Chapter 16 - Night Dreams

“O but we dreamed to mend

Whatever mischief seemed

To afflict mankind, but now

That winds of winter blow

Learn that we were crack-pated when we dreamed.”

William Butler Yeats† 1865-1939

 Anita pulled Rudy to his feet and started walking towards the shattered doors that framed the holocaust. She felt only a need to succor the injured and right this awful wrong. Anita pulled her scarf over her entire face and instructed Rudy to cover any exposed skin. A black cloud was descending from the mushroom cloud in front of them. As they walked, others flowed out of the doors from the buildings still standing around them. Some were screaming. Others helped those too injured to walk out of the buildings. Anita moved towards those injured and applied tourniquets and dressings made from clothes at hand. She gave directions to the nearest hospital to every injured person. Rudy followed behind often finding broken boards or fallen doors for crutches or travois. As Anita moved towards the hospital, a procession of injured followed in her wake.

 Anita felt no pain. She wasn’t weary or confused. Every action she took came to her with crystal clarity. In this hour of desperation Anita found herself riding the winds of glory. She could feel her expertise flowing from her mind to her hands. Rudy followed behind her, an apostle of the “White Angel.” A ripple of communication spread from Anita down the explosion ravaged streets.

 A little boy ran from his mother’s bending form towards an old lady leaning against a wall, blood flowing down her leg. “The White Angel will help you. She’s on Cermak Road heading towards Loyola Medical Center.” A near by man heard and told the next. On and on the ripple flowed out and away from the White Angel. Bandages and medicine arrived in waves as Anita walked. Bandages and medicine were being brought in such volume that Rudy had to carry them in a wheel barrow that was found in a nearby backyard. Anita strove to protect the bandages from fallout by hiding them under a tarp placed on top of the wheel barrow.

 Anita started to notice the surrounding area. There really wasn’t that much damage. Very few buildings collapsed altogether. Mostly, the injuries came from falling bookcases or shattered glass. Anita and Rudy’s building had been one of the worst casualties. She could hardly imagine what the damage must be up ahead. Her white coat turned brown as Anita and Rudy made their way towards the hospital in the grey twilight that embraced Chicago.