Clyde Hospital

Clyde Hospital is the setting for the immediate aftermath of the fire, serving both as a burns-treatment center and as a place where Aaron Falk and Greg Raco’s survival draws together friends, colleagues, and family. Its wards turn the crisis into a quieter sequence of waiting: visitors arrive, Raco remains unconscious, and Falk keeps watch until recovery begins to show.

Treatment and Recovery

After waking in the hospital’s burns unit, Falk was told by doctors that he would live. His injuries ended his days as a hand model; once he had seen the damage, he chose not to look again. His hand, arm, and leg were bandaged, and he remained bed-bound while recovering.

Raco was in more serious condition, sedated while doctors treated major burns to his torso and back. Once Falk was allowed to get up, he spent much of his time beside Raco’s bed as his colleague slept. The contrast between Falk’s growing ability to move and Raco’s continued unconsciousness shapes the hospital episode around a prolonged, uncertain wait.

Visitors and Bedside Vigils

Falk received a steady stream of visitors. Gerry Hadler and Barb Hadler brought Charlotte, McMurdo smuggled in a beer, and Constable Barnes sat beside Falk for long stretches, often without speaking. Gretchen Schoner did not visit; Falk did not blame her. These visits show support arriving in different forms, from the presence of family to the quiet company of a colleague.

At Raco’s bedside, Rita Raco held Falk’s good hand with one hand and rested the other on her belly. Falk told her that Raco had been brave; she nodded and asked the doctor again when he would wake. Raco’s brothers arrived one by one from South Australia. They looked like variations of the same person, shook Falk’s hand, and ordered their sleeping brother to get out of bed. Beneath their brisk manner, Falk could see how frightened they were.

Raco’s Return to Consciousness

Raco eventually opened his eyes, prompting the doctors to usher Falk out for a full day so that only family could be with him. When Falk was allowed back, he found Raco giving him a weak but familiar grin beneath his bandages. That small sign of recognition closes the hospital sequence on a change from vigil to contact: Raco is awake, and the relationship between the two investigating partners persists through the injuries and uncertainty.