Ride Along Page #9

Frank starts to walk away.

Chloe:

So it’s my fault that you don’t know

how to do your God damn job?

Frank takes a second to register what just said, turns around,

and walks up to Chloe. She backs up against the wall. Frank

brings his head to her ear and whispers:

Frank Delmonico:

Don’t get cute sweaty. I can end your

chances of ever getting hired by the

county. I’m heavily involved with the

application process. Chloe McDaid. I’ll

make it my duty to scan every single

application we ever get for the next

ten years, just so I get the ten second

satisfaction of putting yours through

the shredder. Oh, how I miss the old

days. When this was a man’s job. You

could say what you want, and do what

you want without some b*tch disrupting

the order of things.

Nurse Williams comes up and pulls Frank away from Chloe.

Nurse Williams:

What is WRONG with you? Do you get

aroused if you crush the spirit of a

high school girl? You need help. Now

get the f*** away from her or I’ll call

down security.

Frank walks away and Nurse Roberts turns to Chloe.

Nurse Williams (cont’d):

Are you alright child?

Chloe:

Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.

53. INT. EMERGENCY ROOM NURSES STATION- DAY.

Cut to about five minutes later. Chloe is writing something

down. She puts her pencil down and watches Frank Delmonico and

Preceptor Phil walk out the ER doors.

Nurse Williams (O.S.):

You sure you have someone that can come

pick you up?

Chloe turns to face Nurse Williams:

Chloe:

I have someone. I’ll call them after I

finish my mock report.

Nurse Williams:

So how do you like the program so far?

Chloe:

It’s good, it’s real good.

Chloe (cont’d):

We’re learning so much that’s it’s hard

to keep up with the book work, and then

throw the field ride-alongs in, and

it’s…it’s a grind. It’s been well worth

it though!

Nurse Williams:

That’s good. You’re next preceptors

will be much better than those two.

They’re the exception.

Chloe:

That’s good. I still need six more

calls. Hopefully I get some exciting

ones to close.

Nurse Williams:

You mean serious. You’re too young and

inexperienced to be calling peoples

pain and suffering exciting.

Chloe:

Well when you put it like that. (A

beat) Have you gotten anything good in

the pit today?

Nurse Williams:

Yeah, actually, this morning we had a

child birth in the field and some EMTs

brought mother, and baby in, both

healthy!

Chloe puts her pencil down, looks up, and stares at Nurse

Williams.

Chloe:

Shut-up! Seriously?

Nurse Williams nods.

Chloe (cont’d):

That’s so freaking cool. Oh man, I

wished I was on that call.

Nurse Williams:

Yeah, they came in about an hour and a

half ago. Three EMTs, one of them

looked about your age. He was cute so

you should definitely find out who he

is.

Chloe:

Yeah, right. Here I am the taxi service

for the ‘next stop heaven’ group, and

some lucky EMTs get a childbirth.

Chloe (cont’d):

Every minute I’m here there’s probably

some badass call going on out there.

Nurse Williams:

Next stop heaven?

The ER’s RADIO switches on, and interrupts Nurse Williams.

Thompson via Radio:

Ellicott City General Hospital, this is

ambulance 96, do you copy?

Nurse Williams walks over to the radio, and picks up the walky-

talky.

Nurse Williams:

Ambulance 96, this is Ellicott City

General Hospital.

Thompson via Radio:

We have a priority 1 patient, heavy

blood loss, unconscious, in shock, and

weak pulse and BP. We’re coming in hot.

ETA about two minutes.

Nurse Williams:

Alright, I copy, over. (Shouting)

Alright we got a priority 1, severe

hemorrhage coming in. Call down the doc

and clear a room.

You see a few people in the background shuffling. Nurse Williams

turns to Chloe.

Nurse Williams (cont’d):

That was the guy from earlier that

brought the childbirth in. Very Irish.

Maybe you’ll also get to meet the

younger guy that’s with them.

Chloe:

Some units get all the luck.

Nurse Williams:

You and I have very different

definitions of the word luck. Anyways,

based on the guy’s description, it

doesn’t sound too good. Massive blood

loss, shock, and weak vitals? Call the

ER doc, and then call the morgue.

Chloe:

I thought we weren’t supposed to be so

grim?

Nurse Williams:

Oh sweetie. I said you aren’t. I’m a 20

year ER nurse, I can call them as I see

‘em.

You can faintly hear sirens now.

Nurse Williams:

I’ll let you get back to your report

now. I’ve got something exciting!

Nurse Williams slips on GLOVES and walks towards the crowd that

is accumulating by the ER doors. A RANDOM EMT walks up to Chloe.

Random EMT:

Well, it looks like Brody Thompson has

had a busy day today.

Chloe:

Who?

Random EMT:

Are you a ride-along?

Chloe nods.

Random EMT:

He’s on unit 96, along with Jessica

Miller I believe. He’s had a childbirth

and now is coming in hot with a massive

hemorrhage. That’s a hall of fame

horrifying day.

Chloe:

Horrifying? I thought it would be

badass.

Random EMT:

It’s not. You go to a childbirth,

right, which has so much pressure for

you to do everything perfect, to a

massive hemorrhage, which is outright

terrifying because things can go from

bad to dead (snapping fingers) just

like that. Plus nobody likes blood all

over them. It messes with their psyche.

I hear they have a ride-along too.

Worst day to ride-along. That kid’s

career is over before it starts.

Chloe hears a lot of commotion down by the ER doors. She looks

up to see Kevin, standing on the basket that is connected

underneath the stretcher- like on a shopping cart- covered in

blood, holding a mound of bloody dressings to the side of a man

as pale as a ghost.

Miller and Thompson are guiding the stretcher to a room that a

nurse is directing them to. The crowd of people follow behind.

Chloe:

Why?

Random EMT is also looking at all the action and didn’t appear

to hear Chloe. Chloe turns to Random EMT and snaps:

Chloe (cont’d):

Why is it over?

Random EMT:

(A beat) Because that kid’s too far

gone. He’s seen the two highest

extremes. He’s brought a life into the

world, and has seen a life all but slip

away in front of his eyes. He’d need to

be ironman to shake that kind of

psychological anxiety off. Hopefully

he’s had some padding calls to get his

feet wet and mind prepared. He might

have a chance if that’s the case, but

if those are his first two calls than

God help him, because every time the

alarm rings he’ll be flashed with fear

that this call is just as serious as

the last. Even the most experienced

EMTs will be haunted by a day like

that.

Chloe:

You don’t know Kevin. That’s not him.

Random EMT:

I take it you do know him then. All the

advice I can give is to give him

support, and to distract him from

today. And to remind him it’s not

always this bad.

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