The Long Way Home

Chapter Ten: Hide & Seek

When times are hard

I think of you

I'll wait for love

I'll wait for you

Matt White – Wait For Love

The lights were flickering again and Cass found that overly annoying. It had been happening on and off over the past few hours and now it was becoming more and more frequent. The power surges were disruptive not only to the lighting but towards the other medical machinery. She'd shut down the scanners because she couldn't risk them becoming damaged if the power went haywire. Carson was at a meeting with the other Heads of Operations. It had been called abruptly and in Cass's opinion that usually meant one thing, there was trouble brewing.

God, she hoped the city wasn't going to sink. Cass didn't really want to think that was even a possibility at this point. She doubted that the restricted access call out would have gone out if that was true, which made her consider that it was something else. She had been hearing stories over the past few weeks of ghosts trailing the hallways at night.

Cass had thought that was clearly people's minds playing tricks on them at the time. The Athoians were frightened and the city, she admitted was very unsettling at first. It taken her a little while to get used to it herself. Lately Cass had been hearing whispers among the Athosians of the Wraith and of the spirits of the Ancestors. She, herself had seen nothing to indicate that they were right but then again in a universe where Space Vampires could suck the life right out of your chest with the palm of their hand, anything was possible.

"Doctor Pierce, you have incoming." her comm chimed in her ear with the gruff voice of Paul Deakins, head of one of their Medical Team.

"Bring it straight in, details?" Cass responded, already in motion.

She was already slipping into a yellow plastic apron, one of her nurses was behind her fastening up the bindings as she snapped on a pair of latex gloves from the box along side the automatic doors.

"Lieutenant Ford, he's unconscious but stable. Burns on face and likely chest and upper body, we had to intubate on site." Paul fed the information through to her comm.

"What happened?" Cass questioned, stepping through the ancient doorway into the Trauma Bay.

"Looks like an electrocution, Sergeant Stackhouse is minutes behind us." Paul relayed before hesitating for a moment as he speculated. "Could be something to do with all the power surges Doctor."

"That would be my guess, How far are you out?" she requested, darting a furtive glance at her field kit, trying to decide whether it would be quicker for her to go to them.

"Two minutes." Paul promised as Cass flicked on the Diagnostic Scanner before speaking into her comm.

"I'm ready."

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Lieutenant Aiden Ford was steaming, literally. There was smoke coming off his padded black utility vest in waves from the heat that had fused the zipper of it shut. Cass was hoping for the best in this situation, being struck by electricity played havoc with all sorts of body functions and the results from the initial scan still weren't back yet. Right now, her and her team of trauma doctors were focusing on damage control. They had already hooked him up to a ventilator so that his lungs were getting air, at the very least she was hoping that the paralysis of his respiratory system was only temporary. They were damned lucky the jolt of electricity hadn't disrupted the rhythm of his heart.