9. Saving Mr. Carter

Time...! Time is what makes the difference between an emergency situation going from bad to worse! In my career, I’ve seen a lot of tragedies. I’ve seen mothers pass away while giving birth to their child, children who have cancer and have to live each day, knowing that their own time is limited, even minor surgeries gone wrong because of unforeseen complications. When it came down to the wire, the team of professionals that made the most out of their time, were the ones who gave their patient a second chance at surviving their misfortune! I knew, that while I was applying pressure to Mr. Carter’s wound, I had to be decisive, if he was to survive. The seizure he was experiencing gave an extra level of difficulty... not only could I not restrain his body, as it would cause for him and myself to get harm, but being here, looking down at Mr. Carter convulsing, brought back memories of my dad that I had so badly tried to escape. He was a doctor, and he devoted his life to the study and treatment of brain tumors and epileptic seizures. Not too much was known about the origin of such a disease until my fathers research, but he concluded that an abnormality, called atherosclerosis or what he called Athena Origina, was the cause of a new phenomenon he had found. Dad’s research was never accepted in the medical community, siting his research was base on speculation instead of scientific fact. Dad never talked much about his work at home. He was too much of a family guy! He enjoyed just the company of me and my brother since mom left...
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“Josie..Josie, you had me so worried!” Izzy said, as she scurried to my side! “What are you crazy..! You could of gotten yourself killed!”

“I assure you, killing myself was not my motivation to come over here!” I replied. “Good thing you called in for the bus, it seems like people around here don’t respond too well to crisis!”

“Hate to tell you sweetie, but 9/11 was a day to remember for a reason...not to many New Yorkers are willing to get involved...”

I began to elevate Mr. Carter’s head for support. It wasn’t hard for people to get the point to back away, once Isabelle got started. I figure they would get the picture, for fear of being caught in the clutch of Isabelle’s wrath! In the back of my mind, I was still happy to see that after all this time, me and her were still an emulous team.

It seems like an eternity when your in the heat of saving someone’s life. It almost feels like nothing else in the world matters but this present moment. Buddhist calls this feeling a state of nirvana, Christian call this, a state of grace, when it’s all said and done, I just want it to be known that I did my best...

Five minutes pass, before I saw two uniformed paramedic come racing towards us.

10. Saving Mr.Carter

“We’ll take over from here out, mame!” said one of the much taller medics. His authoritive nature was seen throughout ever pore of his body. He seemed very much in charge and as the other guy began to attend to Mr. Carter wound, he insisted on giving him oxygen, as to alleviate his already, deprived oxygen supply.

“2 liters of O2 stat!” he commanded.

“Which hospital are you taking the patient to?” I asked.

He replied, “The closest hospital, would be Bellevue.”

“I’m a RN there...I’m coming along with him.”

“Alright...and what about her?” He concluded, while pointing to Isabelle, who was waiting very tolerant, behind me.

“I’m coming also!” she injected, before I could even confirm for her. “I’ma LPN there too!”

“Well then...Let’s load up!” he exclaimed.

Isabelle and I, both got in the ambulance with Mr. Carter. Luckily for me, I only had two bags of luggage and the medics were both kind enough to stow both of them away in the vehicle’s lower compartments. The siren blared and the lights flashed everywhere as police cars and fire trucks finally arrived to the scene. Being that Claribel was stable enough to give a statement, and how Mr. Carter’s condition was so critical, police let us proceed to the hospital without incident. As we began our convoy to Bellevue, the notion that I was in a new city had entered my mind. At night, the lights at Central Park illuminates visions of hope through a chaotic darkness. The movement of people, shops, and street vendors, all still open for business, build on New York’s reputation for being the city that never sleeps. It was now a quarter to eleven, but the momentum in the city was far from slowing down. A taxi ride with Izzy would of been a nice prelude to what my new life was to present before me, but instead, here we are together, riding an ambulance trying to save this guy’s life. Not even a crystal ball could of predicted this type of omen before me....

“The seizure has subsided...but the patient’s vital are dropping considerable!” said the less experienced medic.

11. Saving Mr. Carter

“God! New Yorkers on this side of town are so conceited! They don’t even recognize to get the hell out the way when an ambulance is coming...” Isabelle said, which I had to admit was the same thing that I was thinking!

“At this rate, by the time we get there, they’re going to have to pronounce him DOA..” she continued.

“I know a shorter route...” said the lead medic. “It’ll take us approximately 7-8 minutes!”

“Let’s do it!” I confirmed.

As I look down at Mr. Carter, I return back to the memory of my own family. I began to envision my brother Ryan, who was four years younger than me. I always felt close to him and even looked at him as a best friends. He was very talented and although he suffered from seizures himself, he always persisted that his handicap wasn’t going to slow him down. He was born with a congenital disease that none of the doctor’s could recognize at the time, so they just labeled it as a tumor. My dad knew there had to be more to his condition then what was being presented, so he consulted with a few of his collegiate friends and he started his own research. With the treatment my dad had invented for Ryan, I began to notice my brother condition improve immensely. His seizure became less violent, and as he continued the procedure, his episodes, became less frequent. It seem like everything was coming together for Ryan....until the day that mom decided to leave....

She was the epitome of a modern day beauty queen, caramel skin, hazel brown eyes, long silky auburn hair, everything that was consider appealing, even to today’s standards. My father was an extremely tall man, standing at 6'5", and my mother, being only 5'6", would have to literally get on her tippy-toes in high heels, just to kiss him. Everybody around her would envy our family from an outside point of view. She did not make any excuses as to why she felt her family deserved the better things in life. It wasn’t until you actually grace her presence, and she greeted you while giving you a big portion of food on your plate, that you actually got the feeling that, Wow..she wasn’t being narcissistic at all, she viewed everybody as her family! I knew dad was in love with her very much too! He would often have me and Ryan participate in helping him pull off some elaborate scheme to surprise her with romance. In the very beginning,, I vaguely remember mom and dad ever having any real arguments. But as time passed on, and dad got more involved with his research, mom began to get more and more upset at his absence. She always felt comfortable being number one in his eyes, and as the late nights became more and more routine, she began to show insecurities that I have never seen been part of her character before. People used to tell me all the time that I was a miniature replica of my mother’s beauty. I used to feel complete knowing that my mom was a model worth emulating,,every little girl wants to grow up to be like mommy.

12. Saving Mr. Carter

But how could I, at the age of 17, condone my mother leaving all hours of the night with random guys, taking heavy dosages of prescribed medication, and constantly complaining about not having enough money. She would hide her greed by simply stating, she wanted more out of life. Even through all that, my father still loved her. It wasn’t until the day that my mother asked my father for a divorce, that he actually snapped at her.

I was in my room getting ready to leave with Enrique, when my mother came home drunk with another guy in her car. I could hear my dad and her screaming at each other. I immediately took my father’s defense when, my mother said that she had had enough, and slapped me across my face. My father enraged at my mother’s flurry, demanded that she return from where she came from and got the hell away from his house and us. After that moment, began the ending of life as I knew it as a child. While stumbling back to her car, I could see my brother coming up the street and into our driveway. He had slept over at a classmate’s house the night before. My mother had already put the car in reverse and step onto the pedal when before me or dad could warn her, she had reverse and hit Ryan. From the sheer force of the collision, Ryan fell into a seizure. My dad immediately went to Ryan side. My mother bare realized what she had done, and continued to scream obscenities out her car window. That moment right there was the climax to me breaking down to my mother all the feelings I’ve been too ashamed to confront with her before. I told her that I hated her for all those nights she left me to care for Ryan, while she went out to be with other men behind dads back. I let her know that while people might of thought she was an ego-driven materialistic bitch, in all reality, they were right. But most importantly, I let her know, with tears pouring out my eyes, that the people you hurt now are going to be the same people that’ll hurt you later...you stupid bitch...you just hit Ryan!

As she drove off, everybody in the neighbor came outside to see what was going on. Ryan’s convulsions being to grow more forceful. I could see his body practically lift up off the ground. Mrs. Patterson the old lady from next door, told dad that she was going to call the police and have my mother arrested. My dad didn’t care, all he wanted was to know that is son was ok. And just as quick as the accident had happened, Ryan’s seizure stopped and I can remember the blank stare that was now fixed across his face. It was like his eyes was focused on the very meaning of our existence. Icy cold in color and enormous in size, his pupils were open and expose to the surrounding around us. If I didn’t know any better, it was as if his eyes were recording the very turn of events that were happening before them...

“Robert...Robert...the police are on their way! Lord sweet Jesus! Please God let this boy live!” I remembered Mrs. Patterson say to my dad, as he began CPR on Ryan. As much as I couldn’t stand that old black lady, I felt some connection with her in knowing that I wasn’t the only one praying to God.
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13. Saving Mr. Carter

“Holy shit...take a look at this!” the younger medic exclaimed. “His eyes turned blue all of a sudden!”

“Maybe he’s wearing those contacts that change color!” jested the older medic. “Are you sure your eyes are ok?”

“Let me take a look!” I said impatiently.

As I examined Mr. Carter’s eyes, I could she that his pupils were indeed blue in tint, with a cloudy haze, swirled in the middle. I also noticed, the enlarged size of his pupil. Like a camera’s lens, it was affixed on whatever was placed before it. The only other time that I had seen this in my life, was when I was around Ryan.

“This can’t be right..” I blurted out.

“What’s wrong Josie?” Isabelle said concerned.

“I...I can’t believe this!” I continued.

“Mami tell me what’s wrong!” she demanded.

“I haven’t seen anything like this since Ryan!” I finished.

“You’re brother?!....oh jeez!” she responded, knowing the affect of such heart ache I’ve had in the past. “That can’t be so, that incident was so long ago...”

“I Know!” I said.

“We’re here!” the medic said, interrupting my on thought process.

“Let’s get going Jos’!...Once inside, we’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on!” Isabelle reprieved.

The ambulance reached it mark safely to Bellevue Hospital Center. From the outside, it look like any other hospital. Not necessarily the biggest building in the city, but inside the hospital’s labyrinth of labs and test rooms, lie the answer to my burning question. Could this guy be connected to the same disease Ryan had...Athena Origina!

14. Saving Mr. Carter

The medics quickly rushed Mr. Carter inside the hospital for admittance. Isabelle told me that she was going to stay behind and get my luggage and for me, and that I should continue on. We passed the stretcher inside the hospital with no quandary. Concerned about Mr. Carter’s well being, I decided to continue on with him every step of the way! It wasn’t until I got to the nurse’s station, when I was pulled away by an insufferable commotion...Where in the hell was Isabelle?

“Jonathan, you just can’t be showing up at my job like this...are you crazy?!” I heard Isabelle shriek. “You have no right coming here...we’ve got nothing to talk about!”

“Fuck that! You know exactlly why I’m here...” said Jonathan, as he reached over to grab Isabelle’s arm.

She immediately pulled away.

“You thought that you could just get in my pockets and not hear from me...bitch are you crazy!” he continued. “If you think you’re getting child support from me, you might as well hold your breath right now!”

“Miguel is your son...why would you deny him support! You don’t give him any time, you barely come around! We need food in our house John! I need help!” pleaded Isabelle.

“That is not my son!” Jonathan contested. “Was never mine and you know it...If you think that I am going to have a family with you then you are seriously bugging! You’re a J-O, a jump-off, that’s all that your good for!”

“Excuse me!” I said, minutes away from losing my one opportunity here at the hospital, by punching this guy in the face! “You need to leave here immediately John, she doesn’t want to be with you!”

“I don’t want to be with her...” he injected “I got a new girl...you just better watch you back Jocelyn, and mind your fucking business!”

“This isn’t over Jonathan...this isn’t over!” Isabelle cried.

As Jonathan threw the court order to the ground, I could literally see the tear that came falling down Izzy face, turn into saturated pools of query and regret. I know she had to be asking herself why? Why would he deny Miguel, why would he deny being in love with her? How could he have the audacity to bring her all the way out here, away from her home, only to leave her to raise a child alone?

15. Saving Mr. Carter

Well as long as I’m here, you will not be alone girl...you may not be smart with men, but your still my friend.

As he left the hospital’s foyer, I held Isabelle close to my body. She began to cry louder. The people around us, stared and sneered as the sheer climax of the event had ran it course in the hospital’s corridors. These would probably be the same people who I would have to work with in the future, but at that particular moment, I didn’t care...

“Let’s go home..” Isabelle said, as she tried to finally get some composure. “My grandmother has Miguel, and I just want to be with my son right now.”

“Ok Izzy ...Let me call us a cab!” I said, walking her outside. Just as the day turned to night, the warm summer air turned into a cool rain. I would normally enjoy a downpour on a warm summers night, but the cool air was far from receiving my gratitude tonight. It was just another prelude for the journey I would soon endure in this new city.

My First day...so much for taking it easy.

We entered into the taxi, and as I look up at the hospital, the thought of Mr. Carter’s eye began to haunt my very soul. If it was true that he has been infected with the Athena Origina, want kind of circumstance will present it self before me. It took my family away from me, I could only wonder what is left for it to take now. My job...? My duty from here out, is to find out more about this disease.

I hate to admit it but I think I going to see more of Darien Carter...I gotta wonder though, what could been seen through the eyes, of someone with Athena....
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To be continued.....

Coming Soon Chapter 3 (Meeting Elina!!!) June 21st

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