I'm With You

Chapter 4

Miguel pulled up outside the charity building, stepping out of the car and he was surprised to see a woman step out to join him, a bag with the charity logo on it thrown over her shoulder.

"You're Doctor Lagman?" The woman called as she locked up the building and Miguel nodded his head, watching as the woman came closer. She was around the same age as his mother, her dark hair greying and she was wearing a lot of layers to protect herself from the cold.

"Yes, ma'am," Miguel said and the woman nodded.

"Good. Take this." The woman thrust the duffel bag at him before grabbing two more from the back of her truck, locking up the truck once she had them out but those bags were slightly smaller than the bag Miguel was carrying.

"What's this?" Miguel asked.

"Basic medical supplies - first aid, mostly. You brought your own medical bag, yes?" The woman asked and Miguel nodded.

"Good, because some of those we find tonight might need it." The woman said simply, before opening one of the bags she had to show Miguel what was inside. "One has clothes, donated to the charity, or that the charity has purchased with donation money. The other has water, toiletries, female sanitary products, condoms..." The woman listed and Miguel's eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Condoms?"

"Some of these girls and even the men have to earn their money somehow, Doctor Lagman... the last thing we need and the last thing they need is a baby being born on the streets." She said simply and Miguel couldn't help but agree, although he couldn't deny that he was extremely nervous all of a sudden. He'd never worked under such conditions, never dealt with people that weren't in a doctor's office or a hospital. "I do appreciate you coming to help me out, Doctor Lagman, covering for Clare whilst she's on maternity leave." She said and Miguel nodded.

"You can just call me Miguel, it's fine." He said and the woman shook his hand.

"Wendy." She introduced herself, before walking towards a car that had the charity's logo printed on the side - a cartoon house with the words 'Wendy's Home' printed around it.

"So, you run this charity, then?" Miguel asked, interested and he helped her to get the duffel bags into the backseat of the car, and Miguel went back to his car to get his medical bag. It had more than just first aid in it, it was serious medical equipment and medication, although he prayed that he wouldn't have to use it. He'd spoken to Clare over the phone when she asked him to cover for her for the next few months, and she told him how they sometimes found dead bodies and to not get attached to anybody that they come across, to be careful.

"Yep. It's just me and whatever volunteer doctors I can get my hands on, really." Wendy said simply, getting into the driver's seat and Miguel got into the passenger seat.

"I'd never heard of this charity before, not until Clare told me about it anyway," Miguel said and Wendy sighed.

"We're relatively small... I try to get the word out, but it's hard. There's not a lot of people out there who care whether the homeless live or die and those who say they care are unwilling to do much more than post a social media status about how sad it is for the homeless to be on the streets." Wendy said, shaking her head.

"How did you start this?" Miguel asked, for conversation as Wendy started to drive.

"My daughter was homeless... she ran away from home when she was eighteen with her latest boyfriend, got herself hooked on drugs... went to the hospital because her boyfriend needed help and she didn't have any access to a phone to call 911... he died of an overdose from a tainted batch of drugs and they found my daughter the next day, dead by the same reason... I started this charity so other homeless people can get the help my daughter was turned away from getting because she didn't have money." Wendy said and Miguel's eyes were wide with shock.

"Damn... Wendy, I'm so sorry." Miguel breathed and Wendy shook her head.

"Her death isn't in vain, there's nothing to be sorry for. Now, how this works is that we check on the people I know - they stay in one particular area or move around a few different areas if the police forced them to move on... we'll give them a basic medical once -over and if they require treatment, we'll do whatever is appropriate... I know a few other areas homeless might be, so we'll check there too just in case. It's been raining, so I doubt many will be out in the open." Wendy said and Miguel just nodded his head slowly. "It's a lot, I know and some of them might not be grateful or kind to you like your hospital patients, but I can guarantee you'll save more lives tonight than you do in a week at the hospital," Wendy said and Miguel couldn't help but agree.

He was terrified for what he'd see working for Wendy's charity for the night, but he also knew he'd never regret it.

He wanted to be a doctor to help those who needed him, and he saw no reason why that shouldn't include the homeless.

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