The Hospital Ship of Azur Lane (Slow Updates)

Repairs part 3

With Vestal now in the ambulance as well, DS picks up his surgical tools and cleans them up. He then activates the ventilator machine. Universal has lost so much blood, she's barely able to breathe. All the blood she lost, either from coughing it or from the stomach, has blocked her breathing. She needs to be intubated before he can proceed with the surgery. While it's not guaranteed it will completely work, it will at least restore her breathing ability and will stabilize her pulses.

-'Keep pressuring the wound until the bleeding stops', he says as he checks his tools on the ambulance's shelves. 'As soon as it does, put on a pair of gloves. There's a box of them under the stretcher'.

-'Okay', replies Vestal as she presses Universal's bleeding stomach. 

It's the only thing she can say in a situation like this. Compared to DS, she's never faced a situation like that. All she can do is just follow his instructions. From how she's seen him act during all sorts of emergencies, it's clear that he's more experienced in handling such matters. Ever since he landed on this island a few hours ago, he has proven himself to be reliable and trustworthy. Sure she had her doubts at first, but seeing him concerned and caring for everybody's safety, she understood that she came across a valuable ally and colleague.

-'Has the bleeding stopped?', asks DS as he picks up a needle with a surgical suture.

-'I don't feel any more blood coming out, so I hope it has', replies Vestal, trying to act as calm as possible.

-'Remove your hands', says DS and Vestal obeys. It appears that the bleeding has slowed down if not stopped completely. Given that she can now breathe regularly through the tube, it means she's still not dead. It looks as if he prevented her death in the last second. With all the blood she lost, changing the color of the ambulance's interior, it's a miracle she's still alive. But that's a good thing, as it gives DS a chance to do the right thing.

After inspecting the wound, he picks up the suture with his needle holder. He then inserts the needle at the bleeding abdomen, slowly sewing it as carefully as possible. A single error in a case like this could be very fatal, so he must stay focused. For some reason though, he rather feels anxious about this whole situation. While he has done similar surgeries under similar situations, but all of them were adult looking. Universal on the other hand, she looks like a child, which makes things much more difficult and awkward. He's never done any surgery on a kid before.

-'Are you okay?', asks Vestal, who has noticed how anxious he is.

-'No, I always thought I was', replies DS as he keeps sewing the open abdomen. 'In all the years of my career, I've never been as stressed as I am right now. I've done surgeries before, but none of them were as serious as this one'.

-'Is that so?', asks Vestal again.

-'It is so. This is the first time I'm doing something on such a scale, and even the tiniest error could result in casualties', explains DS, trying not to lose his concentration. 'What makes it harder for me is that all my previous patients were adults, and Universal is like a child. I've never done any surgery on kids before'.

-'Is that a problem?', asks Vestal, still not knowing what to say. She is sitting above a bleeding patient who is on the verge of death and her hands have turned red from the blood that the patient lost. Unlike DS, she's never done anything like that before. All she can do is follow his instructions, which she is more than happy to do so.

-'In some ways, it does', replies DS, sewing the abdomen as slowly and carefully as possible. 'Even so, I have to do my job. I've never lost a patient on my watch, and as sure as heck not going to lose one now'.

Vestal says nothing. She doesn't know how to respond to that phrase. DS seems so stressed, yet so determined to save Universal that he's not willing to let the stress and anxiety get the best of him. Even she was not that brave or determined when it came to treating other shipgirls like herself. Probably because, as mentioned before, she never had to face any serious situations like this one, thus never getting to experience what if feels to be extremely stressed and distracted. Everything that is happening right now, inside this advanced and sophisticated ambulance, is a brand new experience to her.