By
Hola middle of the night thought catcher,
I have a lot on my mind tonight, so bear with me. Before I get into what's on my mind it seems our paramedic duo left their thoughts with you already.
Roy, thank you again for the baseball. Glad it was a good game. I can definitely see you as a Dodger. If your dream comes true, can I have tickets?
Johnny, anytime you want to run, yell, I'll go with you. If you get to run competitively again, you bet we'll be there.
With that said let me get into what happened yesterday that led to the dream I that just woke me up. Just so you know it is now 0405.
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Yesterday morning was extremely quiet. Never a good thing! Lunch was our last quiet minute. The joint started jumping just as I finished the dishes. At one point we hit a stretch of five calls in a row.
It was the third of those calls that struck a chord with me. We were on the way back to the barn after a nasty MVA. The radio came to life again and we all groaned.
Sam Lanier's voice broke through after the tones, “Engine 51, what is your status?”
Cap picked up the radio, “Engine 51 available.”
Sam came back, “Engine 51, respond with squad 51 to a grass fire with possible injuries at the soccer field. 1876 223 rd , 1-8-7-6 223 rd cross street City. Time out 1430.” Hey at least we were close to home, it was right down the street from the station.
Cap picked the radio back up after writing down the call information. “Engine 51 10-4 KMG 365.” He put the radio down as Roy acknowledged the call for the squad.
As I started to focus for the call, I paled slightly when I realized why the address was so familiar. Luckily Chet didn't catch me go pale. I probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, because I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts. “El Dios querido dèjaios por favor estar bien. Deje caido para no sero dañado seriamente.” Dear God please let them be alright. Let the fallen not be seriously injured.
Without thinking, I fingered the small cross in my turnout. The call was to the field where my soccer team was practicing. I was completely focused and ready to go to work when Mike pulled big red into the parking lot of the field. Roy and Johnny pulled in right behind us.
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Both trucks emptied. My pulse picked up when my coach ran up to us. In broken English he frantically spoke, “kids…fire…trash can tipped on to grass…Jorge down.”
Cap called Chet and Mike to action, “Mike, Chet, douse the field and the trash can and flood it. Take the third HT and holler if you need more hands.” Mike and Chet quickly took off.
At the same time Roy and Johnny realized they weren't going to get my coach, Alberto, calmed down. Johnny turned to me, “Marco, see if you can get him to calm down.”
“Okay.”
I turned and looked Alberto in the eye and purposely raised my voice. “Alberto ¡Calma abajo!” Calm down. My tone shocked my co-workers, but worked exactly like I knew it would.
Alberto turned his focus squarely on me. I asked him the two questions that Roy and Johnny needed to know first. “¿Donde está Jorge y qué succedió?” Where is Jorge and what happened?
Alberto answered me with fear lacing his voice, “En el midfield. Él lastimó su rodilla.” I squeezed Alberto's shoulder understandingly and took a quick breath.
I turned to an extremely anxious Roy and Johnny. “The injured player is down at midfield with a knee injury.”
Roy looked at me gratefully. “Thanks Marco.”
“You're welcome, guys.”
Johnny turned to me. “Can you see if he'll tell you how it happened?”
“Sure. Need my help getting the gear?”
“Nope. Cap, can you get us an ambulance?”
Cap quickly answered, “Sure.”
Roy, Johnny and Cap turned and headed back to the trucks. Alberto and I headed for midfield as he nervously asked, “¿Adónde van?” Where are they going?
I answered out of the corner of my mouth as we ran, “Relaje a coche que son el ir justo a conseguir la materia para ayudar a Jorge. Estarán con nostros proto.” Relax coach they are just going to get the stuff to help Jorge. They'll be with us soon.
Luckily my explanation did calm Alberto down. Good thing too because as I finished my explanation we made it to Jorge's side. By the sound of the footsteps behind me I knew the others weren't far behind us.
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I dropped to my knees to be level with Jorge. “Respire a hombre. Intente colocarabajo. La ayuda está en lamanenera.” Breathe man. Try to settle down. Help is on the way.
Jorge was extremely surprised to see me. “Marco, qué usted está haciendo aqui.” Marco, what are you doing here?
I smiled tightly as Jorge's face showed the pain he was really in. “Mi estación consiguió la llamada cuando usted fue ajajo.” My station got the call when you went down.
Jorge blushed, “Apesandubardo.” Sorry.
I smiled tightly, “No se preocupe de él que éste es nuestro trabajo. ¿Qué succedió?” Don't worry about it this is our job. What happened?
Jorge took a deep breath as the pain hit him hard. After a second he finally answered. “Funcionabe y mi pie consiguió pegado. Fui una forma y mi rodilla fue la otra.” I was running and my foot got stuck. I went one way and my knee went other. As Jorge finished his explanation the others arrived.
I took a quick breath and grimaced at the explanation. I turned to the guys. I quickly asked Mike, “Doused?”
Mike answered just as fast, “Flooded the can, grass is scorched but still usable.”
“Good deal. Guys, meet Jorge. He was running down the field when his foot got stuck. He went one way and his knee went the other.”
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Everybody grimaced. On instinct Mike got on the biophone. Chet set up the splint. Roy grabbed the drug box in anticipation of Rampart's orders. Johnny had the stuff to take Jorge's vitals. Man, we work like a well oiled machine!
I went back to calming down Jorge who was growing anxious again. “¿Que él está haciendo? What are they doing?
I kept my voice calm, which wasn't easy, “Relaje a mi amigo que están consiguiendo listos auydarle.” Relax my friend they are getting ready to help you.
I pointed to Johnny, “Juan va a tomar sus muestras vitales. John is going to take your vital signs.” Jorge nodded in understanding. I pointed to Mike, “Mike está habalano con el hospital para conseguir las instucciones para Roy y Juan. Mike is talking to the hospital to get the instructions for Roy and John.
Jorge's voice was laced in pain when he asked, “Pueden darme algo para el dolor?” Can they give me something for the pain?
“Voluntad de Roy tan pronto como él consiga la autorización del hospital. Chet está consiguiendo su tabilla lista.” Roy will as soon as he gets the okay from the hospital. Chet is getting your splint ready.
Jorge seemed to relax when he found out relief was on the way. He laid back and let the guys work. I quickly switched back to English, while I kept an eye on him. “How's it look, Johnny?”
Johnny looked up, “His vitals are stable. The knee is swollen, but from what I can tell there is no bone involvement. There is too much swelling right now to tell the extent of the tendon and ligament damage.”
Once I heard Johnny's assessment, I thought, “I hope it isn't serious. Damn this job is so much harder when you know the person.” I swallowed back my emotions enough to keep them out of my voice, “Thanks, Johnny.”
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I turned back to Jorge who had braced himself for the worst, “Qué él dijo?” What did he say?
I grimaced slightly; this was not going to be easy. “Se hincha la rodilla. Qué él puede decir del hueso no está implicado. Sin embargo, hay a mucha hinchazón para determina el grado completo delaño.” The knee is swollen. From what he can tell the bone is not involved. However, there is too much swelling to determine the extent of the damage.
The entire team gasped in shock and horror. The look on Jorge's face was something I won't soon forget. Seeing my friend so distraught I had to fight to stay professional. Don't how I did it, but I did. “Se que a hora no mira buen Jorge, pero Juan y Roy son los mejores. Una vez que le consigan de aqu? usted estará es mejores manos posibles en el hospital. Sé que es extremademente duro pero usted tiene que intentar y relajar.” I know right now it doesn't look good Jorge, but John and Roy are the best. Once they get you out of here you will be in the best hands possible at the hospital. I know it's extremely hard, but you have to try and relax.
My voice cracked at the end, but I quickly pulled myself back together. Jorge responded by relaxing. My speech also gave Johnny and Roy time to splint Jorge and start his IV. Johnny gave him a shot of MS to ease his pain. Before I could say anything the ambulance finally arrived.
Chet jogged away to meet them. Cap, Roy, Johnny and Mike cleaned up the guys stuff.
When Jorge realized he was about to leave he spoke up. “El paractica de la substencia. Sere fino para ahora. Vista venida después de la práctica Tenemos un juego en foco de dos dias en eso y no nos preocupamos de m?.” Keep practicing. I'll be fine for now. Come visit after practice. We have a game in two days. Focus on that and don't worry about me.
I had to smile at the dedication in Jorge's voice. Once again I wished I wasn't on duty, because I wanted to stay for practice. Alberto answered in broken English for the team, “We practice…you get better soon.”
Sleepy from the MS, Jorge managed a thumbs up. Johnny and Roy finished cleaning up their stuff. Roy looked over at me, “How's he doing, Marco?”
Keeping one eye on Jorge and the other on Roy, I answered. “The MS kicked in so he's comfortable.”
Roy smiled as he spoke, “Excellent.”
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Chet and the ambulance attendants finally arrived. Roy and Mike positioned the stretcher so we could move Jorge in one swift motion. I turned back to Jorge, “Tenemos que ahora morevele.” We have to move you now. A groggy Jorge gave me a thumbs up.
I looked up at Johnny, who had the IV in his teeth. “Good to go.”
Don't ask me how, but Johnny managed to speak around the IV. “Lets go!”
Chet and Mike were to the left. Cap joined me on the right. Johnny was at Jorge's head and Roy was at his feet. In one swift motion we had Jorge on the stretcher. As Roy and Chet strapped him in, Johnny carefully lifted his shoulder and tucked the IV bag in. Jorge gave us all another thumbs up as the guys wheeled him away. Cap and Chet stayed back with me.
Alberto spoke up, “Thank you for the help. Be safe.”
We smiled. I spoke for all of us. “We will coach. Be safe and have a good practice.”
Always the coach Alberto said, “You here day after tomorrow.”
I smiled, “Yes sir.”
With that we split up. Alberto turned his attention back to practice.
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Cap, Chet and I jogged back to Big Red. As we got there, the squad and ambulance both left. Mike jogged over.
Suddenly I was overwhelmed with the emotion I had been fighting off, “Cap, can we have a minute before we go available again?” There was no way to mask the raw emotion in my voice.
The others quickly gathered around me. Cap's voice was filled with concern. “You know the victim don't you?”
As emotional as I was I couldn't lie. “Yes I do, Cap. I know all these guys extremely well. We're the Carson Latin Thunder soccer team. Jorge, is one of our assistant Captains.”
To say the least, the guys were stunned. Chet spoke for all of them. “What do you mean we?”
I smiled with pride, “I play for the Carson Latin Thunder, Chet. If we weren't on duty today, I'd be here at practice right now.”
Chet's jaw snapped closed. Cap surprised me, “Hey pal, mind if we come to your next game?”
I calmed down and grinned broadly. “Not at all Cap. It's the day after tomorrow. Kickoff is at two, but I have to be here by one.”
The guys smiled as Mike spoke, “Sounds good.”
Cap headed for the truck, “Come on boys, lets head home.”
As we climbed aboard I wondered, “Yeah, but for how long?”
Mike tapped the air horn as we left. As we pulled out, I said a silent prayer for Jorge's health.
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Welcome back to the present. I am not going to go in detail on the rest of the night, because I am getting sleepy. I do want to tell you about my dream though.
Before I get to my dream, a quick update, Jorge is doing a lot better than expected. Surprisingly, he only sprained his knee. No tear is the good news. Bad news is he's out two to four weeks. He's not happy about that. I wouldn't be either! Anyway let me get to my dream.
After a few more interesting calls, which I'm sure Mike and Chet will tell you about when they visit, we sacked out early. Physically, I was completely exhausted. Mentally though was a different ball game.
Having had soccer on my mind ever since Jorge's call, I wasn't sure what to expect. My head hit the pillow and my eyes snapped open.
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In seconds I knew I wasn't in the dorm anymore. Instead I was outside. I thought, “What the heck?” I looked around at my surroundings and down at my outfit.
I was stunned to see I was standing in the soccer stadium in Mexico City. Even more shocking was the fact that I was wearing the uniform of Mexico's National futból team. Awesome!
I started stretching. Just then Coach Raul Cardenas jogged over. “Lopez.”
My head snapped around. “¿Si coche?” Yes coach?
“Usted sale para Hector. Él no se está sitiendo bien.” You start for Hector. He isn't feeling well.
I was surprised. I stole a quick glance at midfielder Hector Pulido. Coach was right he looked a truck hit him, backed up, and hit him again. “Cosa segura. Gracias. Sure thing.” Thank you.
“De nada.” You're welcome.”
Coach jogged away. I finished my stretching.
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My mind skipped ahead a few hours. The joys of sleeping on a long shift. Ha!
My brain kicked back in toward the end of the game. We were playing an extremely tough Italian team. It was still tied at nothing when my mind kicked in.
I was still in the game going strong. Who knew running in turnouts would be helpful in the civilian world. I made a break for it down our sideline.
Suddenly, I realized I had a good shot on goal. I started yelling, “Mario!” I got the ball carrier Mario Perez's attention. He snapped off a quick pass to me that confused the defenders.
Time seemed to slow down. Suddenly over the crowd, I heard the rest of the boys from A shift, “Kick it, ya twit!”
I chuckled to myself. As soon as the ball hit my foot, I kicked it with all I had left in me. Time seemed to virtually stop.
Naturally I followed the kick in as far as I could in case of a rebound. I was shocked to see goal keeper Dino Zoff go to the left and the ball to the right. 1-0 Mexico!!!!!!!
I stood stock still for a second in shock. Oh my god I just scored a goal in the World Cup in Mexico City!!! Ciao Italy! Just before my team mates mobbed me I found the extremely loud and proud crowd from A shift. I grinned broadly and flashed them thumbs up.
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Welcome back. Just after I scored the goal in my dream I woke up. Now at 0435 my eyelids are cursing me. I am going to head back to bed while I can still see.
Buenos Noche
Marco
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