Parenting?
As I'm half asleep in the recliner I can hear the police band talking about a high school party in which a girl had her foot run over and now her drunk mother was running her mouth off. At the time the problem was two towns over and despite being the only medic on for three towns, I assumed it would not be a problem. A foot injury does not warrant a call out for a medic especially when I didn't get toned for a diff breather in the town next door. If they need a medic, I will be sent.
Sleep.
The tones do drop, unceromoninously for a foot injury at the Alpha level, the least severe and jokingly called "Taxi Level." Lakes Region Dispatch notifies us that the girl had previously been in the town of Allendale playing football and had her foot run over about two hours ago. We are instructed to wait for PD.
"Sonofabitch!" I cough and fumble the sleep out of my eyes as I hulk down stairs and take a piss. GD, my partner is waking up. We work together infrequently but when we do its usually a good time as he is laid back and has a good sense of humor.
I hear the bus starting up and grab my radio strap and hop in as we pull out.
"I thought this was in Allendale." He mutters.
The ride is fairly quick and when we arrive two cop cars are parked outside with a state trooper truck pulling in behind us.
Officer K. comes out and waves us over. The whole property is dark so I turn on a flashlight and grab the first in bag as we walk up into the house. Its not a bad little house, it looks to be clean aside from all the shoes and a few sweaters clogging the front entrance way. As feared the mother and her five friends are very drunk and very annoying, alternatly crying and yelling that they are going to kill "the motherfucker that ran over her foot."
"I thought this shit was in Allendale." I say to K.
"Yeah but she lives here and drove herself home, mom found out and now her foot is numb."
The patient is a 16 year old girl laying on a bed in a backroom. An enormous tiger cat is sniffing her and just for the hell of it I pick him up and pet him while I talk. He's cool with it so I conduct my interview holding him and scratching his ears like the Godfather.
"What happened?"
When the girl answers its in that overly sylabic almost spitting monotone of the trully ignorant who were raised and will remain that way.
"Well we was playin' footballs and mah friend droved up so I went to his cah and and when ah stuck my head in da winder he droved ova mah foot. And mah friends was like 'Youse on her foot, backup.' Now mah foot hurts."
"How long ago was this?"
"Bout two hours but I droved home on it."
Before I can answer more questions, mom appears in a flurry of curses and covered in sweat. "I got Medicaid, she goin to da hospital. It gonna pay so you don't gotta worry bout me payin."
The cat scoots out of my hands and I just smile.
"This is a crime. Seriosuly," mom continues. "She just dere and he runned ova her foot. And dat bitch lied to me and told me she hurt it playin' football. Mothafucka lyed at me to my face on the phone."
"She looked you in the eye, thats a shame." K remarks and its clearly over the woman's head.
We carry the girl out to the bus and somehow mom ends up in the front seat.
Her vitals are fine and I put a pillow under her foot. If mom was sober she could have taken her daughter to the hospital herself. Parenting at its finest.
Durring the transport the girl's mother is bitching at GD and he ends up putting up his hand and saying : "Listen, I don't care. All I am doing is taking your daughter to the hospital. You are no longer allowed to talk to me. Sit there quietly so I can concentrate on driving." Surprisingly it works.
My paperwork is finished when we pull into the hospital.
Alerted by my patch, a security guard hangs out at the ambulance bay and the mother instantly accosts him and tells him in vivid livid detail the whole story.
While we transfer the girl to the hospital bed I remember I still have 32 hours left in my shift.
Sleep.
The tones do drop, unceromoninously for a foot injury at the Alpha level, the least severe and jokingly called "Taxi Level." Lakes Region Dispatch notifies us that the girl had previously been in the town of Allendale playing football and had her foot run over about two hours ago. We are instructed to wait for PD.
"Sonofabitch!" I cough and fumble the sleep out of my eyes as I hulk down stairs and take a piss. GD, my partner is waking up. We work together infrequently but when we do its usually a good time as he is laid back and has a good sense of humor.
I hear the bus starting up and grab my radio strap and hop in as we pull out.
"I thought this was in Allendale." He mutters.
The ride is fairly quick and when we arrive two cop cars are parked outside with a state trooper truck pulling in behind us.
Officer K. comes out and waves us over. The whole property is dark so I turn on a flashlight and grab the first in bag as we walk up into the house. Its not a bad little house, it looks to be clean aside from all the shoes and a few sweaters clogging the front entrance way. As feared the mother and her five friends are very drunk and very annoying, alternatly crying and yelling that they are going to kill "the motherfucker that ran over her foot."
"I thought this shit was in Allendale." I say to K.
"Yeah but she lives here and drove herself home, mom found out and now her foot is numb."
The patient is a 16 year old girl laying on a bed in a backroom. An enormous tiger cat is sniffing her and just for the hell of it I pick him up and pet him while I talk. He's cool with it so I conduct my interview holding him and scratching his ears like the Godfather.
"What happened?"
When the girl answers its in that overly sylabic almost spitting monotone of the trully ignorant who were raised and will remain that way.
"Well we was playin' footballs and mah friend droved up so I went to his cah and and when ah stuck my head in da winder he droved ova mah foot. And mah friends was like 'Youse on her foot, backup.' Now mah foot hurts."
"How long ago was this?"
"Bout two hours but I droved home on it."
Before I can answer more questions, mom appears in a flurry of curses and covered in sweat. "I got Medicaid, she goin to da hospital. It gonna pay so you don't gotta worry bout me payin."
The cat scoots out of my hands and I just smile.
"This is a crime. Seriosuly," mom continues. "She just dere and he runned ova her foot. And dat bitch lied to me and told me she hurt it playin' football. Mothafucka lyed at me to my face on the phone."
"She looked you in the eye, thats a shame." K remarks and its clearly over the woman's head.
We carry the girl out to the bus and somehow mom ends up in the front seat.
Her vitals are fine and I put a pillow under her foot. If mom was sober she could have taken her daughter to the hospital herself. Parenting at its finest.
Durring the transport the girl's mother is bitching at GD and he ends up putting up his hand and saying : "Listen, I don't care. All I am doing is taking your daughter to the hospital. You are no longer allowed to talk to me. Sit there quietly so I can concentrate on driving." Surprisingly it works.
My paperwork is finished when we pull into the hospital.
Alerted by my patch, a security guard hangs out at the ambulance bay and the mother instantly accosts him and tells him in vivid livid detail the whole story.
While we transfer the girl to the hospital bed I remember I still have 32 hours left in my shift.
posted by Nick Stabile at 6:11 PM
1 Comments:
Seeing some of the kids running around, I worry for the future. And then, out of nowhere I see a bright, inteligent young adult that has goals and ambition and I realize that just like the rest of life, there will always be both ends of the spectrum. But it doesn't mean I don't want to grab the hooligans by the shoulders and shake them until they get it. ;)
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