City Out of Time. William Robison III
to the ER as fast as he could get there.
“One of the ambulances is leaking oil,” said the ER nurse, “We don’t want anyone to slip in it.”
Lanz didn’t get back to his apartment until nearly 8pm. He was almost too tired to eat, and whatever it was that he pulled out of the refrigerator and stuffed into his face was not memorable. He fell into his recliner, looked out over the City, and slowly fell asleep.
The next day was no better than the first. Work never seemed to end and it was always disgusting and menial. Lanz came to hate the very sound of Terry’s voice.
There seemed to be an unwritten rule about guys in their trial period at the hospital. It didn’t matter who the new guy was, they were always called New Guy, if they were called anything at all – except by Terry. None of the other doctors acknowledged them when they were in the locker room, and nobody ever sat with the new guys at lunch. They were persona non grata… or worse, non-persons entirely.
Lanz was frustrated and getting hacked off about the entire situation. He was almost starting to think he’d made a mistake leaving Las Vegas. But Lanz knew that he was going to have to tough it out.
Clearly, he wasn’t the only one feeling the pressure. As they were all preparing to go home for the day, Terry came into the locker room again.
“Spazz, they need you on the roof in the AC room. Bring a tool belt.”
“First of all,” Spazz said, standing up to face Terry, “My name is John. Or Spaciezki, if you can manage it. Second of all, I am a trained nurse, not a mechanic. And third of all, my shift is done and I’m going home.”
Terry came into the locker room and walked right up to Spazz.
“Is that so?”
“That’s the way it is,” Spazz confirmed.
“Nobody made you pick this job,” Terry replied. “You can always ask to be reassigned if something else strikes your fancy.”
“Nothing else does. But I want to do the job that I signed up for.”
“You are doing the job you signed up for.”
“I’m not a mechanic. Nor a plumber. Nor a janitor. I am a nurse.”
“You work for a hospital… John. All of those jobs needed doing. And you did them. Did a pretty good job from what I hear,” Terry noted. “Do you deny that these jobs needed doing?”
“No, of course not.”
“But they’re somehow beneath you?”
“They’re not taking full advantage of my skill set,” Spazz replied.
“Now you have a new skill set,” Terry said. And he slapped Spazz on the arm and turned around to leave.
“I don’t want to be a mechanic,” John said defiantly. “I’m wasting my time and the hospital’s time. I’d be better off with patients.”
“Wasting your time?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me… John… where can I find a hacksaw?”
“Basement tool locker.”
“And who do I call if I need a plunger?”
“The plumber, Sergio.”
“And his extension?”
“25.”
“How long did it take you to learn all that?”
“Two days,” Spazz noted.
“Tell me one other hospital with such a trained and knowledgeable staff, Spazz, and you can go home right now.”
Spazz’s mouth opened but no other words came out.
“Right. Roof. Tool belt. And hurry. You’re keeping them waiting.”
The weekend arrived and Lanz quickly discovered that he didn’t really know anyone or anything about the City. He went home on Friday night and collapsed. On Saturday morning, he vowed to discover three things – how to feed himself, how to call someone and how to fill up the hours of his free time. He dressed for the day and went out into the City.
The last one turned out to be the easiest. He walked towards the Plaza and heard the sound of music playing long before he got there. As he crossed the bridge on Hawaii Street, he could see the nearby Plaza jammed with a crowd pleasing carnival.
Colorful balloons, calliope music, jugglers, clowns, musicians, and even a couple of carnival booths and rides filled the central plaza to the brim. People walked around the area laughing and having a good time. Lanz found a corn dog booth and after observing for a few moments realized that they were just giving the corn dogs away. He walked up and got one covered in mustard and an ice cold soda to go with it.
As he wandered through the carnival it struck him how normal the whole thing was. Lanz had to admit that ever since he’d discovered that he was a time traveler his life and world made sense – like the outside world was some sort of drab pale companion of the City. Granted, he wasn’t a big fan of the hospital so far, but he knew that one day he’d be a doctor or nurse and doing the thing he really loved – helping to save people’s lives.
As Lanz walked past the entrance to Corps Headquarters, it occurred to him that he might get answers to his practical questions if he were to ask either Seth or Celeste. Listening to another lecture on how he really ought to see the Orientation film was worth it if it meant a refrigerator full of edible food and a television.
Lanz went back to the Corps Headquarters entrance and walked down the stairs.At the bottom of the stairs was a long corridor that was lit but that didn’t seem to lead to anything that he knew. Somehow, in the confusion of the carnival, he had misjudged the correct set of stairs. The Headquarters had to be below the Plaza somewhere though, so Lanz walked down the corridor in the direction that led back under the Plaza.
At the end of the corridor a sign on the wall pointed left to Corps HQ, Judicial Branch HQ, and Central Processing. To the right, the corridor would eventually lead to the Plaza Tube Station. Lanz turned left and continued down the hallway.
He went past a half dozen heavy black metal doors and a large set of double doors with the Judicial Branch HQ insignia on them, before the hallway sloped downward and Lanz realized where he was.
He was entering the Corps Processing room at the top of the long ramp that led down to the cargo unloading area. Sure enough, Lanz looked out the archway into the domed room of Central Processing and saw a stream of curious and sometimes frightened travelers arriving at the City for the first time. It was fascinating to watch, and to realize that he’d only been in the City himself for less than a week and he already felt like a citizen.
Lanz was about to turn and head towards Corps HQ when he heard someone call out, “MEDIC!” from within the Central Processing room.
Lanz turned and saw the crowd parting for a newly arriving Corps team. They were carrying with them several wounded team members and hurrying as fast as they could towards the Processing main gates. Lanz didn’t hesitate. He ran towards the team, went through the main gates, and found the first wounded man that he could reach.
A quick assessment told Lanz that the man had been shot. Lanz could see that he had a glassy look on his face, and by the color of his skin, he was most likely in shock.
“I’m a medic,” he told the Corps member that was carrying his wounded teammate. “We need to get this man on the ground.”
They cleared a spot on the floor of the domed chamber and Lanz immediately went to work. He found the gunshot wound in the upper leg. It had missed the artery by only a few inches, but it was still gushing blood. Lanz guessed the man had already lost a lot of blood. Before Lanz had to ask a first aid kit was in his hands. He opened it to find some gauze and tape and he tore enough gauze to tie off a tourniquet, which he expertly wrapped