Extreme Medical Services Box Set Vol 1 - 3

by Jamie Davis

  “Eldara and Paramedic Dean Flynn, I am Asha Beales, the leader of this coven,” the woman began after she sat down. She gestured to the group of women seated on either side of her around the circle. “We, the sisters of the moon, have considered your request for a divining spell to pierce a magical veil that conceals your opponents from you. It is not a request to be considered lightly. Once begun, the spell must be completed, and there is no way to determine if the power behind the veil you wish to pierce is beyond our strength until we begin the casting. Even if it is too strong for us to pierce, life force will be drained from each of us in payment for the attempt.” She paused to let that statement sink in. Dean looked around at the women in the circle. All of their eyes were on him. He felt uneasy at the center of their attention.

  “With that fact stated, the coven has agreed to consider your request and grant it, provided you are deemed worthy of the magical price to be paid.” Asha gestured to Dean. “Paramedic Dean Flynn, step forward to the center of the circle and be judged.”

  Dean glanced at Ashley, and she nodded, her lips pressed together in a firm line, her green eyes turned somehow darker and more serious in her stare. She had warned him, and he had said he was willing to pay the price. Now was the time to step up and stick to his guns. He stepped forward into the center of the circle of Wiccans and faced Asha and the other sisters of the moon. Let them judge him. He was ready.

  When Dean assumed his stance at the center of the circle, Asha spoke in a formal tone. “Let the judgment begin.” Dean tensed and waited but for a full minute, nothing happened. Then a woman to his left spoke.

  “Why should we risk our life force for this man? We are dedicated to the balance of power. Neither for good or evil, we represent nature and it’s constancy of change, seeking to be like the waters of the rain which find their own level wherever they fall.”

  Another woman in the circle spoke up from his right in reply. “We have all felt the balance shift, though, sisters. There is no balance currently in Elk City. Our group has felt the effects of this directly, as you all well know. Are we not bound by that to take action?”

  Dean didn’t understand the discussion, but he knew from his reading and research that the Wiccans had a dedication to the balance of nature. They and the Druids were known for their belief that both good and evil had a place in the world, that they were both two sides of the same coin. It was similar to the belief that for life to exist and have meaning, there had to be death. Balance and all it stood for was necessary for existence in their view. He turned to his rear, as a woman behind him spoke up.

  “Will one of our number vouch for this man so that we may know his character?”

  He looked around as the women all stared at him. He met their eyes in turn as he looked around. An electronic beep caused him to turn and look at the veiled woman in the wheelchair. She had activated the motor and used a joystick mounted on one armrest to move the chair a few feet towards Dean. She tilted her head, and Dean could feel her looking up at him from her chair for a moment before she turned and looked around the circle.

  “I will speak on behalf of this man,” she said in a raspy voice. “I have seen his dedication and character displayed in his work as a healer.”

  Who was this woman? He looked at her hand and saw burn scars there where her skin showed beyond her long black lace sleeve. He realized then, in a flash of memory, who this woman must be. She was the Wiccan woman burned in an attack by The Cause in his first weeks on the job. It was where he had first seen and recognized Zach in the crowd, watching while he struggled to save her life with Brynne. What was her name?

  “Vanessa,” he said tentatively. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, it is I, Paramedic Dean,” she said. “I’m glad you remembered my name. I had not yet thanked you for saving my life.” She looked around at the circle of women. “I say that we owe consideration of this man because of his actions on my behalf, a member of this coven. He has demonstrated his worthiness.” She shifted the joystick and backed up to return to her place in the circle.

  Silence settled in the room again. Dean waited. He wanted to speak up and help to convince them, but he sensed that it was not his place. This was a decision that they had to arrive at from within their group. He had already spoken by his prior actions, treating Vanessa for her burns months before.

  Asha spoke from her position at the top of the circle. “We determine that he is worthy of consideration.” Dean started to sigh in relief, thinking that was all, but then she continued. “There is still the consideration of price for our casting. Life force must be paid for with life force in kind.” She stopped speaking and looked at the group, awaiting the response. Dean turned and looked around, trying to gauge the thoughts there. He didn’t like the idea of giving up some of his life force for this, but he had decided he’d pay the price to stop the attacks, whatever it was.

  He was surprised when Ashley broke the silence. She had stayed out of this, knowing it hinged on him and his responses.

  “May I speak?” she asked, and all heads turned to her.

  “You may speak Eldara,” Asha said. “You do understand that you may not pay this price for him.”

  “I understand, but I have information that may impact your decision on the assessment of price,” Ashley said. “Paramedic Dean Flynn has been determined to be a pivot point for the current conflict in Elk City. It is why I have chosen him as my companion. He must be left with the strength to act as he must if he is to return balance to the city. I have seen that without his intervention, the power in this town will shift in a way that darkness will rule here for some time to come.”

  “Thank you, Eldara,” Asha replied. “We will consider this in our deliberations, but a price must be paid nonetheless. It is the way of such things. There must always be a balance, even in negotiations.”

  “I have a thought.” Dean turned to see a middle-aged black woman with a colorful African headdress, stand and take a step in his direction. She paused after the first step. “May I approach and lay hands on you, Paramedic Dean Flynn?”

  He nodded in assent and stood still as she came up to him and put a hand on his forehead and another over his heart. He could hear her murmur under her breath, but could not make out the words she uttered. It was as if the words dissipated as soon as they passed her lips. After a while, she removed her hands and stepped back, turning to face Asha.

  “His eldest child will be a daughter,” she spoke with the finality of pronouncement. “I propose we levy the price of life force for life force. He gives us life force for the future growth of our coven, to be weighed against the life force to be spent this evening.” There were nods and murmurs of assent from around the circle. Dean wondered what the pronouncement meant and how that had anything to do with what was going on here and now. He was pretty sure he and Ashley couldn’t produce a child based on things she had told him in the past. She wasn’t human. If there was another woman out there for him beyond Ashley, he couldn’t see it in the near future, let alone considering having children. This made no sense. He spun to look at Asha, and she spoke as if in response to his questions.

  “Paramedic Dean Flynn,” the Wiccan leader said. “We have agreed upon a proposed price for our casting this evening. Our sister, Udele, has determined that your firstborn will be a girl child. In exchange for our casting of divination tonight, you will pledge that child to this coven.”

  “You want my yet to be born baby for some sort of human sacrifice?” Dean blurted out in horror. “That’s barbaric!” He had pondered many prices in his research, but this had never occurred to him. It was ridiculous.

  Asha laughed aloud, as did many of the sisters surrounding him. “Dean,” Asha said, her voice softening. “We are not monsters. You have such an open mind, but your human prejudices leap out from inside you despite your education. We ask simply that your child one day be educated here with us when she is old enough to begin school. She will live here and become one o
f us, thus replenishing the life force of the coven.”

  “How would I convince my future wife of such a thing? I don’t even know who that person would be, let alone if they would agree to it,” Dean said.

  “That is your cost,” Asha said. “The price we propose is like a precious diamond. It is hard, valuable, and multifaceted. It is not just your child that is the price, but also the effect on the relationships with your future wife and others.” She held his gaze for a moment. “Will you pay the price?”

  Thoughts flew through Dean’s mind. Part of him wanted just to say yes. He couldn’t wrap his brain around the concept of being a father, so it didn’t seem real. But he had also seen many things in his short career with Station U to know that what Udele had seen in his future was going to happen. He would have a daughter someday. If he agreed to this, he would be bound to the coven to turn her over to them regardless of what his future wife, or girlfriend, or whoever would have to say about it. But if he didn’t agree, they would be back to the beginning without any access to what was going on with The Cause in Elk City. Dean looked back at Ashley, then around at the circle of women, finally letting his gaze rest on Asha at the top of the circle.

  “Yes,” he said in a whisper. “I’ll pay the price.”

  Chapter 61

  As soon as Dean agreed to the price, Asha asked him and Ashley to leave the room where the circle gathered. A young dark-haired girl of about thirteen years of age led them from the circle room back to the entry hall. She pulled the double pocket doors closed behind her and then led them through another doorway to a sitting room across the entryway. Once there she offered them refreshment, but neither Dean nor Ashley was in the mood for anything to eat or drink. She nodded and left them alone in the sitting room, where the two of them each sat in one of the chairs arranged around a central coffee table. There was nothing to do but wait for the response to what the coven found in their casting.

  The two of them sat in silence for a time. They could hear a murmur of chanting coming from across the hall but nothing concrete. Dean looked up at Ashley and saw her watching him. She had a curious expression on her face.

  “What?” he asked. “Do you think I should have said no, or negotiated a different price?”

  “The decision was yours to make, Dean,” Ashley responded. “I could not influence it one way or another, and I doubt you could have negotiated anything different. They rightly perceive that you have some innate power inside you. It makes sense. After all, fate has chosen you to have an important part in what is happening here in Elk City. In their eyes, that means your offspring will have power, too.”

  “But what was I thinking? I don’t even know how I’m going to approach this when the time comes,” Dean said, shaking his head. “What woman will give up her child to a coven of witches to raise as their own?”

  “That will be something you will have to consider when you reach a point in life where you are ready to have children,” Ashley said. “They will not take the child until she is of school age, and I suspect that you will be able to visit and watch over the child while she learns the ways of the coven and the Wiccan life. The thing I am most interested in is the shift I felt when you agreed to their terms. Something major happened when you made that decision, Dean. We may not know what that change in the future is, but something is now different because of your promise to the coven tonight.”

  “Fantastic,” Dean said throwing his hands in the air and leaning back in the chair. “I give up. Now I’m instrumental in some other otherworldly plan. Am I stuck in the middle of these things for the rest of my life?”

  “That is up to you, Dean,” Ashley answered him. “It has always been your choice. You can walk away and let events happen however they work out on their own without your intervention. You can do that anytime you want.”

  “You know I can’t do that,” Dean said in reply. “People are being hurt and maybe dying because of what is happening here. If I can do something to stop that, I have to do it.”

  “I know,” Ashley said. She leaned forward in her chair and lay a hand atop his where it rested on the arm of his chair. “It is why I was chosen to be here to help guide you, and it is why I am attracted to you.”

  The chanting in the other room across the hall rose in volume and intensity. It made the hairs on his neck stand up on end as if the level of static electricity in the room went up exponentially. Who knows, Dean thought to himself. Maybe it did. He looked over at Ashley.

  “What do you think they’ll discover in there?” Dean asked. He was afraid that the answer to the question would not be worth the price paid to get it.

  “We’ll know when they have finished the casting and not before,” Ashley said. “That is the way of such things. We must wait.” She looked at him with a reassuring smile and a squeeze of his hand.

  Dean got up and paced around the room, looking at the odd knick-knacks on the shelves and tables around the room. There were crystals of various sizes and colors, a few tribal carvings of what appeared to be women, though some had animal heads on naked human female bodies. There were other items hanging on the walls, including some tribal masks from different cultures he couldn’t name. He moved to the large built-in bookshelf on one wall and started looking over the selection of books. There were classic novels and stories, as well as old texts on biology and anatomy. It was strange, but there was nothing there on Wiccan culture, spells or anything like that. He did see a few familiar tomes on mythology and fairy tales that were similar to the ones kept at Station U for the paramedics to read and review about their patients. He took one of these down and sat back down in the chair across from Ashley.

  “I guess I’ll get some more reading done since I haven’t been able to do any since I got suspended,” Dean said. “Gotta keep my knowledge base up.” He attempted a confident smile but wasn’t sure he was successful. Ashley returned the smile and pulled out her phone to scroll through the apps there. All they could do was wait.

  ———

  The explosion was the first sign that something was wrong. The double doors across the hallway that led to the circle blew outward in splinters. Dean and Ashley both dove from their seats and took cover. There was no fire, just the force of an ice-cold wind that washed over them. Once it had passed, Dean was on his feet in an instant. He ran forward to the demolished doorway, followed by Ashley. He peeked around the corner into the room carefully, mindful of scene safety, as he’d been taught. The room was a scene of devastation. The blast seemed to have originated in the center of the circle, judging from the way the chairs, and their former occupants, lay spread out around the perimeter of the room. He heard groans from inside and that shook him out of his shock at the destruction he witnessed. He rushed inside, followed by Ashley.

  Starting at the closest woman to them, he began working his way around the room, using a rapid assessment technique used for situations where you had a large number of patients to assess quickly. It allowed him to move swiftly and identify life-threatening injuries as soon as possible. He started moving left, and he saw Ashley head to the right, as they each started around the perimeter of the room. Dean soon reached the far end of the room and picked up the large, high-backed chair that had held Asha. She lay underneath it and started to rise when he lifted it from her.

  “Stay still Asha,” Dean cautioned. “Let me look you over. Then I need to call for help. We need several ambulances here for you and your coven.”

  “No,” she said forcefully. “No ambulances! We will not draw a further attack on us here in our home. We have found the source of your enemy, Dean, and I will not subject this coven to further danger by drawing attention to us with a visit from your Unusual Paramedics. There are others who can help. I will call them.”

  Dean stepped back as she sat up and took a phone from her robes and dialed a number. He heard her relay her address and then she hung up. She looked around the room, a pained look on her face.

  “Look I don’t
know who you called, but you need to get some medical attention,” Dean cautioned. “Luckily everyone is alive, but there are several head injuries and broken bones to deal with.”

  Ashley arrived at his side from her assessment around the other side of the room. “Dean is right, Asha. I have done what little I could do. No one has died, but there are injuries that need tending.”

  “The Wiccan have long been healers for our communities. We have our own resources, as you know Eldara. While modern medical attention might help in some ways, in the current situation it would draw unnecessary attention to us if we were to call the Station U paramedics and 911. I have called others to come and tend to us. They will be here soon.”

  Dean didn’t know what she was talking about regarding other responders. He had no idea who that could be, but this was what James and Brynne had feared would happen. The Unusual community was avoiding calling for paramedics when they needed help specifically to keep from drawing the attention of The Cause and another attack. He looked at Ashley and shrugged. She returned his gaze with a worried look on her face. He began backtracking around the room, trying to make the women he had just assessed more comfortable, and started tending to the injuries as best he could based on his limited resources. A few minutes later, he was using a broken chair leg and strips of ripped tablecloth to splint a broken arm when a familiar voice sounded from the entryway.

  “Oh, my God! What happened here?” said Gibbie in a high-pitched voice. Gibson Proctor was a middle-aged vampire turned community first responder after Dean and Brynne had trained him and a few others weeks before. He had apparently taken his community first aid training seriously and decided to help those in his neighborhood more directly.