Chapter 10

Dr Pembry walked through the Hebron Hospital ER and checked to make sure all was ready to go.  He and Helen were going with the family to Lincoln, then would get a ride back.  It had been a long night and he was exhausted from the strain of the situation.  His staff was emotionally chewed up from having to just watch and unable to do anything.  It wasn’t fair to them, but dad had the final say.  He could legally stop the care, and there was nothing the hospital could do.  He refused to listen to their futile attempts to get through to him.  If he was willing to risk his childrens lives over what Dr. Pembry and Dr. Bunting agreed was a misunderstanding, and ignorance on dad’s part about how they managed their patients, then there was nothing he could do about it.  That would be on dad’s shoulders.  He knew dad fairly well from the trips he had made to Hebron in the past and had always respected him as a very qualified surgeon, but now he was just an interference.  It was frustrating.

At the reception desk, he glanced at the basket containing mom’s body.  He got the attention of a nurse and pointed to it.  No one had touched it since they had brought her in.

“Move her to an exam room, please,” he said.  “Dr. Bunting will care for her.”

He shook his head, and then he walked over to Rick.  They had removed his I.V. in preparation for the flight.  He was well sedated now.  He reached down to feel Rick’s pulse, which was strong, then stood back in silence.

Larry sensed Dr. Pembry’s frustration as he walked through the ER past him.  It was definitely a first for him.  He stretched and yawned, twisting his head from side to side.  It had been a long night.  It would be good to fly home.  He was satisfied at the job he had done.  They had all done a good job.  Just one more thing to do - get these people home.

He walked outside to wait for the big chopper that was heading their way, and scanned the northern horizon for a glimpse of it.  A few minutes later, a distant speck of light appeared on the horizon and in a very short time emerged into the spectral thud of rotors beating methodically through the cold, still air.

Through the windshield of the Bell UH-1 Huey, National Guard Sergeant Ben Chesser of the 24^th Air Ambulance Company peered over the pilots shoulder toward the flashing white beacon of the Hebron Airport.  It was a cold night, but was clear and calm.  It was a beautiful night for a flight, actually.  The beauty of it defied the purpose of their mission, which was to pick up a family of airplane crash survivors. 

As a crew chief of this bird, he had been on emergency missions like this before, as the guard was sometimes asked to do from time to time, but almost without exception they were neo-natal emergencies.  Or sometimes there were burn victims.  This was the first time they’d gone after plane crash survivors, at any rate.  He had never even heard of a civilian crash where there were survivors.  He’d heard of lots of fatalities.

            But there you go…and here they were.  The hospital appeared and the pilot maneuvered the helicopter over it to get a view of the landing area that had been carved out of the parking lot before he committed to land.  He caught a glimpse of Larry standing at one end and waving his arms slow above his head.  The pilot zeroed in on him and descended slowly with his nose pointed at Larry who guided him down until the skids gently thumped to the ground in a way that defied the 10,000 pounds of the big chopper. 

            The moment the skids touched and the strain of the engine was released, he grasped the handle of the door, turning it and sliding the it back and open, pushing it toward the rear of the chopper till it locked securely into place.  He could see people near the door of the hospital emergency room entrance who had prepared the victims for movement.  The rotors of the big chopper slowly wound to a stop.

            The Captain came on the intercom.

            “Why don’t you get in there and see what the situation is,” he said.  “Let me know when were ready to go.”

            “Roger that,” Ben replied and jumped out of the chopper.  He walked over to Larry and they shook hands.  Larry briefed him on the situation quickly and they turned to enter the hospital.

            Inside, Ben saw dad and went to him to make sure he was ready to go.  He glanced over at Chris who stood near the door and was looking out at the big helicopter.  Chris turned and watched them as they talked quietly.

            He heard dad ask Ben about mom.  Dad wasn’t aware that they had already recovered her and she was there.  Chris didn’t know that either.

            “Maybe I missed something,” dad said.  “Maybe we can go out there and check one more time…”

            Ben talked soothingly to dad for a little while longer while the staff made the final preparations.  When they were ready, he checked all of the gurneys to make sure we were good to go.

One of the doctors gave him a quick update on the situation.  Dad and Chris could walk and sit once on board and there were the three stretchers with the children.  Also, he and the nurse would come along.  It would be tight, but Ben knew they’d make room.  About that time the first of the gurneys rolled up to the door. 

            “Okay, Doc,” Ben said.  “Climb aboard with those two walking and get them strapped in.  I’ll get these gurneys aboard.” 

He looked toward the pilots window and caught the eye of the captain watching the scene unfold through it, and held up four fingers, then turned his hand to make a walking symbol, and then he pointed at the gurneys and held up three fingers.  The Captain nodded and gave a thumbs up. 

Ben told the attendants standing near the stretchers to get them aboard.  As they rolled past and were lifted into the big machine that would deliver us finally from the long nightmare, he could make out the little bodies of the children strapped to them once again. 

Jesus, they were just little kids, he thought. 

The nurse and the doctor then climbed aboard and began to strap themselves into the seats next to the other two.  Ben made a quick check around the Huey and headed back to the hatch, climbed in and slammed the door shut.  He went to each of the gurneys and passengers to make sure they were all secure and then snapped the yoyo chord of his helmet back into the intercom and keyed the microphone.

            “Were all aboard, Sir!” he announced.  “All clear!”

          A few seconds later the helicopter whined to life and the intensity of the twin engines quickly increased in a loud crescendo.  Moments later, the Captain pulled up the throttle, forcing the blades to strain against the resistance of the dense cold air and gravity.  Gradually, they lofted the helicopter upward and forward.  The Captain moved the collective away from him and guided the chopper toward Lincoln. 

            As they slowly gained altitude, Ben looked at the nurse who had come on board.  She stroked the side of one of the young boy’s faces, picking strands of blood matted hair out of his closed eyed, and then gently patted his leg.  She never took her eyes off of him, as if she was willing him to stay.

            Ben hoped it would be awhile before he did this kind of mission again.

            Larry had caught a ride to the airport with another sheriff deputy and got his own helicopter ready to go.  Bruce was waiting when he got there, and they did a quick preflight check of the bird and got it ready to go.  When they got in, he quickly established radio contact with the pilot of the huey and they agreed to fly to Lincoln together.

            Larry and Bruce waited in the little bird until the huey rose out of the trees near the hospital and began to move northeast.  When he saw it, Larry lofted his helicopter into the sky and followed, taking a position of the left side and slightly behind the other chopper. 

He looked at his watch.  It was coming up on 5:00 AM.  The CAP team had secured after shutting down the ELT at the wreck, and he heard from Jon that they had all gotten back to Lincoln and secured.

Jon mentioned the cadet who had found mom, and said he was pretty shook up.  He was pretty young, something like 18.  He had his baptism into the dark part of the world of search and rescue, and Larry hoped he’d be alright.  He could be proud.  They all could be.  They had done a good job. 

Larry felt a particular satisfaction with how they all worked that night, and also the role he played.  It was funny how it was never planned the way it turned out, but it all seemed to turn out alright.  He felt like tonight he made a difference.  That was why he ultimately did his job, for that satisfaction.  The life of a cop was tough and often thankless, but he knew he helped out a great deal tonight and would remember this night for a long time.   

But it was just part of the job.