Tares City

45. Just Another Day At Work

NAOMI REID

"Just heard back from my friend. Your brother's number has been deactivated. The last known signal was here in Tares, near the bus station on Lehonrad." Calvin informs her, the two sitting in silence as Naomi processes the information.

"He deactivated his phone and took a bus out of the city..." She mumbles softly.

"If you want, we can try to dig further. Get the footage from the bus station's camera - " Calvin begins but stops when Naomi shakes her head no.

"He doesn't want me around him and doesn't want me to find him. He said he'd turn off his phone not deactivate it. He also said he'll contact me when he's ready but I'm starting to doubt he ever will." Naomi says to him. 

"He will, Naomi. He just needs time to understand what's happening to him," Calvin says in an effort to console her. Naomi lets out a sigh in response, shaking her head in thought. Glancing down at her watch, she notices only has an hour left before her shift. 

"I've got to get going. Thanks for the help, Cal." She says to him gratefully. 

"It's no problem," Calvin responds, the two of them gathering their things and exiting the coffee shop. Naomi watches him get into his car and drive away - Fully healed now, he would return to work soon. 

~

At the station, Naomi heads straight to their sleeping quarters - Not having the energy to socialize. Though she'd prepared herself for the onslaught of questions, they still bothered her deeply. The fact that she had no answers made it all the more frustrating.  She couldn't tell the other firefighters why her brother left so suddenly or when he'd be coming back.

The overhead speaker blare, getting everyone's attention, "Battalion 25, Engine 21, Truck 1, Squad 6, Ambulance 31. Multiple victims down from unknown causes. Lot 53, Quarryville Lane."

~

They all pull up to a twelve-story commercial building, several persons stumbling out the front doors in a fit of coughs.

"Alright, mask up. Looks like we're dealing with some sort of gas." She hears a firefighter order as she and Avery begin tending to those who'd just exited the building.

"Chief, this is a chemical situation. We have barrels of something here, it's flowing into the vents. We need to get HazMat out here ASAP." She hears Parker call in over the radio to their chief.

"Naomi! Avery!" Hose calls out to them as he and Geo run towards them, holding an unconscious man between them.

"On the stretcher," Naomi orders as they reach them.  Using her stethoscope, she takes listen before turning to Avery, "We need to intubate. He's going into respiratory arrest."

"I'll get the de-fib pads on him," Avery replies, grabbing the equipment from the ambo as Naomi intubates him.

"We're going to have to cardiovert?" Avery says to Naomi as she watches the readings on the defibrillator monitor.

"Cardiovert? What's that? Is he going to be okay? What are you doing to Carl?" A hysterical voice cries to them.

"Ma'am you have to let them work?" Hose says gently, holding back a woman who seems to be in her late fifties.

"What are they doing? He's not dead why are they shocking him!" She cries out once more as they work, shocking their patient.

"They're sending quick, low-energy shocks to restore a regular heart rhythm, okay? Listen, those two are the best paramedics around. There's no need to worry," Hose says to her, trying to tame the hysterics.