“I happened to be just a few cars behind. I didn’t see the accident, but I called emergency services.”
“Apparently several people did.” Miriam cut a piece of her lasagna. “We responded as quickly as we could.”
“I was trying to comfort the older lady. The paramedics said she was having a heart attack?” Ulysses separated a bit of cheese from the pasta.
Giancarlo nodded. “Yeah. They got there before us, which is unusual. But that worked out because they helped her while we extracted the family.”
“Using the jaws of life, right? That was so impressive.” Ulysses held my gaze.
“Actually, we call it the cutter. Or the spreader or the combo. Depending on which tool we use. The general public say jaws of life.”
“Ah. Maybe I should get a lesson in terminology. I’d love for readers to have that insight.”
“Finn would be happy to give it to you. We have a media-liaison person, but Finn’s about the best we’ve got.” Miriam gave me a pointed stare.
“He really is. I’m so lucky to be learning from the best.” Rookie Toby’s grin was so wide his face damn near split.
I rolled my eyes.
Giancarlo poked me in the ribs.
“Well, I look forward to getting the lowdown on the department from Finn.” Ulysses eyed me. “So what happened tonight?”
“We got the call. We were the closest firehouse, so we pushed hard to get there. Two-vehicle crash at high speed. The hypothesis is the elderly driver of the pickup truck had a heart attack and, it appears, crossed the center lane. But that’s up to the accident reconstruction people, so please don’t put that in print. Get the final verdict from the experts.”
“That’s fair.” He continued to hold my gaze.
“The paramedics arrived first, and they took control of the first casualty while my team worked on extracting the occupants of the second vehicle. A mother and three children. Fortunately, all were wearing restraints. Unfortunately, their car sustained severe damage.”
“Pickup truck against a sedan rarely ends well for the car.” Giancarlo winced.
“But Finn had that car open in no time, and we were able to get the lady and her kids out.” Toby beamed.
I could’ve pointed out we’d all contributed. Just because I’d held the machine, didn’t mean I deserved any more of the credit.
“Just in the nick of time.” Ulysses held my gaze.
“Yeah.” Toby nearly bounced out of his seat. “The baby went into respiratory distress and Miriam stepped in and…uh…” He squinted.
“Latest reports from the paramedics are that the baby’s been stabilized and has been transported to Children and Women’s Hospital in Vancouver.” Miriam poked at her food. “I didn’t do much. The second set of paramedics arriving in the rig made all the difference.”
Perhaps. But she’d kept the baby from going into shock and, more importantly, had kept the baby’s airway open.
“I saw the second ambulance. And, obviously, the helicopter.”
“Yeah.” I let out a breath. “We thought we might be transporting the elderly patient to the hospital that way, but she was holding her own and the baby was going downhill fast.”
“Tex was piloting, right?” Giancarlo offered a small smile. “Best we’ve got.”
“Tex?” Ulysses gazed over at my friend.
“Yeah. Long story. He grew up in Mission City, then joined the army, then got injured and left. He sort of flitted around from here to there until he got his accreditation to fly life flights. At that point, he settled in Mission City with his husband and now he runs flights in Cedar Valley.” Giancarlo offered a smile. “Now there’s someone worth interviewing—he’s got quite a story. And an adorable husband to boot, who is some fancy scientist guy. Something to do with physics, right?”
“Yep.” I returned the smile. “Good memory. Davey teaches at the University of British Columbia and is some kind of genius. Talk to him, though, and he’s just sort of adorable.” I considered. “He might make a good human-interest story as well.”
“So many residents, so little time.” Ulysses offered me an enigmatic expression I couldn’t identify.
“You planning on going somewhere?” My stomach lurched. I’d sort of assumed he was making his home in Mission City for the foreseeable future.Have I read that wrong? Is he really itching to leave?Small-town life wasn’t for everyone. I loved it. So did many of my friends. Other people definitely didn’t.
