The Bond of Brothers

The rain continued to pour down on them with an angry wrath far worse than Mother Nature had ever inflicted upon them before. Samuel Davis glared up at the lightening streaked sky muttering silent curses. “Sure would make our job a hell of a lot easier if this fucking rain would stop.”

“Yelling at the sky isn’t going to help.” Ellie smiled at him through the streaming veil of water. She seemed to always be in a pleasant mood, which could really irritate Sam. Ignoring the rain, Ellie McDaniels surveyed the damage to the guard rail. “He had to have been going fast to snap it in two like this. Kind of crazy to do that on a night like this.”

“If he was drunk it wouldn’t make any difference. Could be a damn blizzard.”

“We don’t know if he was under the influence of anything yet, Sam.” Ellie stopped at the edge of the chasm that the Jeep had descended. If it were not for the lights of the emergency crews, she would have been peering down into a pit of deep thick blackness. Various voices floated on the wind up to them but were distorted. “So, we have this Jeep going at least eighty to ninety for unknown reasons. He’s left several skid marks. So our guy down there losses control and bam! Off the road. Maybe he was running from someone.”

“Another vehicle after him.” Sam thought about it for a second then shrugged. “Makes sense. No witnesses to tell us though. Poor bastard just lucky that lady came upon this mess when she had. That is if he’s still alive.”

“I hate working accident scenes.” Ellie’s eyes narrowed as she tried to make out more details of the twisted wreckage below. With a heavy sigh she wondered if someone could survive such a crash. Most likely they would pull out a dead body. “If he is alive, he’s not coming out of this unscathed.”

“Lieutenant!” A uniformed officer shouted up from the wrecked Jeep. Ellie peered past the large clamp that was used to wrench the caved in driver’s side door. “We got him! He’s alive.”

“A miracle.” Sam whispered. Motioning to the rescue crew he shouted, “Hurry up! Got a live one down there!”

“Damn this weather.” Ellie growled under her breath as Sam helped her down the slippery slope. Their first priority was to get the victim safely extracted from the mess and transported to the closest emergency room. Questioning him would have to wait. “I want to move to California. Hardly rains there.”

“But they have earthquakes.” Sam pointed out.

“Shut up and help me.” Ellie tried to sound cross with him but a sweet smile gave her away. They managed to reach the bottom without slipping, but neither could escape the mounds of red mud. An equally drenched officer handed Sam a black wallet.

“Patrick Stump.” He said over the rising wind. All three glanced above their heads. It looked like the weather was about to take a turn for the even worse. “He’s unconscious, has some pretty nasty cuts and scrapes. He’s bled out a lot. Pulse is weak.”

Ellie stopped paying attention to the young pimply faced officer. She watched as the man identified as Patrick was pulled from the pile of snarled medal. Rain and blood soaked the blond locks to his battered forehead. Without forethought, she leaned over brushing the hair away. Bruising had already begun and a nasty swelling already distorted the areas around his eyes and nose. “We’ve got massive head injury and blunt trauma to the face, neck and torso.” The other officers’ words barely registered to Ellie even though only about twelve inches separated them. She couldn’t pull away from the injured man as they positioned him on the stretcher. As they crew worked on getting Patrick up to the ambulance without taking a swim in the river of mud flowing below their feet, Ellie held fast to his hand. For some reason, she didn’t want him to be alone. No one should be alone in a time like this.

The chatter around them fell silent to the thundering rain as they all worked together to get the injured man to safety. Paramedics moved in swiftly the second they crested the top of the steep embankment. Sam and Ellie stepped back but remained close by.

“He looks bad.” One spoke.

“Radio ahead to have Dr. Patton standing by. We have a massive head trauma, visible skull fractures, and contusions of the face, neck and upper body.” The tall man’s slim fingers gracefully felt over the back of Patrick’s neck and down to his side. His white gloves glistened in the moonlight a dark red. “Possible neck and spinal cord injuries.”

A man dressed in white rain gear shouted towards the front of the ambulance as they swiftly lifted Patrick up and inside. Without a moment’s hesitation, the two member team locked the gurney in to place and checked Patrick’s vitals. They moved with the speed and precision of a well-trained acrobatic group; leaning over each other as one put an IV in one arm, while the other did what he could to stop the flow of blood from the open wound above Patrick’s eyes. It didn’t take a medic to figure out that he had impacted the window at an alarming force.

Ellie wanted so much to follow the paramedics and climb in right behind them. Sam took her firmly by the wrist bringing her to a halt right at the low bumper. Ellie only glanced at him briefly before returning her attention back to Brian. With gentleness but a firmness that was always customary of Sam, he took her by the hand and pulled her away. “He’s in good hands.”

Her normally dancing eyes and mischievous grin was gone replaced by a sadness that was not common for her. She stared at the back of the ambulance with worry. “He shouldn’t be alone.”

“He’s not.” Sam said softly. “They’ll do what they can.”

“That’s not what I meant, Sam.” She cut her intense eyes at him briefly. The anger died on her words as quickly as it had formed. Compassion lit up her face. “No one should die alone.”

He understood where her determination stemmed from. He also knew how irritatingly stubborn she could be. “Don’t make me pull rank on you.” He said with a sweet smile.

The pained expression did not leave her face, though she knew he was right. This young man was not her responsibility. Being by his side was not her job and it would do nothing to alleviate the real source of her deep-seeded pain and guilt. “I know, damn it. You’re right. He’s not Danny. Now knock that shit-eaten smirk off your face.”

Despite his partners turn around and firm words, Sam sighed as he followed Ellie back to their squad car. She had the determined look set on her face and there would not be enough wisdom spouted from him to be able to convince her that she shouldn’t follow this one. But, alas, she was not the type to just shrug something or someone off. He laughed slightly too himself. He could picture sweet Ellie picking up every stray mutt she happened to cross paths with. They would make the slippery journey to the emergency room and she would not leave until she found out whether or not the poor soul would make it. Inside the warmer car, he flipped open his cell phone to call home. Once again he would have to explain why he was going to be hours late. After ten years on the force, his wife knew all the excuses. Thank God the woman was as patient as a saint. “I’ll be in as soon as possible, darling.”

“Darling.” Ellie smirked as she maneuvered the Ford off the shoulder of the road and in the direction of the wailing ambulance. “That’s just so sweet.”

“Ah, you’re just jealous.” Sam grinned at her.

“Green with envy.” She admitted.

Sam watched his partners profile for awhile as they road in silence. Ellie was one of the prettiest female cops there ever was. But since she lost Danny, a lingering sadness had stripped her of some of that inner beauty. No longer wanting to trade barbs with him, she retreated back into her painful memories. This was a place he was not granted access to and no words could muster up would ease her sorrow. “You going to be okay?”

“You know me, Sam.” She forced a smile. “I’m always okay.”

**************************

Alex Tucker had been an EMT for three weeks and he was already wondering if he had made the wisest career choice. He glanced over at Paul Coker, his immediate supervisor and newfound friend, as he leaned over Patrick’s nearly lifeless body. Carefully the man examined the dilated pupils. “Very sluggish.” He mumbled.

“Pulse is very weak.” Alex released his hold of Patrick’s wrist. With unshielded sympathy he looked at the man’s battered face. Bruises of a hideous black and swelling marred his identity. If it weren’t for the luck of finding a wallet on this one, no one would have been able to recognize him. “His right cheek bone is shattered. Jaw is dislocated, most likely broken.”

Paul gently put two gloved fingers on Patrick’s lips and parted them. “Yep.”

Alex pulled out the black leather wallet the police officers had given him and flipped it open. His license and credit cards were damp but undamaged, but the pictures were ruined. He pulled the plastic sheath out to examine what was left of the images a little closer. A beautiful brunet grinned back at him. Most likely the wife, he noted. He turned it over hoping to find a name, but it was blank. That did make sense. Not like the man needed to write it down to remember this beauty’s name. The second picture was of the lady again with a small infant. Alex winced as he read the inscription on the back.

The Loves of my life.
Elisa, Matthew (2 months)

Paul noticed the stillness of his partner. “Find something?”

“Yea.” Alex handed over the picture. “His family.”

“Damn cute kid.” Paul smiled.

“Yep.”

“Damn cute wife too.” Paul handed it back to Alex, who slipped it back into Patrick’s wallet. “Anything else?”

“No phone numbers.” Alex mumbled. “At least we have a name.”

Paul didn’t say anything as he tried to force the images of those smiling faces from his mind. He studied Patrick. A mask and tube had been inserted to enable the oxygen mask to pump air into his collapsed lungs. His chest rose up and down as the artificial life machine breathed for him. Another tube was inserted just below his rib cage to allow fluid to drain. Thick blood filled the tube, not the best sign to see. He didn’t look good, but they hung on to stubborn determination to get him to the hospital alive. Once there, then Dr. Patton could produce one of his amazing miracles. Alex gasped as a stain of dark crimson spread underneath their patient. “Shit! He’s bleeding out.”

It looked like Dr. Patton was going to need all of his guardian angels to save this one.