It is 230 and i can't sleep. (my 230... which is PM for all of you "normal" people) My mind keeps playing an event that occurred at work tonight. Let me back up a few... Last Friday night I had a dream. In this dream my buddy Larry was dragging me into the ER of St. Francis Hosp.. Now in Tulsa we have single man units, however, there is generally a guy in the squad that you team up with and stick around. You back each other on calls, and keep an eye out for each other. They would be the guy you would have as a partner if there were two man units. Larry is that guy for me. So anyway here Larry is dragging me into the ER and i'm bleeding all over the floor. i've been shot. Six times. Rifle shots, so they penetrate the ballistic vest. Three of the rounds were stopped by my center tac plate, however (i bought a larger one than the departmental issue). Doesn't keep ribs from breaking, but stops the round. Well, these Drs and RNs start crowding around and shouting, doing their thing. i know them. They know me. The hospital is in my squad so i am always up there hiding out and wreaking mischievous havoc in the ER. In my dream my friends are working on me and whispering to me, "hang in there, we've got you. You're going to be alright." Their eyes are saying, "don't you leave," and are filled with a worry that wouldn't be there had i just been some anonymous patient. My eyes close... ...and open to white light streaming into my room through the blanket draped over my window. For a while i just lie there and slowly move my hand over my chest... over six wounds that aren't there. A few hours later i load a gun and don a crisp, freshly cleaned and pressed uniform. The night is slow. i'm running radar at one of my spots when i notice a vehicle circling a parking lot of a nearby bank. Something about it just isn't right, and not because they are nowhere near the 24hr ATM. i see someone get inside and the vehicle pulls out of the parking lot. The vehicle had continual headlights, but the driver never engaged the night-lights, so the entire rear of the vehicle was black; no tail lights, no tag lights, no parking lights. Good enough for me. i nab the vehicle within a couple of blocks and pull into an empty parking lot. Check out on the radio and i hear Larry come on to back me. As i approach the vehicle i can see the passenger rummaging in her purse, and the driver saying something. Not that uncommon. Both occupants are very nervous, i can tell that within seconds. Driver is making sure i am well aware that it isn't his vehicle; he's just borrowing it from a friend of his. Says he doesn't know where the insurance is. When i ask them what they were doing at the bank they said they were having an argument. i get the driver's license from the driver, and the passenger says she doesn't have any ID, gives me her name and DOB instead. i tell the driver to open the glove box and see if his friend keeps the insurance in there. He opens it and quickly pulls out the maintenance manual and closes the glove box. That's when i missed it...
The driver opens the manual and without really looking inside says that the insurance isn't in there. He places it on the dashboard rather than back inside the glove box. By this point Larry has arrived. We go back to my unit, conduct background checks on the vehicle and occupants, and watch. The two in the vehicle keep leaning over each other and kissing. Afterwards they look back at us, without trying to look like they are looking back at us. Larry and i both know they are trying to hide something. We both think CDS (controlled dangerous substance, i.e. drugs). i tell Larry that i want to search the vehicle and as we are discussing how we can go about doing that the driver's license comes back suspended. There's our pass. The girl comes back not on file. Had a hard time believing that.
Larry and i re-approach the vehicle and i inform the driver that his license is suspended. He starts getting very anxious. Something really isn't right. Now, whenever i think there is CDS in the vehicle, i ask if there are any guns, and vice-versa.
"Hey man, you have any guns in the car?"
"No sir, this isn't my car." (eyes are a lot larger than they should be)
"So there aren't any guns? You mind if i search the car for guns?"
"This isn't my car."
"Right. Your license is suspended. Step out of the vehicle."
They both get out and Larry and i have to tell them several times to stand back towards our units. Larry stands between them and me as i search the vehicle. Driver's side is good. Passenger's side, find an ID for the female. Different name than the one she gave me. Sucks for her. Opened the glove box. Saw the manual that the driver must have placed back in there while i was back in my unit. Pull it out and look underneath... that's when time slowed... 10-63.
My gun is out and Larry's quickly follows. Much screaming ensues. We quickly get them both into custody. 10-64.
Larry searches the driver while i go back up to the glove box of his vehicle and recover the 9mm that was under the maintenance manual. The same manual the driver grabbed when i told him to open the glove box. Larry found the fully charged magazine. At some point the driver had removed it from the gun. Probably when the two of them were "kissing."
Several hours later and i find myself sitting in my unit in an empty parking lot on top of this small hill. i'm watching southwestern clouds roll in, lightning flashing in their midst. The rain is barely falling and my window is down. Between flashes of lightning i stare at the rosary hanging from my rearview mirror. The "what ifs" keep trying to creep into my head and i keep fighting them. Can't live this job on "what ifs." There's no time to.
So at 230 i finally stop running my hand along my chest feeling for six wounds that aren't there and get out of bed. In a few more hours i will load my gun and don my uniform...
