Everything seems overwhelming, Micah thought. Kia doesn't want to hear that from me. I always say that. Micah thinks to himself, reflecting on the reason he took this job as an EMT. Although arthritis took over his body, Micah pushed himself to be what he thought was a successful person. Kia says, "So, Micah, will you change your dialogue and say that everything is stagnant?" It's like she could hear my words in my mind, or maybe my body language gave it away, Micah thought. Kia walks across the yard to the body lying on the ground. "Nothing will change my mind," Micah says. Stagnant or not, working the morning shift is hard on my bones. " The smell is so intense that pulling his shirt over his nose doesn't help. He thinks to himself, I am suffocating. I can't breathe. I don't want to breathe through my mouth. I will taste the stench. Kia interrupts his thoughts and says, "Get a hold of yourself, Micah. Could you say this smell is malodorous?" she asked. "This smell is malodorous for sure," he pondered. Micah walked over to where Kia was standing. He took in a breath, the best he could, considering the smell of his cologne didn't mask the odor. He mumbled to himself. "Open your mouth, Micah," he mocked. "You will get through the procedure of preparing a body for transport in an ambulance." "Here is a mint," she says in playful disgust. "Here is a mask," she says. Kia could talk him into a better mood about a dire situation they had to handle on their morning shift as EMTs. Eventually, he would calm down and not panic. Regardless of Kia's encouragement, Micah was still anxious about handling a stinking, dead body with huge, swollen bug bites. What happened to this young woman lying here? And then he froze. Micah saw the woman sitting on the porch swing. There was Casey Walker, the daughter of Mr. Walker, the Secret Service agent. Casey and Micah were high school buddies who lived in opposite houses across from each other's yard. They used to spend nights chatting through their bedroom windows. They would talk about the latest songs from their favorite music artists. They would watch TV those summer nights. The two had been friends who had life responsibilities that seemed to make them go separate ways.
"Good morning, Casey." Micah began asking questions about this morning. He felt weird, given that he hadn't talked to her in a while. "Everything is strangely messed up," Casey said. She told Micah about her morning. She explained how she was starting her morning run when she noticed the body in her neighbor's yard. Casey explained to Micah that when she saw the body lying there, she stopped her run and called the police. Eventually, Micah and Casey finished their conversation about the morning incident, and Micah walked over to his struggling coworker. Kia was trying to get the decomposing body in the body bag on her own.
Finding the body of my neighbor's daughter in my neighbor's yard is eerie. Not to mention, seeing my best friend when I was growing up eased my anxious heart, Casey thought. She wanted to invite Micah to come over that night. Casey thought they could catch up. She was going to order a pizza tonight anyway, so ordering a larger one would be no big deal. They would enjoy eating pizza while they discussed what was going on with their lives these days. Casey jumped back from her thoughts when she saw that Kia and Micah were loading the body into the mortician's hearse. Kia took her seat on the ambulance's driver's side; Micah was walking back to the porch to speak to Casey. He is so handsome, she thought. "Micah, I'd love to catch up with you one night." "Me too," Micah said excitedly as he sat on the top step. The sound of the police car blared as it pulled off the side of the curb. Casey asked Micah, "Do you want to eat supper with me tonight? I am planning on ordering pizza.
After a quick conversation about old times, he rose from his seat on the steps. "All right, well, I need to get back to work for now, but I get off at five. Is six thirty a good time?" Micah asked. "Of course. I can't wait," Casey said. He walked over to the passenger side. He got in, closed the door, and they both waved to me as they drove off.
Casey smiled to herself. She was completely unaware of the events that would transpire over the next few hours.
