He left the room without speaking another word.
AP NEWS FLASH: The President’s spokesperson says that the President is currently working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan an appropriate military response. The former President has filed suit against President Press saying that his lack of action since the attacks is criminal and he should be prosecuted for not working to bring those responsible forward to pay for their actions. President Press refuses to comment on the allegations levied by the former President. The current President’s spokesperson claims these are just a distraction from a man who is bitter at having lost his office, and that there is real work to do. To paraphrase the White House, it is a waste of time to be concerned with false allegations.
AP ECONOMIC NEWS FLASH: Now that the markets have reopened United States automobile manufacturers stock prices are trading at historic lows. However, oil is trading at all-time highs. Many economic experts are urging the President to freeze gasoline prices by subsidizing oil companies in this time of war. Food prices for milk and beef are also continuing to rise, nearing record highs. Many of the same economic experts are stating that if the Federal Government does not step in and take action across a large portion of the economy, consumers will be left unable to afford basic necessities. Scott Waits, the Press Secretary for the President, says that the President believes in free markets, but will ask for an immediate study to ensure no illegal manipulation is causing these rapid price increases. He also reiterates that central economic planning goes contrary to the free market system upon which the US Economy has been based since the earliest days of this Nation.
Chapter Eighteen
Sandra Cooper awoke from sleep for the third time on her foolish attempt to get a good night’s rest. The nightmares kept preventing her from getting more than an hour or two at a time. When she woke up this time she decided it would just be easier to get dressed and go back to work, rather than dealing with more of the dreams. She could find ways to keep her mind off of that day while awake, but at night it was one nightmare after another. Each one was worse than the last.
Sometimes it was a never ending series of patients she could not save, other times she was the patient and there was no one available to help her. They always seemed to be focused on radiation injuries and patients that resembled zombies more than living, breathing humans.
It wasn’t her day to work. That schedule had been written before the attack. Since that day no one had been sent home if the were willing, and able to work. Until last night she hadn’t even gone home. She had always found a bed, or a couch somewhere at the hospital to catch a catnap. Some real sleep had finally become necessary, and for that she had gone home. But even at home, real sleep still eluded her.
At least this time of morning the commute would be easy. Not many people were working downtown since it had happened, but so many roads were closed that any small number of cars made traffic horrid. She thought to herself that the word “normal” no longer held much meaning.
What was a normal commute?
Would there ever again be such a thing as a normal workday?
When she got to the hospital it was only 4:15 in the morning. It didn’t matter, the place was still moving. The last few days this place never seemed to sleep. There was still a continuous flow of patients coming in.
None of the new patients were in horrible shape anymore. Some were finally coming around to what happened and had managed to convince themselves that they were dying of radiation poisoning. Others were massively dehydrated, and still others exhibited extreme psychological problems as a result of everything that had happened.
While walking from the car to the Emergency Room entrance it was impossible to miss the stacks of crates all over the place. They appeared to be military equipment. She couldn’t imagine what kind of military equipment the hospital needed, not thinking for a minute that these could be military medical supplies.
She tried to figure out what was in them, but the markings on the crates held no meaning to her, they were steep in military acronyms and supply numbers that were not at all helpful. Hopefully it was not something that would just get in their way.
Once inside the building she went through her normal check in routine, once it was complete she had coffee in hand before asking a colleague, “Patty, what’s with all the military crates stacked up outside?”
“All of that got here around one in the morning or so, along with a dozen guys in uniform. They are apparently just temporary help before the real team arrives. They are some special kind of unit that moves into an area quickly, I didn’t really catch the details. But they all seem to know first aid pretty well. We have been pretty busy and they were a ton of help. Their bedside manner wasn’t great, but their triage techniques were solid,” Patty answered.
“How bad can their bedside manner really be?” she asked honestly curious.
“Well, one of them told a construction worker with drill bit stuck in his hand to rub some dirt on it and walk it off. He said it with a smile and the patient did kind of laugh, but I was mortified.”
“We are pretty much past the point of first aid injured now, aren’t we? Are there really more first aid type patients still coming in?” she asked.
“Actually yes, but they aren’t really digging any more injured people out of the rubble or anything. Now it’s the cleanup workers who hurt themselves trying to get the mess cleared. The guy that’s in charge of them is over in the E.R. I think his name is Captain Banner or something like that. You should ask him details. I didn’t get a chance to figure out much of what the real deal is with them yet.”
“I think I will. Let’s make sure we aren’t inviting disaster. They really shouldn’t be treating patients. I support the Army and all, but if they get in the way, we’ll have to kick them out just like we did some of those volunteers we had the first day.”
She left the locker room and headed into the E.R. hoping the Army had sent actual help. The early volunteers that came in barely had the skills to clean the hospital floors well enough to be sufficient for even the most basic of medical needs. Shortly after the attack there had been a flood of these folks. In some cases they caused more harm than good. The work they tried to do consistently had to be checked, and ultimately redone by someone else. Since that first day the volunteers had either been approved by the hospital staff, or sent home with a polite “thank you for coming in.”
She entered the E.R. walking up to the only person in uniform she saw amongst the incoming patients, “Are you Captain Banner?”
“Guilty as charged ma’am, but please, call me Frank,” he smiled and looked at her name badge. “You must be the Nurse Cooper I keep hearing about. As I understand it, if you hadn’t been on duty when the bomb went off a lot of people who came in here looking for help would have died. I heard you kept this E.R. running as well as any human could have possibly done. You even kicked an administrator out or something when they tried to tell you to turn people away?
“I am certain that if every single patient could, they would come in and thank you personally. So let me thank you on their behalf for a job well done,” he said.
She really didn’t know what to say. This was the last thing she was expecting to hear this morning. Was this man sucking up to her because he wanted something? Why was he laying it on so thick?
Maybe she was over analyzing, “Well… uh… Thanks, Sir. So, what are you and your men doing here?”
“Please, call me Frank. We are an advanced team from the Special Operations Forces. We came in to drop off supplies, assess the situation on the ground, and report back on what kind of help you really need. We have a variety of units prepping, or already moving this way.