Chapter 24
Capital Hospital
Movement made me cough, and there was a lot of movement to get me from my bed to a stretcher. The medic tried their hardest not to jostle me too much, but it was impossible. The moment I was set down on the stretcher, I started coughing. They did the same thing as usual: one hand on my back to sit me up, another at my mouth with a handkerchief to catch the blood. And there was blood. All my coughing fits had blood now.
Once I was done coughing, the medic said to me, “we are going to move you to the ambulance now. The ambulance will go to the train station in Kâlimèth.”
All I could do was nod. I was still recovering from my coughing fit. The medic looked at the soldier who had been employed to move patients. The medic counted to three, and they lifted me, but the soldier used too much force, so it was a jerky assent.
“Shit, I thought he would be heavier.” The soldier swore.
The medic rolled their eyes. They said it in clipped tones. “Just get moving. There is still a lot of work for you to do.”
The trip to the ambulance was torturous. They really did try not to make the trip too bumpy, but every small jostle was enough to make my weak body scream in protest.
When I was finally loaded into the ambulance, I was gasping for breath and clutching my stomach. I wanted to curl into a ball to try to remove some of the pain in my gut, but the stretcher was too small and my body too weak. The medic had been kind enough to lay a thin blanket over me. It was nowhere near enough to black out the chill of the coming winter.
When the oxen pulled ambulance started moving, it was bouncy. Even though there was nothing left in my stomach, the constant movement made me feel like I was going to throw up. Since there was nothing to throw up, I dry-heaved instead. The movement set me coughing a few times, but I did my best to stop it. I didn’t want to get blood anywhere, and if it got bad, there was no one to help.
The trip to Kâlimèth felt like it took hours, but it probably only took about thirty minutes. The ambulance stopped just outside the train station. The train station was filled with people. People were shouting, screaming, crying, and everything in between. It made my head pound.
Two nurses unloaded me. I really wished I was in a state to walk because it was just embarrassing to have to be carried around like a child. One of the nurses asked a senior medic where I should be taken.
The person they asked seemed to be a commanding medic, judging by their medic’s uniform with a badge reading commanding medic. The commanding medic said to put me in the fifteenth carriage, so that was where I was taken.
The carriage had three layers of beds lining each wall. About eighty percent of the beds were already occupied by coughing soldiers. One of the nurses gently lifted me onto a bottom bed. He had blond hair and two red Tibtans. A grey facecloth covered most of his face, leaving only his brown eyes visible.
He rested his hand on my forehead. “I’m Nurse Im-Plama. What’s your name?”
I took a breath. “My name is Fi-Rico.”
“The train ride will take about two hours. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call out. There will always be a nurse or two close by. I’m going to listen to your breathing quickly, and then you should try to get some sleep. It will make the trip go much faster.” His voice was soft and calm, with a more northern accent. The accent made sense considering his family name. Names that start with vowels are common in the north.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
He pulled out a stethoscope from his cloth bag. He undid the top buttons of my shirt. kneeling beside me. Before Nurse Im-Plama put the stethoscope on my bare chest, he held it in his hands to warm it up. He then placed it on my chest and asked me to take the deepest breath I could.
Once he had finished, he scribbled a few things down on a piece of paper. I tried to do up my shirt buttons, but my hands were shaking so badly. Nurse Im-Plama had to do it for me. That was embarrassing. He finished by pulling the scratchy blankets over me.
“Thank you, Nurse Im-Plama.”
He smiled at me and said, “You’re welcome. I hope you feel better soon.”
Nurse Im-Plama then left. The bed I had been put on was not comfortable, but it was better than the stretcher. At least it didn’t feel like it was taking layers of my skin off. That was something.
The train trip was uneventful. I snatched small amounts of sleep, but I was interrupted by the train, my coughing and other people coughing. All the nurses on the hospital train were lovely and very gentle.
* * *
When I arrived at the Capital Hospital, I was put in a long ward with other Sting patients. For the first time in ages, I was in a proper bed. I had quilts, not just blankets. It was wide enough for me to be able to find more comfortable ways to lay, and there was more than one pillow. I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t felt so shit.
A nurse came in to examine me about fifteen minutes after I had arrived at the hospital. They came while I was in a half-asleep state, so I was dazed and confused. I must have said yes to it because the next thing I knew, my shirt was fully unbuttoned, and the nurse was cleaning the worst of the sweat off me with a damp cloth. The cloth wasn’t cold, but I wasn’t expecting it. I cried out in surprise.
The nurse stumbled back from my bed, looking just as surprised as me. “Did I hurt you?” he said in alarm.
I slumped back into the bed as the small amount of adrenaline drained out of me. “No. I apologise for my surprise. I was not fully conscious of what I was going on.” I had to take multiple breathing breaks through my explanation. It was one of the longest things I had attempted to say in a while.
“I thought you had said it was all right for me to help clean you and change your clothes. I should be the one apologising.” He sat back down in the chair next to my bed.
I tried to sit up—I hated having conversations lying down—but my body wouldn’t allow it. “I am very grateful for your help. I was just caught off guard.”
He must have noticed my attempt to sit because he asked, “would you like me to help you sit up?”
I nodded, and he very carefully sat me up, resting my back on the pillows. I looked at the dark skinned, black-haired nurse. “Thank you… What is your name?”
“I am Nurse Go-Kamata. Would you like me to finish cleaning you and get you some fresh clothes?”
“That would be very kind, Nurse Go-Kamata.”
He chuckled slightly as he set to work. “I’m just doing my job,” he muttered.
I hated how helpless I was. I couldn’t even sit up on my own. Nurse Go-Kamata was kind and gentle with my delicate body. He worked quickly and skilfully.
When he finished cleaning off my stale sweat, Nurse Go-Kamata helped me change into some new nightcloths. They were a soft blue linen set. He also brushed my hair. I hadn’t done that in so long there was a knot that took Nurse Go-Kamata a few minutes to get out.
Once he finished, I felt slightly more human. Having days of sweat washed off my body and my hair in a presentable state made me feel better mentally. “I’m so sorry to ask this, but would you be able to braid my hair?” It would help stop it from getting to such a state as it had been.
I felt confident that he could do a braid considering his hair was tied back into one. He gave me his warm smile. “Of course. Would you like me to braid in your Tibtans?”
I shook my head. I probably should have replied with words, but my throat was dry, and my lungs hurt.
Nurse Go-Kamata braided my hair and tied it off with a small piece of string he produced from his bag. “There we go! I’m going to get a medic to look you over. She should be with you in a few minutes. Nurse Go-Kamata packed up his things and walked across the long ward to go help a patient who had just begun a coughing fit.
I slumped back into my pillows. The conversation had left me breathless and tired. I couldn’t even have a basic conversation with someone. Great.