"Why are you here?" I asked. "There is no fire. I think I have a broken arm, I fell and put my arm straight down to break my fall, but I heard noises, like pop, crackle, and crunch. Now it is hurting bad."
One of the firemen, Asian looking, said, while grabbing my arm and pumping it up and down, and turning it around and around, "You don't have a broken arm, look, there is no bleeding, no broken bones sticking out, no broken skin.
I was trying to get him to stop manipulating my arm, because it was starting to feel really really painful. But he kept it up. I explained to him that he was hurting me but he was obsessively continuing with his manipulations.
Then he said, "Why did you call an ambulance if you are not really hurt?"
"But I am hurt I said, I can't even get up, much less drive."
" First responders are for people who are really hurt," he said, " You are not hurt.".
By now I was hurting and angry. The ambulance and another vehical were on the scene by then. There were two women from the ambulance and other people there. They were standing around just chilling and letting me take on this dense minded fireman, who by the way, was not wearing a name tag,
"You could have driven yourself to the hospital," he said.
"My car is a standard, it is my right arm that is broken, how can I shift the gears," I said.
"You have your son there, he could have driven you there."
"Have you taken a good look at my son?" I asked, "He has Downs syndrome, he is not driving me anywhere."
"Oh," he said. And he finally got out of my face. The dense minded fireman.
Now, the others started talking at me all at once, but I was so angry, in pain, and inside my heart was hurting, raw and bleeding. Even now I cannot think about what happened because the remembrance is like a surreal nightmare, a twilight zone exerprience, and I feel alone and helpless again. I felt so isolated and uncared for and bereft of human kindness. Then I started telling everyone to go away and leave me alone, that I would get to a hospital one way or another on my own. I was sitting but could not get up yet. I repeated that I wanted them all gone right away. However, the ambulance women started telling me that they could not leave me there on the cold driveway in the middle of the night without checking to see if I was going to be alright. They sounded reasonable and I calmed down. I still wanted all of them to disappear, but I had to talk some common sense to myself. I was in pain. I still could not get up. If these people left, my son and I would be left alone to the mercy of the night and dangers of the unknown. I could not drive. My purse was lost. My son and I had no weapons to drive off stray dogs or anyone else. I was not in a position to indulge in self-pity. I did so desired to be in my bed cozy and warm and well. The women brought a gurney over. They asked if I could get on it, but I was in so much pain, I could do nothing. They tried to help me get up, but I was unable to let them help me because just their touching me was unbearable. I do not know how, but I told everyone to get away from me, that I could get up myself, and grunting and moaning, I pulled myself up. The women put me in the ambulance. A cop helped my son secure the house and my car. Then, with my son riding in the ambulance, we started on the way to the hospital, with me in intolerable pain.