A Fan Of Her Life…

I pulled the ambulance up the long driveway that lead to the farmhouse our patient lived in. Chickens sprinted in the opposite direction of our rumbling menace of a diesel truck. Had it been a tractor or a pickup I’m sure they would have reacted differently, I was fairly certain that an ambulance had never graced their driveway before.

“I feel like we’re in Kornfield Kounty, all we’re missing is Minnie Pearl,” I said with a yawn. I surveyed the scene, looking for the easiest way into the house with a stretcher.  The screened-in front porch looked impassible, it was literally filled with boxes.  I didn’t see a side door, but there was a back door with something resembling a walkway leading to it.

“Uhm… Kornfield Kounty?” My partner that day cocked his head sideways, instantly reminding me of my own puppy dog’s reaction when I give him a command he’s not familiar with.

“You know, Hee Haw?”  Surely he’s seen Hee Haw, right?

His completely blank expression quickly convinced me that he had not, in fact, seen Hee Haw.  He had never even heard of it.  I blinked. “Nevermind.” It didn’t occur to me that Jay, my partner, was thirteen years younger than myself.

We took a few steps into a utility room after knocking on the open back door and were instantly greeted by an older gentleman with white hair who turned out to be the neighbor of our patient. He towered over myself and my partner, with a booming voice to match.

“Hello there! Wow, I didn’t know that they let a young lady work on an ambulance! Reggie will love that!”  He was a likable guy, with a smile that had a way of making you comfortable. He extended his hand toward me first, and then to my partner. He motioned for us to come in to the kitchen area where our patient was. Up three steps and to the right of the antiquated washer and dryer.

Regina was wearing a path in the floor when I first saw her. She was a tiny woman, just over five feet tall, wearing a crocheted pink cap over her bald head. Flannel Snoopy pajamas hung off of her gaunt frame. She wrung her hands together nervously. “I’m not ready to go yet, there’s so much to do…” Her voice cracked.  Despite the fact that we were almost an hour late thanks to traffic and poor directions from dispatch, she still wasn’t ready.  I was a little annoyed.  The feelings I felt quickly were dissolved by taking in the true situation.

The neighbor placed his hand on her shoulder, “Come on, Regina. The Ambulance is here. It’s time to go.”

I stepped forward to introduce myself to her. “Ma’am, My name is Epi. I’m an EMT with Itty Bitty Ambulance Service. I’ll be riding in back with you today. This is my Partner, Jay. He’ll be driving us.”

Regina either didn’t hear me, or was choosing to ignore me completely. “So much to do. Who is going to get my mail? Who will feed my cats? I still need to pack my toiletries…” She continued to pace, her voice shaky.

“Honey, We’ll take care of all of that,” The kind neighbor started. “Let’s get that last bag packed so these nice people can take care of you.

“I’M… I’m not ready,” She blurted out loud. Her voice was forceful, but tears started to run down her worn face. Suddenly aware that three sets of eyes were watching her, she picked up the bag that had been sitting on the kitchen table and made her way down a hallway. The neighbor followed behind her. “We’ll just be a minute,” he called over his shoulder to us.

Jay and I stood silently in her kitchen, unsure of what to say to each other. It was not a feeling I was used to. Hoping to find something to talk about in the back of the truck with her, I started to look at the numerous frames that peppered the walls in her home. Pictures of a beautiful, proud young woman in what I recognized as an Air Force uniform. Military commendations. Several ribbons. A letter from President Reagan. She wasn’t just in the Air Force… She was a veritable rock star in the Air Force. I stood in awe of her career and accomplishments.

Regina emerged from the hallway composed and carrying a threadbare olive green carry-on bag.  Her name stenciled along the side, along with her social security number.

“Let’s roll, guys. I’m ready.” Her voice was clearer… stronger now.

She dismissed the yellow stretcher we had dragged up to the back door of her house, instead insisting to walk to the ambulance.  I walked next to her the entire way, my hand on her back, while Jay dragged the stretcher across the gravel path.  We talked her into letting us put her on the stretcher that was now directly behind the idling truck so that she wouldn’t have to climb in.  Her neighbor waved goodbye and promised to meet back up with Regina at the inpatient Hospice center later on that night.  As we were pulling down the driveway, I watched as he wiped the tears off of his cheeks.

“You know… I was in the Air Force…” Reggie started.

“I did notice that.  I’m an Army girl myself, but I’ve spent some time on Air Force bases… Wright-Patt and in Colorado Springs.”  I pumped up the bulp on our BP cuff and strained to hear.  Her vitals,  for the record, were better than mine.

“Ahhh, the Academy?”  Her eyes lit up instantly.

Perfect, something to talk about.

“Yep.  I dated a Cadet for awhile.  Two Cadet’s actually.  I was blushing now, instantly embarrassed by my admission and simultaneously praying that she wouldn’t want to talk about that.

“That’s a beautiful part of the country, Colorado.  I’ve wanted to go back there for quite awhile.”  Regina looked comfortable, she was smiling at least.

“Oh I know what you mean… The mountains, the clean cold air.  And the summers…”  I sat back and let my mind drift back to those days.  My first days in Colorado Springs.  Eighty degree days followed the next week by a blizzard.  The blizzard would be broken by a beautiful day, without a cloud in the sky.  Colorado weather was if nothing else unpredictable.  Kind of like EMS… Even the transfers.

“The only place I’ve ever lived that was more beautiful… Was Alaska… But you’ll read about that… In my obituary.” Regina whispered, her tired eyelids closed slowly.

I was fairly certain that her thoughts were drifting back to that happy place, like mine were just seconds before.

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Continued tomorrow, and dedicated to “Regina”. Continued  here