The Flames of Medicine

6

Claire POV:

Where am I?

All I could see was darkness. I felt...numb.

I knew I was in pain but, I didn't feel it?

It's weird.

I have my eyes open but I don't have them open.

I'm watching myself. In a room of darkness. Pitch black. I remember screams, and running, and heat... a lot of heat.

He was there, he had the gun, he killed -- he -- he killed Sara.

Sara.

Oh god, Sara.

I want to cry but I have no feeling of being able to even move my hands or dry the tears that welling in my eyes.

The darkness begins to move, around me, I start to hear sounds. There's a sense of nausea in the pit of my stomach.

I feel tingling sensations on my legs and arms but I'm not capable of looking down at them or even moving them. I hear voices... no... a voice. I hear a voice.

I know that voice.

The darkness begins to overcome whatever awareness I've developed and I realize I'm going into a slumber again.

I try to fight it but the exhaustion is too deep to conquer and I close out whatever awareness I built and welcome the dark dreamless slumber one more time.

General POV:

"Okay Kevin. I just put in the last dosage to wean her off the coma. At this point she will be aware of her surroundings mentally. She's no longer in the coma, she's now just resting. We want her to rest as much as possible so we'll monitor her until she wakes up by herself. I know it can be tough to have to wait and not wake her up but please let her wake up by herself, it has a better chance of her being able to recuperate her memories and recover from any cerebral damage she might have"

Kevin looked from Ashton to Claire trying to process everything the doctor was saying.

"Okay doctor, thank you. I'll do my best to not hold her hand so she doesn't wake up"

Kevin said that as honest as he could but he let a minimal snare leave his features as he realized that Ashton basically said Claire would survive.

Ashton didn't want to prod longer so he excused himself and went to Michael down in triage.

Ashtons POV:

There's something weird with that guy. We usually have the non-worried parents, the normal-worried parents and the over-exagerrated-worried parents. This guy was being weird in asking the survival of Claire, thankfully we at least know her name now, but in a way that implied he was kind of disappointed that she was alive. I even think and dare say I think I saw a snare come from him when I said I was waking her up.

"Earth to Fletcher— hellooo??"

I snapped back to reality not even realizing I was deep in thought.

"Sheesh man, maybe let me drive home so you can rest"

"Nah mate, I'm good. Call me Fletcher one more time Gordon and I'll hide your body. Besides, was just thinking, is all"

"What were you thinking in that big brain of yours?"

"Mikey, how did you find Claire's father anyways?"

"In the hallway when she was being wheeled into surgery why?"

"There's something— there's just something not right with him and the girl. I don't know what it is but there's a weird vibe I get from him. He doesn't fit any of the parental profiles and I swear I saw him give a snare at Claire when I mentioned I was weaning her off the coma"

"Ash, we're overworked. Let's go home and rest. Team #4 has been briefed and we've been mandatorily relived from our duties. Besides, he was crying hysterically when I found him and he saw her being wheeled to surgery. He could just be tired and doesn't like the fact he has to wait more time to see if she's alright"

I sighed.

Maybe Michael is right. I'll check again when we're back and make sure everything is fine. I have to build a profile on her anyways.

"Yeh, guess you're right mate. Thanks Mikey. Let's go get Cal and go home. I want my bed."

"You and I both man."

We started to walk into the hallway to our locker room. I couldn't get the feeling of something wrong from the pit of my stomach. There was a nagging sensation that I should keep extra tabs on her. What is this even leading to? Maybe he is her dad and he's just overwhelmed by everything like Michael says.

Maybe.

But whether or not he is, I'm going to do my best to find something to prove everything is as it seems.