Flea

Chapter Twenty Five

Maeve couldn't prevent the hacking coughs that ripped through her thin frame. When they finally subsided and she pulled away from her shaking elbow, it had new red seeping through the fabric. Luckily, the coat already had so many bloodstains nobody would notice one more. 

"They're clearing the second prefecture now so we can expect more casualties. It was hit hard, one of the Nomu began tearing down buildings and people were caught in the rubble," a nurse called to her from the other side of the temporary hospital ward. Dust choked the air to such degree visibility was at a minimum, so they needed to rely on police reports alone. 

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but you need to sign these forms before your child can be treated. If you co-operate this will go much faster," another exhausted nurse said to a crying mother clutching a toddler with a bloody mess on the side of its head instead of an ear. All the beds were already filled with victims of the terror attack, either moaning, screaming, or deadly silent. Any more would need to stand if they wanted treatment. 

Taking ragged breaths, Maeve steadily resumed spraying herself down with sterilising solution. By this point she'd reapplied it to the extent she must look like the goriest snowman in history. There wasn't time to wash before every new patient, so this would have to do. Break time was over. The next patient awaited. 

"On the upside, surely this is the most exciting commute you've had from work?" She asked while checking consent forms. A man in a torn business suit clutching deep claw marks in his side chuckled painfully.

"Oh, I'm not sure. My baby girl, Ichika, certainly makes them interesting. One time, she projectile vomited over the inside of the windscreen just as I got on the freeway." 

The father's forced positivity was wrenched away as he began coughing up blood down his chest. Maeve held him down gently but firmly and said,

"A free spirit, I like her already. Ichika will have plenty of chances to make your life exciting in the future. Ready?" 

He nodded, trying to hide the fear in his face, and slumped down unconscious as Maeve pressed exposed fingertips to his temples. The surgeon immediately began cleaning his wounds with alcohol. Once she was satisfied there was no risk of infection, fingers were inserted into the deep cuts and brushed against his exposed ribcage. Flesh knitted itself back together until only shallow marks remained. Healing them fully was a waste of energy, the man was out of danger and her vision was flashing. As Maeve moved on to the next patient, a nurse was already binding his wounds with some of the few fresh bandages they had left. 

This had been Maeve's life for the past two hours. They planned to keep working through the night. Until her phone rang so many times she was forced to pick up.

"It better be urgent," she sighed, trying to sterilise and talk at the same time. Maeve recognised the number as Hosu's chief of police. He'd been kind to her in the few interactions they had. In her current mood, she wouldn't have answered otherwise.     

"I wouldn't have called if it wasn't, woof. We've caught the hero killer." 

"Yes, I know. Is that it?" Maeve asked irritably, watching as people crowded outside the transformed hotel with a red cross billowing at its gates. Many were weeping and pleading that if they couldn't be let in, at least their loved ones be allowed through. There was a pause on the other end as the canine tried to figure out how she was privy to classified information. Luckily, the chief snapped out of it quickly and explained. 

"He sustained severe injuries, we think a punctured lung. It's vital that he be kept alive for questioning and-" 

Maeve closed her eyes, sinking against a wall for support. She tried to drown out the conversations between other doctors and patients about their families. Screaming. A child asking where her mother was to nurses who knew the answer but didn't have the heart to say.