I place an Ambu bag over his face and squeeze it, trying to remain cool, calm and collected. “Come on, Joe, breathe for me,” I growl out as I squeeze the bag. Michael, who’s the medic beneath me, is getting the defibrillator ready for use.
“Jake, stop,” he calls as he places the paddles on Joe’s chest. “Clear,” he calls through the room. We all step back as Joe is shocked, but nothing happens. “Recharging to three-hundred,” Michael says as I squeeze more oxygen-mixed air through the bag.
“Clear!” Michael places the paddles back down to Joe’s chest and again shocks him. Again, nothing happens.
It’s no use. The machines throw out a long low wail, telling me his heart has stopped. I stop pumping the air into Joe’s lungs. My shoulders slump in defeat. Thirty minutes I worked on him, but I couldn’t save his life.
Michael pulls off his facemask. “Get out of here, mate. I’ll finish up. You need to get some air,” he tells me.
“I can’t.” I look up at the clock, then back down at Joe. “Time of death is twelve-hundred-twenty-three.”
The team all drop their heads in defeat and sadness. Joe was a good man and didn’t deserve to die this way. After I clean up, I head back to my room.
Slumping down onto my bed, I lay staring at the ceiling. I’ve lost teammates before over here, but never when they were in my direct care. Rolling over, I grab my phone and see another email from Stephanie. I don’t open it. She’ll just be emailing me to say she wants to talk and I’m in no mood to do so. Joe was a good bloke, a guy I’ve come up the ranks with. He sure as hell didn’t deserve to go out like this. Rolling over in bed, I toss my phone back on the desk.
I turn back over and stare at the bunk above me. Stretching my hands behind my head, I lift my legs to bend at the knee. Call it the doctor inside me, but my hands are made to heal, not harm. Joe wouldn’t want me to wallow over his death, though. He knew what he was getting into when he joined the Army. As a matter of fact, he’d probably turn this entire situation into a joke. He’d tell me to go help others, that there are others in need of help.
I’ll deal with Joe’s death later.
I need to go see if I can help elsewhere.
I lift myself off the bed as the door to my room opens. Michael stands before me, holding a couple of glasses and a bottle of Coca Cola.
“It’s not whiskey, but it will have to do for now.” He chuckles, pouring us a glass of the dark liquid. “To Joe.” He lifts his glass to mine, and I clink mine to his. We drink together. “He looked up to you. We all do.”
“Like what, an older brother?”
“A mentor. You’ve been in the Army for a long time.”
I smile. “I’m not much of a mentor.”
“You are whether or not you believe it.”
“I’m finishing this, and then I’m going to see if I can help with anyone else.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
“I don’t have anything better to do. I don’t feel like sitting here alone either.”
“I’m not good company?” he laughs.
I chuckle. “Definitely not.”
I’d prefer Stephanie’s company. I wince as I think of her. I should email her back and find out what she wants to talk about. She’s going to have to wait a few more days, but what she wanted to tell me seemed important—really important—like something I need to help her make a decision over.
What could it be?
No matter, it’ll have to wait.
I have something important to do here. I need to give Joe a final send-off and check on the other team members who were injured in the explosion.
“You owe me a proper drink when we get home,” Michael says, slapping me on the back as we head back to see who else needs care.
Stephanie
“Have you spoken to Jake yet?” Aria asks as she takes a seat down on the couch next to me, carrying a massive plate of food. Her eyes seem bigger than her belly. Since I last saw her, Aria’s baby bump has gotten a lot larger.
“I’ve emailed him several times to say we need to talk.”
“So, you haven’t told him then? Steph, he deserves to know,” Toby says.
“I hate to tell you this, but I agree with Toby. Just tell him even if it is by email.” Aria moves to the seat beside me. She grumbles, trying to make herself comfortable. She’s about nineteen weeks along.
“You’ve popped out a lot,” I say, looking down at my own belly.
When will mine get that big?
“I know; it just came right out this morning. You should’ve seen Simon’s face. He’s so happy he can’t contain his excitement. He’s already planning the baby’s room.”
“Will you be finding out the gender or leaving it a surprise?” Toby asks.
“We want a surprise. I don’t mind either way what it is so long as they’re healthy, I’m happy, but I think Simon wants a boy.”
Toby chuckles. “Every man wants a boy, sis.”
I carry my plate to the kitchen, rinse it off before returning to my seat in the lounge as Simon enters the front door with James and Riley. My phone buzzes in my bag. I grab it out and check it. It’s an email with another property newly listed for rent, but it’s way over my budget.
Aria peers over at my phone. “You’ve been rather quiet tonight, and I see you’re looking at houses for rent. Is there something we need to know?”
“My landlord wants me to move out, and I only have two weeks to find a place to live, but there is nothing coming up, or people aren’t interested in having a self-employed person rent their home. I can’t ask you and Simon as my mum suggested you guys have your own baby coming along, and my parents are moving into a smaller place while my sister and brother-in-law are building their big house. It won’t be ready for months, so they’re moving in with his family.”
“We have the space, Steph. You can move in here,” Simon says, taking a seat on the couch beside his wife.
“Thanks for the offer, Simon. I appreciate it. I can’t possibly take you up on the offer. You two have your own baby coming, and Simon, you don’t need to live with two hormonal pregnant ladies.”
“You have a point. Aria isn’t really that hormonal though,” he says, placing a kiss to her forehead.
“Why don’t you move in with Toby and me? We have space for you to have your own room and you can use Toby’s old one for your business stuff. We’d charge you fair board, and you’d have to help around the house, but aside from that, there are no other expectations.”
“But you guys are a couple. You’ll want alone time. You don’t want me hanging around.”
“Stop making excuses, Steph. You won’t be hanging around. Besides, you’ll be here most weekends comparing notes about your baby progress with Aria. Once the kids are born, I bet we’ll hardly see you,” Toby says.
“Are you sure?”
“Yup. We’ll move your stuff next weekend so start packing. Also, you’ll need to sleep in Jake’s room for the time being because I’m not quite finished with the spare room renovations just yet.”