Chapter 267: Welfare Check
Saturday, January 28th, Morning
Looking out from her living room window, Bobbi-Lee Burke studied the front lawn of her small cottage. The grass, which was usually green, a bright green, had this dull green hew, with patches of brown, to it. It had been a shitty streak of weather, and the lawn was muddy and wet from the recent snow that had just melted. Yet, the temperature was just above freezing; this was not the weather she was used to experiencing.
She turned back to the Great Room as her friend came back into the room from the Small Kitchen. Bobbi-Lee smiled at the blonde woman, who was carrying a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch. The lazy big blue and the white bi-colored cat took notice and scooted over to the blonde woman. He started rubbing up against her.
"Jackie, what is this effect you have on Custis?" Bobbi-Lee asked her oldest and closest friend, Jackie Gregory.
"I don't know, but he and Rooney are the only cats that like me," Jackie said.
"Well, Rooney likes everyone; he wants to be the center of attention," Bobbi-Lee said.
Jackie laughed, "There's always one in the group," she said.
Bobbi-Lee nodded and looked back out the window. "Yes, there is," she said.
Jackie watched as Bobbi-Lee kept staring out her window. "What's got your attention out there so much that you're ignoring your best friend?" Jackie asked.
"Nothing, really, just a feeling," Bobbi-Lee said.
"C'mon Bobbi, something has got you spooked, and you're not sharing?" Jackie asked.
"I've just not seen Mrs. Ivanova in a few days," Bobbi-Lee said.
"So, she's an old lady, and it's cold out," Jackie said, "Hell, I spent three years at Fort Drum. During when my Dad's time in the army, and I don't want to go out."
Bobbi-Lee shook her head, "That's not Mrs. Ivanova, she's out every day, this is not like her at all," she said.
"So, what are you going to do about it?" Jackie asked.
Bobbi-Lee turned around and looked at Jackie and screwed up her lips in thought. "You're right, it could be nothing, on the other hand, it could be everything," she said.
"We could call 911," Jackie said.
"We could call 911, or we could just go over there," Bobbi-Lee said.
"We could," Jackie said.
Bobbi-Lee walked over to a bowl on an end table and dug through it. She came out with a key and a smile. "Let's go check on her," she said and grabbed her coat.
"Okay, are you sure?" Jackie said.
"What's the worst that could happen, she's fine, and she gives us some tea?" Bobbi-Lee asked.
"Alright," Jackie said and grabbed her coat.
The two women walked out of Bobbi-Lee's cottage and walked down the front walk. Slowly, and confidently they walked to Mrs. Ivanova's front door.
Bobbi-Lee looked at Jackie and gave her a slightly nervous smile, "Here goes nothing," she said and knocked on the door.
Jackie nodded and waited. After a few minutes, Bobbi-Lee knocked again. Knowing Bobbi-Lee well enough, Jackie understood she wouldn't give up on checking on Mrs. Ivanova.
"I'll go peek inside some windows," Jackie said.
"Okay," Bobbi-Lee said.
Jackie walked off the porch and headed around one side of the cottage. Bobbi-Lee stayed on the porch and hoped that Mrs. Ivanova would answer the door. Jackie and Bobbi-Lee knew each other since middle school and were the closets of their circle of friends. This closeness meant that Jackie knew Bobbi-Lee wouldn't stop until she knew what was going on, and Bobbi-Lee knew that Jackie would be there right beside her.
If there someone who would be able to do the job checking the windows, it would be Jackie. Bobbi-Lee sighed and knocked on the door again. There was some crushing sound, the sound of running footsteps, coming from the side of the house. Bobbi-Lee turned and looked to see it was Jackie who was running around the corner.
"Bobbi! Unlock the door!" Jackie called out.
"What? Why?" Bobbi-Lee asked in reply.
"Just do it!" Jackie called, "No time to explain!"
Bobbi-Lee nodded, and with the key that Mrs. Ivanova had given her, she opened the front door. Without even waiting, Jackie burst past Bobbi-Lee, not even breaking pace. Bobbi-Lee followed and found Jackie in the small kitchen on her phone, standing over Mrs. Ivanova. Laid out on the floor in front of Jackie was Mrs. Ivanova.
Bobbi-Lee paused for a moment and took a deep breath. She remembered what her Dad and J.L. told her what to do in this situation. Bobbi-Lee bent down and reached out and started shaking Mrs. Ivanova.
"Mrs. Ivanova, are you okay?" Bobbi-Lee asked and shook her. After a moment, Bobbi-Lee reached over and checked the pulse point on Mrs. Ivanova's neck. Looking around the body of the woman, she was breathing, but shallow.
"She has a pulse and is breathing, but the pulse is weak and breathing shallow," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Okay," Jackie said, and turned back to her phone, "She is still breathing and has a pulse, but the pulse is weak, and the breathing is shallow."
Bobbi-Lee rolled Mrs. Ivanova on to her back. Mrs. Ivanova looked up at Bobbi-Lee with unrecognizing eyes. That was when the smell got to Bobbi-Lee's nose, urine.
"Stay with me, Mrs. Ivanova," Bobbi-Lee said.
The older woman's eyes fluttered a bit. Bobbi-Lee took hold of Mrs. Ivanova's hand. The two women locked eyes but lacked the usual recognition that was in Mrs. Ivanova's eyes.
"Help is coming, Bobbi," Jackie said.
"Thanks," Bobbi-Lee said, and turned back to Mrs. Ivanova, "Did you hear that? Help is on the way, Mrs. Ivanova."
The older woman just stared upward, almost blankly. A few moments later, the sounds of a siren started to reach their ears. Bobbi-Lee looked up at Jackie, and Jackie nodded.
Bobbi-Lee turned back to Mrs. Ivanova, "Help, is almost here, Mrs. Ivanova," she said.
The siren stopped, which told Bobbi-Lee that the first responders had arrived. A few moments later, but what seemed like forever, the loud thumps of boots echoed in the house.
"Fire Department!" echoed in the near-silent cottage. Bobbi-Lee looked up as she knew the voice, maybe too well.
"In the kitchen!" Jackie yelled.
The first pair of firefighters came into the kitchen. Bobbi-Lee looked up and saw the third person walking into the kitchen.
"What happened?" one of the firefighters asked.
Bobbi-Lee looked at him, "I hadn't seen her in a few days, so we came over to check on her. She didn't answer the door, and we saw her on the floor through the window and entered using my key," she said.
"Was she like this when you found her?" The Firefighter asked. Bobbi-Lee noticed out of the corner of her eye the second Firefighter had already started checking Mrs. Ivanova.
"She was face down, I rolled her over to check on her," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Thank you," The First Firefighter said and went to help the second Firefighter.
Bobbi-Lee stood up and noticed that her knees were wet. She looked at the Third Firefighter, who was standing by, their blue eyes met. The Third Firefighter's face was a mask of calm.
"J.L. I'm glad that you're here," Bobbi-Lee said.
Huck nodded at his older sister. She knew the look in his eyes; it was the same look she had seen in her Dad; it was all business.
"Do you have her personal information or family contact?" Huck asked.
"I'll find her pocketbook," Bobbi-Lee said and walked away. She knew that her brother wasn't being cold; Huck acted professionally and had his professional detachment engaged. She found the pocketbook and reached in it for her wallet and handed it to Huck.
"Thank you," Huck said and took the wallet. He looked at the wallet and found her I.D. "Her name is Ekaterina Ivanova, she's about eighty-three years old," Huck said.
"Ekaterina, can you hear me?" The First Firefighter asked.
Mrs. Ivanova didn't do anything. The First Firefighter looked up at Huck. "Keep at it, Smeadly," Huck said.
Smeadly, the First Firefighter, nodded and went back to helping with Mrs. Ivanova.
A Cop walked in and looked around. The Cop came over to Huck. "So, what's going on, Huck?" The Police Office asked.
"Eighty-three-year-old female found by neighbors on the floor," Huck said, "Here's her I.D., and there is one of the neighbors," Huck pointed to Bobbi-Lee, "the other is in the kitchen still, Una," Huck finished and pointed at Jackie.
"Thanks, Huck," The Police Office, Una, said, and walked over to Bobbi-Lee, "Hi, I'm office Una Sharpe, and I just need to get some information."
Bobbi-Lee nodded, "No, problem, what do you need to know?" Bobbi-Lee asked.
"How did you find her?" Una asked.
"Mrs. Ivanova comes out several times a day. In the last few days, I hadn't seen her, so my friend, Jackie, and I came over. I brought the key that Mrs. Ivanova gave me. We knocked on the door, and Jackie volunteered to look in the windows. She, Jackie, came running back when she saw Mrs. Ivanova on the floor.
"We came in the front door using my key and found her face down on the floor. I checked her and rolled her over to see if she was alive. Jackie called 911," Bobbi-Lee said.
"Your name and address, Ma'am?" Una asked.
"Bobbi-Lee Burke," Bobbi-Lee said and gave Una her address. The Police Officer looked over to Huck. Huck made eye contact with Una and gave a quick nod then turned back to his crew. Una turned back to Bobbi-Lee to finish getting her information. When she finished, Una went to talk with Jackie.
"Twenty-seven Officer, Twenty-seven, the ambulance has arrived," Huck's radio called out.
Huck leaned into his microphone and keyed it up, "Roger, Twenty-seven, Ambulance has arrived, the rest of the crew is to assist with the ambulance crew," Huck said.
"Roger, Twenty-seven Officer," was the reply on the radio.
Una started to interview Jackie. The Ambulance Crew came in with the stretcher and two more of the members of the Rescue Company. Huck looked at one of the ambulance crew.
"Nice of you to attend this call, R.C.," Huck said.
"Don't give me that, Jimmy," R.C. said.
Huck nodded and stepped aside for the ambulance crew. After a few minutes, they placed Mrs. Ivanova onto the stretcher and started bringing her out of the house.
Una looked at Bobbi-Lee, "Did you call her family?" Una asked.
"No," Bobbi-Lee said, "Didn't even think of it."
"Do you know any of her family?" Una asked.
"She has a son, she calls Misha, I've never met him, and a granddaughter Allyson, who I've met," Bobbi-Lee said, "There's an address book by her house phone."
Both Una and Bobbi-Lee went over to the house phone and found the address book. Una flipped through the book to I. Looking for a name, Una found one with the name Mikhail and called the number on her cell phone. After a quick conversation, the Una hung up.
Una walked through the house one last time; she led Bobbi-Lee and Jackie out and closed and locked the door behind her. Una looked at Bobbi-Lee and Jackie, one last time, and handed them each a card.
"We'll be in contact with either of you if we have any follow up questions, and that's my number if you remember anything else," Una said.
Bobbi-Lee and Jackie nodded and headed back to Bobbi-Lee's cottage. Bobbi-Lee took one last long glance back at Mrs. Ivanova's cottage and sighed.
Jackie nodded, "Well, we can at least say we did our good deed for the day," she said.
Bobbi-Lee nodded, "That we did," she said.
"Now, let's get inside. It's fucking cold," Jackie said.
Bobbi-Lee nodded, "Yeah, and I need a shower," she said as they walked down the front walk to Bobbi-Lee's cottage.
