Chapter 25 Crisis? Death is ever-present.
The blizzard, carrying sleet, pounded against the ambulance windows, and the metal body trembled slightly from the intense impact.
The rescue operation is becoming increasingly difficult.
Whether it was due to the weather or something else, that dizziness would still occasionally reappear, but it would suddenly disappear just as Allen was about to try to catch it.
Allen pressed his frozen fingers to his carotid artery, only to find that he could barely feel his own pulse.
Amidst the chaos, only the old butler, Berndner, noticed Allen's unpleasant expression.
The strong old man had been helping to lift the person into the ambulance. His years of experience as a butler made him very effective in treating simple external injuries, which greatly reduced Allen's burden.
He even managed to find time to hand out cups of hot cocoa to Allen, Daniel, Maggie, and nearby officers to replenish their energy.
Allen's glass had already formed a brown film of ice, and half a piece of unmelted aspirin was stuck to the glass.
He looked up at Bernard and saw the old butler's worried expression. Allen gave Bernard a helpless smile: "I'm fine, but you'd better stay in the ambulance and not wander around... I don't want to see you on crutches in the emergency room later."
“I eat healthily, exercise regularly, and occasionally run marathons.” Bernard smiled kindly, reaching out to brush the snowflakes from Allen’s shoulder and hair. “I even have abs, eight-pack. What about you, Young Master Allen?”
Allen: ...
I have one too! It turns out it's eight pieces!
However, the junk food and terrible schedules in the emergency room have already made up for it.
Dick kept urging him to exercise, but he just didn't want to.
The scene gradually became orderly, and the injured were taken away one after another by rescue vehicles. However, at this moment, an unexpected change occurred.
A commotion suddenly broke out near an overturned truck. Allen vaguely heard someone shouting at the top of their lungs, "Get out! Get out of here! It's going to explode!"
Although he didn't know what had happened, Bernard rushed forward to pull Allen away from the scene. However, when Allen turned around, he suddenly discovered that there was still someone in the driver's seat of the overturned car!
Without hesitation, he broke free from Bernard's hand, quickly instructed the old butler to return to the ambulance, and then ran towards it.
Dick arrived at the same time as him.
Dick grabbed Allen and anxiously pushed him in the opposite direction: "Don't come near here, the hydrogen tank in the back of the car is leaking!"
Clearly, this was an illegally transporting hydrogen vehicle. The unfortunate driver encountered extreme weather, lost control, and overturned at the accident scene. The driver, who was violating regulations, didn't even dare to call for help.
Firefighters just discovered the leaking hydrogen tank at the back of the vehicle.
One officer was so angry that he cursed and vowed to crack the case of illegal transportation of dangerous goods and imprison the culprit for twenty years.
Hydrogen leaks are extremely dangerous, especially in a nearly semi-sealed truck like this. A certain amount of hydrogen and oxygen accumulating in a confined space, along with a tiny spark, could likely be enough to send several nearby vehicles and rescue personnel flying.
In normal circumstances, police and firefighters would immediately direct people to evacuate the scene. However, with so many injured people scattered around today, evacuation is simply impossible.
The hydrogen tank had a large hole due to the car accident, and a buzzing sound came from the leak. The fuel tank was dripping, and everyone present had to walk very carefully to avoid creating even a spark.
"It's about to explode!" a firefighter shouted desperately.
Ignoring Dick's attempts to stop him, Allen rushed to the driver's seat and reached out to feel the driver's carotid artery. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found that it was still beating.
However, he had already seen the truck driver's severe crush injuries and a leg that had been detached from his body.
The gearshift lever, like a sharp blade, pierced through the driver's waist and abdomen, pinning him firmly to the driver's seat.
Blood pooled beneath him, spilling out of the car and forming a small puddle. The blood congealed into red ice flowers, presenting an ominous dark red hue.
Allen's brain reflexively performed a series of rigorous calculations, and finally simulated a conclusion: the driver probably wouldn't survive.
The hospital was too far away, the patient had lost too much blood, and the temperature was too low and he had been exposed to the cold air for a long time. The driver's soul was already in the clutches of death.
Nearby firefighters also rushed to the scene. The best plan would be for someone to drive the truck with the leaking hydrogen tank away from the accident site as quickly as possible.
However, the overturned cargo container made the plan impossible. Everyone held their breath and instinctively backed away quickly.
Dick was the first to react. He spoke up and decisively ordered an officer to bring over a nearby tow truck, while he himself immediately ran to the truck bed and turned on the valve of the hydrogen canister.
Only Dick, inside the truck bed, and Allen, outside the driver's seat, remained near the truck.
Alan knew what Dick was going to do.
Since evacuating personnel is not an option, someone needs to drive away from the scene with the hydrogen canisters that are about to explode.
The truck driver was dragged out.
The next second, the valve connecting the hydrogen tank in the truck came loose, and Dick, along with several police officers, had already towed the leaking hydrogen tank away from the truck and transported it to the back of a trailer.
Just as Allen was about to call out to Dick, he saw Dick nimbly leap into the trailer's cab, followed by the sound of the engine starting.
Several officers cried out in alarm, and Allen heard someone yell at Dick, "No—it's too dangerous!"
Before anyone could react, the tow truck resolutely sped off the road and headed into the dense forest not far away.
The air was silent for a moment, and the pungent smell of gasoline filled everyone's nostrils. Allen suddenly felt like vomiting.
But he only paused his CPR for one beat before immediately continuing.
Time seemed to pass unusually slowly. A few short seconds felt like an entire century; the trailer, which had been visible just moments before, had vanished into the dense forest.
For some reason, the melody of "Stay In Alive" suddenly echoed in Allen's mind again.
He unconsciously simulated Dick's agile movements in his mind. As expected, Dick would be able to escape from the cockpit before the hydrogen tank exploded; he just needed to calculate the timing correctly.
Based on the extent of the leak, the hydrogen will likely explode in about 10 seconds. Does Dick know about this?
They probably know.
With a loud 'boom,' the expected explosion occurred just as Allen counted to nine. The violent explosion seemed to have also set the trailer ablaze.
Allen looked up and realized that it was getting light.
The sun was slowly rising in the direction Dick had just left, and the blizzard was even showing signs of gradually subsiding. A few snowflakes drifted down, and Allen blinked uncomfortably. He raised his arm and wiped away the icy shards that had formed on his eyelashes.
Surprisingly, there were no dark clouds blocking the sun today. The faint, golden sunlight shone on the ground mixed with blood and mud, giving rise to a warm feeling and a sense of unreality and absurdity.
Allen saw Daniel push the ambulance stretcher toward Dick, but he didn't move, continuing to rhythmically administer first aid to the unconscious truck driver.
“…That’s enough, Dr. Osborn!” Maggie’s voice seemed to come from the distant sea, with an unreal quality.
He looked up and saw Maggie staring at him with a mournful expression: "He's dead, Dr. Osborn."
In fact, the truck driver had already lost his life before Allen and Maggie could lift him off the ground.
Maggie looked at Allen with some sadness: "Don't worry, Dr. Osborn, Officer Grayson will be fine."
“…It’s none of my business,” Allen heard himself reply. “Let’s go, we still need to get these wounded back to the hospital.”
**
The ER in Brodhaven is the closest hospital to the scene of the accident, and it is already overcrowded. Even though West Charity Hospital has taken away a lot of patients, the corridors are still filled with beds.
Nurses pushing various medical supplies could only carefully squeeze through the gaps. There was noise everywhere. Dr. Edward and Dr. Miller were arguing about something. Alan, who came back with the ambulance, heard Ms. Goodman yelling at someone on the other end of the phone.
The emergency department is operating beyond capacity.
The couple rescued by Allen and Dick have been taken to the observation room. The wife is still in a coma, but she is out of danger. The husband is holding their child and staying by his wife's bedside, his face filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.
Allen glanced at him and hurried after another patient before the little boy's eyes locked onto him.
At the scene of the accident, a tanker truck experienced a secondary explosion, which affected a nearby vehicle. A man who was unable to escape was instantly engulfed in flames.
Although Allen ran over immediately upon hearing the sound, it was too late.
The man suffered burns covering more than 90% of his body. Under normal circumstances, he might have had a chance of survival. However, in the current overloaded emergency room, his treatment order will likely be pushed back to give hope to those who are more likely to survive.
According to the law, in extreme circumstances, hospitals have both the right and the responsibility to do so.
Sure enough, Dr. Miller stopped Allen, who was still undergoing CPR, and changed the red wristband on the man's wrist to black.
Andy Miller, who was in charge of triage, said with a serious expression: "Allen, go to treatment room number 5, the patient is waiting for you."
Allen glanced at Dr. Miller with a somewhat bewildered expression.
"Dr. Osborn, you have to understand the situation! He's beyond saving."
"But……"
Allen didn't know why, but he just wanted to try again. Perhaps the excessive workload had made his mind unable to think properly. He knew his decision was irrational, but he just wanted to save this man.
At least let this man hold on until Maggie contacts his family, Allen thought.
He then thought of Dick, who had heard that Daniel had pulled a more severely burned body from the accident scene, which had now been taken to the morgue.
The next second, Maggie brought devastating news: "His youngest son was just taken to West Charity Hospital, but he has been pronounced dead after all efforts to save him failed! His wife is temporarily out of contact, but he has another son who is on his way."
Allen took a deep breath and removed his hand from the chest of the man whose body was covered in black and red skin, whose face was no longer recognizable.
The man slowly raised his charred hand, as if he already knew the fate that awaited him. He desperately tried to squeeze out "Help...help me" from his throat, but his trachea had already begun to swell, and he could no longer speak.
Dr. Miller stood coldly in front of Allen, waving at him incessantly.
Andy's face gradually distorted in Allen's eyes, turning into abstract, incomprehensible lines.
So he walked into treatment room number 5 with a cold expression, only to find that the patient Dr. Miller had mentioned had wide-open eyes and was no longer breathing. The lines on the monitoring equipment were straight, like the patient's heart, which was completely still.
Another dead person.
Allen couldn't help but think, "Why are so many people dead today? The death rate far exceeds that of any previous day, which makes him inexplicably irritable."
He drew the curtains in the treatment room and stepped forward to examine the deceased's face closely.
She was a middle-aged woman with a few gray hairs at her temples and a large hole in her forehead.
Allen felt she looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen her before.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew towards him from behind.
The woman, 'Emily,' whom Allen had seen smiling at him in the conference room that day, appeared behind him. Allen turned around abruptly, staring at the woman without saying a word.
He knew that the figure he saw near the car accident today was also her.
After a long silence, he asked:
"Why are you following me? Are you an illusion or are you real?"
The woman looked at Allen gently: "Is this important? Allen, you should go and rest. Mom is right here. Would you like to give Mom a hug?"
He heard 'Emily' say that.
Allen reached into his waistband to grab his gun, but then suddenly remembered that he had left it in the closet that morning and hadn't taken it out at all.
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