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Arrival
Jack had gone home, eaten, taken care of his leg, showered, then collapsed into the bed that was, still, too large. He didn’t have any real expectation of getting more than a few hours of sleep, especially after the way the shift ended today, but that just kept his body clock set for the night shift. That was what he told his therapist and the docs at the VA, anyway.
He woke up slowly after a dreamless sleep and laid in the bed for a few more minutes than he might have normally. He was off tonight and there wasn’t too much he needed to do. His laundry was clean and folded, the few dishes he actually got dirty cooking for one were done, and he’d even been to the grocery store recently. He thought about reading a book that had been on his side table long enough for it to be dusty.
The condo was always too quiet, so he opened the police scanner app on his phone and selected the Pittsburgh PD stream for background noise as he started to move around. He wondered if Raymond Orser’s family had come by and if the letter had helped. He hoped it had. He’d seen too many letters written by too many commanding officers, but he also knew they needed to be written. There needed to be more than two people in a uniform on a porch, whether it was a military uniform or a police uniform.
The scanner had been reporting the usual combination of traffic accidents, break-ins, domestic disputes, and missing persons. The rhythm of the dispatcher and the officers was almost like listening to someone calling cadence. He got down on the floor and started doing pushups, then situps, feeling his muscles warm as he focused on proper form and repetitions. Both types of cadence were broken suddenly by the words, “Automatic fire! Automatic fire! Active shooter, all units respond, PittFest, Point State Park.”
His adrenaline spiked, just for a moment. Robby had given Jake his tickets to PittFest. The chances of Jake or Leah being involved were low, but not zero. The chances were never zero, unless they were talking about the chances of everything going well on any given day.
The scanner traffic continued and it became clear that this was going to be a mass casualty event and that PTMC would be the primary facility. Robby and the day shift were going to need backup staff, and he was sure he’d get a text in the next few minutes asking him to come in. He didn’t need it, though. He was already donning his leg and getting into a clean pair of scrubs. He went to the bathroom since god only knew the next time he’d have a chance to piss, then grabbed his go bag from the corner of the living room and headed out. It was going to be a long night for everyone.
There were distant sirens as he ate a protein bar and walked the few blocks to PTMC. They’d get closer soon, and he couldn’t help but think of the sound of Dustoffs arriving. The glass doors to the hub were in front of him as he walked in from the ambulance bay and he could see Robby starting to direct people. Just as the automatic doors opened to let him step in, he was suddenly not in the hub. He was in a hospital, but it wasn’t PTMC. He didn’t recognize any of these people or any of their uniform colors.
What the fuck had just happened?
He woke up slowly after a dreamless sleep and laid in the bed for a few more minutes than he might have normally. He was off tonight and there wasn’t too much he needed to do. His laundry was clean and folded, the few dishes he actually got dirty cooking for one were done, and he’d even been to the grocery store recently. He thought about reading a book that had been on his side table long enough for it to be dusty.
The condo was always too quiet, so he opened the police scanner app on his phone and selected the Pittsburgh PD stream for background noise as he started to move around. He wondered if Raymond Orser’s family had come by and if the letter had helped. He hoped it had. He’d seen too many letters written by too many commanding officers, but he also knew they needed to be written. There needed to be more than two people in a uniform on a porch, whether it was a military uniform or a police uniform.
The scanner had been reporting the usual combination of traffic accidents, break-ins, domestic disputes, and missing persons. The rhythm of the dispatcher and the officers was almost like listening to someone calling cadence. He got down on the floor and started doing pushups, then situps, feeling his muscles warm as he focused on proper form and repetitions. Both types of cadence were broken suddenly by the words, “Automatic fire! Automatic fire! Active shooter, all units respond, PittFest, Point State Park.”
His adrenaline spiked, just for a moment. Robby had given Jake his tickets to PittFest. The chances of Jake or Leah being involved were low, but not zero. The chances were never zero, unless they were talking about the chances of everything going well on any given day.
The scanner traffic continued and it became clear that this was going to be a mass casualty event and that PTMC would be the primary facility. Robby and the day shift were going to need backup staff, and he was sure he’d get a text in the next few minutes asking him to come in. He didn’t need it, though. He was already donning his leg and getting into a clean pair of scrubs. He went to the bathroom since god only knew the next time he’d have a chance to piss, then grabbed his go bag from the corner of the living room and headed out. It was going to be a long night for everyone.
There were distant sirens as he ate a protein bar and walked the few blocks to PTMC. They’d get closer soon, and he couldn’t help but think of the sound of Dustoffs arriving. The glass doors to the hub were in front of him as he walked in from the ambulance bay and he could see Robby starting to direct people. Just as the automatic doors opened to let him step in, he was suddenly not in the hub. He was in a hospital, but it wasn’t PTMC. He didn’t recognize any of these people or any of their uniform colors.
What the fuck had just happened?
no subject
"How often do you do that, by the way?" asks Robby, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Like, to a level I should be concerned, or just sometimes, or..." He shifts his grip on his backpack as, ahead of them, the station comes into sight. "That's where we're heading," he says, pointing. "Somebody told me that some people arrive by train but me..." He hesitates, unwilling to tell Jack exactly the moment he came from. "One moment I was in paeds, and the next moment I was here."
no subject
Robby was definitely leaving something out about being in pedes when he arrived, but that was part of what they'd talk about when they talked about the two hours Jack had missed somehow. He knew pedes was the designated morgue for MCIs and he wasn't surprised that they'd had to take people there. MCIs weren't known for their lack of mortality.
"I'm glad I didn't arrive on a train. Haven't been on an actual train since the last time I went up to NYC for that continuing ed seminar I hated."
It had been boring and full of people who just wanted to hear themselves talk. If Jack wanted that, he'd talk to any of the surgeons in the doctor's lunchroom.