A Collection of Short Stories

At the Scene

My eyes burned when I turned on my phone to answer a call. My contacts bar had- in big letters- "WORK, DON'T SAY ANYTHING STUPID!!!"

Man, but did I want to right then.

"What is it?" I answered, in a tired voice, trying not to fall back asleep.

"We need you at the station ASAP, some kids got drunk and totaled their car, one had his leg lopped off. We're short on staff so, we need to call you in. Sorry about ruining your day off." a voice replied.

I recognized as being my elderly co-worker, Carol.

"Okay, Okay, I'm on it. And it's fine." I said, sitting up and kicking off my blankets. I pulled on a pair of pants and a basic T-shirt, running a brush through my hair as quietly as I could. I guess I wasn't quiet enough because Rachel woke up.

"Heading to the station?" Carol asked sounding disappointed, "I wanted a nice night in with you." she finished, pouting.

"Yeah, I know. But I got to go," I whispered, putting on my jacket and grabbing my keys. I gave her a quick hug and rushed out the door.

"Have a good night Greg!" she shouted from the window as I got in the car. I gave her a wave before getting in and starting up the car.

The station was a good five miles away, on a wide road, that was all but empty now. I thought of the case, in hopes of getting my mind off of my exhaustion. 

I pulled into the station and saw that the ambulance was almost packed. Carol was hopping in along with Sal and Carl, I jumped out of my car after parking it and ran into the ambulance.

"Want some coffee?" Carol said, her wrinkled hands holding out a steaming cup.

"Yeah," I replied taking the brew out of her hands "I didn't get any at home." I took a sip and began to feel alive almost immediately.

==========

We got to the sight in a matter of minutes. Carol's informant was right, there was a totaled car with two kids in it, and two kids out of it. One kid, that was out of the car, was holding a phone and talking to someone. All the other kids were unconscious. 

Draped over a chicken wire fence was the kid in the worst condition. He was missing a leg and bleeding an enormous amount. All the other kids looked okay aside from the kid that was holding the phone, his arm was clearly broken.

I ran over to the kid draped over the fence and lowered him off of it. He was a good 180 pounds, but adrenaline and caffeine were fueling me. I placed him on the ground in front of me, and grabbed my tourniquet belt, wrapping it below his knee. It looked like the ankle and foot was missing.

Lucky kid.

Carol came up behind me and hummed, "Whoo, that kid was a doozy." She crouched down and began to bandage his hand, fractured in so many places it was impossible to count. I turned my attention back to his leg and began to clean up the blood. 

He was going into shock. 

I was glad when Carl came over with the stretcher for him. I wrapped the bandages and helped Carl load him onto the stretcher. Sal seemed busy with the kid with the mangled arm. It looked like he had woken up the other two kids. 

The other boys weren't hurt. 

I grabbed the other end of the stretcher and loaded the teen into the ambulance. Carol went over to the unharmed looking kids and began to question them about the scene. 

The police sirens and lights were seeable in the distance. I pulled myself into the ambulance and sat down next to the teen. Carol followed behind me, being careful not rise the kid from his stupor.

Sweat was drenching his clothes and blood stains were present on his clothing. It was obvious that we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. This teen sure looked a lot like-

My thoughts were cut off by a meek cry of, "Dad...." I whipped my head away from the boy's injuries and towards his face, my eyes filled with surprise. "Dad..." the kid moaned again. His eyes began to twitch open and tears started to leak out of the corners.

His teeth clenched and he hissed, trying not to scream in pain. I wanted to tell him to relax, but Carol was already on it. Her hands patting his non-broken hand with the utmost care. The boy relaxed some, comforted by her words. He began to fall back into sweet unconsciousness.

"He sure looks like-" I began to say.

"Yeah, he does," Carol said in a rushed tone of voice, not wanting me to finish my sentence.

We used to have a friend named McKinley, he was the sweetest little 19-year-old boy. He got his GED and then dropped out to join the EMT crew. He had great promise in the field. He died when he tried to get a girl away from a shootout. He got the girl and ran out. McKinley didn't know about the bullet in his chest until he collapsed from blood loss. 

He never woke up. 

We all loved him like he was our son, but this job was as dangerous as a police officer or firefighters. People never tell you that.

The boy in front of me and Carol had the same red hair and freckled face. His choice of clothing, from his flannel shirt and his roughly cut jeans, was the same. Despite the fact that his voice had been quiet and muffled by blood, he even sounded like McKinley.

We arrived at the hospital and we shoved open the doors. The boy's stretcher pulled out of the ambulance and rushed into Emergency Room. I ran up behind the stretcher but stopped when I realized that this wasn't my jurisdiction. 

I turned around walked back to the ambulance. I stumbled along at a slow pace, not wanting to leave the boy alone with the doctors. I pulled myself back into the ambulance.

Next thing I knew, I was at the station. Carol patted my back and stood up, while saying, "Well, Greg. That was quite a night. And sorry again about ruining your day off, I'll make sure to mark it as overtime for the boss." she said, giving me a wink before hopping out. 

I pulled myself out and took off my work overcoat and gloves. I went into the station and dropped them both into the "CONTAMINATED" bin. 

I rushed myself out and went into my car. I clicked engine on and pulled out of the parking lot. I took the long route home, the scenic one.

The night was cool and dark, the stars giving the sky a metal-like sheen to it. I rolled down the tops of my window, to allow the night air to tickle my face. 

It was gorgeous. 

I don't know how long I was out on the road, but when I got back home it was close to 4 am.

I snuck back into the bed with Rachel and whispered, "Good Night." in her ear before I fell asleep.