A girl was struggling to raise herself from the next seat, obviously unaware that the leg wouldn't support her because it had suffered a compound fracture. Dr. Needzak forced a grin when he attracted her attention. He persuaded her to lie flat. With one quick motion, he rough-set the leg. Then he boosted her out of the vehicle, and looked down to investigate the source of the plucking at his coat. It was a small, chubby boy, standing beside him. "I'm hurt real bad," the boy said. Needzak ran his hands over the boy's body to make sure the bones were sound. "You better take care of me real quick," the child said, looking more worried than ever.
Dr. Needzak made sure that the blood on the boy's cheek came from only a scratch, and found the heartbeat normal. So he pulled a sugar wafer from his bag and ordered the boy to swallow it.
"Think you can climb out now?" Dr. Needzak asked. The youngster, face brightening, leaped to the door and went out unassisted.
The only child remaining in the vehicle hadn't uttered a sound. But the doctor sensed that her breathing was heavier. He bent over her, and pushed back the lid of her half-closed eye. When he saw the back of her head, he stopped his hasty examination. Her words were barely audible. "Am I hurt bad?"
"Why, there won't even be any pain," Dr. Needzak told her cheerfully. Before he could yell to the other doctors to call for a stretcher, the girl's breathing stopped.
Slowly, as if suddenly tired, Dr. Needzak climbed out of the vehicle.
Police had already dispersed the crowd. Tow trucks were waiting to haul away the vehicles. The injured children were gone. The three doctors resumed their walk.
Dr. Needzak felt the eyes of the other two men on him, lost patience after a moment, and said irritably:
"Go ahead, start bawling me out. But I've not signed anything yet. I'm still a licensed physician. I had every right to help those kids."
The other two doctors stopped, looking at one another, as if trying to probe each other's thoughts. Simultaneous smiles spread over their faces. Dr. Needzak stopped walking, w............