Heard shes got a new CD coming out. Kenny tossed aside the magazine and tilted his chair back at an alarming angle. Supposed to be starting a big worldwide tour, is what I heard.
Concentrating on separating mozzarella from cardboard, the young paramedic glanced up long enough to say, Who? just as Ethan was exclaiming, No kidding? So then both Ethan and Kenny had to pause to give the kid a look of incredulity.
Phoenix-who the hell are we talking about? Kenny said, shaking his head as if in profound disgust at such ignorance, as Ethan set his medical bag on the floor and sank into a chair, wiping sweat with his shirt sleeve.
Oh, yeah, Phoenixright. The EMT-Leon, according to the tag on his uniform pocket-shrugged, licked his fingers, then added, Isnt she supposed to be in town?
Again, both Kenny and Ethan stared at him. And again it was Kenny who asked, Who? Phoenix? Here?
Leon placed his pizza on the table and shrugged.
Whered you hear that? Kenny demanded, clearly in disbelief.
Hey, said Leon, looking offended, I read Rolling Stone. He glanced from Kenny to Ethan and back again. Its true. Supposed to be getting ready for some big new gig.
It was Kennys turn to snort in derision. Nobody kicks off a tour from this town, man. This town is where tours come to die.
Leon could only shrug, being totally committed to the lava-hot mozzarella hed just bitten into. Presently he managed to mumble through the mouthful, Just tellin you what they said, man. It was like, she used to be from here or something.
Once again both Ethan and Kenny were struck momentarily dumb by that news, but the stunned silence lasted only a second or two before it was filled by the raucous blast of the alarm. It was a sound that never failed to send a bolt of electricity through Ethan, kick his heart rate into high and lift up the hairs on his forearms, and in that instant he lost all interest in the likely whereabouts of the rock-and-roll legend called Phoenix.
Kenny righted his chair with a thump. Well take it, he said to the younger paramedic, who was hunched over his pizza, desperately trying to sever the umbilical cord of cheese that bound him to it. Ethan was already on his feet and reaching for his medical bag. Kenny signaled to him with a jerk of his head. Time to rock n roll. He grinned at his own cleverness, then let the grin slide toward wryness as he added, Starting in early tonight. Must be the heat.
Kennys words proved prophetic. During the course of Ethans four-to-midnight ride-along, he and Kenny had already handled two multi-injury MVAs, a jogger with chest pains, the combatants in a bar brawl, and a portly fellow whod fallen off a ladder while attempting to install an air conditioner in a second-floor bedroom window. So, when the Klaxon sounded at eleven-forty-five, Leon and his partner, Scott, generously offered to take it.
Bout time for ol Doc, there, to be headin for the barn, anyways, was the way Leon put it, a blatant reference to Ethans age. Which had been the source of a running, and in Ethans opinion not very funny, joke among the younger EMTs for quite a while now.
Kenny, who had been listening to the dispatcher, shook his head. His face was grim as he gave Ethan the head-jerk signal to roll. Balcony collapse over in The Gardens, he said, referring to one of the worst of the many slum neighborhoods in that part of the city, one well-known to police, fire and rescue squads whod nicknamed it The Gardens because it was anything but. Sounds like one for you, Doc. Do you mind?
Ethan was already a step ahead of him going out the door, adrenaline pumping. Thats only a few blocks from here, he pointed out as he signaled to the driver of an anonymous dark sedan parked in the No Parking zone in front of the station. He climbed into the EMS wagon and pulled his safety belt across his shoulder as the wagon rolled down the drive. Watching in the side view mirror, he saw the sedan take up its customary position a couple of car-lengths behind as they sped down the dark street, lights whirling and siren wailing.
High in her converted loft, Phoenix heard sirens and woke from a restless sleep. It was not the first time; the sirens had been busy tonight. As all the times before, she woke with her heart racing and her body slick with sweat, and it was a minute or two before the chill of terror faded and her breathing grew quiet again.
But youre safe heresafe.
From somewhere a melody came to her and she sang it softly to herself in her mind. Yes, and she remembered now, remembered where shed heard it most recently. It was the melody Doveman had played that afternoon, segueing from Pretty Mary, except that hed played it in a minor key and with a bluesy rhythm.
The words came to her, and she sang them to herself, too, finding in them a familiar comfort.
Hush little baby, dont say a word,
Papas gonna buy you a mockinbird
Often, in times of dire emergency, Ethans mind entered a zone of quiet, a place from which it could operate calmly and efficiently, protected from the distractions, the fear, the sights, sounds and smells of crisis that surrounded him. He didnt know when it had begun; it just seemed that it had always been so, and he was grateful for the gift.
It stood him well now, as the EMS wagon screeched to a halt at a curbside crowded with people, in a shadowy darkness noisy with panic, anger, shock and uncertainty.
Paramedics-move aside, please, let us through. Step back please
From somewhere out beyond his zone of quiet he heard Kennys voice, calm but loud, and weighty with authority. He heard sobbing, a womans voice, many voices speaking rapidly in tones of panic, shock and fear, speaking all at once, explaining, imploringpraying.
It was so hot, you know? The air conditioner dont work. The babies was in bedshe was just gonna sit for a while, out where its cool
There was this noiseand then the whole thing came down!
Just tore right out the wall!
Wasnt nothin I could dowasnt nothin anybody could do
Oh, Lord JesusOh, Godsomebody gotta help her!
Somebody
With that faraway part of his mind, Ethan felt himself climbing over rubble, kneeling on chunks of bricks and wrought iron that cut his knees even through his jeans. He could feel adrenaline pumping through his body, feel the sweat running in rivers down his face, feel his hands moving swiftly and surely, exploring crushed and mangled flesh. He heard his own voice shouting orders, firing instructions, heard himself calling for the equipment, the fluids, the tubes and lines and wraps that could and so often did salvage lives that seemed beyond saving. With the distant part of his mind he felt and heard those thingseven while the quiet, protected part knew it was hopeless.
Hey, Doc, there was nothing you could do. Kennys gravelly voice came from somewhere behind him, heavy with regret, gentle with acceptance. The femoral artery was cut clean through. She bled out in a matter of minutes.
Yeah, Ethan muttered, I know. Emerging from his quiet place, he now felt shaken, exposed and vulnerable. He tore off a glove and drew the hand across his eyes, and then as his gaze shifted to the face of the body sprawled like a broken doll in the rubble before him, swore with vehement surprise. Dark eyes stared up at him, almond-shaped eyes with a familiar exotic tilt.
What? Kenny asked. You know her?
Ethan nodded. His stomach clenched, and then his teeth. She was in the clinic. Just this afternoon. Shes got a kid.
At that moment, just as if hed been waiting for his cue, a small boy tore free from the arms that had held him safely away from the circle of tragedy and pushed his way to Ethans side.
Hey, Doc-you gonna fix my momma. She gonna be okay, right?
Jostled off-balance, Ethan looked up into Michael Parkers amber eyes. Oh, how he wished he could lie. He desperately wanted to; his mind searched for the comforting words. But instead, he only shook his head.
For one endless moment the boy stared back at him with frightened, angry eyesbravely lifted chin. Then he pushed at Ethan, struck him hard with both doubled-up fists before he turned. Blindly. Then waiting hands reached for him and pulled him away.
Somewhere, someone was sobbing.
Only when he was sure the boy was safely away did Ethan lift his hand and gently close Louise Parkers unseeing eyes.
Chapter 2
The day after the tragedy in The Gardens, Ethan was in the rectory of St. Judes Catholic Church monitoring the progress of a hastily convened meeting of the Citizens Alliance for Community Action from his hiding place in the rectory kitchen. Such skulking and hiding seemed cowardly to him but was actually a compromise of sorts. Father Frank had tried his best to dissuade him from coming at all.
Bad idea, the priest had insisted that afternoon on the phone. The news medias got their teeth in this in a big way. When word gets out-and it will-that the ride-along doctor on the scene was the presidents son
Maybe thats not such a bad thing, Ethan said heavily. Hed thought about it a lot, during the course of a difficult day and worse night. Something needs to be done. If we use my name, my dads influence-
Well be sitting in the middle of a three-ring circus. Ethan, my friend-my naive friend-I know you mean well, but do you have any idea what will happen down here-what will happen to these people once the various government agencies and the media get involved in this?
Ethans jaw tightened. Well, I expect my work at the clinic would be history, but at least something would be done about improving conditions in The Gardens. Those tenements-
The priests snort interrupted him. The Gardens will become a political football, everybody fighting over what to do and how to pay for it and who gets the credit, and the media will be egging them on, and while the struggle goes back and forth, what do these people who actually live down here do? After an appearance or two on national network television, they go on as before-only with less privacy. No, my friend a sigh gusted over the line and perhaps it is shortsighted and God forgive me, but I dont much care about what new legislation gets passed, or what new ordinances, or what new development projects get proposed for sometime in the far-distant future. I care about these people, and what they need is some changes to be made now. Before somebody else dies.