Wonder City Stories II #62
Sep. 20th, 2011 11:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wonder_cityAt Present Low, But Will Soon Be Better
Ira's attention was snatched away from the chase by Jeshri's sudden lurch of dismay. He looked through her eyes and saw Brandon shored up against the river wall.
Brandon smiled briefly, wiping at the corner of his mouth. He tried to rise (a second time, apparently, according to Jeshri), but fell back against the wall. Tried again and failed again. He frowned and focused on the remaining group. "Hurts," he said, not very loudly.
Tom walked over quickly. "Did you hit your head?" he asked, crouching down next to his housemate.
"Uh," Brandon said, licking his lips. "I don't know?" He tried to reach up to touch the back of his head, but winced and dropped his hand to his side. "Hurts."
"What hurts?" Eartha said, standing a few feet from him.
"Um," Brandon said, trying a deep breath and making a pained noise. "Chest."
"He hit him in the chest," Jeshri said, reaching into her pocket and producing a cell phone.
"That won't work," Lizzie said to her, pointing at the phone.
Jeshri gave her a brief smile as the screen lit up under her fingertips. "Hardened. I work with electricity, remember?" She dialed and put the phone to her ear.
Brandon was frowning again, looking perplexed. "Can't... breathe right," he said between short breaths.
"He probably broke your ribs, dude," Tom said. "It's gonna hurt."
Brandon touched his chest vaguely, and his fingers caught in the strings of his hoodie. He wrenched them free impatiently. "Hurts," he said again. "A lot."
Jeshri was talking to the 911 operator. "Yes, supervillain combat at Staybird Park. No, he's run away toward town. We have an injured person here, though."
Ira looked at Brandon through Tom's eyes. He didn't like the ghastly grey color of Brandon's face, even allowing for the sodium vapor lamplight. Or the way Brandon's eyes were rolling. He's passing out, he said through the link. Try laying him back flat, son.
Tom needed Lizzie's help to stretch Brandon out on the chilly concrete. They bore with gritted teeth Brandon's pathetic hisses and whimpers, and Lizzie pulled off her own hoodie to drape over Brandon.
"Shock?" Tom said.
"Looks like it to me," Eartha said, peering. "I'll go to the front of the park to meet the ambulance." She zipped off, cautiously, in the direction the battle had gone. Meteor's head was not visible in the distance.
Oh, yes, Ira thought. He's in shock. Ira replayed what he'd seen of the blow through his memory. Oh, yes. Just like McMullin.
Can either of you take a pulse? he said into the link.
Lizzie said, Yes, I just finished my CPR cert at the Y. She knelt next to Brandon and fumbled for the pulse in his wrist.
Brandon was gasping for breath, short shallow inhalations through his teeth. His eyes were open, but slitted. "Thought he was my bro," he mumbled.
"He wasn't," Tom said, more than a little bitterly.
Jeshri knelt down and actually took Brandon's hand. "The ambulance is on its way."
I can barely feel his pulse, Lizzie said into the link.
The harsh panting suddenly stopped. "The fuck?" Tom said, only just barely stopped by Ira from unadvisedly shaking the man on the ground. "Brandon? Brandon?"
"He's not breathing," Jeshri said, eyes wide. "What can we do? We've got to do something!"
Mouth to mouth, Ira said, keeping the subsequent thought of for all the good it will do to himself. When none of the kids moved, he said, more urgently, Mouth to mouth, Lizzie. No compressions, I think.
Lizzie shoved Tom out of the way peremptorily and lurched forward. She carefully cleared Brandon's airway and started breathing for him.
In the distance, there was a faint wail of a siren.
"Just like McMullin," Ira said out loud at the table, rubbing his face. Watson looked at him, and he said, "Seen it before, in Korea. Corporal McMullin was hit by a boulder thrown by one of the bulletproofs on the other side. When they opened up his chest, he was full of blood."
Watson looked down at her phone. "Ambulance is 2 minutes away."
Ira looked back through the link, at the woman breathing for the man on the ground, another woman standing by worried, the man on his knees watching, all so very young. He hadn't felt this helpless since the Platinum Protector had died in his arms of a gut punch that not only pasted her insides but severed her spine. He drank his coffee and wished for something stronger. To toast McMullin, perhaps.
---
Note from the Author:
Want the next happenings from Simon & co? Ten comments by Thursday morning gets it for you!
Vote for WCS!
Ira's attention was snatched away from the chase by Jeshri's sudden lurch of dismay. He looked through her eyes and saw Brandon shored up against the river wall.
Brandon smiled briefly, wiping at the corner of his mouth. He tried to rise (a second time, apparently, according to Jeshri), but fell back against the wall. Tried again and failed again. He frowned and focused on the remaining group. "Hurts," he said, not very loudly.
Tom walked over quickly. "Did you hit your head?" he asked, crouching down next to his housemate.
"Uh," Brandon said, licking his lips. "I don't know?" He tried to reach up to touch the back of his head, but winced and dropped his hand to his side. "Hurts."
"What hurts?" Eartha said, standing a few feet from him.
"Um," Brandon said, trying a deep breath and making a pained noise. "Chest."
"He hit him in the chest," Jeshri said, reaching into her pocket and producing a cell phone.
"That won't work," Lizzie said to her, pointing at the phone.
Jeshri gave her a brief smile as the screen lit up under her fingertips. "Hardened. I work with electricity, remember?" She dialed and put the phone to her ear.
Brandon was frowning again, looking perplexed. "Can't... breathe right," he said between short breaths.
"He probably broke your ribs, dude," Tom said. "It's gonna hurt."
Brandon touched his chest vaguely, and his fingers caught in the strings of his hoodie. He wrenched them free impatiently. "Hurts," he said again. "A lot."
Jeshri was talking to the 911 operator. "Yes, supervillain combat at Staybird Park. No, he's run away toward town. We have an injured person here, though."
Ira looked at Brandon through Tom's eyes. He didn't like the ghastly grey color of Brandon's face, even allowing for the sodium vapor lamplight. Or the way Brandon's eyes were rolling. He's passing out, he said through the link. Try laying him back flat, son.
Tom needed Lizzie's help to stretch Brandon out on the chilly concrete. They bore with gritted teeth Brandon's pathetic hisses and whimpers, and Lizzie pulled off her own hoodie to drape over Brandon.
"Shock?" Tom said.
"Looks like it to me," Eartha said, peering. "I'll go to the front of the park to meet the ambulance." She zipped off, cautiously, in the direction the battle had gone. Meteor's head was not visible in the distance.
Oh, yes, Ira thought. He's in shock. Ira replayed what he'd seen of the blow through his memory. Oh, yes. Just like McMullin.
Can either of you take a pulse? he said into the link.
Lizzie said, Yes, I just finished my CPR cert at the Y. She knelt next to Brandon and fumbled for the pulse in his wrist.
Brandon was gasping for breath, short shallow inhalations through his teeth. His eyes were open, but slitted. "Thought he was my bro," he mumbled.
"He wasn't," Tom said, more than a little bitterly.
Jeshri knelt down and actually took Brandon's hand. "The ambulance is on its way."
I can barely feel his pulse, Lizzie said into the link.
The harsh panting suddenly stopped. "The fuck?" Tom said, only just barely stopped by Ira from unadvisedly shaking the man on the ground. "Brandon? Brandon?"
"He's not breathing," Jeshri said, eyes wide. "What can we do? We've got to do something!"
Mouth to mouth, Ira said, keeping the subsequent thought of for all the good it will do to himself. When none of the kids moved, he said, more urgently, Mouth to mouth, Lizzie. No compressions, I think.
Lizzie shoved Tom out of the way peremptorily and lurched forward. She carefully cleared Brandon's airway and started breathing for him.
In the distance, there was a faint wail of a siren.
"Just like McMullin," Ira said out loud at the table, rubbing his face. Watson looked at him, and he said, "Seen it before, in Korea. Corporal McMullin was hit by a boulder thrown by one of the bulletproofs on the other side. When they opened up his chest, he was full of blood."
Watson looked down at her phone. "Ambulance is 2 minutes away."
Ira looked back through the link, at the woman breathing for the man on the ground, another woman standing by worried, the man on his knees watching, all so very young. He hadn't felt this helpless since the Platinum Protector had died in his arms of a gut punch that not only pasted her insides but severed her spine. He drank his coffee and wished for something stronger. To toast McMullin, perhaps.
---
Note from the Author:
Want the next happenings from Simon & co? Ten comments by Thursday morning gets it for you!
Vote for WCS!
no subject
Date: 2011-09-20 07:37 pm (UTC)Also, I love the way this town has paras everywhere, most of them - like Eartha - minding their own ordinary business, most of the time.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-22 03:51 pm (UTC)