Chapter Text
Beep Beep Beep Beep! Nelle groaned as she looked at her iPhone sitting on the side table; it read 0330. Five minutes later, the clock on her dresser alarmed.
"So early!"
She threw her pillow at the clock, striking it with incredible accuracy. She got up, walked into the kitchen, and started the coffee pot. Nelle's nerves got the best of her last night; she tossed and turned most the night nervous about her first day.
She changed into yoga pants and sports bra, put on her shoes, and took off at night. She found that running at this time not only helped relax her, but it is the coolest time of the day in South Florida. It took her about thirty minutes to run her five-mile circuit. She got home showered, had a cup of coffee, and set off.
Nelle got to the station about an hour and a half early. She had her gear and her groceries with her and was ready for the day. Her intention was that she was going to make breakfast for the off-going and the oncoming crew. When she graduated from the fire academy at the top of her class, she knew that she would be lucky enough to be given one of the best houses in her district. She wanted to prove that she got her spot because of her work ethic and hard work and not because of who she knows or was.
She started to make a feast she made eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, pancakes, even blini, which reminded her of home and, of course, a carafe of coffee. The oncoming crew started to filter in.
Immediately Nelle looked for the white shirt, which identified that person was an officer. Nelle knew that she was looking for Captain Pargrave.
"Good Morning, Captain. My name is Nelle. I am the new recruit assigned to this station."
"Ahh, Nelle, good morning. I see we have you to thank for breakfast, aye?"
"Yes, sir, I hope it is okay," replied Nelle.
"Well, Nelle, I think we need to introduce you to the troops. Don't you worry, they can be a bit much at first, but don't you worry, keep on their good side, and make a good impression, and they will do anything for you."
With that, Captain and Nelle walked into the kitchen where A shift sat at the kitchen table eating.
"Good morning, troops. So shift report. Well, we will make it easy today. This is Nelle Astankova. She is assigned here at 12 for the foreseeable future. She was at the top of her class at the academy. She is a paramedic and has numerous other certifications besides her Firefighter II. You all have her to thank for this wonderful spread that you are eating this morning. We have Hugo, Eve, Elena, Kenny, Jess, Bear, and Niko. While this is a smaller station, we are a close one. So assignments for today will be as follows: on the Engine, it's going to be Hugo, Elena, Bear, and myself. The Rescue will be Niko, Kenny, Jess, and the Medic will be Eve and Nelle. Training will be the Denver drill, and since the Medic had breakfast, the Engine has lunch, and the Rescue has dinner, so plan accordingly. Any questions?"
No one replied.
"Okay, then go do your truck checks."
Nelle headed to the Medic and went through each and every compartment. She wanted to go through the equipment check to ensure that each piece worked and checked the monitor to ensure that the pads were working and connected. Then checked the medications and narcotics and the log and made sure her and Eve's gear was on the truck. She is met by Eve in the bay.
"Good morning, Eve."
"Morning," replies Eve as she puts her hair up in a bun.
Keep it down. Nelle thought to herself as she watched Eve.
"So tell me about yourself. You have an accent. Russian, it sounds like.”
"Yes, I was born in Russia; I moved here when I was fourteen, I'm twenty-seven now."
To Eve it seemed like Nelle was guarded, like she did not really want to talk about something, so she left it at that.
"Are you a sports fan? You like music? Do you watch movies? Riding in this truck with you for 24 hours will be a long time if we have nothing in common."
"My ex was really into the Dolphins and the Hurricanes, so we would watch football together, and my Dad really likes the Marlins, and he and I like to go as many games as we can. As far as music, I will listen to anything. Still, I really enjoy classical music, but I tend to listen to faster-paced music when I drive. And I only like watching movies with someone. What about you, Eve, what do you enjoy?"
"Really, how can you live in the Miami area and not be a sports fan. Being a Dolphins fan really has been hard since Marino retired, but there is hope this year, right!"
Suddenly the tones dropped.
Personal Injury-Fall from an unknown height-5724 Waterford Lane
Nelle jumped in the driver's seat and waited. Once Eve jumped in the passenger seat to give directions and to read the call notes.
Upon arrival at the scene, it was discovered that a male was on the roof of the house doing roof work when he fell from the first story. It appeared he fell backward from the roof, striking the back of his head on the trailer post, then bounced off the post and struck his head on the pavement. Nelle immediately called a trauma alert and completed a rapid trauma assessment, there was crepitus on the back of the head, and his eye was starting to hemorrhage. It was clear that he had a significant brain injury.
Nelle spoke fluent Spanish to the bystanders and was able to get enough information from the workers to find the name and the age and any medical conditions and what happened to the man. They were able to get the man assessed with large bore IVs and c-collared and immobilized, and transported within 10 minutes.
Eve was very impressed with how Nelle kept her cool.
"Have you ever worked in the fire service before Nelle?”
"No, well, I was a combat medic when I was in the military, so while I'm new to the fire service, I have done the medical side actively since I was eighteen. I got out last year.”
"Wow, no wonder you're a natural."
Eve and Nelle started on their way back to the station. Just as Eve pulled into the station, the tones dropped again.
Fall- 96671 Sanctuary Circle
When Eve and Nelle pulled up, onscene police were on hand to assist. They went inside the home, and they found an elderly female who was on the floor. Nelle went over to the patient immediately and started to assess her. Eve had gone to the kitchen to find out what medications she was taking when she noticed that there were papers scattered about. She looked at one of the papers on the counter and was surprised to see it was the woman’s husband's death certificate. It had been a year almost to the date since his death. Eve got the attention of the police and showed it to them. She then searched the cabinets for food, looked in the refrigerator, and noticed little to no food inside the house. Giving the police more information. Nelle and Eve got the patient up from the floor, and she stated she had no complaints. She just said she was thirsty. Eve suggested that she get water and the patient instead went to the bar and almost poured herself a drink. It was the final straw. The police deemed she was a danger to herself and wanted her to go to the hospital for a mental evaluation. The patient fought them, but Nelle convinced the patient that it was in her best interest to go. They could run a few tests on her, get evaluated, and get the help she needed.
Eve was thoroughly impressed. Nelle was great with the patient and prevented a scene by getting her to go with them to the hospital. Even seasoned medics have trouble convincing patients that it is in their best interests to go with them.
Nelle and Eve would take turns with the who was in charge of the calls for the rest of the day. After continually running calls the entire day, they finally made it back to the station just in time to eat dinner.
Eve and Nelle had sat down to eat dinner; chicken breasts with sweet potatoes and green beans were on the menu.
Nelle had begun cleaning up when the tones dropped again.
MVC with entrapment- Glades/Cain
This time the entire station empties. The Medic arrived first on the scene; Eve gave a scene size-up; there is a car on its roof in a ditch. Nelle went up to the car and notices that there is only one occupant. It appears that the man was unresponsive. They tried to get into the car by the doors, and all of them are locked.
Finally, Nelle took a window punch and popped the back passage window, and climbed in the car. She tried to arouse the patient with no luck. She held c-spine and waited for the Engine and Rescue to get there to cut open the door. She was able to apply the c-collar. From Nelle's assessment, it was apparent that he had a head laceration. It appeared he had multiple fractures, a tib fib fracture, and a wrist fracture, and that is from what she could see.
He was wearing a seatbelt and was not tossed around the car and from the cans of beer around the vehicle he had been drinking. His foot was pinned under the dashboard, and that was the only thing that kept him from flying from out of the car. After the Engine and Rescue were able to extract him, Nelle and Eve were able to bring him to the trauma center. It was clear that he had a bilateral pneumothorax and likely a hemothorax as well, and the likelihood that he would survive was minimal.
It seemed to have calmed down after this call. Nelle was finally able to get her bed set up. After her chores were done, she could get some sleep, only being interrupted a couple of times at night.
She woke up at five to try to get a quick run in before the sun came up. She needed to stay close to the station, so she decided to climb the fire tower in full gear with her pack on but no air. She did this until a six took a quick shower, cooked breakfast for the crew again, and then gave her handoff to the oncoming crew.
As she was walking to go home, Eve pulled her aside.
"Look, Nelle, you did really, really well; if I did not know better, I would have thought that you have been doing this for years. Look, a few of us usually go out after shift. I was wondering if you wanted to come with."
"Yea, that'd be great."