The burn patient's name was Hadi Bell.
He was twenty-six according to his own answer, thirty-one according to the ambulance monitor, and unborn according to Old Quarry General's surviving staff roll.
Ridge medics used his current body.
Burns covered his left side from hip to shoulder. Chemical residue remained active around the lower edge. His oxygen pressure was falling because the ambulance cylinder had lost its relation to the regulator.
"Current treatment wanted?" the Ridge physician asked.
Hadi opened his eyes.
"Air. Pain. Do not take me back."
The physician accepted all three.
Crews carried him through the ambulance rear door onto Ridge yard ground. The stretcher wheels tried to align with the road. Four medics lifted it clear before the lane marking could turn.
Hadi reached a field treatment tent with no destination contract.
His bandages came from three periods.
The outer wrap used current polymer mesh manufactured last year.
