Kim Zambrano was not a weak woman. She was used to dealing with death. With Alex,
Bobby...hell, even strangers in the bus, it was not a new experience for her. Not to say that she
was accepting of it, or knew just how to deal with it. On the contrary, it tore her up on the inside,
less so with the strangers, but when it came to people she knew, people she cared for, it was
almost overbearing.
Jimmy was her ex-husband. He had cheated on her, cheated on Brooke. He was by no
means the perfect role mode. Nevertheless, he was a good man. He loved his son. He loved her.
HE risked his life more times than she could count for people he didn't even know.
Kim leaned back against her raised hospital bed, pulling her heavy blanket up to her chin,
feeling the heating blanket's warmth radiating through her limbs, still chilled. As she stared out
at the frosted over window, she felt her mind drawing her back to the hours before. To the rescue.
They were calling it that now. A rescue.
She had woken up to a knocking on the window of the car and looked up to see the beam
of a large flashlight settling on her and Jimmy. She remembered wanting to take Jimmy's pulse,
to check his breathing, to make sure he was still with her, but try as she might, she could not get
her arms to work right. In that moment, it dawned on her that she was suffering from
hypothermia. She had stopped shivering, and knew that to be a bad sign. She was literally
freezing to death.
But who was at the window?
"Ms. Zambrano?" a voice called, muffled by the glass. "Kim? Are you okay? Is your
husband okay?"
Husband...? Jimmy!
She tried to yell out, bu her voice was lost, and all she managed was a moaning sound
that sounded like a wounded animal.
"If you can hear me, try to shield yourselves," the voice came back, comforting. "We've
got the Jaws of Life, and we're gonna get you out."
Kim let her head drop back into Jimmy's chest, using what little strength she could
muster to clutch tightly to his jacket.
She remembered a screaming noise as the Jaws attacked the side of the car like a hungry
wolf, tearing the metal away.
"It's clear," she head a voice say, and felt a gust of cold wind descend upon her.
"Get them out of there, and be careful!" the voice from before said.
She opened her eyes, and was face to face with the kind face of a man in his mid forties, a
paramedic jacket zipped tightly against the cold.
"Kim?"
She nodded, or at least thought she did.
"You're safe now. My name's Murphy. Can you speak?" he said, keeping her occupied
while his partner and a firefighter tried to get Jimmy out of the car.
"You're going to have to let go," Murphy said, gently prying her off. "We need to get him
help."
"Is he..?" Kim rasped, her lips cracking and bleeding.
"He's alive, Murphy," the other medic said, looking up from the stretcher they had Jimmy
lying on. "But it's not lookin' good."
He was alive.
Alive, alive, alive.
Kim shut her eyes and let Murphy and the fireman help her maneuver out of the car and
set her gently on another stretcher.
As they laid a heavy blanket over her, muttering medical jargon back and forth, as they
began to carry her up the small hill to the waiting ambulances, she kept her gaze locked firmly on
Jimmy, who was only a few feet in front of her.
His eyes were closed, his skin a pale greyish color, his lips a mixture of blue and purple,
one arm and both legs in temporary splints.
She couldn't tell if he was still breathing.
She glared at the icy window before her, recalling how they'd taken different ambulances.
She still hadn't seen him. She still didn't know...
"Your son showed up in our town half frozen," Murphy had told her. "He was shaking
and shivering something awful. Ran right into the fire station and started yelling about his
Momma and Daddy being stuck in a car somewhere. Poor kid didn't know the location, so we
had to drive back and forth twice before we spotted you half hidden in the snow. You're a lucky
woman to have such a son..."
Yeah. She knew.
She wished Joey could have stayed, but they had strict rules on children being over 13 to
visit, and made an exception for the five minutes she had seen him. Her mother, bawling, but
convinced Kim was going to be okay, had taken him back to her place to stay for a while.
Her mother had no news on Jimmy either.
"Good evening Ms. Zambrano," a cheerful voice said from the doorway.
Her current doctor, Dr. Gary walked in, clipboard in hand.
"How are you feeling? Less like frozen food?" he asked, smiling as he walked to her
bedside.
"I'd be a lot better if I knew what was going on with my - with Jimmy," she said
grumpily.
"I thought so," he replied, his eyes twinkling. "That's why I've brought you news."
Kim sat up straighter, her aches suddenly forgotten. "How is he?"
"Well," he said, his face more serious. "Kim, I won't lie. It was touch and go for a while.
His spleen was torn in the impact, and having it go untreated for such a long period of time can
be...well, let's just say that it's a damn good thing the bleeding was so slow. We've taken care of
that in surgery, and now we're focusing on the exterior damage. He's got a concussion, a mild
one, and it's not really a concern at this point. His legs, having been pinned in such a way for so
long, are remarkably unscathed. There is some damage to the right tibia, a minor stress fracture,
and ligament damage to the knee, which are more serious. The right arm received a more serious
fracture, but also is nothing to be worried too greatly about. His ribs are cracked but not broken,
and will be painful for a while, but there's not much we can do about that other than give him
more morphine. He, too suffered mild hypothermia, but our heating pads are working wonders."
Kim sighed heavily, a weight lifting from her chest. "So he's okay?"
"Well, he's not out of immediate danger yet," Dr. Gary said. "But we're very optimistic."
Kim smiled, feeling tears well up. "He'll be okay."
The graying doctor smiled down at her.
"When can I see him?" she asked.
"When he wakes up," he replied, checking her vitals.
"When will that be?" she asked again, more persistently.
"Quite frankly I have no idea."
"But he will wake up, right?' she said, her chest tightening.
"Like I said, Kim, we're optimistic. Try to get some sleep," he said, leaving her with that.
Bobby...hell, even strangers in the bus, it was not a new experience for her. Not to say that she
was accepting of it, or knew just how to deal with it. On the contrary, it tore her up on the inside,
less so with the strangers, but when it came to people she knew, people she cared for, it was
almost overbearing.
Jimmy was her ex-husband. He had cheated on her, cheated on Brooke. He was by no
means the perfect role mode. Nevertheless, he was a good man. He loved his son. He loved her.
HE risked his life more times than she could count for people he didn't even know.
Kim leaned back against her raised hospital bed, pulling her heavy blanket up to her chin,
feeling the heating blanket's warmth radiating through her limbs, still chilled. As she stared out
at the frosted over window, she felt her mind drawing her back to the hours before. To the rescue.
They were calling it that now. A rescue.
She had woken up to a knocking on the window of the car and looked up to see the beam
of a large flashlight settling on her and Jimmy. She remembered wanting to take Jimmy's pulse,
to check his breathing, to make sure he was still with her, but try as she might, she could not get
her arms to work right. In that moment, it dawned on her that she was suffering from
hypothermia. She had stopped shivering, and knew that to be a bad sign. She was literally
freezing to death.
But who was at the window?
"Ms. Zambrano?" a voice called, muffled by the glass. "Kim? Are you okay? Is your
husband okay?"
Husband...? Jimmy!
She tried to yell out, bu her voice was lost, and all she managed was a moaning sound
that sounded like a wounded animal.
"If you can hear me, try to shield yourselves," the voice came back, comforting. "We've
got the Jaws of Life, and we're gonna get you out."
Kim let her head drop back into Jimmy's chest, using what little strength she could
muster to clutch tightly to his jacket.
She remembered a screaming noise as the Jaws attacked the side of the car like a hungry
wolf, tearing the metal away.
"It's clear," she head a voice say, and felt a gust of cold wind descend upon her.
"Get them out of there, and be careful!" the voice from before said.
She opened her eyes, and was face to face with the kind face of a man in his mid forties, a
paramedic jacket zipped tightly against the cold.
"Kim?"
She nodded, or at least thought she did.
"You're safe now. My name's Murphy. Can you speak?" he said, keeping her occupied
while his partner and a firefighter tried to get Jimmy out of the car.
"You're going to have to let go," Murphy said, gently prying her off. "We need to get him
help."
"Is he..?" Kim rasped, her lips cracking and bleeding.
"He's alive, Murphy," the other medic said, looking up from the stretcher they had Jimmy
lying on. "But it's not lookin' good."
He was alive.
Alive, alive, alive.
Kim shut her eyes and let Murphy and the fireman help her maneuver out of the car and
set her gently on another stretcher.
As they laid a heavy blanket over her, muttering medical jargon back and forth, as they
began to carry her up the small hill to the waiting ambulances, she kept her gaze locked firmly on
Jimmy, who was only a few feet in front of her.
His eyes were closed, his skin a pale greyish color, his lips a mixture of blue and purple,
one arm and both legs in temporary splints.
She couldn't tell if he was still breathing.
She glared at the icy window before her, recalling how they'd taken different ambulances.
She still hadn't seen him. She still didn't know...
"Your son showed up in our town half frozen," Murphy had told her. "He was shaking
and shivering something awful. Ran right into the fire station and started yelling about his
Momma and Daddy being stuck in a car somewhere. Poor kid didn't know the location, so we
had to drive back and forth twice before we spotted you half hidden in the snow. You're a lucky
woman to have such a son..."
Yeah. She knew.
She wished Joey could have stayed, but they had strict rules on children being over 13 to
visit, and made an exception for the five minutes she had seen him. Her mother, bawling, but
convinced Kim was going to be okay, had taken him back to her place to stay for a while.
Her mother had no news on Jimmy either.
"Good evening Ms. Zambrano," a cheerful voice said from the doorway.
Her current doctor, Dr. Gary walked in, clipboard in hand.
"How are you feeling? Less like frozen food?" he asked, smiling as he walked to her
bedside.
"I'd be a lot better if I knew what was going on with my - with Jimmy," she said
grumpily.
"I thought so," he replied, his eyes twinkling. "That's why I've brought you news."
Kim sat up straighter, her aches suddenly forgotten. "How is he?"
"Well," he said, his face more serious. "Kim, I won't lie. It was touch and go for a while.
His spleen was torn in the impact, and having it go untreated for such a long period of time can
be...well, let's just say that it's a damn good thing the bleeding was so slow. We've taken care of
that in surgery, and now we're focusing on the exterior damage. He's got a concussion, a mild
one, and it's not really a concern at this point. His legs, having been pinned in such a way for so
long, are remarkably unscathed. There is some damage to the right tibia, a minor stress fracture,
and ligament damage to the knee, which are more serious. The right arm received a more serious
fracture, but also is nothing to be worried too greatly about. His ribs are cracked but not broken,
and will be painful for a while, but there's not much we can do about that other than give him
more morphine. He, too suffered mild hypothermia, but our heating pads are working wonders."
Kim sighed heavily, a weight lifting from her chest. "So he's okay?"
"Well, he's not out of immediate danger yet," Dr. Gary said. "But we're very optimistic."
Kim smiled, feeling tears well up. "He'll be okay."
The graying doctor smiled down at her.
"When can I see him?" she asked.
"When he wakes up," he replied, checking her vitals.
"When will that be?" she asked again, more persistently.
"Quite frankly I have no idea."
"But he will wake up, right?' she said, her chest tightening.
"Like I said, Kim, we're optimistic. Try to get some sleep," he said, leaving her with that.