Chapter Text
This morning you were having a chat with June Darby. She was your home girl. The person that was stopping you from snapping from stress. She understood you.
“What’s up? Aren’t you supposed to be on duty?” June turned around on her office chair.
“Can we talk? I need to blow off some steam.” you sighed shaking your head
“Yeah sure. Hit me.”
“I’m giving a talk at the local high school today. They should have cancelled it! Lucy’s got the flu and now I’m the only responder for Jasper. Talk about being understaffed... what if something happens? I have to dash out of a school mid talk. What. The. Hell.” you grumbled wondering how thick the organiser's skull was.
“Sounds rough. Yeah... good luck with that. Glad I’m not you. Sassy teenagers and all that. Tell my son I love him for me in front of all his friends. I want to embarrass him.” she laughed
You grinned. Classic mothers. As they say, what’s a mum for if not to embarrass their children?
“Gotcha. Anyways, got to dash. My first talk starts at 9:30. See you after school then.”
June gave a wave before turning back to her computer and began typing away.
You walked out of the main hospital building and into the parking lot dreading talking to a bunch of moody teenagers. They didn’t care about what you had to say and you certainly didn’t care about what they thought no matter how important the information was. Unlocking the ambulance, you slid into the driver’s seat. It was stiff from decades of use and always made your butt sore. You slammed the door with just about as much strength as you could muster and started driving.
It wasn’t long before you made it to Memorial High School. The town was all packed into one small area for ease after all. You parked the ambulance, slid out and began the degrading walk into the building. It felt like the first day of school after the summer holidays. The reception was stuffy and cramped.
The receptionist was a short man and he gave you a cheery smile and spoke in a chirpy voice that did your head in.
“Are you the first aid responder for the talk today?”
“Yes.” your voice came out more tired than you hoped.
“Lovely, lovely! Come right through!”
You brushed off the non-existent dust from your worn-out uniform as you walked into the school. It was just how you thought it’d be. Chokingly warm and messy.
“Please follow Mrs Williams to the assembly hall.” the receptionist patted your shoulder and pointed at a tall lady with a sharp nose. She looked about just as tired as you were. Must be the kids. She led you into a rather small hall. Then again, there weren’t many children in Jasper. Chairs were laid out in neat rows and there was a space at the front where you were presumably going to stand.
“It’s a class at a time unfortunately. You’re going to be here for a while.” Ms Williams sighed.
You pitied her, “I’m not looking forward to it.”
“Ha. I’m glad you didn’t get your hopes up. The kids here are awful...”
The day went by at a crawling pace. You had said the same thing about 20 times before then end of the day finally came about. You were tired. The children kept interrupting your talk with modern jokes that you genuinely couldn’t understand. What was wrong with the number 67?? You really thought they’d be more mature than that. But it was over. You weren’t going to do that for at least a few years. Somehow, nobody had an accident for the entire time while you were in school. You had half hoped something could get you out of that hell.
As soon as the last class was gone, you got your ass out of there. You picked up yourself and walked out with relief. Your ambulance waited outside of school looking as inviting as ever. Lovely, you couldn’t wait to sit down. Hold on... You don’t remember parking your ambulance there. Blinking, you stopped walking in confusion. The day must’ve really worn you out if you couldn’t remember where you parked. You were sure you parked in the car park. You looked into the car park just to double check... and there was an ambulance. What. Who could have driven an ambulance? Lucy was sick and there were no other first aiders for miles. Did they hire a new responder? Thank goodness... and then the siren started but only for a second. What?
Suddenly, a little boy with an orange jumper and red glasses dashed out in front of you and got into the passenger seat of the ambulance. Before you could say anything, you heard him shout.
“Thanks for the lift home... friend of Jack’s mom... who's a NURSE... a-a-at the hospital!”
What. Nobody is allowed to use ambulances to take people home unless it was an emergency.
“Hey you!” you ran up to the ambulance.
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“Uh oh... Ratchet drive! That’s the first aid person!” Raf urgently whispered to the vehicle.
“What?” Ratchet whispered back.
“Go go!”
Too late. You were knocking at the window.
“Hey! Can I talk to the driver?” you tapped at the window which was weirdly tinted.
“Ratchet... what do we do?” Raf looked around frantically.
“Kid? Can you hear me? Who’s driving this ambulance? There should only be one responder on duty right now and you are not allowed to pick kids up and take them home!” You knocked on the window this time.
“Ratchet?”
The ambulance thought fast. He had never had an encounter with human medics before. Well, except for Nurse Darby. He didn’t want the risk of this human following him back to base.
“You shouldn’t be scared of me you know! Whoever’s driving, I’m a friend of Nurse Darby too. You can come out! As long as you’ve got a reason for being here, I won’t snitch.” you tried to peer inside but the windows were PROPERLY tinted, “If you won’t tell me, I’ll ask June when I see her anyway. I just want to know who you are!”
Ratchet was, for once, not able to think of a solution. Maybe he should just drive and hope Nurse Darby would be able to smooth it over.
“Oh come on! Are you a new emergency responder? I just want to get to know my colleagues jeez... Fine. I didn’t want to do this but... I’m going to open the door. Just a safety precaution of course. Stranger Danger. Don’t want to see you kidnapping children on the first day on the job hm?” You heard the click of the doors locking. “Nu uh. No point locking the doors. I have the emergency key that unlocks all ambulance doors.” You took the keys out of your pocket jingling them for emphasis.
“Oh frag...” Ratchet cursed repeatedly, “Why did humans design the lock that way?”
“It was probably so if there was ever someone trapped inside and couldn’t open the door someone could open it externally.” Raf said matter-of-factly.
Ratchet sighed. He enjoyed Raf’s presence most of the time. Right now was not that time.
You walked in front of the ambulance to the side of it to get to the driver’s seat. For some reason, the front windows were tinted too. Fancy ambulance. You slipped the key in and tried to turn it. They key didn’t budge.
“Huh.”
Ratchet was desperately holding the lock in place so it wouldn’t open. Unfortunately, despite his greatest efforts, he did not have much control over a keyhole. The lock turned and you pulled on the door handle. Luckily, he had more control over that. The door wouldn’t budge.
“Oh come on! Are you holding the door? What are you hiding?” You tugged at it.
“Rafael! Cover for me!”
“UM. THERE’S NO NEED TO COME IN... I’M PERFECTLY SAFE. UM... JACK’S MUM’S FRIEND IS JUST A LITTLE SHY.”
Ratchet cringed.
“Right... OPEN UP BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE OF SUSPECTED KIDNAPPING.” You had had enough. You used a hand to grab the walkie talkie on your waist prepared to call for back up.
Ratchet had to resort to the one thing he didn’t want: bringing back another human. Agent Fowler was NOT going to be happy.
“Rafael when they open the door, I need you to pull them in. I’ll do the rest.” Ratchet mentally prepared himself.
“Uh... alright.” Raf undid his seatbelt and got into position.
“3”
“2”
“1”
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You gasped at the door suddenly opening. Then a small pair of hands grabbed your uniform and dragged you into the driver’s seat. The door slammed, the seat belt was automatically fastened and the ambulance was driving. You squirmed trying to get a hold of the wheel and step on the breaks but it was providing useless as the pedals wouldn’t go down and the wheel was not turning in your favour.
“WHAT IS HAPPENING. WHAT THE HELL.”
“Calm down! Um I promise you’re not in danger!” the boy tried to stop you from moving.
“LIKE HELL I’M NOT. WHAT IS HAPPENING. WHY IS THIS AMBULANCE DRIVING ON ITS OWN.”
“Everything will be explained later! I promise!”
“OH HELL NO. WHAT THE FU-”
“IF YOU DON’T STOP MOVING RIGHT NOW, I’M GOING TO LEAVE YOU IN THE DESERT.”
That was not the voice of the little boy. You stopped moving. That voice was raspy and deep and very annoyed. You didn’t move for the remainder of the ride.
“W-who was that...” you said shakily.
“That was... uh my friend. New technology. Remote driving.” the boy explained
You nearly sputtered in surprise, “Liar. The healthcare system does not spend money on new self-driving ambulances. Do you know how expensive most medicines are?”
“Um...”
The rest of the journey passed in silence. You didn’t have the bravery to keep asking questions. Especially when the driver had just threatened you. You wished med school had trained you for this.