The Accident

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

A calm voice came over the receiver and spoke softly but loud enoguh so that the operator could hear him. "The parents are fighting and a young girl is dead. They are at this address," he paused for the gunshot before continuing with the address. As he hung up the receiver, he stepped quietly and unnoticed through the house and down the hall to the back bedroom. There were clothes and papers everywhere, furniture was turned upside down yet Remy had little trouble getting to girl.

The shouting that went in and out of other rooms continued but seemed to quiet as Remy knelt down to look at the small child. A girl of 11 lay on her left side, rolled away from Remy, with blood pouring from the wound on her back. The .38 lay discarded a few feet away and the pungent scent of the burnt powder hung in the air. When Remy rolled her over, he smiled as the girl opened her eyes and smiled back. "The police are on their way. Everything will be fine now."

"My momma's gonna be okay?" The noise of the fight and sirens had taken her attention away from the man beside her, and turned them to the sound of her mother screaming and crying in the livingroom. She sat up and shivered.

Remy turned and looked to the open door, "yes. It's time to go home, now."

Shaggy blond hair fell into her brown eyes as she looked back to see what Remy meant. A pool of dark red soaked into the light blue shirt and jeans. "Where'm I going?"

"Home."

"But, I am home.....?"

Remy's eyes met the girl's. His cool black and red orbs displayed the part of the job he hated; guilt. It wasn't his fault that the child was shot in cold blood by her drunken mother, or thrown around like a rag doll by her equally drunken father. Yet Remy didn't like explaining to innocent children what their parents had done. That wasn't always the case, though. "A better home, my dear. Come." Reaching a hand to help her up, Remy stood and waited patiently for her to take his hand.

The girl smiled and asked, "what's your name?"

"You may call me.... Remy." Helping her to her feet, Remy held her hand gently and turned away from the body on the floor, to face the doorway. He paused as the first person through the door was the scruffy medic, Logan. This time Logan didn't see him and he was able to escort the girl to her new home with no altercations.

*******

As the medics loaded the child's body into the ambulance, Logan caught sight of a familiar face. Remy stood next to the front of the ambulance, leaning against the hood and smiling passively at Logan. Taking the remaining six steps closer to him, he spoke softly, "people will start to talk about us, if we keep meeting like this."

Remy straightened. "I was hoping you would show up."

"You gave the call, didn't you?"

Nodding, Remy sighed and looked back at the house. "S' not my place to tell you who I am. How is it dat you can see me?"

Logan took a final step and grabbed onto Remy's forearm as if to keep him there while they talked. Keeping his voice down, Logan leaned in and offered a deal, "I'll answer yours if you answer mine." He inhaled the baby powdered scent of the young Cajun and waited for him to agree.

Sighing in reluctance, Remy stared calmly into the blue eyes of the medic and nodded before looking down at the hand that held his arm.

"All I know is that we got a call that you and a beamer collided on a mountain road, and when we got there, he was dead and you were barely alive. So, we dug you out of the car and took you to CGH. Now, I see you at places I shoudn't." Logan gave him the gist of the details as he was eager to hear Remy's side of the story. "Now mine. Why is it you are always at the scene?" There was a low growl but Logan contained his anger to just getting an answer, any was gladly accepted.

Remy breathed deeply as he thought of how to say what he could and couldn't say about himself. "Our jobs are alot alike. I take care of my part and you take care of the rest. Everyt'ing else, I can't say." Looking back to the front door of the house, he watched as the cops lead the parents out in handcuffs.

"What do you mean by that? Are you causing these things?"

Shaking his head, Remy looked first at Logan and then past him to the driver, Zeke, who stood at the backdoors of the ambulance. "Dat isn't for you to know just yet. And, it seems dat you are needed." A nod of the head to the man behind Logan caused Logan to hold on a little tighter to Remy's arm.

Logan didn't move his eyes from the young man as he called his friend over to them, "Zeke, want ya to meet someone."

The driver and long time friend, Zeke, had been worried about Logan for awhile but came over to where they stood without hesitation. He nodded to Logan and then fixed his sight on Remy. "Are you gonna stand here all night or can we get this kid down to the M.E.s before sunrise?" Zeke took a long look at Remy as the recognition set in. "Glad to see you're okay kid."

Remy smiled and nodded. He turned back to Logan and glanced at the hand again, "we will talk later, cher."

"Count on it. But, in case you're not busy later," Logan offered. "There's a coffee shop about 3 blocks from here called 'The Carved Bean'. My shift ends in a few hours, meet me there. We should finish our chat."

Thinking for a moment, Remy nodded and promised to be there.

*******

In the small coffee shop, Remy waited patiently. He knew he was early but wanted to get there before Logan, just to see him walk in and sit down. His black suit was pressed and clean yet he found himself brushing at an occasional lintball. His legs were crossed right over left and his hands sat folded in his lap as he leaned back in his metal wire chair. A small stone, round table sat in front of him and on it sat a tea cup of a mocha latte. Sighing to himself, Remy waited for the door to open and the EMT to join him in the mostly empty cafe. The bite taken out of the pastry on the table revealed a cherry filling inside the flaky golden crust of the turnover.

Finally the door opened with a chime and in walked the short, hairy man named Logan. Blue eyes caught sight of the young man he was there to meet, and smiled at the acknowledgement that LeBeau was there. "Been waiting long?" Logan walked up to the table but paused before sitting down. He took in what Remy was wearing and his pose and smirked to himself about the casualness of the Cajun.

"Non, just got here a few minutes ago."

"A few minutes, huh?"

Remy nodded. "About twenty." He didn't bother to look at the clock on the wall to see if he was right or wrong, he only said what sounded good and made Logan feel less guilty about it.

Logan smiled. He sat down in the chair across from Remy and ordered just plain coffee when the waiter came up to the table. Waiting for the server to leave, Logan kept his eyes on the younger man as Remy took a sip of his drink. "So, can you at least tell me why you're here?"

The answer took a long moment to formulate. Remy's obligations to his business came first and foremost but he had a feeling Logan wouldn't leave it alone even if sated with an excuse. "I am in the 'life plan' profession."

"Well, that says a whole Hell of a lot."

Remy shrugged. When the waiter came back with Logan's drink, and waited for payment, Remy watched the movements between the two. As the waiter left and Logan took a sip of his coffee, Remy thought of expanding his answer a little more. "I suppose you could call me a -- reviewer of life stories. When something happens to someone, however good or bad it is, I like to help that person understand their aspects."

Logan's brow furrowed. Aspects? "So you've been causing these things?" He took another sip but wasn't looking for an admission of guilt from the elusive Cajun. "Should you be talking to the cops?"

"Non," Remy smiled. "Like I said, I cannot explain to you why I am here. My job is important, as your job is. We need each other, as unfortuante as it seems." He took another sip of his drink and glanced out of the window, behind Logan. "I am needed for an appointment. I hope to meet you again," taking a closer look at the EMT's nametag, he smiled, "Logan." Remy stood and knew that Logan would exactly thank him for the confusing little talk yet, at the same time, Logan wasn't completely disappointed at the meeting.

Logan took another sip at his coffee and also stood up. "Well, count on seeing me again. I think I'll figure you out yet."

"If you wish." Remy smirked at the thought. "Perhaps we can have coffee again. Au revoir, Logan."

"See ya, kid."

*********

Putting the key in the lock and turning it, Logan opened the door to his apartment and stepped in. It was still dark, and he didn't bother turning on the entryway light to see. With a sigh, Logan closed the door and locked it before moving through the dark house and into the bedroom. Flipping the switch and tossing his jacket onto the end of the bed, Logan sat down beside it and reveled in the silence.

The remote control for the 19 inch television that sat at the end of the bed, on the dresser, was laying in the middle of the bed. Swiping it up and clicking the television on, Logan began to untie his shoes and undress for bed. Unbuttoning his shirt and standing up to pull it from his pants, his attention was caught as a horrible wreck off the coastline was being discussed on the news channel.

A fishing boat disaster that killed fourteen people on the fishing boat and injured twelve on the giant luxury liner it had collided with. The news was full of survivor stories and recounts of the accident and left Logan wondering about what Remy said and where he might have gone off to. When the news turned to a comedy show, Logan turned it off and finished getting ready for bed.

Logan lay there awake and staring at the ceiling. The sun was coming up but Logan was still awake. In his mind, he replayed the talk with Remy in the cafe, and the strange decadent aura of the young man who seemed so calm about the chat. When he finally closed his eyes, the face of the young Cajun stuck in his mind and the voice in his ears. Logan drifted off to sleep around 9AM and was plagued by dreams of each scene that he saw Remy at.

The alarm went off somewhere around 7:30. Logan lay there until 7:45 and then sat up. Walking to the kitchen for something to eat, Logan turned on the light in the livingroom and glared at the descending sun out beyond his fifth floor balcony. He was hungry but not for what was left over in the fridge or frozen in the freezer. Deciding on pizza, Logan dialed the number on his cordless and then turned on the television for the nightly news. Another horrible accident had happened, this time in town, and for once, Logan was glad it was his night off.

As he sat down to watch the report, he caught sight of a familiar face. Remy, or who claimed to be Remy. He was only there for a moment and went unnoticed by everyone around him, but Logan saw him. The knock to let him know the pizza had arrived had diverted his attention for a second and when he turned back, Remy had disappeared.

"I'm comin." Logan grabbed his wallet and opened the door to pay.

The pizza boy thanked Logan and handed him the pizza before hurrying back to the elevator.

TBC.