Extreme Medical Services: Medical Care On The Fringes Of Humanity (13 page)

   
Dean stared at the black case on the concrete floor next to the ambulance for a long time. He wasn’t used to feeling this way. He’d been completely helpless back there at Lydia’s house. He didn’t understand why someone whom he was helping would turn around and try to control or hurt him like that. It was not something he’d been prepared for. He particularly didn’t like how it had him second-guessing everything now. He wasn’t sure how it was going to affect him on the next call, or the one after that. Would he freeze up or not be able to think clearly because he was afraid of what might happen to him? How would that affect his ability to care for his patients or protect his partner? He had a lot of questions that needed answers, and he wasn't sure if there were any way he, or anyone else could answer them.
 

   
Dean finally stooped down and picked up the case on the floor, placing it back in the compartment in the side of the ambulance. Shutting the door, he wondered, not for the first time why he had been selected for this particular position. It would have been much easier treating regular people. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for being a paramedic at all. The door opening to the squad room behind him interrupted his thoughts.

   
“Dean,” Brynne said. “I found that number for you. Come on in. It’s open around the clock, twenty-four hours a day so you can call and chat with them now.”

   
“I think that might be a good idea, Brynne,” Dean said turning her way. “I’m questioning that I’m the right person for this job right now. Maybe you should call someone in to relieve me until I get this figured out.”

   
“Let’s not worry about that right now,” Brynne said. “You come in and call. I’ll make sure that HQ knows we’re out of service for a little bit. They generally have backup in place for us if we need it and right now we need it.”

   
Dean followed her into the squad room. She handed him a sticky note with a phone number on it.
 

   
“See,” she said. “It is even toll-free. I also think you might want to talk to your instructor, Mike. I dropped him a quick email letting him know you might be calling. He helped me out a lot with something similar to this when I was still pretty new. It’s something we all run into from time to time on this job, and not just here on the Unusual side of things. Regular medics get stressed out by things they see, too.”

   
Dean took the number from Brynne and looked at it. He couldn’t figure out why he was feeling reluctant to call. He knew he needed help but taking that step felt like an admission of weakness.
 

   
“Dean,” Brynne said breaking through his thoughts. “Call the number. Talk to them and tell them what you’re feeling right now. It is all perfectly normal. We’re not getting any more calls tonight until you do it. Sit down, pick up the phone and dial the number. After that, do what you want, but tonight your job is to talk to the person on the other end of that line. I’m going back into the bunk room if you need me. Come get me when you’re done talking to them if you want.” She left the room, picking up her book from the recliner on the way by.

   
Dean walked over to the desk chair, pulled it out and sat down. He picked up the phone, glanced at the sticky note in his other hand and dialed the number. He sighed as it started ringing. After the second ring, it picked up.
 

   
“Hi, this is Rebecca, is this Dean?” the voice on the other end asked. She sounded very pleasant.
 

   
“Uh, yes. Yes, this Dean,” he said.

   
“I was told to expect your call,” Rebecca said. He swore he could hear her smiling. “I understand you had a rough situation tonight. Why don’t you tell me what happened.”
 

   
As he discussed the incident, it seemed like a weight was lifting off of him. Could it be some other kind of magic? Well, magic or not, he felt better. He may survive this after all.

   
The conversation with Rebecca was just what Dean needed. They talked for about an hour and he felt noticeably better after he got off the call. She warned him that this type of counseling for first responders was just the first part of treatment. He was going to need to follow up with her later that week. They set up an hour-long appointment in her offices across town for that Wednesday, his next day off. He was surprised to discover that he was actually looking forward to it.
 

He checked his email while he was in front of the computer and found a message from Mike Farver. Mike wanted to catch up with him for a cup of coffee at the end of his shift on his way into the academy. He said he’d come by at six and pick him up. Dean replied back that he’d be looking forward to it.

   
Dean decided not to bother Brynne in the bunkroom since she was probably asleep. There were still a few hours left until the end of the shift. He decided to catch up on some more reading and see if he could be better prepared the next time he encountered patient like Lydia. Rebecca told him it was not his fault. She’d also said it might help him to be more confident if he learned more about the community and culture of the unique patient population he dealt with. He went over and picked up a book “The Heroes, Gods and Monsters of Greek Myth.” Lying back across the length of the sofa, he started flipping through the stories until he found one about Sirens. He’d be prepared for Lydia or others like her next time.

   
He woke up with a jolt as the door to the parking lot slammed shut. “Hey newbie,” Bill said as he walked in. “Slow night?”

   
“Uh, we had one call,” Dean said. “It was … interesting.”

   
“Those are the best kind, my friend,” he said, laughing. “Hi, Brynne!” Dean turned to see Brynne walking out from the bunkrooms.
 

“Did Dean tell you about our night?” she asked.

   
“No,” Bill said, setting down his coffee on the desk. “I just got here. He said you had one call.”

   
“We ran into a new Siren in town,” Brynne said. “Lydia was her name. She had a pretty bad asthma attack, but be careful if you go there. She wanted to keep Dean as her own paramedic for a while. I had to convince her otherwise.”

   
“Oooo,” Bill said. He looked at Dean. “It’s great to have women fighting over you, isn’t it, kid? Did she get to break out the cowbell and beeswax?”

   
“Uh, yeah,” Dean said, “it was a little too weird for my taste though. I prefer normal dating. You know, dinner and movie before I get a spell cast on me.

   
“I got zapped by a Siren once a few years back,” Bill said. “I even dated her off and on for a while. Nice girl, but a bit too high on the crazy-hot scale.”
 

   
“The world is littered with women who could say the same thing about you, Bill,” Lynne announced from the door. “What brought that up anyway? You guys have a run in with a Siren last night?”

   
“Yeah,” Brynne said. “Dean got his first taste of the darker side of Unusuals.”

   
“Patients, no matter whether they’re human or not,” Lynne said, “can catch you by surprise anytime, anywhere. Keeping up your guard all the time is impossible. That’s why we have partners to watch our backs. Hey, by the way, I think I saw Mike pulling up as I came in.”

   
“Oh, yeah,” Dean said. “He’s here to take me out for coffee and, I guess I get a pep talk after last night’s events.”

   
“Mike’s the guy to do it,” Bill said. “Hell, he invented this job. He knows more about dealing with Unusuals than anyone else out there, except maybe for Doc Spirelli of course.”

   
Dean put the book he’d fallen asleep with back on the shelf. “I guess I’ll go meet Mike and see what he has to say. You guys have a good day. I’ll see you tonight.” He left the squad room and went outside to the parking lot. The sun was shining and it looked like it was shaping up to be a great day. Mike sat in a marked Ford Explorer with the Elk City EMS shield on the doors and emergency lights on the roof. He walked to the passenger side, opened the door and climbed in.

   
“Dean,” Mike said, holding out his hand. “How the heck are you? I’ve been checking in with Brynne and she says you’re doing a great job. She says you’ve got some good skills and instincts for this unique type of patient care.”

   
Dean took the offered hand and shook it. “I’ve had better nights, but I guess that’s why you’re here.”
 

   
Mike smiled. “I would have been checking in on you soon anyway. I make a point to do that with all of my students a month or so after school is over. I want to make sure that their preceptors are treating them right.” He started the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot. “I did throw you to the dogs out here at Station U. I never had any doubts you were the right person for the job, but I probably should have prepared you better for the specifics of what you were going to run into here. You remind me of me when I was starting out.” He turned onto the main drag of Route 40. “You okay with diner food? I know a really good place called ‘Hanks’ near here if that’s okay with you?”

   
“Diner food sounds good,” Dean said. “I’m hungry after that night shift.”

   
“You’ll find that when something supernatural happens to you, it takes a lot of energy to recover from it,” Mike said as he drove. “You’ll likely be hungrier than normal for the next few days.”

   
They talked about some of the other students in the class but stayed away from anything about the previous night’s activities. After about 10 minutes on the road, they pulled into the parking lot of a beat up old diner modeled after the old train diner cars.
 

   
“Don’t let the outside fool you,” Mike said. “Trust me, the food is excellent. Everything you order here is good.”

   
“I’ll take your word for it,” Dean said. “I don’t think you’d try to poison me.”

   
Mike laughed as the two of them walked up to the diner’s door. Mike held the door for his former student as they both walked in. Mike nodded to the hostess and headed back to an empty booth in the back corner. That was interesting as the rest of the place was packed and there were others waiting for a seat.

   
“I come here a lot and I called ahead and had them save this spot for us. It’ll give us more privacy,” Mike gestured for Dean to sit down. Dean slid into the seat and picked up the plastic laminated menu as Mike sat down across from him. It was typical diner breakfast fare, and he thought maybe the creamed chipped beef on toast looked good with two eggs over easy on the side.

   
“Like I said,” Mike reminded him. “Everything here is good.” He didn’t look at the menu. “I usually get a short stack of buttermilk pancakes and a side of sausage links. Do you see anything that looks good to you?”

   
“I think I’m going to get the chipped beef with gravy and a couple of eggs,” Dean said.

   
Mike raised his hand and a waitress came over. She looked a little tired but greeted them with a smile. Her name tag read Daisy. “Hi Mike! Who’s your friend?” She asked.

   
“This is one of my former students, Dean,” Mike said. “Dean, this is Daisy.”

   
“Hi,” Dean said.

   
“So,” Daisy said. “What’ll you have?”

   
“The usual for me,” Mike said and looked at Dean, quirking an eyebrow. “And the creamed chipped beef for Dean, with two eggs on the side.” Dean nodded in affirmation.

   
After she left Mike looked at Dean. “So, how are you really? Last night must have been quite a shock.”

   
Dean met his mentor’s eyes. “I’m a little overwhelmed, honestly, and freaked out. I won’t lie; last night shook me up.” He looked down at his hands. “Mike, I’ve never felt so helpless. And the worst part was that I didn’t even know I was in danger or would have cared about it if I did know. Lydia was in control and I thought that was fine. It wasn’t until Brynne came in beating that cowbell that I knew something odd was happening. I really don’t remember much of it. I remember starting an assessment, then Brynne was leading me out to the ambulance.”
   

   
Mike nodded as he listened, a slight smile on his face. “I understand,” he said. “I really do. I got jumped by a vamp my first week on the job and that was back when we were first getting a handle on the type of things we needed to do. Doc Spirelli was riding along with us at that point and had to threaten the guy with the crucifix that hung on a chain around his neck. When we got back to the station, I was ready to quit on the spot and go work for my brother-in-law in his construction business. The doc talked me off that ledge. I’m still here.”

   
“I guess I kind of feel the same way,” Dean said. “I’m not sure this is right for me. Don’t get me wrong. I really do enjoy the challenge of getting the medicine right and the puzzle of assessing these patients is intriguing. But I’m still not sure it’s worth it.”

   
They paused the conversation for a minute as Daisy came back with their drinks. She set a steaming mug of coffee down in front of Mike then put Dean’s water and diet coke down. “Your food should be out soon, she said.

   
Mike waited until she had stepped away and then asked, “I heard you set up an appointment to talk with Rebecca?” Dean nodded. “She’s awesome, I think you’ll like her.”

   
“I talked with her on the phone last night,” Dean said. “She helped, some.”

   
“That’s good, Dean,” Mike said. “You have to understand it’s a process. You’re not going to forget this all in a night or even a single counseling session. The trick now is to decide whether or not you’re up to continuing on the job right now.”