Bridge to a Distant Star - Carolyn Williford [51]
“It hurts, Mom.” He grimaced again, bit his lip. “It hurts so bad.”
“It’s okay, love,” she said. “The ambulance will be here soon.”
“We called immediately after you fell, Charlie,” Coach Henry offered. “You know how close the fire station is. As a matter of fact, I think I hear the siren now.”
Fran tore her eyes from her son’s face to search for the ambulance, and instead met her husband’s stare. Only the two of them understood all that Fran communicated in that brief moment—the damning accusation, the depth of resentment, and overall, the pain that flickered across her eyes. Fran made sure Charles knew their son’s pain was her pain. And that Charles was responsible for it.
The siren grew louder as the ambulance turned into the park, made its way onto the field. The crew—a man and woman—was quick without rushing, taking charge by speaking calmly. The man leaned over Charlie, intent on making direct eye contact with him. “My name’s Rich, and my partner and I are going to take care of you until we get you to the hospital.” Both knelt on the ground and began pulling out equipment, setting to work. “What’s your name, son?”
Charles started to answer for Charlie, but the paramedic cut him off with a stern look.
Charlie slowly opened his eyes, noted the friendly face of the man working above him. “I’m … Charlie.” He gasped, and held his breath.
“Can’t you see he’s—?” But Fran was also silenced.
“Okay, Charlie. I need you to do something for me. I need you to try and take regular, even breaths if you can. Think you can do that?”
“I’ll … try.”
“Super. We’re gonna get you some help with oxygen. Can you tell me what you’re feeling? Besides your leg, does anything else hurt?”
“No. Just … my leg.”
“My partner’s name is Liz. Say ‘hi’ to Charlie, Liz.”
Liz smiled at Charlie. Eyes full of compassion, she also made sure Charlie could see her face as she leaned over him. “Hi, Charlie. I’m checking your pulse and heart rate. We’ll get some meds going real soon here to help with the pain.”
Though she’d been frustrated earlier, Fran shot her a look of appreciation. She reached up to smooth the hair back from Charlie’s forehead and caress his face. Desperately wanting to smooth away the pain etched into his features.
“Your mom and dad here, I assume?” Rich asked.
“Yeah, my dad’s right here.” Charlie said, concentrating on breathing in and out. “And that’s my mom,” pointing toward Fran.
“Great job on the breathing, son.” Rich squeezed Charlie’s shoulder.
“Pulse is one hundred twenty. Thready. Respiratory rate, twenty-two. Looking pretty pale,” Liz said.
“You cold, Charlie?”
He nodded, and yawned. The paramedics exchanged a quick look. One neither Charles nor Fran missed.
“Stay awake with us, Charlie. Are we boring you already? Usually we don’t have that effect on people until they’ve been with us for, oh … at least fifteen minutes. Right, Liz?”
Liz smiled broadly again, patted Charlie’s arm. “I’ve got a couple questions for you, Mom and Dad. Your names, please?”
“I’m Charles Thomason Senior. My wife is Francine.”
Both paramedics continued calmly working, administering treatment with skill, inspiring confidence with every move they made.
“So, Charles and Francine, any other medical conditions we need to know about? Diabetes? Seizure disorder? Anything at all like that?” Liz inquired.
“No, nothing.” Fran answered for both of them.
“Any allergies to medicines? Penicillin? Anything we should be aware of?”
“No, not that we know of. He’s always been so healthy—” Fran’s voice faltered. “But he has been complaining recently about his leg.”
“Obviously you’re a soccer player,” Rich said to Charlie.
Liz placed an oxygen mask over Charlie’s face, so he merely nodded.
“My number-one scorer,” Coach Henry said, speaking in hushed tones. It was as though the circle of people were in a sacred place. “Anything we coaches can do to help?”
Rich glanced around at the boys. Noted the worry on their faces, many close to tears. “Well, my partner and I could use your help to lift Charlie onto the stretcher. Then I’d say he