, the doctor opened the door again.
Finally getting a good look at him, there was no chance the young man in the white lab coat was an experienced emergency room physician. He ignored the receptionist and the technician and stared straight at Valerie.
Like an invisible string tied between them, something inside Valerie drew her to him. He was handsome enough but possibly ten years younger than her.
“There is no way you’re a doctor,” the words left her mouth before she even considered her own appearance.
“I don’t have time for this,” he said, breaking eye contact but staying in the office doorway.
“For what? Armageddon happening outside? Jesus Christ,” Valerie said, louder than she intended, but it matched the doctor’s reaction.
“What’s that smell?”
“The computer blew up,” Valerie answered. “I’m not sure what happened. I don’t usually work here.” She wanted to question him, yell at him even, but there was something familiar about him.
“I wrecked my car about a half mile down the road,” Valerie explained. “There were maybe three other accidents I saw on the way. There is a woman in the lobby with her kids. Their car wrecked but they all seem fine.”
The doctor moved closer to her. He was tall enough to have no problem seeing past her into the lobby.
“Planes went down,” he said low more to himself. “There are no other injured?” the doctor asked, standing close and looking down at her. His voice finally reflected true concern.
“None that I encountered on the way, but it’s only been a few minutes.”
The doctor stood close enough Valerie could feel the warmth of his body. Instead of being uncomfortable, she wanted him closer. She caught her breath and blushed, which triggered her anger. People were dying outside, and she could not fight her infatuation.
It took her a moment to realize he was no longer looking at her but out the window toward the parking lot. Turning, she saw people coming from all directions. The crowd grew to two hundred people in a matter of minutes. Only some of them had visible injuries. Valerie turned and moved past the doctor, careful not to touch him, though she wanted to.
“What are you doing?” he asked her.
Valerie picked up the phone receiver, held the plastic device to her head for a second, then slammed the handset down. She clenched her teeth and slammed three more times, knowing well her aggression would not create a dial tone.
“I was calling 911. We can’t handle more than five injured people, and only one if they are critical. We are going to run out of supplies within the hour. This facility is not designed to handle major disasters. There is glass everywhere, and I imagine the limited equipment we do have is broken as well.” Valerie looked at the technician who gave an affirmative nod. She was aware a doctor would know the capabilities of the emergency room, but she still was not convinced of his credentials. She was also trying to remain objective, to keep her emotions from taking over.
“I’m sorry. You are?” he asked in a genuine tone.
“Valerie Russell. I’m the nurse on shift.”
He raised an eyebrow at her and looked her over before extending his hand slowly. “I am Doctor Wilkes. August Wilkes.” He held her hand a few seconds too long.
Or she held his too long; she really could not say.
He finally broke contact and continued, “From the looks of things, this isn’t going to be over for a while. No doubt the phone lines and cell towers were taken out. At this point, until we do run out of supplies, we are 911. Start prepping rooms.” August directed his instructions to Valerie, Roy, and poor Betty, who was trying to control her hyperventilation. “If they are all walking, they can’t be that sick.” He said facing the window again before delving out additional orders to the team. “Valerie, stop them outside. If they are uninjured, not in active labor, and are otherwise well, send them home. I will help triage as much as we can until something more serious comes. Exercise your best judgment as I might not be available to give recommendations. Are you comfortable with that?”
Valerie laughed at the question but remembered she looked like she just graduated nursing school. He showed little faith in her judgment, but in the moment, no one had a choice in the matter. “Triage the walking wounded and send them home if they are well enough. Got it,” she answered, hoping he would dismiss her.
“Betty, help Roy. Split the patients up as they come in. Take vitals and collect their medical history. It is easy; Roy can show you how. Just get a basic idea of what’s wrong with them and document it, okay?” August did not wait for her to answer. He grabbed his stethoscope, a pen, and notepad, and met Valerie before she walked out the door.
“If paramedics are on scene at the crash sites, they are going to shuttle people to the main hospitals. We are probably only going to get walking wounded.” August fell silent for a few steps before letting out a small laugh. “Would it be weird to say this isn’t the most bizarre thing that’s happened to me today?” Valerie’s heart raced as he went on. “I have felt strange all day like there was static in the air. The sensation went away when the light bulbs exploded in the building as soon as I walked in. And this morning when I woke up. . .” He trailed off again.
Valerie had not noticed until he mentioned the change, but she no longer felt shaky or anxious. She felt grounded, powerful even. Her mind was focused. They walked in step with one another out the front door of the emergency room to meet the crowd.
A mass of people gathered in the parking lot. They did not appear to have any severe injuries, just walking wounded as August had predicted. Most of them had no visible injuries; even more so, they were in excellent health.
“Please raise your hand if you are a patient,” Valerie asked loud enough for the crowd to hear her. About one-third of the group raised their hands. She assumed the others were family members or bystanders assisting the wounded.
“Is anyone having chest pain or difficulty breathing?” All the hands went down. “Alright, if you are bleeding or have an open wound please step to my right, your left. Everyone else, please line up in the parking spaces on your right.” The crowd parted, and the questions started. Valerie did her be
st to address their concerns while August examined the injured.
Most had similar experiences: they passed out, fell, hit their head. They described what Valerie had encountered in her car before she wrecked. After she had gotten the same story a third time, August called her over.
“Head inside and send Betty out here. Explain how to triage. I am going to start sending folks back for bandages. They don’t all need rooms; you can patch some up in the waiting room. Send them home when you finish. No X-rays, no labs. They aren’t sick. They are hurt. Motrin, ice, et cetera.”
Valerie tried not to roll her eyes at the doctor for explaining first aid to her. She took the eleven patients he identified as needing bandages and led them inside. Four she brought back to Roy to get cleaned up and the rest she sat in the waiting room while she gathered supplies to work from there.
Valerie stopped and knelt down by the woman who was still waiting with her kids. “How are you feeling?” she asked, touching each child on the head and looked them in the eyes. None of them seemed to be in any distress.
“I’m just concerned. These two said that they both fell asleep in the car. I think I might have passed out, too. None of us even remember the impact.”
Something stirred within Valerie. Like butterflies, but not how she had felt earlier in the morning. She felt connected, in a way, to the family in front of her. “I understand this is all scary. Do you feel okay monitoring them at home for the time being? How far are you from where you live?”
“Not far. I mean, I feel fine, and they seem okay. Does anyone know what happened? Were we attacked?”
“I haven’t heard anything definitive. I have to go now and take care of these patients. Please call us if you have any concerns, alright?”
The woman was out of the door before Valerie remembered none of the phones worked. She had a feeling deep down that they were okay, but she hated relying on those feelings when it came to medicine. Being wrong was never worth taking the chance, but there was very little she could have done differently.
Apparent Power: DiaZem Trilogy Book One Page 2
