The female had suffered an unbelievable amount of damage. The trauma looked to have happened well before the blasts tonight, so the doctors were already suspecting foul play. They got right to work on repairing her ruptured organs and setting her broken bones. Jane Doe, because that’s what they call female patients who arrive with no identification, was holding on to life, but barely.
The male, John Doe (male version of “Jane Doe”), was given a CT scan and treated for a concussion. He was also sedated, hydrated and given oxygen to help with the effects of smoke inhalation.
Ten minutes after the first rig arrived, a second pulled up to St. Frances’ emergency room doors. Out jumped what looked like to the residents, nurses, and staff to be a coyote. But after working in the ER for all these years, these professionals were pretty tough to surprise. They focused not on the nearly sixty-pound dog that jumped out of the ambulance, but on the young people inside.
A female named Meg Winter was badly bruised and had several broken ribs. But most urgently, she was suffering from a large knife wound in the left thigh and had lost a significant amount of blood.
Her brother, Evan Winter, insisted that they had the same rare blood type and that he be her direct donor should she need a transfusion. A quick test confirmed the boy’s claim, so they set Evan up immediately to draw his blood. As one nurse worked on Evan, two nurses and a doctor worked on Meg.
“Were you the one who put this tourniquet on?” the ER doctor asked Evan.
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, son. You probably saved your sister’s life by doing that. She would have lost too much blood otherwise. Well done.”
“Thank you, sir. I am well read on all first aid medical lifesaving techniques.”
The doctor glanced up at Evan who was watching him with keen, curious eyes. “Have you ever thought about becoming a doctor?”
“Yes, sir. Well, a scientist. Like my mother, Dr. Margo Winter.”
“Your mother’s name is Margo?” The doctor stopped briefly and looked up at Evan.
Holy cow, his mom! Alik! “My mom and brother were at The Institute too. Have they been brought in yet?” Evan tried to stay calm knowing the needle drawing his blood would work more efficiently if he held still.
“We’ll have someone check to see who else was brought in. Betty, do you mind looking into that for Mr. Winter?” The doctor said all this without looking up from Meg’s wound.
“Right away, doctor,” Nurse Betty responded to the obviously respected physician. She squeezed Evan’s shoulder encouragingly as she walked out the room.
“Margo is your mother? She used to work at The Institute, right?” The doctor sounded like he was fishing, and Evan was not about to take the bait.
“I’m feeling a little dizzy,” he said changing the subject.
Chapter 60 Flight 217 From Kansas
He had received a phone call from Alik Winter earlier this afternoon warning him of what was to happen that night and asking him if he would help.
Alik sounded scared but determined and nothing Dr. Andrews said would sway him from his plan to save his mom.
He and Cole grabbed the first flight out of Kansas to LAX. The children needed him, and he was going to be there for them.
The good doctor and his son had just climbed into a rental car when they heard the news flash on the local radio station.
“Just after 5pm this evening The Institute of Neurobiological Studies in Upland, California suffered a series of explosions causing extensive damage. Most employees had already left the buildings by the time the blasts hit, but there were a handful of victims who have been taken to St. Frances Medical Center for treatment. No word yet on the extent of those injuries. Dr. Kenneth Williams, noted scientist and Chief Executive Officer of The Institute, could not be reached for comment. We’ll keep you informed with more details as they’re brought to our attention. This is Kat Kirpatrick for 106.1FM.”
Dr. Andrews was already leaning over the car’s GPS typing in St. Frances and getting directions.
“Do you think they’re okay, dad?” Cole asked, truly worried about his friends.
“I don’t know son. I’ll make some phone calls as we drive. We’ll see what we can find out. The computer says drive time from here is fifty-four minutes. We’ll get there as fast as we can.”
Cole’s brows were furrowed. “Why did they have to do this, dad? Why did all this stuff have to happen to them? They’re just kids like me! Just three kids who wanted their mom back.” Cole was trying hard not to cry.
“You’re right. None of this was fair or right. Those children didn’t deserve to have their lives altered by Dr. Williams when they were babies and they sure as heck didn’t deserve to have their mom stolen away from them now. Their mom is their whole world, all they’ve ever known. They feel she’s the only person who ever loved them. If you think about it from their point of view, they had no choice. They had to go fight to get her back.” Dr. Andrew’s voice was calming to Cole.