Even in the age of the mid-21st century economic collapse, the Troy Regional Medical Center was considered one of the finest medical institutions in America, and could¡¯ve easily competed with big name hospitals in big cities.
It had been responsible for nearly all the needed major medical care for the southeast quadrant of Alabama, and even some Floridians who dared to make the trek (the highways weren¡¯t as safe or intact as they used to be).? It had a small fleet of ambu-naughts (armored ambulances), medical choppers (cheaper to use and refuel than AV¡¯s) to extend its reach, and it could perform any medical procedure short of full body cybernetic replacement (that kind of stuff was reserved for the even bigger corporate hospitals).
Some of the strain of the Collapse had forced it to close a couple wings, but they consolidated what they could, and used the unused space to store extra medical supplies in case the highways got completely cut off, so the hospital was incredibly well stocked, even by the standards of the day.
Of course, no one ever contemplated being cut off from Earth indefinitely.??
No one was thinking that right now, of course.? The priority was to keep their current patients comfortable and get to treating the new patients that came in.? Power had only been briefly interrupted, since the hospital had its own backup generators in the basement and the latest Sol Invictus solar panels on its roof.? As a result, the hospital didn¡¯t even notice when main grid power took over a few hours later.
When Julian¡¯s small convoy pulled up, nurses and med-techs were standing ready, having been radioed ahead of time.? Julian, knowing he wasn¡¯t a medic, got out of the way, and started making some calls to the rest of the Nomad leadership, the Mayor, and in turn, the Police.? He had already described what to look for, but he wanted to make sure. The edge where the CHOOH2 crops turned into forest was now effectively their border, and it needed watching.
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¡°A-ya, what the hell?¡± Nurse Bethany Lum exclaimed as an unconscious girl was placed on a rolling litter, back up, showing the blood-soaked bandages on her back.? ¡°You there, medic! What happened to her!?¡±
¡°Some bastard decided to whip her in front of her Dad,¡± the medic said.? ¡°I um¡gave the old man a sedative. He¡¯s sleeping it off right now.¡±
¡°Right, got it,¡± Lum said, putting her professional facade back on.? ¡°This one: Clean up and spray skin, stat! What¡¯s next?¡±
¡°This poor woman,¡± gesturing to a woman dressed in a simple dress and bodice combination.? ¡°She um¡ahem¡three men were taking turns with her¡¡±
¡°I wish you didn¡¯t have to tell me that,¡± Lum grimaced.? ¡°Get an IV drip started on her, with 12 cc¡¯s anti-bio 1, and make sure we have female staff only checking on her.? Go! Next?¡±
¡°This guy here,¡± the medic said, wheeling in¡the devil!?? He was older, green skinned, and had well looked after horns, but STILL horns¡and was that a tail!? ¡°He¡¯s had a massive coronary.? I¡¯ve got him stabilized but¡ª¡°
¡°But what?¡± Lum interjected.? ¡°I mean, is he even human? I just can¡¯t start treating him willy-nilly¡ª¡°
¡°Look nurse,¡± the medic interrupted.? ¡°I don¡¯t know what he is, but I know he¡¯s responded positively to the anti-coags and beta blockers.? And my blood test tells me he¡¯s blood type O-, so you don¡¯t have to worry there. But I¡¯ve done all I can for him, and I don¡¯t want his daughter worrying, so¡¡±
Bethany looked over at a young, blue skinned girl, who also had horns and a definite tail, and her lines softened.? Whatever they were, she knew worry when she looked her in the eyes, and the way she wouldn¡¯t let go of the old man¡¯s hand.? Bethany took a deep breath, let it out¡
¡°Okay, get him hooked up and ready for ultrasound,¡± she said.? ¡°Did you use nano-surgeons?¡±
¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± the medic said back.
¡°Good,¡± she affirmed.? ¡°We¡¯ll get them online to tell us what¡¯s going on, too.? Next!¡±
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Still able to understand them, Zafiri feared they were about to be thrown out, but then the¡medic?? He explained some things, and said something about his blood type being O negative. What in the heavens did that mean?
Whatever it meant, this woman changed her mind, it seemed.? They were not being thrown out. She talked about something called ¡°ultrasound¡±, and apparently they could talk to the ¡°nano-surgeons¡± that were inside of her father, already.
It all sounded like strange magic to her, but as far as her senses could tell, nothing they used, from their healing materials to the strange horseless carriages, were magical in any way.? Nothing about them was magical¡
Except now that one woman.? The one who talked into Zafiri¡¯s mind.? The one who seemed to spontaneously cast that powerful magic that wiped out that one dragon.? She noticed that that woman was being wheeled off¡ªto a ¡°recovery room¡±, and how they weren¡¯t sure what was wrong with her or why she was unconscious.
They started to wheel off her father, but she refused to let go.? Surprisingly, they didn¡¯t make her do so. They just let her come along as they brought him to a room, and started removing his robes.? Reluctantly, she let go to allow them to do that.
Then she grew rather alarmed!? His jewelry¡they were removing it.? Oh gods¡were they robbing him? What about their possessions in the chest?? Would they be taken? Would they discover the silver her father was responsible for?? What could she do!?
Then she found that her worry was strangely unfounded.? True, they did remove his jewelry, but they put it all in a curious clear¡bag.? Once the last ring went in, they handed the bag to her, and proceeded to put on some sort of flimsy¡gown on her father¡¯s still form.
¡°Keep these for him,¡± said the woman slowly, as his rings were handed over to her.? ¡°We wash clothes, then give back¡¡±
What a shock it would have been for the woman if Zafiri decided to respond in their own language.? She could, at least for a few more hours before the spell wore off. But no¡they were helping, it seemed, but there was so much going on.? And this place¡this hospital? It was unlike anything she had seen before. It was large, and so clean. And the place was lit up so brightly, and she wasn¡¯t sure how.
She had so many questions, and no one to ask them to.
Well¡maybe not no one.? There was one, perhaps¡the Hidalgo.
The one they called Jefe, or Julian.
Janet had been right there when all the fireworks happened. The strange blue expulsion from her own body, an exodus of something potent from a pool of energy found...everywhere. Yet she had been a passive stranger in her own self. She¡¯d strayed into suiside realm once again but not of her own accord.?
She¡¯d fought for control, the fear so terrible, the blackness so complete. She worked to free her mind, felt something tear, a slice here and a hole there. Then a message came to her but it was like a feeling had come, ¡®be still, watch¡¯.?
She¡¯d done so as her body expelled something incredibly powerful, a force violent and extreme. Whatever it was it was death and it had come from her but directed by something else. What was this other?
She groaned. Light was stinging her eyes. The darkness had left her and now it was bright. Noises came, footsteps on a hard floor. The smell of the hospital. Her meager sheets felt cold against her skin. She raised a hand to her head. Something encircled her wrist.?
Eyes open she looked up at the strange ornament. What the hell was this? The bracelet was of some kind of blue metal that was locked firmly onto her like a vice. It did not give her pain and it seemed of no consequential weight. With her free right hand she tried to gain purchase and wiggle it free. It was not budging.?
She gave up and struggled to her elbows. Then a thought occurred to her and she cursed out loud. Her ChevyElectro was god knows where._._,_._,_
A door opened and a man in a white coat was smiling at her. ¡°Hello Janet. What did you do to get yourself in here?¡±?
The man was fit and good looking, a professional doctor, one with good bedside manners. Things were looking up.
¡°I¡¯m fine if you need to know. Just a little disoriented is all,¡± Jan said weakly. She didn¡¯t feel weak but her voice sounded like crap.
¡°I am Doctor Jenson. We¡¯ve done a little work up on you. Everything seems to be in working order. I am curious as to what happened to you?
¡°Hit my head, right on the chip-o-meter you might say. Out like a light I guess.¡± She smirked sourly at her quick lie.?
He took her arm and checked her pulse. ¡°Okay,¡± he said as if to himself. He examined her head in the back near the nap of her neck.
¡°Not a scratch here that I can see,¡± he added cheerfully. He stepped back and folded his arms across his chest. ¡°You know the drill? Make sure someone checks on you when you go to sleep. Just a precaution for the next day or so.¡±
¡°Got it,¡± Jan said with a smile. He was letting her go. That was cool. She hated hospitals.
She started to climb out of the bed.?
¡°Wait,¡± Doctor Jenson said. ¡°I think you might want some clothes.¡±
A nurse eventually showed up with some oversized jeans and a thermal shirt in a sick orange color. She pulled them on. Thankfully there was a belt to keep them up. She checked the mirror on the way out and groaned. She looked like a war victim. She touched her face. The skin was very pale and cold to the touch. ¡°Holy hell,¡± she remarked to the face staring back at her. She did a double take and blinked. Her eyes, they were almost black. ¡°You couldn¡¯t take the freckles but you could do this too my eyes?¡±
Her voice was fierce. A spark jumped randomly from her arm to the alien bracelet on her wrist. It made her jump and made her heart leap in her chest. ¡°This is stupid.¡±
Then she felt it. The power that surrounded her. It had come on so slowly she¡¯d not noticed until now. Or had it been her anger? Hadn¡¯t the Doctor noticed those eyes? Scared the shit out of myself!
She looked back into the mirror and gripped the sink that hung just below with both hands. She tried to push back on that feeling of energy rippling around her. It seemed to fade slightly.
Out in the hall she looked both ways. Out, left maybe. She strode confidently bare-footed down the hall. She was just making some good headway, the front doors were in sight the daylight still strong through the window when she passed another room without a door.
Don¡¯t look. She looked. It was a waiting room. SHE was there in a seat looking lost as hell.?
Shit! It was the blue girl.?
¡°Zfiri.¡± Had she spoken out loud? The horns swiveled and those yellow eyes glowered at her.?
¡°Hey,¡± Jan managed with a little wave. ¡°Ristoy esstr oywh?¡±
The words were foreign, completely unknown to her yet they meant ¡®Are you okay¡¯?¡±
Zfiri nodded in the affirmative but her body language said ¡®I¡¯m just a little freaked out now¡¯.
Jan nodded. She was ready to bolt big time. She needed a shower badly and her poor Chevy was out in the sticks, literally.?
Instead she went and sat down next to her.?
¡°Your father, is he here, is he okay?¡± Again with the weird words but they were making sense somehow.
Zfiri gave Jan the rundown the best the poor thing could do. Her father was doing okay she thought but wasn¡¯t very sure at all. This place is safe right? What happens next? Several more questions came quickly and Jan did her best to answer them.?
¡°I saw him, on the table,¡± Zfiri continued. ¡°I was terrified. They gave me his...¡± She held up the bad and Jan noticed rings and other jewelry inside. It all looked like very fine stuff.?
¡°Saul to hell,¡± Jan said in spanglish then reverted to horn language, ¡°Do you want to come to my home? Rest, clean up, maybe eat then come back here?¡±
Zfiri looked around the room then back at Janet. She reached out to Jan¡¯s freckled face with one blue hand. Jan noticed the fine rings and the beautiful bracelet on her wrist.?
¡°Your eyes?!¡±
Oh shit, she needed some sunglasses in the worst way.
Zafiri was, even by 21st century standards (though she didn¡¯t realize it yet), very well educated.? She was a classically trained mage, could speak and was literate in seven different languages, and had training in practical magic (like alchemy), as well as thaumaturgic theory.
It was this last one that was guiding her now.? She kept her voice low.
¡°I think you may¡¡± How did she word this delicately.? ¡°Something may have contacted you.? I don¡¯t think your eyes are meant to be that color, are they?? And it would explain why you can speak Torquan all of a sudden.¡±
Of course, she wasn¡¯t sure about the nature of the contact.? Not yet, anyway. Was she possessed? Or perhaps¡perhaps she¡¯s one of those who was receptive to Others?? Perhaps she was a potential Covenant mage, and inadvertently made her first Covenant? She wasn¡¯t sure. Not yet.
¡°I will accept your offer,¡± Zafiri said.? ¡°But I have questions I need to ask.? I assume you have some yourself? I¡¯m willing to exchange evenly if such is the case.¡±
She was marginally satisfied that her father was safe.? More to the point, it was her father, not her, who was adept in the healing arts.? She couldn¡¯t do more for him right now.
Jan nodded consent and stood up. The room didn¡¯t wobble and her knees didn¡¯t buckle. In fact she felt about 100% and that didn¡¯t make any sense to her at all. Except...the energy, the pool of energy seemed to seep into her like a water to a sponge. Was that why? Then why had she gone comatose on the battlefield? Maybe Zafiri was onto something. Jan didn¡¯t like the tone of her words. Something was wrong with her and she knew it. But to face it was a different matter. She felt fine right now. She had just nodded in agreement with Zafiri. One thing was certain, that summoning circle had been a real bad idea.?
Outside the hospital stood two of the Nomad soldiers Jan had met briefly during the impromptu raid.? Wasn¡¯t everything today impromptu??
¡°Saviors,¡± Jan intoned. The term one she just made up on the spot. After all Aldecaldo in Latin meant aid crock. The crock part didn¡¯t make sense unless you consider the group as a whole unit together. In her opinion they were the Saviors in deed and in name.?
They both raised eyebrows at her word for them. ¡°Aldecaldo,¡± she explained. ¡°You come to help those in need, hence Saviors. Just trust me.¡±
She couldn¡¯t remember their names. ¡°I¡¯m Jan and this is Zafiri. I need to get home to clean up. Can you help?¡±
In spanglish the taller one replied, ¡°We know you Jan. You stood before the Dragon and split it with thunder and lightning. You are a champion.¡± He paused, looking embarrassed, ¡°Are you okay?¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Jan said switching to spanglish. Sometimes she forgot these little things. ¡°My Electro, I left it...¡±
¡°I am Luis. We have your car in the parking lot. Come I show you.¡±
At the car Jan was very appreciative. She did ask Luis one last question. ¡°Is the boss around?¡±
¡°He is very busy.¡±
¡°I believe that.¡±
(TBC)
