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“Is there anyone else here yet?” Bridget asked, meaning an EMT.
“Nope. You’re it.”
They wrangled the gurney out of the back of the truck while Bridget got her bag, nerves staying at bay. She’d never led a rescue by herself, and it appeared that Charlie was deferring all their moves to her.
Remembering the basic tenets of first aid, she mumbled, “ABC, airway, breathing, circulation.”
The injured were lying on the pavement where onlookers had dragged them from the burning car. The first person Bridget saw was an adult female, who was awake and crying, speaking Spanish, asking if her daughter was okay. That was when Bridget saw her, a tiny infant sitting upright in a car seat, strapped in and appearing to be asleep. At least Bridget hoped she was asleep.
“Can you attend to the adult? I’ll check the baby,” Bridget said to Charlie as she knelt down in a puddle next to the car seat. The first thing she did after determining that the baby was in fact breathing without difficulty was to get her stethoscope out and listen for heart sounds, which were strong and regular.
“Baby’s okay.”
She picked up the seat and would keep it close by while she examined the other occupants. The fire raged beyond the site, and she wasn’t even thinking about it, but Charlie stayed on top of it. To a patrolman who was at the scene, he asked that they clear the area of onlookers because they were calling for an air tanker to dump fire retardant nearby. The weight of the material dropped could crush a car, so it was imperative that people got into their vehicles and moved on.
Within minutes, they had two occupants plus the baby loaded into the back of the truck. Bridget stayed in back and Charlie drove to the hospital while she attended to their injuries. Staying focused was key for her. As long as they were breathing and not bleeding, she could manage three injuries. The critical staffing situation was not only at Station #34, it was across the state, across the country. You just did the best you could.
At the hospital they gave a report to the nurses and doctors who came out to help them unload the vehicle. Amazingly, the baby, who had evidently been thrown from the vehicle, landed upright in her seat without a scratch. The mother and her passenger, an unknown female, were not as lucky. Bridget discovered that she was on a need-to-know basis, and she didn’t need to know anything about the family or the outcome of the horrific accident.
“We’ll do a post breakdown when we get back to the station,” Charlie said as they got the gurneys in back. “You did a good job, Bridget.”
“I’m glad the baby was okay. It wouldn’t have been so good if she’d been injured.”
“She wasn’t, though. We were lucky. Anyway, thank you. Now we just wait until the next call.”
The next call came before they’d pulled out of the hospital parking lot, the third alarm for the brush fire that had started when the car crashed. At five that afternoon, he remembered Lila. Almost too tired to call her, he hoped a text would be enough.
Craziness here, one thing after another. But you came to mind several times, and this is the first chance I had to touch base.
He rested his head against the back of the chair with his eyes closed, hoping things would stay quiet for a while. Then, about five minutes after he fell asleep, his phone beeped, Lila’s reply.
Hi, thanks for getting in touch. I was thinking about you, too. I’m Devon’s chauffeur today, just getting him home from a doctor’s visit. I could never be a nurse. Will text you when I get home.
Smiling at his phone, he sent a final text. I’m counting on it.
Cooking smells wafted down from the second floor where the lounge and sleeping quarters resided. Someone was frying chicken, and he thought he could smell something fruity, too, like baking apples.
It was fried chicken and a heated-up bakery-purchased apple pie. The team was too tired for conversation, so they let the TV stay on, and instead of watching the news and getting into rabid arguments about current politics, they turned on one of the Housewives franchises, great entertainment for the exhausted.
Charlie fixed a plate and disappeared back down to his office. He had a cot in there, and the bathroom was close by, so he managed a little privacy rather than bunking with everyone. It would be the one time he’d take advantage of his position as battalion chief.
After he ate, he lay on his cot and aimed the remote at the small flat-screen he’d mounted on the wall above his desk. There were no pictures of Clare around unless it was a family shot, but he did have a montage of photos of his boys from babyhood to college graduation. Getting up on an elbow, he reached for Oliver’s most recent photo, with him standing between his parents in his cap and gown.
All dressed up on a June afternoon, Clare looked lovely. Her hair was too dark, dyed black, but he never said anything to her about it because it would only hurt her feelings and cause a fight. So many issues had been swept under the rug for the sake of peace. Why’d he do that? Shaking his head, he hoped for better communication between him and Lila. Smiling, he remembered her comment about not being a nurse. Was she invested in caring for Devon? Or would the help end at driving him around to his appointments? Charlie felt a little jealousy brewing, just a tad that he’d deal with and nip in the bud. He wasn’t going to be that guy.
Then his phone beeped.
“Home at last,” Lila said. “Am I getting you at a bad time?”
“No, this is perfect. I’m done eating, and I’m lying on my cot, fingers crossed we don’t get called out again. How’s Devon?”
“Devon’s upset but trying to hide it. Evidently, your late nephew is going to be a daddy and never knew about it. Aisling was going to stay with Devon but wanted to be back where she lived with Mike, so she left Devon’s place.”
Stunned at the news, Charlie let it sink in. Mike was going to have a child that would never know him.
“I wonder if Aisling told Mike’s parents that they’re going to be grandparents.”
“I can’t tell you that. She’s a slick one, that Aisling. I wouldn’t put it past her to keep the pregnancy quiet for a bit longer.”
