Truths Unveiled - By Kimberly Alan Page 0,83

listened to Dispatch dutifully reading back all of Tom’s instructions. They sat on the floor, eyeing the box, waiting for the next transmission.

It must have been this way before television was invented, she mused. The kids were engrossed. They sat at attention, determined to hear every word.

The scanner captured all channels: fire, ambulance and police. As an ED doctor, Pam got the full picture. The radio was alive with department jargon and units sending messages to their individual dispatchers. From what she could tell, the accident blocked the road for almost a quarter of a mile. Cars, trucks and tractor trailers all piled up on top of each other, some on fire, some containing possible fatalities. She looked to the boys. Should they be listening to this?

The doorbell rang. “Good,” Pam sighed. A diversion. It was Katie. Earlier in the day she’d called, asking to spend some time with the boys. Pam offered to bring them over to her house, but she declined. “Let’s use your beautiful house,” she said. “It’s stood empty for much too long.”

Pam counted her blessings again. Katie Jarrod had become a fast friend. From the beginning, she and Rebecca Cartwright had quickly and easily opened their arms and hearts to her. Furthermore, they both provided a sympathetic ear during that short breakup she and Tom went through. If she and Tom had remained apart, Pam knew their friendship could only stretch to a limited degree. Nevertheless, she valued the fact that they didn’t abandon her outright. They could have, she knew. And she would have understood. But they didn’t.

“Grandma!” the boys shouted, almost in unison. They rushed into her open arms.

“We gave Rusty a birthday party!” Mark told her. He held her hand and brought her over to the couch. “Do you want a piece of cake?”

Pam listened with one ear. The other focused on the scanner. She then unplugged it and reconnected it in the kitchen, out of the boys’ earshot.

“Medic One to Dispatch.” Tom’s voice sounded faint. She knew he was on his portable radio and probably working on a patient, but dispatch didn’t respond.

“Medic One to Dispatch,” Tom repeated. “I need additional fire and rescue units. One vehicle is on fire with occupants still inside. Request assistance. I’m at the northernmost end of the accident.”

No answer. Pam did some quick mental visualizing. Tom approached the scene from the north. He must have cut across the median. The rest of the units, which were just arriving, approached with traffic from the south.

“Medic One to Dispatch, did you copy? Request Assistance!”

Pam heard the unusual panic in his voice. It sped through her like a rocket. She grabbed the phone to dial 911. Dispatch would pick up and she could tell them Tom needed help. Before she finished dialing, the scanner’s fire frequency lit up.

“Engine Four to Command.”

“Engine Four go ahead,” the fire company’s command center responded.

“We just heard an explosion from north of our location. We’ll be heading that way to investigate.”

“Roger, Engine Four.”

Pam froze. A sinking, helpless feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Something terrible had happened. Quickly, she turned to the living room. The boys were busy, playing Go Fish with Katie. Good. She fixed her attention back to the scanner. Why was it so quiet? Where was Tom?

Seconds passed like hours. Pam could barely breathe. Finally, a voice came through.

“Engine Four to Command. We are arriving at the site of the explosion. It appears a car caught fire and exploded. We have two victims.”

“Roger, Engine Four.”

“Two victims?” Pam questioned. In general, no one thinks about rescue workers getting injured, but it happened. Tom was often placed in terribly dangerous situations. Immediately, her imagination took over and ran through the scene: Tom was helping a patient in a car and his radio failed. The car exploded and he was hit by the blast…

No matter how hard she tried, Pam could not wipe the vision from her mind. “No, God!” her thoughts screamed. Not now. Not after all we’ve been through. After we’ve finally found each other!

Unable to wait, she reached for her keys. She knew where they were. She had to get there.

Truths Unveiled

Truths Unveiled

Chapter Fifty

Pam headed for the door just as the red light on the scanner caught her eye. The ambulance channel! She darted back.

“Medic One to Dispatch.” It was Tom.

Pam’s breath caught. Thank you, she prayed.

“Medic One, go ahead.”

“How do you read me?”

“Loud and clear, Medic One.”

“Roger that. I must be having a problem with my portable