She was exhausted and beyond the help of coffee. One order of business remained after all patients were at least stable....whatever their conditions were. She had one death certificate to fill out. It was bad enough having to fill them out, it was worse informing family. There was very little comfort in knowing that the person had arrived dead. A set of dog tags, a wallet and a Colonial ID were on her desk as she filled out the information.
Name:James Knox D.O.B:7 Apr. 798 A.S. Sex: Male Complexion: Average Date of Death:4 Aug 824 A.S. Time of Death: Approximately 1700 Cause of Death: Head Trauma Secondary Causes: Combat, explosion. Identifying Marks: Left forearm tattoo, "Mom." Right shoulder tattoo, Crayter Republic emblem Personal Effects: Wallet, Crayter ID, dog tags and religious chain on neck.
She made copies of the certificate. Placing one in a filing cabinet, she went out and placed the other in the victim's file.
"Has the family been called yet?" she asked the coroner.
"I believe an attempt has been made, yes, but I don't know if they know yet," he replied.
Doreen nodded, "I will be in my office."
It had been a long time since she had worked an all nighter like she just had. It was the first time she performed a heart transplant as a chief medical officer nor had she done one under emergency circumstances. As there was no response yet to her transmission for supportive equipment and all her patients were stable, she sat on the sofa in her office. She never got to pour herself a glass of wine, the bottle of which was on a table next to the sofa, before fatigue won. She fell over, asleep, curled up on the sofa.