Chapter 7
Our set of flashing lights follows the flashing lights of the ambulance in front of us. I'm surprised that I'm so shaken by the events that just transpired in front of me—I'm no newbie when it comes to blood, and I'm not exactly naïve either about the violence in our society. I decide, over the blare of the sirens, that I'm glad that I'm more than a little rattled—it means I'm not a total robot inside, right?
"All you all right, Kylie?" I hear Ty's voice, as though he's speaking from very far away.
I nod without really realizing it, as though one part of my brain is on auto-pilot, thus allowing another part to continue sorting through my thoughts and feelings. And right now…the only thought and feeling I have is whoa.
We pull up behind the ambulance at the hospital. From my position I see Grace and my dad doing their jobs as the ER staff comes out to meet them. They wheel the gurney inside. Ty and Sully get out of the car, and to my surprise Sully opens my door—clearly, I'm allowed to come in.
I get to my feet excitedly and follow them through the double doors into the ER. Once inside, the most I can do is look through the windows of the trauma room, in what I think is an innocent-enough gesture—
"Kylie!"
Damn. I turn around to see my dad at the nurse's station, where he's started filling out the run sheet.
"Hi," I say as I walk over to him.
"How's your ride-along been?"
"Well," I say lowering my voice—Sully's filling out paperwork too, "It was dull, until…" I nod my head in the direction of the trauma room.
"I see," my dad says knowingly. "How was that?"
"Different," I answer honestly. "Not what I expected—of myself."
"First time out can be hard."
"Hey, Carlos."
I look up as a new voice enters our conversation to see Ty coming toward us.
"How bad is she?"
"Pretty bad, she's going to be going up to surgery."
"Any chance I can question her, before she goes up?"
"I don't think so Davis, she's pretty out of it."
I slowly edge away from their conversation. I wander a little ways, smiling to some of the hospital workers as they nod to me. It's a bad habit of mine—wandering, that is, not smiling. In my wanderings, I've become pretty well acquainted with a lot of the people in the ER. Another thing I do is that when I wander in a hospital—I can get a smidge nosy…or as I prefer, "enthusiastic probing."
I realize with a start that I should get back to the desk in case we're going to be leaving. I find Sully and Ty and we're just about to leave when—
"Oh no you don't, missy"
I spin around quickly, finding myself face-to-face with Nurse Proctor.
"Hi!" I say, giving her a hug (see what I mean about acquainting myself with my parents' coworkers?)
"What are you doing hanging around with these guys?" she asks with a teasing grin, nodding to the police officers behind me.
"Easy, Mary," Sully says with a teasing grin of his own, "She's riding with us for a school project."
"Oh, well that explains it," Proctor says solemnly. "You boys take care of my favorite Nieto!" she calls after Ty and Sully.
A few minutes later, we're back riding on the street. I wonder if it's too much to hope for anymore excitement, but an instant later I regret thinking that. Surely "excitement" would entail someone else getting hurt?
"55-Charlie, 10-21 at 2800 137th St." the radio says over my musings.
"55-Charlie, 2800 137th," Ty says, taking the call.
I recognize that we're right near the call. "What's a 10-21?"
"Burglary in progress," Sully answers.
"Central, do we have any more information on that 10-21?" Ty asks into his radio.
"Negative, Charlie. Neighbor called from the window. 10-6"
"10-4, Central."
We round the corner, and I am right in guessing that it would be too much to hope for to be able to get out of the car this time. Ty and Sully are get out of the car, leaving me to sit in the back and People Watch.
I don't know how long I sit there, but when they come back, empty-handed, I guess the job hasn't gone spectacularly. At any rate, we get rolling again.
The late afternoon quickly progresses to evening, and streetlights and headlights begin flicking on. We take a couple more calls, general police business and whatnot. (Okay, how fun is it to say that? "Police business"? Right, never mind.)
"Hey Kylie we've got our meal coming up, but I really need to catch up on some paperwork," Ty says from the driver's seat. "Is it okay if we go back to the house for a bit?"
"Sure," I answer.
"If you're hungry you can go across to the firehouse, see who cooked tonight. You may not want to if it was Walsh," Sully adds with a smirk.
"I'll check it out," I say happily. It's been a while since I've seen the guys. I don't add that Walsh's cooking is a picnic compared to D.K.'s—I've had experience with both.
We get to King and Arthur, and the car slows in front of the firehouse to let me out.
"So what do you think?" Ty asks me. "Do you want us to pick you up again and you can ride until the end of the shift, or do you think you've had enough?"
I hesitate. Leaning into Sully's window, I say "It's been great, thank you both so much, but I'm pretty tired. I just don't think I can make it until eleven."
Ty nods, "Fair enough. I'll see you later," he smiles.
"Thanks again!" I call, thumping the trunk for effect as they drive off.
I stand there for a moment until it hits me. Damn. My backpack. In the trunk. And it was a near-perfect exit too. Resigning myself to certain slight-humiliation (at the least), I tear after the squad car.