spark

Chapter 36 : Future Tense

Derek sighed, the scowl on his face practically permanent at this point. His fingers tapped angrily on the handle of his car door. Looking in the rear view mirror, he grimaced at the flashing red and blue lights. Glancing to the left outside of his window, Derek squinted in the early morning light to make out the tall officer that had pulled him over. Before he could even knock on his window, Derek rolled it down, glowering at the older man. "Care to tell me why you pulled me over?" Derek asks, taking a bit of pride in the angry smile on the officer's face. Glancing to his badge, Derek took note that he was speaking with Sergeant Bradford.

"You were going 60 in a 45 zone. License and registration." Bradford demanded, holding his hand out as Derek glanced between it and Branford's face. Sighing heavily, Derek reached over to the glove box, removing his registration and handing it over to Bradford with his license. "Thank you, I'll be right back."

"What, no rookie to do it for you? I thought all you TOs had your boots do the grunt work." Derek teased, causing a perplexed expression to cross the Sergeant's face as he walked back to his shop. "Well, this is definitely gonna be a fun interaction later."

About five minutes later, Bradford returned with a speeding ticket and Derek's information. "Drive smarter, Mr Hale, and we won't have to see each other anytime soon." Bradford states, a huff leaving Derek in amusement. Rolling his window back up, Derek watched and waited for Bradford to turn off his lights and peel away from the curb before peeling away himself.

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Bobby took the lead and rang the doorbell. The six members of 118's A shift were called to an upscale house at the behest of the resident's girlfriend. She'd apparently been watching the video feed through the smart home system that he'd installed, and saw that he'd fallen in the shower. Maddie was very confused about the call, but still called for LAFD in case it wasn't a prank. "LAFD." Bobby announced, looking up into the camera in the corner.

"Dispatch said the patient was unconscious." Buck piped up, his mask tugged beneath his chin.

"They also said it was a smart home." Scott says, chuckling lightly. "Seems like this guy wanted to be emulate Tony Stark a little too much."

The lock clicked open, with the front door opening by itself as an automated voice chorused from above. "Welcome, Los Angeles Fire Department."

"Am I the only one really creeped out right now?" Hen asks, only for the rest of her colleagues to voice out their own discomfort at the scenario. Pulling their masks onto their faces, the six enter the house, navigating until they were in the expansive bathroom, where they found their patient unconscious in the rain shower, blood flowing from his head wound into the drain steadily.

"Let's see what we got here." Chimney states, pushing him over onto his back as Hen and Scott moved around to be on the patient's other side.

"Pulse is steady. Scalp is lacerated." Hen responds, tilting their patient, Anthony's head slightly to get a better look at the injury.

"Likely has a concussion." Scott deduced, receiving an agreeing nod from Hen. "Anthony, can you hear us?" He garnered no response, exchanging a concerned look with Hen and Chimney.

"Looks like first or maybe second-degree burns from the water. His veins are collapsed." Chimney explains, lifting up Anthony's right arm as Scott furrowed his brow at the information.

"Are you thinking hypovolemia?" he inquired, looking to Chimney for confirmation. The older paramedic nodded his head, giving Scott a smile from behind his mask. "That means we'll need to run the line in his ankle."