TK had gone from patient to patient, trying to stem severe bleeding and temporarily treating the more severe burns. The worst of them had already been taken to hospitals all over the city so he moved on to the triage area.
Tens and tens of people had broken bones and minor burns that needed to be treated before they got any worse. Volunteers busied around but there were just too many people.
He grabbed bottles of water and bandages and handed them out.
"Wet it, place it on the burns. Wet it, place it on the burns".
One woman sat hunched over a chair, black soot covering her face. Each breath came in raspy, and he immediately recognised she needed help.
He ran to the equipment station and grabbed an O2 canister and mask and brought it right over.
"Here, let me put this on you".
Her eyes were red and bloodshot, her breaths came in short, she coughed into her hand and it came away with black mucus.
"Does your head hurt?" He asked as he unhooked the stethoscope from his neck. "Deep breaths".
The sound crackled as she coughed more and more. She had all the signs of sever smoke inhalation and her windpipe was swelling.
"Can we get a bed over here!" He shouted. "I need an ambulance now!"
All attention turned towards them as paramedics left their patients to help. The woman was struggling to breath even more so now and she was lifted onto a cart.
"All obvious signs"", TK told them. "blackened mucus and irregular sounding breaths".
They wheeled her away and the adrenaline still rushed through his ears. He went back to dressing burns, but each cough in the room caught his attention more than it did before.
He grabbed some more towels and handed them out before standing in the middle of a crowd and shouted over everyone.
"If you have burns, cover these towels in water and hold it onto the area until someone can come and dress the wound. If you drop the towel, get a clean one!"
He's tying a temporary splint onto a wrist when he notices a young man hovering over near the empty side of the building. He's looking up with a hand on his head, walking away before coming back again.
TK doesn't know what he's doing but something about it seems off.
He finishes the splint and walks past the crowd of guests until it gets quiet. This side of the building hasn't been affected by the fire and remains mostly empty. Just the man stands there.
His body is vibrating and he bounces on the tips of his toes.
As TK gets closer he can see the way the man pulls at his hair as he tries to peer over to the reception doors.
"Hi, are-are you okay?"
The man jumps at TK's voice and turns to face him with wide, unsure eyes. He looks him up and down before looking more relaxed.
"You're a first responder?" The man asks.
"Yea. Yea I'm a paramedic with the 126. Whats going on?" TK asks slowly.
The man bounces on the spot for a moment before pointing to the building.
"My friend is inside. I think he's inside. I never saw him come out".
TK hears of someone in trouble and his mind instantly switches into work mode.
"When did he go in?"
"I don't know, like twenty minutes ago. He went in through the reception doors".
"Okay, I'm going to go and help your friend. You need to go over to that tent and get checked out", TK tells him and runs back to grab a small first aid bag.
He doesn't say anything to anyone, too in the zone and focusing on whats in front of him. He carries the red bag to the front of the building and covers his face as he steps inside. He was too busy to notice the man by the side of the building had disappeared.
Tommy looks up as he goes inside.
"Wha- TK!!" She shouts, but he can't hear her over the sirens. "Nancy?! Where is he going?"
Nancy looks up and frowns as she realises whats just happened. She looks around the crowd to make sure she isn't seeing things.
"Did-did he just run into a burning building without equipment"
"He said there was someone in there", one of the volunteers walks over as soon as shes done tying a bandage. "I told him to wait for a firefighter but he said they were all busy. And then he just ran".
"Oh TK", tommy sighs, running a hand over her hair.
YOU ARE READING
911 lonestar - short stories
Fanfiction1) The team get a call for a fire at the giant Notingham hotel. With countless people outside, scared and injured, and many more unaccounted for, they must work with other fire houses to get everything under control. Only, this isn't an ordinary fir...
