#mediwhumpmayday27

[faofinn]

Day 27 - Car Crash

@mediwhumpmay

It had been a long, long shift. Fao was exhausted as he drove home, the radio turned up loud to try and keep him awake. He’d bought a coffee before he left, but the caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet, and he was desperate for his bed. He’d been called in early that morning, after not a lot of sleep, and then had worked a full shift on top of that. It was a cold, rainy day, one of those winter days where he’d hardly seen the sun, commuting in the dark. He knew the roads, he wasn’t far from home now. 

He was starting to feel a bit more alive, the coffee kicking in a little and the thought of being home perking him up. The streetlights blurred a warm yellow in the rain on his windscreen, before being wiped clean moments later. The radio was playing one of his favourite songs, another boost after a very long day. That was, until someone pulled out of a junction in front of him. He’d seen them, surely they’d seen him. But no, they pulled out straight in front of him, and as much as he’d slammed on the brakes, the rain had made the road slippery, and the person had pulled out too late. The car skidded, Fao tried his best to control it, but it was no use. He collided with them, a screech of tyres and metal. 

For a moment, everything was silent, Fao’s ears ringing from the impact. It took him back, memories of a time he’d rather forget, but then the sound of rain on the roof brought him back to the present. His thoughts were slow, sluggish, and it was an effort to get his brain to work. He was alive, he could breathe relatively pain free. Good. Could he move his arms? Fingers? Yes. That meant he could reach for his phone, somehow unscathed, and struggled to call 999 with shaky hands, the adrenaline and shock coursing through him. There was shattered glass everywhere, but it was so dark he could barely see anything else. 

They took their time arriving, or at least it felt like that to Fao. Seconds fet like minutes, minutes felt like hours. Fao was vaguely aware of pain, up his right leg, but he knew he needed to get out, to see if the other person was hurt. Probably given how hard he’d hit them. He struggled to get the door open, the metal warped, but eventually managed to force it open. He scrambled out of the car, into the pouring rain. It was then as he took weight through his right leg that the pain intensified and the leg gave out from under him, and he hit the wet tarmac hard. 

The ambulance had just turned up as Fao stood, and then immediately went down. They swore, requested backup, and jumped out the truck.

"You alright, mate? Just stay still, yeah? Don't move for a moment."

Fao had rolled onto his back, breathing heavily through the pain. “Shit. ‘M fine, ’m worried about the other guy.”

"My colleague’s checking them out. I'm just worried about you. Where's hurting?"

“Leg.” He groaned. “Gave out under me.”

"Yeah, I saw. Did you black out? What happened?" He asked, gently feeling Fao’s neck. "Any pain?"

“Don’t think I blacked out. Feel concussed.” He murmured. “No pain.”

"How fast were you going?"

“Uhh, I don’t know. 40? But I was braking.”

"Were they stationary?"

“Pullin’ out.” He mumbled. “Went straight out in front of me.”

"Bit of a dick move, eh?"

“You’re telling me.” He grumbled. “Tried to stop, lost the back and and jus’ couldn’t stop.”

"We'll get you sorted." He said, leaning back to shout at his colleague. "What have you got?"

"Slight head lac, query wrist frac, broken ribs." His crewmate shouted back. "Stable enough, but we'll need to immobilised for MOI."

"Happy to deal without critcare?"

"Yeah, just need that second crew."

Fao groaned, listening to them the best he could. It was still pouring down, he was cold and all he wanted was to go home. It sounded like the other driver was okay, at least relatively. But his leg was really hurting now, the pain spreading into his foot. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any pain relief, have you?”

"I'll get you some in just a second. Are you allergic to anything? Taken any meds?"

“I can’t have morphine, but even paracetamol would be beautiful right about now.”

"Alright, we can do that." He offered Fao a smile. "Am I alright to try get a little needle in your arm?"

“You can try. I’ve jus’ finished close to a 15 hour shift, ‘m a bit dehydrated.”

"Ouch, that's never fun. Do you have anywhere that's better?"

“Um, acf, crook of elbow if you can; hands are usually a no go. The left, normally.”

"Thanks. I'll be as quick as I can."

He groaned, scrubbing at his face with his free hand. This really wasn’t how his evening was supposed to be going. “Thanks.”

The medic chatted away to Fao as he did his best to cannulate Fao. He wasn't lying when he’d said he was difficult, but he eventually got one he was happy with. It was good timing, the paracetamol hung as the next crew arrived, moving to help them. 

Fao did his best to answer, but he was exhausted and in pain and soaked to the skin, and he wasn’t happy about it. All he’d wanted was to go home, have a shower and crawl into bed. Now he was going to end up back at work, as a patient as well. 

Cannulated with the paracetamol running, they were quick to move him, well aware he was only growing colder. The gaps between his answers had grown longer too, his responses not quite matching what he'd asked. While it could be the concussion, the exhaustion, or the shock of it all, it could easily have been a sign of something more serious. 

It was a relief to get out of the rain, and Fao certainly felt better for the relative warmth of the ambulance. He focused on his breathing the best he could, trying to stay in control of something. 

“Obviously ‘m not getting away without hospital… are we going down the road? Georges?”

"Back to work, I'm afraid."

“Great.” He groaned.

"Least you know they'll treat you well." 

“Take the piss more like.”

"Six and two threes."

“My fucking brother works in ED.”

"Oh? Is he working tonight?"

“No idea. Maybe?”

"Don't keep up with his shifts?"

“I try, but I can’t for the life of me remember if he’s on nights from tonight or tomorrow.”

"That's alright. We'll find out when we get there, eh?"

“Mm, I guess.” If Finn was working, he was dead. His brother would kill him, and then he’d call Sheila who would kill him even more.

"Not a good thing?"

“He’ll kill me.”

"Least it's not your parents working there."

“Yeah, not in ED… but mum’s a nurse.”

"Ah, a medical family."

“Yeah.”

"What does your dad do?"

“Oh, not medical. History lecturer.”

"A bit different."

“Black sheep.” He said with a grin. 

"Yeah?"

“Doesn’t like blood.”

"Oh, that's not ideal."

“Hence the history.” He mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. 

"I see. Try and stay still for me. I know it's difficult."

“I don’t like it.” He mumbled. “Makes me all twitchy.” It had been like this before. Too many times before. 

"I know, I know. It's not nice. Hopefully just a precaution."

He fidgeted with his left foot, the one that had something other than pain. It was uncomfortable, though, and the rain, the cold and the impact had set old aches off. “Yeah.”

"You still in pain?"

“Yeah.” He admitted. The paracetamol had barely done anything.

"We're not far, they'll have better things there. I've only got the morphine."

“I know.” He said thickly. “This is shit.”

"Yeah, I'm sorry." He squeezed  Fao's hand gently. "Is there anyone I can call for you?"

“I can call them at hospital, if they’re not there.”

It was a relief to finally get to hospital, even though he was back at work. He tried to focus on the handover, but the chaos and pain of being transferred and fussed over by the receiving team made his head spin and it was too difficult to concentrate on anything other than not passing out.  

What he didn’t miss, though, was the familiar face of one of his amazing colleagues leaning over him. “Hey, Fao. Didn’t expect to see you back here so soon, thought we sent you home? Don’t worry, we’ve got you now. Only the best for one of our own. I’ve got some pain relief for you here - oxy, don’t panic, I know what you can’t have - because that paracetamol isn’t going to be doing a lot for you, I’ll bet. Then we’ll get  you checked out, get you to CT, and go from there. Sound like a plan?”

He sighed in relief. “Yeah, thanks.” 

There was a moment of quiet, the nurses' conversations stopping. "For the love of God, please tell me this isn't Fao."

Fao sighed. “I wish it wasn’t?”

"Fuck this. I'm done." Finn muttered. "I'm done, I've had enough of this shift. I'm done."

“Finn!” Fao called out, but it wasn’t like he could go after his brother. Fuck’s sake. 

[autobot2001]

They Know

@mediwhumpmay: car crash @themerrywhumpofmay: knife (SNippet from Hidden Killer)

To keep fear alive in the city, Austin continues to find targets, while being careful not to blow his cover.  He enjoys being creative with his kills. Today, he breaks into someone's car, but he needs to keep his target unsuspecting as they return to their vehicle. The only issue he might have is if the target needs to place something in the back seat.  He doesn't have to wait long for his unsuspecting target to get into the car and drive.

"Hello," Austin smiles as he moved onto the seat. The driver panics, "keep driving." The driver does as told while panicking.  Austin waits for the right moment for the next step.

The driver gasps feeling a knife's blade on his neck. "Tell me about the Autobots'," he demands. "They went home three years ago.." "Lies! They're still here, and you work with them. Now tell me about them. I'll let you live and earn them." "How do you know they're still on Earth if you don't know about them? You're the one that female victim is warning N.E.S.T. about!" Austin knows he can't let his target live. He stabs the victim in the throat and pulls the knife down. His victim screams as he loses control of the car. Austin braces for impact as the car crashes into a wall. He's able to rush away from the scene. Fuck, that bitch was smart to warn them with her blood. I have to be careful. Austin worries as he runs down the street and into an alleyway.  He uses his watch to change his appearance to Dylan Greene. Walking out of the alleyway when no one is  paying attention.   He discovers someone already called for help with the accident and people are panicking.  He knows he can't look pleased with the scene.