Corpsman, Up!

The man was obviously in pain but didn't scream.

"Can you unhook the lap belt or does it have to be cut, too?" Chance asked.

"I can see it," one of them said. "Hold on!"

Two seconds later he pulled on the release and the driver was free.

"Be careful with his back and neck!" Chance hollered as they slowly pulled him out. "Lay him down right there then stop traffic."

Traffic had already stopped, but that didn't mean some idiot wouldn't try and force his way through.

Chance examined the man from head to toe asking if anything hurt as he gently probed and prodded. The man winced and grimaced several times when Chance found an area that had been hurt. Nothing was life threatening but it appeared he'd taken a helluva shot to the side of his head during the impact. He drove an older car that didn't have side airbags, and Chance thought he might have a concussion along with a badly banged up knee and possibly a broken clavicle.

When the EMTs arrived, one of them recognized Chance from the ER.

"What have we got?" he asked.

Chance rattled off everything he'd found in a quick, professional manner before the EMT said, "Okay. We got it. Thanks, man!"

He waited until the driver was on the gurney then told him, "You're gonna be okay, sir."

"Thank you, young man," he said with genuine gratitude. "God bless you!"

"I know these guys, and you're in good hands," Chance assured him.

And just as it had been in Afghanistan after a firefight or an IED, it was suddenly over and he was back in his car sitting quietly as though nothing had happened as he waited for the police to arrive to take his statement. He sat there watching in a detached kind of way as the coroner's vehicle arrived next. In less than five minutes, the young man who'd been very much alive and well some ten minutes ago was taken off to the morgue to be prepared for burial or cremation.

The fragile nature of life still amazed him. Human beings were, in many ways, strong and resilient. And in many others, one's life could drain away in a matter of moments in so many different ways. In this case, had he just been wearing a seatbelt, the driver would have almost certainly lived. But the high-speed impact of his head with the windshield had snuffed out his life in an instant. Had he not been drunk, he'd have almost certainly never have done something so reckless and deadly. But he had been drinking, and he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and no power on earth could undo what had been done. Death had just won another round without putting up a fight.

Chance dutifully explained everything he'd seen and done after providing his name and other personal information. The officer who took his statement thanked him then told him he was free to leave.

And just like the day he'd left active duty, he was soon driving home on a smooth road, the smells of death and danger behind him. It could well have been him who'd been hit and had it been head on...who knew? As it was, a miss by a few feet was as good as a mile, and he was not only alive but uninjured and had been able to offer help to those who were.

The adrenaline wore off by the time he got home, and Chance was too tired to even take a shower. He kicked off his shoes, laid down on the bed, and didn't wake up for ten solid hours.

By the time he got back to work 24 hours after waking up, the man he'd helped rescue had been discharged, but everyone who worked with him knew what happened and there were a lot of high fives and congratulations when he walked in. The celebration was short-lived as a gunshot victim was wheeled in two minutes later.

Two weeks passed as Chance worked an average of 12 hours a day. He was growing very comfortable with the 'routine of chaos', an oxymoron he found amusing, and was quite happy with the choice he'd made to work in an ER.

For the first time since he'd started the new job, Chance had a weekend off and planned to take advantage of it. He had a ton of things he had to do and many more he wanted to do and carefully prioritized the list before heading out early in the morning to start whittling away at the list.

It was a little after 10am when he found himself a few miles south of the city when he saw a car on the side of the road with its blinkers on. He checked his watch knowing he was going to stop no matter what time it was then pulled in behind it and shut his car off.

He tried to make sure the driver, who was a woman, could see him before walking up to the door and tapping on her window thus scaring her to death. He waved from the back of her car to let her know he was there to help and as he walked to the front, she rolled the window down.

"Is everything okay?" he asked as he saw her for the first time.

"Well, no," she said. "I'm so embarrassed, but I ran out of gas. I've never done this before as long as I've been driving, but well, as you can see, I'm stuck, and I can't leave my daughter alone, and I'm afraid to get out and walk on this road with her."

Chance glanced inside and saw a girl of about eight or nine sitting quietly in the back before taking a real look at the woman driving the car.

He wasn't sure of her age, but she had to been at least 30 to have a child that age. No, that wasn't true. It was physically possible for her to be quite a few years younger, but his best guess was from maybe 28-35. She had the most beautiful reddish-brown hair he'd ever seen. In fact, he couldn't remember ever seeing anyone with hair that color before. He was trying to think what that color might be called, but he didn't know chestnut from auburn or any other shade and settled on 'reddish brown' which was at least accurately descriptive.

When she glanced over at him he saw the bluest eyes he'd ever seen along with a kind of narrow nose set over two very soft-looking, very full lips.

"Would that be okay?" Chance heard her say before realizing he hadn't been listening but had rather been staring and daydreaming.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Could we maybe ride with you?" she asked.

"Um, right. Well, sure. I mean, we'll have to leave your car here unattended, though. Or I could go buy a can and get some gas and bring it back to you," he told her.

"I'm honestly a little afraid to sit alone," the woman said. "Would you mind if we went with you? If you have to be someplace, I understand. I just thought..."

"I won't let anything happen to you, Mom," the girl in back said.

"Oh, thank you, honey. I know. I just think it isn't very safe to sit here with cars whizzing by."

She looked at him full on for the first time as she turned toward and again asked, "Would that be okay?"

"Um...yes. Sure. I'm happy to give you a ride. And I wouldn't feel safe sitting here, either," he said as he opened her door.

Chance tried not to stare when she stepped out onto the shoulder of the road, but because the rest of her was as 'well-put-together' as her very pretty face, it was a real challenge not to at least keep looking.

"Do you have anything we could write a note on to let the police know we'll be right back so your car doesn't get towed?" Chance asked as he went around to help the girl get out.

"Oh, sure. I've got a notepad in my purse. I'm glad you thought of that," she told him as she got out a pen along with the pad and started writing.

"Now if it just doesn't rain before we get back," the woman said as she slipped it under the windshield wiper.

"It doesn't look too bad," Chance said raising his head up above the roof to look at the gray sky as he opened the rear passenger door. "I may even have a clear plastic sandwich bag in my car you can put the note in."

He went around back to help the little girl out and when he did she thanked him pleasantly.

"Thank you," the little girl said quietly as he helped her out.

"You're very welcome," he told her. "How about you and I stay on this side and we'll get you into my car?"

"Okay," she said politely as her mom locked their car and joined them.

Chance opened the back door for her daughter then closed it once she was in then opened the passenger door for the beautiful woman whose name he still didn't know.

She also thanked him before he went around to the driver's side and got back in.

"I can't thank you enough," the woman told him as she pulled her seatbelt on.

"It's my pleasure," he said.

He started the car then glanced over and said, "My name's Chance. Chance Petersen."

"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry. I've been so focused on me and my problems, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Danika. Morris."

She smiled as she told him her name and couldn't help but notice her smile was as amazing as her body which was as amazing as her face which was...

"I'm Echo," the girl said interrupting his train of thought.

"It was her father's idea," Danika said causing Chance to wonder how many times she'd explained her daughter's unusual name.

"I like that name," Chance said glancing back. "It's so much more fun that Sally or Mary or..."

"Girls don't have those names anymore," Echo said. She wasn't being curt or rude. She was just letting him know those names were from the past.

"Right you are!" he said with a smile.

"She's very intelligent," her mother told him. "She's nine years old and in high school."

Chance's eyes opened wide with surprise.

"It's very humbling to have a daughter who's smarter than you are. Trust me," Danika said with another smile. "Sorry. Not you. By 'you' I meant me, of course."

"No, I'm sure she's smarter than me, too," Chance said smiling back. "Okay, let's go find a gas can and some gas, shall we?"

It only took about 10 minutes to get to a gas station and Chance was able to buy a 2.5-gallon plastic container and fill it up. Danika insisted on paying for it, but Chance needed gas himself and just added it to his credit card bill while politely declining both times she offered to pay.

As they headed back to her stalled-out car she said, "This is so nice of you, Chance. We were on our way to my dad's place when my car started sputtering then died. I had no idea what was wrong until I saw the needle buried in the 'E'."

"My grandfather was in a car accident two weeks ago. As a result, he sustained a fracture in C3 and some damage to C4," Echo offered.

"His vertebrae," Danika offered as though Chance wouldn't understand.

"Oh. That sounds serious," Chance said looking back at her without mentioning he knew what C3 and C4 meant. Of course, C4 had a military application, but that was another story.

"The injury isn't serious, per se, but because of the sensitive location, it can be very debilitating," Echo informed him. "And painful."

"You see," Danika said quietly with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I was just explaining Grandpa's injury in the simplest way I know how. I wasn't trying to offend you."

"No, that's fine, honey. I'm sure Chance appreciates that," Danika said smiling at Chance again.

"Well, I'm glad he wasn't more seriously hurt," Chance said to both of them.

"Thank you. So are we. He lives alone now and he's so independent and stubborn sometimes. We learned that the guy who hit him was drunk and ran a red light."

Before Chance could ask where it happened, Danika said, "I guess I shouldn't complain. The guy who hit him was killed instantly."

"He had a blood alcohol level of 0.32 which is four times the legal limit in the State of Washington," Echo let him know.

"Was that the accident at Mercer and 16th?" Chance asked.

"Yes. Did you hear about it?" she asked. "The EMTs came and took him to the nearest ER. Dad said there were three young guys who helped him get out of the car. He was hanging upside down in his seat belt when one of them cut him loose. Dad thought he'd had medical training by the way he took care of him. I wish I had his name so I could thank him."

"Grandpa says they don't make young men like that anymore," Echo added. "That's a euphemism intended to convey the idea that people in the current generation aren't as caring or giving as in generations gone by. It's clearly not a valid observation as there are people with those character traits in all generations."

"There are still a few good guys around," Chance said with a smile as Danika just shrugged her shoulders.

"My dad thinks they were all heroes. The one guy especially. Evidently, he works at the ER where they took my dad."

"Oh?" Chance said as though he wanted to know more.

"Yeah. Dad kept going on and on about those 'fine young men' and when he described one of them, one of the nurses said, 'Oh, that's..."

She stopped talking and looked over at him before finishing her sentence. "Chance."

"Wow. What a coincidence," he said trying not to smile.

Danika turned nearly sideways in her seat and stated at him.

"She said he was very handsome. Tall, dark hair, great smile."

He turned toward her and smiled.

"Oh...my...goodness! Are you...was that...did you...?"

"Well, if your father is thin, gray, wears glasses, and drives...drove...a 2005 Nissan Altima then..."

"It was white," Danika said very quietly. "His vehicle was white although the paint was severely faded making it hard to tell."

"Huh. Yeah, what a coincidence," Chance said still smiling.

"Oh, my gosh! That was you!" she said excitedly. "You have to come meet my dad. If you have time, that is. I...I can't believe this. This is...crazy!"

"Low-probability events are rare, but they do happen. Just ask any lottery winner," Echo said in a matter of fact kind of way.

Danika covered her mouth and tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help it.

Chance saw Echo cross her arms and look out the window.

"She hates it when I laugh at something..."

"Go ahead. You can say it, Mom."

"Well...precocious," her mom said.

"Technically, the things I say are indeed 'precocious', but only because of my relative youth. However that in no way renders them less factually accurate. For some reason, my mother finds my comments amusing."

Chance was also trying not to laugh and managed to hold it together as Danika fought to regain control.

"I wasn't being critical, honey," her mom assured her. "Sometimes you're just so smart it...it scares me."

"Oh, great. And now you're being patronizing," Echo quipped. "Do you see what I have to put up with, Chance?"

"We all have our crosses to bear, right?" he said.

"We do indeed. Mine was to be born with an IQ of 162. Well, I wasn't born with that IQ, of course. I was actually born with the raw materials needed to eventually test at that level."

"One sixty-two?" Chance said. "Where were you when I was taking organic chemistry and calculus?"

Missing the humor, Echo answered what she thought was a direct question.

"That depends on how long ago it was. I'm taking calculus this year, though, so it's probably too late for me to be of any benefit to you."

"Well, you're definitely a very smart young lady," Chance told her.

"I do have to credit my mother with providing me the kind of nurturing atmosphere conducive to free inquiry and learning, though. Had I been born to other parents who were less..."

"Oh, look! There's our car!" Danika announced before Echo could finish her latest dissertation.

Chance pulled up behind her vehicle, asked Echo to stay in his for a couple of minutes, then grabbed the gas can, and waited for Danika to open the cap cover from inside the car.

The two-and-a-half gallons chugged into the tank in a few seconds, and Chance said, "That'll get you back to the gas station, and you'll be all set."

"I really can't thank you enough, Chance. For the gas and for...oh. Is there any chance...sorry...possibility...you could stop by and say 'hi' to my dad? He would really, really appreciate it," she asked in a way that made him realize he couldn't say 'no'.

The two things he had to get done were already checked off his list, and the ones he 'only' really needed to get done could wait.

"Sure. I'd like that," he said not sure how he really felt about it. Then again, he could think of a lot of things much worse than spending time with an extremely attractive woman—even if she was old enough to have a daughter who was a no-kidding genius.

Danika went back to get Echo, and after telling her Chance was going to follow them to her grandfather's she said, "It doesn't make sense for me to move again if we're all going to the same destination."

"Echo?" she said in her 'I've had enough' voice.

"Okay. Okay!" her daughter said as she got out of Chance's car.

Unwilling to let it go she said, "It's not like he's some kind of serial killer."

Chance only heard that part of the exchange and gave Danika a bit of a look.

"Don't ask. Please!" she said holding her hands up.

Once Echo got into their car she quietly told Chance, "She's intellectually brilliant but socially um...awkward. Sometimes she says things other kids—or adults other than me or my dad—don't understand. I hope she's not driving you crazy."

"No. Not at all. I actually think she's pretty great," Chance said.

"Wow. If only my ex-husband had felt that way," she said wistfully without explanation.

"So I guess I'll be following you?" Chance said.

"Oh, right. Yes. As you said, I'll need stop for gas, and then it's about five miles from there. Are you sure you have the time to do this? I mean, I know I'm the one who's trying to twist your arm to visit my dad, and I kind of feel guilty. I'm sure you have plenty of better things to do."

"I do have plenty of things to do, but nothing more important that can't wait in order to see your dad," he told her truthfully.

"Well, thank you. Really. So...I'll go ahead and take off then," Danika said.

"Please don't lose me or I'll be lost," he said with a smile.

"Well, I could give you my number so if you do get..."

Chance smiled then told her, "I think that's the easiest time I've ever had getting a beautiful woman's phone number."

"Ha! You did notice I have a nine-year daughter, didn't you?"

"I did, and what does that have to do with your being beautiful?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Unlike you, I'm not exactly young or beautiful. Not that you're beautiful. Well, you are but what I meant to say was you're very han..."

"Why don't you give me your number and I'll follow you," Chance said before she could ramble on any further.

In spite of her reaction, Chance knew she appreciated the comment, and the way she was talking told him she was also clearly flustered which he found a bit odd because she really was quite attractive, and attractive people tended to used to flattery. He'd been told many, many times he was a good-looking guy, but he knew he wasn't Hollywood gorgeous so it didn't make any sense that a compliment from him would have that effect on a woman like her.

"Are you ready?" he heard her ask before realizing he'd been drifting again.

"Oh. Sure. Go ahead," he told her as he fished his phone out of his pocket so she could give him her number.

"Okay. Lead on!" he told her once the info was stored.

He saw her reach for her door but waved his hand then opened it for her.

"Thank you!" she said. "Wow. I can't remember the last time a man did that for me. Well, other than when you just let me in and out of your car, of course."

She smiled and said, "I tend to ramble. Echo lectures and I...ramble. Sorry."

Chance just smiled, then, after closing her door, went back and got in his car and stayed right on her tail back to the gas station then all the way to her father's modest home just outside the city limits. As they drove along, Chance also found it hard to believe that a woman like Danika didn't have a man or men opening doors for her. Anything was possible, but that seemed highly unlikely. She wasn't just attractive, she clearly took very good care of herself from that beautiful reddish-brown hair to her very nice figure to the way she dressed.