idk what this is @mrapril
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
Maddie immediately hears wheezing over the phone, her nurse mind taking over; either asthma or heart failure.
“I think--” the voice trails off, sounding young and Maddie’s heart aches, “m’inhaler isn’t working.”
“Honey, what’s your address?”
It’s painful to listen to, punctuated by wheezes and coughs, but the girl is able to get fragments of her address out in bursts of inhales, and Maddie has been at the call center for a few weeks now, and is able to put together poorly given addresses from people in distress.
“Help is on the way,” Maddie assures her, trying to sound calm and collected-- just like when she was a nurse, it’s always the worst when it’s a child, “what’s your name, darling?”
“M-Melanie,” the girl forces out, “Melanie R-Ruiz Han.”
Holy shit... her brother had insisted on her coming to a barbecue in Captain Nash’s backyard to meet his coworkers... had she met this girl? A shy, preeteen aged looking girl named Melanie, belonging to a nice paramedic apparently called Chimney? What was his last name again? Was it Han? No, she can’t think like this right now. She cannot get sidetracked. Maybe it’s a coincidence; maybe it’s not. Right now Melanie is in the thick of an emergency, she deserves Maddie’s full attention. She can follow up with Buck later.
“Good job, and how old are you?”
“Twelve,” she gasps, “almost thirteen.”
Maddie’s heart twinges; she’s a young girl in destress but still very much a young girl. Maddie can remember her own attitude at that age, how she counted the months towards her total age is essential.
“Okay, Melanie, are you home along?”
“Yes,” she cries, “my dad--” she trails off, unable to speak any longer.
“Your dad,” Maddie says, desperate to get Melanie’s voice back, “where is he? What’s his phone number?”
“Store,” is all the poor girl can get out, and Maddie can tell her breathing is worsening, and the ambulance is still five minutes out... no, this girl cannot die on the phone with her.
“Your dad is at the store, okay, sweetie. Do you know when he’ll be back?”
Just wheezing, just coughing.
“Try to breathe deeply as much as you can,” Maddie says determinedly, “I know it’s hard-- I know. Whenever you can get a breath in, even if you have to force it-- you’ll be alright. The ambulance is coming.”
“Y-You’re voice,” the girl sobs, punctuated with a cough, “familiar.”
And then she coughs a few more times, before Maddie hears the phone clatter against the floor.
