“Oh! My goodness!” She threw her hands up in an attempt to keep the debris from hitting her. “What in the world. . . ? ” asking no one in particular. Every instinct told her to run, but instead she stepped around those standing in front of her, so she could get a better look.
Pam had left home only moments ago, walking fast, not only because it was cold, but because she was late. She had a bad habit of waiting until the last minute to go meet Jimmy at school. Walking a little faster, a couple more blocks and she would be there; right on time. Praying the flash cards she’d spent hours driving him crazy with, had helped him pass his spelling test today.
The explosion stopped her in her tracts. It sounded like the whole world had come apart at the seams. The building across the street exploded; with so much force it nearly knocked her off her feet. Glass and bricks were flying. As the dust settled, she could see injured people stumbling out trying to find a safe place, as far away as they could get.
Instead of running back up the street, or standing in a daze like the others, Pam moved forward, ready to do what she knew was coming . . .
She was a nurse. However, when she found out she was pregnant; she and her husband Mark had decided that she should stay home with their baby. Being Jimmy’s full-time mommy was so much more important than the extra money she had been earning. It sure wasn’t easy, but they had tightened their belts, and were doing pretty good. She knew she would eventually go back to her nursing career as soon as Jimmy entered middle school; by then he wouldn’t need her so much.
Now, in the aftermath of the explosion, all her years of training came flooding back. She knew exactly what she had to do. She started out slowly, but then broke into a run when she saw a woman stumble and start to fall. Pam was able to get there just in time to keep her from hitting the ground, easing her down slowly.
“It’s gonna be ok” she whispered calmly, as she took her coat off and placed it over the woman to keep her warm.
The woman’s clothes were a mess. Her head and hair were soaked in blood. Pam began to carefully move the hair away from what looked like a pretty nasty cut on her head. It was bleeding pretty badly. She quickly applied steady pressure to the wound. The ambulances were on the way, she could hear the sirens in the distance.
Pam looked into the woman’s face, making eye contact “What’s your name?”
“Laura”, the woman answered weakly, trying to sit up and turn around, attempting to look in the direction of the building. “What happened?”
“Let’s not worry about that right now Laura” Pam said quickly, preventing her from moving, trying to keep her calm. The pressure she had been applying to the wound had worked; the bleeding had stopped; thank God.
The ambulances finally arrived; paramedics jumped out, and were on their way over. It had taken them longer than it should have; heavy traffic had prevented them from getting there sooner. As they approached, she told them she was a nurse, and what she had done for Laura. Relieved, she could now turn the patient over to them.
Alert now, Laura touched Pam’s hand, smiled, and thanked her. “You saved my life”, tears glistening in her eyes.
“I’m glad I was here to help” Pam said, as she stood up and backed away; giving the guys room to work. Laura would have a pretty bad headache and endure a few stitches, but Pam knew she would be just fine.
Then it hit her, “Oh! I’ve got to go get Jimmy” and bolted off toward the school.
Jimmy was standing on the school steps waiting impatiently. He ran to meet her, and jumped up into her arms. “Mommy, where have you been? You were late”
Not knowing how to answer his question without giving him the details, but finally said. “I’m sorry I was late honey; Jesus sent me on an errand today, and it kept me pretty busy for a while”.
“Hey! How’d you do on your spelling test today?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I got an A!” Jimmy said proudly, “Guess those flash cards helped, huh?”
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