Another one-shot idea that I just had to write. Hope y'all enjoy…
Disclaimer: I have no legal connection with any of the main characters in this story.
9-1-1
One afternoon during a field trip to the Middleton 911 Call Center, one particular Senior had an experience that she will never forget. That senior was of course none other than the Teen Hero Kim Possible.
Not long after arriving at the 9-1-1 Call Center, a young female officer walked up to Kim and asked her, "Kim? One of our dispatchers left early with the flu today. Would you be willing to cover for a few minutes until we can call in a substitute? It would be a great help."
Kim thought about it for a few seconds. "Hmm… Well, I did help out at the hospital when I was with the Sunshine Spreaders that one time, so I suppose I could help out here as well."
After Kim notified Mr. Barkin what she was going to be doing, the young officer led Kim to the main call center and sat her down in front of a console. The office quickly explained to Kim the general operation of the station. "The initial point of contact for an incoming 911 call is normally a police dispatcher, but this time it will be you, Kim. When a call comes in, all you need to do is get basic information. Find out if they need Police, Fire, or Ambulance service. Normally if it's a Police emergency, the dispatcher will take care of it, but since you're here, you can easily transfer the call to another Officer. All you have to do to transfer the call is to press the corresponding button on this panel here next to the phone's keypad. From there the dispatcher you send them to will take are of the rest."
"That doesn't seem too bad." Kim said looking at the young girl.
"Here's your headset, and to answer the call you just press 'Answer' here." A slender finger indicated the button she was talking about.
Kim put the headset on, and then the young officer pressed another button on the workstation. "Now you're ready to receive calls Kim. If you have any problems, just raise a hand and someone can help you out."
Kim looked up and saw that her class was standing outside, looking into the call center through a large window. She could tell that Mr. Barkin was speaking, but of course she couldn't hear him. It didn't take her long to see Ron, who gave her a big smile and a thumbs-up. She smiled back at her boyfriend, acknowledging his silent show of support.
The first couple calls were literally 'No Big' for Kim. She easily found out what department was needed from the caller, and transferred them over without any hitch. Then came a caller that would change Kim's life forever.
"9-1-1, what's your emergency?" Kim said.
Kim heard a small voice, which she could barely hear, and Kim placed a hand on the ear piece trying to hear better. "Can you please speak up?"
"I'm dying." Kim could faintly hear a girl's voice
Kim leaned forward and moved the mouthpiece closer to her lips. "Where are you located, and we can send an ambulance to your location."
"No… time. Car… accident." The faint voice said, and then here was a short pause. "I'm… too far from… anywhere. (cough)"
"We can send a helicopter to your location." Kim responded, trying to keep her voice even. She looked up at a screen that would normally show the address of the caller, but all it displayed was "Unknown Address".
"S… still too far. Mountain… road." Kim chanced a look around the room for anyone she could wave down. Everyone else was on a call, and she couldn't see the young officer that had helped her earlier.
"I… don't have… much longer. I'm… bleeding pretty bad."
Kim's finger hovered over the 'Ambulance/Medical' button, but she had a gut feeling that they wouldn't be able to help this person in time. She was going to have to stay on the phone with this girl.
"What's your name?" Kim asked, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"S… Sarah. Sarah Eckles."
"Sarah, my name is Kim." She paused for a second wondering if should say her last name, and before Kim knew it, she said "Kim Possible."
"K… Kim Possible? I know you. Y… you're that teen hero I see on the news all… all the time." Kim could almost hear this girl smile.
Kim gave a small chuckle, but she still had a tear fall down her cheek. Her voice shook a little. "Yeah, that's me. How old are you Sarah?"
"T… twenty three."
"Were you on a camping trip Sarah?" Kim said while turning the volume up to maximum on her headset. Sarah's voice was becoming even more faint.
"Y… yeah. M… My boyfriend and… and I." Kim could tell that Sarah was fading fast.
"Is he there with you?" Kim asked, thinking there was a small sliver of hope.
"H… he was… He was thrown from the car. He's… dead." There was another pause, but Kim could hear that Sarah was starting to cry. "I don't want to die alone Kim."
"You're not S… Sarah. I'm here." By now tears were starting to fall consistently from Kim's eyes. She couldn't help it. There was someone on the other end of this phone line that was dying, and she couldn't do anything about it.
The phone was silent for about 15 seconds, and then Kim said, "Are you still with me Sarah?"
"Y… yeah." By now Kim could barely hear her. "K… Kim?"
"Yes?" By now Kim was straining to hear Sarah's voice.
"Th… Thank-you… for being… wi… with me." The next sound Kim heard was a small thud, but she could tell that the phone connection was still open.
"Sarah?" Kim said, hoping beyond hope that the girl was still with her. "Sarah? A… Are you still with…" Kim tried swallowing her tears back, was unsuccessful. "…With me? Sarah… please, talk to me." After about a minute of silence, Kim could barely hear in the distance, the distinctive sound of a rescue helicopter, but she knew it was too late.
Kim's shoulders began to shake as her sobs racked her young body. Tears flowed from her cheeks, and she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders. She looked up through her tears and saw Ron standing there with a look of nothing but concern on his face.
Leaning over, Ron took his girlfriend in a hug, and Kim stood from her chair pulling the plug of her headset from it's socket. She buried her head in Ron's chest and Kim let her tears flow as she felt Ron's strong arms around her.
Ron looked over at the young officer that had helped Kim earlier and he mouthed the word "How?"
The young officer quietly spoke to Ron. "We could tell that Kim had a situation on the phone, so we were able to patch into her call and listen. We didn't want to interrupt what was occurring. We knew that she was going to need support after this, and that's when someone came and got you."
Kim sniffed loudly making Ron wince a bit, and then she pulled her face from his tear soaked shirt and looked into Ron's eyes. "I… I think I ruined your shirt Ron."
Ron just smiled down at his girlfriend and said, "That's OK Kim. I've got more. Now let's get you out of here."
"B… but I need to be here t… to take calls." Kim said while wiping away her tears. She then looked back at the call station. While she had her face buried in Ron's chest, she hadn't noticed that the regular backup had arrived and was now sitting where she had been with a new headset.
Kim then took her own headset off and gently set it on the counter next to the call station. "I… I couldn't help her." She said to no one.
The young female officer was still there, and she laid a hand on Kim's arm. "Kim, you helped that girl out more than you will ever know."
"Thank-you." Kim said quietly in response, and then the two hugged for a few seconds.
"We have counselors here just for situations like this if you want Kim." The young officer suggested.
"No, that's OK. I've got my counselor right here." Kim said after breaking their small hug, and wrapped an arm around Ron's waist holding tight.
Kim then looked up into her boyfriend's chocolate-brown eyes. "We better get back to our class. Mr. Barkin is going to be upset with you leaving the group." By now Kim's tears were starting to dry up, but she still had an empty feeling inside of her that she felt would never go away.
"That's OK Kim." Ron said as the two started to walk out of the Call Center. "I think Mr. Barkin understood what was going on. Since we only had one class period left, he said we could go ahead and go home."
Smiling at Ron Kim suddenly felt a roll of papers in his back pocket. "What's this?"
Ron huffed. "Extra Homework." Kim giggled a little, which told Ron that his girlfriend should be OK, but he was going to stay with her for the rest of the evening anyway, just in case she needed him.
…x x x x…
In the Call Center during a small break from calls, the backup who Kim was filling in for and the female officer that had helped her were talking.
"Do you think she'll be OK?" The young gentleman said who was now taking calls.
"Yeah. I think she will be. It looks like she has a great boyfriend and support system there. Something tells me those kids are going to be together for a loooong time."
The End…
I did a little research on 9-1-1 call centers, used the description I found, and played with it just a little bit to make it work with the story. If there are any inconsistencies with any information anyone else may have about 9-1-1 Call Centers, I apologize.
