Smoke and Ash

“This was not what I had in mind when I said I needed time away,” I mumble not bothering to look away from the window. All we had passed for miles was sand and dirt and maybe a couple of dead animals. “We both know this will be a good thing.” Sealy says from the drivers side. I know she’s looking at me without actually having to make eye contact. I just can’t seem to make myself look back. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” “Stop pouting Ash, we are going to spend the next four weeks integrating ourselves and you are going to like it.” “And if I don’t?” Now I’m just teasing her because once Sealy puts her mind to something there is no changing. I would know. I had spent our younger years trying to keep her and myself out of trouble when she had one of her ideas. It never worked, and I always ended up grounded right along side her. “Let’s not go there Ashton, this is going to be a good thing.” The SUV falls silent as we turn on to another dead beat dirt road and I let my mind wonder as the automatic voice from her phone tells her the next direction. “Oh s**t,” Sealy breaths while the SUV slows. I look out the front window to see what she’s looking at and my heart leaps into my throat. Deep dark black smoke billows in the air in front of us. Below the smoke is a big red truck. The SUV finally rolls to a stop a few feet away from the wreck. “Well that’s a contradiction if I’ve ever seen one.” Sealy unbuckles her belt but pauses to look at me, “This isn’t a time to make jokes Ashton.” I shrug, “I can’t help it you know that.” Sealy doesn’t respond, she dashes from the car and straight for the fire truck. Every bone in my body tells me I shouldn’t follow her. That I need to stay back and let Sealy the doctor handle this. But I also know that truck is in flames for a very horrible reason, one of which is probably the men or women inside being unconscious. Sighing I leap form the SUV and catch up to Sealy who is yanking the passenger door of the truck open. A big body falls to the side slightly before stopping, being saved by the seatbelt from a face of concrete. “They must not be on a call. We need to get him out of there.” Sealy climbs up trying to reach around the mans imposing body to get to the red latch. I’m no where near where she is and I can feel the heat emanating from inside. I yank her by her arm. I pull out the folded up knife from my pocket and hold it out to her, “You cut and I’ll catch.” “He has to weigh at least a hundred pounds more than you.” “I’m open to other ideas that don’t involve you getting second degree burns.” It only takes her a second to grab the knife and climb up the step. “Cut him loose Sealy, one strap at a time.” The body falls slightly as she cuts through the strap at his shoulder and a second later I realize how right she was. Almost two hundred pounds of muscles threatens to take my legs out but I grit my teeth and hold him up and walk a few feet away making sure they’re a safe distance in case things go south too fast. “Let’s get the driver.” I shake my head, “No he’s not breathing. Ill get the driver, you make sure he lives.” “Ashton you can’t.” I smile lightly and stand while holding out my hand, “I can and I will. Five minutes Sealy. Get him breathing.” Seconds later I’m yanking the truck door open, ignoring the pain from the heat of the door handle. This man is definitely bigger than the last one.I step up and and go to cut the belt on his shoulder when a hand shoots out almost causing me to drop the blade all together. “Alveraz,” he manages to get out. “He’s safe on the grass with my friend. She’s a doctor.” The mans head lolls to the side and I know I have to act fast if I want him to live. This is definitely not what I had planned for my first day in this podunk town. I can finally tell when I get the belt released because his whole body weight slams into me. I slowly lower my foot to the ground and let the man fall slowly onto my shoulders. He’s not only heavier but taller as well. If I don’t move quick I’ll go down with him on top of me. I finally lower my other foot and slowly make my way to Sealy on the browning grass. It’s slow going and I have to keep from letting my knees buckle out from underneath me. When he’s on the ground I drop to my butt but and rest my arms on my knees and breath deeply a few times. “Is he breathing Ash?” I look up to see Sealy still working on who I assume to be Alveraz. He must not be breathing yet because she’s still got her hands on top of his chest and doing compressions. I get up on my knees next to the second man and place a hand under his nose. “It feels like he is.” She nods, “That’s good. Get a few bottles of water from the car.” I jump to my feet and catch myself quickly before my knee can give out on me. When I can finally straighten fully I sprint to the SUV and grab four bottle of cold water and fill a travel mug with ice before running back. “This one is breathing but not waking up. Dump a little water on the others face, see if we can get him to wake up.” I do as she asks and the mans head lolls to the other side. It feels like hours before he finally opens his eyes and looks up at me. “Hey, don’t move.” I say when he tries to lift his arms. “Your safe, your buddy too. We’ve already called 911.” The mans head lolls to the other side and I can tell the exact moment his muddled brain processes what he’s seeing.” “Water,” the man manages to croak out. I realize a little to late that holding out a bottle of water to a man just pulled from a massive fire is a very dumb thing to do. Instead he tilts his head back and I drop a little into his mouth. “He’s diabetic,” he finally says after a few more sips. I’m on my feet again running back towards the car. I grab my black case out of the door and rush back to him. “Does he have a Dexcom?” “No, he’s got the pack under his jacket.” “Okay. Well I’m Ashton, a diabetic as well. I’m gonna check his numbers and we’ll go from there. Sealy is a doctor if you feel like you need a second opinion.” His head shakes slightly, “Nash, and just get him awake again. He’s got a daughter at home and he’s the only one she has left.” Well there goes my heart. This was exactly why I didn’t follow Sealy to medical school. Death is one thing, it happens every day and there is nothing that any of us can do to stop it. No matter how much we study, nothing. I find the pack and work on getting his arms out the jacket as well. I remove the lancing device and make sure to replace the lancet with a brand new one. I add a testing strip to my monitor and grab for his hand. Picking the middle finger I press the release button and make sure I get enough blood to bubble for a test. I press the strip to his finger and wait impatiently for the monitor to load. 52 “Okay Sealy, he’s in diabetic shock. He’s way too low and unconscious which means he’s unable to swallow any of my candy. My tablets are supposed to refilled today.” “His pack is in the back of the truck. He has a container of glucose tablets” I look up and see the flames have slowly started to make their way outward. Sealy looks at me when I look at her. I can tell she doesn’t want me to do it but she wont stop me if I decide to anyways. Which in that instant it’s a no brainer. Alvarez wont die because I was too chicken s**t to do everything I could to help. By the time I make it back to the little doors I can hear faint sirens in the distance. Still too far away for me to stop. I start yanking out anything I can get my hands on, ripping zippers and velcro until finally I find a little black case. I grab the whole kit and run back, skidding on my knees knowing there will be blood when I look later. I grab out the glucose tablets and dump four in to the palm on my hand. Sealy tilts his head back to open up his throat more. I take a tablet between my fingers and squeeze crushing it and letting it fall into his mouth. I do the same with the other three and dump a little water in as well to make sure it goes down smoothly. Seconds pass and nothing happens. It’s not like in the TV shows where they shoot straight up gasping for breath. Alvarez lays still. Two minutes pass and sirens grow slightly closer in the distance. I jump when Nash groans next me. “What happened?” I ask turning to get a better look. “My side,” he grinds out trying to press his hands to his torso. “Uhm Sealy,” I whisper when I notice the blood pooling little by little in the grass. I quickly unzip his jacket and without thought press my hand the the gapping wound at his side. “Apply pressure Ash, as hard as you can. Doesn’t matter if it hurts him, you want him to live even if he’s uncomfortable.” I press harder with both hand, Nash groaning as I do so. The hand next to my knee connected to Alvarez jumps and my breath catches in my throat. “I think he’s waking up.” I hear grass tussle and Sealy lets out a big breath, “He’s coming around but he wont be awake for long if that ambulance doesn’t show up.” As if she has some mystical powers I know nothing about, the sirens finally ring from what sounds like seconds away. I don’t let up pressure even though I want to pump my fists in the air and yell out were saved. “Don’t let him go Ashton.” I don’t. Even when my knees protest and my back tells me it needs a break from the position of leaning over Nash to keep the bleeding at bay. Even when my brain haywires and tells me it needs rest. Even when Rylands voice echoes in my head telling me I’m not good enough, and that I never will be. I mentally set my counter to zero on the crazy accurate Ryland voice in my head. It had been two days since I’ve heard him in my head.