“Should I draw his signature shades?”
Micah shakes his head, and I hand him the marker as Bella holds the balloon in place for him to draw on one-handed. He draws a decent-looking Pokémon himself.
“Is that Binacle?”
“It’s hard because he’s ’posed to have two heads, but I can’t draw both or the rock.”
“True. But you could flip it over and pretend that’s the other head.”
His eyes get big, and I watch as Bella flips over the glove for him to continue while I slip his arm into a sling.
“How do you know so much about a kid’s show?” Bella asks.
“My Da needed to get in shape, but he’s proper stubborn, that one. Had to trick him with Pokémon Go to get him out of the house and walking ’round town.”
“Who’s your favorite Pokémon?” Micah asks.
“I like Charizard because he breathes fire and I’m also a firefighter.”
“That’s my mom’s favorite!” Micah squeals like the news is surprising.
Bella nods. “It is. I’ve gotten into many heated discussions with her about Pokémon characters. My favorite is Jigglypuff.”
I laugh. “That tracks for you.”
“Right? Who doesn’t love a little jiggly ball of fun, and just when you think he’s all sweet and innocent, he unleashes the ultimate power!” She lets out an overly dramatic evil laugh, and Micah giggles at her antics.
“Isn’t Jigglypuff’s power that he puts people to sleep with his singing?” Micah asks.
“Well, I never said I was a good singer.” She winks at Micah right as we pull up to the hospital.
As the ambulance slows, I hop out of my seat, ready to transport him inside. Rudy opens the door for us, and we wheel the stretcher into the ER.
Once we get them checked in and transferred to a triage room, I’m about to hand off the paperwork to a nurse when a small voice stops me.
“Can you stay with us?” Micah asks.
Bella looks at me, shocked. I’m at a loss for words. Rudy just shrugs.
“I’d love to, buddy. Lemme check in with dispatch. If they say it’s fine, we’ll stay. But if another call comes in, we’ll have to head out.”
“Okay.” He looks defeated, and it breaks me a little.
I gesture for Rudy to join me in the hall. “You okay hanging out here for a bit if they give us the go-ahead?”
“That’s cool. There’s a nurse who works here that I talk to sometimes,” Rudy says.
“Thanks, man.”
I radio dispatch and get the green light to stay, so I walk over to the nurse’s station. “I’m gonna hang around with the patient in room twelve. He’s not a big fan of fellas and we kinda bonded, so I’d like to stay until his mom gets here. There’s someone that can stay with him if we get called out.”
“Sounds good, sugar,” she says, barely looking up at me.
“Say, you have anything to occupy kids? Some coloring books? LEGO?” I lean over the counter, trying to get her attention.
She looks up from her charting. “Sure do. I’m kinda busy here, though. It’s over at the charge nurses’ station. Just tell ’em Doris sent you.”
“Thanks, doll.” I wink and flash her my biggest smile.
