Chapter 2 - The ambulance
Frank shouted.
Not because the paramedic hurt him.
Because someone had contradicted him physically on his own property.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The second medic moved around him.
The first pointed toward the gate.
“Sir, stay back.”
I raised my hand.
“Over here.”
They reached Lily.
One knelt.
“Hi, sweetheart. I’m Sarah. What’s your name?”
“Lily.”
“How old are you?”
“Nine.”
“Okay, Lily. Your mom says your leg got hurt. I’m going to look before I touch anything.”
That sentence mattered.
Look before touch.
After what had just happened, someone asked.
Lily nodded.
The second medic asked me:
“What struck her?”
I pointed.
“Steel skewer.”
He looked at it.
Then at Carla.
“Was the pointed end involved?”
“No. The side of it hit her.”
“Any puncture?”
“No.”
“Fall afterward?”
“Yes.”
“Head strike?”
“I don’t think so.”
Lily said:
“No.”
Good.
Frank was arguing with someone at the gate.
A county police officer had arrived.
Then another.
Helen kept telling Carla:
“Don’t say anything.”
Carla suddenly understood the afternoon had moved beyond family authority.
Her confidence changed into calculation.
She sat.
Folded both hands.
Said nothing.
Sarah examined Lily’s leg.
Swelling.
Tenderness.
Pain with attempted movement.
She stopped immediately.
“We’re going to splint this for transport.”
Lily began crying harder.
“Is it broken?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Honest.
“I don’t want a shot.”
“No shots from me right now.”
Lily looked at me.
“Mom comes?”
“Absolutely.”
Frank interrupted:
“She doesn’t need an ambulance.”
The police officer turned.
“Sir, you already interfered with EMS access. Stay where you are.”
Frank’s face went red.
“I live here.”
The officer said:
“That doesn’t change the patient.”
May you like
Simple.
I liked him immediately.
