Sleeping Alone

I slide into bed, adjusting the pillows here and there. Enjoying the entire bed to myself, probably enjoying it more than my girlfriend would like to know. It had been a long rainy night. Driving the usual half an hour down to class through rain that wouldn't allow you to see the road much less the lines painted on it. The whole ride my mind is caught thinking about the impending final I'm about to take. How I'm pissed that it was moved up two weeks and that we haven't gone over the material that I'm being tested on tonight. But that's another post itself.

The test is as pointless as I thought. In my opinon it does little to evaluate me. I make the long journey home, to the awaiting bed and some much needed sleep.

Pillows set, blankets just right, fan on, close the shades, sprawled out like I own the place and it's "night-night."

The pager goes off, not with the usual tones that indicate a regular ambulance call, but with the "good tones." The ones indicating either a fire or a rescue call. (Rescue can mean extrication, full arrest, water rescue, ice rescue, trench rescue, I think you get the idea.)

"I need rescue out of Station #1 to.... on a full arrest" The pager screams.

I'm up and struggle a little with the blankets as they attempt to subdue me. After my own mini extrication I find my jumpsuit and radio. Seeing as I live across the damn street from the fire department along with my roommate and the neighboring house we make quite a sizable force at 2345 at night. If the girlfriend spends the night we have four EMT and two Medics basically standing-by. For a volunteer department it makes for really nice response times. We pull out with four EMTs and one Medic.

En route in three minutes, arrived in three minutes, found the PD doing CPR a minute after that, hell I think we might rival some full time joints with that kind of a response.

It looks like an ant colony going to work on this little old lady. Bags flying here and there, pads off, new pads on, ET equipment laid out and IV bags spiked ready for the Easy OI hook up.

Enter the second medic, having the better fly-by view, she halts the efforts just prior to them really starting. Assessing the possible downtime and the fact the first medic remarks that the lady's jaw is quite rigid. The decision is made to halt the efforts. A another strip is ran for confirmation.

As I rustle up my garbage and collect what's left of the IV bag I over hear the medic tell the daughter her mother is dead.

"No, No, you have to do something! You have to do something!" She protest.

"Ma'am, she's dead, she's gone, I'm very for your loss sorry"

We clear the scene, having only gotten out of bed exactly 20 minutes before.

I get home and clean up, hanging my jumpsuit on the same hook as always, boots right beside, radio back into it's charger. Waiting for their next trip.

It's impossible that her daughter will be able to sleep as well I hopefully will. It retrace the call in my mind as I fall asleep. Waiting for my personal medic to wake me up as she gets home at 0600, wondering what calls she's ran, her battles.

As usual I slept like a baby, I always do when the bed is mine.