The adrenaline shot through my veins. Without thinking, I took off my shoes while walking and ran into the still cold water. With powerful strokes, I swam out to sea to reach the boy. From the beach, I could hear his mother screaming over and over, interrupted only when she cried violently. The cold gripped me more fiercely than I had thought. Although my body was supposed to keep me warm by moving, I was freezing all over. Only my goal would not let me fail. I continued to struggle forward.
20 minutes before.
As in the last days before, I had been drawn to the beach. Slowly the sun grew warmer, and the fresh air brought my heated and traumatized head down. Buck had visited me often with Maddie and Eddie had introduced me to Christopher. An incredibly sweet kid who I had immediately taken to my heart. Bobby had often stopped by in the evenings, or I had gone to their place to have dinner with Bobby, Athena and the kids. In three days, I was going to return to the station. David had left the hospital and gone to prison. Bobby kept track of everything while I stayed out of it until I testified. And until then, I enjoyed my new kind of relaxed free time on the beach. I felt like I was seeing the world through different eyes. Now it was no longer so small and limited, but much bigger! How many years I had spent shielding everything from the outside world.
The wind blew through my face and blew away almost every kind of doubt with it, lightly blowing also through the skirt of my black dress and the black tights on my legs. I had arrived. Now the only hurdle was to finally learn to live and enjoy my life and for that I had the perfect family standing behind me. Recently, Buck had shown me how great the video game world had become, and he had rekindled my former passion for them. Maddie had only shaken her head a few times at this when she had seen my times of thirty hours in four days playing a video game. Being home a lot had just created an addiction in me.
Laughing, I shook my head at the memory. She had to pull the plug on me so that I would finally go out for coffee with her. Like a big sister, she had turned everything off, walked me to the shower, and waited for me to finally take charge of my life and get some outside exposure. Secretly, I had been grateful to her for that, but I found it very amusing to pretend that I had been offended. But as nice as the afternoon with her had been, our movie night ended sadly. Now it was my turn to listen to her and understand her sorrow and worries. Maddie told me about her ex-husband and how he had treated her. But most of all, she told me about how hard it was to get involved with Chimney with this past. I had hugged Maddie and wiped away her big tears from the corners of her eyes with the promise that she did not have to carry her burden alone and could come to me anytime. I wanted so much to be there for Maddie because she had just become a best friend and a big sister now and then.
Eddie had become a good friend as well as Buck and Maddie. He had often brought Christopher over in the last few days when no one could take care of him. He told me quite a bit about his wife and that Christopher was thrilled that his mom was back, but I had seen his discord quite early on and the fear that blazed within him. Shannon did not make it quite easy for him to forget all that had happened, because she behaved quite changeably.
"My son! Help!" it suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts. Surprised, I looked around and saw a woman with blond hair looking towards the sea. Further away, in the sea something moved hysterically and then I realized that it was a child. Adrenaline shot through my veins. Without thinking, I took off my shoes while walking and ran into the still cold water. With powerful strokes, I swam out to sea to reach the boy. From the beach, I could hear his mother screaming over and over, interrupted only when she cried violently. The cold gripped me more fiercely than I had thought. Although my body was supposed to keep me warm by moving, I was freezing all over.
Only my goal would not let me fail. I continued to fight my way forward. The boy kept coming back to the surface and gasping for air, but just before my goal, the boy did not resurface. I immediately dove under and searched the sea for the boy. He was floating through the water not far from me. A few swims later, I had grabbed the boy and pulled him back to the surface. From there, I swam back with him as I had learned in lifeguarding and pulled him along the beach to his mother. Immediately, I checked his vital signs and found that his breathing and heart had stopped.
"Sam! Oh, thank God, you got him out!" she cried, kneeling by her son.
"He's not breathing at all!" the mother noted, about to start crying again.
"He needs your help. I need you to call 9-1-1 right now and put it on speaker so I can help your son while you do it. Can you do that for me?", I ordered her and started CPR. The woman dialed 9-1-1 and put her cell phone on loud, holding it right out to me.
"9-1-1, what is your emergency?", I recognized the voice on the other end immediately.
"Maddie, this is paramedic Keena Nash. I am here near the pier on the beach and I'm performing CPR on a child right now. I need an ambulance on the scene immediately so the child can receive further care. I have pulled the boy out of the water, the mother is standing next to me and will give you more data on him," I informed her and forcefully pushed air into the child's lungs twice. As I disengaged from him again to continue pushing on his chest, his mother explained everything she wanted to know to Maddie. It took two more cycles before the boy suddenly spit up water and briefly regained consciousness. At that moment, the fire department arrived with their paramedics, and I was very surprised to see who I saw there. Immediately, Hen and Chim took over the boy. Bobby came up to me.
"Why are you guys here? Shouldn't 136 be coming here?", I inquired. Bobby took off his heavy jacket and put it over my shoulders.
"They're on a mission, and since you're on the scene, Maddie thought it would be better to send us. How are you doing?", Bobby questioned me. Eddie joined us.
"You have very blue lips. It could be mild hypothermia. Anyway, you should put on dry clothes and warm up," Eddie advised me.
"I will, I'll run right home and get warm. But I am fine, to get back to your question, Bobby. I'm just wondering what that boy was doing in the water," I looked over at the mother who was getting into the ambulance with me.
"We'll take you to the station, you'll put on some of your change of clothes there and I'll make you some tea. The mother said the boy had lost his toy boat and the moment she was momentarily distracted he went into the water and swam out too far," Bobby added as an explanation to my indirect question.
"Come with me, Eddie will give you a blanket in the truck," Bobby led me towards the trucks. I got in and sat on one of the seats in the back. Eddie wrapped me in the warm blanket and Buck joined us.
"There you are still on vacation and already you have your first assignment," Buck shook his head in disbelief. I grinned at him.
"All I wanted to do was go for a walk and relax a bit. That I still must jump into the cold water was not my intention. But it was all so automatic. I did not have to think about what to do. I just went into the water and let myself be guided by the urge to help", slowly the wet clothes on the skin became uncomfortable. They were very sticky and getting cooler and cooler.
"The boy was really lucky that you were there," Bobby said and I could only agree with him. A few minutes later we arrived at the station. Still wrapped in a blanket and thick jacket, I crept to the women's locker room and put on my duty clothes.
Then I went over to Bobby and gave him back his damp jacket. My wet clothes were hanging on the radiator.
"You should hang them up. Bobby? While I am here, can't I do the rest of the shift with you guys? After the rescue on the beach, I feel like I can finally get back to work. I think I just needed that one adrenaline rush to come out of my shell," I inquired.
"Let us have tea together first and see how you feel afterwards. If you continue to do well, you can stay here with us together and finish the shift with us," Bobby walked over to the stairs and up to the top floor. I followed him upstairs, where I saw that he had already made tea. He handed me the warm cup, which immediately warmed my hands. Together we sat down with the others. Hen and Chimney were already back.
"That boy was really lucky you reacted so quickly. Without your rescue, he would not have come back a few minutes later," Hen praised me and showed me to sit next to her. I planted myself next to her on the sofa and was wrapped directly in a blanket by her.
"But reckless, too. The cold water could have triggered a cramp and we should have saved you both," Bobby lightly reprimanded me. And he had been right. But then something struck me. My facial expression noticeably changed from calm to a slightly shocked expression as I became aware of something. Questioningly, Bobby looked at me and the others around us also became more attentive.
"The boy has been in the water for a while, but why didn't the mother call 9-1-1? She was just screaming for help, but she had not moved to the water or done anything else. And she certainly did not appear shocked. She was able to follow my information without any problems and execute it directly. So why didn't she do anything?" I interjected. Eddie had understood my allusion immediately.
"Because she didn't want to save the boy at all, but had to act because too many saw it," he voiced my thought.
"I will inform Athena immediately and send her. This mother wanted to watch her son die," with these words Bobby turned away from us and pulled out his cell phone. A few seconds later, he was engrossed in a conversation with Athena.
"Are you getting warmer?", Hen inquired as I took a big sip of the warm tea. I looked at her and nodded, while Hen giving me a friendly smile.
"Alright guys, the mission is over. I'm going to start cooking. Whoever wants may help me," Bobby informed us and a few volunteers joined him in the kitchen. Buck turned on the television. Chimney closed his eyes for a moment and Eddie looked very thoughtful. Was he still thinking about that woman or was he dealing with Shannon? Either way, I did not want to call him on it in front of all the others.
The signal sounded and a voice gave information about an injured person and the road where we had to go. Everyone jumped up, even me, who put down her cup and ran down.
"Bobby?", I called to him questioningly. Briefly he paused, then looked at me.
"Come with me," he replied, and I ran to Hen and the ambulance. Chimney had gotten into the truck with the others. With blue lights and sirens blaring, we left the hall and drove to our scene. We quickly left the streets behind.
"It's really nice to have you back," Hen rejoiced, stopping in front of the building where the emergency call had come from. Together we got out and got the paramedic bags out.
"We need to get up to the 19th floor. The caller said his front door is open. Let us see how we can help him," Bobby informed us and everyone ran inside the building. We took the elevator up to the 19th floor. Bobby led us toward the apartment and knocked.
"LAFD. Sir, we're coming in," Bobby forewarned the caller and opened the door. When we went in, we saw a middle-aged man lying on the floor. Hen and I immediately ran over to him.
"What happened?", Hen asked the patient, who was still responsive.
"I was trying to change a light bulb, but I fell off the ladder," he answered Hen her question. He probably had an injury in his back.
"What's hurting you? Can you move your feet and arms?", I continued the questioning.
"Arms and legs aren't the problem... It's more my... butt," the man pressed on.
"It could be that his tailbone is broken," Hen speculated. The man's body was close to the wall, so we could not see his back directly. Very carefully I felt his back and when I could see what the man meant, I did not believe my eyes. This was not an everyday case, that much was certain.
"We need the spine board and stretcher," I asked the others, then leaned over to Hen and struggled to find appropriate words. How was I going to explain this?
"This man does not have a broken tailbone. There's a bottle stuck in his anus," I murmured to Hen. Immediately, she pushed me aside and looked at the patient.
"We have to be incredibly careful. We don't know if the glass has shattered from the inside and we'll only hurt him more from the inside by moving too much," Hen also quietly returned to me. Then she stood up and informed Bobby.
"Is it very bad?" the man wanted to know. What could I possibly say to him?
"It's going to be all right. What is your name? You can call me Keena if you like," I distracted him a bit and started preparing the infusion so he would be in less pain. At that moment, Hen came back, and Buck and Eddie brought us the gurney, as well as the spine board.
"We have to be very careful getting him on the gurney and very careful getting him into the ambulance," Hen reminded the guys. The spine board was laid down and with our combined efforts we very carefully pulled the man onto it. Carefully, Hen and I secured him so that Buck and Eddie could lift him onto the stretcher. Their amazement grew when they saw what had happened.
"My name is Richard," he answered my question from earlier as we took him to the elevator. Once downstairs, we wheeled him to the ambulance and loaded him in. While Hen drove off, I continued to care for him.
"We're going to take you to a good hospital now, Richard. There you will be helped to remove the bottle, but one thing you must tell me. How could this happen?", I hooked the man up to some monitors. I had never heard or seen anything like it.
"I had just put my empty beer bottle down on the floor because I was too lazy to put it away. Then I got on the ladder and tipped over backwards. Suddenly I felt this pain and with my hands I felt the bottle half stuck in me," the man explained, blushing a little. He was more than embarrassed.
"You probably came up awkwardly, so the bottle didn't break, but penetrated. But do not worry, the surgeons at the hospital are preparing everything to remove this bottle from you as soon as possible. Probably this just closes the wound so well that heavy bleeding cannot occur," I explained to him. After a short drive, we had reached the hospital and handed the patient over to the hospital staff. From there we took a new stretcher and I sat down in front with Hen.
"In my time as a paramedic, I've never seen a case like this," I began the conversation.
"If someone had told me it was possible, I would have thought they were crazy," Hen still shook her head in irritation, then drove us back to the station.
At the station, we got out together and refilled the ambulance.
"How could something like this happen?", Buck joined us, along with Eddie.
"He fell pretty awkwardly. The bottle didn't break and bore into him," I explained to the two. Eddie contorted his face in sympathetic pain. Hen laughed.
"A real crazy mission," Eddie muttered, and left again. Hen and I got out, too.
Buck closed the doors behind us, then we went upstairs together.
"I'm really worried about Eddie. He seems absent-minded lately. Has he talked to you about anything?" asked Buck when Hen was out of range.
"No, he hasn't, but I've noticed that too. Something has happened that has been bothering him immensely. Hopefully, he will talk to us soon," I replied to Buck. Bobby was putting the food on the table while the others took their places.
"I really hope he talks," Buck said, then joined the others at the table. We ate lunch together that Bobby had cooked.
The rest of the shift went very quietly and brought no further action. My attempts to get to Eddie failed due to the others never leaving Eddie alone and Buck seemed to get more and more frustrated with that as well. Even when we had changed, Eddie had disappeared all too quickly.
"Do you want me to drive you home?" asked Buck as I came out of the locker room.
"Aren't you going to your sister's?", I informed him.
"No. She has a date with Chimney, and I do not want to be there. I don't want to go to Chimney's apartment either, but until I get one of my own, I have no choice," Buck sighed out. Somehow, I felt sorry for him.
"You're welcome to stay with me if you want. Then I would not be so alone, and you would not have to squat in the apartment of your sister's lover. Speaking of her," at that moment my cell phone went off and Maddie was on it. I picked up.
"Hey Maddie, I thought you were on a date. Buck just meant it at least," I greeted her on the phone and walked with Buck to his car. We got in and he drove off.
"Yes, I did and I'm extremely nervous. A date like this is a big step. Am I doing the right thing?" she sounded very anxious and excited.
"Don't worry so much about it. If anyone understands your situation, it is Chimney. Trust him to never cross your boundaries," I tried to reassure her, hearing the doorbell ring in the background. Chimney had been very quick, I had to give him that.
"You're absolutely right. I should trust that Chimney will handle me very well," she sounded calmer, and I heard that she opened the door.
"He's here, we'll talk more tomorrow," she was saying goodbye when there was a thud over the phone. Something rushed, then it became very eerie.
"Doug... How did you...?", it suddenly got loud and then it was quiet.
"Maddie!", I yelled through the phone. Buck stopped and looked at me in shock.
"Doug," was all I could get out, then Buck sped on. I hope we were not too late!