Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 192: Seeing My Guys

Chapter 192: Seeing My Guys

One thing that always shocked me was just how big the exit wound of a bullet was compared to the entrance.

The entrance wound was a bit bigger than the size of a nickel, but I could probably put my whole fist in the exit.

It had utterly destroyed the patient’s back, and I had to pause for a moment to think about how I was going to deal with this.

I hadn’t dealt with a wound like this since I lived in Toronto, and even then, I might see one every couple of years. I don’t really think they even covered it in medical school here in Country K.

The skin around the wound showed outward beveling of the tissue, but the blood seemed to have clotted since it was no longer bleeding. Happy that I didn’t need to worry about him losing any more blood, I placed the same numbing cream on the outside of the wound.

Flying by the skin of my teeth, I waited until the cream took effect and sutured the wound shut the best I could without tightening the remaining skin too much. Once again, I bandaged the wound up as well as I could and then wrapped even more bandaging around his chest.

Was it overkill?

Yes. It really was. If this had been in the hospital, then this would have gone a completely different way. One that did not involve me stitching him up.

But this was the end of the world; concessions had to be made.

"Feng Shen!" yelled a woman as she dropped to her knees beside the head of the patient.

"I assume you are the wife?" I asked with a smile on my face. I quickly took off my gloves, not wanting her to see any more blood than absolutely necessary.

I threw the used gloves on the ground, not knowing what else to do with them. If I had pockets, then I would have put them in there. But while the guys had been supplying me with clothes, they all seemed to lack pockets.

"I am," she gasped as she reached forward to touch Feng Shen. I could see her hands trembling, not sure where to touch him without pain.

"My name is Doctor Wang Tian Mu," I introduced myself with a smile. She looked up at me, and I could see the relief on her face. She was probably worried that I was some random stranger that would make things worse. I mean, I wasn’t confident in how I handled the exit wound, but I knew for a fact that I didn’t make it worse.

"I gave him a shot of pain meds; that is why he is sleeping. I also numbed the area around the wound so he wouldn’t feel pain. However, that is going to wear off in the next hour or so," I continued, and the woman was staring at me, hanging on my every word.

"Now, this next part is important, okay?" I said, wanting her to know what to do. "He isn’t out of the woods yet. His wound has been treated, but he will need his bandages changed every 12 hours. Keep him relaxed on his side. He cannot be on his back."

She nodded frantically at me as I explained the aftercare to her. "If he develops a fever in the next three days, come find me. I am at Bin An Sha’s place. If you can’t get there, leave a message for me, and I will come to you."

Once again, she nodded, briefly glancing over at Bin An Sha, who had moved on to another patient in the time I had taken to look after one.

"All I have is a few acetaminophen that I can give you, but have him take one when he wakes up. Try to stretch it out as much as possible, but don’t let the pain become unmanageable. He will also need some if he does develop a fever."

Cheng Bo Jing looked through my bag of wonders and found one of those gas station containers of Tylenol. There were only about five in the small white cylinder, but I couldn’t afford to give her anymore. Supplies were limited, and this was only the first of what I was sure would be many injuries.

Things had to be rationed out.

"Of course, thank you, doctor," she said as she finally got up the courage to put her husband’s head on her lap. Tears streamed down her face, but she bit her lower lip to keep from disturbing him.

"Men in pain, are pains in our asses. Make sure he follows orders and doesn’t give you too much of a hard time. If he does, come find me, and I’ll sort him out," I joked, coming to my feet.

Cheng Bo Jing steadied me while Fan Teng Fei managed to extradite himself from under the patient. Nodding to the husband and wife, I moved on to the next patient... yet another gunshot.

It seemed like it took hours to get through to everyone who needed attention, but the mind-numbing routine was comforting.

I couldn’t stress about what ifs or what was going on outside of this small world that I had created between me and the patient.

And it helped me remember why I wanted to become a doctor in the first place.

"Okay, that is all of them," said Bin An Sha as he helped me come to my feet.

My last patient just needed his shoulder relocated and his radius set. I didn’t have proper cast materials, but the splints and bandages should hold well.

I smiled up at him, even as I swayed with exhaustion.

"Should we go look at your guys?" he continued, taking me in his arms as Cheng Bo Jing and Fan Teng Fei followed behind us. The two of them never once wavered in their support of me, and I couldn’t be happier.

"Yup!" I smiled. It felt like I hadn’t seen them in forever, and I couldn’t wait another moment. However, my happiness flew away the second I saw them.