At the aid station…
Annabelle busies herself around the aid station, checking on a few patients.
Kappedal made it to sitting up today. Which is what he's doing at the moment, sitting on the edge of his cot, ankles rolled to the sides so the soles of his booted feet face each other. His right hand's still firmly bandaged and weeping through the cloth, but healing's hard when limbs get trudged through dirt and muck everyday.
Carey is sitting with another patient in a corner of the aid station, talking quietly, Bible out. The two of them appear to be praying over something, but whatever it is, they keep quiet.
Annabelle comes to Ben in her rotation. "G'day, Ben," she greets him with a smile. "You look to have a bit more color in your cheeks today."
Kappedal has been idly watching Carey, for precious little reason other than that he's curious and rarely realises when he's staring. He blinks and looks up, the white of his kippah vanishing when his head tilts up to greet her with a hint of dimples. "Oh, hi Anna. Yeah, I'm good. How was it last night?" When he was passed out through most of the night hours.
Woods wanders up to the aid station. Woods has a coconut, some coral and - hey, he's gonna make coral beads. Snazzy. The parrots watch from atop the cabinet and on seeing Ben awake, Elly lets out a "Shalom!" And lifts a talon. BEEEEEN! Woods' helmet peeks into the station first. He watches a moment, "Hi!"
If Carey's noticed Kappedal watching him, he's given no sign of it. After sharing a few more words with the patient he straightens. The Bible is left with the wounded man. He resumes his rounds, such as they are, among the cots. Though the 'Shalom!' makes him look over at the parrot.
"Busy, but not so bad," Anna replies, though from the tired circles under her eyes it was a long night. She looks over when the birdies start talking, smiling a bit. "Someone else's noticed you. Can I have a look at your dressings?" she asks permission, before moving in to do so.
"Shalom, Elly," Kappedal answers the parrot, oblivious to the priest's reaction. "Hey, Frank. Hi Vince!" He lowers his head then to cough gently, wincing just a hair. "Sure, Anna. Do you want me to um…lie down?" He's wearing his shirt but it's open but for the bottommost button, leaving his incredibly pale chest and surgical bandages to get some indoor jungle sun.
Elly just blinks at Carey, tilting her head and fluffing for a moment. Woo all stretched and ready to waddle. Which she does, towards Ben. Woods grins, and waves at the father. "Ben! You alright? Came to say hi to you and Jacob," He beams. "I finished my watch for the day." He doesn't step too close, lest he get underfoot of those making rounds.
"G'Day, Vince," Anna greets when the other soldier gets closer, then shakes her head to Ben. "No need - 'tis easier to wrap the bandages around if you're sitting up, anyway." She does take the shirt the rest of the way off before snipping away the old bandages with a pair of scissors. "Does it hurt much?" she asks in concern.
Carey grins at the parrot when it looks his way. "A blessed day to your birds, Private Woods," he says, drawing closer to the little group. "And to all of you." Though the look he gives Kappedal is one of concern. "How're you faring, Private?"
"Pretty good," Kappedal tells Carey and Woods both. He moves his feet, tucking them under the cot so they don't trip the missionary, shaking his head. "No, it's been okay. I mean it hurts, but not as bad as last time." Military relativity. Gunshot hurts less than four inches of shrapnel. "How's stuff outside, Vince?"
"Hello, Anna. Pretty good so far, a bit rough. Just some strafing and the usual," Woods shrugs. "Didn't get shot at on watch, so I'll count it as a plus," He smiles. In other words, nothing unusual. Just angry Azns and suchlike. Elly bobs her head at Carey, "Thank you thank you," She waggles. Frank is dancing for a nurse in the meantime. "Thank you, Father," Woods nods. He smiles at Ben. "You're not missing much, cept I got a thingy to polish down some coral a little. I kind of stink at it so far." He frowns. "But it's something to do."
"Glad to hear it," Anna tells Ben, as she examines his chest wound for signs of infection and then goes about changing his bandages. "You let me know if you need any more morphine, aye?" She glances curiously to Woods. "What did you find to polish it?"
Carey's expression sombers as Woods speaks of 'the usual' strafing and general things exploding. It is usual, which is what saddens him. Coral is a less depressing topic of conversation, so that's what he dwells on. "Are you collecting it, then, Private?" he asks Woods curiously.
Sadly it seems to be more of 'the usual' today as the air raid siren goes off. A few minutes later, the sound of engines revving can be heard as the Cactus air force pilots take off to intercept a bombing raid.
Explosions are indeed a downer. Coral, that's a good one. Kappedal straightens his shoulders as much as he can to let Anna look at the healing gunshot wound, and holds obediently still while she changes his bandages. "I will. Thank you, Anna. Hey Vi-…" Oh shit. His face loses a bit of colour as the sirens go off, though he's admirably calm about sliding off his cot and tugging Anna down with him.
Annabelle pales as well after last time, eyes going wide. She offers no protest when Ben drags her into cover, but once there does continue wrapping the bandages around his chest. "No worries, mate," she murmurs softly in an attempt at reassurance. Only she sounds a bit worried herself so it's probably not as effecive as she might have liked.
Carey swears. Under his breath, but still audibly. The priest has a deep reservoir of bad language cataloged. "Careful there, Private. Just keep your head down," he says, leaning down to assist Kappedal into cover. Should he need it.
Woods pauses, "The natives showed me an awl thingy. It's hard work though. Yup, Father. It's fun to go into the tide pools. I even saw a starfish once." And Woods isn't THAT mighty. He winces at the sound of the air raid sirens. He doesn't like them. He lowers himself, and will help the nearest wounded fellow near him. He grunts softly. "You guys alright?" He peeps around the cot cautiously. Elly and Frank make a paniced little noise and go to hide near Anna and Ben. They don't like that siren! Huddlehuddle.
The droning of enemy bomber engines can be heard overhead, getting closer.
Kappedal blinks at Carey. The holy man swears! His butt thumps on the ground and he rests his back against the wall, wrapping an arm around his ribs. Ouchouch. Takes him a second to peel the arm away so Anna can keep working. "We're good," he tells Vince, flashing him a weak-looking V-for-victory sign. Bombers. OMG they comin.
Annabelle looks up in mild surprise at the priest swearing. Say it isn't so! She swallows hard and then focuses on Woods' conversation. "And an octopus, too." She looks at Ben in concern when he winces, but he seems okay so she doesn't say anything.
Poor birdies. Kappedal offers an arm to herd them under, too.
«Airstrike!» Kate level bombs Forest with 1 x 250kg bomb!
Carey trades in profanity for prayers as the bombers approach. Still under his breath, but no less fervent. "O Jesus, our Lord and our brother! We recommend our family and all that is ours to Your protection; we confide all to Your love…" *re*
«Airstrike!» Kate level bombs Forest with 1 x 250kg bomb!
Woods blinks at the holy man swearing after a moment too. He smiles feebly at the V sign. "Yeah," He nods. He smiles at Anna too. "Yup, hadn't seen it come back. But some of the pink coral might be nice for beads… Wish I were better at carving, really." He murmurs. He is quiet while the priest prays and stays near one of the wounded. Elly and Frank accept the offer and huddle near Kappedal, Elly with her eyes closed and head leaning on Kappedal. She's safe there yeah.
«Airstrike!» Kate level bombs Forest with 1 x 250kg bomb!
«Airstrike!» A Val screams down from overhead, headed for Airstrip! (6 12)
«Airstrike!» A Val drops its bombs!
Woods suffers 2 wound damage to his right hand.
Woods suffers 3 wound damage to his left hand.
Woods suffers 4 wound damage to his left leg.
Unfortunately, while Woods has taken cover, shrapnel will find a way (Forget love, it's always shrapnel.). He's leaning against the wounded fellow, offering support when a good chunk of window and god knows what else gets shattered. Woods screams (not intentionally, but rarely does one have a /say/) as it's his turn to be hit with shrapnel. Fortunately, his organs are spared, but his left side isn't looking too good. "Ack, ack - ow ow -" He whimpers.
The engines roar by overhead, followed by the eerie whistle of the bombs falling. Most scatter all about in the jungle nearby, but one lands in the airfield near the aid station. Again.
Kappedal could've told Woods not to be by the window. Oh well. He stiffens when the glass crashes, scrambling up onto his knees and towards Woods. "Vince!"
Carey breaks off his prayers at the sound of shattering and screaming. The good Lord wasn't listening too closely to him, apparently. He rushes to Woods as well. "Private? Can you hear me, lad?"
Annabelle finished pinning the bandages in place just before the bombs hit, murmuring a quiet prayer herself. She screams as well when the explosion takes out the window, and Woods, ducking and narrowly avoiding smacking into Ben's chest. Shakily, she scrambles over on hands and knees towards where Woods has fallen.
Woods keeps learning valuable lessons. Or so it happens. Woods is wide-eyed. "Ben? You're ok?" He's shivering a little. But grateful for the attention. "Father? Y-yeah," He's not smiling, though he's rather stunned. "I just want to stay here for just a moment," His voice is soft and shaking. "T-thanks, it's ok really," He's trying to convince himself just as much as anyone. Though, his eyes are watering a good deal and he's quite damp with blood. At least it's just his limbs, right? He's got a bright future as a black knight harassing english knights or something.
"It's okay, Anna," Kappedal's arm nearly gets tangled in his open shirt, and he flaps it away as he learns down over Woods. His head turns towards the broken window, watching for more moving things in the air, then turns back to Woods as he grabs for bandages. "Hey, Vince. Don't worry, you're gonna be fine. Just relax. The glass got you pretty good but it's all coming out easy."
Carey moves back to let the actual medics work, though he stays nearby to lend a hand as needed. "Need some help getting him to a cot?" he asked.
Annabelle stifles a gasp when she sees what the shrapnel has done to poor Woods, hand going to her mouth. But she seems to be making a little progress, for she isn't frozen in shock like last time. She actually scrambles over to get Ben a first aid kit, and begins taking out supplies for him. She presses a dressing against Woods' bleeding leg, blanching as she does so.
Woods blinks as Anna stifles a gasp. That bad huh? Woods' face twists. "Sorry, guess I didn't duck fast enough," He offers a meek smile, although it's apparent he's shivering. "Yeah… thanks Ben," He murmurs. He's at least, a meek patient and lets himself be worked on or moved. He'll help with his good leg as he can. "Just lots of dings," He offers. Elly and Frank stay near Kappedal, peering out cautiously.
"Lots of dings," Kappedal agrees, keeping his voice quiet and his hands working quickly. "Ding'll heal. Don't worry about a thing." He grins at Woods, the expression almost hiding the serious look in his eyes as he works fast on the bleeding, picking out the worst of the glass. That shit'll sting. He looks up at Carey and nods gratefully. "Could you, when Anna's done? I can't lift him."
Carey nods wordlessly to Kappedal, standing at the ready to cart Woods, when he's ready to be lifted and carted.
Annabelle shakes her head quickly when Woods notices her reaction, looking somewhat sheepish. "'Tis not so bad, mate. The doctors will have you patched up in no time. No worries." She nods to Carey. "Go ahead. I can help with his legs." And keep pressure on the bleeding while she's at it.
Woods will try to help, and laughs softly, "I am kind of heavy. Should watch my girlish figure." He offers a feeble smile and struggles to help lift himself when the time comes. He nods at Annabelle, "Yeah. Just stings…" His voice is soft, quiet, shakey. He seems to be the sort to shiver and withdraw quietly when injured. He's cooperative. "I guess this time I'll miss out on cleaning and putting the new window in."
"Thanks," Kappedal tells Anna and Carey. No really, thanks. He can barely lift Elly, still. He stands back up as they get Woods on a cot, his face still a bit drawn with concern. Mainly over the hand that won't stop bleeding. "Glass in here…" He glances about for Fredricks or another doctor, gritting his teeth. "I'm going to try and get these out myself, okay Vince? Promise I won't hurt you." He hopes, anyway, as he reaches for tweezers and some stitch thread.
Carey murmurs something under his breath. Perhaps a prayer on Woods' behalf, though not an audible one.
"Just rest easy," Anna tells Woods when he tries to help. "We'll get you something for the pain in a moment." She strains a bit with the lift but fortunately Woods isn't that big. While Ben fiddles with the hand, Anna checks to make sure that leg didn't start bleeding worse after the move, and then fetches a syringe of morphine. "Here you are, mate. This'll help."
Woods winces. "Huh, guess that's a lousy way to keep a souvenier," He comments softly. Woods grunts as he's moved. He nods at Ben, "S-sure thing, Ben." A smile. He trusts Kappedal a good deal apparently. His face pales a little. "Thanks you guys," He murmurs. The parrots are following Kappedal too. He is still, and quiet. Though, he bites his lip a little now and then. Mmph, stingy! He blinks. Oooh, mighty morphin' morphine time.
One hand stitched, Kappedal slides past the head of the cot and settles on the stool on the other side, rolling the stitching tray around so it's between himself and Annabelle where she can reach it. Hooking his foot around the rung of the stool, he turns Woods' hand over and goes to work there, tweezing out the nasty blood chunks of wood and glass and then getting the nice ouchie thread.
Annabelle administers the morphine to take the edge off and then goes about doing some more lasting work on Woods' leg. Alas the pants leg is the first casualty, cut with those ever-present scissors to get at the wound. "Doesn't seem to be any more glass in here," she says. Ben must have gotten it all out. She starts stitching up the gash, so focused on her work that she manages to keep her hands from shaking. "Doing just fine, Vince. No worries."
The aid station shows signs of the recent strafing run from the Japanese planes. It's still in one piece, but supplies have been knocked around and a window's broken from the impact outside. The shattered glass and wood slammed into poor Woods, from the look of things, but he's being attended to by the medics. For his part, Carey just stands back, ready to help if needed.
Woods is meekly resting, where he's being tweezed more than a bikini line. Woods' green eyes flicker in pain until - like the vibrant colors of ink spilling into water, the morphine rolls in. At this, his expression is a dazed, peaceful one. His pants suffer though, as if a thousand trouser legs cried out and were silenced. He stops going pale at least. "Right… thanks," He just smiles, eyes glazing. Oooh Morphia. "Thankyou," He murmurs again. Frank and Elly are just beside Kappedal, watching with parroty eyes.
Kappedal gets Woods' other hand sewn up with a couple gentle tugs of thick stitching gut. Ick. BLood everywhere, which he mops off his pantleg with a rag sitting nearby. His blue eyes flicker to Anna, checking her progress on Woods' leg, then he looks back at Vince and gives him a teeny grin, squeezing his shoulder.
Annabelle doesn't notice Ben's glance, intent on her work. She really hasn't done this much, but doesn't seem to be doing too badly at it. A tiny bit of color has returned to her cheeks as well now that it's become clear Woods isn't in mortal danger. Soon enough she finishes with the stitches, glancing up to see how Woods is doing.
Woods smiles at the teeny grin and squeeze. "Thanks," He murmurs. His eyes are very glazed now. Put some frosting on, Woods is baked. He looks to Annabelle after a moment. He's off in la la land with parrots and happy things. He blinks, then yawns. "Thank you," Nod. But he's losing coherence and consciousness fast. He's at peace and in no danger of croaking short of a giant amoeba slapping him to death. "I think the parrots will bother you guys for a bit," He half-closes his eyes.
"We'll take care of them," Kappedal assures Woods under his breath. He tosses the bloody tweezers into a basin of water and antiseptic, sitting back and wiping the rest of Vince's blood off his hands.
Annabelle pats Woods' other arm gently as he drifts off, brow creased in concern. She lets out a breath, and goes about bandaging Woods' wounds. "How's your hand?" she asks Ben, as he wipes the blood off, something she hasn't attempted to do yet.
Kappedal crinkles his nose, turning the weeping hand over so Anna can see it. That might be Vince's blood on the bandages, or it might be his. "It doesn't want to heal."
Woods smiles at the two. He looks like he might be concerned or trying to think before dozing off. Poor Ben. The parrots surround him, looking up at him.
"He'll be all right, aye," Anna assures the parrots when they cluster around, before returning her attention to Ben. "Let me change that bandage, at least. Doctor should probably have a look at it later." She refrains from another lecture about resting it, still feeling rather shaky after the bombing.
"Sure." Kappedal answers her absently, still mostly focused on Woods and the birdies at his feet. Until he notices all the blood on her. "Did you get hit?"
Fortunately the birdies are wise enough to avoid feet. Woods has dozed off into a peaceful dream, unaware of the outside world for now.
Annabelle shakes her head, "No, I don't think so." There's a tiny scratch on her forehead from some flying glass, but it's barely more than a papercut. Not even bleeding. She looks down at her hands at the question though, growing a shade paler when she sees all of Woods' blood. Trying not to think about it, she motions Ben to a nearby cot and wipes her hands off on a towel.
Come on, birdies. Kappedal herds Elly and Frank carefully with his feet as he leans forward, bracing his hands carefully on his knees and rolling to his feet, shuffling his way over cotwards. "Do you want a basin?" He asks her quietly. "Wash your hands off?"
The birds are herded easily, with Elly looking up to Kappedal. "Mazel tov!" Job well done! Or she just likes the sound of it. She follows happily. Woods is dozing peacefully, perhaps dreaming of parrots and coconuts.
Annabelle looks at the poor job the towel did of actually cleaning up her hands and nods after a moment. "Aye, I'll get one for the both of us." She steps over to a table that was further out of the blast range, and comes back with a basin, scrubbing Woods' blood off her hands. It's quite unsettling. Woods is laying on a cot nearby, recently sutured and bandaged. Some windows on the one side have been blown in again by another near bomb-miss. Only minor injuries, thankfully.
Fredricks approaches from farther down the Airstrip, doctors bag in hand as he moves to the aid station, coming inside and stopping, looking about, then sighs, "Aw crap." He says, "What happened?" He asks, though the situation seems fairly clear after some reflection.
"Thanks." Kappedal picks the bloody bandage off his hand, peeling it and letting it fall into the trash. He too is spattered with blood, though he doesn't seem newly torn open anywhere. Woods though is another matter. His blue eyes flicker up as Fred reappears. Uh oh. "Doc. Bomber got through."
Annabelle looks over when the doctor returns, nodding in support of Ben's description. "Vince was hurt. We patched him up best we could. The other doctor was occupied." She nods to where the current doc on duty is back in the surgical area. She's splattered with Woods' blood as well, but seems unhurt save for a tiny scratch on her forehead. Hands more or less clean, she goes over to change Ben's bandage, then remembers, "Oh, you should probably have a look at Ben's hand as well. It's not healing very quickly."
The parrots are following Kappedal, and Woods is still dozing under Morphine's haze. Although, he seems to have decorated the aid station (Or at least Ben and Annabelle) quite nicely.
Fredricks moves to Woods, looking over his wounds, and smiles, nodding, "Well, this looks quite good actually." He seems rather pleased with the work done, then moves to Kappedal, "Alright, let's have a look at that hand. I'll take over the bandaging." He pauses, looking at Annabelle, "Looks like you caught a nick yourself, you alright?"
Kappedal lets Fred have the demon hand. It's quite resistant to healing, but then again few wounds aren't in this humid muck. He gives Anna a pale smile, as concerned over her papercuts as he was for the evil glass shard in Woods' leg.
"Ben did most of it," Anna says with a strained smile when Fredricks assesses the work on Woods. She hovers nearby, watching the work on Ben's hand with concern. She looks surprised when Fredricks points out her papercut, having not noticed it yet. There's a brief flicker of alarm, hand going to her head where they're ooking. "Wha… oh." Now she seems to notice the little sting. It's not even bleeding, really. "Aye, I'm…" she stops short of all right, since that's clearly not the case. The young woman is clearly rattled. "I'll be fine," she amends. "What's wrong with his hand?" she wonders.
Fredricks nods, "It's excellent work, nonetheless." He turns to take a look at the hand, inspection becoming more intent, "Ben, these wounds are becoming further stressed." He sighs, "It's likely the Combat, and high tension situations." He frowns, "If we were anywhere else, I'd instruct an immobilizing cast to keep the hand from moving." He looks to Ben, "That would, after all, keep you from being in the field." He sighs, "Being as active as you are is keeping you from healing."
"Oh." Somewhere Kappedal knew that. The 'oh' doesn't sound as surprised as it should. "I can't go out for a couple days anyway." Divert! His eyes lift back to the rattled young woman. "Anna, I'm good for shift tonight. You could lie down a while. You stayed up all last night; I owe you some midnight oil."
Annabelle listens to the doctor's report then gives Ben a kind smile. "'Tis very thoughtful of you Ben, but the doctor just said you ought to rest your hand, aye?" She sounds worried for him.
Fredricks nods, "I think that you might have a point there." He considers, "Okay, if this hand isn't better by the end of the week, I'm going to put a cast on you and take you off duty, Ben. The longer it's like this, the longer the risk of a serious infection setting in, which could result in drastic action."
"He said 'high-tension'," Kappedal points out to Anna. "I'm not right handed anyway, and you need your rest." He looks up at Fredricks and then back at his hand. "Can't you at least wait till Rosh Hashanah?" He asks, a little darkly. Then he shrugs. "I'll put it back in its sling. I won't move it much."
"He also said it might need to be immobilized," Anna points out, though she then looks to Fredricks for him to weigh in on the matter. But Daaaad! She looks curiously to Ben, "Rosh what?"
Fredricks looks completely nonplussed about the appeal to wait for Rosh Hashanah. "Very funny. Ben, you know full well what's as stake here. If this hand doesn't heal, there's every possibility it'll turn Gangrenious. If that happens, we both know it's going to end with you going home leaving most of your hand on this island." Slight pause to let that sink. "I'm already risking that in not taking you off duty here and now and putting you on bedrest, but you're the best field medic in this unit."
Talking, Fred's talking. Kappedal listens bit by bit and oh hey, that means he's not off duty in here. He gives Annabelle a sudden silly stick-out of his tongue and a grin. Briefly, as it's then overshadowed by seriousness again. "I understand, doc." Gosh, dad. "I'll take of it. I just need to do what I can around here too. We all do, you know?" Then to Anna. "It's the first of the ten days of repentance. Like New Year's, I guess."
Annabelle responds with that girlish nosewrinkle that just says, Well nyah. But then she smiles. "We're just worried about you. Take care of yourself, aye?" The plea is tempered with concern.
Annabelle nods to the description of the holiday, but doesn't inquire further just now. Too much else on her mind.
Fredricks is being the Dad. Dad who will cut off your hand if he has to. "Alright, by the end of the week, if it's not better, you're getting pulled off duty." He says, laying down the law.
"Okay." Kappedal stresses the last syllable a bit. Geez. He looks back at Anna and offers her a smaller smile. "I'll go find my sling," he says, as if to reassure her more than himself, and he stands up. "If you go get some rest."
Well she can't very well refuse now that Dad's taken his side, can she? Anna smirks weakly and gives a reluctant nod to Ben. "Aye, all right. I'll try." She pauses long enough to murmur to Woods. "You get well, mate." Then she starts for the door.
Fredricks starts rewrapping the offending injured hand, "Okay." He says. "I'll take another look at the hand and monitor it's progress closely." Dun dun DUN! "I'll start rounds and see what else needs doing."
"Night, Anna." Kappedal will be by later to deliver some water before she goes to bed. Left handed. He nods to Fredricks, the mild joking fading away with amazing swiftness now that that's all done. Once the hand's bandaged, he gets to work.
