The Friends

Chapter 7

The ambulance screeched to a halt at the emergency entrance of the hospital. EMS a long with the doctors and nurses from the hospital worked quickly to diagnose the old woman's condition. They concluded a triple bypass had to be performed right away. They rushed her in the operating room and started her surgery. The lead surgeon made the comment to his team that whoever performed the CPR when she stopped breathing, not only saved her from brain damage, but also saved her life. She was a lucky woman.

The operation took several hours that night and because of the woman's advanced age it was a little bit more delicate to perform. When all was said and done the operation was a success. The doctors said it would take twenty-four hours before they could say that she was out of the woods.

The lead detective, Detective Maxx, the one who questioned the friends at the precinct, kept thinking about their crimes. Something didn't sit right with him. The arresting officer stated that the girls did not put up any resistance and did not try to run when the police showed up. In his mind it didn't sound like a robbery. He started his investigation. The first individual he wanted to speak to was the 911 operator that received the call. He left the precinct a few hours later after the paperwork was done, and headed straight to 911 headquarters that covered the city. After speaking to the manager and several supervisors, Detective Maxx was finally able to locate and find the 911 operator that responded to the call Karen made.

"Hello ma'am, my name is detective Maxx and I'm investigating an assault and attempted robbery case that occurred several hours ago, at approximately 1:30pm. Is it possible that you might be able to recall a dispatch of an EMS team you sent to this address in Upton, Westchester this afternoon?"

"I can't say that I remember all the details Detective, but I can pull up the records in my computer for that time frame. That might help you, said the 911 operator. Here we go. Let me just log on to my system. Yes, I see it here. A call was made at 1:35pm from that address, a woman called and said that another woman had passed out and was not breathing and unresponsive. From the symptoms that were told to me, I knew that CPR was needed. The individual I spoke to said her friends knew CPR and were performing it at that time. I said great and that an EMS team would be there in ten minutes."

"So, you spoke to some one who said they were with others that were performing the needed CPR?"

"Yes, said the 911 operator."

"Thank you ma'am, I have all I need for now. I may need to speak to you again concerning this case."

"No problem detective you can call me anytime. By the way my name is Helen. Let me give you my direct line so you won't have any trouble getting to me."

"Thank you, said Detective Maxx."

"Thank youuuuuuu, said the 911 operator."

The Detective was now getting a clearer picture. One of the girls made the call while the other two performed the necessary CPR. He now wanted to speak to the EMS technicians that responded to the incident. He called the hospital to check on the condition of the old woman and was told that she survived and was recovering well. He was also told that maybe by Sunday she could be awake for some questioning. The Detective was also able to find out the names of the EMS technicians that had responded to the call through the emergency room hospital records. He contacted their dispatch office and arranged for them to meet him at the precinct. When they arrived, they explained to Detective Maxx the scene that they came upon.

"Three teenage girls or maybe two girls and a guy we think, were all wet like they had been swimming, said the lead EMS tech. The one girl and the girl/guy were performing CPR. The other one was waiting out front and when we got there, she led us into the area where we encountered the other two performing CPR. If it wasn't for them acting quickly, the old woman would have probably died before we got there."

The more the Detective found out about this case the more it didn't feel like a robbery gone bad. He started going over the details of the case. The girls were wet from swimming, they did not run, and they performed the necessary medical assistance that may have helped the old woman survive long enough for EMS to take over. The next person he had to speak to was the old woman. He would try on Sunday to pay a visit at the hospital.