by Jamie Davis
They loaded Gibbie into the ambulance after rolling him outside without a problem. Dean climbed in back with his patient, while Brynne went back inside with a few of the cops to get the rest of their gear. Dean hooked the IV bag on a ceiling hook and put the heart monitor back in its locking cradle.
He picked up the mic from its hook on the wall next to the med radio and keyed the button. “U-191 to Elk City Medical Center Trauma, how do you read?” He waited for a moment for someone to pick up on the other end.
“We read you loud and clear,” came the nurse’s voice.
“Patient is extricated to the ambulance, and we will be en route momentarily,” Dean said. “Impaled object is secured in place and patient’s torso is immobilized to minimize internal movement. Our ETA to your facility is approximately 5 minutes.”
“Received, One-Nine-One. The trauma team is ready for you when you arrive. ECMC Trauma clear.”
“U-191 clear,” Dean said. “Alright Gibbie, I think the hardest part is over, now we just need to get you to the trauma surgeons to get that thing removed.”
“I hope so,” Gibbie said. “It’s weird, it doesn’t hurt all that much. I’m just worried about Brenda. She was so upset, and it is not like her to be so jealous.”
“Do you have any idea what caused her to freak out and ram a pool cue into you?” Dean felt the ambulance begin to move.
“I don’t know,” Gibbie said. He tried to shrug but winced, realizing he couldn't do it all trussed up the way he was. “She’s been so strange lately and doesn’t want me talking to other women. All I did tonight was laugh at the waitress’s joke when she brought our drinks to the table where we were playing pool. Brenda started shouting that she was tired of all my flirting and the next thing I knew I had this pool cue in my chest, and she was flailing at me with her fists. It took three people to haul her off me.”
“I won’t say I’m any kind of relationship expert,” Dean said, “but you need to find yourself a new girl, Gibbie. She’s doing nothing but getting you hurt, in more ways than one.”
“I know,” the vampire said, sighing. “But do you know how hard it is for a guy stuck in middle age to find a girl these days? It used to be that if you had some means, even if you looked like me, they’d be lining up. Now, heck, they want you to be rich and look good. It’s just not fair.”
“How old are you?” Dean asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I was originally born in Germany in a town called Lauenburg on the river Elbe in 1619. It’s near Hamburg. I was the son of a cobbler and entered the trade myself, taking over the business when my father died. I had a wife and son who died of a fever that struck the area in 1658. I started hanging out in beer halls to try and forget what I had lost and then I met a woman who seemed more alive than all the others I had known. For several weeks, she met me each night in the beer hall.”
“One night she agreed to come back to see my meager shop. She wasn’t what she seemed, though. Once she had me alone, she revealed her true self and attacked me. I didn’t even resist. I wanted to die and being attacked by some sort of monster seemed an appropriate way for me to go and join my family. But she had other plans for me. She needed a place to stay in Lauenburg, and my shop fit the bill. She kept me alive, feeding off of me from time to time while I kept up appearances and ran the cobbler’s shop. She tired of me after a few years, though and decided to move on. She offered me an option. I could turn and be like her or she’d just leave, and I could live out my miserable life as I had before.”
Dean saw Gibbie’s eyes glance his way. “You can see what my choice was.” He smiled. “It hasn’t been a bad existence. I had to move of course. People notice when you don’t age like everyone else, but overall I’ve had a good time. I came to the Americas almost a hundred years later in the 1760’s. It was getting too crowded in Europe, and I was running out of places to go and blend in around Germany and Prussia. I paid a shipping company to send a crate of shoes to the new world, and I packed myself inside for the voyage. I could subsist on rats and occasional snacks on the below-decks crew for the months it took to make the Atlantic crossing. It was all quite exciting.” He chuckled. “Now I’m as American as you or Brynne.”
“That’s quite a tale, Gibbie,” Dean said. “I bet you’ve seen a lot over the years. The Revolution, the Civil War and slavery ending - the whole history of this country. It must have been fascinating.”
“Oh, it had its exciting moments, I guess,” Gibbie said. “But I’m a homebody at heart, and I can’t say I like excitement all that much anymore.”
Dean laughed out loud but stifled it when he saw the frown on his patient’s face. “I’m sorry, Gibbie. I’m not laughing at you, but your life lately has certainly been exciting for someone who describes themselves as a ‘homebody,’ don’t you think?”
“Well,” the vampire said sheepishly. “I guess everyone needs a little excitement once in a while.”
Dean heard Brynne talking on the radio up front and he looked up through the front windshield to see them pulling up to the ambulance doors at the hospital. “We’re here,” he said. “See, we got you to the trauma center in one piece. They’ll have that stake out of you soon enough.” He unhooked the IV bag from the ceiling and laid it across the top of the pillow behind Gibbie’s head. He made sure the tubing was out of the way of the wheels and unsnapped the heart monitor leads from Gibbie. He left the stickies in place so the hospital could hook back up to them when they got inside.
Brynne opened the doors, and Dean did one last safety check of all the tubing and wires, then said, “Alright, we’re good to go.” He jumped down and helped get the stretcher out of the ambulance. They rolled Gibbie feet first up the ramp and into the hospital ER. The trauma team, headed by Doctor Andrews was waiting for them inside with a stretcher. After a brief update from Dean and Brynne, they carefully transferred the patient over using a slide board, then the team took Gibbie off to surgery. The two paramedics made up their stretcher with fresh sheets and a pillow from the cart by the ambulance bay doors.
“I got quite an earful from Gibbie about his past on the way here,” Dean said as he tucked in the sheet under the stretcher’s mattress. “He told me all about how he was turned and how old he is. I guess I didn’t appreciate how the way he was acting might be a reflection of his past.”
“They’re just the same as us, Dean,” Brynne said. “They aren’t monsters, just different. And they have some great stories to tell. Sometimes I learn about things that never made it into history books or movies. I always try to learn something from our patients. It not only makes me a better paramedic, I think it makes me a better person.”
They loaded the stretcher and headed back to the station. Dean thought about the event-filled few weeks that had passed by so quickly. He’d started fresh out of school thinking he knew everything there was to know about emergency medical care. He’d been told that he still had a lot to learn from his instructors and preceptors, but he was so confident, so over-confident really, that he didn’t realize what they meant.
The theory of caring for sick people and the actual implementation of what he’d learned in school were two very different things. This was especially true with the challenging patients he found himself caring for as part of Station U’s team of paramedics. He knew now how little he really knew and realized how far he still had to go to be the type of paramedic and health care professional he wanted to be. He’d also come to another conclusion - he definitely wanted to stay part of Extreme Medical Services, EMS-U.
Dean turned to Brynne. “I want to thank you for being patient with me as I learn the ropes in this job, Brynne. I know a few weeks ago when I started out you weren’t exactly excited to have me assigned with you.”
“It’s no problem, really, Dean,” Brynne said. “You’ve done everything I asked you to do, mostly without question. Mike did the right thing recommending you to come and join our crew right out of school. I questioned the wisd
om of that in the beginning, but you’ve proven yourself. You’re naturally a critical thinker, and you take what you know and apply it to new situations as well. The trick now is to keep an open mind and keep learning. I’ve found that every time I think that I’m getting a handle on learning this job, something new comes along and pulls the rug out from under me.”
“Understood, boss,” Dean replied. “I don’t have any delusions that I’m in any way ready to do this job on my own, believe me.”
“Good,” Brynne said. “Let’s keep it that way for a while.”
They returned to the station and restocked the unit then worked on the report for Gibbie’s injury. The shift was almost over and they still had some of the night shift chores to do so they got to work. Brook and Tammy showed up on time just as Brynne and Dean were finishing their chores. Dean was tired, so he checked with Brynne to make sure they were done and then signed out and headed to the parking lot. There was a folded piece of paper on his truck under the driver’s side windshield wiper. Dean looked around as he approached the pickup truck, but there was no one in sight. He reached over and picked up the paper, unfolding it.
“Dean, we need to talk. You are in the middle of something very dangerous. Call me.” The note was signed with the name Zach and had a phone number scrawled below the name. He slipped the note in his pocket, climbed in the driver’s seat and headed home. Great, just when he thought he had a handle on things, he gets a cryptic note from some guy he didn’t know. He was tired and needed to sleep. Maybe he’d call the number when he woke up in the afternoon.
Dean got home to his apartment and went right to bed. Try as he might, though, he couldn’t get to sleep. His mind kept going back to the note from the mysterious Zach. He kept going over and over in his mind trying to figure out who it was. Then it hit him. He sat upright in his bed. Zach was the name of Brynne’s previous partner, wasn’t it? That had to be who it was. It made sense that he would know where the Station was and know the cars in the lot well enough to know which one probably belonged to the new guy.
He reached over to his phone and picked the slip of paper up from the nightstand. It was still early. Should he call now or wait until later in the day? He decided he was never going to get to sleep if he didn’t resolve this, so he unfolded the paper and keyed in the number on his phone. The phone rang a few times until a man’s voice answered.
“Hello, Dean. I’m glad you called,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.
“You must be Zach, Brynne’s former partner, I guess?” Dean asked.
“Very good. You got it on the first try,” Zach said. “Someone picked the right guy for the job when they assigned you to Station U.”
“Well, Zach,” Dean said. “I’m really tired. You know how it is getting off a busy night shift. I couldn’t sleep, though, with the cryptic note you left hanging over my head. Why don’t we get to the reason you left the note and what you need to talk with me about.”
“I’d rather not say what I have to say over the phone,” Zach said. “I thought we could catch up for a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. I have some information that you might need in your current assignment treating the special patients you have.”
“Well, I’m beat right now,” Dean said, “So how about catching up later this afternoon?”
“Perfect,” Zach responded. “Do you know the Pizza Guy sub shop over on Grand Avenue?”
“Yes,” Dean said.
“I’ll meet you there this afternoon around 4:30. Does that work for you?”
“Ok, 4:30 it is,” Dean replied. “How will I recognize you?”
“I know what you look like Dean,” Zach said. “I’ll introduce myself when you come in. See you then.” He hung up the phone.
Dean put his phone down on the nightstand and lay back in bed staring at the ceiling. How did Zach know who he was if they’d never met? He was never going to sleep with all of this mystery rattling around in his head. He picked up his phone again and scrolled through the screens. He opened Pzizz, set the sleep-inducing app to run and to wake him up at three PM. Soft music began, and a soothing voice started coaching his mind to fall asleep. He focused on the voice, trying to take his mind off of the thoughts racing through it. Fatigue finally won the battle and, after about ten minutes. He drifted off to sleep.
Dean woke to the Pzizz app alarm at three PM feeling refreshed and ready to face the challenges ahead of him. The app’s gentle self-hypnosis coaching seemed to do that for him every time. His concern about the upcoming meeting with Zach seemed exaggerated. What did he have to fear from a previous member of his station’s crew?
He had an hour to get a shower and do some blogging before he had to leave. He liked to share his thoughts in his online diary. He didn’t relate any sensitive information, but shared his impressions of his progress in school and later on the job at Station U. It was a way for him to break down his experiences and make sense of them, and he truly thought it helped him through his paramedic school program. It wasn’t much more than personal ramblings, but he hoped to change that as he became more experienced.
He showered and dressed in his uniform since he probably wouldn’t have time to come back before work at six. With a half hour left, he sat down at the dinette table, opened his laptop and logged in to his blog at WannabeMedic.com. He never knew exactly what he would write, but something always came to him. He started talking about how he was finally fitting in at Station U. The call last night with the special trauma situation contributed to a sense he was starting to work within a comfort zone with his special patients. Brynne’s appraisal that he had come up with a good idea using the KED to transfer the patient to the stretcher felt good, too. He concluded the blog post with a final thought: he wondered what new challenges awaited him at the station and how he would be called upon to improvise treatments based on his knowledge, skills and intuition. He didn’t post anything about the special nature of his patients. He just posted about things he learned about himself and patient care in general.
He glanced at his watch and realized that he needed to get going. He closed up his laptop, grabbed his wallet and keys and headed out to the appointment with Zach. This day was going to be interesting, that was for sure. His curiosity had his mind racing as he backed out of his driveway and headed down the road to the highway.
Dean pulled into the parking lot in the strip mall where the Pizza Guy restaurant was located on Grand Avenue. He was about ten minutes early and he looked around to see if anything or anyone looked familiar. He checked his email and social media accounts on his smartphone then decided to go in on time rather than sit in the parking lot not knowing who he was looking for. A tap on his truck window startled him, and he jumped a little as he turned to see who it was. He didn’t know the guy who stood there but had a good assumption. He was older than Dean, maybe in his late twenties. Zach was also taller at six foot two and had sandy blonde hair. He was wearing jeans and a green collared golf shirt. Dean pushed the button to put down the window.
“Hi Dean, I’m Zach. I saw you sitting here on my way inside and thought I’d come over and introduce myself.”
“Um, hello, Zach,” Dean stammered. “I’m sorry, you startled me.”
“I apologize,” Zach said. “Let’s go inside.”
“Sure,” Dean answered, “Give me a second, I’ll be right there.”
“Okay, see you there.” Zach crossed the parking toward the building entrance.
Dean finished the email he was writing and closed up his truck. Once inside, he took a minute to orient himself to the unfamiliar surroundings then saw Zach seated in a booth at the back.
“I’m so glad you could join me, Dean,” Zach said. “I wanted to meet you the guy who replaced me at Station U. By the way, how do you like it there?”
“It’s challenging, that’s for sure,” Dean said. “I have to say it certainly took some getting used to.” Dean looked at the other paramedic and asked, “I have to know. How did yo
u know who I was?”
“I still have contacts at Elk City Fire Department EMS. I knew they’d have to replace me with someone, but I didn’t think they’d throw a brand new medic fresh out of school into the lion’s den,” Zach said. “I’m sure it was quite a shock to find out you were going to treat the worst of society’s monsters for a living.”
“I don’t know about that,” Dean said, cautiously. He didn’t like the cynicism he was sensing from the other man. “I think they’re just people in need just like us. They’re different, but that doesn’t make them monsters. Most of the ones I’ve met are pretty much unassuming.”
“You don’t see how they’re subverting our culture from within?” Zach asked. “They’ve been living alongside humans for thousands of years, taking advantage of us, living off of us like parasites.”
“That’s a bit strong, Zach,” Dean said. “That hasn’t been my experience at all.”
“Not even with the siren and her attempt to control you?” Dean knew Zach had to have seen his startled expression. “I know about that situation and how you ended up having to get some counseling for it. Are you sure now they’re all so innocent? If they have nothing to hide, then why don’t they become open members of society?” He stopped as the waitress came over to take their order and waited until the waitress walked away. “Don’t you wonder what kind of control they must have over our leaders if they’ve been able to hide successfully for all these years.”
“Maybe they’re just scared of people misunderstanding them,” Dean offered. “And who told you I’d been to counseling? That’s supposed to be private.”
“I told you, I have my connections,” Zach countered. “Look, my goal isn’t to alienate you. It’s to make you understand the danger you’re in - that we all are in with these creatures living among us.” Dean started to protest, but Zach raised his hand to stop him. “You’re not the only person who had a bad run-in with one your Unusual patients. I had one, too, and I was lucky to survive. Your run in with the siren was relatively mild by comparison. Let me ask you, did they send you to that mind reading Muse, Rebecca?” Dean nodded. “I thought so. They do that so that you won’t spread the word out about the Unusuals living among us.”
