The Vampire and The Paramedic Read Online Free Page A

the leadership
reined him in a little bit, but he was able to get most of his
wishes satisfied.
    The station would have new office furniture,
men’s and women’s bunk rooms with full bathrooms and showers for
each. There would be high-speed internet access and a small
satellite dish on the roof offering full TV including premium
channels. Some of his Unusual friends thought he was going a bit
overboard and wondered why, but James merely thought of this as
something that any responsible overlord would do to provide for
some of his most valued subjects. They deserved the best medical
care available. These paramedics were part of that process and
deserved to be rewarded.
    There had never been an opportunity for
Unusuals to seek medical care openly from the human community
around them. Often they were limited to house calls from a human
doctor who knew of their unique needs, or in other cases, their own
healers or magical powers. This project was something that James
wanted to succeed. It was not going to fail because of lack of
comfort or resources for the paramedics, doctors and nurses who
served them.
    The crowning achievement for them was the
purchase of a brand-new ambulance for use by the Station U
paramedics. This had been one of the top items on the Doctor’s wish
list. The current system of paramedics driving around in chase cars
and then transporting Unusuals in a standard ambulance risked
detection of the Unusuals. With a dedicated ambulance, this risk
was mitigated. The other thing he did was arrange for a U.S.
Department of Health grant for the additional crew to staff an
additional ambulance for Elk City’s fire department. His contacts
in the Federal government were paying close attention to the pilot
program in Elk City. They were watching to see if similar programs
could be implemented elsewhere for Unusuals in other, larger
cities. His leadership supported the measure and expansion as well,
and the wheels at higher levels turned quickly to come up with an
appropriate grant for expansion in local community medical care
from public health funding.
    His only regret was that he was unable to
participate in the Grand Opening of the station with the other
officials there. Rudy, newly healed following the accident, would
have to stand in for him since the event would take place mostly
outside in full daylight. While he could survive for a few minutes
in direct sunlight, it was painful, and he would never last in the
full sun for the hour or so of dedications and speeches. He watched
the festivities from his new car in a parking lot nearby. The
tinted windows protected him from the sun’s harmful rays. He could
see the dignitaries and uniformed fire department brass gather
together for speeches and the eventual ribbon cutting with giant
scissors in front of the ambulance garage bay doors. He caught a
few glimpses of Brynne Garvey during the event as she mingled with
the small crowd in her uniform as one of the paramedics who would
use the station.
    Eventually, everyone left and, as the
festivities died down, James started his car and drove away. He
still had to pull together a special thank-you for Miss Garvey. She
deserved individual thanks for what she had done. His honor
demanded nothing less. He resolved to find out when she worked next
in the evening. That was when he would stop by to reward her. He
was sure she would be suitably impressed. Most women were. He
continued back to his penthouse apartment downtown as he thought
about his plans, a pleased smile on his face.
     
    ——
     
    It turned out that Brynne worked night shift
two days later, and James set his plans in motion. He was
meticulous in his planning, as he was in everything he did.
Everything had to be planned just so to get the desired response
from the person being rewarded. Over the years, he had rewarded
many subordinates and knew what to expect in the way of gratitude
and appropriate deference.
    James made all the arrangements through