XXXI III

*ATTENTION* IF YOU HAVEN'T READ PARTS ONE AND TWO OF THIS STORY YET, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER HERE. START HERE.
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I jumped over the cement barricade again and took off running back across the freeway towards the SUV. I could hear a helicopter approaching and it wasn't long before he was overhead. I looked up and a news-copter was circling about. Still no sign of the police. The driver of the SUV was off of the phone, standing besides her truck watching the whole thing unfold. As I neared she raised her voice and asked:

HE'S OK?

I was out of breath by the time I got there and responded quickly.

I think so. Did you see anybody get ejected from the car?

No.

Really? Are you sure? He's asking about his friend. This guy didn't have his belt on so I assumed somebody was ejected.

I didn't see anybody, it happened so fast though.

"Weird", I said to myself.

Ok. Just to be safe, call 911 again and tell them that there is another person that was ejected from the vehicle who hasn't been found yet. We might need more help. I'm going to start looking.

She pulled her phone from her pocket once more as I ran across the off ramp again. Once I made it to the barricade I started working my way against traffic through the debris field towards the origination of the skid marks. I wasn't long before I had briefly scanned the entire area and found no sign of anybody. It was then that it occurred to me for the first time that maybe there was no Jeremy. Maybe our survivor had been drinking or something and with a keen sense decided to come up with a story to make it appear as if he wasn't driving. It seemed impractical for this guy to be thinking on that level so soon after waking up and pulling himself from the wreck but who knows? Besides, my search revealed nothing and our lone eye witness didn't see anybody get ejected. I wasn't sure what to think. I didn't get very far in that train of thought before the first NHP cruiser barreled around the curve. Being downstream from the Honda I was the first person he came to, so he pulled up to me and rolled his window down. I decided to leave my speculations out of it.

Officer, looks like this guy is going to be ok, he crawled out of there under his own power. He still needs medical attention though. He's asking about his friend "Jeremy", but he was the only one in the car when I first got there. I haven't found anybody else yet. The driver of that SUV witnessed the accident and if there were any other vehicles involved they are no longer here.

Ok, you said there is another person somewhere?

Well I don't know. The guys first words to me after he crawled out of the car were "Where's Jeremy". He wasn't wearing his seatbelt so I assumed somebody was ejected. I ran back and asked the witness and she said she didn't see anybody get ejected but that she didn't get a good look either. So I'm down here searching...that was 30 seconds ago.

Ok sir, thank you for your help.

With that he drove the 40 yards or so up to the Honda funeral site. For the next few minutes I continued looking for Jeremy as fire and rescue arrived along with a host of other squad cars, all of which ignoring me on their way to the scene. If Jeremy was indeed out there he was in some dire need of help because he is nowhere near where this accident occurred. The longer I looked the more my speculations overtook my mind. But more importantly, nobody else seemed concerned in the least about this "search". I thought maybe there was something they knew that I didn't but how could that be? I finally gave up and began walking back to where all the action was.

The firemen are tending to the car and there are officers and even more onlookers milling around. Our survivor was sitting in the back of an ambulance being looked after. I stuck my head in and told him:

Hey man, I couldn't find your friend Jeremy, I looked everywhere.

I wondered if he would recognize my voice, he just looked at me with a blank stare and said:

Who?

Weird. Perhaps our guys injuries were more than just skin deep. Nonetheless, my job was done here and I was through trying to make sense of this.

I sifted through the police and fire personal looking for the original officer I spoke to, simply to make sure I was free to go. I finally spotted him and as I walked over I noticed that one of the looky Lous that was standing around before was talking to him. As I got closer I overheard the guy tell the officer that he was a "off-duty metro officer".... Ok jackass, what good does this information do anyone now? Better yet, what the fuck where you doing standing there with your thumb up your ass while I was trying to talk this guy into breathing for a little while longer? What the fuck were you doing while I was searching for other survivors? I didn't say any of that however and after I inquired, the NHP officer thanked me again and informed me that I was free to go.

I jumped over the barricade for the last time and began walking over to where my cab and the SUV were parked. I removed the larger remains of one sign from the road as I went. The lady was still standing by her truck.

I told the officer that you witnessed the accident so they may need to talk to you, I would check with them before you leave....You did a good thing.

You did a good thing

I suppose I did, I don't know. I'm not a hero though. It's important that I make that clear. I think we all know who the real heroes are. The heroes are those police officers who come running without question or judgment every time you call. The firemen like Nathan, who kick down the door of that burning building in search of you, without thinking once about it. The brave members of our armed forces who live and die everyday fighting for our country. The single mother who takes the bus everyday to work her two jobs so her child can have opportunities that she didn't. The father who teaches his son discipline, accountability, and respect for women. And the doctor who nurses the dead hearts back to life to name a few. No no, I'm no hero, just a well to do cabbie living in a constant battle between the shrimp cocktail and the caviar, the money or the morals and good-vs-evil.

I walked back to the cab and waved goodbye to the lady as I opened the door. Before I even got in I could hear my radio blaring with dispatch trying to find me:

FOUR AND A QUARTER?........425?....last chance: FOUR TWENTY-FIVE your ears on Andrew?

My microphone wasn't on the hook. It was dark in the cab so I had to follow the cord from the radio itself to find it and soon discovered it was laying on the passenger side floor mat. I picked it up and pressed the button.

425 I'm here, sorry about that I had to step out of the cab for a minute. You can give me that location now.....

Back to work.


.

XXXI II

*ATTENTION* IF YOU HAVEN'T READ PART ONE OF THIS STORY YET, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER HERE. START HERE
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Sometime during my visualization process I had a conversation with an old friend of mine back home. Nathan had been serving as a local fireman for a few years, making him the perfect person to annoy for an education. I knew it was only a matter of time before the knowledge would become useful. I picked his brain about all kinds of things, but mainly about what to do if I ever found myself inside one of the scenarios I was envisioning. I needed to know the save-everybody and live to tell about it information.

The general rule was simple enough. Don't hurt yourself, and don't hurt the patient. Clearly, if you hurt yourself you're no longer any use to the real person who needs help. That puts both of you at greater risk because now of course, there are two people that need saving. The next and obvious step is to contact the authorities and give them as many details regarding the situation as possible. Any and everything you know for sure you should tell them. Upon doing that one should try to establish contact with the injured, determining consciousness being the first order of business. More specifically, Nathan informed me that if you don't have proper training you really shouldn't be attempting to remove a critically injured person from a mangled car. Unless of course there is a immediate threat, namely fire. Do otherwise and you'll most likely do more harm than good. ...A fact that became troublesome after I noticed through the shattered drivers window, the bloody arm hanging down on the headliner.

I hopped over the cement barricade that the trunk-lid was resting on and bent over next to the passenger side. I needed to get a better look, but that side was caved in worse than the other and I couldn't see in at all. I ran over to the driver side and knelt down to look through the drivers window again. There was only one man in the car and he looked more like a human pretzel than a person. I couldn't see his face, his body was halfway in the backseat smashed in between the two front bucket seats. I could also see a foot whose shoe was missing, the toes pointed down in a location that was close to where the steering wheel should have been. He wasn't moving. I laid down on my stomach alongside the window opening and yelled inside.

ARE YOU OK?

YOU ALRIGHT MAN?

CAN YOU TALK TO ME? WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

WHAT'S YOUR NAME? I NEED YOU TO TALK TO ME!

JUST HOLD ON MAN HELP IS ON THE WAY. YOU’RE ALRIGHT. WE'RE GONNA GET YOU OUT OF THERE.

Simultaneously, the arm moved and the guy let out the worst sounding gurgling moan I have ever heard. Great to know he was alive and conscious, however he appeared to be in very bad shape.

JUST RELAX MAN. DON'T MOVE! RELAX. JUST TAKE IT EASY. HELP IS GONNA BE HERE IN TWO MINUTES. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BREATH MAN. JUST BREATH.

Louder and continuous moans now and the foot started twitching along with the arm.

TAKE IT EASY BRO. JUST RELAX MAN. YOU DON'T NEED TO MOVE. YOU'RE ALRIGHT. JUST BREATH THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO DO.

....SAY SOMETHING MAN...CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING?

There were other civilians around now, none of them doing anything. Trying to yank him out of there still seemed like a bad idea however. Despite the smell of gas the threat of a fire didn’t even seem possible. That's Hollywood bullshit. Thanks to Nathan, I did know exactly what needed to be done in this situation and that's exactly what I was doing. Nonetheless, the more I tried talking to him, the more he would move and substantially upset himself in the process making me feel even more helpless.

WHAT'S YOUR NAME? CAN YOU TELL ME YOUR NAME? TALK TO ME MAN!

WE'RE GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF THERE IN ONE MINUTE BROTHER. JUST KEEP BREATHING FOR ME.

The moaning subsided and the body started moving considerably. It looked like he wanted to get out of there. Amazingly, he was able to unfold himself and turn over as I’d given up trying to convince him to hold still. Wow. His hands and knees are now resting on the headliner and he starts to crawl out of the car. I couldn't believe my eyes. I’m blocking the window opening and his only way out so I stand up and take two steps back. In a matter of 20 seconds he pulls himself through the broken drivers door window, picks himself off of the ground and stands up right in front of me.

One Nike remained. His grey sweatpants and white t-shirt were torn in random places with blood all over them. His arms were covered too and his face looked like it went through a meat grinder. It was completely covered in blood along with glass and other debris that were seemingly seared to it. The white of his eyes were the stark contrast against the remainder of his face as he looked right at me and said:

Where’s Jeremy?

...to be continued

PART III HERE

XXXI I

Before my first day ever driving a cab I remember having the thought that I would see a lot of accidents during my time on the road. A lot of fender benders for sure and no doubt some bad ones as well. Indeed I have seen my share of bumper taps, however I’ve yet to witness a very bad accident. I have always wondered how I might react in that situation though. Maybe everybody does. I know in my mind I’ve tried to visualize what would need to be done the same way a shortstop might visualize making that crucial diving grab and throw to first. You’d like to think that you would be able to do the right thing. You’d like to think that you’d know exactly what to do and when, and then you would just do it. Just like that shortstop. Or maybe, you might have it in you to do something important if you had to. Maybe, you could even be the hero. We’d all like to think so. But the truth of the matter is you don’t know. And you won’t. Until the situation presents itself.

I was NB on I-95 en route to a radio call I had taken. It was about 2 in the morning and there was no traffic so I was fast approaching my exit. I already had the mic in my hand so I could call for my location as soon as I got to the stoplight. When I started the bend at the Rainbow curve was when the smoke was first noticeable and it got thicker and darker the farther I went. I had my foot off the gas now and hadn't progressed very far around the turn before it became clear.

It was a blue Honda, or what was left of a blue Honda anyway. Laying upside down, smoke and steam rose from the undercarriage while the rear tires continued to spin. The trunk lid was resting on top of the concrete barrier that separates the Summerlin Parkway off ramp from the freeway, leaving the car at a very awkward pitch. This car was tore up pretty bad, looking like it had rolled over many times. I had to maneuver the cab around various car parts and the remains of two completely destroyed road signs that scattered along the road leading up to it. There was another car there. Three lanes over to the right, on the shoulder of the off ramp a white SUV had it's four ways on. It appeared to be the Good Samaritan. I turned my four ways on, pulled up alongside and rolled my window down to address the female driver.

Were you involved?

No I just watched it happen.

Did you call 911 already?

She held up the phone in her hand as she was putting her earpiece in with her other hand.

Right now.

I pulled the cab over in front of the SUV, got out and ran towards her window.

Do you know where we are?

She didn't respond.

Tell them we're on I-95 Northbound, directly at the Summerlin Parkway off ramp. We need NHP and Fire & Rescue here immediately.

I figured I would give her the exact location. You'd be surprised how many people are incapable of doing this accurately.

Is there anybody alive in there?

I asked a question I knew she didn't know the answer to. I don't know why. She was just as scared as I was and even if she wasn't, she wouldn't have had a chance to find that out anyway. She just stared back at me.


As soon as she started talking to the dispatcher I took off running across the lanes of the Summerlin Parkway off-ramp. I didn't get far before the debris began impeding my progress and the smell of gasoline became apparent.


...to be continued

Part II HERE