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“Victor,” Wallis cried his name. “Why didn’t you take her in?” She turned to Landon, trying to explain, “She’s always had problems with her ears.”
The girl whimpered softly, her dark hair spilling over her dad’s forearms as he held her closer, and Victor grit his teeth. “In case you haven’t noticed, things aren’t exactly the same around here. I was about to pull the wagon from the storage unit before you decided to show up.”
The couple locked eyes in a desperate plea of pain, each one fighting their own internal struggle. Landon pulled the otoscope from his zip pouch and moved closer to the girl as he ignored the emotional tension.
He scanned the girl’s ear and rocked back on his heels. “It’s full of pus. She needs antibiotics that I don’t have, but any hospital or pharmacy would.”
“Okay. Let’s go get them.” LCpl. Wallis held her older daughter against her side.
“We get to go with you Mama?” Her shriek of joy, the anxious relief, tugged at Landon’s heart and filled him with the familiar longing. But there wasn’t time to focus on his own pain.
Sgt. Sierra and Sgt. Forges kept their attention and the machine guns focused on the leering faces looking down from the balconies but GySgt. Fuimaono’s eyes were zeroed in on the little girl in Victor’s arms as they raced back to the parking lot. “Explanation, Doc?”
“Medical emergency, Gunny,” Landon called out as he helped LCpl Wallis and her family into the duty van. “We need to get her antibiotics. There’s a small clinic two miles up the road.”
“Roger that.” GySgt. Fuimaono dropped down from the hatch and backed up the AAV.
Landon climbed into the driver seat next to LCpl. Launce and glanced in the rearview mirror as Wallis settled in beside her husband, smoothing the hair back on her daughter’s head with her bandaged hand and whispering words of encouragement.
She met Landon’s gaze in the mirror. “She’ll be okay, right Doc?”
“She’ll be fine.” Landon put the van into drive and followed along behind the AAV. “It’s just an ear infection.”
The parking lot of the clinic was divided with orange cones and tents, setting triage intake outside and away from the doors. Medical workers stared wide-eyed at the military convoy as it approached, but Landon didn’t wait for Gunny to make the introductions. He jumped out of the van, pulling open the door for LCpl. Wallis and her family, and sprinted to the first tent with them following on his heels.
“Is this some kind of aid drop?” The woman under the canopy fanned herself in the growing heat and looked to the military vehicles wistfully.
“No ma’am.” Landon urged Victor forward with the child still cradled in his arms. “I’ve got a pediatric emergency. High fever. Lethargy. Pus buildup in the middle ear. Do you have someone who can look at her and get us a script of antibiotics?”
The woman’s face fell and she sucked in a shaky breath. “I had hoped you were all doing better over there on base.”
Landon didn’t bother to correct any preconceived notions she might have as the woman pulled out the clipboard with the intake form and asked for their names. LCpl. Wallis raised an eyebrow as she was told to enunciate her billing address, but Landon shook his head to quiet her. There were throngs of people moaning as they stayed in the shade under the various tents and security guards pressing the less than orderly patients out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk, sending them on their way. He took in each scene stoically, knowing that if they ever made it out of this mess than a trail of paperwork and insurance phone calls would be the least of their concerns.
“You’ll go straight to the clinic through this lane of cones.” The woman finished with her notes and pointed forward. “Generator usage and indoor patient beds are reserved for peds under ten and surgical emergency care. Only one adult to accompany the child.”
LCpl. Wallis and Victor locked eyes. A single tear rolled down the Marine’s cheek as she reached for her daughter’s hand to tell her goodbye.
The guilt at what he was about to do ate at his gut, but this felt wrong too. “I’m sorry ma’am, but that won’t be possible. We’re on strict military orders to stay together as a unit. All of us will be going in.”
“So the government is still working?” Hope filled the woman’s eyes.
“As much as it ever was.” Landon pushed Wallis and her family ahead of him as the Marines behind covered their backs.
The three Marines and Landon held their breath as they paced outside the patient room waiting for the doctor to emerge. Landon looked to his watch. He hadn’t set it to Pacific time and was amazed the thing still worked. They weren’t lying about the waterproof guarantee. Twenty minutes had passed since they’d gotten her into a room, but it was still quicker than any hospital he’d ever seen.
“What’s taking so long?” Sgt. Brittany whispered anxiously. “I want to get my wife and kid.”
“We’ll get them soon.” Landon gave him a reassuring nod even as the same frustration rolled over his skin. Finally, the door swung open.
“Are you the one they call Doc?” The doctor’s tennis shoes squeaked against the linoleum as she breezed past Landon, looking to him with a quick glance and motioning for him to follow.
“Yeah. Why?” He tried to sneak a peek into Wallis’s daughter’s room but the door slammed in his face as the medical assistant closed it.
The doctor reached for the clipboard attached to the next patient room, pausing to look him over with sharp eyes. “Your patient has a 104 fever and a bulging eardrum. I want to keep her here overnight to run a quick course of IV antibiotics. I’m out of amoxicillin, but I can give her a push of ceftriaxone when our runner gets back from Tri-City this evening. Her mother wants a second opinion from her doctor.” Her gaze swept over Landon’s dusty uniform, hesitating when she glanced at the automatic rifle hanging by his side.
Landon sighed as he rubbed his hand over the two-day old stubble on his chin. “I’m not an MD and I don’t work with pediatrics. If that’s your recommendation, I’ll let them know.”
“I hope you can convince them.” The doctor lingered with her hand on the door as she composed herself before stepping into the next room. “I’m willing to allocate the antibiotics because there is a good chance she’ll respond well to treatment, but if they leave, I can’t guarantee I’ll have any more of it in a few days.”
