Chapter 203: The Accident
Fifteen minutes earlier, inside one of the bustling factories owned by the Axelsen & Nielsen Companies, the air brake assembly lines were in full swing. Each worker was diligently carrying out their assigned roles and responsibilities, ensuring that the company delivered only the highest quality products to its clients.
Amidst the rhythmic sound of the assembly line, two workers - Malcolm and Jaden - walked down the factory floor, their eyes scanning the scene around them. As they walked, their conversation drifted towards the impressive work ethic of their colleagues, and how the company's dedication to excellence had earned it a sterling reputation in the industry.
"We should get something to eat first before we return to duty," Malcolm said.
"Yeah, I get headaches whenever my stomach is empty," Jaden agreed.
Malcolm and Jaden paused in their conversation as they watched the overhead crane approach. They couldn't help but wonder what kind of heavy equipment was being transported in those crates.
As the crane lowered the crates onto the factory floor, Malcolm noticed the cables hoisting them down is under immense tension and is seemingly about to tear apart.
"Hey, you notice those cables?" Malcolm pointed his hand at the cable.
Jaden followed Malcolm's gaze and immediately noticed the tension in the cables. "That doesn't look good," he said, furrowing his brows in concern.
As the crane continued to lower the crates, the tension in the cables became more and more pronounced. Malcolm and Jaden could hear the strained groans and creaks coming from the machinery.
Suddenly, with a loud snap, one of the cables gave way, sending the crate it was holding tumbling to the ground. The impact caused a thunderous noise to reverberate throughout the factory floor.
Malcolm and Jaden quickly ran toward the fallen crate, hoping that nobody had been injured in the accident. But what they were hoping for was shattered as they heard a scream of agony. One of their co-workers, Sam, had been caught underneath the crate and was writhing in pain. Malcolm and Jaden rushed to his side, trying to assess the damage and provide any aid they could.
"Call the clinic!" Malcolm shouted to a nearby worker, who quickly ran to make the call.
Jaden tried to comfort Sam, who was in shock from the pain. "Hang in there, buddy, help is on the way," he said, trying to keep him conscious.
Malcolm looked around, trying to find something to lift the heavy crate off Sam. He spotted another overhead crane that was operational earlier but stopped when the accident happened.
"Shit...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry," the overhead operator whose cable snapped was apologizing profusely to his co-workers, who had rushed to the scene.
"Hey, you in the overhead crane!" Malcolm shouted at the guy. "I want you to position your crane above us so we can pull this thing up!"
The overhead crane operator shook his head. "I can't, Niel's crane is already above you. Move it first!"
Malcolm flickered his gaze to Niel who was shaking from the shock of the accident.
"Niel, move your crane now!" Malcolm shouted.
Niel snapped out of his daze and quickly moved his crane away. Once his crane was away, the overhead crane operator moved his crane to the left and stopped right above the accident site.
As the news of the accident spread across the factory, more workers rushed to the scene, offering their help.
"I need cables that can lift this thing up!"
The workers collectively began to gather any cables and equipment they could find that would be strong enough to lift the heavy crate off of Sam. With their combined effort, they were able to attach the cables to the crate and slowly lift it off of him.
"Okay, slowly lift it up," Malcolm directed the crane operator.
The crate lifted off Sam, and Jaden rushed to his side to assess the damage.
"Ugh," Jaden was in disgust, his left leg was crushed, blood pooling around his ankle.
The factory manager arrived on the scene, his face pale with shock. "What happened here?" he asked, looking around at the chaos, and fell upon the legs of the injured worker. "Ugh...what the..."
"The cable snapped," Jaden explained as he applied a tourniquet. "He is losing too much blood, we need to get him to the clinic as soon as possible. I'm trying to stop the bleeding but it can only do little."
"The emergency staff from the clinic is on its way," the worker who made the run to call the clinic informed them.
"I want you all to cease operation now! Move away from your stations and turn off the equipment and machines," The factory manager barked his orders as he ran a hand over his face. This is going to blow over his face.
Five minutes later, the horse-drawn carriage that acts as an ambulance arrived at the exit of the assembly line, the clinic staff carrying a stretcher.
As they arrived at the scene of the accident, Jaden and Malcolm stood and stepped away, letting the clinic staff do their work, moving Sam to the stretcher and
quickly loading him into the carriage. The horse was already hitched and ready to go, and the driver cracked his whip to get the animal moving as soon as the clinic staff was safely aboard.
Malcolm sighed heavily as he watched the carriage disappear from sight. "I hope he's going to be alright," he muttered to himself, before turning to face the factory manager. "We need to figure out what went wrong with that cable."
The factory manager nodded, looking grim. "I'll get my engineers on it right away," he said. "We'll shut down the assembly line until we can determine what happened and fix the problem. Safety is our top priority."
***
Back in the current time, Sara and Williams rushed and quickly assessed the worker's condition. His left femur was seemingly crushed by a heavy object. Blood oozed out from it but thanks to the tourniquet that was applied on the scene, the bleeding was under control.
"What happened?" Sara asked the personnel who carried Sam to the emergency room.
"There seems to be an accident in the assembly line," the clinic staff explained. "But we didn't bother to ask more as we were in the rush."
"Let's get him prepped for surgery," he instructed. "We'll need to stem the bleeding...prepare for surgery."
"Also, doctor, prepare a blood transfusion," Sara added. "He seemed to have lost a lot of blood."
"Prepare for blood transfusion as well," Williams added an order to the nurse who then scurried away to carry out his task.
"Doctor Williams, can I participate in the surgery?" Sara asked.
"I'll need all the help I can get so you can join me," Williams said.
"I will do my best doctor," Sara said before turning to the orderly. "Please get me a new set of clean gloves, a surgical gown, and a mask."
As the orderly fetched the items, Sara mentally prepared herself for the upcoming surgery. Normally, an osteologist would perform such an operation but there's no one nearby. She had experience performing surgery on bones though but this one is worse than her first.
Williams and Sara scrubbed in and donned their surgical gear before entering the operating room. The patient was already prepped and lying on the operating table, his vitals being monitored closely.
"Let's begin."