Shore Leave

I curse the man

Ailis woke up in a blind panic, there were too many lights and hands on her. Mors and Mia, she needed to get to Mors and Mia.

"Ma'am, please calm down," a voice said, someone trying to put a mask over her face. "You were in an accident, you're at the UW Medical Center."

"Mors and Mia," she wheezed, trying to keep herself calm. She knew it was easier to treat calm patients. "Where's my wife and kid?"

"Your son's fine, he's being treated a little ways away," the voice responded.

"Mia? My wife?" Nobody was answering her, and that was making her stomach twist. She blinked a few more times to clear her vision, looking around the emergency room.

"Ma'am, can you tell us your name?" A nurse asked.

"Ailis Saros," she answered, looking around. She felt a wave of relief when she saw Mors sitting in one of the ER beds, shaken up and bruised but otherwise unharmed. He was watching her with fear in his eyes and she tried to wave to reassure him. "Dr. Astley, where's she?"

"Dr. Astley is in surgery right now," the nurse responded. "Once we're sure you're stable we'll let you know what's going on," a few more people started buzzing around her. More and more doctors were checking her off and clearing her. Finally, the obnoxious neck brace came off and they moved her to a regular ER bed and finished patching her up. Mors wasn't too far behind her, nearly tackling her when they were put next to each other.

"What's going on with Mom? No one will tell me anything," he said, not letting go of her. Ailis held him back tightly, kissing his head and thanking whatever deity let him walk away with nothing but bumps and scrapes.

"I don't know yet, buddy, but I'm gonna find out. It's okay, this is Auntie Beth's hospital. Whatever's going on, mom'll be fine," she reassured him. She looked around the doctors, spotting one in light blue scrubs with no name on his coat. "You! Intern! Come here!" She waved him over. "Mia Saros, where is she and what's the damage?" He looked nervously around.

"Mrs. Saros, please stay calm-" she held up a hand to stop him.

"Kid, I served for six years as a trauma nurse at the beginning of the war, and I've been in medicine longer than you've been out of diapers. I'm not asking as a regular patient, I'm asking as someone who knows that all of this silence is problematic and as someone who needs to know what her wife's condition is. Please," she tacked on at the end. He shuffled nervously again and she tried not to roll her eyes. First years.

"Mia Saros is currently in surgery to handle some intensive injuries from the crash, she's got abdominal damage as well as a really nasty skull fracture, but we have our best hands on it," Ailis looked over to see a resident coming over with her charts and a small, amused smile. She passed Ailis the charts, and she saw it was all of theirs. "You know, we hate getting doctor types in here for this exact reason."

"Yeah, I'm aware," Ailis said as she poured over the charts.

"What's it say?" Mors asked nervously. Ailis kept her face neutral.

"It says that I've got some bruising on my ribs and head which I could've told you and that you're completely fine other than having world-record-setting ears, monkey boy," she tugged on one gently, getting a small smile.

"Look who's talking, you could take flight with yours," he responded, voice shaking. "How's mom?"

"Who's her general surgeon?" Ailis asked the resident. Her coat said, Dr. Zimmerman.

"Dr. Astley is in there with her right now," she responded. Ailis nodded.

"Then mom's gonna be just fine. There's a lot of words on this chart that look really scary, but with your aunt Beth on the job I know none of it's gonna be fatal," she reassured him. The lines 'traumatic head injury' and 'swelling in the brain' were making her stomach twist into knots, but she couldn't let Mors see it. He let out a relieved breath, leaning against her.