Married For Jeremy (Under Fire Book 1) (9 page)

              “Oh, right, I cleaned that cupboard last week and took all the outdated stuff to the pharmacy.” She handed him the t-shirt in her hand.

              “There’s nothing left here.”

              “You obviously don’t get sick much. Some of your meds were five years old.” The muscles in his chest rippled as he raised his arms over his head and to pull the shirt on. She swallowed and tried to ignore the feelings he was giving her. “See, it’s not all gone. You still have Tylenol.”

              “Funny. That’s not what I need.” James leaned a hip against the counter as he tucked his shirt into his jeans.

              “I have Graval in my room from when I had morning sickness. I’ll get you some.” She brushed past him.

              “So what seems to be the problem?” The doctor asked when James finally got to see him.

              “I’ve got this really bad pain in my side and my wife was worried I have appendicitis.”

              “Lie back on the table and let’s take a look.” The doctor said.  He gently probed James’s abdomen. “Does this hurt?” he asked when he moved his hand away.

              “Not really.”

              “If you had appendicitis, you would’ve hit the ceiling when I did that. It looks like a classic case of kidney stones. I’m going to get you some painkiller, and we’re going to run some tests just to be sure.”

              By the time the doctor came back into the room, the painkiller had taken effect and James felt a little fuzzy in the head, but less like a war victim. “There’s good and bad news.” The doctor told him

              “Okay.”

              “Good news is, all you have is kidney stones, but the bad news is, it’s going to continue to hurt until your body gets rid of them. I’m going to give you some pills, then you need to go home and drink lots of fluids and rest until you feel better.”

              After being given some pain pills and being told to come back or go to his family doctor if he didn’t improve soon, James and Ellen headed back to Ellen’s car. James didn’t pay attention to much as she drove home, but saw the car before she did.

              “Ellen! Watch out!” Ellen slammed on her brakes as a red import pulled into traffic ahead of the pick-up they were following. They both heard the deafening crash as Ellen managed to pull safely to the side of the road.

              Without a second thought, James jumped out of the car and reached into the back seat for his backpack. Even in his pain clouded state earlier, he’d grabbed it on the way out the door. Dropping it to the ground, he pulled out his fire radio and coveralls.

              “James? What are you doing?”

              “We’ve got to help, people might be hurt.”

              “But you’re sick.”

              James was already radioing in the call. “Fire Dispatch, Darcy Firefighter Walker.”

              “Go ahead Firefighter Walker.”

              “I’m on scene at a two vehicle MVC at the junction of Highway 17 and Pine Road. I need EMS, Police and Fire.”

              “Can you provide details about the number of patients and injuries?”

              “Not at this time.”

              “Roger, will dispatch Fire, EMS and Police.”

              James set his radio down and pulled his coveralls on over his work boots. “Come with me if you want,” he said to Ellen, jogging toward the crash. He quickly circled the scene, surveying the area for hazards to his own safety, and the condition of the patients. The driver of the pick-up was slumped over the steering wheel and it looked like there was a car seat beside him.

              “Help me! I can’t get out!” The female driver of the car saw him and started screaming.

              “It’s all right.” James wanted to go to the truck, but knew he needed to calm the girl down first. He glanced behind him. “Ellen?” She was still standing on the side of the road. She slowly ventured toward him. He leaned closer to the distraught girl. “Everything’s going to be fine, I’m James and I’m with the fire department. My team is on the way and we’re going to get you out.” He doubted she was actually trapped, but the way the driver’s door was smashed, he assumed they’d have to take her out the other side.

              Her face and nose were bloody and her seatbelt hung limply beside her. She’d obviously banged her nose on the steering column.

              “I know first-aid, can I help?” James looked behind him to see a middle-aged man.

              “Sure, can you take care of this girl?”

              “I suppose.”

              “Grab a pair of gloves. There’s some in the front pocket of my backpack.”

              “Is that necessary?”

              “Yes.” James handed the man gloves, then some dressings. He turned back to the girl. “I’m going to leave you with this man. Help is on the way. Stay calm and we’ll have you out of there in no time.”

              James turned and headed for the truck as he radioed Dispatch to update them on the situation. The driver’s door was jammed shut, so James headed around the truck. The passenger window was down partway and he was able to reach inside and roll it down enough to almost reach the car seat and stable, but crying baby. The man was unconscious, but James could see his chest rising and falling steadily, so he knew he was still breathing.

“Can I help?” Ellen stood behind him now. James saw that she was already wearing medical gloves.

              “There’s not much we can do right now. I need to crawl in there, but it’s not safe to do that until the vehicle is stabilized.

              A siren in the distance let him know that help was almost on scene. The man stirred, then became conscious.

              “Where am I? I have to get out. Where’s Lacy?” He struggled. James moved around to the front of the truck so he could look the man in the eye.

              “It’s all right. I’m James and I’m with the Fire Department. You’ve been in a car accident, but help is on the way, everything is going to be okay.”

              “I can’t move my legs. Where’s Lacy?”

              “She’s right here. It’s all right; we’re going to get you out.” An ambulance arrived on scene and a familiar medic headed toward James, medical bag in hand.

              “So what have we got?”

              “Three patients, one extrication for sure.”

              Fire arrived on scene a few minutes later. “Thought you might need this, so I grabbed it when I heard you were on scene.” Reg walked up to James and handed him his helmet.

              “You going in?” Captain Kelly asked James.

              “Sure.”

              “All right.” Captain Kelly turned back to the crew. “Hurry up with that cribbing!”

Once the vehicle was stabilized with wood blocks under the four corners of the frame, James was boosted through the open passenger window and carefully crawled around the car seat to kneel next to the man. “I’m just going to put my hands on your head.

              Soon, James found himself under a tarp with the patient.

              “Breaking glass!” James heard Zack yell, before glass shattered.

              The sound of the spreaders was close to his ear as the crew worked to remove the driver’s door. A popping sound, just before light entered the cab told him they’d succeeded.

              It was hot and stuffy under the tarp. James felt a wave of nausea, then pain in his side again. He wondered if that pain had stopped or if the adrenaline rush had just made him forget it.

              He blinked at the light as the tarp came off his head. “James, you’d better get some air.” Captain Kelly said, putting his hands on the patient’s head.

              James stumbled out of the truck and over to where the pumper had been parked. It was angled a little too close to the edge of the road and he had to hold on to the ladder to keep from slipping into the ditch. Hopefully there was a case of water on here somewhere. His stomach lurched again and he knew it was no use. He dropped to his knees and threw up.

              “Good grief, is Ellen’s cooking that bad?” Reg looked at him quizzically from his position up on the truck beside the pump panel.

              James got up and brushed the gravel off his knees. “I have kidney stones and I’m a little goofy on painkiller.”

              “Oh.” Reg reached into the cab, retrieved a bottle of water and threw it to James. “I thought you looked a little funny. Kinda like you were stoned, but I know you usually don’t drink this early in the day. That sucks.”

              James unscrewed the bottle cap and rinsed his mouth. “What sucks? The fact that I’m sick or the fact that I’m not drunk?” James leaned against the side of the truck.

              “Kidney stones. I’ve had them four times, it sucks.”

              “Are you serious?”

              “Yeah. And the morphine makes me sick too. Rather that than the pain though.”  Reg glanced back toward the scene. “Smile when you go back over there.”

              “Don’t tell me.” James didn’t want to hear there were reporters on scene.

              “Yep, press just rolled in. Zack said the hot blonde is the Mayor’s daughter.”

              “Great. Can I just stay here?” James asked sarcastically, pushing away from the truck and grabbing onto the ladder so he could walk back around it to the scene.

              The crew was loading the patients onto the waiting ambulance as James walked back to the Captain.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” James said with a nod.

“He was lucky,” the Captain said quietly as the paramedic slammed the door on the ambulance. “He’s got feeling in both his legs and no fractures.”

“What about the baby?”

“They won’t know till they get her to the hospital, but she was strapped in properly and seems okay. You did good handling this until we got here.”

“Thanks,” James said. “Is it okay if I head home now? My wife is here and we were on our way home from the doctor ourselves.”

“That’s fine. There’s really not much left to do here.”

James headed back to Ellen’s car and pulled his coveralls off.

              “Are you okay?”

              “Yeah, I just want to get home.” James said, climbing into the passenger seat.

              “Where did you disappear to after you got out of the truck?” Ellen asked, getting into the driver’s seat.

              “I threw up.”

              “Oh.”

              “Can we go home? I want to lie down again.”

              “All right.”

Chapter 9

              James crashed on the couch the moment he got his boots off and thought he’d fall asleep, then Ellen came over to him. Seeing that she wanted to sit down, James curled up tighter to give her space. She perched on the arm of the couch. “I’m sorry you’re sick.”

              “I’ll be okay.”

              “Do you want a blanket or something? It’s kind of cold in here.”

              “I’m all right.”               He watched her as she sat there silently. “Are you all right?”

              Ellen said nothing for several moments. “That baby was really cute.”

              “Yeah.”

              “James?”

              “Yeah.”

              “How do you do it? Someone could’ve died.”

              “I guess. That one wasn’t too serious. It was just a matter of getting the man’s legs out from under the dashboard and even then, it was a pretty simple extrication. Cap said the guy even had feeling in his legs once they got him out.”

              “But what about if it’s worse. What if the baby had died?”

              “We would’ve done what we could, but we’re not miracle workers.” James found his mind drifting back to the fatal crash of a few months ago.

              “Isn’t it hard?”

              “Yeah, sometimes.” James turned over on his back and put his hands behind his head. “The human mind is a funny thing. Sometimes, we might see a fatal mess, and not get bothered at all, then have something like today and have it haunt us for days.”

              “Have you had any really bad calls like that?”

              “A few. There was one a few months ago. That time you came and I was drinking...” James didn’t finish the sentence.

              “Is it weird, you know, to be upset about a minor call?”

              “Like today?”

              “Yeah.”

              James sat up and looked at her. “Do we need to talk about today?”

              “No, I just, well, I’ve never done anything like that.”

              “Then you need to talk about it. Maybe not now, but probably later. Can you do that?”

              “I’ll try.” Ellen stood up. “Why don’t I get you a blanket? In case you get cold later?”

              “Okay,” James said, knowing she needed something to do to take her mind off things.

              She came back a few moments later with a blanket and he snuggled under it. It actually was a little cold. “Are those pain pills the doctor gave me handy?”

              “You want them?”

              “Yeah.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s been long enough.”

              He thanked her when she brought him the pills and some water. “Why don’t you put your feet up for a bit. You looked pretty worn out when we were at the doctor’s.”

              “I might go to my room for awhile.”

              “Promise me you’ll come talk if you need to? You’ll just make yourself sick if you keep all that stress inside.”

              “I will.”

              “James, does pacing around like that actually help?” Ellen complained.

              “Not really why?”

              “It’s annoying.”

              “Fine, I’ll go outside.” James turned toward the front door.

              “Why don’t you go out back and take the laundry off the line?”

              “It’s not dry yet.”

              “Are you sure?”

              “No, but I’ll check it later.”

              Not believing him, Ellen walked out the back door and felt a pair of jeans. They were still damp. Turning around, she crossed the house and went out to where he was sitting on the front steps. “I’m sorry you’re sick.”

              “Don’t be.”

              “No, I am, and I’m going to pray it gets better fast.”

              “Why bother, God doesn’t care.”

              Ellen sat down beside him. “Why do you have to believe that. Of course God cares.”

              James sighed. “I used to think so, then I learned the truth.”

              “It wasn’t Truth, because Truth would’ve set you free from all the lies you believe.”

              “Whatever.”

              “James, I just don’t understand. You know the Bible stories, you can sing hymns word perfect. I bet you can even quote scripture, but you don’t care about God. I don’t get it.”

              James sighed, then clasped his hands between his knees and looked down at the pathway beyond the steps. “My Dad was a preacher. I spent a lot of time in church. Stuff rubbed off on me after awhile.”

              “Then why...” Ellen stopped, it wasn’t something she should ask.

              “Why am I so messed up? That’s what you want to know isn’t it?” James clenched his hands tighter. “You want to know why a guy with such a great family and a godly, loving grandmother, ended up rejecting church? Am I right?”

“I’m sorry I said anything,” Ellen said quietly.

              “You should be. It isn’t any of your business.”

              “It is so, we’re married and since you won’t leave the past in the past, it’s partially my problem now.”

              “Fine. Do you want to hear the whole messy story?”

              “Yes.”

              “Okay.” James ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know where to start. I guess, well, like I said, my dad was a preacher. An evangelist really. We travelled a lot, so he could speak. I was an usher practically from the time I could walk. He’d put me at the door, welcoming people and handing out bulletins. I hated it. Everyone was always watching me and telling me what a great preacher I’d make some day.”

              “Was your dad a Christian?”

              “Yes, he believed in Jesus. All he preached was the gospel. People always came forward when he did an altar call, he did a lot of good in the world, only sometimes he got a little too wrapped up in the numbers and forgot they were really people he was dealing with.”

              “What about you? Did you get to spend a lot of time with him when you travelled?”

              “Not really. He was always busy. After awhile, I started staying with Grandma and Grandpa in the summers, right here in this house. It was easier on Mom and Dad.”

              “Is that how you ended up taking care of your grandmother?”

              “Sort of. See, my dad couldn’t stand cold, and we lived in a big, drafty house about four hours south east of here. He used to use an old heater in the basement near where him and Mom slept. One night, well, something went wrong.” James swallowed hard and clenched his hands together. “I woke up and knew something was wrong, then I smelled the smoke and went outside. My parents didn’t get out.” James’s voice choked up.

              “Didn’t you have smoke alarms?”

              James shook his head. “No. There was one in the house and it wasn’t working at the time. I doubt my parents had any idea what was happening.”

              “How old were you then?”

              “Eleven.”

              “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

              “No. It’s just me. My fire crew are my brothers now. And sister if you include Sam.”

              “Did the fire at your house make you want to be a firefighter?”

              “Sort of, but I’d been playing with toy firetrucks all my life. Church people said I shouldn’t do it, that I needed to be a preacher like my dad or I wouldn’t fulfill my calling. That just made me mad, because I knew I wasn’t cut out to preach. I’m not like my dad.”

              “I’m sorry James.”

              “Yeah, me too. At the funeral, people kept coming up to me and saying how sorry they were, and what a great man my dad was. I kinda wish I’d known him.”

              “He was your dad James, that has to count for something.”

              “Yeah, but I didn’t really know him. When he was around, he was always working on his next sermon and worrying about somebody else. As long as I did what I was supposed to it was all good and he didn’t care about me. It was only when I did something bad that he paid attention to me.”

              “That’s sad. Did you misbehave a lot?”

              James gave her a mischievous look. “Are you kidding? Between the fact that I sucked at school work and I used to be quite a prankster, I was grounded a lot. When my dad was mad, he’d at least look at me and talk to me, instead of just yelling his hellfire and brimstone sermons past where I was sitting.”

              “I’m really sorry James, I didn’t know.”

              “It’s okay. It was a long time ago and I’m over it. I had a good life here with Grandma and now I’m here with you. I’m okay.”

              “Are you sure?”

              “Yeah, I’m fine, everything’s under control. Once this kidney stone attack clears up, I’ll be back in business.”

              “Don’t you ever think about what it would’ve been like if your dad hadn’t died?”

              “Of course, but I think it still would’ve turned out the same way. I still would’ve quit church. It wasn’t worth it. I want to be a firefighter and if it’s fire or church, I’ll take fire any day.”

              “But it doesn’t have to be like that. Aren’t there firefighters on the crew who go to church?”

              “Yeah, two of them. Roy and Sam.”

              “Are they weird?”

              “No, not at all, but they probably didn’t grow up with a preacher for a father.”

              “Maybe not, but have you tried talking to them?”

              “I haven’t done any talking, but Roy talks to me about it all the time.”

              Ellen stood up. “Then maybe one of these times you should listen.”