Vince yawned as he rolled over in bed and shut off the blaring alarm clock. The sun was just starting to come up and light had begun to bleed through the cracks in the window blinds. He rubbed his eyes as he slowly threw off the covers and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Another Monday shift…” He grumbled as he stood up and stretched out.
“As nice as it is to have a couple extra hours of sleep in the mornings, it really sucks that your alarm always wakes me up.” The lady in the other side of bed bluntly stated.
“Maybe, but you never have to work that hard to fall back asleep afterwards.” He replied reaching across the bed and poking her in the ribs.
She batted his hand away and pulled the covers up over her head. “It’s not as easy when you stand there and mess with me though ya’ brat!”
Vince gave a short chuckle and made his way to the bathroom. When the lights on the bathroom mirror were switched on he blinked, allowing his eyes to adjust. When everything came into focus, he checked over his reflection in the mirror. He was an average looking man by normal standards. Just shy of six foot tall, approximately a hundred and eighty pounds, sandy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and skin that had a fresh tan on it from spending the weekend at the local lake with the family. He pulled a razor and a can of shaving cream out of the cabinet behind the mirror and began to shave off the weekend stubble that had appeared. A quick brush of the teeth and into the shower he went.
While he was in the shower, there was a knock on the bathroom door. “Can I help you?” He said sarcastically.
The door opened and his wife walked in wearing her bathrobe and looking fairly disheveled, having been woken up again before her alarm clock could have the chance.
He peered around the shower curtain and saw her holding his cell phone out to him. “Who is it?”
“It’s Scott. He says it’s urgent.” She replied hoarsely.
Wiping his hand off on the towel hanging on the wall he took the phone from her and held it just off of his wet head. “Scott?”
The voice on the other end of the call was the voice of his boss, Scott Sunders. “Vince, I need you here ASAP! I’ve had two people call in sick already and we’ve been running our butts off all night. I’ve got guys that are falling asleep behind the wheel that have been here since yesterday and I’ve got one guy that’s talking about cancelling his vacation to come in today. How soon can you be here?!”
Vince sighed. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence. There had been several times since he started with this company that people were calling him in early, or even on his days off. There were even times when he was out of state and they were trying to get him to come back early to help when they were short handed.
“Well Scott, you caught me in the shower at the moment. As soon as I get the shampoo rinsed out of my hair I’ll be there. You got any 911 calls holding at the moment?!”
“No nothing like that yet, and hopefully that’s not how our day is going to go. Just get here as fast as possible!” Scott replied with a hint of sternness to his voice.
“You got it…” He replied with a sigh.
The call ended with a click on the other end and he handed the phone back to his wife who had taken a seat on the toilet lid. His wife took the phone and gave him an upset look.
“What?” He asked in a confused voice.
“How many times is this going to happen?!” She sounded very upset at this point. “You are always getting called in early, or on your days off, or on holidays…! When are you going to say ‘enough is enough?!’”
“Jess, you should realize after how long now? Five years? That working in EMS (Emergency Medical Services) is a give and take relationship. I can’t in good conscience turn them down when they need help… The only ones that are going to suffer if I do are the people calling 911 when they need help on their worst days.”
Jess rolled her eyes and got up to leave the bathroom. She turned around before shutting the door and said with a sarcastic voice. “You know that little speech isn’t fair. You always use that when I’m upset about you having to work… And it always works.” After that being said, she closed the bathroom door and laid back down in bed.
Vince finished his shower and went back to the bedroom and put on a fresh uniform. A black pair of pants with enough pockets to hold the tools of the trade and a freshly pressed shirt with the star of life embroidered on the chest and his company’s logo on the sleeve.
“You know you could always take a normal day job and be home nights with me. It would be nice to have you in bed more than three or four nights a week.” She grumbled from under the covers.
“And then where would the ten thousand dollars worth of student loans go that I spent on paramedic training? What day job would allow us the luxuries that we’ve been able to keep since I took this job?” He replied sternly.
“I know I’m not changing your mind… I’m just wishfully thinking out loud.” She sighed and sat up in bed. “Give me a kiss before you go.”
As he finished buttoning the last button on his shirt he walked over and planted a kiss on his wife’s lips. “After nine years of marriage I still hate having to leave you for a whole twenty four hours.”
“Oh believe me! You are not the only one!” She replied jokingly. “You be safe at work today and try not to kill your boss!”
“That’s easier said than done on most days.” With that he grabbed his backpack off of the floor and headed out the door.
It was a cool morning for being late July. By this time the sun was out and had just reached over the horizon. The air was fresh and had that smell that only comes when the morning dew starts to warm. It made him smile as he made his way across the yard to his motorcycle. He threw the other strap of his back pack over his shoulder, securing it to his back. The motorcycle roared to life and away he was down the road on his way to work.
The building where he worked was nothing impressive. A steel-sided building with several garage doors built into it. Behind each garage door there was supposed to be an ambulance parked, sheltered from the elements, ready to respond ‘lights and sirens’ to anyone that needed it. There was a taller addition to the back of the main building which housed two helicopters that they used for patient transport as well. However, today most of the garages were empty.
His motorcycle rumbled around the corner and across the driveway to an open parking spot in front of the main office door. As he shut the bike off and got off of it, his boss Scott approached him.
“Wow, you made good time!” Scott said as he leaned against the doorway crossing his arms.
“You better believe it!” Vince replied with a grin. “I’m like the wind!” He gave a short laugh.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could talk you into getting on a bird today is there…?” Scott asked.
Vince looked up at Scott with a very stern glare. “You’re joking right?! You know there is no freaking way I’m getting on a helicopter! EVER! I like my feet on the ground!”
“Didn’t think so… Marty called in sick today and I either need to find a medic who’ll go in a bird or send one of the pilots home. No point in paying them if they’re not gonna be in the air.”
Vince stepped through the door past his boss and turned around to look at him. “Not my problem. The idea of flying scares the absolute crap out of me! I told you that when you hired me.”
Scott nodded and rolled his eyes before disappearing into his office.
Vince entered the locker room where they were several men from the previous shift changing out of their uniforms. He threw his back pack into his locker and grabbed a small jewelry box off of the top shelf. He opened the box to reveal a necklace on a silver chain. The necklace had the star of life emblazoned in bright blue over a silver backing. He closed his eyes and gave the necklace a small kiss before throwing it over his neck. The locker closed with a slam and he headed out into the ambulance bay to begin the morning routine of checking in his truck.
Halfway down the hallway between the garages and the locker rooms, Vince was stopped by his boss Scott. “Someone’s here to see you. He’s outside waiting for you by your motorcycle.”
Vince gave a puzzled look. “Is it Jessica?”
“No it’s a kid, maybe somewhere around ten or twelve. Dunno what he wants. Just said that he was looking for a guy named Vince that worked here, and you’re the only here with that name.” Scott motioned towards the front door.
Vince looked towards the door and slowly made his way to the entrance, the whole time thinking about who it could be, or more importantly, why a kid would be here to see him. After all, he and his wife didn’t have any children, and all of the kids in the family didn’t even live in the same state as him.
As he opened the door to the parking lot he saw a boy standing behind his motorcycle. The boy appeared to be somewhere around the age of twelve and was staring straight at Vince without blinking.
“Can I help you?” Vince asked.
The boy began to tear up and ran up and wrapped his arms around Vince’s waist. The boy began sobbing uncontrollably. Vince put his hands up in confusion at first and then put his arms around the weeping child, giving him a hug. Vince looked over at a window in the side of building. Behind the window was Scott’s office and Scott was standing at the window watching the current events. Vince gave Scott a confused look and Scott replied by throwing his arms up in the classic “I don’t know” pose.
“Hey there… What’s this about little man? Why are you so upset?”
The boy slowly unwrapped his arms from around Vince’s waist and wiped his eyes and nose on the shirt he was wearing.
“I just wanted to come by and see you in person.” The boy said, still sniffling. “Last week you came to my house because my little sister was sick and you took her to the hospital.”
“Last week…? Well, the only little girl I transported last week was…” Vince stopped mid sentence and suddenly went pale.
~~~
Last week on one of Vince’s shifts, the radios blared their alert tones followed by the dispatcher’s voice. “Unit 32, Unit 32. Respond priority one to 1432 Highway A6 for a pediatric patient in cardiac arrest!”
Vince listened to the dispatch information and then immediately looked up at his partner. Both of them were pale, as if all the blood had drained into their toes. His partner who was driving, started up the ambulance they were in, fired up the sirens and lit the top lights. Soon they were flying down the road at about fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit.
“I hate going on codes (cardiac arrests), but I hate going on kid’s codes even more.” The burly man in the driver seat stated.
“Nobody enjoys this part of the job Mark!” Vince replied sternly. “But this one is going to be a save!”
“Don’t get your hopes up dude…”
“I’m not getting my hopes up Mark!!!” Vince yelled back. “This one IS going to be a save!!!”
Mark shook his head as they pulled up into the driveway of the address they were sent to. Vince hopped out of the ambulance before it was completely stopped and was grabbing his bag out of one of the outside cabinets. Mark hopped out of the driver seat and ran around back to get the heart monitor.
Vince was the first one inside the residence with his bag in hand. “PARAMEDICS! WHERE ARE YOU!” He yelled as he entered the front door.
“BACK HERE!” A voice called from down a hallway.
Mark came in carrying the monitor and saw Vince go running down the hallway towards a back bedroom.
Vince reached the end of the hallway and saw a boy standing outside the bedroom crying. The boy looked to be about twelve years old. “In here?” He asked the young boy while pointing at the bedroom door. The boy nodded and pointed to the bedroom.
Upon entering the bedroom he saw a little girl laying on her back on the floor. The young girl looked to be about five he guessed. A man, whom Vince assumed to be the girls father, was performing CPR on the child. A woman, who must have been the mother of the child was sitting on the floor crying hysterically.
When Vince and his partner entered the room, the man looked up at them both with tears running down his face and said. “Please…. I don’t know what else to do…”
Vince immediately got to his knees next to the child and felt for a pulse. “She has no pulse Mark!” With that Vince pulled out a pair of scissors from his pocket and cut the child’s pajama shirt off of her. He paused for a moment and noticed a necklace around the child’s neck. The necklace had a gold chain adorned with a small golden horseshoe for the charm, embedded in the charm were several small pink stones that surrounded the outline of the horseshoe. Vince always thought of horse shoes as being able to bring good luck. At this moment he decided to leave the necklace on the child. “We could use all the luck we can get at this moment.” He thought to himself.