Captain Durfee stood up and held up his hands for silence. All breakfast
talk ceased and except for the occasional clatter of silverware or crunch of
bacon, there was next to no noise.
"Okay people, as some of you know, Rescue 77 is getting a new trainee
today. She will be arriving soon. I would like you all to give her a warm
welcome and -please- be nice," he said.
Everyone looked at him with confusion written openly on their faces, but
the captain said nothing more and sat back down. Five minutes later, they
heard a car door slam. Captain Durfee stood up and walked outside to greet
the woman. Ryan, Bell, and Wick stood up. The captain returned, the new
trainee with him. Several of the guys whistled and catcalled, the rest stared
at her, their mouths hanging open.
"Boys and girls," the captain said while giving the cat callers a hard
look, "this is the new paramedic, Crista Stoker. Crista, these are your new
partners: Kathleen Ryan, Wick Lobo, and Michael Bell."
Crista shook hands with Ryan and Wick, then turned to Bell. He looked her
up and down, grinning broadly. She was gorgeous. Her medium brown hair had
natural auburn highlights that set off her emerald green eyes. She was around
5'4" tall and the muscle on her arms, legs, and her washboard stomach
indicated that she worked out a lot. Her smile matched his, making her eyes
sparkle.
"Do I pass?" she asked, mischievously.
"You better believe it," he replied. Bell stepped towards her and picked
her up in a bear hug.
"It's so great to see you!" she exclaimed as he set her down.
"It's great to see you too! You look awesome," he replied.
"You don't look half-bad yourself."
Suddenly, they both realized everyone, except for the captain, was
staring at them. Crista also noticed a tinge of jealousy in Ryan's eyes which
was replaced with relief at Bell's next statement.
"Cris is one of my closest friends and favorite cousin." A chorus of
"Ohhhh's" followed.
"We better get you suited up before we get a call," Ryan said, stepping
forward. "Come on, I'll show you where everything is."
"Wait for me!" Carla exclaimed, jumping up. She raced to their side and
the only three women on Station 77's B shift left the room.
"Hey Bell, is she single?" Wick asked.
"Get in line, Lobo!" one of the firefighters called.
Bell rolled his eyes. "For her sake, I hope not."
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~
"So what's it like being cousins with Bell?" Carla asked.
"It's like having a big brother who you never fight with. Well, almost
never. We did get into a few fist fights..."
"Who won?" Ryan asked.
"Me. Fair and square too," she replied, grinning. Carla and Ryan laughed.
Just then, the station's alarm went off, followed by the dispatcher's voice,
"Rescue 77 respond to 34 Oak Road. Child fell out of tree. Time-out
8:43."
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~Part Two~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
"That's us! Come on." Ryan and Crista ran from the room, slid down the
pole and got into the R.A. Cris and Wick were in the back, Bell and Ryan in
the front. The drive took only four or five minutes. They joked around on the
way there, but were all business once they arrived on the scene. Crista and
Wick grabbed their gear and the four walked up to a small group of people
assembled on the front yard under a large tree.
"Excuse us, please," Bell said, pushing through the crowd. They stepped
back, allowing the paramedics in. At the foot of the tree sat a young girl
who appeared to be only eight or nine years old. She was crying and her left
leg was bent at an odd angle. An older man, probably her father, knelt next
to her, talking to her softly.
"Sir, you're going to have to move back so we can treat her," Ryan told
him. He started to protest, then nodded his head and got out of their way.
Crista knelt down on the left side of the girl, Bell on the right.
"Pulse is 90," Bell told Ryan. She relayed the information to City Base
along with the BP, which Crista had taken, and the respiration. Wick and Cris
splinted the girl's leg while Bell started the IV. They then put her on a
stretcher.
"Is she going to be all right?" her father asked, stopping Crista with a
hand on her arm.
"Yes, Mr. Davidson, she'll be fine. She just has a broken leg. You can
ride along in the R.A. or follow in your car," she told him, pulling away.
Even through her jumpsuit, his hand made her skin crawl, and she was unsure
of why.
"I'll follow in the car so I can bring her home," he said, then turned
and went into the garage. Ryan watched Cris rub her arm with a puzzled
expression. Crista turned and met her eyes.
"There's something about that guy... Call me paranoid, but he makes me
nervous."
"Hey, are you two coming?" Bell called from the R.A. Ryan and Crista
headed over and climbed in. At the hospital, the doctors took over the care
of the little girl, leaving the four paramedics free to return to the
station. Mr. Davidson stopped them at the door.
"Thank you so much for helping my daughter," he said, looking mainly at
Crista.
"We were just doing our job," she replied.
"What was that all about?" Bell asked when they were back in the R.A.
"What as what all about?"
"Back there, when that guy thanked us, or I should say you. You looked
nervous or something."
"He made me uncomfortable. It's weird when guys twice your age act like
that," she said, shrugging her shoulders. It wasn't as easy to dismiss as she
made it appear to be.
"Nah, he couldn't have been 46."
Crista rolled her eyes. "If you weren't driving this thing, I'd smack you
upside the head. I am 22 and will be 23 in two weeks." Wick grinned at her.
He looked almost like he wanted to rub his hands together and laugh like Dr.
Frankenstein.
"Uh oh, was that the wrong thing to tell them?" she asked Ryan through
the window. Ryan looked back at Wick and nodded her head.
"Yep."
