Free Being Emma by Jeanne Harrell Page A

retreating
back. She waved at him.
    Janie got in the new patrol car, but barely
thought about it. A car was simply transportation – It just needed
to be dependable, that’s all. After buckling her seat belt and
adjusting the mirror, she checked the address. It was down her road
and in the same apartment complex where she and Diane lived. That
gave her a tiny pause and then she started the patrol car. Her
thoughts were on her friend, even though the apartment number was
different. She needed to make amends with Diane. She felt out of
sorts not having first Diane around to bounce things off and then
Craig… Craig — Simply can’t go there… She refused to think about
him.
    Pulling up outside the complex, Janie went to
the apartment manager’s office. He was surprised to see her.
    “Janie? Everything all right? … It’s not time
for you and Diane to pay the rent yet, you know.” He chuckled.
    “Dave, this is an official call. I need you
to let me into apartment 353 right now. There’s been a suicide
attempt. I’ve already called Emergency and an ambulance is on the
way. Could you please meet them and show them where to go?” Dave
was a short, pudgy man with little hair, but a brave smile. He
gulped with all this information.
    “Sure, Janie. Anything you need. Let me grab
a master key.”
    Dave and Janie walked down to apartment 353
together. She knocked first. When no one came to the door, he
opened it and stepped aside. Janie walked in and started searching
the apartment. She found a woman in the bedroom who was not
breathing. Dave’s mouth dropped open.
    “Dave, go make sure the paramedics get in
here fast. This doesn’t look good.” He hurriedly left. She found a
sleeping pill bottle on the nightstand and it was empty.
    The woman’s legs were twisted – It looked
like she had fallen after making the call. Her phone was on the
floor and luckily she had fallen onto the bed. She tapped her on
the shoulder. No response. Janie straightened her legs and then did
a preliminary check of her airway and pulse. No pulse. No air
coming from her airway… She pushed firmly downwards in the middle
of the woman’s chest and then released it. Janie’s training had
taught them that chest compressions would keep the blood pumping
around the body and help keep the vital organs alive until help
came.
    After thirty chest compressions, Janie began
CPR. She tilted the woman’s head back and gently lifted her chin
forward to open the airway. She began mouth-to-mouth breathing.
Within a few minutes, the woman began to stir and Janie stopped the
procedure. The woman coughed and sputtered as she began to breathe
on her own. Then she leaned over and threw up on the floor. It was
plain to see all the partially digested pills that came out of her.
Quite often a tube would have to be inserted, but not this time.
This wasn’t anything Janie hadn’t seen before and she merely sat
with the woman until she emptied her stomach. Then she collapsed
back on the bed in time for the paramedics to rush in the door.
    They loaded her into the ambulance and Janie
followed along to make sure she was all right. Later she would head
to the office and write her report.
    Dave thanked her for coming so promptly and
went about his business. He had to call for a cleanup crew to go
into the woman’s apartment. Actually, it wasn’t mandatory, but Dave
was a nice apartment manager and wanted her to come home to a clean
place. Nice of him…
    At the hospital, Janie checked her in and
talked to the attending physician. He told her that the woman would
be fine and a social worker would be coming up to see her soon. The
doctor was a friend of Craig’s, so Janie, of course, knew him.
After completing their business and signing the appropriate forms,
he smiled at her.
    “How you been, Janie? How’s Craig?”
    “Um… Fine, Scott… Craig’s good, I guess.” He
looked at her curiously.
    “… You guess? … I thought you two were
getting ready for the