First Aid Station1 "Hiroshima Aunt Saw" Dr.Soko Day18/50

Burned Shoes

"Hi, are you okay? Can you hear me?  Are you okay?"
Nobuko opened her eyes. A young soldier with glasses stood.
"Hey, are you injured? Where did you come from?
Can you walk?"
Nobuko couldn't reply. She felt as if his voice was blocked over ears.

"Look at your red feet. Looks so painful.The soles have melted. "

The soldier put Nobuko's foot on the palm of his hand. Nobuko's shoes were torn and her fingers were sticking out.
The soles of the soles had gone, the swollen red feet were visible. The skin was peeled and was bleeding. Charcoal and sand stuck to the wound.
A stinging pain that she hadn't noticed until now, stimulated the whole foot.

"You can't walk with this wound of foot. You have to go to a first-aid station."
Nobuko retracted her leg.

The soldier bent over to make eye contact with Nobuko.
The soldier said, touching his broken glasses from falling.
"Now there's a first aid station near here. I'll go with you."

She couldn't decide what to do. She had to go find her grandma to cross Aioibashi for it. But it was so scary that she couldn't cross that bridge. The terrible sights scared her so much. She thought.

"I have to go to my grandma's house.
Grandma may be waiting alone somewhere around."

But, there was herself who couldn't stand because her legs were shaking. To tell the truth, she was scared and scared, and she can't turn to Aioi bridge. She felt she could not cross this bridge by herself. The energy to stand up was gone.

"Hey, you can't do anything about being here. Your feet should be taken care of, and you'll be able to walk again. Now, let's go together."
The soldier with glasses took out his water bottle and gave it to Nobuko.
Then he held both arms of Nobuko with both hands.
"If you go to the first aid station, you can drink more. You can take a short break, then go to where you want to go again. Stand up. Let's walk together."

Nobuko felt the soldiers' words as if they were talking behind the glass. But when she touched his hand, Nobuko felt it was the real. Nobuko walked toward the first aid station, as the soldiers told him.

First Aid Station

A tent was set up as the first aid station at the site of the burned-down building.
Water is blowing up like a fountain from a torn water pipe nearby. Nobuko walked a short distance, thrust her head into the splash,  and drank water.
She took a big breath, and drank again, then washed her face, and dipped her hair and clothes in water.
She felt cool when the wind hit the face.

"What's your name?"

The voice of Nobuko who answered the soldier's question was faint.
"...Nobuko."

"Okay, Nobuko-chan.
Well then, let's wash our feet.  If your wound of feet got puss you would be unable to walk. That must be tough. So wash it clean and get a treatment in the tent."
She sat down on the rubble and took off the slipped-out shoes and the torn socks. The she splashed her bare black feet with water. The whole soles of her feet hurt like a heart pulse.

The young man said,

"That's no good. Scrub more! It still has sand."

He washed the wounds on Nobuko's foot without mercy in spite of bleeding.

"Sorry. I know your pain."
Nobuko, whose face had been distorted due to pain, saw a child drinking water from a broken water pipe next to her. The boy spoke nothing and disappeared alone into the line of people in front of the tent.
Nobuko was relieved to see her feet regain red color from charcoal color.
"Where have you been walking?"
Asked by the soldiers, Nobuko started to talk about coming from Kure alone to find her grandma, and walking along the railroad track to here.