This section is from Maria's perspective.
Fear gripped my heart as I felt the tension in the air. This town of strangers who weren't the most fond of my boss or that we came here turned their anger and anxiety on a dime after the explosion.
I pushed through the crowd, their whispers and gasps adding to the chaos. I wasn't strong enough to carry the buckets, but I still wanted to help.
Suddenly, a tall, large figure emerged from the throng, moving with purpose toward me. In their arms was a small, bloody child, barely breathing. Before I could react, he dropped the boy into my arms, screamed something, and disappeared back into the crowd.
As he moved through the crowd, I realized it was Derrick.
"¡Madre de Dios, ayúdanos! Por favor, Virgencita, protege a este niño," I muttered under my breath, cradling the child as gently as I could. Rosalina was at my side in an instant, her eyes wide with concern.
"Hold him still," she commanded, her voice steady despite the gravity of the situation.
I did as I was told, trying my best to keep my hands from shaking as Tsu and Teruo approached us. The sight of the poor kid's injuries made my stomach churn, but I knew I had to keep it together for his sake.
Rosalina wasted no time assessing the child's condition. She pressed her fingers to his neck, checking for a pulse, then placed her ear against his chest, plugging the other with a finger, listening for any signs of life. I held my breath, continuing my prayers silently for there to still be hope for him.
"Breathing shallow at under ten per minute, heart rate low and weak," Rosalina reported, her face pale. "Bleeding from at least three wounds, but none are venal or arterial. Seems to have a cranial hematoma. Non-responsive."
Tsu and Teruo exchanged confused glances, clearly out of their depth.
"Alright," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "What do we need to do?"
"Get him to the clinic now," Rosalina ordered, her tone leaving no room for hesitation.
Tsu and Teruo looked around at the crowd as if they were about to ask for permission. I clung to the boy's body, waiting for clear instructions.
"En chinga Rápido Vámonos! Vamos vamos! Where's your clinic?" Rosalina screamed, her eyes locked onto the confused siblings.
"Over there!" Tsu and Teruo shouted in unison, pointing ahead. Rosalina didn't wait and started walking. I lurched forward to keep up with her running. I noticed Tsu and Terruo at my side. My legs and arms began to burn with every step; each breath felt like an inhaling fire. The boy's small body trembled in my arms.
"Move, now!" Teruo bellowed, shoving people aside as we sprinted through the crowd. Fear and concern flashed across their faces, but they obeyed without hesitation. It struck me how much power Tsu and Teruo held over this community. They were respected. And right now, that was exactly what we needed.
As we neared the clinic, my vision blurred from exhaustion, and I felt my legs buckle beneath me. I did everything to focus on Rosalina, who was a few paces ahead of me. Just as I thought I might collapse, Teruo flung the door open and held it wide, his face grim.
"Inside," he commanded, his voice steady despite the frantic pace of our sprint. "Let's go!"
The clinic waiting room was a cozy in contrast to the chaotic town right now. Tsu led us to a room that looked sterile in the twilight, its large window revealing the darkening sky beyond. The surgical table in the center of the room was surrounded with a few stainless steal tables. Cabinets lined the walls that were not the window.
"Maria, put down the kid here," Rosalina ordered, her voice steady. "Tsu, Teruo, I need light, shears, sterilization liquid, saline. Prepare sutures or equivalent and antibiotic cream and gauze."
I gently placed the barely alive child on the cold surface and watched as Tsu opened cabinets, getting what Rosalina asked for, and Teruo sprinted out of the room. Rosalina grabbed a stethoscope from a nearby table and focused on the boy's shallow breaths. I stood near her, feeling useless.
"Alright, Maria," Rosalina said, her gaze never leaving the child. "Hold his body still."
I took the small hand in mine and held his shoulder as Rosalina pealed the wet, bloody shirt off his body to look for additional wounds.
"Got the gas lamps," Teruo announced as he entered the room, placing them around the child. The brightness seemed to swallow the darkness in an instant, illuminating every detail of the boy's bloody body.
"Good," Rosalina nodded. "Do you have oxygen? His lungs are choked up, and I'm hearing slight wheezing, but he's barely breathing."
Teruo disappeared again, leaving me to watch Rosalina work. Rosalina acted cool and in control.
My baby sister was amazing.
"Here," Tsu said, placing a tray of supplies next to Rosalina. "Everything you asked for."
"Good," Rosalina said, her voice tense and focused. "Tsu, we need to use saline and towels to remove the blood and find the cuts." She handed me a towel without looking up at me.
I wet the cloth with the saline solution Tsu had brought, and together, we began wiping away the blood that covered the boy's body. Underneath the dark red stains, his skin was pale and cold.
"Teruo, how's that oxygen coming?" Rosalina called out, pressing her fingers gently against the child's chest and head.
"Here," Teruo replied, wheeling in a tank of oxygen. "I don't have a child mask. So this will have to work." He held up an adult-sized mask.
"Alright, let's just do our best," Rosalina said, taking the mask from Teruo and positioning it over the child's face. As he turned the valve, I could hear the faint hiss of escaping air.
"Hey, Maria," Tsu whispered, catching my attention. "Help me lift him to check his from the back. We need to check for more cuts."
Together, we raised the child's body, Rosalina keeping the mask in place, revealing more bloodied skin. The sight made my stomach churn. I was far from being a medic. I focused on repeating my prayers to focus my mind and calm my stomach.
"Those look superficial," Rosalina observed, peering closely at the few shallow cuts we found. "There are 2 massive hematomas on the head, but I don't feel any fractures."
Tsu said, "There are some cuts on his abdomen as well."
She grabbed a pair of scissors and began carefully cutting off the child's shirt. As the fabric fell away, it caught on something that made Tsu pause.
"Rosalina," he said, his voice tight with concern. "Can you take a look at this?"
"Maria, hold the mask," Rosalina instructed as she took the scissors from Tsu. I stepped out of her way and carefully held the oxygen mask in place on the child's face, making sure not to obstruct his breathing or let too much oxygen run away around the child's tiny face.
Carefully, Rosalina cut around the area where the shirt was caught. It was a sliver of metal embedded in his side, pinning the fabric to his skin. Tsu looked pale at the sight, but Rosalina remained focused as Teruo handed her a pair of tweezers.
"Light," she commanded, and Teruo held a lamp next to the wound, illuminating the gruesome wound. Rosalina gripped the sliver with the tweezers and yanked it out in one swift motion. Blood oozed from the hole, and she immediately covered it with gauze.
"Thank God it's not too deep. Need to get antibiotic cream on all these wounds," Rosalina said, examining the child's injuries further. "None of them look like they need sutures other than this one." She gestured to the wound where the metal had been embedded.
Tsu and Rosalina worked in tandem, applying the antibiotic cream and bandaging the wounds. Teruo swiftly sutured the wound shut.
Out of nowhere, a shrill cry pierced the air, muffled by a mask. Startled, I looked down and saw the eyes of the child open, filled with fear and pain. My heart clenched at the sight. I knelt beside his face, trying to calm him. "Sh, sh, sh. It's okay," I whispered, brushing away the tears that streamed from his eyes.
He gasped, his voice trembling, "Mommy! Daddy!"
"Hey, it's okay, little one," I reassured him, patting his head gently. "You've got a booboo, but we're patching you up. You'll be just fine." Teruo put the needle away and turned off the oxygen tank. The child began coughing, struggling for breath.
"Teruo?" I asked, unsure of what to do.
"We need to listen to his lungs and heart before giving more oxygen. Take off the mask," Teruo instructed. I removed the mask from the child's face, and he stopped coughing, his cries softening into whimpers. In my mind, I focused on prayers to keep calm.
"Maria, keep soothing him," Teruo said, snapping me back to the present. I couldn't focus on my own emotions at the moment. This was not a time for selfishness.
He placed the stethoscope against the child's chest, listening intently as he worked his way around the small chest. After a few moments, he asked, "Can we lift him so I can listen from the back?"
Rosalina looked up from the wound she was treating and nodded. "Yes, we're done here." Together, we carefully lifted the child, supporting his battered body as Teruo listened to his lungs from the back.
"Alright," Teruo finally said, removing the stethoscope from the child's back. "He seems stable for now."
"Gracias, Señor, por tu misericordia. Amén," I breathed, relief washing over me, the relief bringing me to the edge of consciousness. I looked at the exhausted faces of Teruo, Tsu, and Rosalina. The only one who didn't look completely stressed out was my baby sister.
The abrupt wail of panic pierced the air, sending a shudder through me. Ivan's voice followed, tense and urgent: "Tsu, Teruo, Derrick got injured!"
My heart raced as a man and woman, both sobbing, stumbled into the surgical room, clutching a child and a dog. The injured boy in my arms began to whimper, his eyes wide with fear. "Mommy!" he cried out again.
Teruo and Tsu quickly stepped between the distraught parents and the child I held, their faces tear-streaked.
"Wait," Teruo commanded, his voice firm. "We're taking care of him, but he can't move yet. Please go to the foyer."
The woman's sobs choked off momentarily, her gaze locked on the child in my arms, torn between relief and anguish. As they hesitated, Derrick appeared in the doorway, supported by Ivan and a man in a firefighter jacket. His face was pale and ashen, covered in a thick layer of soot. His shirt was torn or burnt to tatters, blisters forming in some places, splinters present in others.
"Jesus," Tsu gasped, her face draining of color. "What happened?"
Ivan shook his head, his jaw clenched. "This lunatic ran into the building and saved the kid and put the fire out."
"Room 3," Tsu ordered, her voice wavering only slightly. "Teruo and Gabriela, please help Derrick. Maria and I will finish here."
As Teruo and Gabriela rushed to assist Derrick, I fought to keep my own fear at bay. Focus on the child. I just need to focus on the child. The child needs me right now.