Abalar passed worriedly in her in her little room. Her exam was in less than an hour, yet she felt she knew nothing of first aid. Her mind had blanked on her, much to her frustration, and it was causing her needless stress. However, instead of picking up the first aid manual that sat on her bunk and going over everything, she passed, trying to bring back the knowledge to her.

“So, ABC’s stands for…” Abalar paused in her passing. She half growled in frustration. “Come on Fyre, you know this! ABC’s, ABC’s… airway…. AIRWAY, BREATHING, CIRCULATION!” she shouted to the air in the room. Essentially it is used to check if people are still alive, as it is almost impossible to go with out breathing or without a pulse.”

Abalar’s knowledge was coming in fits and starts, only causing her more frustration. Her frustration was making her forget things. Her exasperation was at such a level, that she would have punched a wall if she had even half the brain that she did. However, common sense kept her from thrusting her fist into one of the four metal walls that surrounded her.

“Okay, next is the three P’s, the foundation of first aid. First ‘P’, preserve life. Second ‘P’, prevent the worsening of the condition. Third and final ‘P’… third and final ‘P’….”

Abalar slapped her forehead. She glanced around the room, as if the answer she sought would be in the room. Abalar’s eyes quickly glanced at the datapad that sat beside the first aid manual on her bed. She still had forty five minutes left. Her gaze then shifted around the room again. Suddenly, it clicked, like it had before with the ABC’s.

“Third ‘P’ stands for the promotion of recovery. Any treatment you do should follow the three P’s,”

She walked over to the bunk and flopped down on it. She didn’t sit on the datapad, but she did sit on the first aid manual. She grabbed it and opened the book to a random page. On it was a double page picture of a first aid kit, with information on each part in small print on the same page. For the first time in Abalar’s life, her mind decided to have a photographic memory. It committed the image to memory. Aimlessly, she read out a couple of the items in the kit.

“Square bandage, used to create a sling to support a broken arm in order to prevent more damage from occurring. If done right, the injured will be in less pain.

“Plasters, used to cover small cuts or abrasions, preventing dirt and bacteria from entering them. Be sure to clean the cut as best as possible before applying this.

“Elastic bandages, used in multiple treatments. Helps support sprains, keeps pressure on cuts or icepacks. Can also be used to support and hold large entities, like metal or glass pieces in place so they don’t cause more damage until proper treatment can be obtained. Do not remove large entities like pieces of glass and metal, as it can cause greater bleeding and trauma to the area and/or the patient.”

Abalar sighed. It really wasn’t too much for her, but it certainly seemed that way now that her brain had cut out on her. She glanced at the time again, and was very surprised to see that forty five minutes had gone by. This sudden jump in time didn’t help her stress, but Abalar knew she couldn’t control it, so she got quickly got ready and left the barracks, and headed off to the examination centre at a light jog.




“Alright, lets begin the exam shall we?” asked the soprano voiced male examiner.

It was taking all of her self control not to laugh, and Abalar could see she was not alone in this matter either. When her examiner walked in, the entire room tensed. He was easily 6’6” in height and 200lbs in weight. He was layered in muscle, and his battle scarred skin made him look like a hardened warrior. However, Abalar guessed that the examiner’s skin was scarred because he got beaten up a lot as a kid. She also guessed the reason as to why he worked out so much. Luckily, fate had been kind to him in the height department, so as long as he didn’t speak, everyone would fear him.

“I am called Monte Slim, but that’ll be Examiner Slim to all you ratty bags,” still with the high voice.

Abalar saw a bit of movement out of the corner of her eye, so she glanced left and saw someone almost convulsing in their poor attempt at keeping quite. “This exam will consist of three parts, but I don’t feel like telling you what each part’ll be, so let’s begin, shall we? You,” Examiner Slim said to the guy on Abalar’s left.

“I think I’ll start with you. Everyone else, sit quietly and don’t look at anyone else, or you’ll be next.”

He then left the examination room with the poor soul close behind. Five minutes later, they were back.

“It seems whats-his-face here doesn’t know his stuff. He failed. You,” he said pointing to the guy behind Abalar.

The two then left the classroom, only to return five minutes later.

“And again, he doesn’t know his stuff. Fail. You,” Slim said pointing to the girl in front of Abalar.

Surprisingly, they didn’t return for another fifteen minutes. However, that’s where the surprises stopped.

“She doesn’t know her stuff. Fail. You,” Examiner Slim said pointing the guy to Abalar’s right.

He got up and trudged out of the room. However, just before he left, he paused and gave a quick thumbs up to the room. It lightened the mood, but he never came back, even when Slim returned for another victim. The pattern continued as such until all, excluding Abalar, had either failed or disappeared. There was one girl, sitting right at the front of the room that passed, and advanced onto the next phase.

“What a great reward,” Abalar thought when Slim announced the girl’s success. “Out of the pot, into the fire.”

Eventually Abalar was called up. Of course by this time, Abalar was swearing profusely, and her left hand couldn’t be made to stay still.

“Nervous?” Examiner Slim asked in what could have been an intimidating tone, if he didn’t have a high girly voice.

Abalar swallowed in her attempt to look afraid, but really she was trying not to laugh. She gave a frantic nod just for good measure. After a steely stare, Examiner Slim seemed content that Abalar hadn’t laughed and looked away. She gave a sigh of relief when he turned his back and started walking down the hallway. Abalar followed, as she didn’t know what else to do. Eventually, they got to the simulator room.

“Get in,” Examiner Slim said, pointing to the pod.

Abalar obediently got in, and relaxed into it as it closed around her.




Once her eyes adjusted to the bright light, Abalar glanced around her. She stood in what appeared to be a field base. She stood at the back of the camouflaged area, facing a group of higher ranked individuals who were leaning over a table. Some motioned with their hands over the table, so Abalar guess that there was a map covering its surface. She noticed they were all wearing mimetic, and when she glanced down at herself, she noticed that she too wore the mimetic. Abalar was also carrying a decently sized medkit. She coughed lightly, drawing their attention to her.

“Oh, Lieutenant Abalar, you’re here!” the shortest man said, turning to look at her when she spoke.

“Uh,” Abalar said, quickly trying to figure out what to call him. She noticed the officer emblem that he wore. “Yessir, I am sir.”

“Good, come here. I’ll show you where you and your other medics should be stationed. You just have to worry about who is placed where. The assault should begin soon.”

Abalar stepped forward quickly, but hit something as she stepped forward. She saw a flicker of light that could only caused by a stealth suit trying to compensate. Abalar stopped and looked around. The officers also noticed it, as they had their weapons drawn. Everyone was looking around the camouflaged area, watching for anymore signs of stealthed people. One guy, the youngest out of all of them got a bit too stressed out and shot once. Some how, it hit one of the enemy. His celebrations were cut short though, as he was the first one to get shot, in the head no less. The officers quickly used their stealth capabilities in a poor attempt to escape. Most were shot at, but not killed, before they became fully capable. Apparently Abalar wasn’t of any importance, because no shots were fired in her direction. Before any real action could be taken against the enemy, they were gone.

Abalar quickly called for “her” fellow medics, and strode towards the mass of dead and injured officers. She quickly assessed the situation and viewed the scene. She saw nothing that could pose as a danger to her as she worked, so she went to the closest man.

This man had been injured badly: the shot had gone all the way through the arm, and now the man was bleeding out. Abalar reached into the medkit that she had, and reached into it. Conveniently, an elastic bandage that could be used as a tourniquet was in her hand when she pulled her arm out of the bag. She quickly cut a big enough piece from it using the field knife that was in her pocket, and tied it tightly around arm above his wound. She then gently lifted his arm, elevating the injury to prevent more blood loss.

Then, conveniently, the medical reinforcements that Abalar had called for arrived.

“You,” Abalar said pointing to the first medic to emerge from behind the camouflage. “Hold his arm up. Do what you have to do to keep the blood loss down. I’d much prefer if he kept his arm. The rest of you, choose an officer and get to work.”

Once the medic had relieved Abalar of her charge, she moved onto another that didn’t seem to be breathing, but didn’t have any physical injuries. Abalar checked for a pulse on both his wrist and on his neck, neither of which produced a pulse. She quickly leant down and put an ear near his mouth, and pointed her head towards his chest so she could see if he was breathing. Abalar didn’t feel, hear, or see any breathing, so she quickly checked to see if there was any obstruction in his airway, even though she doubted that was why he had stopped breathing. As she suspected, his airway was clear. She momentarily glanced over him, and ran a hand underneath him to check for any bleeding; there was none. Just as she was about to do mouth-to-mouth, a young apprentice called over to her.

“What do I do once I’ve revived him?” Her voice was panicked and afraid.
“Throw him into the recovery position!” Abalar shouted, not looking back at her. Her tone wasn’t rude or judging, but it was slightly stressed as well.

“The what!?”

“Get your butt over here and get this one breathing again. I’ll do it,” Abalar said, rapidly turning and running over to the younger medic’s charge.

Abalar shoved her out of the way. “If that officer dies because you didn’t resuscitate him, I’ll have you head,” she said without looking up. She quickly rolled the man onto his side, and pulled one leg up so it bent at a ninety degree angle at the knee. She slid one arm under his bent leg and placed the other partially under his head, so if he vomited, he wouldn’t choke or drown in it and die.

“Stay like this please,” Abalar said as gently as she could under this amount of stress.

She stood and glanced around her. The man that Abalar ordered to be resuscitated by the young female medic was alive, and another more experienced medic was rolling him into the recovery position for her. As fast as it had all started it was over. The epinephrine that coursed through her veins peaked.




Abalar’s hands were shaking, and they were still shaking when the simulation ended and she fell out of the simulator pod. Examiner Slim picked her up, only for Abalar to fall down again. A water bottle was placed in one hand, which was thankfully it was closed. It shook with her hand, so Monte Slim took it away again.

“You alright?” said the high pitched man.

Abalar turned her head to face to his. “Yeah,” was all she could say. She was beaming. The rush was fantastic, causing Abalar to want to do it again and again.

“Well, you passed one of the most stressful simulations I could throw at you, so you passed this test,” Examiner Slim said, clapping her on the shoulder. He stood, picking up Abalar as he went. He supported her until she found her legs again, then walked out of the simulation room. When Abalar thought over what she had just done, she was surprised. She had been a ball of nerves before this, yet the stressful practical test she had just done had calmed her down. Abalar couldn’t wait for the next test.