Mrs Ealing's sentence turned into a small shriek as I exchanged glances to James and Christopher. James dropped his stack of papers onto the floor and walked to the door, pushing it open and disappearing into the cloud of the smoke that crowded the street outside. Screams broke through the smoke that started to travel into the room through the open door, but outside it had started clearing.

James returned a few minutes later covered in ash and helping a woman with a large cut down her cheek and a slight limp. He helped her over to one of the singular chairs by the window and turned to face us.

"There's been an explosion, at the match factory. Some chemicals spilt and a spark from the machine set it off. There are a lot of injuries and a lot of damage."

"My office is too far away and too small to deal with mass casualties," Doctor Ealing said. He moved across the room to the woman and handed her a cloth her kept in his pocket to press against the cut on her forehead.

"Use the shop. It's bigger, closer and we have a whole bolt of cotton you can use if you need it," I suggested.

"Is that all right?"

"Fine. I'll get the sand buckets and direct any injuries over here, it's chaos out there. Christopher, can you help here?"

"Of course. If you four want to go to my office until this over, it's just a short walk away." From his pocket, Christopher pulled out his keys and motioned to Mrs Ealing, Matilda, Kitty and me.

"I'm staying here," I said.

"Rosie."

"No. I'm of more use to Doctor Ealing then you are and after seven years in the factory, you learn a thing or two about dealing with a crisis."

"Alright, fine."

He handed over the keys to Mrs Ealing who grabbed Matilda's arm tightly and dragged her through the open door, into the smoke and up the street. Kitty followed behind. James crossed from the woman to the side room and disappeared into the alleyway out the back. He returned a few seconds later with the two red buckets full of sand that we kept as a precaution. We never expected a fire in the shop, but anything was possible as far as James was concerned.

"I need to go to my office, we'll need a suture kit, scissors and anything else that might be of help. Robert, you stay here and help in any way you can until I come back."

"Very well."

Robert glanced towards me as Doctor Ealing disappeared into the smoke, leaving the three of us alone with no idea how to handle the situation or the injuries that we were about to face. I grabbed the stack of papers from the floor and dumped them in James' office before starting to push or move as much of the furniture out of the way as I possibly could. Christopher and Robert moved the sofa back together and left it against the far wall, so it was out of the way.

As injured people started to stream in through the open door, thanks to James, I crossed the room to one of the shelves and grabbed the bolt of cotton. I rested it against the floor and tore off a long strip that could be torn into smaller ones for bandages. Doctor Ealing usually used scissors to make sure they were of a decent length, but we didn't have time for that. The makeshift bandages were used faster than I could tear them off the bolt and a lot of people who came through the door were classed as walking wounded. So far, we hadn't seen too many major injuries.

James returned every few minutes with the buckets and he would fill them up at the pump out in the alleyway to help fight the fire that covered most of the street outside in smoke and ash. I emptied out a bowl from the kitchen and filled it up with water, so we had something to clean the wounds of those who came into the shop. We had more people coming into the shop then we had space to deal with it all and Doctor Ealing was taking his time in returning from his office.

All of the time I had spent in Doctor Ealing's office had paid off and I knew more of how to deal with an injury then I did during my time at the factory. At the factory, it had been a guessing game, but we had learnt how to work with very little supplies and in trying circumstances. That knowledge combined with what Doctor Ealing had taught meant I had become rather well equipped in dealing with the injuries and the chaos that came with it.

"I'm sorry it took so long. The streets are filled with people trying to deal with the fire and move the rubble from the explosion. How are we doing here?" Doctor Ealing said as he shuffled through the door.

"Mostly walking wounded so far, a lot of head injuries, cuts, bruises and the occasional superficial burn. We've got a bucket of water for cleaning wounds and some cotton torn up to act as bandages. Until they start digging people out of the rubble, it's just those we can move in and out quite quickly. I'm sending those with slightly higher priority injuries to Doctor Lucas," Robert said.

"Excellent. I'll set up a place to suture anything that might need a rush job and we can get them transport to the hospital if need be, but for now, it'll be a treat and release situation. Any major injuries become our priority the moment they come through the door and anyone else is left until it is dealt with. We're going to have smoke inhalation, burns, blunt force trauma and plenty more."

"Are you alright with that Christopher?" I asked, pressing a bandage to someone's arm and wrapping it around a cut on their arm.

"I'll have to be, the smaller injuries I can deal with anything major and I'm no help," he said.

"Anything major, you can send to me. Rosie has enough medical knowledge from her time with me to deal with the minor injuries. You stay with her and Robert and I will do what we can with the more seriously injured. I have burn paste in my bag for those who need it and if anyone needs sutures, we'll deal with them when we can. Unless, Rosie, you're up for it?"

"They won't be very neat."

"Neat doesn't matter, not if we have to move fast."

"Alright, I can try."

"There's a second kit in my bag, use that."

Christopher raised an eyebrow at me as he wiped someone's cut with a wet piece of cloth to get any ash out of it. I shrugged my shoulders and crossed to Doctor Ealing's bag to dig out a second suture kit. After all my adventures to the office, I had watched him suture hundreds of injuries, but doing it myself seemed like a terrifying prospect. My sewing skills had improved since I had started spending time at the shop, but fabric was different from human beings.

I tucked the suture kit into my pocket for when it would be needed and instead turned my attention to those with small injuries. Christopher did his part by cleaning wounds and putting pressure on anything that needed it. Most of the injuries were a clean and dismiss job with some needing burn paste and a bandage on it to keep it clean. We told some to return to Doctor Ealing or Doctor Lucas within a day or two to have the bandage changed and to make sure they kept it clean. We hadn't seen the worst of the injuries yet.

When they started to dig people out of the rubble, we knew almost immediately. The person bought in had a burn that covered half of their face. Rubble dust clung to every fibre of their clothing and they didn't even look as though they were conscious. Christopher looked like he was about to vomit when she was carried in by some of the men working on moving the rubble. I gestured to one of walking wounded came in and turned my attention to Doctor Ealing and Robert who had laid the woman on the floor to examine further.

"Alright, we have a full-thickness burn to the right side of the face, possibly melted some of her clothing as well. Possible damage to the trachea and smoke inhalation." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I doubt there is much we can do for her. The burn will be constricting her airways. For now, we follow a routine and class her as a priority. We'll get her moved to a morgue, there'll be a coroner's inquest."

"There's nothing we can do?" I asked

"Unfortunately, not. You know how bad burns can be, they can restrict movement and if her trachea is burned, it can't get airflow. I can't find a pulse or hear her breathing through my stethoscope. She probably died when they were carrying her over."

"I'll flag down a carriage, see if they can transport. We can't leave her here," Robert said.

"I agree. Rosie, you can go back to helping Christopher, I'll deal with this."

I nodded at Doctor Ealing and walked away from him and the woman on the floor. The first confirmed fatality of the explosion. Christopher watched me as I turned to one of the people with a minor injury and shook my head to indicate the woman had died. He visibly deflated slightly but continued with what he was doing without saying a word. James had been right about the extent of the explosion, but fatalities were far from everyone's mind.

More major injuries came in as the morning went on, but they became fewer and far between as the work to dig them out became harder. The suture kit remained in my pocket for most of the day, with Doctor Ealing taking all of those needing sutures before I could do anything. I preferred dealing with minor injuries such as burns which just needed the paste and a reminder to visit either Doctor within a few days to get it examined closer or cuts that didn't need suturing.

Whilst those with more major injuries became less frequently when they came in everyone knew it. Christopher and I were working on one of the men helping to dig people out who had cut himself when four men came in. They backed through the door holding a young woman, no older than seventeen, with dirty-blonde hair and a large gash on her head. Blood had dyed her hair red.

Robert watched me out of the corner of her eye as she was carried past me and laid on the floor. I knew why.

She looked just like Isabel on the day of her death.

The blood on her hair, the dust and ash that coated her clothing. Even though she was definitely older, there was something in her face that reminded me of her. I felt like I was back on that day six months ago. Back watching Doctor Ealing check her over and over to see if she was still alive. The way he tilted her head back, listened to her chest, pressed a bandage on the back of her head and eventually declared her as dead. Although he still worked on the girl, I couldn't un-see that day.

"Rosie? It looks like this man might need sutures," Christopher said. He nudged me in the shoulder which snapped me out of the bubble I had fallen into.

"Right," I said.

"Doctor Ealing is busy, you'll have to do it."

"I know. Can you soak a cloth in the bucket for me? I'll have to clean it before I can suture it."

Christopher made a small noise and walked to the bowl that we had placed at the side of the room. He dipped a cloth into the bowl and carried it over to me, water droplets covered the floor. I took the cloth and gently wiped it over the man's arm to reveal a long, thin cut down the length of his forearm. Once the cut had been cleaned, I handed the cloth back to Christopher and pulled the suture kit out of my pocket.

All I had to do was pretend James had asked me to repair something for him and that I was not about to sew a man's arm back together. I pulled the suture needle and thread from the kit and leaned over the man's arm so I could get a better look at what I had to do. My hands shook slightly as I took the needle and pierced it through the man's skin. Christopher's footsteps walked away as I worked my way down the cut and put in a very messy suture line. It didn't have to be straight, and it wasn't, but I had put in my first ever sutures.

"Nicely done, Rosie," Christopher said as I wrapped a bandage around the man's arm and reminded him to pay either Doctor Ealing or Doctor Lucas a visit to get the bandage replaced the cut looked at.

"Let's just hope I don't have to do that again," I muttered.

"I don't think you'll be able to help it."

"Could someone do me a favour and replace the water in that bowl?" Doctor Ealing called from across the room.

"I'll do it, I need some air," I said.

Doctor Ealing nodded and I grabbed the bowl from the far side of the room and disappeared into the side room and out into the alleyway. I threw the old water down onto the stone since there was no drain and placed the bowl underneath the water pump attached to the wall. First, I made an attempt to clean the blood from my hands, but most of it had dried already and I needed one hand to pump the water.

I sighed to myself and started to pump the water into the bowl. Someone cleared their throat behind me, but I ignored the, continuing to use the pump until the bowl was full. My hair fell in front of my face and I used my elbow to push it back so I didn't end up with blood in my hair, though I may have already done that since it had been in my face a lot. I turned away from the water pump and towards the door where Robert stood leaning against the doorframe.

"Shouldn't you be doing something rather than lurking in the doorway?" I asked.

"I saw you earlier when the young lady came in with the head injury."

"A lot of people have come in with head injuries."

"You know who I'm talking about, Rosie. I saw it on your face, she looked like Isabel."

"You don't get to do this, Robert. You don't get to suddenly act like you care after refusing to even look me in the eye over the past few days. I'm not going to let you get inside my head and convince me that you actually care when you have made it abundantly clear over the past few days that you don't. If you wanted to talk to me, you should have done so on Saturday rather than making a quick exit and refusing to even look at me."

I grabbed the bowl of water and brushed past Robert to re-enter the shop. Robert kept his eyes on me as I put the bowl off to the side and return to one of the people who had just walked in with a burn on their lower arm. Perhaps I had been too harsh on him, but I no longer cared about how he felt towards me. He had had the opportunity to talk to me on Saturday, but instead, he made himself scarce and refused to so much as look me in the eye. His opportunity to talk to me had passed and I wasn't prepared to give him the time of day, especially as far as Isabel was concerned.

Instead, I pushed him from my mind and focused on complete the job at hand and dealing with as many injuries as possible. I paid no attention to Doctor Ealing and the people he treated with serious injuries and opted to only focus on what I had to do and how Christopher handled dealing with injuries. He had never dealt with so much as a papercut in his life so being confronted with large amounts of blood and other injuries proposed some issues. Still, he did what he had to do and anything he became confused over, he asked me about.

The day went on and the trickle of injures dwindled considerably. I ended up using the suture kit twelve times in total and by the end of the day, we knew of six fatalities that had come through the door but there were plenty more who hadn't been moved from the site. We dismissed the last walking wounded and Doctor Ealing sent the last seriously injured person to a hospital in the back of a carriage. James returned not long after covered in ash, dust and soot.

"The fires out, but there is an awful lot of rubble to be moved. Doctor Lucas is up there, and he reckons we're not pulling anyone else out alive. He's staying on just in case," he said.

"How many confirmed fatalities at the scene?" Doctor Ealing asked.

"Seven last time I checked."

"Thirteen in total."

"Set to rise, we have some unaccounted for. How were things here?"

"Rosie did her first sutures, she did pretty well today actually," Christopher said. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest.

"I second that. She was calm, in control and probably more organised then I was," Doctor Ealing added.

"Always good in a crisis," I said.

"This place is going to need a good clean," James said.

"Let me gather up my supplies and take it back to the office and then I'll come back and offer a hand if you need one. I'll stop by your office, Christopher and get the ladies back. I doubt they'll be much help in cleaning up here, but we can't leave them."

"Unfortunately," James muttered. I slapped him on the arm.

Doctor Ealing said nothing, but I could almost see a small smile tug at his lips as he walked around the room and gathered up any of the supplies that could be used again. Most of it would have to be burnt, especially the cloth that had been used to stop blood. I went to hand him the suture kit he had given me, but he simply shook his head.

"Keep it, you did well today, Rosie. Let that be a reminder."

~~~

A/N - We are back! I've just started Chapter Fifteen and you guys are not ready. There is a shocking moment and, quite possibly, an adorable one coming up so be prepared :D

Anyway, thoughts on the chapter? This was a really good one to write! Do you guys think Rosie did well? Should she talk to Robert a little more?

Comment below!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to KateMorrell1 who I have recently seen around TFG, TSG and TAG! Your votes and comments mean a lot!

First Published - March 10th, 2020