Checkered Hearts
"Twenty-six-year-old male, motorcycle versus barrier, estimated 80 kilometers per hour. GCS 12, hypotensive, systolic 78, chest decompression performed on scene."
Not good. Not the worst.
Cyrus stepped forward, and the patient came into view. Young. Filipino-Irish features, probably—pale under the blood, dark hair matted to his forehead. Racing leathers cut away with paramedic shears, chest rising in shallow, desperate sips. The left side moved wrong. Paradoxical motion. Flail chest, minimum. Possible aortic injury if the impact vector was right.
"Name?" Cyrus asked, snapping on fresh gloves. His fingers found the patient's carotid—thready, rapid, retreating.