Dispatch called. “482, signal 130. Mr. Jones is to see Ben in his office.”
“That’s not good,” Troy said.
We didn’t see Ben too often, and generally tried to stay out of his way.
Occasionally he drove around the city in his bronco – and if a critical call came in you could be sure he’d try to show up on your scene, but most of the time he was in his office reviewing run forms or out teaching classes. If any of us screwed up on the job as far as the medical care we provided, he was the one who called us in. His summons was never a good thing.
“What kind of trouble did you get yourself into now?” Troy asked.
“Maybe he wants to ask me about you.”
That jarred him. “Like what?”
“Relax,” I said. “I bet it is about Victor. He got into it with a doctor the other day, and maybe he wants to hear my take on it.”
“Do you think?”
“Yeah, it’s got to be that.”
That seemed to satisfy Troy.
Nestor sat at his table in the crew room, his head slumped forward snoring. He was unshaven, and he reeked of body odor. I also thought I smelled alcohol on him. For all anyone knew he could have been a homeless man who’d wandered in off the street. Someone has set a can of deodorant on the desk next to him.
Ben was waiting for me in his office. He didn’t smile. “Have a seat,” he said.
I sat uncomfortably.
“Two things,” he said. “First, you were present during Mr. Sanchez’s altercation with a physician at the hospital.”
“I was.”
“How out of line was he?”
“Victor thought his patient was having an MI, and the doctor was pooh-poohing it. They both got in each other’s face. Then the patient coded.”
“I understand that part of it. I just need to know how bad the altercation was prior to Mr. Sanchez being vindicated at least for his medical judgment.
“Neither of them handled it very well. Victor said a couple nasty things about the doctor after the call, but by the end of the shift, he’d let it go.”
“Well, the Doctor made a complaint.”
“If it had been my brother who was the patient, I would have been glad to know a paramedic like Victor was fighting that hard for him.”
Ben nodded. “Fair enough.”
There was an ominous pause, and then he said, “Number two is a little more serious concerning you.”
“Yes,” I said, feeling the sudden chill.
“You’re not an IV tech are you?”
“No.”
“Have you been giving Mr. Johnson D50 on the job?”
“No.” I didn’t like lying, but if I had to pick sides, Troy was my partner.
He stared at me hard, then said, “Don’t let me catch you doing it. If you are a paramedic, that’s one thing. You are not even IV certified. Anyone catches you, that’s practicing medicine without a license. You don’t just lose your job, but the state comes after you. They come after you and that’s bad for us. The last thing we need is more headlines. EMTs practicing beyond their scope. We’ll lose our license.”
“I understand.”
“This is a liability issue. Consider this fair warning.”
“I understand.”
“We’re clear then?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What did he want?” Troy asked when I got back out to the ambulance.
“Nothing,” I said.
“He asked about me?”
“He wanted to know why I wanted a new partner.”
“What?”
“I told him you were too ugly. I wanted someone prettier. He told me I was out of luck. ‘“Live with it,’ I believe, he said.”
“Lee, you’re all right,” he said. “For a new guy.”
