#hospital overcrowding

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Doctors across the country are calling for an overhaul of the health-care system, as overcrowded emergency rooms struggle to keep pace with respiratory viruses. Health Minister Christian Dube is urging people to avoid ERs if possible, and to get vaccinated, which is bringing back unpleasant pandemic memories for many in the system. "Right now, the big problem is the overcrowding in the emergercies," said Quebec Association of ER Physicians (AMUQ) vice-president Dr. Delphine Remillard Labrosse. In Montreal, the average stretcher occupancy rate is over 150 per cent, and patients are waiting up to seven hours or longer in some hospitals to see a physician.

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Tagging @politicsofcanada

[townpostin]

Jamshedpur MLA Demands Health Minister's Removal Over MGM Crisis

Roy cites overcrowding, water shortage at MGM Hospital; urges CM to take action MLA Saryu Roy calls for Health Minister’s dismissal due to deteriorating conditions at MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur. JAMSHEDPUR – Saryu Roy, Jamshedpur East MLA, demands Health Minister’s removal over worsening conditions at MGM Hospital. Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy has publicly called for the dismissal of the Health…

[puntointerrogativo]

That support local news post reminded me of that one time when a woman I regularly worked with for local festivals coverage ended up in the E.R. with a period so heavy it was in fact not a period but a pretty serious hemorrhage and was made to wait long enough that she was sitting in a pool of her own blood until she called me and started loudly describing her situation and asking when the article would come out.

Guess when they magically realized she was in need of immediate attention? 💀

[faofinn]

No.8 "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier."

@whumptober-archive

Overcrowded ER | Outnumbered | "It's all for nothing."

Working in London had its perks. Good public transport, better money, a trauma network to be proud of. After the Army it had been welcome, a supportive network to put his skills to good use and help others as well as teach and learn. He’d made his career there, met his wife, and given it was the hospital that had saved Finn and given him a second chance to complete his degree, he owed it a lot. 

He’d just finished seeing a patient in the ED, and sat down to get his notes done. It had been a busy day, the ED overcrowded as ever, people waiting hours on hours to be seen. It was more and more like the status quo these days, not that that made it any easier to deal with. 

As luck would have it, he was sat next to Harrison, and he glanced over at him, humming. He’d been about to ask him if he was coming for for Sunday lunch that week when the world shattered around them. There was an explosion so big it rocked the ED, walls crumbling and windows shattering. 

Harrison suddenly found himself on the floor, shards of glass and debris surrounding him, his ears screaming. Everything was sluggish for a moment, reality slowly falling back into place. Blood dripped from his nose and he roughly wiped it away, trying to get to his feet.

"Fao?!"

The blast had taken Fao to the floor too, dust and rubble all around him, his ears ringing with it. It wasn’t the first explosion he’d been caught in the aftermath of, but that hardly made it any easier. Struggling to his feet, Fao gripped what was left of the desk. It took  a minute to register that Harrison had called his name. 

“Hars?” 

He looked critically over him. "You okay? Bleeding?"

“Dunno.”

"Let me see."

He struggled to stay upright, definitely concussed, and when he wiped at his brow his hand came back red. He wasn’t sure if he was bleeding anywhere else, trying to think was like trying to crawl through molasses. 

Fao looked as shit as Harrison felt, and it was taking every ounce of his control to not just break down. He cupped Fao's cheek with one hand, frowning. 

"How dizzy are you?"

Fao huffed a laugh. “Very.”

"Right, sit. I'm not having you collapse." He'd not thought he'd hit his head, but the sudden nausea and subsequent vomit said otherwise. He roughly wiped his mouth, turning back to Fao. "Let me check you, then…then god knows where we start."

Fao picked up a chair that had been knocked over, testing how stable it looked before he sat on it shakily. “I’m fine, I think. You’re not, though.”

"I'm fine." He brushed Fao's concern off. "Let me have a look at your head."

“Mm, ‘kay.”

Harrison was gentle as he did so, screams starting to break through the chaos. He knew he ought to go treat, but Fao was his priority. He always was.

He was starting to feel a little better, the blood more of an inconvenience than anything else. He pulled away, looking up at Hars. “We need to start triaging, Tomcat.”

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make sure you weren't gonna die on me." He said softly. "Let's go see what we've got."

“As if I’d die on you.” He said, carefully getting to his feet.

Harrison couldn't help his glare. "You're an arse."

“It’s fine, we’re even.”

"Dick."

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

He glanced at him. "No. But we don't have a choice."

“Okay enough to stand and treat, at least?”

"Yeah, course." He glanced around. "We need more staff."

“We need more on a good day.” Fao grumbled. 

Harrison snorted, hating the pain that lanced across his ribs. He rummaged in the drawer by him, making a triumph noise as he found the rota. "Right! Everyone listening! I need to know who we've got, who's hurt, and then we can triage patients, okay?

"If you are hurt, but still walking, start treating. I know we're all stubborn fuckers, but, for the love of god, if you are properly hurt, please speak to someone, let them help." His voice betrayed his stoicism for a moment. "I can deal with injuries. I can't deal with losing any of you guys, alright? Look after each other. We just need to get through the next hour, more help is on the way. I know you guys are scared, I know how overwhelming this all is, I know. But we can do this, okay? We've just got to get through the next hour.

He braced himself against the desk as dizziness hit him again, and he swallowed down the nausea. "We need to set up a triage, all current major patients are gonna be put in resus. Float a few of you there so anyone needing immediate medical treatment that's ongoing can get done. Anyone new, we'll move to majors one. Everyone currently admitted, majors two. Systems are down, let's get everything on the whiteboards, okay? Check everything twice, no mistakes. Go in pairs, nowhere alone, alright? Alright." He sighed. "This is shit, this is tough, but we've got this. I believe in you all, take a moment and let's try and sort what we can, okay?"

Fao let him talk, taking control easily and comfortably. It was his department, and he did a good job of getting everyone’s attention. Plenty were just as wounded as they were, some looked worse, and Fao’s eyes flicked critically as they gathered, taking stock of who could likely treat and who couldn’t. 

It was a relief to have his staff accounted for, however injured they were. He wasn't sure where the explosion had come from, or why, but that wasn’t the main focus. They'd deal with that later. They had patients they needed to see, and plenty of them should be patients themselves. With a dark expression, he rifled through the major incident pack, handing out tags.

"Fao? You alright to hold down adults for ten minutes? I want to go check paeds."

Fao nodded. “Yeah, absolutely. Be careful, yeah?” 

"And you." He said firmly, nodding at Fao. "I'll shout what I find."

“Don’t do anything stupid.” 

He turned to grin. "When would I ever?"

“All the time, that’s what I’m worried about!”

"Worry about my ED. That's all I'm asking!" He shot back, already making his way through the debris.

Fao shook his head, but turned his attention to the rest of the team. “Alright guys, listen up. Anyone who’s able to triage, go and triage. This is no different to any of the major incident training you’ve done. Don’t put yourself in any danger, don’t take stupid risks. There’s no point making more patients for us. If you’re not able to go and triage, come and see me, or send someone to get me if you need medical attention. Let’s work as a team, get things sorted, and we’ll get through this. I’m presuming we’re cut off from the rest of the hospital, so what we have here is what we’re working with.”

As everyone slowly split off, Fao was able to start taking stock, working out what supplies they had, what staff were around and who was injured or missing. They could start working out where was safe and where wasn’t, setting up areas to treat and areas to avoid. 

It was as he was sorting them that he came across a slumped figure, blood spattered over the floor. It was Jamie, Fao recognised him immediately, and knelt next to him. 

“Hey, Jamie.” He murmured. “You’re gonna be okay, I’m gonna get you sorted, alright?”

He barely raised his head, closing his eyes against the dizziness. "Fao."

“Hey. This is usually the other way round, eh? I’ve got you.”

"I don't know how you two do it." His voice was weak. 

“Stubbornness.” Fao admitted. “I’m gonna get you up now, alright? It’s gonna suck, it’ll hurt like fuck, but it’s the only way we can get you help.” He shifted his weight, and then carefully picked Jamie up, uncaring of himself as he got to his feet. 

"God, fuck this." He groaned, leaning into Fao. "Fuck."

“I know, I’m sorry.” He murmured. 

"Am I gonna die?" He couldn't help but ask. 

“Don’t be daft, of course you’re not.” Fao said lightly. “We’ve got to keep you around, you’re the only one who can cannulate me without turning me into a pincushion.”

He almost laughed, but the slight huff sent pain shooting through his abdomen. It spread everywhere, a shock going down his spine and the pain making him feel sick. He gave a groan, struggling to stay conscious. 

“Okay, no jokes.” Fao said softly. “I’ve got you, I’m damn good at my job. You’re gonna be alright, just keep breathing for me.” He managed to find a half decent treatment space, things getting relatively sorted now, and looked around. “Where’s Harrison?” He asked one of the HCAs.

"He's not come back yet."

“Shit.” Fao muttered. “Okay, I need as much kit as I can get.” He looked around, finding what he could make use of. It wasn’t much, but it was something. 

"Fao?" Jamie's voice cracked. 

“I’m here, you’re okay.” He said, coming back to his side. “I’ve even found some pain relief.”

"Breathing's 'ard."

“Keep doing your best, okay? You’re doing amazing.”

"Sorry." He hated it, hated it all. His body was trembling, each movement making the pain worse. He coughed, suddenly retching at the taste of blood in his throat. He couldn't sit up to clear his throat properly so turned his head, spitting blood with a whine. 

“You’re okay, don’t be sorry.” Fao soothed, ripping packs open to try and control the bleeding. “You’re doing so well.”

He forced a smile. "You don't have to lie."

“I’m not. Best surgeon in the hospital looking after you.” Fao tried to joke, packing the wound the best he could. 

"It fucking hurts."

“I know, I know. Hold on for me, you’re doing great.”

"Don't lie." He murmured. 

Fao had gotten to the point where he was happy enough with the packing, that the bleeding was at least slightly under control. He’d managed to bag painkillers and enough kit to start an IV, and he quickly set about getting access. “You’ll have to forgive me for this one mate, it’s been a while.” The lighting was shit, too, but Fao had always been decent at getting a vein, and managed to get a cannula in, feeling quite proud of himself. He needed more hands, though. He gave the morphine, scrawled the dose and time on Jamie’s arm with the pen he was glad he had in his pocket, and went back to the wound. 

Jamie was beyond glad for the pain relief, the morphine threatening to pull him under. He didn't fight it as much, allowing the haze to take over as he drifted. 

“That’s it.” He murmured, trying desperately to sort the bleeding. Where was Harrison? He should’ve been back by now.

[cephalog0d]

Batfic - "Picking Up Pieces" (Whumptober Day 8)

Rating: Teen and Up Category: Gen Characters/Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, other Batfam mentioned Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Reverse Robins, Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Hospitals, Cuddling & Snuggling Words: 4,036

Summary:

“Bruce!” Steph called as she approached, weaving between people. His head snapped towards her, and the stark relief in his expression almost stopped her in her tracks. That was just...wrong. Bruce wasn’t supposed to be relieved to see her. He was supposed to be annoyed or resignedly amused, not looking at her like a life raft in the ocean. Midnight visits to the ER as a civilian were not exactly what Stephanie Brown thought she was signing up for when she joined the Bat team, but that doesn't mean she's not going to be the best backup she can be. Whumptober No. 8: “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier.” Overcrowded ER | Outnumbered | “It’s all for nothing.”

((Ages: Steph - 18, Dick - 9))

Hospitals in Gotham were always a bit of a mess, but add in a weekend evening and an attack of the “costumed bullshit” variety and it became an absolute nightmare. Steph would honestly rather be out in her own costume helping with clean up, but Bruce needed backup here before he went full Batman in the middle of the ER, and Steph was the best option.

That didn’t mean it was fun walking into the kicked ant hill that was Gotham General’s emergency room. She shifted the duffle bag slung over her shoulder to try and keep it close and out of the way as she wove through the packed waiting room trying to spot Bruce. The ambulance would have beaten both of them, but Tim’s projected ETA for them had been similar. Steph spun in a full circle, gaze skipping past shocked and bloodied patients waiting to be seen and extremely harried people in scrubs moving around at something just shy of a run without spotting any familiar faces.

Crap. If he had beaten her and was already back in the hospital proper that was going to be a whole headache, and with Tim busy coordinating clean-up she didn’t really have a good way to find out.

She was just debating if she could successfully persuade one of the staff to actually tell her (if she could even catch someone who wasn’t doing something much more important) when the door opened loudly behind her and she spun to see Bruce all but storming into the waiting room.

He looked, frankly, like shit. Not that Steph blamed him. The lead she had been running down had turned out to be a dead end, so she hadn’t actually seen how bad things were, but she’d threatened to superglue all of Tim’s computer ports shut if he muted her comms and cut her out of the loop so she had heard everything from when Damian and Cass had found the boys onward, and just from that…

Well, there was a reason she’d been willing to leave the clean up to everyone else and haul ass down to the hospital.

“Bruce!” she called as she approached, weaving between people. His head snapped towards her, and the stark relief in his expression almost stopped her in her tracks. That was just...wrong. Bruce wasn’t supposed to be relieved to see her. He was supposed to be annoyed or resignedly amused, not looking at her like a life raft in the ocean.

“Stephanie-” he started, but she cut him off.

“Duke is with Damian and Cass is helping Tim, I’m here for backup and I’ll handle updates so don’t worry about that part,” she rattled off quickly. Bruce looked a little stunned, but nodded. “Where-”

“Mr. Wayne?” someone interrupted, polite but extremely urgent. One of the hospital staff.

“Yes,” Bruce said sharply, attention snapping to her. “My son-”

“Jason has already been admitted and the doctors would like to speak with you as soon as possible,” she said in the same carefully balanced tone, gesturing Bruce forward. Steph swallowed hard and consciously regulated her breathing. Being at the front of the line for the ER was never good. As close as she was standing, Steph could hear the way Bruce’s breath hitched a little as he went even more tense than he already had been, hands clenching into fists at his side.

“What about Dick?” Steph prompted since Bruce was clearly distracted trying to control himself. (And wasn’t that a hell of a thing. Batman was distracted. It definitely did not help with the world-shattering feeling of things, but Steph was here to be backup, so she needed to stay calm and stay focused for him.)

(Cont. on AO3)

[kittymaine]

Emergency

Summary: Clark rushes to the hospital after receiving news that Bruce Wayne had been involved in a bombing.

Whumptober day eight fill. Prompt: overcrowded ER.

Clark had a Google alert set up for Bruce Wayne, something that probably only Bruce himself knew about.

"That has to drive you crazy," Bruce had said once when catching Clark checking his phone, only to see an alert about a new tabloid article theorizing that Bruce had gotten three different supermodels pregnant at the same time.

"Nah, I have a lot of alerts set up, but yours are usually the most entertaining," Clark had joked and been gratified to see Bruce's eyes crinkle up just a little bit in reply. That was more than worth all the alerts that only led to cheap clickbait articles or worthless speculation pieces.

The alerts really didn't bother Clark, and he really did have about a hundred alerts set up depending on what he was researching at the moment. He had alerts for most of the Justice League anyway, both their superhero alias’ and their civilian names. But, he never expected the Bruce Wayne alert to turn up actual news most of the time.

So he was more than a little shocked when on a sunny Tuesday afternoon he received multiple alerts for new results for Bruce Wayne, and they turned out to be real news. Terrible, awful, distressing news.

Clark scrolled through the articles and tweets as quickly as his phone would allow. Most news outlets were reporting the same thing. There had been an explosion at Wayne Enterprises during a company presentation by Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprises. There were conflicting reports, but it seemed that it was a homemade bomb hidden somewhere around the stage that went off while Bruce was in the middle of a speech. Police already had a suspect in custody.

Clark used his super speed without changing into his suit, something he knew Bruce would have murdered him over. Considering the circumstances, he couldn't bring himself to care in the slightest. The Gotham Gazette had tweeted that Bruce Wayne had been admitted to Gotham General and Clark's hearing confirmed that was where Bruce's heart was beating, though his normally strong and steady heartbeat sounded thin and weak. Clark felt fear seed itself in his chest at that sound and knew it would be a long time before it left.

He started speeding toward Gotham, already obsessively checking for the heartbeats he had memorized. Ma was okay, she sounded good, and her heartbeat was at the farm where it should have been. Diana was okay and was in some kind of important board meeting, so far as he could tell. He reached into his memory for Alfred's heartbeat, not one he often checked, but one he heard often enough. He wasn't as sure, but it sounded like his heartbeat was already at Gotham General. Then, he listened for Dick.

He was sitting in his beat up sedan on the highway leading into Gotham, stuck in traffic and breathing hard around a chest full of sobs.

Clark made a detour, plucking Dick's car out of traffic and putting it down carefully in a nearby parking lot before taking Dick out of the car and with him to Gotham General. Dick wouldn't have felt any of the movement, Clark was moving so fast.

The next thing Dick knew, he and Clark were in a small broom closet in a Gotham General hallway on the first floor.

Dick startled hard and threw a wild punch at Clark. Clark caught his fist gently before he could break his hand on his jaw.

"Uncle Clark?" Dick asked, making a strangled sound as he took in his surroundings. Dick hadn't called him Uncle Clark since he was a teenager. Clark tucked that fact away as a clue about Dick’s current mental state.

"Dick, are you okay?" Clark asked, leaning in carefully. He guessed what Dick needed, but didn't want to crowd him if he didn't want to be touched.

But, he had guessed right. Dick's expression briefly crumpled into tears before he threw himself at Clark, his arms tight around his shoulders and tears soaking into his button up. Clark carefully folded Dick into his arms.

"Uncle Clark, have you seen him? Is he-?" Dick choked on whatever he was about to say around a sob.

"I haven't. I saw the news on my phone and was rushing to Gotham when I saw you stuck in traffic," Clark explained.

Dick clutched him even tighter, and Clark rubbed at his shoulders. Dick was all corded muscle and ridges of bone beneath his beaten up leather jacket, the tension in his body only making him feel more rigid. He was holding him tight enough to leave bruises on a normal person, but Clark wasn’t a normal person and was glad to let Dick be as rough with him as he wanted. It had delighted him as a boy, and it warmed something in Clark that Dick still remembered Clark’s permission to squeeze and hit and jump as hard as he wanted.

"I think Alfred is in the ER. We should go check in with him," Clark suggested after giving Dick a few minutes to express himself all over Clark's shirt.

Dick nodded glumly, but only stepped away after another minute or so.

“How did this happen?” Dick croaked as they walked down long, wide hallways, dodging around people in scrubs walking fast and people in civilian clothes walking much slower.

“I don’t know,” Clark said, looking down at the scuffed toes of his loafers. They squeaked a little on the polished tile floor. “CNN reported that the police already have a suspect in custody.”

Dick grunted. “I guess the others will make sure it’s the right person.”

“I think you’re right,” Clark replied. “Let them handle it for now,” he said gently, and put his arm around Dick’s shoulders. Dick leaned his weight into Clark’s side in response.

The Gotham General emergency room was absolutely packed with people. It was clear that most of the people sitting in uncomfortable plastic chairs were caught in the same explosion that had injured Bruce so badly. They were almost all dressed in business formal clothing: pressed slacks, button down shirts, high heels and knit ties. They were also all covered in pale gray dust and dotted with blood and scrapes, many of them holding ice packs or bandages that looked like they had been hastily applied by either EMTs or the nurses tensely bustling between the aisles of chairs, taking heart rates and checking temperatures.

"Master Richard," a tense British voice said from the wall near the entryway.

"Alfred," Dick rasped and stumbled the few steps into the elder man's arms.

Alfred always looked effortlessly polished to Clark, but he had seen him ruffled a few times before. This was one of those times. His shirt was wrinkled, and his hair was just a little out of place, and his face was stiff and hard. His hardened, uncompromising expression easily communicated his past in the military.

"How is he?" Clark asked quietly, trying not to draw the attention of all the injured and emotional people packed into the room with them.

"I haven't heard much, unfortunately," Alfred replied, regarding Clark through weary blue eyes over the top of Dick's head. "In fact, if you could check on him, I would very much appreciate it."

"Oh! Of course," Clark was pleasantly surprised that he could be of use. He had refrained from looking at Bruce directly, mostly to spare himself the memory of what he looked like on the operating table. But if it was to provide more information to the family, it was more than worth it.

He leaned against the wall beside Alfred as casually as he could and let his eyes unfocus as he gazed through walls and curtains and people in the direction of Bruce's still unsteadily beating heart.

Bruce was lying on his side on a metal table, two surgeons bent over his torso as they carefully used small cameras on long adjustable poles to look around the inside of his abdomen. It looked like Bruce's side was peppered all over with shrapnel entry points and there was a small metal dish at the elbow of each surgeon, both filled with pieces of glass and small bent nails.

Clark had to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment after looking. Yep, he could feel that image burning its way into his memory. It would be hard to look at Bruce, harder to look at his side, without seeing two people poking around his insides like a game of operation looking for sharp foreign objects snugged up to Bruce's delicate and vulnerable internal organs.

"Master Clark," Alfred said, his voice soft but his tone very tight.

Clark snapped his eyes open and looked at the older man. He had the sudden realization that his crunched up expression was probably sending the wrong message. "Sorry! Just not a pleasant sight to look at," he explained sheepishly. Alfred relaxed slightly and patted Dick on the shoulder. "It looks like they're just finishing up now. I only saw one more piece of shrapnel, and it looks like they almost had it."

It was Alfred's turn to close his eyes, though his expression was one of intense relief. "Thank you, Master Clark. That news is very welcome."

"He's going to be okay?" Dick croaked, pulling out of Alfred's arms to turn red rimmed eyes on Clark.

"Yes, I think so," Clark said.

"Oh, thank Christ. Fuck," Dick groaned before sliding down the wall to the floor. "I think if he had died in a fucking business meeting of all things, I would have killed him," Dick joked weakly.

"I'm sure he's just as frustrated with himself," Clark agreed wryly.

In fact, he was sure that Bruce was going to be almost insufferable about security once he was awake and conscious. But, Clark couldn't bring himself to dread it much.

He was just so incredibly happy that Bruce was alive and would recover, and he wouldn't have to bury his best friend.

[laffy-taffy-creations]

WOOOOOOOO WHUMPTOBER DAY 8 BABES

This fic was cross-posted on AO3 here

Collateral Damage

Overcrowded ER | Outnumbered | "It's all for nothing"

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Words: 1,188

Taglist: @athenswrites @lili-loves-whump

Warnings: hospitalization, power overuse, past experimentation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The shaking started first. It was the first sign that anything was wrong.

Next was shouting. The sounds of things, walls, doors, windows breaking. I made the mistake of going out into the hall to figure out what was wrong and almost immediately got decked had I not ducked.

Villains. So many villains.

There was reason UA prided itself on security, it set up it’s offense defensively and it’s defense offensively. But the defense had broken somehow.

Shit shit shit what are we meant to do? None of the kids from the lower levels are heroes! Are any of them safe? Are they okay?

[Focus Clo. We’re a hero. We handle this.]

I had already ended up engaged in combat with some of them, but there were just so many that I wouldn’t be able to take any of them out using only the power I showed off.

We’re outnumbered. We’re out of options. We just have to stand our ground until support arrives.

But support wasn’t arriving. I put maybe 3 out of commission, and 6 more showed up for me and the others in the hallway. If we go all out now, it’ll end up hurting people. I cant get them all to safety in time.

Someone hit me in the back.

[Fuck it. Void.]

My power stretched and I let it go as far as it deemed through out the school, causing damage like no other. I knew it would end up going out of control, I fought to stay conscious the same as my fight to contain the full power of my quirk from harming innocents.

I let it rage, let myself go for just a little bit, let them have my wrath. Let them see exactly why they should never come back ever again.

I let the anger and hatred fuel it, let what had happened to me cause chaos, let my quirk handle and give proper catharsis to at least a small sliver of my fury. My happiness, my protectiveness, my want for others to live a better life than I had barred it inside as much as it would be leashed.

And after that I was in a hospital.

“No, nononono stay down! You need rest!” the nurse said when he saw me get up. My confusion must have shown. “We barely managed to get you in but you’re the current most likely source of whatever wrecked UA. You need to rest,” he explained.

My just-waking-up mind was still confused but I wrote it off in the name of sleep.

The next thing I remembered was waking up again. I could think more clearly now. There was an IV in my arm. I was hooked up to a heartrate monitor. I was no longer wearing my suit, instead being put in a hospital gown.

“They’re awake!” I heard vaguely.

My dad was the first to enter along side Ochako and Izuku.

The same nurse as before said, “their condition isn’t critical so we’re allowing the one extra visitor, but if it is to change at any point you all will need to leave the room and they will only be permitted to have 2 visitors after that. “

My friends nodded and my dad immediately crouched down by my bed side.

“Are you okay sweetie? Is everything alright? Did you use too much power?” he whispered so only we would hear.

“Yes… to all three of those. Ugh, I feel like death.”

“Yeah well, you almost put us in death when we couldn’t find you. What happened?”

“Uhhh…” I wracked my brain for memory. “I went to the bathroom, the building started shaking, I heard sounds of general conflict and when I opened the door there were way too many villains for anybody to feasibly take in a fight storming their way through the building.”

There was a pause.

“You mean you dont remember anything about UA having a complete shift in reality for like 5 minutes before going back to normal?” Ocha asked.

“Yeah, even those of us on the training field experienced some of it,” Izuku added.

The nurse cut in, “they’re the most likely source for where all that power would have come from currently, so they probably dont remember anything about it. Plus, if it was someone near them, some part of said power might have knocked them out or caused them to forget.”

“Are you telling us they were the one that caused all that carnage?”

“Most likely, yes,” the nurse answered.

My dad looked at me and I nodded. “They are,” he said.

All eyes were on him now. “It’s been something of a secret since I adopted them, but yes, they have a very intense and powerful quirk that, under the right circumstances, would be able to have done that to UA.”

“I thought their quirk was Illusion?” Ochako questioned.

“One of, yes. I have multiple. Illusion is the one I was born with.”

“...Are you trying to say there’s ways to manifest multiple quirks?”

I sat up. “Well, considering I can do this,” I paused and concentrated, letting my heartrate monitor flatline for a bit, “for a minute straight without any sort of repercussions, I’d say that’s a fair assumption.”

“But why keep this secret?” Izu said confused.

“Because I didnt get these of my own volition. They were forced on me.” Dont think about it dont think about it dont think about it.

“By who?”

“That’s a question best left to the police,” my dad cut in.

“A pro-hero,” I responded.

The silence and tension could’ve been cut with a knife.

“A…A hero?”

“Yes. A very famous one. One that nobody would honestly believe me. He pumped me full of chemicals and now the official quirk blocker on file for me is a sedative.”

“A sedative?”

“You saw how strong my quirk is. Normal blockers dont cut it, I have to make special ones for me that are 10 times stronger than the current strongest ones available to heroes and cops, and even those still break when I lose control.”

The silence was only broken by the small shuffling of clothing as my dad offered me a cup of water.

“...We had a tough time finding you. There was a lot of people rushed to 3 different ERs to properly accommodate how many people ended up injured and otherwise passed out.”

“I can imagine.”

“...What exactly does your, uhhh… lab quirk?... do?”

“I was given three. You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Uhm… The one we saw you use?”

I put down the water. “That one’s my most powerful. It started as a general item-creation quirk, with the main component being a form of matter manipulation that with enough stamina turned into this.” I shifted the room around us, changing realities, shifting the environment, then letting it settle back to normal.

”So it’s matter manipulation?”

“At one point while it was still developing fully. Its true form is much better described as reality bending.”

Ocha spoke up, “That’s… terrifying.”

“Indeed.”

There wasn’t much else to be said.

The truth is finally out.

[lilimonarch]

Doctor Hanahaki - The Memories that Never Return [8]

Doctor Hanahaki Prequel: Whumptober spinoff!

Whumptober day 8: Overcrowded ER, Lyric Prompt.

~

I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier

Bokuto knew something was wrong the second Akaashi stepped into the clubroom.

A mask over his face, his cheeks flushed with the same fever he saw him with a year ago, horrid eyebags highlighting his exhaustion, Bokuto knew something was wrong deep down. Despite these thoughts, Bokuto did not say anything. If Akaashi was on the court, he was fine. Akaashi was smart, he wouldn't head to practice if he knew he was unwell, and everything would be fine.

When Akaashi reached out to him, sputtering bloody petals from his mouth until he collapsed into Bokuto's arms, all he could do was panic. Akaashi was wheezing, shaking, and Bokuto was terrified to leave him alone. When his coach said to let Akaashi go, he didn't. When Konoha said to breathe and let coach take Akaashi to the hospital in the ambulance alone, accept that he wouldn't.

It was Bokuto's first time in the ER as a teenager, and here he was holding Akaashi's hand until the doctors said he couldn't.

Anxiety was creeping through, his hairs sticking on end as another gurney rammed through the halls, another alarm going off as people bloodied and bruised lay unconscious, being rushed in. Children throwing up into bins, people wearing surgical masks to prevent the spread of disease, every seat in the waiting room was taken.

The flicker of the lights burned into his brain, Bokuto losing himself until his coach laid a hand on the player's shoulder. "It's not always like this, they must be busy. You can go home if you'd like."

Bokuto immediately shook his head. "No," he declared, clenching his fists as people came and went. The noise was too loud, the panic too strong, but he had to be there, for Akaashi's sake. "I'll stay, it'll be fine." It was almost pathetic, seeing someone of Bokuto's caliber so afraid. "Besides, he needs me when he wakes up. I know he will."

Soon enough, Ms. Akaashi showed up, showering Bokuto with hugs and asking about her child, the two comforting each other, the only silence in the overstuffed ER.

Bokuto promised to stay by Akaashi's side, but the one time he broke his promise, Akaashi slipped away for good.

[gojobait]

civil protection's talking about updating the alert level to orange and if they do so they'll have to evacuate 4 hospitals and 2 jails out of the red zone. its gonna be a disaster

[uniasus]

Whumptober Day 8 - YGO Snippet

Atem had been to the hospital before, most memorably after the warehouse fire where Yugi had stayed behind to reassemble the Puzzle. Back then, he'd been in the Puzzle, hesitant to take over Yugi's body so soon, worried about interrupting the doctors. He'd held Yugi in the hallway of the Puzzle instead, cradling his partner's hands as Yugi leaned against Atem's chest.

He'd missed the chaos of the hospital itself.

"Please," he watched a frantic woman ask at the front desk. "I'm looking for Megumi Fujioka. I got a call."

"This way," Tristan said, leading them to a set of elevators. "Yugi's on the fifth floor."

They rode the elevator with a nervous man, clutching a shopping bag with red eyes. He got off on the third floor, just as people in scrubs ran down the hallway with grim faces.

Atem's stomach twisted. It seemed as if everyone here was worried, Tristan included. He wanted to ask, how bad was Yugi? Bad enough for a hospital stay, but what did that mean? Yugi's previous stays had included time just playing games. Surely that was the case now?

He opened his mouth to ask, but clicked his teeth together when the elevator doors opened. There were no running staff here, but the air smelled sharp and felt heavy.

[seldomscilence16]

Whumptober day 8:

"I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier."

Overcrowded ER | outnumbered | "It's all for nothing." 

Fandom: My Hero Academia (Altered Universe? AU? Canon Divergence?)

Prompts used: All

An AU where Denki doesnt get to go to UA- at least yet lol. Theres some implied stuff, some child abuse, and creeps.

…

"The City is in Turmoil today as a large-scale villain attack has turned into a takeover. With our nation's future in peril, and no hope in sight, we are left with lingering questions, where are the Pros and who will save us?"

Denki turns off the knews, shoulders carefully relaxed despite his thundering heartbeat. Behind him, his Grandfather is talking to his 'generals'- the ones with the powerful quirks who command the less powerful- about their next moves. Their next moves in this war to take over Japan, to have an island for villains, to combine their forces, and extend their power as far as it can go. 

Denki had been born into this life, with no choice in the matter. His father had gotten his mother pregnant young, too young to be a mother, and promptly died during an attack he'd planned. His mother had been locked up with this family until her death several years ago, and had told Denki about the side of the world he had never experienced. She had been Denki's light despite not having her own, she may have been an empty shell, but Denki had glimpsed what she had been once. 

She had wanted to be a teacher.

Denki likes to think that even if he hadn't had that short time with her, he would have turned out like this. To know right from wrong, and to have the urge to save, to look at what his 'legacy' was and to hate it with every fiber of his being. He didn't want to be a villain, he wanted- wants- to help people… and he thinks this may be his last chance.

So he listens without listening to the conversation behind him, Denki has become the master of being unnoticed. He was simply a stupid kid, his quirk was bright but he was not, he was worthless beyond his power to these people. He was a pet to them at this point, and Denki used it to his advantage. 

The real trick would be getting out, and finding someone to take the information. At best, he was a kid, at worst, he was a kid of a villian, his chances were slim. And in the heart of the takeover, finding anyone at all may be near impossible, But he had to try. 

"Brat, go get us some chow!" 

"And alcohol! We're celebrating!" 

Celebrating? Before they've even started the next part of their plan? Cocky. 

"I'll have to go pretty far to find a place not destroyed." Denki comments, his gut churning, but this was his way out, and the more time he had, the better. 

"Then you better get going." His grandfather levels him with a look, sitting back in a chair now, plans pushed to the side. 

"Yes sir." Denki hoped he had enough. 

The streets were a mess, chaos left in the wake of destructive villains and terror ridden civilians. He forces himself forward, swallowing the lump in his throat, he had to accept the fact there was no going back. His Grandfather will suspect Denki first if their plans are foiled, Denki may be no better than a pet, but he had a voice and ears, and Denkis grandfather wasn't that big a fool. He was competent really, but Denki grew up around him. He knew how to act, but the jig would be up as soon as a plan goes awry. 

As he reaches the border of their attack, Denki can see the traffic of fleeing citizens in the distance, but his attention is drawn to the one on the ground. She's breathing, semi-conscious, but her leg is bent at a wrong angle and her hair is matted with blood. Denki doesn't register it, but one moment he's standing on the edge, the next he's by the woman's side,

"Let me help you, there's an ER nearby." She sobs as he helps her hobble down the street, no coherent words leaving her lips, but her gratitude there nonetheless. 

His gut has twisted itself into several knots now, as he sees the sheer number of people crowding the hospital trauma center. Staff are shouting and running left and right, gurneys pushed side by side to make as much room as possible. People overflow into the hallways and any other free space, sitting on floors and sharing beds. He barely registers them taking the injured woman, simply staring at the people who've been hurt in the attack. 

"If you're not injured kid you should get home, and then get the hell out of Japan." An orderly says, scanning his form quickly before moving on. 

It takes him several moments to get his feet to obey, he thinks about telling one of the staff about the Danger that will be heading their way, but from the looks on their faces, they probably know more than anyone else. He hurries out, to continue his mission, in the hopes of saving those people and more, so they don't end up a bodybag in a corner. 

While he had known this wouldn't be an easy task, he had also thought he'd run into a hero by now. After all, there was a villain takeover happening right now, but the news lady had asked where the heros were… crap, what if this is all for nothing, what if the Heros are already gone, what if Japan is really doomed?! Denki tried too late, this is all his fault, he should have done something sooner. Dammit! 

"What are you doing out here kid?" The voice is gravely, slightly annoyed, but with that undertone of something he'd never heard before. 

Behind him, holding a gray scarf, is a man with shaggy black hair wearing yellow goggles and all black. If it weren't for the safe feeling coming from him, Denki would think him a rogue. But with a little more thought, Denki figures the guy is probably an underground hero, or a vigilante. Time to feel him out then,

"I'm looking for someone… Why is everyone gone?" 

"It's not safe here, who are you looking for, they may have already evacuated." The man surveys the streets, tense in a way that speaks of experience. 

"Are you a hero?" Denki may not find another, he'd been gone too long as it is, he needed to give someone the info before it was too late. 

"Yes, I'm Eraserhead, and we need to get you out of here kid."

"I have something important to tell you, Eraserhead sir, and it can not wait. I need to know if you'll listen or if I'm wasting my time." Denki internally cringes at how rude he sounds, demanding, brat-like, but he's in a hurry and well, he can only count on one hand how many non villains he's spoken to, most of them today. 

Eraserhead removes his goggles to eye him skeptically with dark eyes, even darker rings below them to show off next level exhaustion. 

"Alright, not in the middle of the road then." They move off to the side, more cover, Denki is fine with that. "What's so important?"

"I know what's gonna happen next, and what their endgame is." Denki says this, eyes hard as he stares down the hero before, needing to know if this guy will take him seriously or not. 

His eyes narrow, seeming to do the same, scanning him from head to toe, and finding something, he stands straighter, and nods, Denki releases a breath and begins. Explaining every single thing he can remember of their talks. He doesn't stop, getting it all out at once in what he hopes is a comprehensible layout. As he comes to the end of what he knows, he takes a deep breath, eyeing Eraserhead to see his reaction. 

"Shit." He says eloquently, taking a phone from the depths of his folds and typing in a number. He watches as he frowns and Denki is sure it has to do with the signal, it's his Grandfather's favorite method of messing with people's lives. He reaches up carefully, slowly, focuses everything he has on what he's doing, and puts a small charge into the phone. Eraserhead watches him the whole time, but Denki knows the call goes through as a voice comes from the other line. 

Their conversation is quick, Denki focusing so hard on not blowing up the phone or shocking the hero he can't take any of it in, but as he releases his power and steps away the hero gives him a calculating look.

"That was pretty impressive. Electricity based quirks are rare." 

Denkis head bows as he takes another step back,

"It wasn't much. I gotta go now, you guys… you guys will handle this right? You'll save everyone? There's a hospital down the street with too many people in it, and they're gonna start the next phase soon." 

"They're getting ready as we speak, and I'll be sure we have people on the hospital don't worry. You have a safe place to go, kid?" The hero is watching him like one would a cornered animal, and Denki sorts feels like one, he nods with a small practiced smile,

"Thanks for listening sir, can't wait to watch you guys win on the news." Denki puts as much feeling as he can into the words, that this hero would believe a stranger, and that he truly is grateful for it. Denki thinks watching them win will be a great last sight. "Be safe, Mr. Eraserhead." 

Denki hurries down the road, making it look like he's heading towards the evacuees, but he turns once he's out of sight. Taking back alleys as he heads back, grabbing some food and beer from a broken store with a stab of guilt, and returning to the hell from whence he came. 

He had to after all, if he never came back it'd be too suspicious, the heroes needed him to return whether they knew it or not. He did it all for nothing in return, he knows his fate as the child of a villian, for the things he'd done and watched happen, he accepts that this one act will be his last deed. But what a way to go. 

Hes glared at as he enters the base of operations, 

"Took you long enough mutt, what didja go to china for it??" 

"Sorry, there were a lot of holes to go around, and a lot of places have been looted already." Denki replies innocently, placing the things on the table, turning to find his place on the couch once more. 

A hand on the back of his neck stops him, pulls him down beside his grandfather where he sits stiffly. The hand was firm, but not too tight yet, a warning,

"What's the rush? Dont you want to know your part in all of this?" Denki looks up with wide eyes, and the older man laughs, "Come now, you can't be that stupid? You belong to me, which means you fight for me, and that means, you're gonna be out there fighting. Do we have a problem with that?" His hand tightens and Denki wonders what the punishment will be this time if he refuses. Will he be killed on the spot? Beaten and locked away only to die abandoned when they fail? Forced to comply anyway, to die out there instead? Given to one of the generals so his grandfather won't have to deal with him? 

"Ooo, lookin' a little pale there mutt."

"Think he needs a reminder, Boss." 

"Let me have him, he'll be beggin' to fight by the time i'm done!" 

"I'll whip the soldier into shape, boss, just give me a few minutes with him!" 

"Hear that? They're all so eager to have you Denki, what will it be?"  His grandfather squeezes tighter, pulling him closer as everyone eyes him like a piece of meat. 

When Denki was little, an old movie had come on late one night, and his mother had watched it so intently. The little boy had so many things, toys, and Denki had watched with awe. He'd always wondered if American soldiers were green, and if they had to walk with their feet stuck to something, that it seemed ridiculous. But Denki feels stuck now, moved around by another to be used as they see fit. A soulless thing to be tossed away when his use is through. 

But… Denki does have a Soul. He does not want to be a soldier in a war against innocents. To be used to hurt people, to fight for the side who only wants power and chaos. Denki is no soldier. He'll die here before he lets them use him for their gain. 

"I," he takes a steadying breath, "I won't fight for you." The room as a whole tenses, as if they expected something different. At least 25 pairs of eyes are on him, on the man whose grip has only turned bruising. Denki could try to take everyone in this room out, but with grandfather here, Denki doubts itd do much beyond hurting himself. 

Maybe if he distracted them long enough, the heroes could move in before the next phase… before the other villains join. Denki doesn't change his answer, his conviction visible, he waits for the inevitable. 

Eraserhead had been heading to meet up with the others, simply ensuring anyone still out on his route were headed to safety. But to see a kid, the same age as his students, had his heart in his throat. For that kid to know everything he knew, to have a quirk such as his, and to react and behave as he had, well alarm bells were ringing- loudly. But Aizawa didn't need Naomasa's quirk to tell the truth in the kids' words. But he also knew there was more to it, so of course he wasn't gonna let the kid disappear- likely to never be seen again. 

He watches the kid, tracks him all the way back to the area he'd told him about. But here he had to wait, to go in now could blow everything, backup was on the way, and Heroes were heading to their positions around Japan, they needed to do this right, or Japan very well may be overtaken. He wasn't happy about it, worry churning his gut at the kid being this deep in enemy territory. His own students- problem children that they were- were at least with their families, hopefully away from any actual fighting. It would be up to the next generations if the pro's failed. 

It doesn't take long for backup to arrive, lining rooftops and ready to end this, but it still felt like too long. It was too quiet, he needed to know what was happening inside. 

"There's about 30 in the building, and if your intel is right, more on the way." The hero beside Aizawa is one he doesn't know, but he takes the intel in stride.

"At least one's a friendly. There may be an electricity quirk user inside, I'll take a small team in, back up should guard outside, the rest should prepare for backup. If we play our cards right, they'll be the ones outnumbered this time." 

"Understood."

Present Mic is at his side as the team's form, Midnight not far behind, a few other heroes join the mix, but he hardly waits for them to arrive before moving in. He gives a brief description of the kid, to be sure he's not taken down in the crossfire, but as they enter he sees it's not needed. 

He can feel the heroes at his back tense, just like he does, at the sight before them. Of a child, face down on the floor, pinned and outnumbered, skin a mix of every color bruise, blood smeared in several areas, and worse clearly in his cards from what they can gather. He doesn't have to give any orders, their rage works as one as they sweep forward. Aizawa scans the crowd for a ringleader, and finds him easily. 

Blonde hair, graying slightly at the roots, is about the only similarity the two share, that and apparently their quirk genre. The boy is held with an arm around his throat, bare chest shuddering with the short breaths he's able to take, golden eyes hazy. 

"Stay back, or I'll kill everyone here!" 

The boy's face scrunches in pain as sparks fly from his skin, Aizawa can see how he fights it, and wonders what exactly their two quirks are. But he supposes it doesn't really matter right now. The sounds of fighting are already slowing behind him, it was stupidly easy, they'd grown over confident after their first win. And now, desperate, he uses a child as a shield. 

The older man tightens his hold, the boy sparks again, Aizawas hair rises and his scarf unfurls, he's got the kid behind him and the man tied up in less than a blink. 

"You may have tried to outnumber us, but we've got you outgunned." Mic calls triumphantly, inhibitor cuffs swinging from his finger. 

"Game over."

[stellarcoachman]

Chapter 8 of Twisting Tracks

Prompt: Overcrowded ER CW: Hospitals, Bombing, Injury, Blood, Self-Blame Summary: Emmet waits in the hospital for his brother.

[thegreenleavesofspring]

Allan takes time to comfort a patient in the midst of a rush.

[ayakoito]

For some it's still early, but for me it's only 9 hours until the new year starts and since I won't have time later, I wish you all a good start and a great new year 2023!

[kashmirichaiwithmehr]

.

[octoswan]

thinking about how the ER doctor gave me antibiotics for my anaphylaxis and told me to go home lmao. great healthcare we have here