by Jamie Davis
“Got it,” Dean said, nodding. He gripped the base of the stretcher and unlocked the mechanism that held it securely in the back of the ambulance. Brynne climbed down next to him and turned to assist. Dean looked at the firefighter in the back still focused on his job. “We’ll go slow, you just focus on the breathing. I’ll take over for you when we get this far so you can climb down, and then you can resume, Okay?” The guy nodded as he squeezed the bag one more time and then stood up, bent over the head of the stretcher to do his job.
Dean started to roll the stretcher out of the back of the ambulance, taking the weight of it as he did so. When the undercarriage cleared the back of the vehicle, he pressed the button that electronically lowered the wheels to the ground. He turned over control of the foot-end to his partner and he went to the head of the cot to take over squeezing the bag while the firefighter climbed down. Once that job was returned to the firefighter, Dean took over controlling the head of the stretcher, and they wheeled their patient through the automatic double doors and inside the ECMC burn center.
———
Inside the burn center, a nurse came forward right away to take their report. Brynne filled her in on the details of the patient, what little they knew. She covered their assessments and interventions as they followed the nurse to a broad, open treatment room. There were several doctors, residents and nurses there waiting for the patient.
They carefully transferred the patient from the cot over to the hospital’s ER stretcher. A respiratory therapist took over squeezing the airway bag from the firefighter while the nurses hung the IV bags from poles at the corner of the hospital cot. Brynne answered a few more questions while Dean detached the heart monitor from the patient, and then they backed off to let the hospital’s burn team do their work. He wheeled their ambulance stretcher back into the hallway.
“That was a tough call, I came over to see how you guys were doing,” a familiar voice said. Dean turned to see the nurse, Ashley Moore, from the emergency department standing there. He had run into her at a convenience store soon after he had started his job at Station U. He had caught her staring at the back of his hand during that encounter. The back of the right hand was where all the paramedics from Station U put an ultraviolet ink stamp that declared them as paramedics for the Unusual community. Since only Unusuals could see in that spectrum, he knew she was one of them but he had yet to figure out what kind. Dean had discovered she worked in the ER here at ECMC as a nurse, and he looked forward to seeing her there whenever she was working.
“It was a bad one, Ashley,” Brynne confirmed. She looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear. The firefighter had headed back out to the ambulance deck, probably to wait for his crew to come by and pick him up. “Someone sprayed her with lighter fluid, or something like it, and then set her on fire. It might be a hate crime related to her being Wiccan. She’s got seventy percent second and third-degree burns, and we had to intubate her to protect her airway. I think it will be touch and go.”
“Has anyone tried to contact her coven?” Ashley asked.
“Chief Ari was going to do that,” Brynne said. “I hope he gets them. Maybe there’s something they can do to help her.”
“How’re you holding up on this one, Dean? This incident is a little more than the usual ambulance call for you guys,” the nurse asked him. Her green eyes sparkled in the fluorescent lighting of the hospital hallway, or was that just his imagination?
“I’m fine; I guess,” he said. “It was a rough call, sure, but it’s a lot rougher on her than us,” referring to the patient inside the treatment room. “I’ll be ok, all things considered.”
“Well, I heard you guys on the radio coming in and thought I’d come over and say hi,” Ashley said. “Dean, if you ever need to talk, maybe over a cup of coffee or a glass of soda sometime, I’m available.” She turned and headed back down the hallway towards the emergency department. Dean watched her go until she turned the corner at the far end of the long hallway.
“Earth to Dean, Earth to Dean,” Brynne said, adding some radio static sound effects. “Yo, Probie!”
“Uh, sorry,” Dean stammered. “I got distracted, should we get the unit back in service?”
“Yeah you were distracted alright. That Eldara Sister has your number, I think.”
Dean blinked in surprise. “She’s your big sister? I didn’t know. She looks younger than you.”
“Not elder sister, you goof,” Brynne laughed aloud. “She is an Eldara Sister, an actual angel on earth; and she is most definitely not younger than me. Come on, let’s get the stretcher made up and put the ambulance back in service. I’ll fill you in on the Eldara on the way back to the station.
———
Once they were loaded up and driving back to the station in the ambulance, Dean notified headquarters that they were back in service. Then he could wait no longer. His curiosity about Ashley and the knowledge that she was an Unusual as he had suspected was burning him up inside. He looked over at Brynne in the driver’s seat.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” she asked, glancing over at him, smiling.
“Well, what is an Eldara Sister?” Dean asked.
Brynne laughed. “Wow, you must really like her.” He started to splutter a complaint, but she cut him off. “Okay, okay, enough torture. The Eldara are rumored to be the oldest of the Unusual races, older even than the oldest of the vampires. Some say they are the messengers of the gods or the God, depending on your perspective. It’s said they are the source for the mythical angels of biblical stories. Ashley, specifically, is an Eldara Sister. They are a group renowned for their healing powers. I’ve seen no evidence of anything strange with Ashley and her patients, but that is what they say about the Sisters. She just seems to be a really good nurse by all appearances.”
“I’ve never seen anything about the Eldara in any of the books,” Dean said referring to the extensive library of myths, legends and fairy tales back at Station U.
“I hadn’t heard anything about them either and wouldn’t have known about Ashley if James hadn’t mentioned her after an encounter he had with her at the hospital.”
James was Brynne’s vampire boyfriend. As far as Dean was concerned, the jury was still out on him.
“James told you about her?” Dean said.
“Yep,” Brynne replied. “Apparently he was nearly blinded by her halo when he first ran into her.”
“Her halo? I didn’t see anything,” Dean said, his curiosity piqued further.
“Yes, her halo. But I don’t think you or I can usually see it. It’s more of an aura thing that other Unusuals can see.”
“So she’s like, thousands of years old?” Dean said, trying to wrap his brain around the concept and whether he imagined things when he had thought that she might like him.
“Oh, at least,” Brynne chuckled when she looked over at him. “Kind of makes her the ultimate cougar, doesn’t it?”
“Really funny, Brynne. Really funny,” Dean retorted. “You should talk. James is at least a thousand years older than you.”
“About sixteen hundred, if you want to know the truth of it,” she said. “The real question is do you like her? I say that because I think she likes you. That’s not the first time she’s turned up when you and I came in with a call. I asked Tammy and Brook about it, and they said she never just drops in when they bring a patient to the hospital.”
“I suppose I do like her, as far as I know her,” Dean said. “So what do I do? Is there protocol for talking to her?”
“What are you talking about?” Brynne asked. “You already talk to her.”
“I mean, if she’s this ancient being, there must be a tradition or a culturally different way to approach her, right?”
“Dean,” Brynne said. “If I’ve learned anything from dating James, it’s that you have to live in the times you are in. Long-lived Unusuals have adapted to changing times and morals. At least, most of them do. It’s
part of who they are. They aren’t stuck in the ways of the past. She already asked you out. Take her up on it. Go out for coffee or a soda and bite to eat after work. You can call when you get back to the station. I’ll bet she picks up the line at the nurse’s station herself.”
“Why would you bet that?”
“Because,” Brynne said. “Unless I miss my guess, she’s counting on you calling her because she likes you, too. I’ll bet you, say, washing the ambulance for a whole week, that she picks up.”
“You’re on,” Dean said. He thought about it, and he didn’t think Brynne was right, but he also wouldn’t mind losing this particular bet. He stared into the night thinking about what he would say on the phone as his partner drove back to the station.
Chapter 27
Back at Station U, in the run-down industrial park on the edge of Elk City, the paramedics parked their ambulance and went about their duties after a call. Since Brynne had taken the lead on patient care, she went into the crew quarters to complete her patient report on the computer. Dean took care of the tasks needed to restock the ambulance and put the unit back in readiness for the next call, which could come at any time. He took his time and even scrubbed the bugs off the windshield before closing the outer garage doors on the ambulance bay and going into the crew’s squad room.
Dean looked at the phone on the desk as he walked in, then thought maybe he should make up the beds in the bunk rooms with fresh linens while he was thinking about it. He was stalling. Deep down he knew it. He had lots on his mind following that call tonight with the burn victim. It had been an intentional attack, and he had seen Brynne’s former partner, Zach at the scene. The former Station U paramedic had arranged a meeting with Dean a few days before. He had tried to enlist him in an underground movement against Unusuals. Was the ex-paramedic involved in the attack in some way, or was it coincidence? Brynne had noticed him, too, but she hadn’t talked about that on the way back. She had steered away from the horror of the previous call, choosing instead to rib him about Ashley. He looked back at the phone again.
“My bet still stands, Probie,” Brynne said without looking up from her workstation where she was still going through the documentation from the ambulance call. “She’ll pick up. You just need to call.”
What if Brynne was wrong, and Ashley was just being friendly? “I don’t know, Brynne.”
“What don’t you know?” Brynne asked, spinning around in her desk chair to face him. “Do you not know if you want to wash the ambulance for me for a week, or do you not know if you like Ashley?”
“Of course I like Ashley,” he blurted out without thinking. He paused, gathering his thoughts. “I mean, what’s not to like? She’s pretty, funny, knows what I do, and still talks to me.”
“Fine, call her, and the bet is off whether she answers or not,” Brynne offered. “Either way, you need to make that call. I don’t want you pining around station for the next two days about the one that got away.”
Dean looked at the phone, then at Brynne, and then back to the phone. He picked up the handset and his finger hovered over the speed-dial for ECMC emergency department’s number. He paused a few seconds, then pressed the button.
Brynne got up and crossed the room to the ambulance bay door. “I’m going to do a quick inventory,” she said as she left the room. “I’ll be in here if you need any help.”
Dean was about to shout a snappy retort, but a woman’s voice picked up on the other end of the phone line.
“Elk City Medical Center Emergency Department, Nurse Moore speaking. Hi, Dean,” Ashley said from the other end of the line. “I’m glad you called me.”
“Uh, yeah, sure, no problem,” Dean said. How had she known it was him?
“You were calling for me, right?” she asked. He swore he could hear her smiling over the phone line.
“How did you know it was me?” he asked. Could she read his mind?
“Caller ID on this end,” she explained. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Uh, yes, I was calling for you,” Dean answered. “I wanted to take you up on that offer for something to drink after work. I could swing by the hospital and we could, maybe, go somewhere downtown?”
“I actually get off at five AM,” Ashley said. “I think you’re on until six, right? It might make more sense for me to meet you over there.”
“Uh, it’s not in a great part of town. Do you know where it is? Maybe it would be better if I met you somewhere,” Dean countered.
“Aren’t you sweet,” Ashley chuckled from the other end of the line. “I know where you are, and I can take care of myself. I’ll see you at six when you get off work. You pick the place for a nice breakfast, okay?”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “See you later.” She said goodbye on her end, and he hung up the phone. That had worked out alright. He stood, looking at the phone where it rested on the desk.
“Dean,” Brynne called from the doorway to the ambulance bay. “We’re about to get a call; I got a heads up from headquarters on my cell.”
Even as she finished talking, the familiar tones sounded on the radio speakers set in the ceiling. The musical tones were followed by the female voice of the dispatcher. “Ambulance U-191, proceed to 1231 Main Street, Sabatani’s Restaurant for a trapped subject.”
Dean headed out to the ambulance bay where Brynne had already started up the rig and was sitting in the driver’s seat waiting for him. No time to think about the phone call with Ashley. Such was the life of the paramedic. Duty always interrupted life. He climbed inside and picked up the radio mic as they drove out into the night. “Ambulance U-191 en route.”
Chapter 28
They drove downtown in the ambulance, the lights and sirens announcing their passage through the nearly deserted streets of the early morning hours. The dispatchers didn’t give a whole lot of follow-up information en route. All they knew was that a male patient of unknown age was trapped somehow in an apartment upstairs from Sabatani’s restaurant. The restaurant was a prominent downtown eatery. The dispatcher said that fire department rescue would only be dispatched if requested. Dean liked Sabatani’s. They gave paramedics, firefighters and police officers a discount, and the food was delicious.
Brynne pulled the ambulance to the side of the street near the location and found a middle-aged woman standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, wringing her hands. She walked up to Dean as he climbed down from the ambulance cab.
“I just didn’t know what to do,” she said, tears in her eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I didn’t know what to do. Mr. Algar, the owner, said to call 911 and ask for Station U.”
“That’s alright, Ma’am,” Dean said as he opened the side cargo doors on the ambulance, pulling a few bags from their compartments. “What happened?” Brynne came around from the driver’s side, listening to the woman as she attempted to describe what was going on.
“I always knew there was something special about Mr. Algar,” she began. “He’s such a great landlord, and he always shares leftovers from the restaurant with the tenants in the building. But I always thought it was strange that he lived in the smallest unit in the building when he could have the largest. It was his building after all.”
“Where is Mr. Algar now?” Brynne asked, interrupting the woman.
“He’s upstairs, in his apartment,” she said. “His legs … well, I’ve never seen anything like it. He is just trapped. I heard him calling for help through the wall. He was banging on the floor with his fist, trying to get someone’s attention. It woke me up, and when I went over to his apartment, he had dragged himself over to the door and unlocked it, but had been unable to do anything else. I don’t know how to describe it. You just have to see it for yourself.”
“I think that would be best,” Brynne said. She looked at Dean. “Let’s leave the stretcher down here for now and see what we have first.” She took one of the bags from Dean as they followed the woman inside. They
entered by way of a nondescript door next to the main entrance to the restaurant, climbed a set of stairs up to the second floor, walked down the hall and through an opened doorway to the narrow hallway on the right. As they entered the room, Dean saw right away what the woman had been saying. He had never seen anything like it either. On the other hand, that was pretty much part of a paramedic’s job description, especially at Station U. There, on the floor by the door, was the top half of a man. That was it. At his waist, his body suddenly narrowed down to about one inch in diameter, and disappeared into a narrow-necked ornate glass bottle located on the floor behind him. His face was red, his brows furrowed with pain, and he was gasping for breath.
“Kristof,” Brynne said to the patient as she entered, taking in the scene in front of her. “What happened?” Clearly she knew the half-man, half-bottle creature on the floor.
The woman stood in the hallway behind them. “Can you help him? What happened? It’s just weird.”
Dean turned to her. “Thank-you for calling us Ma’am. Why don’t you give us some privacy with Mr. Algar and we’ll see what we can do to help him. We can take care of things from here.” He walked with her as she moved to her door, the next one down the hall.
“How can you help him?” she asked. “It’s like he lost his legs.”
“Let us take care of it and see what we can do,” Dean said. “I’ll let you know if we need any more help. Thank you again for calling us.” He waited as she shut the door to her apartment before heading back to the patient and his partner. Kristof was explaining the situation to Brynne as she knelt down next to him, taking his vital signs.
“… I must have hit my head on the table when the bottle tipped over and fell as I was heading into my room to get something,” the man was saying when Dean came back in the room. “Since I was in mid-shift in my form, I was half in and half out of the bottle. Now I can’t feel my legs at all, and I can’t shift in or out of gaseous form to get free.” Dean recognized him now. He was the manager or owner of the restaurant. He had seen him on the occasions when he had gotten dinner here.