By now her breathing was steady and the dizziness had faded, leaving her with a sense of stability and relief. Lots of relief. “I’m listening.”
“Picture this. An adorable, adventurous five-year-old climbs a tree in his yard. He goes up and up and up, until he reaches the top. He forgets about the getting-down part. When he looks down, he panics. Freezes. Calls for help. Of course, no one can hear him. He’s up in the clouds. Finally, around suppertime, his mom realizes that no one has seen him for a while. The family goes outside and calls for him. At last, someone hears his now weak cry for help. His father calls the fire department. The siren can be heard in three counties. The boy has climbed so high that they need to call in to a second fire station. Another loud siren comes bellowing to the house. And then a third. At this point, the entire town has arrived, curiously watching, as the boy held on to the tree for dear life. Finally, a hook and ladder truck was dispatched to get the boy down out of the tree.”
“And that was you?”
He grinned. “Some of those guys are still at the fire station.Not a week goes by that one or the other doesn’t remind me of the story.”
Annie heard a church bell in the distance. She needed to get back to the office soon.
Gus didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry. “Annie, how can you be an EMT when you suffer from such severe motion sickness?”
“I ... I’m not sure.”
Gus looked up into the sky at a hawk circling overhead. She wondered what was running through his mind. Was he thinking the same worry that had been keeping her up at night? That she wasn’t suited to be an EMT after all? And did that mean they weren’t suited for each other either?
He dropped his chin and turned to her. “You know what? We’re going to cure you.”
