It was the first day of spring and Taylor was glad to have a relaxing jog out in the park and out of the gym. She had her FDNY sweat pants on with a gray hoodie, she had her
I-Pod on shuffle. She crossed 96th Ave and entered into Central Park. There were other joggers out on the paths; occasionally she passed a carriage that was taking some couple through. She looked at her watch, it said 1:30. She started to return to her apartment to change for her shift.
Dr. Morales walked out of an exam room towards the desk.
"I need a chest X-ray and labs drawn on bed 5." Dr. Morales said as she wrote on the chart she had in her hand.
"I heard a rumor that you came back." Doc said with a smile.
"Hey Doc." She returned a smile. "Yeah, Philadelphia didn't just feel right to me."
"Well I'm glad you're back." Doc replied before Carlos broke up the reunion.
"Doc, we gotta go." Carlos said from the doorway.
Doc hesitated to leave.
"I'll talk to you later." He said as he walked away towards his bus.
Taylor and Jimmy made their way down the stairs of a dark building. They had been dispatched for smoke in the building, but their search found nothing.
"Just another bogus alarm." Jimmy said
"That's what, the 3rd one this week?" Taylor asked
"Something like that." Jimmy replied as they made their way out of the building.
"Anything?" Walsh asked
"No, not a thing." Jimmy replied.
"Well, then let's get packed up and head back to the house." Lieutenant Johnson said
The Squad was loading their gear back onto the truck when it happened. A loud rumble filled the lot next to the abandoned warehouse. Glass and bricks flew towards the ground. The members of the squad tried to rush for cover as a huge fireball rushed out of the building.
Jimmy looked up as the final debris made its way to the ground.
"Is everyone okay?" He asked as he slowly picked himself up off of the ground.
"I think so." Walsh replied
Taylor stood up and walked to the side of the squad. She was pale.
DK and Lt. Johnson were beside her.
"I don't feel so good Lieu." She said before crumpling back to the ground.
"Taylor!" DK yelled
Jimmy and Walsh came towards them in a run. DK was bent over Taylor.
"Come on Alex, talk to me here." DK said as he looked up. She was breathing a little fast and her skin was pale, cool, and sweaty.
The only wound obvious to anyone was a gash across her forehead that was actively bleeding.
Lt. Johnson quickly radioed for assistance.
"Lt. 5-5 to Manhattan I have a 10-75 at this location, I also need a bus on a rush we have casualties." Lt. Johnson radioed
Walsh quickly checked Taylor's coat. He found blood on his hands as he checked around her left side. Then he noticed the chunk of glass protruding from her coat.
"Quick, get a blanket and elevate her feet." He ordered.
Lt. Johnson looked on as Jimmy rushed off to get the blanket.
"Where's that damn bus?" Walsh asked
"They're coming." Lt. Johnson replied
"I can't feel a pulse anymore." DK said as he watched a pool of blood form around Taylor.
Walsh was trying to keep the glass still and put pressure on the bleeding side but it was obviously a futile battle.
It seemed like it took forever before they heard the sirens of the medic unit.
Taylor sat down on a bench just off of the jogging trail. She opened her water bottle and slowly began to take a sip. She was enjoying the warming weather. There had been a few really cold runs, but today was perfect in her eyes. It was a great way to blow off some of the winter blues.
She watched other joggers pass by her. There was one in particular that she hoped she would see. In the winter he wore an NYPD sweatshirt and ski cap. She had guessed that he was with the police department, though she'd never talked to him. They were always running in opposite directions, but she suspected that he was on the Third Watch as well.
"Great day for a run." A male voice said
It nearly startled her to hear it. As she looked up she saw a man in an NYPD sweatshirt and ball cap.
"Mind if I sit down for a minute?" He asked
Taylor shook her head and he sat down beside her.
"Jake Watson, 24th Precinct." He held out his hand
"Alex Taylor, Squad 5-5." She returned
"Nice to finally meet you." He said. "I see you run by me everyday. How many miles do you do?"
"Depends on my mood." She smiled. "2-5."
The two sat and talked for a little bit before Taylor's phone rang. The caller ID said "Billy." She quickly silenced it.
"Friend?" Jake asked.
"One of my co-workers. I'll call him back." Taylor replied
"Oh." Jake sounded a little disappointed.
"It's not like that." Taylor replied. "I'm not seeing anyone." She quickly stopped talking and was embarrassed because she realized what she had just said.
Jake sort of laughed. "Well if that's the case, can I take you to dinner sometime?"
Taylor felt herself blushing. "Sure. That'd be nice."
"I'll call you." He replied
"You don't have my number." She grinned
"Isn't it 9-1-1?" He asked jokingly as he opened his cell phone.
They quickly exchanged phone numbers.
"I'll call you." He said as he began to jog away.
Taylor stood for a moment before going on her own way.
DK quickly assessed Taylor's breathing.
"She's not breathing." He stated before giving her two rescue breaths.
Jimmy began chest compressions as Walsh desperately tried to keep the glass stable.
Lt. Johnson turned around to see what was taking the Medic Unit so long to get to them when he finally saw the front of Boy 5-5-3. He flagged them down.
Kim and Grace got out and quickly grabbed their bag.
"What do we have?" Kim asked
"Taylor's down." Lt. Johnson replied. "We just lost her pulse."
Kim and Grace got an added quickness to their step as they looked over and saw CPR being performed.
Grace quickly worked to cut Taylor's coat off of her and stabilize the glass. Kim worked rapidly to intubate Taylor.
"Come on Alex." Kim muttered as she tried to get the tube in
Grace was putting the defibrillator pads on.
"I can't get the tube." Kim said in frustration.
"Let me try." Grace said as she grabbed the equipment.
"She's in V-tach." Kim announced as she looked at the monitor.
"Give me a second." Grace said as she worked on trying to get the tube in.
With a quick move, she grabbed the bag valve mask and gave two quick breaths.
"Clear!" Kim said
A jolt moved through Taylor's body.
"Sinus tach… let's move!" Kim said
They quickly scooped Taylor up and put her on the stretcher. They moved quickly to the medic unit. Grace and Kim climbed into the back of the ambulance.
"Let's go!" Kim yelled to Jimmy who was sitting in the driver's seat.
The door buzzer rang in Taylor's apartment.
"Who is it?" She asked into the speaker
"Just some crazy guy who thinks he has a chance with a beautiful girl." Jake replied
Taylor laughed a bit.
"Come on up." She replied
It didn't take long for Jake to wander down the hallway.
"Flowers?" Taylor asked
"So I'm a little old school." Jake replied with a grin. "Do they earn me bonus points?"
"Maybe, we'll see." Taylor replied
Jake looked around. "So this is how the other half lives."
"It's a mess." Taylor answered.
"I think it looks fine." Jake grinned.
"Sucking up now? You're really trying to earn brownie points aren't you?" Taylor laughed
"Is it working?" Jake asked
"No." Taylor smiled.
"So where would you like to go for dinner?" Jake asked
"Surprise me." Taylor grinned
"Oh I could surprise you." Jake replied
"I bet you could." Taylor quipped.
It didn't take long before Jimmy had the medic unit at the hospital. He pulled the ambulance to a stop and rushed around to the back doors. Mary Proctor and Dr. Morales were already opening them as Kim and Grace were climbing out.
"29 year old female fire fighter. Impaled by glass when a building exploded. Possible Hemo-thorax. She coded once but we brought her back." Grace announced
"Good work. Now let's get her into trauma one." Dr. Morales said.
They quickly moved Taylor into the trauma room. Soon she was hooked up to the cardiac monitor and it made a fast beeping noise.
"How's she doing?" Jimmy asked
"She's not out of the woods yet." Kim admitted.
"Should that be going so fast?" Jimmy asked as he noticed the beeping was getting faster.
"No." Grace said matter-of-factly.
Suddenly alarms started ringing.
"She's in V-Tach!" Dr. Morales announced. "Grab the paddles. Charge to 75."
Everyone quickly moved at her orders.
"Clear!" Dr. Morales said as she shocked Taylor trying to get her heart to break out of the rhythm.
Dana felt for a pulse. "She's lost her pulse."
"V-fib." Dr. Morales said.
The excitement level was definitely in high gear. Soon Jimmy, Kim, and Grace were pushed out of the room by another nurse and the curtains were drawn. They could only hear what was happening in the room.
"I better call Lt. Johnson and let him know what's going on." Jimmy said as he walked away quickly.
Kim watched as he walked out the doors.
"She's a fighter." Grace said. "She'll pull through."
"Yeah, I hope so." Kim replied as the alarms continued sounding from the room.
"Taylor, phone call!" DK yelled out from the kitchen.
"Who is it?" She asked
"Some guy." DK replied
"Some guy? Are you dating again?" Walsh asked
"Maybe." Taylor said coyly
"You know we have to meet him and approve, give him the big brother talk." Walsh said
"That's the last thing I'd need." Taylor laughed.
DK sat down at the table and grabbed a bag of jelly beans they had.
"Who ate all the red jelly beans?" DK protested as he looked in the bag of jelly beans
"Would that be YOU?" Taylor asked as she lowered the phone
"I eat other colors of jelly beans." DK replied
"Really?" Walsh asked
"Yeah." DK said
"Then I guess you're just going to have to eat them now." Taylor grinned
DK sat the bag back down on the table and sighed.
"I don't want any now." He said
Taylor looked at him, "Quit being a baby!"
"I wanted red jelly beans." DK said
"Wow, you're acting like my 3 year old." Walsh cracked
Taylor laughed slightly before telling Jake what had just happened. "Yeah I know, it really is like being around a bunch of kids." She grinned as DK threw a yellow jelly bean at her, then the alarm rang out.
"Squad 5-5 Ladder 100 respond for smoke in the building at 110 Riverside Ave."
"I gotta go." Taylor said. "I will."
She hung up the phone and headed for the truck.
The rest of the Squad rushed into the ER.
"How is she?" Lt. Johnson asked
"She's been down 20 minutes." Grace replied
"She coded again?" DK asked
"Yeah, after we got here." Kim replied.
"Did anyone call her mother?" Lt. Johnson asked
"Yeah, she's on her way now." Kim replied
"They have to help her." Walsh said.
"They're doing the best they can Billy." Grace said.
It was at that moment when a police officer rushed through the doors followed by Beth Taylor.
"Where is she?" The police officer asked
"Who are you?" Jimmy asked
"Jake Watson." He said
Lt. Johnson hugged Beth.
"How bad is it Francis?" Beth asked
"She's arrested again." Lt. Johnson said
"Again?" Jake asked
"What's it matter to you?" Walsh asked not realizing that Jake and Taylor were dating.
"Alex and I are involved." Jake replied
No one knew what to say at the moment. This was definitely not how they had wanted to meet him. In fact, they had just found out that she had been seeing him earlier in the shift.
"Yeah, Alex coded on the scene, we got her back. We got her to the hospital and she coded again." Grace was the only one who could manage to tell him the news.
"What the hell happened?" He asked. "You were dispatched for smoke in a building, and now we're here…" He paused. "Like we're all waiting for her to die."
Walsh fought back the urge to punch Jake. How dare he say that they were waiting for Taylor to die?
"You really don't know her do you?" Jimmy asked.
"We've been dating for a couple months now." Jake replied.
"Taylor won't just give up. It's not in her nature." Jimmy replied
"I know she won't give up." Jake responded.
He felt helpless.
"Look, all of this bickering isn't helping right now." Lt. Johnson stepped in. "Right now Taylor needs our prayers. Spare the big brother reactions for later."
It seemed like they sat there for an eternity. They all watched silently, anxious to know what was going on inside the trauma room. Occasionally a nurse would exit the room to get supplies and then head back in, not saying a word.
They heard the doors to the elevator open. Out stepped 2 men in scrubs. They overheard them talking.
"You really think she's going to be stable enough for this?" The one asked
"The chest tube will probably stabilize her." The other replied as they walked into the room.
"What's a chest tube?" Jake asked
"They're going to drain the blood out of her chest and hopefully allow her lungs to expand so she can start breathing on her own." Kim replied
"Does that mean they got her back?" Jake asked again
"Hopefully, but that's not always the case. Sometimes they will do this in an effort to get a patient back." Grace said.
It had been an hour since Taylor had gone into cardiac arrest and the Squad was getting weary of sitting. Lt. Johnson had pulled his Rosary out of his pocket and was praying with it as he always did during trying times like this. Beth held his hand as she anxiously waited for any kind of news.
The minutes kept ticking away on the clock. The members of the Squad sat anxiously, shifting uneasily in their chairs. They had been in this position before and they hated it every time they were. Jake stood near the door of the lounge.
Dr. Morales emerged from the trauma room. No one could gauge by the look on her face whether it was going to be good news or bad news. She collected her thoughts for a moment. She took in a deep breath.
"Mrs. Taylor." Dr. Morales said softly.
Beth stood up. "Yes?"
"Your daughter was brought in here after an accident and she was in very serious condition." Dr. Morales paused. "Her heart stopped beating and we had to do CPR for over an hour. Once the brain is deprived of oxygen that long, a chance of a meaningful recovery is almost non-existent."
"Are you telling me that my daughter is brain dead?" Beth Taylor asked
Dr. Morales shook her head. "We got her back after we inserted a chest tube. But I don't think that she will ever wake up."
Beth let out tears of mixed emotions. The prospect of watching her daughter die a slow death was almost worse than being taken in an instant. The glimmer of hope that everyone in the room had was fading quickly.
"How soon will you be able to tell?" Jake asked.
"It's hard to say. There are some tests that we can run to see. But if she doesn't show any signs of improvement in the next 24 hours, then I doubt she ever will." Dr. Morales admitted. "Most of the cases we see like this will at least be able to follow simple commands such as squeezing a hand, but Alex hasn't done any of that."
Tears streamed down Beth's face. "Can I see her?"
Dr. Morales nodded and lead Beth into the trauma room.
Taylor's body lay motionless on the stretcher. The chest tube still drained a trickle of blood out. And the ventilator made a rhythmic clicking noise with each expiration. Beth put her hand over her mouth to hold back her emotions. She hugged her daughter's shoulders.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't here sooner honey." Beth wept. "I love you, sweetie."
Dr. Morales watched silently from the corner of the room.
"Is Alex an organ donor?" Dr. Morales asked
Beth looked up. "I think that she would want to save a life if she could."
"I know that it's hard to think about now, but she very well may be able to help others." Dr. Morales said.
"Do you have children Dr. Morales?" Beth asked
"Yes, I have a son who is 1." Dr. Morales replied
"If you knew that there was no chance that you'd ever see him open his eyes again, what would you do?" Beth asked
Dr. Morales thought for a minute. "Then I hope that by losing him, I could save the lives of 5 more children." A tear trickled down her face.
"My daughter was born to save lives." Beth replied. "She followed her dad's footsteps into the FDNY. She became a paramedic to help people. I have no doubt that if she were faced with this choice right now; she would choose to save others even if it meant losing her own life. I don't want to watch my daughter waste her life away for months on this ventilator. I know they don't always die right away. How soon will you know?"
"We have a test that takes a few minutes to do that measures the activity of her brain." Dr. Morales said.
"I want you to do that test." Beth replied.
"Okay. I will have them do it right away." Dr. Morales said. "Is there anything else that I can do for you?"
"Help me make the right choice." Beth replied.
Doc and Carlos stood by the nurse's desk trying to stay busy. Kim sat next to Jimmy with her head on his shoulder.
"How you holding up?" Jimmy asked her
"I can't lose Alex too." Kim admitted with tears streaming down her face. "Loosing Bobby was hard enough, but to lose my other best friend? We all know that Taylor's a fighter, but I don't think that even she's strong enough to pull through this."
Walsh scratched his head and walked towards Jake who was still by the lounge door.
"You doing okay?" Walsh asked
Jake nodded.
"Listen, I'm sorry about the way we acted earlier." Walsh added.
"It's okay. I didn't expect you all to welcome me in with open arms." Jake said.
"We're all very protective of Taylor. She's a lot like our sister." Walsh said.
"Yeah, she warned me that you guys weren't going to make life easy on me. I just never expected this to be the way that I would meet you all for the first time." Jake replied.
"She's special to all of us. You should know that." Walsh said.
"I understand that. And I can see why she loved you all so much." Jake scanned the room. "There must be half of the department down here."
Then Beth walked out of the room and all attention focused on her. Lt. Johnson walked over to meet her. Dr. Morales walked out behind her.
"Thank you all for coming." Beth said.
Everyone was puzzled by these words. Beth looked like she was holding up so well. They didn't expect to hear bad news from her.
"My daughter is a hero." She said.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Today, she became a hero for many strangers." Beth continued. "I hope that you will all honor my daughter by becoming organ donors."
"We're ready." Dr. Morales said silently.
"Jake, Francis, will you two please follow me?" Beth asked.
Together they walked into the room and saw Dr. Morales walk towards the Ventilator. Taylor still lay motionless.
"Dr. Morales." Beth said. "I'd like to say goodbye before you do this."
Dr. Morales nodded as Beth walked over and kissed Alex's forehead and said something quietly. Then she looked up, "Jake, Francis… would you like to say anything?"
Jake stood in shock. He couldn't believe that he was about to say good bye. He motioned for Lt. Johnson to go first.
"If you don't mind, seeing as the Chaplain isn't here yet." He said as he approached. "Lord, please watch over your servant Alex and guide her on her journey. Though we wish that we had more time to spend with her here on earth, through your grace may she find mercy at your right hand. Lord, in your name we pray. Amen."
Lt. Johnson signed the sign of the cross on Taylor's forehead and then stepped back to the edge of the room.
Jake suddenly realized that he couldn't put off the inevitable anymore. He stepped towards Taylor and softly brushed her blonde hair off of her face.
"I've never met anyone more caring or loving than you. And a freak accident wipes all of that goodness away. Alex, I wish I could take your place. I don't pretend to understand why, it's not fair. I love you." Jake said as he kissed Taylor's cheek. The tears flowed from his eyes.
Lt. Johnson comforted Beth as Jake backed away. The surgeon stepped over.
"Mrs. Taylor, I know that you made a difficult decision, but know that your daughter will live on in those who receive the gift of life from her sacrifice." He said quietly.
Beth, Lt. Johnson, and Jake walked out into the waiting room. The sight of them brought tears to the eyes of Kim and Grace.
"I'm sorry." One of the Department Chiefs said to Beth.
She nodded as she slowly walked towards the doors. "Jake, will you please take me home?"
He nodded. As he made his way to the door he looked at all of the solemn faces. DK patted his shoulder.
"Well, let's get back to the house." Lt. Johnson said solemnly.
They all silently walked out the doors.
THE END
"To find out how you can become an organ donor or to learn more about organ donation visit OrganDonor.gov" Lt. Johnson said.