Ninety Degrees Out

Anya watched the woman in their only hospital bed. Again, Mike had the foresight to bring up a monitoring system, so they had real time data on her vitals and a trace of her heart rhythm.

She shared the care duty with Dr. Mike and Akira Stroman. The woman’s head injury was a severe concussion, but no brain bleed. They ended up using some of their precious contrast medium in the cat scanner. Until they could get a better electrical supply, the MRI she managed to salvage was in storage. The construction materials required to set that up were not available and wouldn’t be for years.

Her head drooped down onto her chest and she jerked it back up. Three in the morning. Her Circadian rhythm was prompting her to sleep no matter what she did. Coffee beans were impossible to find, and tea didn’t do much for her. Her patient was tossing restlessly, so she turned on the light in the corner of the room. Her heart beats were increasing, and it looked like she might wake up.

According her driver’s license, she was fifty-two-years-old. Her weight matched the statistics on the identification and so did her hair and eye color. A rarity in most cases as women generally lied about the number of pounds they saw on the scale. Hair color was never a given either. She ran fingers through short white-blond hair. Well, it wasn’t quite as short anymore. Like all the women, her hair was growing out and she tied it back with a leather lace to keep it out of her way.

“Olivia, you’re safe.” She touched the woman’s shoulder as she moaned. Her eyelids fluttered but remained closed.

“Come on, open your eyes. You have a concussion.”

“Where am I?” Olivia mumbled. “I was on my way into Anchorage. I was picking up my grandchildren. I’ve been driving for days.”

“I know. Your ID says you came from Nevada.”

“Had to leave. Volcano….” Her voice died as she blinked. “In hospital?” Her blood pressure cuff inflated as she asked. “Hurts.”

“Your grandchildren, who was watching them?” Anya picked the thing that was most important. Rescuing children was the first priority as far as she was concerned.

“They are in Anchorage at the school where all the kids who lost their parents are staying. Some Sargent… Stan? He called me. Girls are twins and their brother. Three. All I have left in the world now.” Olivia’s blue eyes closed, and she took a sniffling breath.

“You were attacked on the highway. They stole your car. All you had on you was ID in your back pocket.” Anya filled in the blanks for her.

“Girl was laying on the side of the road. Had to help, I’m a nurse, and a teacher.”

“We know, our lookout saw it from his rooftop.”

“Not in Anchorage, am I? Olivia’s voice was getting stronger. “I was attacked. Suckered. Right? It’s coming back to me.”

“You have a bad bruise on your temple, and a scrape to go with it. You’re on Stargazer Ranch. We’re a community of families who have gathered together to make the best of this mess. The pair who attacked you are planning to come after us too. They lead a group of marauding bikers who have gone rogue.”

“How do you have hospital equipment out here?” Olivia reached out for the bed controls and lifted her head a little higher.

“My partner out here, brought it with him. I’m actually a veterinarian. He’s a wise old trauma surgeon. We have a couple of others who help us out when needed. This is our only emergency bed.”

Olivia scanned her surroundings. “I’m in a MASH unit, aren’t I?”

“Something like that. We treat people and animals here equally, which sounds crazy, but it works. I’m the only vet still practicing in this area, so we have a variety of animals coming through,” Anya explained. “I’m going to have my son contact Sargent Stan. We use radios to keep in touch. Are you hungry?”

“Now that you mention it, starving. But worse, I’m thirsty like crazy.”

“I’ll get some water and a clipboard. Be right back.” Anya went out, letting the door close silently behind her. What a stroke of luck. A teacher and a nurse. What in her life put that combination together? The woman was an answer to several problems confronting the community. She picked up the handheld in her office and called Erik. Olivia needed his help. More children to think of. She couldn’t figure out a better way to get their patient to keep working on getting better.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“What do we have for strychnine poisoning? I might be able to save Ursa. At least her cubs are okay. Whatever’s in that damn carcass isn’t good for her.” Alicia continued to explain to Anya as she went through their cabinet looking for activated carbon.

“We didn’t think we’d need it day to day. Let me look in the other storeroom. Meanwhile take this into the sick bay. Olivia is waking up. She’s thirsty and asking for food too.”

Anya tossed a bottle of water at her and ducked through an opening in the canvas wall behind her.

“I’ll be right back, just get that water to our patient,” Anya voice faded as she moved into the darker room.

“Mom, I need to get the kittens back to their cages,” Arimina’s worried voice cut through her internal check list.

“Tell you what, you take the water to Olivia, I’ll get the kittens, their cages are in the other room too. When we have the medicine for Ursa, I’m going to ride to help her. You stay here because you’re the one in charge of Missy and Lexie.”

“Don’t get hurt Mommy. What about the cubs? We haven’t even named them. What will happen to them? What if Ursa dies?” Ari’s voice was shrill with worry.

“Chay says the cubs are okay. They’re big enough now that they are already finding food for themselves. I’m not going to get hurt. Ursa needs medicine for the poison we talked about. If I can get enough of it into her, and she hasn’t eaten too much of the bad meat, I can get her over it.”

“Lots of ifs, but I understand. They’re wild and we have to do the best we can to keep the cubs wild.”

Ari headed through the swinging door.

“Miss Olivia?”

Alicia sighed, as Anya came back with two large plastic bags.

“This is all we have. I’ll see if Janice can get more to replace it.”

“This should do it. I’m not sure how much she needs, she fatter now than when I stitched her up. Probably close to a thousand pounds.”

“I’m coming with you. This needs a vet. Let me talk to Olivia and I’ll take Erik’s mare.”

Alicia followed her into Olivia’s room.

“I’m Arimina, but everyone calls me Ari. Here’s your water, Miss Olivia.”

Her daughter reached up to hand a grey haired woman the bottle. She had a livid bruise on her right temple, and a scrape that went right down along her jaw.

“Thank you, dear. I’m so thirsty.” She twisted the cap and shock ran over her face as the lid came off without a struggle.

“We refill the bottles out here. No new supplies and there’s a great freshwater spring supplying the ranch.” Anya waited while the injured nurse took her first few sips.

“Never tasted anything to so good. I’ll take it slow. Did my time in Iraq with a MASH unit there, so I’m wise to dehydration and how to get enough water into my system. Surprised to find an IV in me out here.”

“We’ve got some good stuff in storage, but I have to go. We have a poisoned bear out there. Need to go see if I can help her. She’s got four cubs. This is Alicia, she helps me with the animals. She’s a zoologist. We’ve got to go, and Dr. Mike should be back in an hour or so. Can I trust you to take care of yourself?” Anya asked.

“Go, four is unheard of for a bear. She’s special, is she?” Olivia asked.

“Sort a mascot up here, she’s been around for almost fifteen years according to my son,” Anya said. She turned to gather her go bag and go out, Alicia followed her.

“I’ll stay with you Miss Olivia. I have to. I have to take care of the lynx babies we rescued.” Ari went toward the door and yelled, “Mommy, I’m staying with Miss Olivia.”

“Good. Make sure the kittens get feed okay?” Alicia told her.

“Of course. Dr. Mike is coming back pretty soon, right?”

“That’s what Anya said.”

“Then we’ll be okay. I’ll tell him where you went.”

“Thank you, Ari. I’m proud of you. I’ll try to get on the radio, so you know what happens.”

“Thanks, Mommy.” Ari ran over to hug Alicia. “Be careful okay?”

“I promise. Dr. Anya is coming too. We’ll help Ursa if we can.”

“Go.”

Alicia pushed the door open and stepped into the sunshine. Her little girl was growing up faster than she wanted her too.