Moonlight Magic

Sarah had been waiting at the main entrance to the district hospital for about half an hour. There was a constant throng of people coming and going. Some people you would hardly know they were ill. They maybe had a cough or a slight limp and others who had to be wheeled in in a wheelchair or struggled through the large sliding glass doors on crutches.

The first ambulance of the day rolled slowly up to the entrance and almost before it stopped, the back doors opened and out jumped a female medic. Sarah nervously approached and showing her charity ID card asked if she or her colleague had brought Charlie in the previous week.

The answer was no.

She felt a little despondent but understanding this the first ambulance of many, she returned back inside and waited for the next ambulance.

She didn’t have to wait long, but yet again, the answer was no so she continued on. The ambulances came and went all morning until an elderly lady approached her about 11am.

“Hello there.” Said the old lady quietly. “I’m a volunteer here at the hospital and I’ve been watching you…what are doing dear?”

Sarah explained she was a charity worker and was trying to find the ambulance people that brought Charlie in last week.

“Oohh.” Exclaimed the lady, “We get a lot of ambulances arriving here…all day. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee while you’re waiting? Oh by the way... My name is Sylvia.”

“That would be lovely Sylvia. Can I have a white coffee with no sugar please?” replied Sarah thankfully.

“Of course dear. I won’t be long.” Said Sylvia toddling off towards the canteen which was in the corner of the large reception area.

While Sylvia was gone, another three ambulances came and went with no luck.

“Here you are dear. Coffee with milk…and no sugar.” Said Sylvia handing Sarah the piping hot drink.

“I’m sorry it’s in a plastic cup but that’s all we’re allowed.”

“No…it’s fine. Thank you.” Said Sarah smiling before taking a careful sip of the much-needed coffee.

“Any luck?” Enquired Sylvia.

“No…none. I knew it would take time,” Said Sarah in between sips, “but I didn’t realise there were so many ambulances with different staff on them.”

“Yes. They come and go all the time…from all over the place…sometimes it can get really busy and the ambulances can be three or four deep on the front there.” Said Sylvia waving her hand towards the tarmac area on the other side of the glass doors.

“Oh well. All I can do is carry on doing what I’m doing I suppose.” Said Sarah finishing off her coffee. “Where can I put this empty…”

“Oh…don’t worry.” Sylvia jumped in before Sarah had finished speaking, “I’ll take it. There’s a plastic recycling bin just round the corner. I’ll throw it in there with all the others.”

“Oh…thank you Sylvia.” Said Sarah smiling at her.

“I don’t mind dear. Good luck and I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Once Sylvia had disappeared round the corner Sarah returned to looking out for her elusive ambulance staff…which was turning out to be a longer process than she had first thought…but onwards and upwards she thought…Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Sarah spent the remainder of the day asking every member of the ambulance staff that pulled up outside…sometimes more than once to their annoyance…without any luck.

How many ambulance staff could there be she wondered looking at her watch and realising she had been there since around 9am and now it was 5pm…no wonder she was hungry…and tired…she’s been on her feet all day.

And to make things worse her back was aching as well.

She’d had enough for today. Tomorrow was another day and maybe her luck would change.

As she walked back to her car in the new multi-storey carpark, which she was glad was close by and had a free parking permit for, she had a thought…instead of waiting around the hospital entrances like a stalker, why didn’t she just go and talk to the ambulance controllers at their headquarters…surely they must keep records as to who attends what emergency…and she could use her ID from the charity which would help her get in to talk to them.

Good idea. That was for tomorrow.

The ambulance centre was situated on a main road across the other side of town.

Sarah had decided to drive there because although it wasn’t that far to walk, maybe three quarters of a mile or so, she wanted to get there quickly and carry on with the rest of her day as soon as she could. She knew if she walked it would probably add another hour or so to her already busy schedule and because this was something outside of her normal work, she should really get on with it as quickly as possible. She had already wasted a whole day yesterday at the hospital, and if any of her big bosses got to hear what she was doing…well…who knows?

As soon as she pulled up outside she had a feeling that this wasn’t going to get the result she was after…It looked like a…well…just a very large normal garage…the type you might have at home. She double checked the address again on her phone…and yes…this was definitely it. Then, as she was looking around from inside her car, the large garage door began to lift up and sure enough…there was an ambulance.

She parked her car with one side half on the pavement, conscious that she should try and leave enough room for other vehicles to get buy on this fairly narrow but busy road. There was a single yellow line all along the road and as she looked around for parking wardens, she walked the few steps needed to where the garage was and an ambulance slowly moving forward, was situated only a few yards from the pavement edge.

The ambulance and its driver didn’t pay any attention to Sarah and drove off down the road towards the centre of town leaving her to have a good nosey inside the garage.

She was surprised by what she found. Although the garage looked like a normal domestic double garage from the front, it was actually more like Dr. Who’s Tardis inside and stretched back for quite a long way allowing for many vehicles to be stored here.

“Hello. Can I help you?” Came a voice from somewhere on her left.

“Hello.” She replied nervously.

A rather large middle aged man dressed in oily, dark blue overalls, emerged from the shadows, where, when she squinted to allow her eyes to adjust to the different lighting conditions, she could see walking towards her.

“Can I help you?” He asked again with a slight smile on his weather-worn face.

“Err. Yes please.” She replied and then began explaining who she was and what she was doing there.

“Well. I’m sorry to tell you…but this place is only a repair and service station for the ambulances. I think the only place you’ll find the information you’re after is at the main head office in the next city.”

“Really?” She replied feeling deflated and a bit silly for not realising what kind of place this was. The man was just about to say something as an ambulance appeared along the road so he gestured with his hands for her to move to one side to allow the vehicle to drive straight in. As it drove up the small incline and into the garage the driver acknowledge the man with a small wave.

“Now then.” Said the garage man to Sarah. “This chap might be able to help you. He’s been an ambulance driver for many years…he might know the guys you want to talk to.”

Sarah’s face lit up in anticipation as he walked to where the ambulance had stopped in the garage and obviously began chatting to him about her…and what she wanted. After only a few seconds the ambulance driver gave the garage man the keys to the vehicle and walked over to where she was.

“Hello there.” He said with a smile on his face. He was older than the garage man, so he must have been around 60 she thought. He had a round wrinkly face with red rosy cheeks and a bald head. He had white hair all around the edges with big white side burns. He reminded her of Dr. Snuggles off the TV from when she was young.

“Hello.” She replied holding out her hand for him to shake…which he did.

“Did the garage man tell you why I’m here?” She asked.

“Yes…he did.” He said smiling and turning to look back at the garage man who was now busy scrambling about under the bonnet of Dr. Snuggles’ ambulance.

“Well…” She asked sheepishly trying not to sound too pushy.

“Well…” he replied with a beaming smile. “I think I might be able to help you Miss…?”

“Oh…call me Sarah…please.”

“Ok Sarah and you can call me Brian.” He replied. “I’ve worked for the Ambulance service for over 30 years now…seen a lot of changes…and not much goes on round here without the guys talking about it…so I get to hear.”

“That’s brilliant Brian.” She said fumbling in her bag for her phone. Finally she found it and began scrolling through her photos where after about a minute or so she found what she was looking for. It was a picture of Charlie.

“Here it is.” She said shrouding the screen from the light and leaning towards Brian to show him the photo.

“Do you know this gentleman…or maybe one of your colleagues might remember him?” She asked hopefully. Brian looked closely and then looked straight at her.

“Yes. I remember him.”

“Whoopee.” Cried Sarah excitedly, “Oops… Sorry.”

“Yes…It was myself and Duncan who got the call that night.”

“Where…sorry,” Said Sarah butting in expectantly, “where was he?”

“He was in a graveyard.”

“In a graveyard?” Exclaimed Sarah.

“Yes. We’d got a call from someone saying there was an elderly man sat on a bench in a graveyard. He had been there for some time and they were worried about him.”

“Do you know who made the phone call for an ambulance?”

“Yes…well…no. There was an old lady waiting for us when we got there. She told us he’d been sat on the bench in the graveyard all day. She had seen him there first thing in the morning and he was still there later on in the afternoon. She visits the grave of her husband I think and she was concerned about him so she called us.”

“Right Ok.” Replied Sarah scribbly notes on a piece of paper.

“It’s a really old graveyard and the gate to get in is hard to open…the hinges are rusty which squeal quite loudly when the gate moves…anyway we managed to get in and after battling our way through the undergrowth, we found him. He was just sat on a bench looking blankly out in front of him. We couldn’t see anything there, but when we tried to move him he resisted slightly mumbling something about not wanting to leave him.”

“Leave who?” Asked Sarah

“We never found out…We just presumed a friend of his must have been buried there. He was suffering from hyperthermia and we had to get him to the hospital a.s.a.p. He must have been sat on that bench all day and all night to get so cold.”

“Ok…Can you tell me where the graveyard is Brian…I’d like to go and have a look for myself.”

“Yes. It’s on Bishophill in the city centre. It’s called St. Marys Bishophill Senior graveyard. You can easily miss it…it’s not very big and all overgrown.”

Sarah frantically scribbled down the name.

“Thank you Brian…Thank you. You’ve been really helpful. I can’t thank you enough.” Said Sarah leaning forward and giving Brian a soft kiss on his cheek making his face turn even more red than usual with embarrassment.

“Aww. Thank you Sarah,” Replied Brian rubbing his cheek, “and I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“So do I Brian…So do I.” Replied Sarah turning away and putting her phone and the piece of paper back into her bag as she walked towards her car.