The Vampire and The Paramedic (3 page)

“Ah, Miss Brynne … ” James said. “I’m sorry,
I didn’t catch your last name?”

“It’s Garvey, Brynne Garvey,” she
replied.

“Well, Miss Garvey,” James said, stepping
forward to offer his hand. “I want to thank you for all you did for
my friend out there. It was quite impressive watching you work.
I’ve never had the need to contact your team for medical services
before. It’s not something I need that often.”

She stepped forward and took his hand in a
steady, strong grip and shook it. “I’m glad I was close by at the
time the call came in and able to get there in time to help before
anything unfortunate or Unusual occurred.”

“Yes,” James said. Her hand felt warm in his
cold vampire’s hand, and he could feel the pulsing blood under her
wrist as his fingers lingered there before pulling away. “Unusual
things could have happened indeed. I think your quick actions took
care of making sure that those things didn’t happen. I will make
sure that your superiors know how impressed I was watching you in
action. Perhaps there is something I can do to help forward this
initiative with the paramedics and 911 calls for our
population.”

“I appreciate your gratitude, Mr. …?”

“It’s James, James Lee,” he supplied. “But
please, just call me James.”

“Ok, James,” She said. “In that case, please
call me Brynne.”

Randall and Derrick came through the far
doors from the ambulance bay, interrupting them.

“Oh, good, you got the stretcher made up
already, Brynne,” Randall said. “We just got another call.” The two
paramedics came over and took the stretcher cot from their
diminutive colleague.

Derrick keyed the microphone clipped to the
front of his uniform shirt. “Ambulance E-495 responding from ECMC.”
He looked up. “We gotta go. See you guys.” The two paramedics
rolled the stretcher around and out the doors as they opened
automatically in front of them.

“I guess I need to get back in service, too,”
Brynne said. “You never know when another call like that one will
come in. It was a pleasure to meet you, James. Ashley will take
good care of you, and I’m sure Rudy’s in good hands here, too.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you, as well,
Brynne,” James said. “Thank you again for your help.” He watched as
she left to go to the ambulance parking area following the other
paramedics. She was a very formidable female, something that always
caught his eye. He turned back to the Eldara Sister as she cleared
her throat. She was smiling.

“Brynne’s caught your eye, I see,” Ashley
said.

“I’m merely impressed by her professionalism,
and I enjoyed seeing this new program to help my unique friends in
action,” James said waving his hand dismissively.

“Uh-huh,” Ashley said, smiling. “Well, I’ve
got to get back to work. We’re busy tonight. Let me show you to the
waiting room. I’ll come back out a little later and let you know
how your friend is doing.” She continued around the nurses station
to a set of double doors, leading him out of the emergency room
area.

James sat down in the waiting room, finding a
seat in the corner, again using his ability to “disappear” in plain
site to avoid conversations with the others crowding the waiting
area. It was quite full, being a Saturday night. He had not been
sure about the new emergency medical program for Unusuals when it
was first proposed. Now that he had seen it up front and personal,
though, he was gaining confidence in his decision to go along with
it. He thought more about the events of the evening so far and
wondered if there might be a way to provide additional resources to
increase the level of services provided. There must be something
else that could be added to the program. He’d have to make
arrangements to talk to Doctor Spirelli over the next few days and
see what his thoughts were on the matter. James also resolved to
reward the young paramedic who acted so decisively to save Rudy’s
life. He believed in rewarding competent subordinates that excelled
at their jobs. His thoughts revolved around that idea as he waited
for word on his injured colleague and friend still being treated
back in the trauma room of the ER.

The next few weeks passed quickly with much
of the mundane business of life and unlife that had come to bore
James over the years. The bright spot in that boredom came in his
efforts to reward the paramedics of the Station U program for their
work. Doctor Spirelli was ecstatic that James wanted to expand the
program. He had already mapped out where he wanted the program to
go some day, and James could see that there would be instant value
to his community by helping hurry that expansion along. The vampire
lord of Elk City met with several local Unusual and human leaders
to smooth things over and grease the wheels of progress. He was not
without financial resources, one of the many benefits of his
centuries of life. His assets were substantial, and he was known as
an active business leader and philanthropist to the local civic
community. It was merely a matter of making a planned bequest to
the Elk City Fire Department, targeted at one specific station of
paramedics. The rest took care of itself. Doctor Spirelli’s plans
mapped out what was purchased and the layout of the new
station.

James owned a small collection of industrial
buildings on the outskirts of town, and he donated, rent free, one
section of one of those buildings to become the new home of Station
U. He wanted it to be a model of what a group of specialized
paramedics could want, with all the latest in technology and
creature comforts. The Doctor and other members of the leadership
reined him in a little bit, but he was able to get most of his
wishes satisfied.

The station would have new office furniture,
men’s and women’s bunk rooms with full bathrooms and showers for
each. There would be high-speed internet access and a small
satellite dish on the roof offering full TV including premium
channels. Some of his Unusual friends thought he was going a bit
overboard and wondered why, but James merely thought of this as
something that any responsible overlord would do to provide for
some of his most valued subjects. They deserved the best medical
care available. These paramedics were part of that process and
deserved to be rewarded.

There had never been an opportunity for
Unusuals to seek medical care openly from the human community
around them. Often they were limited to house calls from a human
doctor who knew of their unique needs, or in other cases, their own
healers or magical powers. This project was something that James
wanted to succeed. It was not going to fail because of lack of
comfort or resources for the paramedics, doctors and nurses who
served them.

The crowning achievement for them was the
purchase of a brand-new ambulance for use by the Station U
paramedics. This had been one of the top items on the Doctor’s wish
list. The current system of paramedics driving around in chase cars
and then transporting Unusuals in a standard ambulance risked
detection of the Unusuals. With a dedicated ambulance, this risk
was mitigated. The other thing he did was arrange for a U.S.
Department of Health grant for the additional crew to staff an
additional ambulance for Elk City’s fire department. His contacts
in the Federal government were paying close attention to the pilot
program in Elk City. They were watching to see if similar programs
could be implemented elsewhere for Unusuals in other, larger
cities. His leadership supported the measure and expansion as well,
and the wheels at higher levels turned quickly to come up with an
appropriate grant for expansion in local community medical care
from public health funding.

His only regret was that he was unable to
participate in the Grand Opening of the station with the other
officials there. Rudy, newly healed following the accident, would
have to stand in for him since the event would take place mostly
outside in full daylight. While he could survive for a few minutes
in direct sunlight, it was painful, and he would never last in the
full sun for the hour or so of dedications and speeches. He watched
the festivities from his new car in a parking lot nearby. The
tinted windows protected him from the sun’s harmful rays. He could
see the dignitaries and uniformed fire department brass gather
together for speeches and the eventual ribbon cutting with giant
scissors in front of the ambulance garage bay doors. He caught a
few glimpses of Brynne Garvey during the event as she mingled with
the small crowd in her uniform as one of the paramedics who would
use the station.

Eventually, everyone left and, as the
festivities died down, James started his car and drove away. He
still had to pull together a special thank-you for Miss Garvey. She
deserved individual thanks for what she had done. His honor
demanded nothing less. He resolved to find out when she worked next
in the evening. That was when he would stop by to reward her. He
was sure she would be suitably impressed. Most women were. He
continued back to his penthouse apartment downtown as he thought
about his plans, a pleased smile on his face.

——

It turned out that Brynne worked night shift
two days later, and James set his plans in motion. He was
meticulous in his planning, as he was in everything he did.
Everything had to be planned just so to get the desired response
from the person being rewarded. Over the years, he had rewarded
many subordinates and knew what to expect in the way of gratitude
and appropriate deference.

James made all the arrangements through his
subordinates and arrived at Station U just after sundown two days
later in his new Lexus sedan. He went over to the nondescript door
in the side of the building and was surprised to find it locked. He
was sure he could have gotten himself a key but hadn’t realized
that he’d need one. As he thought about it, though, it made sense.
There were expensive items, medications and equipment inside. It
wasn’t like this was a place of retail business where the public
would expect to have access. Still, the delay put him out of sorts.
He pressed the doorbell buzzer and waited. A few moments later, an
unfamiliar woman answered the door.

“Can I help you?” She asked. She was in a
paramedic’s uniform shirt and navy blue cargo pants just like those
worn by Brynne and the other paramedics.

“Uh, I’m James Lee,” he began, irritated that
he was unprepared and didn’t know the other woman’s name. He’d
known that the Station U paramedics now had a full ambulance crew
of two, but he had just expected Brynne to answer the door. “I’m
here to see Miss Brynne Garvey?”

“Oh, sure,” the paramedic said looking him
over. She seemed impressed with him and his stylish clothes, but
then most women were. “Come on in. I’m Tammy McGrath, Brynne’s
partner tonight. She’s in checking the supplies in the ambulance
bay. Wait here, I’ll get her.”

James stood, looking around at the interior
of the station he had funded as the paramedic went through the door
on the other side of the squad room to get Brynne. This was not
going the way he had envisioned it, and he bit down on his tongue
with his sharp canines until he tasted the acrid sting of his own
blood. Losing his temper was not going to achieve anything, he
knew. Looking around, James saw two recliners and a small sofa or
loveseat situated in front of a large flat-screen TV mounted on the
wall. There was a bookshelf beneath it that was mostly empty, just
a few binders laying on the shelves. On the other side of the room
was a U-shaped workstation with two chairs and computers where
paramedics could complete their paperwork. He knew, from perusing
the plans for the station, that the hallway to the right went down
to the two bunkrooms and bathrooms.

The door to the ambulance bay opened, and
Brynne entered, calling over her shoulder. “You just need to check
the medication bags. I did everything else.” She turned and saw
James standing there. “I wondered if it was you. The way Tammy
described you, I didn’t think it could be anyone else. How are you,
Mr. Lee?” She crossed the room and gave him a firm handshake.

“I’m well, and please, call me James,” He
said.

“Well, James, I understand that we have your
generosity to thank for our new digs.”

“I wanted to see the program expanded after I
saw your work in action with my companion.”

“How is he?” She asked. “We don’t usually
hear back about our patients after we drop them off at the ER. Did
that hand heal up alright? It was pretty messed up.”

“Unfortunately, there will be some permanent
disability,” James said. “Still he has his life, and his secret was
kept, thanks in no small part to you.”

“I’m sorry to hear about the outcome of his
hand. I was hoping that his healing ability would regenerate the
damage. I don’t know as much as I’d like about Lycans and their
specific abilities, but I had hoped he would have a full
recovery.”

“He’ll survive,” James said. “It will be a
minor disability at best, and most importantly, I will not lose a
key asset to our community because of your quick actions.”

“I was just doing my job, but thank you for
your recognition of what we do here.” Brynne gestured around the
room. “This expansion is thanks enough. I assure you.”

“Still, there is a small token of my
appreciation I’d like to share with you.” James said, turning
towards the door. “May I show you something outside? It’ll take
just a moment, I assure you.”

“
O-kaaaay?” Brynne said and followed him to the door that he
opened and held for her to exit ahead of him. Parked right in front
of her, nearly blocking the door was a new Jeep Wrangler. It was
red and had a large white bow resting on the hood. She turned to
look at him as he triumphantly pulled a set of keys from the pocket
of his black sports coat.