The Recovery Process

Seth put his handguns in his back trouser pockets, two handguns with laser plasma inside. Not only was he in that place, but many other survivors were there.

He looked back, seeing Alfred opening his mystery box. However, Seth didn't see the whereabouts of Laura. The location of the woman's mystery box was somewhere else, different from Seth and Alfred's location.

Seth walked closer to Alfred, looking at the contents of Alfred's mystery box. Seth was surprised to find the items that Alfred got, an item that he didn't know what it was used for, such as glasses, hats, vests, and shoes.

"What did you get?" asked Alfred, spontaneously turning his head slowly to the side and looking at Seth, who came closer.

Seth reached into his trouser pocket, taking out a bottle of blue plasma stored in his pocket. Alfred squinted, both gasping and confused by the item Seth was currently holding.

"What is it?" asked Alfred.

"I don't know. I have no idea what it's for," Seth explained.

"We should go visit Laura," said Seth. Alfred nodded as he put on the items.

The two walked out of the Avery Field area to the location where Laura had picked up her box. More people were there than at Seth's place, as it was much more spacious than Avery Field.

Laura seemed done with her mystery box, turning her head to the left where Seth and Alfred were walking toward her. From what the two men could see, Laura seemed to have gotten an empty bag with nothing in it.

"Nice bag," Seth praised.

"Thank you. What did you get?" Laura asked.

Seth showed her the plasma bottle, while Alfred showed her the items he was wearing. Laura squinted her eyes, expecting each participant to get a different item.

Just as the three were talking to each other, Seth seemed to crouch down as his right hand held his head, throbbing incessantly again, making the world around him seem to spin in his eyes.

"What happened?" asked Alfred, confused.

"I think the headache has happened again," said Laura.

Laura took a bottle of headache tablets and gave one to Seth. Seth took it and swallowed it immediately. Slowly, the dizziness in his head began to ease, but that didn't mean it was completely cured.

"The hospital where you work is not far from here. Let's go there," Laura explained. Seth and Alfred nodded slowly.

***

The hospital became the destination of the current people right after they all managed to survive the first-floor game. Hundreds of people were waiting to be examined; there weren't as many doctors and nurses as before the invasion.

A female nurse recording the incoming patients gasped in surprise and was pleased to find Seth coming to the hospital. She saw Seth's condition was just as injured as the other patients.

"What happened to your left hand, doc?" the nurse asked, ignoring the waiting citizens in line.

"My hand is broken. Surgery won't be possible. We'll put a cast on it until it heals on its own," Seth said.

"But it will take a lot of time, and the pain will be unbearable," the nurse said.

Seth smiled, turning his head slowly to the right where a line of citizens were waiting to be treated, "Prioritize the wounded. I can handle it myself."

"A-All right, Doctor Seth," said the nurse, smiling with relief as she refocused on the queue of patients beside her.

Seth walked in without having to do an inspection, given that almost all the hospital staff knew who Seth was. Seth's office was located on the third floor. He would use his workplace to treat Alfred first.

Several nurses went up and down the emergency stairs just as the elevator in the hospital stopped working due to a lack of electricity.

They all seemed to be busy carrying medicines and delivering the patients of the citizens to the remaining treatment rooms; most of them had suffered medium to severe injuries.

The door to Doctor Seth's office opened, revealing a room that was still as tidy as before, unaffected by the war between humans and Skywatchers.

"Rest here for the night. Tomorrow, we'll gather supplies," Seth said.

Laura nodded. She seemed to sit back and take a deep breath, trying to relieve the fatigue in her body. However, it was different with Alfred, who was told to lie on the patient's bed.

Seth picked up a metal tray containing the items he would use to treat the cut on Alfred's forehead. The door to Seth's office opened, revealing the female nurse who had greeted him earlier in front of the hospital.

"I've come to treat your left-hand wound, Doc," the nurse said.

The woman's eyes saw Seth preparing to perform the treatment on Alfred. It was a coincidence that the female nurse came; Seth could ask for her help to stitch up the laceration on Alfred's head.

"It's a coincidence you came here. I had difficulty stitching up the wound with just one hand," Seth said.

"Alright. I'll help you treat it, then I'll treat your left hand," said the nurse, Seth smiling with relief.

The two started to suture the wound on Alfred's head, but before that, she needed to give him an anesthetic injection so he wouldn't feel any pain during the suturing process.

Laura herself chose to rest on the long, soft sofa. She was fast asleep, ignoring Seth and the nurse who worked together to close the laceration on Alfred's head.

"Did any other doctors survive except me?" asked Seth, starting the conversation between him and the nurse.

"Doctors Lussie, Malcolm, and Henry survived. They only suffered minor injuries," said the nurse.

"Doctor Malcolm? Isn't he already old enough?" Seth asked.

"He said that he was hiding behind the walls of his room. He has a secret room that no one knows about," replied the nurse. Seth was even more surprised.

"Then what about you? Where were you hiding earlier?" asked Seth, curious.

"I was hiding in this hospital, along with the other nurses. Only a few white soldiers came to this place," said the nurse.

After about thirty minutes of the two working together, the stitches on Alfred's head were finally completed. Now, the nurse's job was to ensure the small wounds around the laceration were sterilized with antiseptic medicine.

Seth placed the medical supplies on a metal tray, storing the tray in a cabinet near his desk.

After finishing treating Alfred, the nurse was seen walking over to Seth with a blue cast to attach to the doctor's left hand. The location of the fracture was inside Seth's hand, with no bone sticking out.

It made him grateful because that type of fracture could be treated on its own without the help of surgery.

"Have you rested? Your eyes look tired," Seth said.

"I'll rest after treating a few more patients. We're short of nurses, so we must do our best to save their lives," said the nurse.

"I'll help you," said Seth.

The nurse was touched, happy, and relieved that the best doctor in the hospital was safe and would help her with the patients that kept coming in. Right after his left hand was treated, Seth left with the nurse to see the town's injured citizens.

"The queue is getting longer," Seth said.

  Based on the information I've gotten from the citizens, this hospital is the only one still in existence from tonight's series of fighting and games," the nurse said.

"Alright. Sort out the people with light, medium, and heavy injuries. Prioritize the treatment rooms for the severely injured, while the lightly injured can stay in the corridor, while the medium injured are moved to the ICU room," said Seth.

The nurses listened to Seth's orders and began to carry them out quickly. Seth split the total number of nurses into two groups: the first group was in charge of treating wounds, while the second group was in charge of separating the queue of patients.

"I'll go take care of the severely injured patients. You guys can focus on the medium and lightly injured patients," Seth replied.

"I need the help of two nurses. Come with me."