Yet A(nother) Year in Seattle – Week 15 – When Plans Collide

Yet A(nother) Year In Seattle

Sunday, April 4, 2066 – Grill happy

Ray hasn’t been released from the hospital so much as kicked out. I got a call from him around 10:00 this morning, so after church, we went to bail him out… I mean pick him up.

Since he’ll be doing physical therapy on about the same schedule as Nathan, mom figured he’d be better off staying with him on Council Island. Ray tried to object, but let’s face it I’d rather face him down than mom. Besides, she always wins anyway.

With a warm pleasant spring day on our hands, mom got a taste of her own medicine as the men decided it was time to cook over an open fire and to the men belong the grill.

We had almost every meat imaginable grilled by no less than five grill masters. Sausage, beef, pork… lamb all cooked over glowing coals. No one could argue with that.

We also had enough left over to take a care package to the injured medics who had not been lucky enough to escape.

It was the kind of day I think we all needed.

Monday, April 5, 2066 – Unreasonable Reasoning.

Charlie and I met this morning to go over our options when it comes to hiring new staff, authorizing overtime and keeping our men, and ourselves from burning out.

The younger medics are all for O.T. It means more money, and they’re young enough that they bounce back faster. I really didn’t feel that old until I pulled two double shifts within three days. I also remember how I could keep going for a while but then I’d crash and I’d crash hard.

We’re still running multiple shifts, but the key is going to be making sure that people get rotated out of the high traffic zones before they wear themselves out.

There will be review board hearings on Thursday for our four medics on administrative leave. That will be held by a panel of reps, medics, and advisors so it won’t be just me investigating them.

Our sick medics all reported for duty so the main drain has been relieved. Now we just need our injured medics back in rotation.

I was preparing to report to the 197th when I got a call from KE. Marcus and Evans had some questions for me so I got to do another juggling act so I could meet with them at lunchtime.

They were civil, we met at the station and no, I did not get the coffee recipe from my Pranksters… it was tempting but they behaved and so did I.

They did pose an interesting question, and even more interesting was the fact that they actually wanted my impression on why it was done. To be honest I really hadn’t thought about it. The attack was precise, almost clinical in nature. I pointed out that sometimes the reasoning makes no sense except to the person doing it but… as I pointed out it was different from the recent rash of sniper situations. Something this precise usually means planning and planning usually indicates purpose.

It could have been a distraction or meant to study their response, deployment and how the perimeter was maintained. There were too many possibilities without knowing specifics. Specifics they weren’t ready to share with me.

It’s taken them long enough but I think Marcus and Evans might actually be catching on to the fact that I am not my brothers… at least not the brothers they’re looking for.

Tuesday, April 6, 2066 – Equal and Opposite

This morning I dropped Ray and Nathan off at Physio on my way to work. Thankfully they’ll be done and long gone before I get off work so Michael was the one who got the challenge of driving them home and keeping them from killing each other.

Well, to be fair, to keep Ray from killing Nathan for being so uber-cheerful.

Ray can be an eternal dismal cloud when he’s down, and let’s face it not being able to do for himself is enough to trigger his less than stellar behavior. For some perverse reason, this makes Nathan all that more cheerful.

The two seemed to feed on each other, the more cheerful Nathan got the more dismal Ray’s outlook turned, which only seemed to make Nathan’s cheer that much more pronounced.

Sometimes I think they deserve each other.

Thanks again to Follower for lending Nathan to the cause

Wednesday, April 7, 2066 – The Pitch

Today Charlie and I met with the board of directors with our proposal. I could tell by their expressions they’d heard almost every argument for it, but Charlie bless him knew how the game was played.

While I outlined the usefulness, Charlie went for the bottom line. I talked about lives saved, including our medics-he talked about cost-effectiveness and return on investment. When the board talked about the liability of having magic users on our teams, Charlie talked about the liability of not having them.

Them hiring Nathan as a consultant has set a precedence but, he’s working after the fact.

In the end, it is being taken under advisement but at least it is on the table and we have a decent chance.

That problem worked on I had to tackle our Paramedic Deficit. From the sound of things, it won’t take much to lure Rudi here. Luckily he’s nowhere as curious as I am and that can be a very good thing.

We have a few applications including one or two medics who look good on paper. I arranged for interviews and worked on an offer for Rudi.

We’ll see how it goes.

Thursday, April 8, 2066 – R and R… and R

I wasn’t going to take the day off today-we’re still short a few folks, but things seemed to conspire on my behalf for a change. Can something conspire for you?

Let’s face it I’ve been burning the candle from both ends, and the middles and well… it looks a lot more like a bonfire than candlelight. I got up this morning and had almost convinced myself that I was up for this when Case told me to go back to bed. You can usually tell just how tired I am by my argument level-it’s an odd kind of curve.

If I’m tired, the stubborn gene kicks in and I get defiant, if I’m really tired, like today, there is no fight just a simple nod and going back to bed.

When I woke up it was time to go to bed.

I think I could use more days like that.

Friday, April 9, 2066 – 24-B

Today was the sort of day when you kind of wish you could hit reset and start the whole thing over again. I started the day off as the Regional Chief of Citywide, Northwest on her way to the office. I ended it as the concussion in 24-B, with Dr. Shapiro fielding status calls from my husband, the Regional CEO of Citywide and half the medics from Citywide, not to mention diplomatic liaisons from the Tir, the Salish-Sidhe Council and a representative of the Kachakashqa Amaru. He was getting a bit exasperated until Bri asked him if I was going to be all right.

It seems he hadn’t been warned. One should never underestimate the powers of a precocious eight-year-old with a knack for adopting uncles.

I’m still not entirely clear on what happened and Case hasn’t told me anything. It seems I need to remember, or not, on my own.

I told him it wasn’t fair and he agreed. He kissed me on top of my head and told me, “the important thing is you’re here to complain about it.”

I guess that’s true, but right now I’m not feeling all that lucky.

I remember… I remember feeling like someone was following me. I remember being hit with something… then… it’s all a blur.

Something tells me it being a blur might be a good thing.

Saturday, April 10, 2066 – Altered States

Well…I’m still in the hospital at least for tonight. The classification is ‘being held for observation’ which is a nice way of saying “You look fine, but we’d rather not risk giving you cause for a lawsuit.”

It doesn’t help that I’m still unclear as to what happened. I remember meeting with the CEO… something about good PR for the company and keeping our options open.

I remember bits and pieces of the day and the last thing I remember was being on my way to a call on the bike.

Someone was following me, but I wasn’t too worried. If anything I was annoyed which means it was probably KE following me. It’s amazing how they can decide I’m not guilty and then still keep following me… I remember being vaguely amused by the thought.

I’m not sure if what I’m remembering is a dream-like interpretation of what happened or if it’s really what I remember. I do know it’s very surreal.

I can see a car overturned in a fog, its wheels still spinning. I remember walking towards it, med kit in had and then everything went black.

After that I can remember voices. There was worry and concern in their tone, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I can remember the sting of a needle… someone starting an IV line.

I know there was something about what happened that has everyone concerned, not just my family and friends but LoneStar and KE have both been in to see if I remember anything else.

The problem is… I don’t.

Copyright 2010 M.T. Decker