2 Ascana Meets Daniel

   When Ascana saw Daniel in action at the accident site, she saw him work efficiently, medically soundly, cleaning wounds, safely securing areas, calming people involved, fastening loose joints…even finding dismembered limbs if necessary. Apparently, this character was familiar with and undazed by the sight of fresh blood or raw flesh plus had a strong, quick, mind and way of calming and relating to the people around him, also a real feel for his immediate surrounding and what had to be done immediately. She was impressed. There is no less word to describe what she felt when she saw him work. She was utterly impressed.

  “Dr. Moreno?” An emergency medical worker was by her side. “Am I glad to see you!” Boy, these people were lucky to have a doctor so close by when they got in their accident! We’ll take it from here though, to Emergency. I see everything’s neat and under control. Two African Americans….” He glanced down at the ground where the victims lay. Ascana had, to her shame, she realized, almost forgotten about them, due to her admiration for the young man working on them. And she realized the medical man was standing at her side with an inquisitive expression.

  Ascana looked at him blankly. “Dr. Moreno – their vitals?” Before Ascana could say anything, the other young man crouched on the ground near the victims scrawled something on a sheet of paper and put it in her hand, winking and gesturing to give it to the man asking the question.

  Speechless, Ascana handed the memo to the medical worker. He glanced at it. “B.P., pulse…OK—thanx. See you tomorrow, Dr. Moreno.” And waving the piece of paper, he left with the few workers who’d lifted the accident victims onto gurneys and were carrying them away to their ambulance.

  Ascana looked back at the person who’d taken care of them and gotten their vitals. But he was already clear across to the other side of the park—he’d gotten on his bicycle and disappeared into the darkness before she could learn more about him. Ascana sighed, turned around, and went to her car, turned on the engine absentmindedly, and decided to go home; there was no more to see here.

  It wasn’t until the next day at work, when she went down to emergency, that she learned more about—met—Daniel. The men who brought in the crash victims praised the immediate care they’d received so soon after the accident. They came in the doorway of the room with the young man of the night before, so Ascana thought he must have told them about the accident and the first aid measures he had taken. The next instant, she knew she was mistaken.

  The workers looked at the patients. “You don’t know how lucky you were to have a doctor nearby. Dr. Moreno happened to be going home when she saw your car. Someone had dialed 911, but by the time we got there, she had cleaned and dressed your wounds.

  “But I” began Ascana. Daniel shot her a look that made her stop.

  “Doctor Moreno?” he said, smiling, and looking at the patients. “Yes, we are so fortunate. And where does Dr. Moreno live?” Seeing Ascana’s reticence, he added, “We’d like to show you something to say, ‘Thank You.’” Daniel began looking for something.

  “That’s completely unnecessary,” Ascana replied. She saw the black couple was fine. Their injuries, due to Daniel’s quick care, would heal completely without scarring. But why did he want them to think she did it all? Wanting to avoid questions she might not be able to answer, Ascana left the room.

  She did not see Daniel pull a small I.D. card out of a bag, saying: “Well, we found a bag we think belongs to you…Dr. Moreno?” But she was gone.

  “She left a few seconds ago,” one of the ambulance drivers said. “But yes, it looks like something she’d carry, and you should be able to catch her.” Daniel took the bag and left the room.

  Unfortunately, the room was right around the corner from the elevator. When Daniel stepped out into the hall, he didn’t see Ascana had turned the corner down the corridor a few steps and walked into the open elevator.

  Daniel walked briskly down the hallway looking for Ascana who, of course, could not be found. Exasperated, he returned to the room.

“No luck?”

“She just evaporated, I think.”

“No problem; she lives on the other side of the bay. You can either get it to her there or come back tomorrow—” one of the ambulance drivers said. “By the way, how come you have the doctor’s bag? Who are you?”

“Daniel Train, our son,” answered the black man sitting in the bed. “We visited him. We were just going home when we had that accident.”

“B-but you’re…isn’t this your son?” He was clearly confused. The Wilsons, accident patients, were black—so was the teenager standing nearby—but Daniel was white.

“Oh Jerome?” said Jedediah Wilson, motioning to the grinning youth at the side of the room. “Everyone knows Jerome. He lives nearby. He came running when he heard the crash, and I think he helped Dr. Moreno take care of us.

Jerome was about to say something, but again, Daniel shot him a look that made him clamp his mouth shut.

Daniel was no quitter. He had tracked up and down that hall too long to let it go. If Dr. Moreno lived on the other side of the bay, he knew what he would do with the doctor’s bag after visiting the Wilsons. Daniel was going to get on his bicycle and deliver the bag there himself.