Wicked Fate

FOURTEENTH CHAPTER

A change in color

She knelt down beside him and began drying the arm that had lashes and reached out for the bandage.

"Press here", He directed one of the guards, Hanteuk's partner, Yoseob, "That's it – Good!"

With one hand on Seuki's forehead and another on her chin, he gently tilted the child's head and covered her mouth with his, creating a seal. He breathed gently, watching as the child's chest rose.

"Let's do it again", he motioned and gave her CPR again. "You need to stop her bleeding", he paused to tell Hanteuk. "She's hypovolaemic. She needs fluid and she needs it fast. Where the hell is the air ambulance?"

"It's on its way", Hanteuk told him and he nodded.

"Let's start again", he motioned towards Yoseob and gave Seuki another push. "Breathe for me baby girl... you need to breathe..."

"We only have five more minutes", she heard Hanteuk talking over the radio, "We can't leave the tourniquet on her for more than ten."

"We're about to land in two minutes", the response came and Dara watched as Ji Yong gave her another rescue breath.

"Get over the paramedics once they're here", he told Yoseob, "I want oxygen and a plasma expander. And get them to radio the hospital and warn them. She's going to need whole blood or packed cell when she arrives. I want her in the air in the next few minutes. We don't have time to play around here."

Yoseob nodded and with a look from Hanteuk, he ran to meet up the air ambulance on the other side of the beach.

Ji looked at her. "You're finished over there? Help me here and press on her. I'm going to try again."

Without argument, she slid beside him and pressed on Seuki. Ji prepared to give the young child another charge of air.

"They're here", somebody in the crowd said as the paramedics ran towards them.

Ji wasn't listening. His attention was focused on the child. "Come on baby girl", he murmured softl,y "breathe for me." His eyes were on her chest and Dara watched him, wondering if he had seen something... had he felt a change in her condition?

Ji pressed on Seuki's chest again and at that moment Seuki gave a choking cough and vomited weakly.

"Oh Thank God!", Dara breathed and Ji turned the child's head and cleared her airway.

"There's a good girl", Ji whispered, "You're going to be alright now, sweetheart."

He spoke so softly that Dara doubted that anyone else had heard his words of comfort and she felt a lump block her throat as she watched him with the child.

"So he's capable of kindness, then" she thought. It has always been there just as her Grandpa told her.

But then he lifted his head and his eyes were as hard as ever. "Get some blankets, dry coats, towels – something to warm her up", he ordered – and then looked at the paramedics. "Give her some oxygen. I want to get a line in and give her a bolus of fluid and then we're out of here."

"How much fluid do you want?"

Ji wiped his forearm across his brow, but he kept one hand on the child's arm. Offering reassurance. "What's her weight? How old is she? We can estimate –"

"I know her weight exactly", Dara said, "I saw her in clinic last week. She's 16 kilograms. Do you want a calculator so you can work out the fluid?"

"Start with 160 mils of colloid and then I'll reassess. I don't want to hang around here", Ji released Seuki's hand and started looking for a vein, while one of the paramedics sorted out the fluid and the other gave the child some oxygen.