Saving the Dead, page 19
“We didn’t do anything with it, Roger,” Ramirez told him calmly. “You must have left it somewhere.”
“Give it back, you fucking asshole!” He swiped at Ramirez who stepped back easily. “Try to steal from me, motherfucker! Gonna kill you!”
Roger tried to stand up, but his efforts caused him to stagger forward into the street. Ramirez, Drifts, and Donnagan hauled him back and laid him back safely in the grass. Ramirez sighed heavily. “We’re probably going to have to take him back to the ER to sober up.”
Donnagan nodded. “That’s probably true, but the real question is, who is going to take him?”
The scene became very quiet as both crews waited in the pregnant pause for the other to volunteer. After a few moments when it became clear that neither crew was going to step forward, Roger broke the silence himself. “I don’t want to go to the hospital!”
“Quiet!” The two crews said in unison.
Donnagan smiled at Justin. “Are you sure your student couldn’t use the experience?”
Ramirez shook his head. “Nice try. Justin has already experienced Roger tonight.”
Donnagan shrugged. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“There’s only one way to settle this,” Ramirez said finally.
Donnagan nodded. “Agreed. It’s the only way.”
“Who do you want to represent our crews? Senior members, medics, EMTs, or junior members?” Ramirez asked.
“Senior members of the crew,” Donnagan answered. “First time or two out of three?”
“Two out of three,” said Ramirez. “Shoot on three or one-two-three then shoot?”
Donnagan said, “I like one two three then shoot.”
Ramirez and Donnagan squared off, raising their hands.
“You got this, Leo!” Drifts cheered.
“Come on, Joe! Bring the victory home to Momma!” Tracy called.
Together they simultaneously they balled their hands into fists. Donnagan asked, “Are you ready?” His eyes grim, Ramirez nodded.
They called out in unison, “One-two-three-shoot!”
“Damn!” exclaimed Donnagan. He was holding out two fingers.
Ramirez smiled as he held out his fist. “Rock beats scissors.”
Chapter Twelve
Flag Down
“You had him! You fucking had him!”
“Let me the fuck go! Untie my motherfucking hands!” Roger snarled into his oxygen mask. Brown sputum lined the clear plastic and smeared against his unkempt beard.
Drifts groaned, “I can’t believe we have to fucking transport this jackoff twice!”
“Fuck you!” shouted Roger.
“And you,” Drifts snapped back at his inebriated patient, “how stupid can you be? Getting froggy with us twice in the same night! Didn’t you learn anything from our first encounter?”
“Fuck you!” Roger screamed.
“I don’t think that he’s in the educating mood, Sam,” said Ramirez.
“I know that!” Drifts looked back at Justin, “Hey kid, you still have a goober on your shoulder.” Justin gagged as he grabbed a piece of gauze and wiped the nickel-sized gob of sputum off his shoulder, leaving a brown tinged smear in its wake.
Drifts smirked. “By the way, good job taking Drinkey MacDrunkerson down. I have to admit, you have some stones on you. When Miss-fucking-Congeniality went ape-shit back there, you didn’t bat an eye.”
Justin flushed. “Um, thanks.” Drifts rolled his eyes. “Don’t let it go to her your head, kid. All I mean is I don’t think you completely suck.”
Ramirez nodded. “Which is Sam’s off-handed way of saying he loves you.” Drifts snorted, then made a kissing gesture in the rearview mirror.
“Aw, thank you,” Justin gushed with mock sincerity. “I love you too.”
Suddenly a pair of headlights flashed up into the rearview section of the ambulance. They all looked around as the vehicle behind them blinked its high beams on and off.
Drifts gripped the wheel tighter. “What the hell are these jackoffs doing?”
The vehicle blared its horn several times. Its engine revved as it peeled up the street beside them, coming parallel to the rig.
“The fuckers in this car are gesturing at me. They want me to stop!” Drifts called back at Ramirez, “What do you want me to do?”
Ramirez’s hackles raised. “Call it in now! Then-”
The car shot ahead, and pulled in front of them, and slammed its brakes.
“Hold on!” shouted Drifts as his own foot stomped down on the break pad.
Triple-Three’s tires screeched across the pavement as everything and everyone lurched forward. Ramirez was flung into the cowcatcher, a webbing of canvas straps that hung from the side bench to the ceiling, installed for just such unfortunate occasions. Justin had the distinct misfortune of landing on Roger’s lap, face first. Loose contents they were using from gauze, to IV supplies, to Ramirez’s clipboard catapulted forward peppering everyone within.
“Ow!” shouted Roger. “Get the fuck off of me!”
Justin repressed a gag and hurried to push himself off.
“What the fuck are these motherfuckers trying to pull?” Drifts snarled.
The EMT slammed the ambulance into park and was already undoing his seatbelt and starting out the door.
They could hear him shout, “Hey! What the hell!”
“Sam! Wait!” Ramirez pushed himself up out of the cramped space and was scrambling out the door. He only paused long enough to stab a commanding finger at Justin. “Do not come out for anything! If there is trouble, drive away!” He didn’t wait to see if the student caught the full meaning of his words. He had already closed the door behind him and pulled free his radio. He keyed the mic. “Triple-Three we-”
A voice shot out at him. “Motherfucker, put down that fucking radio!” The owner of the voice was a pimply-faced youth wearing gang colors aiming a pistol at him. He wasn’t alone. Two other gang members with him, one had a gun trained on Drifts, and the other stood by their vehicle. His gaze kept darting from them to the tinted interior of his car.
Drifts’s face was crimson with open rage, but he kept his mouth firmly shut and his hands up.
Ramirez slowly lowered his radio. It squawked in his hand, “Triple-Three?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” the first one snarled. “Aren’t you motherfuckers supposed to help people and shit?”
“Yes. That is what we do,” Ramirez said evenly.
“Then why the fuck didn’t you stop when we waved you down?”
“We were about to.”
His radio squawked again, “Unit Triple-Three, unit Three-Three-Three, please respond.”
The leader pointed his pistol at the radio. “Man, turn that shit off!”
Ramirez nodded. “Okay. I will.” He pressed the orange panic button on top a moment before he flicked off the radio.
“I’m sick of this shit!” the leader roared. “Dealing with motherfuckers like you!”
“What is it you need?” Ramirez asked.
The leader glared at him. “I need you motherfuckers to do your job and fucking stop when people ask for help!”
Ramirez nodded. “We will work on being more efficient at that. Is there anything that we can help you with right now?”
The leader’s hand tensed around the grip of his pistol. “Motherfucker, are you giving me attitude? You have no idea what kind of fucking night we’ve had. I will not bat one motherfucking-eye to put a bullet between yours! So you best-”
“Terrence!” the one by the car called. “We don’t have time for this shit! Antoine is not looking good at all!”
“Julius, don’t talk to me like that in front of them!” shouted Terrence.
Julius shouted back, “You’re wasting fucking time man!”
“Who is Antoine?” Drifts asked.
The leader whirled around and pointed the pistol at Drifts, “Never you fucking mind!”
Ramirez asked, “What happen to him?”
Julius opened the door and waved them over. “He was shot a little bit ago. Man, he doesn’t look good!”
Ramirez looked at Terrence who kept changing his aim from Drifts to himself. “May we approach your friend and see if we can help?”
Julius spoke for him, “Terrence! Billy! Put your God damn guns down now! These ambulance folks can’t do a motherfucking thing from over there!”
The remaining gang members lowered their weapons. Ramirez stepped past them warily and approached the car. He shined his flashlight inside of the vehicle. In the backseat was skinny kid of about fourteen or fifteen. He was sweating profusely and panting, his eyes were glazed over. He was bleeding heavily from a wound on his abdomen.
Ramirez looked up at his partner who was now just behind him. “Sam?”
Drifts nodded, “I’ll get a backboard and the trauma bag.” He ran back to the truck.
Ramirez felt for a pulse at the radial artery on his wrist, but it was absent. His skin was cold and clammy. He tried the carotid artery of his neck. It was there, but weak. “How long ago did this happen?”
“Twenty minutes at most!” said the one by the car.
“I’ve got the board!” Drifts said as he returned.
“We need to move!” Ramirez.
Ramirez unclamped the straps and pushed the corner of the board underneath the injured young man’s legs. Antoine groaned.
Terrence snarled, “What the hell are you doing? You’re hurting him!”
“That can’t be helped,” Ramirez responded calmly. “We need to get him to the hospital fast.”
Rage radiated off of Terrence. “You better not hurt him, because-”
Julius cut him off. “Terrence! I know you mean well, but shut the fuck up! You ain’t helping Antoine one bit threatening these guys like that!” He looked up at Ramirez. “What can we do?”
Ramirez nodded. “You three, get the board on this end and hold it up parallel with the car.”
“I’ll get him from the car other side.” Drifts went to the back passenger seat and climbed in. “Leo, there is a hell of a lot of blood in here.”
“I know,” Ramirez acknowledged.
The veteran medic looked into Antoine’s vacant eyes. “Young man, we are going to lay you down and get you to the hospital. This might hurt, but we’ll be as gentle as we can.”
He looked from his partner to the three gang members. “Everyone ready?”
They all nodded.
“Ready? One-two-three!”
Ramirez took Antoine by the shoulders and Drifts took his legs. Together they pivoted him around in his seat and laid him down on the backboard. Antoine cried out and more blood spurted from his abdomen.
Terrence’s face contorted with terror. “It’s okay, buddy! Hold on!”
“You,” Ramirez looked at the closest, Billy, who was also the brawniest. “Help me slide him down.”
Together he and Billy took Antoine by the shoulders and legs and slid him higher up on the board while Drifts anchored one end on the back driver side seat. Ramirez quickly secured him in place with the leg and chest straps.
Ramirez asked, “Will you please help us carry him to our ambulance?”
Terrence looked at him sharply. “Why can’t you get your stretcher?”
“Because we already have a patient already on it. Hence why I’m asking.”
“Okay,” said Julius.
Together the five of them hoisted it to the back of the ambulance. As Drifts pulled open the door and Justin stared up at them wide eyed.
“What the fuck is this horseshit!” Roger demanded.
“What the fuck!” Terrence snarled as he saw Justin. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you had someone in the back of your fucking ambulance?”
Ramirez ignored him as he said, “Everyone lift him on the bench! Ready? One-two-three!”
Justin helped pull the new patient onto the bench and slid the seatbelts over Antoine without being asked.
Terrence grabbed Ramirez’s arm and pulled him around to face him. “I asked you a question, motherfucker!”
“Hey!” shouted Drifts.
Ramirez held up his hand to silence his partner at his partner and looked up at the hand on his arm. He looked back up meeting the gang member’s eyes “For the same reason you pulled over an ambulance at gunpoint: I, just like you, will protect my own.” Terrence held his eyes and nodded. He let his hand drop. “We will do what we can for Antoine. Please leave now. The police are on their way and I don’t want any more trouble from anyone.”
Terrence’s eyes went wide then narrowed. “Okay.”
Billy said, “Did he just say that the cops were coming? Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
“Please take care of him,” said Julius.
“We will.” He looked at Drifts. “Come on, Sam.” Drifts entered Triple-Three through the box. “Get us out of here quickly, please.”
Drifts hopped inside the cab. “You don’t have to tell me fucking twice.”
Ahead of the ambulance, the three gang members scrambled into the car and their wheels screeched as they tore away. Moments later, it rounded a corner and was gone.
“How’s he look in the light?” asked Drifts.
Instead of answering his partner, Ramirez asked, “Antoine, how are you doing?” The young man was panting and licked his lips as he tried to answer.
Roger screamed out, “Hey! What the fuck is going on?”
“Be quiet, Roger!” Ramirez snapped. “We don’t have time for your foolishness!”
“Fuck you!”
“Ignore him, young man.”
“Sc-scared!”
Ramirez squeezed Antoine’s hand. “I know you are young man. Justin and I are right here with you.”
“Here you go, Leo” Justin handed him the IV starter kit and primed IV bag.
Drifts grabbed the mic. “Triple-Three to dispatch,”
Dispatch squawked, “Triple-Three! Are you guys okay? What happened?”
“We were flagged down and held up at gunpoint by some friends of a shooting victim. We’re now en route emergently to Memorial with a second GSW patient.”
“Is anyone else hurt?”
Drifts said, “No.”
Just then the Triple-Three wheel struck a pothole, sending everyone flying up and back down. Antoine cried out. Justin crashed down on top of Roger’s legs.
“Get the fuck off of me!” Roger howled. “Learn to fucking drive, asshole!”
Drifts repressed the urge to cuss on the air. “None of us on the crew are hurt. Could you have PD meet us at the hospital?”
“Will do, Triple-Three,” said the dispatcher. “I’m glad you guys are okay.”
“Thanks.”
In the box Ramirez said, “I’ve got a 14-gage IV in his right AC.”
Justin looked up from placing an oxygen mask on Antoine’s face. Their patient was gasping for each breath. Ramirez grabbed the stethoscope hanging from the cowcatcher net and listened to Antoine’s chest.
“Hand me a 14-gage IV,” said Ramirez.
“You’re going to start another line?” Justin asked.
“No, he’s not moving any air in his right lung. I’m going to do a needle decompression.” Justin’s eyes widened but he quickly came back with the IV. “Hand me the betadine,” Ramirez pointed.
Justin grabbed a prewrapped swab and opened it for the medic. Ramirez took the swab and cleaned a spot above the third rib on his young patient’s chest.
He called up, “Easy on the bumps, Sam! I’m decompressing the chest!”
“What! Do you need me back there?” The EMT started slowing the truck down.
“No. Just take it easy on the road for the next few minutes!”
“Will do.”
Roger looked at the large bore needle in his hand, “What the fuck are you going to do with that!”
Antoine’s eyes started to roll back into his head. Ramirez said, “Justin get ready to bag him!” Justin grabbed the bag valve mask and hooked up the other oxygen dispenser. Ramirez sighted above the third rib.
Roger’s eyes widened. “Are you going to do?”
Ramirez pushed the needle into Antoine’s chest.
“You did!” Roger screamed. “You fucking stabbed him! What the fuck is wrong with you?” The drunk man thrashed in his restraints savagely trying to free himself. “You motherfuckers are monsters!”
Despite Roger’s vulgar yet passionate protests, Ramirez wholly ignored him as he focused on Antoine. He pulled the needle free of the IV catheter and air hissed out of the hub, barely audible over Roger’s ranting. Suddenly, Antoine gasped. The young man’s bulging eyes focused on Ramirez as his continued his panting. It was still labored, but not nearly as bad. The medic quickly secured the 14 gauge down.
“Sam, go ahead and speed us up again.”
“You got it,” answered Drifts.
“Don’t just sit there!” Roger screamed at Antoine. “These fuckers trying to kill you!”
He thrashed again and tried to lurch towards Ramirez to bite him. His restraints held him back and Justin shouted, “Hey!”
The student cinched down the drunk’s seatbelt. Roger released an inarticulate growl. Justin grabbed the mic. “Leo, do you want me to call this into the hospital?”
Ramirez nodded. “Keep it short and sweet, just the highlights. I’m here if you need me. I’m going to start another line.”
“Okay.” Justin keyed the mic. “Triple-Three to Dispatch.”
“Go ahead, Triple-Three.”
“Dispatch could you please give me a channel to Memorial Hospital ER for trauma.”
“Triple-Three, we have Memorial on channel 7.”
“Thank you.”
Justin changed the radio channels. “Triple-Three calling Memorial for two patients, one a trauma.”
“This is Memorial. Go ahead, Triple-Three.”
As Justin opened his mouth to give his report, Roger shouted, “They’re trying to kill us!”
Justin stammered, “Um Memorial this is paramedic student, Justin Colbert. We have two incoming patients. The first is approximately fifteen-year-old male with a GSW to the abdomen. We had to-”
