The Vampire and The Paramedic Read online

  “What do you think of his injury,” James asked the paramedic quietly.

  “I don’t know much about his healing abilities as a Lycan, James. Is he able to regenerate lost tissues?” Brynne asked. “If not, he might still lose that arm.”

  “My experience has been that if it’s not completely removed or amputated, it will heal. As long as the injury doesn’t kill him right away, he will recover.” James looked at his friend and then over to the woman who had saved his life. “You made sure that didn’t happen, though. I didn’t even think of a tourniquet.”

  “You are a vampire, right?” She asked.

  He nodded.

  “You probably had the strength in your hands to do what I did with the CAT tourniquet. Of course, you wouldn’t be able to let go until someone else arrives. It’s something to think about in the future if that type of thing ever happens again.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” James said as the driver, Randall, opened the back doors to start unloading the patient.

  “Ready to go, Brynne?” Randall asked, gripping the release bar with one hand and the base of the cot with the other.

  “Yep, all set here,” Brynne replied.

  Randall released the cot and carefully rolled the rear wheels out the back of the ambulance, taking the weight as they cleared the floor at the back doors. Brynne climbed down with her clipboard of patient information. She waited as James climbed out then shut the rear doors of the ambulance.

  They wheeled the stretcher through the automatic doors into the emergency room where a group of nurses and doctors waited for them. He saw the elderly Doctor Spirelli leading them. A nurse directed them to the first room to their left as they wheeled in, and Brynne and Randall pushed Rudy’s stretcher inside as James followed. There was a flurry of activity around him. They proceeded to remove the rest of Rudy’s clothing, checking for further injury while Brynne gave a verbal report of what happened and what she had done. James stood in the corner unobtrusively watching, using his innate ability to just blend in and disappear in a crowd of humans. A hand on his arm jerked him away from his fascination as he watched the trauma team in action.

  “My Lord, perhaps we should get you somewhere where you can get cleaned up,” a pleasant voice said. “You’re a bloody mess.”

  He turned to look at the speaker and was surprised to see an Eldara Sister, an actual angel, dressed in common nursing scrubs standing next to him. Her golden halo was clearly visible to his enhanced vision. He looked down at his hands and clothes and realized for the first time that he was covered in his friend’s blood.

  “Yes, Sister,” James said inclining his head in respect. “I think that would be a good idea. Please lead the way.”

  She smiled and turned away, opening the door and leading him from the room where his friend was being attended to. The Eldara were known as the “Old Ones.” They had been here longer than any of the other Unusuals. Some thought of them as at the messengers of the gods. While they adhered to the loose leadership governments of the Unusual community, they also lived above it and most thought they followed the leadership of others merely because they couldn’t be bothered to do so themselves.

  “I was not aware an Eldara Sister was in Elk City,” James said as they walked. Her hearing was at least as good as his own, so he said it barely above a whisper to avoid the mundane hearing of the human ears around them as they walked through the emergency room. “I would have invited you to dine with me and offered you a place to stay had I known.”

  She chuckled. “I probably should have let you know I was in town, but I wanted to see for myself this little experiment you had set up here to care for your subjects. It is impressive.”

  “I’m glad you approve, Sister,” James said. “I have to say that when I was approached by the human authorities, I was skeptical. So far, though, it has been surprisingly successful. I’m inclined to ask them to continue, especially after tonight’s events. Their skills are quite respectable though nothing compared to what you could achieve, I’m sure.”

  “Please call me Ashley, My Lord. It is easier when around the humans, and I don’t much like the formality,” she said. They had arrived at a door, which she opened and directed him inside. It was a break room of sorts with an attached bathroom. There was a table, some chairs, a TV mounted in the corner on the wall and a small refrigerator next to a counter with a sink. She grabbed a scrub shirt and pants from the shelf next to her and handed them to him.

  He took the offered scrubs and said, “Then I must insist that you call me James, Ashley.” He returned her smile and went into the bathroom to change.

  “There are red plastic trash bags in the cabinet under the sink,” She said through the door. “Put your soiled clothing into one of those.” He undressed and did as she suggested. Using copious amounts of paper towels, he did his best to clean up the blood from his hands and face. He was a mess. The vampire leader was unused to not looking his best. He prided himself on a certain sense of style. The scrubs he donned were a plain pastel blue. He didn’t think he had ever worn something that color in his long unlife. He carefully folded his black corduroy sports coat, black skinny jeans, and charcoal gray dress shirt and slipped them into one of the red bags, imprinted with a bio-hazard symbol. He wasn’t sure what to do with them. He didn’t think it was worth cleaning them, and he could easily afford just to throw them away. He opted to tuck the bag under one arm as he opened the bathroom door and went back out into the break room where the Eldara was waiting for him.

  “I’m curious, Ashley, how you came to work here as a nurse, I mean given your prodigious healing powers,” James asked as he left the staff bathroom. “I would expect it’s hard just to stand by and watch these humans struggle with things you could heal with a flick of your finger.”

  “Being a nurse is the perfect job for me, actually,” She replied. “Nurses are the profession of healers that most reflect the Eldara approach to life, healing, and wellness. They believe in a holistic approach to caring for their patients, treating them mind, body, and soul, much as we Eldara do. You also know that we are reluctant to meddle in the lives of humans. We believe in letting all life take its natural course.”

  “So you’ve done nothing, uh, shall we say, ‘extra’ in your time here?” James asked.

  She smiled. “I’ve taken a few small steps, here and there, to improve a person’s health, but I assure you that no miracles will happen while I’m here.” Ashley held out a hand for his bag of clothes. “You don’t want to keep those, do you? I’ll take them and dispose of them if you’d like.

  He handed her the bag of bloody clothes. “Yes, thank you.”

  “I’ll take you out to the waiting room where you can sit while they treat your friend.” She turned and opened the door leading out to the bustling emergency department of the hospital. James followed her out the door and down the hallway past a series of curtained ER treatment bays and around the nurse’s station in the center. It was like the hole in a donut with all the rooms and treatment areas arrayed around it. As he was passing by the doors that led back out to the ambulance bay, they slid open automatically, and he heard a voice behind him.

  “You cleaned up. Good. I bet you feel better,” the paramedic, Brynne, said. Then she chuckled. “Ashley set you up with some fancy duds I see.”

  James stopped and turned to see the paramedic in the short hallway to the ambulance parking area, putting sheets on the stretcher, preparing it for the next run. She was smiling at him, and he could sense a twinge of humorous curiosity bubbling around her mind’s edges. While he couldn’t truly read minds, he could often detect moods and strong emotions at the surface.

  “Ah, Miss Brynne … ” James said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your last name?”

  “It’s Garvey, Brynne Garvey,” she replied.

  “Well, Miss Garvey,” James said, stepping forward to offer his hand. “I want to thank you for all you did for my friend out there. It was quite impressive watching you work. I’ve never had the need to contact your team for medical services before. It’s not something I need that often.”

  She stepped forward and took his hand in a steady, strong grip and shook it. “I’m glad I was close by at the time the call came in and able to get there in time to help before anything unfortunate or Unusual occurred.”

  “Yes,” James said. Her hand felt warm in his cold vampire’s hand, and he could feel the pulsing blood under her wrist as his fingers lingered there before pulling away. “Unusual things could have happened indeed. I think your quick actions took care of making sure that those things didn’t happen. I will make sure that your superiors know how impressed I was watching you in action. Perhaps there is something I can do to help forward this initiative with the paramedics and 911 calls for our population.”

  “I appreciate your gratitude, Mr. …?”

  “It’s James, James Lee,” he supplied. “But please, just call me James.”

  “Ok, James,” She said. “In that case, please call me Brynne.”

  Randall and Derrick came through the far doors from the ambulance bay, interrupting them.

  “Oh, good, you got the stretcher made up already, Brynne,” Randall said. “We just got another call.” The two paramedics came over and took the stretcher cot from their diminutive colleague.

  Derrick keyed the microphone clipped to the front of his uniform shirt. “Ambulance E-495 responding from ECMC.” He looked up. “We gotta go. See you guys.” The two paramedics rolled the stretcher around and out the doors as they opened automatically in front of them.

  “I guess I need to get back in service, too,” Brynne said. “You never know when another call like that one will come in. It was a pleasure to meet you, James. Ashley will take good care of you, and I’m sure Rudy’s in good hands here, too.”

  “It was a pleasure meeting you, as well, Brynne,” James said. “Thank you again for your help.” He watched as she left to go to the ambulance parking area following the other paramedics. She was a very formidable female, something that always caught his eye. He turned back to the Eldara Sister as she cleared her throat. She was smiling.

  “Brynne’s caught your eye, I see,” Ashley said.

  “I’m merely impressed by her professionalism, and I enjoyed seeing this new program to help my unique friends in action,” James said waving his hand dismissively.

  “Uh-huh,” Ashley said, smiling. “Well, I’ve got to get back to work. We’re busy tonight. Let me show you to the waiting room. I’ll come back out a little later and let you know how your friend is doing.” She continued around the nurses station to a set of double doors, leading him out of the emergency room area.

  James sat down in the waiting room, finding a seat in the corner, again using his ability to “disappear” in plain site to avoid conversations with the others crowding the waiting area. It was quite full, being a Saturday night. He had not been sure about the new emergency medical program for Unusuals when it was first proposed. Now that he had seen it up front and personal, though, he was gaining confidence in his decision to go along with it. He thought more about the events of the evening so far and wondered if there might be a way to provide additional resources to increase the level of services provided. There must be something else that could be added to the program. He’d have to make arrangements to talk to Doctor Spirelli over the next few days and see what his thoughts were on the matter. James also resolved to reward the young paramedic who acted so decisively to save Rudy’s life. He believed in rewarding competent subordinates that excelled at their jobs. His thoughts revolved around that idea as he waited for word on his injured colleague and friend still being treated back in the trauma room of the ER.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The next few weeks passed quickly with much of the mundane business of life and unlife that had come to bore James over the years. The bright spot in that boredom came in his efforts to reward the paramedics of the Station U program for their work. Doctor Spirelli was ecstatic that James wanted to expand the program. He had already mapped out where he wanted the program to go some day, and James could see that there would be instant value to his community by helping hurry that expansion along. The vampire lord of Elk City met with several local Unusual and human leaders to smooth things over and grease the wheels of progress. He was not without financial resources, one of the many benefits of his centuries of life. His assets were substantial, and he was known as an active business leader and philanthropist to the local civic community. It was merely a matter of making a planned bequest to the Elk City Fire Department, targeted at one specific station of paramedics. The rest took care of itself. Doctor Spirelli’s plans mapped out what was purchased and the layout of the new station.

  James owned a small collection of industrial buildings on the outskirts of town, and he donated, rent free, one section of one of those buildings to become the new home of Station U. He wanted it to be a model of what a group of specialized paramedics could want, with all the latest in technology and creature comforts. The Doctor and other members of the leadership reined him in a little bit, but he was able to get most of his wishes satisfied.

  The station would have new office furniture, men’s and women’s bunk rooms with full bathrooms and showers for each. There would be high-speed internet access and a small satellite dish on the roof offering full TV including premium channels. Some of his Unusual friends thought he was going a bit overboard and wondered why, but James merely thought of this as something that any responsible overlord would do to provide for some of his most valued subjects. They deserved the best medical care available. These paramedics were part of that process and deserved to be rewarded.

  There had never been an opportunity for Unusuals to seek medical care openly from the human community around them. Often they were limited to house calls from a human doctor who knew of their unique needs, or in other cases, their own healers or magical powers. This project was something that James wanted to succeed. It was not going to fail because of lack of comfort or resources for the paramedics, doctors and nurses who served them.

  The crowning achievement for them was the purchase of a brand-new ambulance for use by the Station U paramedics. This had been one of the top items on the Doctor’s wish list. The current system of paramedics driving around in chase cars and then transporting Unusuals in a standard ambulance risked detection of the Unusuals. With a dedicated ambulance, this risk was mitigated. The other thing he did was arrange for a U.S. Department of Health grant for the additional crew to staff an additional ambulance for Elk City’s fire department. His contacts in the Federal government were paying close attention to the pilot program in Elk City. They were watching to see if similar programs could be implemented elsewhere for Unusuals in other, larger cities. His leadership supported the measure and expansion as well, and the wheels at higher levels turned quickly to come up with an appropriate grant for expansion in local community medical care from public health funding.

  His only regret was that he was unable to participate in the Grand Opening of the station with the other officials there. Rudy, newly healed following the accident, would have to stand in for him since the event would take place mostly outside in full daylight. While he could survive for a few minutes in direct sunlight, it was painful, and he would never last in the full sun for the hour or so of dedications and speeches. He watched the festivities from his new car in a parking lot nearby. The tinted windows protected him from the sun’s harmful rays. He could see the dignitaries and uniformed fire department brass gather together for speeches and the eventual ribbon cutting with giant scissors in front of the ambulance garage bay doors. He caught a few glimpses of Brynne Garvey during the event as she mingled with the small crowd in her uniform as one of the paramedics who would use the station.

  Eventually, everyone left and, as the festivities died down, James started his car and drove away. He still had to pull together a special thank-you for Miss Garvey. She deserved individual thanks for what she had done. His honor demanded nothing less. He resolved to find out when she worked next in the evening. That was when he would stop by to reward her. He was sure she would be suitably impressed. Most women were. He continued back to his penthouse apartment downtown as he thought about his plans, a pleased smile on his face.

  ——

  It turned out that Brynne worked night shift two days later, and James set his plans in motion. He was meticulous in his planning, as he was in everything he did. Everything had to be planned just so to get the desired response from the person being rewarded. Over the years, he had rewarded many subordinates and knew what to expect in the way of gratitude and appropriate deference.

  James made all the arrangements through his subordinates and arrived at Station U just after sundown two days later in his new Lexus sedan. He went over to the nondescript door in the side of the building and was surprised to find it locked. He was sure he could have gotten himself a key but hadn’t realized that he’d need one. As he thought about it, though, it made sense. There were expensive items, medications and equipment inside. It wasn’t like this was a place of retail business where the public would expect to have access. Still, the delay put him out of sorts. He pressed the doorbell buzzer and waited. A few moments later, an unfamiliar woman answered the door.

  “Can I help you?” She asked. She was in a paramedic’s uniform shirt and navy blue cargo pants just like those worn by Brynne and the other paramedics.

  “Uh, I’m James Lee,” he began, irritated that he was unprepared and didn’t know the other woman’s name. He’d known that the Station U paramedics now had a full ambulance crew of two, but he had just expected Brynne to answer the door. “I’m here to see Miss Brynne Garvey?”