Micah’s eyes flick over to the rig briefly before settling on the ground in front of him again, a small sniffle causing a tremor in his body.
“Hey, Bella, do you know someone who’d like to push the buttons? Maybe turn on the lights and the siren?”
Micah straightens and raises his good arm like he’s in class waiting to be called on.
“No fair. Hardy said I’m not allowed to touch any of the buttons.”
“Hardy’s back at the station. I won’t tell him if you won’t.”
Bella laughs and looks over at Micah. “First one there gets to toot the horn.”
“Actually, let’s walk over there. Don’t need anyone else getting hurt now,” I say, looking between them.
Bella winks as she pretends to be at the starting line of a race. “Ready, set, go!”
Micah walks over to the rig, right as Bella pretends to trip and then dramatically falls to the ground. “Save yourselves! Go without me!”
I open the door to the cab, and my partner Rudy shows Micah all the buttons, pointing out what each one does. After several minutes of pressing every button he can, he reluctantly lets me look at his arm.
Bella brushes herself off and joins us.
“Have his parents been contacted?”
“His mom teaches with me, but she’s off today. I’ll let her know. How bad is it? She’s kind of preoccupied right now, and I don’t want to freak her out if it isn’t a big deal.”
“It’s well and truly banjaxed.”
“What?”
“Broken. I’d like to take him to the hospital to get it checked out. It’s probably a minor fracture, but they’ll be more equipped to handle it just in case it’s not.”
“Shoot. Okay, I’ll call her.” She pulls out her phone anddials. And waits. And dials again. “Crap. She’s not answering.”
The principal walks up and pats Bella on the back. She’s an older woman with grey hair and a smile that could light up a room. She looks like trouble. My kind of people. “Bella, I can watch your class the rest of the day and take your kids home. Why don’t you go with Micah until Lucy can get there?”
“Can Miss Carlisle sit with me?” Micah asks hesitantly as I help him into the back of the ambulance.
I shrug and look at her. “It’s grand by me, but if you come with us, I can’t promise ya a lift back now.”
She waves me off. “It’s okay. We’ll figure something out. Oddly enough, Micah’s mom is usually the one giving me rides. Let’s get this kid to the hospital.”
We load up the rig and head toward Denver. Micah is very quiet during the ride, but he takes everything in, looking at all the equipment as I pull out a SAM splint and start forming it to stabilize his arm.
The vehicle jolts, bumping us around a wee bit, and Micah lets out a yowl when his arm knocks against the side of the stretcher. Big tears spill down his face as he starts hiccupping in breaths.
Bella squeezes his good hand and wipes his face with her sleeve. “It’s okay, buddy. I know it hurts, but you’re being so brave. We’re almost there.” She looks at me on the last part, and I nod.
I hold out a stethoscope, gesturing for Micah to take it while I reach behind me for a sterile glove. Once she distracts him, letting him listen to her heartbeat, I blow up two gloves and tie them off, drawing a silly face on one of them with a marker.
“Here you go.” I hold out the blank glove, and he takes it, then I show off the one I made with the face.
His responding giggle comforts me more than it should.There’s something about this kid that draws me in. I like to help people, and I’ve got a knack for especially difficult cases.
“That looks like Squirtle!” he squeals, looking at my glove balloon.
I twist it back toward me, and feckin’ hell, the kid’s right. “Don’t tell me you’re a Pokémon fan?”
Micah nods.
