Chapter 2: The Long Drive Home

                                                          The Knight of Peace
                                                 by: Greg Elie

Chapter 2: The Long Drive Home:

        It was 7:45am and Grey was trying to get everything in order. Working the night shift as a registered nurse was not as busy as the other shifts he thought, but it can get very stressful at times, specially when a patient's condition deteriorates rapidly. This was exactly what happened three hours ago when one of his co-worker's patient started having breathing problems. It was his turn to be the charge nurse this week and supervise all the nurses in their forty bed neuro-ortho medical surgical ward. Their ward took care of patients who'd undergone major surgery and therefore could still be at risk for complications. Being the charge nurse was more stressful  because it mean't  also having patients of his own while assisting co-workers during medical emergencies. The code team consisting of doctors, respiratory therapists and ICU nurses showed up quickly to stabilize the patient's condition, and soon after, transferred the patient to the Intensive Care Unit for more specialized monitoring and treatment.
           "Hey Devy, did you get all your meds passed?", Grey asked his fellow RN (registered nurse) as he walked passed her as she sat by  her computer terminal. "Just one more then I'm outt'a here.", she responded with a smile. "What about you Anitha?", he asked as another nurse breezed by him in a hurry. "Are you kidding, I'm not even done finishing my notes yet and I still have to babysit my two grand kids when I get home...", Anitha responded with a displeased look on her face. The day shift nurses just came in and were taking over but were still listening to the report of all the patient's conditions. Being the charge nurse mean't that he also had to be the last one to leave. The night shift ended at eight in the morning but Grey did not finish his reports and tasks until it was already 8:45am. "Ok, ladies, if there are no other problems or concerns I'm taking off...Oh! by the way, whoever placed that package of tampons inside my locker...that's not funny....Men are now accepted and respected  in the nursing field just as much as women are accepted as doctors....So if I ever find out who did that...you might just find a jock strap inside your locker one of these days, paybacks a bitch...", Grey warned with a smirk on his face while the day nurses who were all female pretended not to hear Grey's announcement as they tried not to giggle while they were preparing to pass their morning medications. "Ok, if there's no more complaints?....I'm outt'a here...have a good week-end everyone.
          Walking out of the building and heading towards the parking lot, he thought to himself how working at, "St. Martin's Hospital of San Francisco", was the best job he'd ever had as a registered nurse. After being a corpsman in the US Navy for three years, he discovered how  rewarding it was to help sick people eventhough it was hard work at times. After leaving the military, he went straight into nursing school and was able to use the G.I. Bill which was a military scholarship to help pay for his college.
          Driving out of the parking lot, he turned left into Clinton street then turned right to Obama avenue as he started his one hour drive home to the city of Vallejo where he owned and lived in a two bedroom/one bath home. He lived by himself but was visited once a year by his foster parents who adopted him when he was three years old. At seventeen years old, Grey and his foster parents immigrated to the U.S. and made their home in San Francisco. Now both retired, his foster parents lived in Pensacola Florida where the weather was warmer.
          At 42 years of age, Grey still had not settled down. Unlike his friends, he never felt the urgency to get married and have a family. Being in the Navy in his twenties, he was able to travel all over Asia and had girlfriends in every port. Among his shipmates, this was the norm, but when he left the military he never told anyone for fear of being judged as living an immoral lifestyle. During his thirties, he devoted most of his time in completing his Associates Degree in Nursing at City College of San Francisco. He also joined his church's band and learned to play musical instruments and write songs. For ten years he performed as their back-up musician which became a blessing in disguise because he was able to play all the instruments well. He used this talent into arranging and recording his original compositions and eventually was able to sell his songs as downloads in the internet sites: "iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon.", All the money he earned he divided and donated to several charitable organizations which helped the poor. He was also able to write a novel and establish himself as a decent novelist, selling his novel in the internet as an e-book and also donating all his earnings  to the poor.
            Turning on the radio in his car, he started gripping and squeezing the steering wheel tighter as his thoughts shifted to the party he was going to be attending that night which increased his anxiety. It was Dr. Peters birthday, his ex-girlfriend's father. Dr. Peters who was one of the richest billionaires in the world from his discovery of the cure for cancer, always threw a lavish party to celebrate his birthday. Even though Grey and her daughter Samantha broke up a year ago, Dr. Peters still cared and considered Grey as his own son. He even called Grey three different times to make sure he would attend his party tonight.
             Their friendship began five years ago when one night in a classy restaurant, Dr. Peters took his daughter Samantha for dinner. As soon as they were seated, Samantha had a strong urge to leave because the man dining alone next to them was the infamous Mr. Prescoot who was an arrogant, obnoxious filthy rich customer who was always rude and disrespectfull to waiters and other diners. Before the, "Universal Health Care", was instituted by former President Obama back, Mr. Prescoot was  one of the Chief Executives of a large medical HMO insurance company who became rich from denying medical claims. He and other executives of medical HMO's got multi-million dollar bonuses each year from disapproving  claims for life saving treatments. The more people died from lack of medical and surgical care, the more their company saved and the richer they got. Dr. Peters used to work as a staff surgeon for Mr. Prescoot at St. Vincent's hospital and would get in a lot of arguments over needed surgeries for his patients that Mr. Prescoot disapproved. But since the Universal Health Care kicked in, Mr. Prescoot decided to retire and instead invest the millions he got into oil refineries, thinking it was the next best money making machine after HMO's. Dr. Peters and Mr. Prescoot hated each other to the "T". Dr. Peters used to vent to his wife, "Sandy", the frustrations he had with Mr. Prescoot. Samantha would always over hear them talk and that's how she knew of Mr. Prescoot.
          Dr. Peters did not mind being in close proximity to Mr. Prescoot that night because he was so excited about telling Samantha some wonderful news. While dining, he confided in her that as the owner and head scientist of his cancer research and treatment laboratory, he was able to identify the DNA's which were responsible for specific types of cancers. After months of experimental studies, he was able to create a serum which reverses and shrinks cancerous tumors until it disappears, even in it's late stages. He was 95%  finished with his research and was to start on human trials.
          But during the course of their meal, Dr. Peters suddenly choked on a piece of meat. Unable to breath, he stood up with his hands around his neck and  with a look of panic in his face. Startled  with fear, Samantha quickly stood up and yelled for help. Everybody in their table stopped eating and focused on the commotion that was happening but no one knew what to do. Mr. Prescoot glanced briefly at the choking man and mumbled to himself, "Good, I hope you die...", while he kept on eating undisturbed.
          Sitting with his date a few tables away and noticing the event, Grey quickly jumped out of his seat and raced towards Dr. Peters hitting glasses, elbows and chairs on the way. Seeing that the man was choking, he knew that the only way to save the man's life was to do the, "Heimlich", maneuver. Getting behind Dr. Peters, he quickly wrapped his arms around his waist and started performing inward and upward thrusts to his abdomen. Standing five feet four inches tall, it was a struggle to perform the, "Heimlich", maneuver on a man who stood over six feet tall at least.
          Someone from the crowd yelled at the waiters to call, "911", as others got out of their seat trying to offer their assistance if needed. With each thrust, Samantha's fear escalated as she started breaking down in tears not knowing what to do. Dr. Peters was already hunched forward as his lips turned purple and was starting to loose consciousness. Grey kept on doing his thrusts as beads of sweat started forming on his forehead. After a few seconds, Dr. Peters knees buckled from under him as they both fell to the floor. Not giving up, Grey turned him face up, he straddled the now unconscious doctor. He started with the upward thrusts to the man's abdomen. Suddenly, a piece of meat flew out of Dr. Peters mouth created by the pressure of Grey's abdominal thrusts. Grey watched as the piece of meat landed into Mr. Prescoot's plate while Mr. Prescoot was looking away trying to get a waiter's attention to get another order of beer. Unfortunately, Mr. Prescoot had the same order Dr. Peters had which was steak with brown gravy which made the piece of meat blend into Mr. Prescoot's food. This happened so fast that no one really paid attention to where the meat landed. Unknowingly, Mr. Prescoot finished his food in the middle of all the commotion that was going on. Grey did not have time to warn Mr. Prescoot about the meat that landed in his plate because Grey was still doing mouth to mouth resuscitation to provide Dr. Peters with much needed oxygen for survival.
           Just then, paramedics arrived and took over. They said that the doctor had a good pulse and was already breathing on his own thanks to Grey's effort. The paramedics connected an EKG monitor to keep track of his heart functions and an O2 mask to provide him with oxygen. They then lifted him to a stretcher and wheeled him into the ambulance with Samantha by his side who was still distraught from the whole event. Some of the customers left abruptly without finishing their dinner because of the chaos and commotion. Grey approached Mr. Prescoot and stared at his empty plate as Mr Prescoot  suddenly yelled at him saying, "What the hell are you looking at butthead?!...", Grey looked at him as he leaned over to him whispering, "I'm just surprised you're able to continue eating while a man is dying beside your table?...", Mr. Prescoot's face turned red in anger as he yelled once more, "I don't give a flying f@#* asshole..now get out of my face!...". Grey thought about telling Mr. Prescoot about the meat that landed on his plate but when he saw that Mr. Prescoot was a total jerk, he decided to just walk away.
          As Grey returned to his table, he pulled out his handkerchief and started wiping off his sweat, his date Lacey stood up and gave him a hug, she was impressed by Grey's heroic efforts that this turned her on sexually as she whispered seductive words in his ear and gently bit his earlobe. Unfortunately, Grey was still shaken and his adrenaline was still high that he thought what she offered was a little weird given the  circumstaces of the event that just transpired. This was his second date with Lacey and he never thought that she would give in to sex this soon and this quick. Realizing that his days of one night stands during his twenties were over and that he was now searching for a meaningfull relationship, he declined Lacey's offer to him to spend the night at her place. He then  drove her home as fast as he could before his libido came back and before he changed his mind.
           Two months later through private investigators, Dr. Peters and Samantha were able to find out information about Grey by tracing Grey's credit card which was used in paying for dinner the night Grey save Dr. Peters life. They contacted Grey and offered their heart filled thanks and insisted on taking him out to dinner. This was a time just before Dr. Peters became a billionaire from the discovery of the cure for cancer.
            Grey declined their invitation as he saw no reason to be rewarded for what he did. But after several phone calls, their persistence paid off. Grey finally agreed to accept a dinner invitation by Dr. Peters and Samantha, besides he did remember how attractive looking Samantha was which he noticed as the paramedics where taking Dr. Peters to the ambulance the night he saved his life. Grey also felt grateful that he was able to save the life of a man who discovered cancer's cure.
             Pulling into his driveway,he parked his electric car in front of his garage as he re-charged it's battery. Entering his house, he immediately disarmed his home alarm system then turned on his home stereo system. Sounds of classical music started filling his living room while he changed into his short pants and T-shirt. Listening to classical music was his way of unwinding after work. To him, it was equivalent to drinking fine wine. He briefly remembered how Samantha used to invite him to attend the San Francisco symphony but he always declined the invitation. He thought that the price of admission was just too expensive for his lifestyle, he would always tell Samantha to just donate the money to the poor instead.
            One of the things they fought about was that Grey would never let Samantha pay whenever they went out on dates. Grey always thought that it was the man's responsibility to treat his girlfriend every time they went out on a date. This really angered Samantha because she did not believe that it was due to Grey's generosity but was more of a symptom of a control issue. After dating for a few months she realized that Grey had insecurities about the women he dated who were both wealthier and more successful than him. Grey always denied this issue whenever she brought it up. There were times when she'd get so mad that she would leave him and call her chauffeur to pick her up abruptly ending their date and leaving Grey alone in the sidewalk late at night, although Grey was always able to call for a taxi using his cell phone. But most of the time Samantha just tried to overlook this flaw in Grey because she was slowly falling in love with him,  unsure why this was happening, realizing that the common female searched for a mate who's tall, dark and handsome, and here she was,  attracted to a guy who was short, pudgy but funny and who radiated a bright smile and had a good heart.
           While fixing his breakfast, Grey started to worry about the party that night. He hated attending Dr. Peters birthday party even though he considered him a very kind and close friend. This was the fourth time he would be attending this formal event. He could never feel at ease mingling with wealthy people, specially when some guests would try to measure him up by how much he was worth financially. The topics were often about how many companies one owns, and properties bought and sold in Europe. The party was filled with billionaires, multi-millionaires, Hollywood actors and actresses and famous professional athletes. As much as he wanted not to go, the only reason he would show up was to see Samantha again whom he wished had a boyfriend by now so that he can have some kind of closure in his feelings for her. (End of Chapter)