Laney stepped out of the shower. The hot water felt great against hersore body. She inhaled the scent of her shampoo and smiled. Suddenly, herbeeper went off.
"Already," she whined and picked it up.
"A call? It's only 6:30 in the morning," she yelped as she ran towardsher room. She found her uniform and quickly put it on. She raced down thestairs and to the front door, grabbing her shoes. She pulled them on andsnatched up her keys.
"Come on Laney, you've gotta hurry. It's an emergency. That's why itsaid '911' on your pager," Laney said to herself as she ran to her car.It was a dark blue Chevy S-10. She started the engine and put the car inreverse.
"Ok, turn on the siren and get to the hospital," she said and turned anemergency signal on. She floored the gas and sped down the road towardthe hospital.
"Let's get this one into ER!" Laney yelled as she wheeled one of thevictims threw the hospital. It was later that evening, about 7:13pm whenthe call had come in. There had been an accident and he was one of thevictims. He was covered in blood and not looking like he'd make it. Shepushed him into the ER room and helped the doctors move him onto thetable. Laney left the room afterward. She had done what she could and now it was up to the doctors in there to save that man's life. He didn't lookvery old. Not much older than her and she was only 21.
She walked back to the EMT waiting room where the rest of her crew wasresting. There had been a car accident. A drunk driver hit a young man head on. The young man hadn't been identified and the passenger in the car with him was in ER as well.
"Ok, well, neither of the two victims have been identified, but we doknow that one of them can't be over 7," Dale, her second in command, informed her.
"Oh, the poor kid," Laney said. She felt bad for the boy. He was soyoung and could lose his life at any moment.
"The boy should be alright, but it's the older one I'm worried about. Hedoesn't look good at all." Laney bit her bottom lip slightly, silentlypraying for the young man to be ok.
"I hope he's ok," she whispered.
Lynn waited patiently for her son, Justin, to return. He had taken hisyounger brother, John, out for ice cream and that had been over an hourago.
"Where is he?" she asked herself. Justin was never this late unless hecalled to tell her other wise. She tapped her fingers on the oak coffeetable as she stared out the window. Paul, her husband, walked over to hiswife and sat down next to her.
"Their ok," he whispered to her. His words were reassuring, but Lynnfelt as though something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She smiled at him andlaid her head on his shoulder. He patted her thigh and kissed herforehead.
'Justin please be ok,' Paul thought.
Laney waited outside the ER room, hoping to find out if the boy and theolder man were ok. She wanted to make sure. Just then a doctor exited theroom.
"Excuse me, doctor?"
"Hello Laney. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I just wanted to know how the two I brought in were doing," shesaid.
"The younger one, who we've identified, is going to be just fine, butI'm afraid the older one, who we've also identified, is in a much morecritical condition," he answered sadly.
"How critical?"
"We don't expect him to make it through the night."
"Oh no," Laney said quietly.
"I know," he said, "I hate losing patients, but I can't help that."Laney nodded and turned away. She felt bad for the young boy. What if theolder one was his father? Would they be separated in a heartbeat?
Laney walked down the long hallway to the lounge. She needed somethingto drink. She hated it when she brought people in that wouldn't make it. It always felt like a piece of her was dying with them. She opened the lounge door and walked in. Nobody was here and Laney was thankful forthat. She wanted to be alone. She dropped a few quarters into the soda machine and pressed the button for a Mountain Dew. She picked the can up and popped open the lid. Bringing the cold can to here lips she gulped the drink. It satisfied her quenching thirst.
She set the empty can down and lay down on the small couch. Laney closed her eyes and her mind immediately drifted the young man and his son. At least she thought the boy was his son.
"Who cares how they’re related. The older one is going to die and the poor boy won't have a father or brother or whatever," Laney said, her voice filled with frustration. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them, she focused on a brown stain, which was onthe ceiling. She heard the door open and looked up. A nurse entered. She smiled at Laney and walked over to the soda machine. Laney smiled backand once again focused on the brown stain on the ceiling.
"Busy night?" the nurse asked.
"Yeah, it's been a long day," Laney answered.
"When did the calls start?"
"At about 6 this morning."
"Wow."
"I know. I need to sign out and head home, but I'm too stressed to drive right now."
"Understandable."
"Yep."
"Well, it was nice talking to you. I'll see ya later," the nurse said as she opened her Pepsi can.
"Sure! Bye," Laney replied. The nurse left and Laney felt relieved. She thought the nurse was nice, but right now she needed to be alone. Just then a call came over the speaker.
"Code blue! Room 113! Code blue! Room 113!" a worried voice announced. Laney jumped up off the couch and raced out of the room. She ran towardroom 113 and realized that this was the room where the older man who hadbeen in the car accident was located. A woman with curly blonde hair was standing by the door crying. Laney figured she was related to him. She approached the lady with caution.
"Excuse me," Laney said to the lady. She turned to look at Laney,sadness filled her eyes.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Are you related to the young man in there?"
"He's my son. He was brought in from a-"
"Car accident," Laney finished.
"Yes, how did you know?"
"I was the one who brought him in," Laney answered.
"Oh, how bad did he look?"
"Pretty bad," Laney replied.
"Oh."
"I'm sorry ma'am. The doctors don't think he'll make it through the night," Laney told her. She felt bad for her. Her son was dying.
"Oh my god," she whispered. Laney reached out and pulled her into a hug. Laney rubbed her back hoping to help calm her down. The doctors exited the room then. The lady turned around and faced them. They shook their heads apologetically and walked away.
"God! No!" the lady yelled and dropped to the ground. A man rushed to her side that Laney figured to be her husband.
"Lynn, honey what's wrong?" he asked.
"He's gone! My baby is gone!" she exclaimed and buried her head into his chest. He rubbed her back and tears streamed down his face. Laney watched the 2 of them, but her attention was diverted as they began to wheel the bed, which the young man had occupied, out. Laney saw his face and,although it was battered and bruised, he was quite handsome. He had curly hair that was brown and his eyelids were closed. The lady, who had been called Lynn, jumped up and was at the side of the bed in a second. She cried onto her son's bare chest, bidding him farewell. She kissed his cheek numerous times and squeezed his limp hand. Her tears fell onto his face and rolled down onto his neck making his paling skin glisten in the light. He was beginning to look like an angel. Laney let a tear fall down her face. She let it slid down onto her neck. Another fell from her other eye. She wept for this man and for his parents. This wasn't right. Taking him before it was his time. He had a life to live.
The doctors pulled Lynn away from her son and they pushed him down the hall. Lynn looked over at Laney and saw the tears in her eyes. She walked over to Laney and pulled her into a hug.
I didn't know him, but for some reason I feel like I do," Laney whispered.
"I know sweetie."
"I'm sorry."
"You did what you could. So did the doctors. It was just his time," Lynn said and pulled away from her.
Laney smiled at Lynn and began to walk away. She turned once and watched as Lynn and her husband left.
~*~I always found it especially hard to lose a loved one. So tell them you love them. Tell them how you feel. Let them in and embrace them. You never know when you'll lose them. It's happens in just one heartbeat.That's all it takes. Just one.~*~