That was the first day that Makura put a female in a person's body as an osteologist. Wear green surgical clothes under the powerful lights of the operating room and gently place a scalpel on the lower abdomen of the swollen pregnant woman. The skin and the subcutaneous fat beneath it are slowly torn vertically.
My hands moved as I had simulated many times. There is no tremor.
A face-to-face mentor of his age quickly wiped the blood from the wound with gauze. The wound is further spread and secured with scissor-shaped pliers. Usually, Makura does the job as an assistant. Others have a second assistant resident and a nurse with an operating room.
Cesarean section, which is not urgent, is a basic procedure in obstetrics and gynaecology, and not so difficult. For this reason, Makura, the fourth year after graduation, was set to take his first sword. If there is anything at stake, they will be replaced immediately by a mentor.
Makura took a deep breath under the mask and explored the wound. Except for the abdomen, it's covered in thin green drapes, and there's a little bit of blood on there.
Behind the open belly, a thin, translucent fascia was seen. It is a fibrous membrane that is also attached to a block of beef. Pinch it at your fingertips and cut it open with scissors.
A peritoneum resembling a soft bird skin appeared as the exposed lean was applied to the left and right.
"Nice."
The instructor squeezes up the membrane so that this one is easy to cut while wiping the blood with gauze. Makura is a crooked scissor with a tip that cuts it open a little bit. As he lay down with his forceps, a floating, thin pink womb of blood vessels finally appeared. The instructor opens the meat with a metal hella inside and expands the field of surgery.
So far so good. It hasn't taken five minutes.
Makura cut a nagging membrane wrapping her uterus and switched it to a female. Cut the lower part of the swollen uterus sideways so that it does not damage the fetus inside by a few millimeters.
Eventually, through the thin membrane of the follicles, the feet of the fetus floating in the amniotic fluid entered the eye. All you have to do is break this membrane, let it break water and take it out.
Makura was undergoing the treatment without hesitation that far, but the movement suddenly stopped.
From here on out, it will touch the vulnerable fetus directly.
The awe frightened Makura.
"Do it."
There is a voice for the instructor.
The hand awaits with a widened incision of the uterus.
……
Makura, also an assistant, has been present at the cesarean section many times before. Rather than take it away, it feels like dragging it out. It's not better that I'm bringing it.
Makura was ready and tore her follicles with a pinset-like instrument. The amniotic fluid floods out and spills over the drapes. Makura instantly stuck her hand into her womb and grabbed her fearlessly unreliable fetal body. As the blood and amniotic fluid flood, the blue and white little hands and feet slowly appear.
"I can see it, I'm almost there."
A nurse speaks to her mother, but not into Makura's ear.
All consciousness was focused on the definite pulse of life in his hands. Don't hesitate, but don't put too much effort into it.
The birth of the fetus rose where all the bodies left the cord attached.
It was a voice I could already hear in obstetrics, but the small warmth in my hand gave it away. It rocked the deep part of Makura.
"You're a good boy."
A voice containing the laughter of a mentor.
while wiping away the amniotic fluid with gauze,
Good luck with that.
With my own hands, I took the baby for the first time.
Makura was immersed in the emotion.
◇
As we were having dinner at the cafeteria at the University Hospital, a woman in white sat face to face.
Coffee in one hand,
"How'd it go?
Makura smiles quietly at the words without a greeting.
"Just"
The woman smiled bitterly,
"Oh well... good. We'll be assistants in two more years."
"Formation is craftsmanship."
"How about this evening? To celebrate surgical success."
"Sorry, duty in the field"
"Oh, too bad. But are you okay? Exactly. Aren't you tired today?
"Because it's my home. I'm not much of a burden."
"Oh well. Really? You little lady."
"That's right, actually"
The woman looks unexpectedly at Makura as she slowly receives it.
"... you're in a good mood. I'll do most of the concoctions, but maybe I won't join?
"Hmmm...... think about it"
"Whoa? Are you okay? You want your own baby or something?
"Hey......... well, I could look for someone."
"I like that. We're named after the missed date."
Makura laughs bitterly at that word, said to be smudged.
Melodies flowed to the lid. A woman takes her phone out of her white coat and replies several times. Stand up for a cup of coffee with one hand,
"Sorry. I'll be there"
"Go away"
Waving hard, the woman left.
◇
The two-door coupe was stopped in the parking lot at the back entrance, and Makura had a car.
Keeping the card key secure, push open the unlocked door. Go through the passage and continue to the back.
Left and right plantings and trees are illuminated by garden lights that mimic Cantera and float up on the basket.
Further back, there was a bright window-lined ward. The exterior and interior were hands-on, which reminded me of the western hall during the Meiji period.
This is a small hospital with fifty beds and only obstetrics and gynaecology, headed by Makura's father, but it had a good reputation and many came all the way from afar to be hospitalized.
He went indoors and was called out by the nurse on the night shift of Forty Rays as he leaned over beside the nurse station.
"Oh, Saya. Welcome home."
"Good evening.... don't saya"
Makura answers with a bitter laugh.
It's an old stock nurse. Since I was a kid, I've been dating for about fifteen years. In the past, I've been beaten to the ground, such as blood sampling and intubation, and I've always been a headless opponent.
"But if it's Dr. Makura, I don't know which one. Shall I call you Dr. Whisperer?
"Enough...... where's the dean?
"Dean's office. 'Cause there's nothing in particular tonight."
"Thank you"
Keep your head down and walk upstairs. The time is about 7 pm. Because it is still too early for the lights to go out, inpatient appearance is also visible.
When I knocked into the dean's office, my father, who was sitting at the desk organizing the paperwork, looked up.
He looks up at me and opens his mouth with a gentle face with mixed gray hair.
"You didn't seem to have a problem seeing that face, did you?
"Yes. Nothing."
"Right."
Nod small.
It was a quiet reaction, but from Makura's long relationship, I could tell that my father was very happy with me.
After a paragraph about a pregnant woman in the hospital and a gynecological patient's handover in an electronic medical record, my father said she was stingy.
"I'm glad you went the same way as I did... Honestly, I didn't want to recommend it to my daughter."
"Not now, sir."
"Yeah. Right."
Nod small.
These days, fewer young people want obstetrics and gynaecology. Obstetrics is dominated by delivery and pregnancy check-ups, but gynaecology is dominated by severe diseases such as cervical cancer. There are also many surgeries, requiring techniques comparable to those of surgery.
There are many calls even after hours to handle childbirth further, and I can hardly take vacation-like leave.
There are more midwives in this hospital than elsewhere, but it still must have been intense.
"I am glad I chose this path. Especially today, I felt that way."
Because I am losing my mother early, the only thing I can remember about Makura is my father's back. He was sometimes an assistant professor at the university before opening, and is often called out by older doctors as the 'daughter of Makura'. It was all favorable.
For the sake of intense duty, I had little time to deal with my father as a family, but the sense of respect and favor that came from around me felt shiny from my childhood. Succeeding to such a father's trail was unnecessary in Makura.
"Right...... rewarding. It's a job that works for people. Refine."
"Yes."
"Because I'm home at night. Call me if anything happens. Keep the hypnotic sleep."
"Yes, thank you"
Deeply bowing his head, he leaves the dean's office and heads to the holding room.
Walk and think about your privileged environment.
In the two years after medical school, there is a rotation around each discipline for clinical training, but in obstetrics and gynaecology, residents were barely allowed to do anything. There's a high risk of lawsuits, patients don't like them, and New America can't get them to turn their jobs around.
Makura had hoped for obstetrics and gynaecology from the beginning, and he got more eyes on it than any other resident, but still had difficulty acquiring the technology.
In that regard, this field, which has been around for a long time, provides considerable food for experience in action.
Makura is in the trail of this hospital, so the veteran nurse doesn't even bother me. Nurse chiefs and others have powers that don't even put them on the nose, such as new American doctors, but here they are just heartfelt opponents.
Besides, a regular duty doctor is quite careful to call the top doctor even in an emergency, but Makura can easily get the support of his father, who is the most experienced doctor in that regard. The director's home is next to the hospital, so it won't take five minutes even when it's time.
It was a very privileged environment.
(It's sweet...)
I still have a chick's consciousness. Now I have experience, and when I become a doctor in front of one in the future, I wish I could help my father.
With renewed intentions, Makura speeded up her steps.
◇
My phone rang when I was checking my medical records on the Nurse Station terminal.
From colleagues at the University Hospital.
It's Makura.
'Oops! Sorry, can you come over here!?
"Uh... no, because I'm on duty today"
"I'll contact the Dean from here! Looks like there's been a riot and an outpatient is coming. Surgery is not enough! I'll call them all back. '
"Riot...... is it?
"I'll do it on TV! Turn on the car radio. Hurry up!
"Ha...... ok"
The call hung up in a hurry.
Makura is half-hearted and stares at the display.
Riot.
In Japan.
Sometimes it's a fire or a ball-pushing accident and an ambulance comes together, but I've never heard the word riot.
When I contacted my father, he said he already knew what was going on, and he immediately told me to go back to college. Tell the nurse nearby what's going on, keep her in white, and hurry to the parking lot.
The word riot was still frequent in the news of the radio I put on while driving my car. That seems to be a pretty massive thing, too.
(It's true...)
Maybe there are casualties without disaster.
Reminds me of my previous training at the hospital for triage.
When a large number of wounded come out, it is necessary to distinguish between those who can be helped and those who are not. When you waste resources on someone you can't handle, more people die. Makura drives the car while rebelling the judgment criteria that will be its discernment in her brain.
It was about half an hour's journey to the University Hospital, but I felt something strange about the sight of the city along the way.
(I don't know... something's wrong)
Using the traffic information in the navigation, we change routes one after the other, but cars are lagging everywhere. I wonder if there's a sight as usual, in one neighboring alley, the crowd flocks like they panicked.
Took about twice as long as usual to finally get to the hospital.
Makura frowns when she sees several ambulances parked at the entrance. The ambulance is empty, and there's no ambulance crew.
If you park like that, you'll get in the way of a subsequent ambulance.
After putting the car in the staff parking lot, Makura hurried to the lobby in an attempt to get the ambulance out of the way.
So, Makura lost her word.
"Huh..."
No one.
The lobby, which is usually rude to people, was deserted. Not a single patient, and I don't see the nurse in reception.
…………
Makura stood blindly for a while, but returned it to me and took out her phone. Call back from an earlier incoming call and stay clear of your colleague's calling noise.
I'm not answering.
Makura was anxiously driven and looked around.
To the lid, that caught my eye.
There is a little red and black on the back of the waiting seat.
Following it, a black blooded circle spread between the rows of seats entered my eyes. I'm splashing around like I smashed a paint.
In it, there was a small chunk of meat.
…………
Listening to the still unconnected call, Makura serves as an attempt to understand the sight in front of him in the thought that has slowed him down like a turtle.
In the meat and fat, bones are visible.
It seemed like a part of the human body.
Why is something like that left out here?
Secondly, I noticed that I could hear faint music.
Looks like an incoming melody.
Makura turned to you so that she could be attracted, remaining paralyzed in her thoughts.
In the hallway, by the way, there was blood scattered.
The melody was leaking out the door of the echo examination room.
After a little hesitation, slowly, open the drawer.
It was the multiple figures in the back of the room that entered my eyes. Three or so humans are anxious to surround something. Some people in private clothes, others in hospital clothes.
From among the shadows, both legs wet in blood were stretched out. Someone is down. Is that twitching and spreading on the floor, bleeding? Has anyone been badly injured and is he embracing it? Then what is this sticky chewing sound?
The incoming melody is heard from there.
…………
Makura was unable to utter a word, and was keeping the sight open.
Secondly, I realize my phone kept transmitting.
Makura stares at the display that is calling her colleagues.
What was his ringtone like?
I should have heard it many times by my side.
I can't remember the routine of the past, as it took Kasumi.
Gently turn off the cell phone transmission.
At the same time, the melody that was flowing stopped.
Failing to understand those two causalities, Makura stood blindly.
Silence dominates the room.
Only some chewing noise is making a slight noise.
To the lid, one of them turned this way.
He's a short-haired man in his thirties. The eyes are vain and stained bright red from mouth to jaw. He was moving his mouth with his corn and chewing something.
"Huh!"
Makura turned her back and ran off.
It was instinctive behavior. I still don't understand what's going on over there or what they are. But I found out I shouldn't stay over there.
Footsteps were heard from behind, and Makura raised her breath, which was about to stop. Desperately clung to the elevator that was stopping one in the hall and pressing the button to the top.
If you swing back, an earlier man was coming this way. It is an odd way to run without arms and my upper body is shaking about. Makura slipped into the open elevator and pressed the close button. The door begins to close in such a cursory motion that I don't like it. From the front, a man approaches rapidly. The door tightened as its face approached so far, and the elevator swayed as it was hit by the body.
Makura climbs to the floor like the thread is broken.
The beating noise that sounds from the outside doesn't get in my ear either.
How suddenly did I lose myself?
When I looked up, the number of floors in the elevator indicated the obstetrics and gynaecology ward.
I didn't remember pressing the button, but he was unconsciously choosing the usual floor.
Makura went outside the elevator, like she was crawling.
The hallway is quiet.
The nurse station was also deserted.
I just got inside,
"Shh, Doctor..."
To that word, which was abruptly uttered, Makura almost stopped her heart.
If you look, a young nurse is nodding under the counter. Look at this one, he looked like he was about to cry.
Makura moved her dry tongue and listened as she grabbed it.
"What happened?"
"Wow, I don't know. I don't know anything. All of a sudden, everybody went crazy."
Becchan, and there was a sticky sound.
As I swung, I saw a shadow approaching from the corner of the hallway.
It's a woman.
I'm wearing hospital clothes.
Wet bright red from the waist to the bottom.
Makura crouched tightly and nodded under the counter.
You guessed from the movement, the young nurse shrunk her body and leaked a whimper of fear. I try to catch tears and sneeze.
Footsteps like dragging something are getting closer and closer.
My breathing gets rough.
My heart is pounding in pain.
Footsteps stopped nearby.
A moment of silence.
Two arms stretched from the top of the counter and grabbed Nurse's head up.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!
Screaming like a dull scream.
Without knowing it, the woman's arm wraps around the nurse and drags it up. There was a sound of biting off the meat, and on the floor in front of me, a bloody bump jumped. The nurse resisted with her legs bumped, but in time she moved like a cramp.
Before the sight, Makura couldn't move.
Like a reality escape, thoughts float.
People are eaten right in front of me.
(Oh......)
Where did this nightmarish world start?
(Please... God, please...)
Right in front of him, Nurse's legs spasmodically cramped just once, then drooped slowly.
Blood falling off my thighs, bouncing on the floor.
Sounds like droplets.
At that moment, what I was straining ran out.
My mind goes blank.
My body moved on its own.
He took the equipment that was nearby and slammed it against the back of the woman's head, which was eating up on the nurse on the counter, with all his strength. The woman's head fell down, along with the crushing unpleasant sensation of her skull. My body jumped and it stopped.
The body of the immobilized woman slowly slips off the counter.
"Ha... Ha..."
Take a rough breath and lower your trembling arms.
Strong muscles were screaming.
Nurse's eyes left on the counter staring up at the ceiling in vain. The neck was devoured and bones were visible. There is overflowing blood running down, creating a bloody build-up on the floor.
…………
I don't go back to thinking.
There's just an aggressive survival instinct.
There are still signs of some movement.
Around the counter in fluffy footsteps, Makura found it.
By the fallen woman's body, a small, awkward object.
It was connected, stretching from the hem of the hospital attire, at the tip of the string of meat.
My head boils.
No reason, no reason.
That it's coming out of something like this.
It's just unforgivable that it exists.
Under shaken arms, soft things crumble,
Something broke in my heart to that feeling.
◇
After jumping off the back of the chair, Makura was confused for a while, not knowing where she was.
A small room, originally used as an office, is lined with cluttered goods.
It's a city hall room.
It was close to the water heating room, so Makura renovated this place as an infirmary.
…………
Exhale slowly and keep your back in the chair.
Nausea and headaches are terrible, but the usual. Soon it will heal.
In the heated room, my hands and feet were cold.
If you look at the clock, 7: 00 a.m. I haven't had enough of it. The readings are still open. But the drowsiness was already blowing away.
My body is heavy due to fatigue and my brain is blunt due to lack of sleep.
But in the back of my skull, there was a tension that had never been lifted since that day, which had been going on forever. I can't even remember when I slept properly anymore.
Second, blunt thoughts bring neck.
That mother was a zombie.
If I hadn't killed him, I would have been killed.
But.
That baby......
…………
That was either the living or the dead...
Suddenly, the door was knocked.
"Doctor, are you awake?"
"Yes. Go ahead."
It was the woman from the supply squad who came in.
"Good morning. Excuse me in the morning."
"No. What's up?
"There are people who say the food rations are low... and they really don't convince me. Mr. Oak Tani is persuading me not to back off."
"I'll be right there."
When Makura stood up, the woman gave a relieved look.
"Probably frustrated because the helicopter is delayed"
"Right......"
Two days have already passed since the scheduled date of rescue by the militia.
The communications team in charge of the communication said that the helicopter malfunction and the request for rescue from the nearby area continued, making transport inconvenient. As soon as I can afford it, they'll let me head there...
(Looks rough today...)
Makura felt depressed and followed the woman.
◇
Every morning at eight o'clock at City Hall, a meeting of each leader is held.
On that occasion, the vice-chairman, Makura, was sitting in his seat. There is also a secretary next door.
Progress will be made by Mizubashi, chairman and former high school teacher. A gentleman of his fifties, whose relaxed manner of speaking had helped to soothe the atmosphere, but only today, it had not worked very well either.
The leader of the supply squad says in a bitter voice.
"The water has a park reservoir, so it's still okay. The problem is food. Originally stockpiled for disasters, we couldn't afford it, but we're consuming more"
In that word, a depressing air flows.
"There are quite a few more people..."
"There were also about two fights just yesterday. I have more small troubles. The new evacuees aren't very cooperative."
Some nod to the words of the leader of the guard squad.
"Some say the reception of new evacuees was premature."
voice, he says, but it must be the opinion of the spokesperson himself.
"No, that's..."
The chairman, Mizubashi, answers in troubles. I guess that attitude, which distressed the response, takes this position into account.
Makura had kept her gaze down on the table and had heard those words silently.
When the militia rescue was decided to come, it was Makura who told them to call on the entire city. At that time, it was adopted unanimously.
Dangers such as infected people and zombie inducements were considered, but no one thought rescue would be delayed.
Makura thinks blurry.
The flow of evacuees fleeing to City Hall is already broken. About forty overall. There won't be any more.
In it, I don't see my father.
With all due respect, Makura admitted it.
I can't see that back anymore.
Makura breathed.
"If the rescue was done as planned, they were left behind. The plans went crazy, but the rescue wasn't canceled. People who can help should help."
An earlier speaker laid down his gaze at the words at first sight.
A young woman from Bobcut opens her mouth with a snack.
"Well... the militia said they would come as soon as the chopper could be secured."
White Valley, the leader of the communications squad, is a man who originally worked for the welfare division of this city hall. There is something I don't rely on because I was a rookie for my first year in, but I help with guidance and organization in the city hall.
Makura nodded small and continued his words.
"How much more food is left?
"Save a lot, about a week..."
"Should we go sourcing again...?
Skinny the man's words, one statement after another flies.
"What do you do when it's like before? Six people have been killed."
"If we run out of food, we'll starve."
"In a week, the rescue will come, won't it? Too dangerous."
There were also several convenience stores on one block of this city hall, where zombies began to disappear from the streets, one by one, procuring food to see how things were going.
In time, however, the convenience store was also emptied and we were to cross the bridge further afield, but none of the members returned then.
The men's argument lasted for a while, but it was inconclusive and quieter.
Guys, I've got my gaze on this one.
To that silent request, Makura opens her mouth.
"Let's wait for rescue until it's too late."
To the words, the men nod.
It was almost a crane voice.
It was Makura who put together the humans who fled to City Hall, instructed them to barricade to the zombies pushing them outside, and created a division of roles for each squad. City Hall had a shelter operations manual in the event of a disaster, and that helped.
A veteran doctor wears a mask.
As a dependable, unshakable being.
That's where the white coat confers authority.
Scared, in front of the crowd, Makura was wearing a mask of his father.
Its interior is no different from other humans frightened by the anomalies.
(This is what my father would do...)
The thought moved Makura, who was in an extreme state.
At the same time, however, he felt his own lack of strength.
My father could do better. I can stabilize the perimeter.
Besides, I'm afraid I'll make a sacrifice by making the wrong decision.
Even sitting in this upper seat makes Makura feel out of place.
At the morning conference when I was working at the University Hospital, the last seat was also a wall of the last. Not long ago, when I was a resident, getting yelled at by a senior doctor was also a daily tea meal. As a doctor, I'm just a little girl.
When this steering committee was set up, it was also recommended for the chairmanship, but he insisted on devoting himself to the work of the ambulance. Fortunately, Mizubashi was personable and named me as taking on chores though.
How long will this last...
Makura was uninhabited and sighed.
◇
There is a room near the infirmary that brings together particularly sick people. Enter that heated room, Makura begins to visit each and every one of them.
Even so, there's not much you can do. Just take your hand and get in shape and have a conversation about how your body is doing today. Still, I knew the patient would be very relieved.
Eventually, it was bad for a sleeping boy and one girl.
"Good morning, Fujino"
To that voice, a girl looks up.
With some blurry eyes,
"... good morning"
Answer slowly.
Seeing that look, Makura frowns inside.
(You're so grumpy...)
It looked a lot more exhausting than when we first met.
(Even though the boy has a stable body. Is there something you care about?
The boy sleeping next door opened his eyelids, looked at Makura and smiled small.
Makura leaned near it and smiled. Looking at the foot,
"Today, doesn't your stomach hurt?
"Yeah."
"How's the foot?
"... I still want to be"
"Oh well. It'll be better in a little while."
"Yeah."
Makura stood up and told the girl.
"Takasaki, are you doing well?
"... Yes"
The girl snaps small.
To the bluntness of that reaction, I neck it with my heart.
(If I see my lover again in this situation, it's going to be something more exhilarating...)
In the back park, I can think of a story I heard from a man named Takemura. She was temporarily protecting the girl, but said she reunited with her boyfriend, so she joined her. That's what we should have talked about.
The thing about a man named Takemura is impressive.
The first time I saw him was in the infirmary. From behind the injured boy and the girl who seemed anxious, he kept observing this one with a sharp eye.
He was a tattooed, somewhere with a different air.
To the atmosphere, he initially marked it as a cautionary figure.
But seeing the scene of the child's burial made an impression. That appearance, which awoke in front of the tomb and did not move still, was a lot quieter.
It smells dangerous, but it probably doesn't harm people meaninglessly. Makura felt that way.
"Takemura-san also entrusted me with you. If you have any problems, say anything"
Suddenly the girl looked up.
"Did you talk to Mr. Takemura?
"Huh? Yes. I asked for you two."
Makura is fine with that reaction, which seems to have caught fire.
The girl nodded again and silenced.
Eventually, I opened my mouth.
"Um... it's fine when I see Mr. Takemura, so could you tell him? He said I was apologizing. Thinking about what's been going on, I can't help it."
"... I don't mind, but can't you tell them yourself?
"I can't. No more..."
The girl looks at her face with one hand,
"Before I came here... Takemura asked me to save your life. But me, confused, I said terrible things... about my brother, he didn't protect me, I can't believe it... but I also forgot that, and eventually I felt like a lover, so, I was disgusted... even though I was so abandoned and naturally... stupid. I've been bothering you so much, and yet..."
The second half was in tears.
"Besides, that was something I had to do... push Takemura-san... because Takemura-san can't be that fine..."
To the words, I assume you mean the burial of my brother,
"... it's not your fault. I also had your medical attention. [M] Why don't you come by later?"
"Huh?"
The girl looks up at this one strangely.
Makura was surprised,
"... you don't mean the grave?... of the boy. Mr. Takemura was buried in the back park."
…………
The girl's eyes are wide open.
"Ma-kun, the tomb of..."
"... Yes. Is it not?
…………
The girl stays blind and shakes her head loose.
"No...... All I wanted to say was that the man I should have killed, but I couldn't."
To the words, Makura froze.
Behind me accidentally, I heard the door open.
The boy with him, Tsuruji Takasaki, was about to come in.
Makura hurried up and whispered to the girl.
"I'll do a replacement nurse later, so why don't we talk about it in the infirmary a little bit?
The girl stares at this one strangely.
Makura said gently.
"I'm worried about you."
The girl was blurred for a while but nodded slowly.