An Odd Place

Enter into a realm you have never been before.

This post is for you, the readers.  Thank you for your support and your encouragement for me to continue writing.  It has been difficult for me to find the time and the right mood for writing these days.  However, I will do my best to put in a post here and there.  I want to thank all those who continues to read this blog, and I hope you will find your inspiration to continue pursuing your dreams and what you love.

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It was one of those nights again.  Every time I work with Jessica I know we are going to be busy.  If the EMS Gods knew better, they would never put us together as when we combine partnerships, we turn into a black cloud.  The first time I worked with Jessica, it was on a night shift.  Of course we get called early in the evening and as we sit inside our ambulance, I hear dispatch announce over the radio… “Code 3 for a testicular bleed…”.  I remember looking at Jessica thinking… Oh nooo!  this is NOT something I want to do, especially not as my first call of the night!  And that is the way our shifts always seem to be.  Crazy, and busy.

Of course every shift I worked with Jessica, I hoped for things to be different.  This evening we get dispatched lights and sirens for a 34 year old female with a possible stroke.  Sounds like a pretty normal call to me.

Jessica turns on the lights and sirens as we started zipping off to the call.

Me:  “34 years old huh?  Young to be having a stroke.”

Jessica:  “Yeah.”

Me:  “Mind you, I’ve had a patient who was 35 years old and had triple bypass and a stroke.”

Jessica:  “That’s pretty crazy.”

The roads were dark as we wound our way up the highway.  We took a right turn onto a smaller road, passing by a few farms.

Me:  “You been here before?”

Jessica:  “Not really, I have passed by this area several times.”

As we neared we turned off our sirens and slowed down, straining our eyes in the darkness for the address.  There were no street lights here, all we could see were shadows and silhouettes conjured up by our ambulance’s headlights.

Me:  “Pretty quiet here.”

There was not a single person in sight, absolutely no movement.  We found the address matching that of a farm, but the message on our CAD (Computer Assisted Dispatch System) said the location was towards the back of the farm and in a trailer.  So we turned up the gravel road on the south side of the farm.  It was pitch black and I’ll be honest a bit creepy.  After a few minutes down this gravel road it took a quick turn to the left onto a narrower road.  There was a barn, a few run down mechanical equipment, and a beaten up truck abandoned on the side of the road.  The road continued to twist, now to the right.  We must be at least five minutes from the main road.  There were no lights and it was dead quiet.  I’m starting to doubt the accuracy of the location, I also didn’t like how secluded this place was.  After another left turn, we spotted a trailer with lights on.  This must be the place.

Me:  “99Fox, we are 7 on scene.”

I grabbed my radio and a jump kit, and headed towards the trailer.  First thing that caught my attention was the blaring metal music coming from the back of the trailer.  Hmmmm that is a bit odd….  I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck starting to rise.  I really don’t like this place.  My senses heightened as I approached the stairs leading to the front door, lit by a single light bulb.  The first thing I noticed was a chainsaw on the front porch.

Me:  “Hey, you see that?  The chainsaw?”

I nodded towards it, looking at Jessica.  She acknowledged without saying anything.  Damn this place is creepy, but perhaps like a lot of people here, this person uses it for firewood.

I stood to the side of the door frame, as a precaution and knocked on the door.

Me:  “Paramedics!!”

No answer.

No one in this town locks their door so I slowly opened the door and pushed it open.  The first thing I noticed was a machete lying in the front door by my feet.  Next, an orange and white tabby cat sitting on a couch from across the room staring at us.

Tabby:  “Meow!!”

He looked friendly enough.  The trailer, not so much.  There were clothing EVERYWHERE.  It took me several seconds to absorb all the different objects in that small space.  It was a cluttered mess.   To the left was a dining table.  The table top was made of glass, framed by wood and within it, encased a collection of animal bones and skulls.  To the left corner of the room hung a sword and a small knife, along with a medieval helmet.  I scanned the ground for anymore signs of weapons but find none, other than the machete lying at my feet.

Me:  “There’s a machete on the ground.”

Jessica stood by the frame of the door, staring at this place we discovered.  I could tell my partner was just as nervous as I was.  What kind of place is this?  Sure doesn’t match the description we were given by dispatch, definitely not a ladies house!  The hairs on the  back of my neck stood up on ends now.  I feel slightly like a puffed up halloween cat.

The metal music continued to blare from a narrow dark hallway to the left, I could see a glow of light from where the growling music was coming from.

Me:  “Paramedics!!  Anyone home?”

No answer.

That’s it, I’ve had enough of this place.

Jessica:  “Lets get out of here.”

Me:  “Yeah no kidding, this place is weird.  Lets call the Code 5s (police).”

Jessica:  “It doesn’t make any sense, if you’re having a headache or a stroke you wouldn’t be playing loud metal music.”

Me:  “Also it doesn’t look like it’s a trailer of a 34 year old female judging from the interior decor.”

Jessica:  “Did you see those bones??”

We quickly got back into our ambulance and drove back to the main road.  Dispatch asked for a landline.

Me:  “Hey it’s 99Fox.”

Dispatch:  “Hey, what’s going on with the call that you need the 5s?”

Me:  “Well….to start off, there was a chainsaw on the front porch with loud metal music blaring from the back room of the trailer.  No one was answering when we called out, there was also a machete on the floor when I opened the door, not to mention a collection of animal bones in a table and a sword and knife hanging in the corner…”

Dispatch paused.  Perhaps he was trying to process the bizarre place I just described.

Dispatch:  “Ok… yeah, don’t go in there.”

Me:  “We’re way out of there now, we’ll wait by the main road.”

So we sat in the dark, waiting for the police to show up.  They seemed to be taking their time, it must be a busy night for them too.

Me:  “What a weird night, first it was the psychosis teenager, now this….I don’t even want to know what calls we’re gonna get after this one.”

Jessica:  “Welcome to my life.”

When the police arrived, it was the officer we had met earlier when we dealt with the psychosis teenager.

Police:  “It’s you gals again!”

After a briefing of what we found and why we needed them, we showed them the way up to the trailer.  By now the music had stopped but the lights were still on in that back room.  One police officer shouted to see if there was a response before entering the house.  He used a flashlight to look into the windows and knocked on the side of the trailer.  After a while, we heard something of a voice coming from the back room.  The police officers entered the house first and we followed them in.  We made our way down the unlit hallway, minding our steps as clothing littered the floor along with random furniture.  As we squeezed our way through towards the light at the end of the tunnel, we found a young man lying on his belly beside a workout machine on top of a mountain of clothing, unable to get up.  His room was littered with clothes making access difficult.  However, that was not the only concern, there were bullet shells all over the floor and I notice two large packets of unused bullets in the corner by the door.  I look to the left and I see a picture of Osama Bin Laden on the wall with bullet holes smashed through him.  On the left corner of the wall there hung a crossbow.

What the….??? 

This has got to be the most bizarre place I’ve been to.

I later learned that this gentleman has had a rough go in life recently.  Despite his macho and intense trailer decor with the numerous weapons hanging from his house, he turned out to be a super nice guy.  He just happens to enjoy collecting weaponry and going to the shooting range here and there.

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What was the strangest place you’ve been to on a call?