D.McGuire

'That was evil. Evil. But Necessary. I saw something on the food network a while back. What's that shit that jersey diners do. With the fries and gravy?' 'Oh disco fries, hell yeah. Haven't had those in years now' *As we approach the patient the new guy starts compressions over the patient's shirt before having to be reminded to expose the chest, 'great start' I think to myself. He grabs shears from his batman belt and exposes it. I go to the patients head and pull the airway kit over to me as Alyssa grabs the monitor when we're advised by the bystanders that the downtime is at least 15 minutes, likely more. I pull out a basic oral airway to start; I measure it then go to open the airway, finding that the jaw is already becoming rigid. I glance at the monitor after the pads are on to confirm what we already know - asystole* 'Shocking,' I say to Alyssa, 'Jaw's stiff as well' *I say that as one of the bystanders clutches his chest and drops to the floor. 'Well that was dramatic' I think to myself, but decide to keep that comment in this time. As my new guy just as dramatically jumps from our original patient to this new one, I step over to the new one; he's now sprawled out on the ground breathing abnormally, more than likely becoming agonal shortly* 'SIR,' *I shout as I give a deep, painful sternum rub before checking for a carotid pulse* 'For fucks sake' *I say under my breath - I wasn't expecting to actually have to do work here today*

'Well, I guess he wants to help. We can't blame him, he's probably scared and we're going to be his rescuers!' 'He can help by staying out of our way' *I'm pulling to a stop in front of the theater, I glance in my mirror seeing Alyssa pull up behind us when I hear the sound of our radio's talk permit tone, I shoot a look over to my new guy and see him with the radio up to his mouth* 'Oh Jesus Christ' I say as he's speaking into the radio *I take a deep breath as he finishes speaking as in a fluid motion I hit the ignition override switch, remove the keys, and open my door to get out* 'Same goes for the radio bud. Driver touches it.' *I walk around to the rear doors and open them up as Alyssa and my new guy are putting things on the stretcher. As I'm about to answer Alyssa's question, a bystander yells out* 'Hey, hey over here! He's in here!' 'Yeah alright' I say back in a dismissive tone *I glance at the stretcher seeing all of our equipment now on it. I release the stretcher from it's lock and start to pull it out as I glance up at Alyssa* 'You're goddamn right we're pronouncing,' I say nodding in the direction of my new guy and rolling my eyes, knowing of all people she can pick up what I'm putting down, 'And uh yeah food, what were you thinking? I think I need a greasy ass plate of diner food to soak up the last of the bourbon in me' *I pull the stretcher out completely, release it from the back, and shut the doors. The three of us begin to approach the theater as the excited helpers keep waving us in. I decide to mess a little with my new guy* 'Hey, bud, get in there!' I say, sarcastically matching his excitement on the way here, 'We have a life to save, we're heroes. Run ahead and see what we got! The quicker we realize we're not working him, the quicker we can eat'

'We must have a big call on this one if they're sending the station officer!' 'LT's always good about giving a hand. One of the best bosses you'll ever have, don't forget' 'Let's see. It's a 55 year old male, no known cardiac history, witnessed arrest, they're doing CPR. Thank god for that! We'll probably be able to save this guy!' *'That's cute,' I think to myself, 'The optimism is adorable.'* 'Yeah I don't know, we'll see... They're doing CPR but who knows how effective the laypersons' CPR actually is' *I'm driving quietly down the road, scanning ahead noting no hazards for my response - no need for the sirens at this moment. I'm in a bit of a hungover daze, yet focused, when suddenly I'm started out of it when the sirens come on. I glance around confused for a moment when I look down at my new guy with his hand on the siren. I roll my eyes and shift my focus back to the road, then hit the horn on the steering wheel twice quickly to turn the siren off* 'Driver operates the sirens bud, hands off' *There's a red light as I'm approaching the block the theater is on. I slow down and flip the siren on for a moment just until I have all drivers' attention and confirm oncoming traffic is stopped. Once confirmed, I shut the siren off and slowly accelerate as we approach the theater. I see somebody stepping into the street and excitedly waving at us as we come down the block* 'Oh no shit, we're going to the theater that you called from? Get the fuck back on the sidewalk... We're going as fast as we want' *I say as I start slowing to come to a stop in front of the theater*

*I’m sitting at the table with arms folded on it, head resting on arms and still pounding, but slightly less as the Advil kicks in. I sigh as the tones sound and hold my breath waiting to hear the units. I let out a defeated ‘FUCK’ as I hear M2 be assigned, and a more defeated, even louder ‘Mother Fucker’ as I hear the words Cardiac Arrest; at the same time i hear that, I hear feet pounding elsewhere in the building as if somebody is sprinting. ‘The fuck?’ I think to myself for a moment, before realizing I don’t have energy to care. I stand and slowly collect my belongings surrounding me - phone, Gatorade, coffee… ‘Hmm, this could be topped off’ i think to myself. I stop by the coffee maker to top off my mug as I hear Alyssa sign on - always a welcome set of hands on any job. I take a swig of coffee as I walk out to the bay; I glance at the new guy standing by M2 staring at me as if he’s been waiting on me. I look past him to Alyssa, knowing she’s in a similar position that I am today; I decide to try to lighten the mood in a way we’ll both understand* ’This motherfucker wants to drop dead today, and now it’s our problem? Un-fucking-real.’ I shout out, hoping Alyssa hears as she gets into her truck *I smile and glance back at my new guy to try and gauge his reaction to that as I head towards the drivers seat. I assume I don’t know where he’s going, and I have to give him some credit where it’s due not being so quick to get behind the wheel without a sense of direction. I step into the seat, simultaneously starting the truck. Once my new guy is in, I slide my sunglasses down my head over my eyes as I shift into drive and start to roll out onto the apron as I cycle through the presets on the radio to find some good music to respond to* ”Medic 2 responding”

*Prior to entering the building, I pop a few Advil in my car in the parking lot and wash it down with some Gatorade before resting my forehead on the top of my steering wheel for a few seconds. I yawn and sit back up right, glance at the clock, and decide it's about time to head in. I step out and collect my backpack, oversized iced coffee, and gatorade and slowly walk inside. 'One more glass of bourbon is never a good choice.' I think to myself. I never think there's any harm in one more glass, until I inevitably say 'One more' at least 3 more times and before I know it I'm finishing my fifth glass; great decision at the time, not so much the next morning. I approach the duty room door and step in* 'Good morning, good morning' My groggy voice says to the room and no-one in particular *I take a seat in an empty set of chairs and take another swig of Gatorade before leaning back and closing my eyes to await assignments*

'I went there St. Pattys day a few years ago. I remember walking and then waking up in my car in a CVS parking lot covered in puke. I think I had a good time.' 'Good time? Sounds like a great time... Sounds like most of my nights there. We should go close that place some Friday or Saturday night sometime.'

'I kind of want to splurge. Know any places to get a Ruben? My Irish senses are tingling' *My eyes light up, I haven't had a good Ruben in a long time. I also can't immediately recall if I've had one around here lately* 'I like the way you think' *I run through some local spots in my head trying to think of any good pubs around here when I remember O'Flaherty's; I've only ever drank there, with the exception of maybe picking at some drunk bar food type appetizers* 'Ever been to O'Flaherty's? I've only drank there but they've gotta have a good Ruben.'

*I step into the passenger seat a few seconds after Alyssa; she asks if I'm ready for the burn* 'Oh yeah, ecstatic.' *I open up a new chart as dispatch updates with the additional callers reporting a burn victim but unknown if there's any entrapment* 'This guy better have been trapped at some point to have gotten burned, don't wanna hear that he was burned trying to save some shit from his car or something' *I fill out what I can on the chart so far - dispatch and responding times, location, nature, etc. I shut the laptop and enjoy the rest of the ride when I've filled out what I can on it* 'Guess this guy's never played Grand Theft Auto... Burning cars explode after like 4 seconds, you run away from them not toward them.'

*I head out to the bay for a quick truck check. I start in the cab, turning the key a few clicks to check the fuel - full. I observe all the lights on the instrument cluster to make sure no unusual warning lights stay on with the exception of the check engine light - every ambulance ever always has a check engine light on no matter its age or condition. I turn the key back off, log into the charting computer, then hop out. I open each exterior compartment for a few seconds quickly scanning over the equipment. I step inside and do a quick once over of the interior cabinets, each bag, and make sure the monitor works. Satisfied with my check, I step out and notice Alyssa out in the smokers spot. I walk out to her and lean up against the wall taking in the morning Spring weather when Alyssa asks the most important question of the day - what we're doing for food* 'That's a good question' *I say running through some of my usual food spots in my head; nothing in particular jumping out to me at the moment* 'You feeling like being fatasses today with some fast food or more like hittin' a good local spot?'

*Hearing I'll be with Alyssa for the shift, I breath a sigh of relief knowing I'll be with a familiar senior face for the shift. She asks if I'd like to tech or drive for the shift* 'You drive LT - you earned the rank. I was dumb enough leave and give mine up for the death of MONOC.'

*I bit later than I like to be yet still on time, I enter the firehouse and walk into the duty room. I survey who all is already sitting down as I enter the room as I walk back to table, set my coffee down and take a seat* 'Morning all.'

*Having checked into one of the discounted rooms for banquet attendees shortly prior to the start of the cocktail hour, I emerge from my room for the night in my Class A with my wife Cierra in a black dinner dress. We take an elevator down to the ground floor and follow some other uniformed personnel assuming we all must be going to the same place. We enter the room and I survey the room and atmosphere for a moment. I turn to Cierra* 'Start at the bar?' I ask 'Always.' She says *We step up to the bar and wait a moment as somebody else is being served.* 'Vodka Soda?' I ask Cierra 'Yes please.' She replies, 'So is this gunna be a "order 26 green tea shots at once" kinda banquet like the MONOC ones, or not so much?' *I shrug* 'We'll see where the night takes us but I would say no; or not until much later at least... I think my low-key alcoholism has been pretty under the radar here since I came back. Not that I really care.' *The bartender comes over and I order us a Vodka soda for Cierra and Jack & Coke for myself. We take our drinks and as the bartender is still in our presence wiping down where our drinks were just prepared, I look at Cierra* 'You know what, fuck it' I say, then turn towards the bartender, 'Excuse me, two tequila shots as well please' *The bartender acknowledges and steps away. I turn around slightly from the bar a moment and see Breslin approach with another person [Sparks] in a suit* 'Oh there's my boss,' I say to Cierra as she turns around to see who I'm referring to, 'Lieutenant Breslin' *I turn around fully to say hello* 'LT, good to see you. Not sure if you've met my wife before, this is Cierra.' *After introducing the two women, I turn to Sparks and extend my hand* 'Hi, Doug McGuire. Think I've seen you around but I'm not sure we've formally met.' *I say as the bartender returns the bar with our two Tequila shots*