Page 14 of Scorched Hearts
The bus lay on its side, crumpled like a mere yellow napkin. The road had been entirely shut off, causing waves of dissatisfied drivers to honk at the barriers until they got closer and saw the disaster. Maya saw sheets covering the dead who had already been recovered. Maya saw another team quickly collecting their bodies and preparing to drive away, hurrying partially out of respect, partially so as not to make a spectacle. Maya hated when the passersby made a private show out of tragedy—when they’d slow down just to look, to catch a glimpse of a body or a massacred car. Natural human curiosity, some strange proclivity for seeking out terrible images, she knew that was unavoidable, and yet… Her blood boiled at the sight of gaping faces passing by the fences.
Maya and her colleagues set up the stretchers and waited for the firefighters to get more people out. It was clear not many would come out alive. The bus had fallen from a great height and one of its walls had been entirely caved in. This was a real tragedy and Maya steeled herself for what she was likely to experience. Suddenly the crew began moving around with heightened urgency – they pulled out a girl, still breathing and even conscious. Maya and a paramedic rushed to take her, and at once she understood there was a chance to save the teen. She quickly began stabilizing her. Maya worked quickly and was satisfied with her work, The girl was stable and was loaded into an ambulance. Another pair of ambulances arrived. The girl was driven off. Another teen victim made his way to Maya.
His rich, curly hair was clumped with dry blood, he had suffered trauma to his head and his chest was on the edge of bleeding out. Maya knew she had to act here and now and perform a surgery to stop the bleeding. He didn’t have long. He wouldn’t make it to the hospital. Only then had she noticed – she knew the boy. Looking at his face, she clearly recognized a shadow of another one, a very familiar one. Her hands began shaking. Should she call out for someone else to help?
Oh god, it was her nephew. Her brother’s son Alexei.
Her nephew lay unconscious, and she couldn’t move. Then, she realized there was no one better for the job on the scene. If she wanted to save Alexei, she had to act immediately. She drew a deep breath and began working, trying to treat his body like any other she’d have no issues mending. Her hands trembled more than usual, but Maya worked quickly.
She had to save him. She had to.
Performing any kind of surgery here at the roadside was a risk, but it was his only chance.
With the help of the paramedic, Maya made progress and Alexei’s condition improved. She thought he was stable enough to move, although certainly not out of the woods yet. The ambulance left quickly to get Alexei to the OR where hopefully they could save him.
Maya remembered him when he was a little boy. Blond curly hair, a curious little personality.
Please, please, please. Save Alexei.
Once her emotional state no longer had effect upon Alexei’s chances of survival, Maya began breathing heavily. Her legs seemed to bend in strange ways beneath her, and dizziness haunted her head. She’d never operated upon family before, and the pressure she’d felt was the reason why. Her eyes watered while she searched for her brother’s number in her phone. As soon as she heard the familiar deep voice, she felt the horrible burden of being the bearer of bad news.
“Colin, listen.” She took in a deep breath. “Alexei has been in an accident. He’s on his way to Phoenix Ridge Hospital. He’ll need to go straight into surgery, so head to the ER.”
“What? What happened, Maya?”
“I hope he will be okay…” She couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her face, and her throat seemed too tight to let out coherent words. “I operated on him, and now he’s in the ambulance on the way to hospital…”
She promised to visit as soon as they didn’t need her on the scene anymore, but the team had already realized something had happened to Maya and had decided to work without her for as long as necessary. They retrieved the last pair of kids from under the bus, and their job on the scene seemed to be finished.
Maya quickly wiped her eyes, completely overwhelmed.
“Are you okay?”
The familiar voice shot through Maya like a bullet. She didn’t have to move to know who it was. She didn’t have to look. She’d recognize this voice anywhere she’d go, still, she decided to slowly turn around and put on an air of complete nonchalance.
“Oh, it’s you.” Maya crossed her arms. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“This was intense.”
Maya’s eyebrows raised in an incredulous look. There was no way she’d allow Elle to use a tragedy like this to advance her own selfish goals. Not after Alexei had almost lost his life.
“What do you want?”
Elle knitted her eyebrows in a confused expression. “What do I want? I don’t know, you were crying, you shouted for help that one time, so I wanted to check in on you since none of your teammates did.” She looked around to prove the point, then raised her hands. “That’s it.”
“Do you think I’m dumb? I know what you’re doing, and frankly, it’s disgusting.”
“I think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself.” Elle took a step toward Maya. “What’s this really about?”
“No, stop it with the patronizing voice, all right? I’m not a child. Nor am I twenty anymore. I’m not just another one of your girls, Elena,” she spat.
“Maya, stop it.” Elle wiped the sweat off her forehead. “You won’t even let me say what I came here to say, and you’re once again accusing me of something random. I don’t even know what you’ve heard--”
At this, Maya scoffed. Elle continued talking.
“And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I’ve done, I’m sorry for how our relationship ended, and I’m sorry how others treated you afterward, even though it wasn’t my fault.”
“Are you finished now?”