Wind Riders

crawling down the corridor, Nick felt the pain worsen. He tried to focus on what needed to done, but the stinging ache began penetrating throughout his muscles and joints. Now deep in the core of his bones a nonstop shock traveled through his entire body. Every beat of his heart made the feeling stronger. Pulsating surges of the pain drew his arms and legs to his chest. He remembered that the healing potion his grandfather gave him the day before was in his pocket, but there was no way he could make his hand reach in his jacket. The way they were twisting and contorting he couldn't even open his hand from tight fist in which it was clamped. Nick knew the pain was to much for him to bare so he stopped fighting and let go. As he did a cool refreshing breeze engulfed his body, then all went black. "Nick! Nick Brightstorm! I have came to help you." The words echoed deep in Nick's head. He felt as if his eardrums were bursting. Ringing and pounding from one side of his skull to the other he managed with a low almost inaudible whisper to get one word out "POCKET" he felt hands quickly pat him down, first starting at his waist and around his hips. Each light tap felt like the blow of a sledge hammer. As the hands made it to his jacket he felt a slight hesitation, then in went the hand and out came salvation. The cork made a small pop but to Nick it might as well of been a bottle of champagne. Unable to gather the strength to open his mouth he felt a finger pry his jaw down. With the rim of the bottle between his teeth his pallet filled quickly. Instantly the pain of a toothache times thirtytwo was gone. As the liquid reached the back of his throat he swallowed in one large gulp. The convulsions that were knotting his muscular body were beginning to subside. He tried to open his eyes but the sweat from his brow filled his eye sockets, blurring his vision. All he seen was a very thin, tall silhouette above him. The figure seemed so familiar to him but he couldn't make out any features. The physical exhaustion from the episode made Nick go in an out of consciousness. Unable to lift his weak arm to wipe the sweat from his eyes he just layed there with them shut. The sound of sirens began to howl closer and closer to the condemned building where Nick was. He felt the touch of the man's hand on his forehead and then on his cheek. All of the sudden another cool breeze filled the passageway and the man whispered into Nick's ear. "Next full moon at your grandfathers home" As the breeze disappeared so did the mystery man that saved Nick's life. The flashing lights of the cruisers were beaming through the windows. Nick still had his eyes closed but he could see the flashing through his eyelids. As the cars pulled up to the front door they shut off their sirens. The first car wasn't even ata full stop when the passenger door opened. Tom a middle aged ,average height,average weight,blond haired,blue eyed cowboy popped out and then right back in. He forgot that he was still belted in. A somewhat high pitched voice filled the car. "Damn it,I hate what adrenaline does to me!" As Tom started to fumble for the release button he looked over at his partner putting the shifter into park. He noticed that he had already had his seatbelt unlatched. Jeff was the type that was always prepared for anything. He trained himself to asses any problem and his body would automatically do what was needed to be done without thinking. By the time Tom's restraint was off Jeff was already around the car and starting up the steps. Jeff waisted no time bursting through the entrance doors. He loved the rush. It let him know that he was very much alive and intended on staying that way. From the pit of his stomach a roar of words belted to his lips. "Nick, can you hear me?" He hesitated for a split second for a response. "Nick, talk to me buddy, are you in here?" Jeff was not only the senior deputy he was Nick's best friend. Growing up together on the reservation made them more like brothers. They always had each others backs. Now Jeff didn't even know where his friend's back was. Nick heard Jeff yelling but didn't have the energy to answer back. The footsteps echoed off the walls and got louder and louder then stopped about ten feet away. Eyes still closed Nick turned his head towards where the last steps were heard. All of the sudden a blinding light pierced through his eyelids. Tom's hand stopped the sweeping motion of his light and for a split second he was completely still. When his eyes had adjusted and seen Nick's body lying there he ran as fast as his legs would carry him. On his way he yelled in a shaky voice. "Over here, I see him he's down!" For the first time as an officer, Jeff found himself unable to move. All he could see was Nick lying on the floor motionless. As Tom reached Nick he stooped over quickly and placed two fingers on his throat. Jeff was waiting for Tom's report when all of the sudden Nick grabbed Tom's hand scaring the hell right out of him. "Damn it, don't do that, I thought you were dead!" Tom felt a little more at ease knowing that Nick still had fight left in him. As soon as Jeff seen the movement he started running over to them. He seen Nick's lips moving but couldn't make out what he was telling Tom. With his light trained on Nick's mouth he picked up his pace. "What's he saying?" Jeff's voice cracked worse than a thirteen year old at his first dance. "he said I'm not dead and get that damn light out of my eyes!" Tom loved it, he wasn't the screw up for once. But his victory was short lived when he noticed the look in Jeff's eyes. He knew for at least the next few weeks that he would bear the handle JACK-N-THE-BOX. Tom grabbed the radio off of his belt when he noticed the other two officers coming around the cornerand making their way towards them. Standard protocol is that when a an officer fails to report back with in a given amount of time additional units and an EMS is deployed to the last place of engagement. So Tom knew that help was on the way, he just needed to know how long it would take. His hand was a little shaky and felt weak as he held the button of his radio in. "Dispatch this is officer McNeil,do we have an ETA on that EMS? Over." A second or two of silence fell then the voice of an angel answered back. "That's an affirmative, ETA less than five minutes. You should be hearing them any time now. Over" The heavy stagnate feeling of doom in the air was starting to dissipate. By the time the other two officers had reached them, Nick had some feelings back in his arms and legs. Out from around the corner a shadow emerged. A tall,thin and soft spoken figure drew closer. Lori stood five foot nine with long black hair and piercing blue eyes. She was a single mother of three and one of the departments finest. She had an abusive childhood and marriage which became her best tool in law enforcement. With her eyes fixed on Nick she began to report the outcome of the outer grounds sweep. "We searched the entire area and it looks as if nothing has been disturbed. You can go ahead with the all clear." Right behind her was her partner Ben. He was a kind and laid back man that the honesty just oozed from. Ben has been married for twentynine years and still refuses to even look at another woman. Lori slowly moved to where Nick was lying and knelt down. She gently wiped his eyes and forehead with her sleeve. He opened his eyes for the first time but the stinging was so bad he to close them immediately. His eyelids began fluttering. After several times he managed to peek through two little slits. They still burned out of their sockets but at least they began to focus. Lori's perfume hovered over him like a sweet mist. As he began to see clearer the shock of what he opened his eyes to sent them right back into squinting mode. The image before him was not that of beauty but of Jeff. The sound of exhaustion and a trace of disappointment made up for the tone of what he was about to say. "Man I can finally see and it had to be your ugly mug!" The tension lessened as everyone started laughing. The sounds of the ambulance's siren pulling through the gate made the reunion shot lived. Tom still had his radio in his hand so he went on ahead and confirmed the pick up. "This is Officer McNeil, I have a confirmation for a pick up at the Old Mill Correctional Facility. The grounds are secure and you may proceed. Over" A deep voice came back at Tom so loud that the squelch needed to be reset. "That's a big ten four. Pulling up to your door now, please send out the tour guide.Over" Tom tapped Ben on the shoulder and motioned him towards the door. Nobody wanted to leave Nick's side but they knew they had to fan out so that they could make the most of what little light they had. Jeff stayed where he was as the others positioned themselves at the corners and doorways. As Ben reached the door the ambulance was parking. The back doors unlatched and opened with a thrust. Out came the front of the gurney. By the time the other end was ready to come out the driver was lowering the front legs and setting it down. An awesome display of teamwork. Ben held the door with one hand and the flashlight in the other. He seen George emerge from the back of the ambulance with the end of the gurney. It was so dark he had missed seeing who the driver was. "Who got hurt?" Once hearing that voice there was no mistaking who the mystery EMT was. "Frogg, is that you?" Just as he got the words out Frogg's tall and bony body entered into his light. "Yep, none other. I got stuck on the graveyard shift." Frogg was lifting the front of the gurney up the step as he was passing Ben holding the doors. He asked again. "So how about it? Who in there?" Not stopping for an answer they sped right by him. Looking down the hallway they seen another light comming from around the corner. Ben let the door go and followed behind them shining the way. He didn't know how to break it to Frogg that it was Nick lying in the hallway. He has a soft voice to begin with but now it was soft and shaken. He muttered a couple of words before Frogg's gruff voice interrupted. "Wait a minute, it sounded like you said the sheriff was down?" George and Frogg made eye contact and with a nod George spoke for the first time. "That's what he said the sheriff." Frogg's long gangly fingers gripped tighter as he steered around the first corner. He began shaking his head in disbelief as his pace quickened. Frogg was a very close friend with Nick's grandfather. He practically lived with them when he was going through his divorce. Nick was the closest thing to family he had. He was not about to loose that boy especially on his shift. "Do you know anything at all about his symptoms?" Frogg's declaration projected louder than he thought possible. Ben didn't hesitate hearing the pain in his voice. "They found him lying on the floor shaking and dripping wet with sweat. When I got there he was extremely weak and somewhat nonresponsive." Frogg cut him off before he could say anything else. "Do you know if his heart rate was high or low?" Ben's head kind of hung a little lower as he let out a sigh. "I don't know, Tom found and then Jeff took over, but I do know his eyes were dilated. Hell they were as big as grapes!" They were almost to where Lori was standing. She began running backwards as they were catching up to her. The wheels of the gurney started collecting dirt off the floor and was giving resistance. By the time they reached Tom, Lori and Ben had to help them push. Finally they could see the last light up ahead. Frogg yelled out to Jeff as they got closer. "Get his heart rate and how many breaths he's taking in a minute. "The old Jeff was back and he was thinking the way he had trained himself to think for emergencies,so he had already gotten the information that Frogg needed to begin Nick's treatment. Jeff had to yell louder and louder for them to hear him because the wheels of the gurney were locking up and skidding across the floor,making a loud grinding niose. "Pulse rate has been staying steady at ninetynine bpm and his breathing is steadily slowing and is presently at sixtysix breaths. He also told me that he was in intense pain but now it's pretty much just a tingle all over. You know like when your foot falls asleep, but he said it was his entire body. Oh yea, he said he said that he drank one of the chief's healing potions." As frogg neared the two he grabbed the bag off the gurney and started to run towards them. About eight feet from them he dropped to his knees and slid the rest of the way. As he unzipped the bag with his right hand his left was already reaching into it and feeling around for what he needed. First out was the blood pressure cuff which he laid next to Nick's arm and then he grabbed the stethoscope and slapped it around his neck. He pulled out the IV kit and handed it to Jeff. Then the digital thermometer and last but not least the cervical collar. As he did a visual Frogg reached for the neck brace and started asking questions. "What happened?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Before Nick could answer he heard a velcro strap being ripped open. He quickly looked over and seen the collar. With all the strength he could gather, Nick clenched his hand into a fist and raised it up into the air, yanking his right shoulder off the floor in protest. His eyes squinted showing the hatred of confinement. He tried to talk but all that would come out was a whisper. "You are not putting that thing on me!" His head started shaking. As it tottered back and forth from weakness he continued. "I didn't fall so my neck is fine. I got stung or bit or something." Nick fell back to the floor and closed his eyes for just a second. The exhaustion was overwhelming. He felt his body become lighter and the sounds that blared in his head began fading. Soon all was gone. Even the sweet smell of Lori's perfume whisped away. Nick felt somehow drawn up from the floor. Totally suspended in mid air with zero gravity to pull him back down. His stomache began to flutter, it reminded him of the first time he rode a roller coaster on his twelth birthday. It opened up a whole new world of emotions and senses to him. A mixture of fear and excitement ran through his veins. Nick snapped his eyes opened quickly. He was startled by the empty, black nothingness that he seemed to be engulfed in. He couldn't see nor hear anything. Although it was completely black he felt a warmth beaming down upon his body, and an ever so soft stir of cool air glide over him. The hair on his forehead moved from brow to brow and the tiny hairs on his arms flowed back and forth like that of seaweed in a gental ocean current. He felt as safe as a swaddled child held tightly in it's mother's arms. Before him a figure began to appear. At first it was just a subtle dim light, but it quickly grew upward and brighter. It looked like pure energy taking somewhat of a human form. Then just as mysteriously as his surrounding appeared it was gone. The heart moniter mounted to the ambulance wall was the first thing that Nick seen as he opened his eyes. He began to blink with every high pitch beep it emitted. "Hey Buddy, welcome back. You kind of took a little nap on us there." Frogg quickly looked up from the road when he heard George's voice. The rear view mirror reflected a set of eyes full of fear and concern. When he seen a smile crack on George's face he knew Nick was stable enough for the ride. Frogg was trying to take it easy but the drive was so full of pot holes there was no way around it. George knew he had to wait until they entered the main road to insert the IV. Frogg had already prepped Nick all he had to do was hook up to the bag. But the back of the ambulance was like being in a pringles can while a two year old shook it like a maraca.