Dinner For One Part 8

It was about ten at night when I got back into Calgary. The truck was washed, my Mother was waiting to pick me up after I dropped the truck off at my boss' house. I cleared out the gear as I chatted with my mom. I told her everything went fine, I didn't know when I'd be back at work again, I was happy to be home. She smiled and nodded as we packed the last of my stuff in her car.

I talked to my boss the next day, inquired as to my next posting, but again, she was unsure of when I'd be needed next, things were slow. I didn't know much better about the industry, so I thought that if she hired me, she'd need me. I got a phone call a couple of days later from another company, asking if I could be in Grande Prairie in 5 hours. I knew I wouldn't be able to be there with that short of notice, but I said I'd see when I could get there.

I had a flight booked for 2 days later. I was going back to Grande Prairie to work. This time for the largest industrial medical provider. I was once again excited about what was to come. When I boarded the plane, I didn't have the slightest idea as to what was about to happen to me.

After a somewhat quick flight, I walked off the plane onto the tarmac at the Grande Prairie Airport. I didn't exactly know who would be meeting me, but I figured somebody would claim the lost looking guy in the EMS T-shirt. As I waited for my luggage to arrive, I heard what sounded like a heavy object in a duffle bag being thrown about. When I turned around, I realized it was the sound of an elderly gentleman's head hitting the brick floor of the airport terminal. Being the eager first responder I was, I sprung into action, taking control of his head and beginning an assessment while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. It was only after he was carted off on a stretcher that I realized my new employer was most likely watching this whole event unfold.

I found out that the person who was sent from the office to pick me up was in fact watching, but completely clueless as to the events. She was rather oblivious to most of the world around her. I didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed, it would be nice to make a good first impression.

I was driven from the airport to the Grande Prairie field office. I met the staff at the office, was given a very quick orientation, signed a large stack of papers and was told that I had a job waiting for me the next morning. I was still recovering from the flight, so I didn't completely grasp everything that had happened to me, from my impromptu patient to the whirlwind orientation I recieved. The only thing I knew for sure by the end of it all, I didn't really know any more then I did the day before.