by Rita Delude
“The country singer?”
“Yes, that very one.”
“I’m not a country fan, but if you like country enough to name your dog after one of those singers, you could introduce me to what you consider the best of their best music, and I might get to like it,” he says.
“I appreciate your honesty. I took a trip to New York City for the Thankgiving Day Parade with my mom one year, and we saw Dolly Parton on a float in the parade. I yelled out, ‘We love you, Dolly.’ And she yelled back, ‘I love you too.’ I was so excited I nearly peed my pants. Of course that might have been because we’d been waiting five hours and hadn’t gone to the ladies’ room because we didn’t want to lose the front row standing-room-only spot we had.”
Chance laughs so hard I have to pull the phone away from my ear.
“I can see you doing just that. Good for you. Star struck. I love it. Thanks for calling to let me know you’re safe. I’ll call you later. I’ve got to get some shut eye before my shift starts.”
“Oh, right, right, yes, you to do that,” I say feeling bad suddenly that I’ve kept him so long. “Goodnight, Chance.”
“Sweet dreams, Emily.”
Sweet dreams? Is he kidding? I’m not going to sleep. I’m going to sit here with Dolly and rehash every sentence of the day, every move he made, every time he or I brushed up against each other, how we both knew we didn’t want to sit in the bar, how sweet he was with Izzy, how cool he was with Christopher. How perfect.
On second thought, maybe I could use some sleep. I’ll think about all that tomorrow. I sure hope he calls.
Chapter Eight
Chance
I’m working with Tom Lund, my normal partner, today. That’s good because we work together without a hitch, each knowing what the other will take responsibility for without asking. He’s been on vacation for a week, and I missed him. Today, I’m glad he’s here because with less than enough sleep, I’ll need him to keep me on track if today is busy.
“So, how was your vacation?” I ask as I pull him in for a hug.
“Great. Kathleen and I soaked up the sun at Sandals, swam with the fish, went wind sailing, drank to our hearts’ content, and I never gave one thought to this place for one solid week. Just what I needed. God, my wife is sexy.”
“TMI,” I say and laugh. They’ve been married three years, and it appears their relationship gets better and better. I’m happy for him. I was one of the groomsmen at his wedding. I’m hoping he’ll do the same honor for me someday if I ever find the right one and make the plunge. After meeting Emily, I’m thinking that just might happen.
“You look exhausted. What did you do on your day off?”
“I took Chris to Canabie. We had a blast. Met someone too.”
“And you’re smiling. Must be good.”
Before I can answer, we’re sent out on a call. The dispatcher fills us in on all she knows as we red light it to the location. It’s a crash. The fire department is using the Jaws of Life to extract the driver as we arrive. The passenger is our first patient. Someone has removed her from the vehicle, afraid it will go up in flames.
I put a neck brace on her, Tom does the vitals, she’s sustained cuts and bruises from the airbag that deployed, but was apparently wearing her seatbelt, so it appears she has cracked ribs, and not much else.
“Talk to us, hon, what’s your name? Do you know what happened?” I ask.
“I’m Caroline Betton. Is Gloria all right? We hit a tree on her side of the car.”
“What’s Gloria’s last name, hon?” Tom asks.
“Gloria Stanley, she’s my best friend. Her cell phone rang, and she picked it up. We went off the road. Is she okay?”
“We’ll be taking care of her too. We want to get you to a hospital and get you taken care of. Is there someone we should call?”
“Call my mom.”
When she gives us the number, Tom dials, speaks briefly and calmly to the mother, and asks her to meet us at the hospital. He tells her over and over that Caroline is fine and that she is not to rush. Another ambulance has been called in for the second victim, so we leave immediately.
Once Caroline is in good hands in emergency, we leave and begin to fill out report papers. Before they are finished, we get another urgent call. This one is for a house fire. Multiple fire departments’ ambulances from multiple towns have been called in because it is an eight-family complex of mostly senior citizens.
We are the second ambulance to arrive on the scene, and as a firefighter evacuates a senior who is carried over his shoulder, we place him in our ambulance and immediately start oxygen. He’s suffering from smoke inhalation. Tom’s checking for burns, but there don’t appear to be any. We rush him to Elliot Hospital, and once he’s secure in the Emergency Room we return to the scene. By then, they no longer need our services, and we return to our base.
Tom’s working on the paperwork for the car accident case and I on the fire when we get a call for a possible drug overdose. New Hampshire has been in the news of late for its plethora of drug overdoses. That’s what it is, according to his sister and best friend who are on the scene. We administer naloxone by injecting the guy in the muscle of his upper thigh and then doing chest compressions and rescue breathing until he can breath on his own. When he can, we deliver this patient to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center.
It’s now lunch time. We’ve got a huge kitchen where we can prepare any meals we want. I’m glad I have a lunch from home today, leftover spaghetti and meatballs, because I don’t have the energy to cook anything. I nuke it in the microwave.
Tom sits across from me munching on a ham and cheese sandwich.
“Tell me about this woman you met.”
He’s like a beagle with a squirrel up a tree. He latched onto my one comment first thing this morning, and it’s been stuck in his head all day despite how busy we’ve been.
“Met her at Canabie. Her name is Emily. We had a great time. After we dropped the kids off—”
“Hold on. You took Chris. She has kids?”
“No. She took her niece.”
“Oh, carry on.”
“So happy to have your permission,” I tease. “We went to Jade Dragon and talked until 3. She’s going parachuting with me tomorrow.”
“You found yourself an adrenaline freak?”
“I don’t think so. She throws up at the sight of blood. But she’s willing to try. I like that.”
“Well, if you don’t kill her on the dive, I want to meet her. Kathleen will want to, too. You could come for dinner.”
“Not so fast.”
“You’re not getting any younger. You’ll want to have kids before you’re grandpa age, won’t you?”
“Speak for yourself. You two have been married for three years. I don’t see you changing diapers yet.”
Tom grinned so wide, I knew immediately he had news. His freckles stood out on his pale face and his ginger hair was spikier than ever.
“In fact, we’re due in December.”
I jumped from my seat and he did too. I high-fived him, pulled him into a bear hug, and congratulated him. That was the best news I’d heard in a long time. Tom loves kids. When we had calls that involved kids, he had the best rapport with them of any paramedic I’ve ever worked with. He is going to be a wonderful father. Hopefully, I’ll get my chance one day too.
In comes another call. This is a day to beat most days. It isn’t until after 4 p.m. that I have a chance to call Emily. I’m hoping she’ll understand I’ve been too busy to call.
Chapter Nine
Emily
Dolly is pulling at my comforter, begging to be let out. “Dolly, please give me five more minutes,” I beg. But she whimpers, and I remember how long I left her alone yesterday, so I swing my legs out of bed, pull on an old pair of sweats and a T-shirt, and take her out for her morning walk being sure to snag my phone in case Chance calls.
He doesn’t.
This is just the third full
day of summer vacation I’ve had. No workshops are scheduled until August, I didn’t sign up for any college credits this year, and I’m not teaching summer school or SAT prep classes for older kids. I learned after one summer of teaching high school summer school and another summer of teaching SAT prep classes that the extra money wasn’t worth it. I need to stick with my favorites—elementary kids. Besides with five years in the district and tenure now, my pay is high enough that I can afford the expenses of the mortgage on my modest ranch house and still stash money away for emergencies like when the furnace broke in the middle of last winter’s 20-degree cold spell. I have plenty.
Laurie and I are even planning a one-week, girls-only cruise in late July to celebrate my birthday. Maybe by then, I’ll take a two-week adventure. One week with Laurie and one week going somewhere with Chance. What am I thinking? I just met the guy. But there’s a spark I’ve never felt before, and I believe he feels it too. I’m so excited about our sky diving adventure for tomorrow. I’ll have to ask him what to wear, when we leave, how much money I need. I certainly don’t want him paying for it. I’ve heard it can be a really expensive hobby.
Mrs. Demgard is sitting on the park bench on the halfway mark of the walking trail that surrounds the neighborhood, so I stop to visit. She’s in her seventies and lives alone. She loves playing with Dolly and chatting. During the school year, I’m always in a rush to get back and hustle off to work, but in the summer months I like our time to visit.
“Well, how’s our Dolly today?” she asks.
“She’s happy to be out. I took my niece Isabella to Canabie Lake yesterday, so Dolly was stuck inside all day. She loves my attention today.”
“Next time you have to be gone so long, you leave her with me.”
“I couldn’t do that to you. She’d drive you crazy begging to go in and out, wanting you to toss balls and play…”
“I’d love the company. It’s been five years today since Neil’s been gone. It gets lonely.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sure it does. Sure. The next time I’m going to be gone awhile, I’ll give you a call and ask if you’re available. I promise I won’t just presume you are. You’ve got a life.”
She huffs. “Not much of one except my garden. Dolly could keep me company out there.”
“Why don’t you get a rescue dog? I hear they don’t even charge seniors for dogs.”
“It wouldn’t be fair to leave a dog behind if something happened to me.”
An uncomfortable silence falls between us then. To lift up and change the conversation, I say, “I’m going skydiving tomorrow.”
“Really? That’s wild. Good for you. Do crazy things while you’re young. Craziest thing I ever did was go up in a hot air balloon. It was so much fun.”
“I’d like to do that someday too,” I say. “At least that way I’d be going up instead of down.” I laugh, but even I realize it is a nervous laugh. “May I leave Dolly with you for that tomorrow? I’m going with a new guy I met, and if I don’t break a leg or anything, he might want us to do something else.”
Her gray eyes light up. “Sure, I’d love to take Dolly. Bring some dog food and treats and her leash. I want to treat her right.” She reaches out for the hundredth time and pets Dolly, who thanks her by licking her age-spotted hands.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then. I don’t know the time yet, but I’ll call when I do.”
We wave, Dolly barks, and we are off to a day of waiting for that phone call from Chance.
The first thing I do every summer since I started teaching is go through all my materials and throw out plans that didn’t work well, materials that are ragged from sticky hands, overuse, and not-so-tender love, and make a list of what I need to rework and recreate. I spend hours doing that while listening to Paisley, Parton, Shelton, and Mariah. I’m in my element and have filled two trash bags and one-half a notebook with lists and plans. When I get my official class list late in the summer, I’ll be busy making name tags, desk tags, cubby tags, and other signage, and working at the school to laminate everything, but these things I can do at home, so I get them done as early as possible. I’m a bit OCD as a look at my home attests.
I get so busy I forget to eat lunch, but Dolly doesn’t let me forget to let her in and out throughout the day, which gives me a good sense of time. As the hours tick by, my heart sinks.
I call Laurie.
“He hasn’t called,” I say as soon as she picks up. “He said he’d call. It’s after one. He started his shift at nine. I guess he wasn’t as in to me as I hoped.”
Laurie’s at work as a software design engineer, but she works from home, so I’m usually certain she has time for at least a quick listen when I’ve got a problem unless she’s on a conference call. In which case she doesn’t pick up anyway.
“You told me he’s a paramedic. Maybe he’s out on a lot of calls. It’s just a busy day. Don’t freak. Give it time. You’ve got good instincts. If you were into him and it felt like he was too, you’re probably right.”
I take a deep breath. “I hope you’re right. We talked until three. He’s very special. I’d like you to meet him.”
“Wow. He must be. You haven’t brought anyone around since, since that Paul guy two years ago.”
“Yeah, like that was going to work out when I found out he was cheating on me.”
“Totally understand. But just because this Chance guy hasn’t called doesn’t mean he’s cheating. He’s working and at a very demanding job, so cut him some slack. If you come off all pissed when he does call, you’ll lose him.”
“Well, I won’t be pissed if that’s the reason. I respect what he does. I sure couldn’t do it.”
Laurie chuckles. “That’s the understatement of the year. Listen, love to talk but my boss is rounding us up for a conference call in fifteen, and I’ve got to be ready, so bye.”
“Bye. Love you.”
“Love you more.”
I busy myself for a while more, take Dolly for another walk, and finally settle on the sofa for a nap. I really didn’t get enough sleep last night.
When the phone rings at four, there’s drool running down my mouth, and I’m glad Chance can’t see how I look. I clear my throat before I answer and say, “Hi, I’m glad you called,” as casually as my groggy voice can muster.
Chapter Ten
Chance
Emily sounds sexy and not pissed at all when she picks up the phone. Relief washes over my body.
“I am so sorry it’s so late. We’ve had a car accident, a heart attack, an overdose, a fire, two raisin runs, and a false alarm where the wife thought her husband was having a heart attack, but it was a panic attack. That’s why I couldn’t call you sooner. I’m sorry.”
“Oh my God. Is it always like that? That sounds crazy.”
“No. Some days there are no calls at all, and we play chess or poker or watch movies. Today just happened to be one of those non-stop days. I’m still on until nine, so there’s possibly still more excitement in store.”
“Excitement?”
“Well, the possibility for more calls. I don’t mean excitement in the way skydiving will be tomorrow. Are you ready?”
“I guess. What do I wear?” she asks.
“Whatever’s comfortable. Even though the weather is hot down below, it’s cool up there and dropping down with the wind on your body is cool, so they issue you a jump suit. And you’ll be close to me. I’ll warm you up.”
I sure will and will be glad of it. Can’t wait to get my body around hers.
“Okay. What time? I’ve got a neighbor who’s volunteered to watch Dolly.”
“I’ll pick you up at nine. What’s your address?”
When we get the details straightened out, she asks, “Did you sign up for the Thai cooking class? What am I thinking? You haven’t had time.”
“No. I haven’t. But as soon as we hang up, I will. Don’t want to miss that,” I say. Anything to spend more time with this chick who fascinates me.
“And after skydiving, I hope we can spend the day if your neighbor’s willing to keep Dolly.”
“Oh, she’s willing. Also, I want to pay my fees for tomorrow,” Emily says.
“There’s no fee. I’m a part-time instructor at the facility, so I can take private dives whenever.”
“Are you sure?” This equal pay and going halves on dates makes me a bit uncomfortable. I was raised that the man foots the bill. It is true that I can take her to the dive for free. I’d want to pay if it wasn’t.
“I’m sure. You can ask when we get there if you don’t believe me.”
“You haven’t done anything yet to make me not trust you,” she says.
“I hear a huge emphasis on the yet.”
“I’ve been burned before.”
“Haven’t we all.”
Just then Tom pops into the small bedroom, where paramedics who take overnight shifts nap. I’ve hidden myself away to make the call in private. He signals that we have another run.
“Listen, Emily, I have to cut this short because I’ve got another run to make. I’ll see you at nine tomorrow.”
“Good luck. Be careful,” she says.
I love that she thought of me, not just the patient I’m going out to work on. That’s sweet. She’s on my mind as Tom drives to the site of yet another car accident. This is one with two cars involved with a head-on collision. When we arrive, we quickly assess that it’s a couple of hearses they need, not us. Some runs are like that. Some situations in Afghanistan were like that too. It got so hard to take that I didn’t re-up. Sometimes I wonder how long I’ll be able to arrive at these scenes before I burn out and have to find another way to make my living. Saving people, calming them and their loved ones in times of crisis is rewarding and exhilarating, but when we lose one despite our best efforts or we arrive and they are past help like this case, it’s so depressing.
I think it’s time to stop in at the VA to meet with my shrink again. It’s been awhile. I needed lots of help when I first returned like so many who see action do. My shrink is good for me. Lieutenant Michelle Laflamme will set my mind straight. I don’t want to go into a relationship with Emily all messed up like I was when I first got stateside.
