“**** you, you ruined my high!” She screamed before her fist lazily struck him in the face. Digits stroked the scruffy cheek gingerly, a cocky smile of amusement spreading its way across his lips. That was the thanks you got for resuscitating someone, who knew? “I love heroin addicts,” he mused to the blonde woman on the other side of the stretcher. She shook her head in agreement, the stress of the night showed on her face. This was the last call they were taking before clocking out and going the hell home; it was decided over the last espresso shooter they shared in the cockpit of the ambulance at around 4:30.
“I’m gonna get some air, I’ll be right back – I think I left my bag on the sidewalk,” he said before removing himself from the cabin. The forty years old woman was still muttering and cursing when he closed the door behind him. Toby took a deep breath of fresh, night air and leaned back against the doors of the ambulance. It was his third night shift in a row and he felt like he had been in the twilight zone since midnight. He shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up – no dice. Tobias made his way to the sidewalk and bent over the bag he had left. Hand grasped the handle and picked it off the ground before he made his way back to the driver’s side.
The door swung open and he threw the duffle on the floor. Blue eyes peered up at the black sky: a full moon. That explains the abundance of wack jobs, he thought. His gaze fell down from the sky and onto the street where a loan tabby cat resided. A crooked smile flashed its way over his scruffy visage, deciding to extend his short break and make his acquaintance with the fur ball; he had a soft spot for cats. Mid purr the feline tensed its muscles, causing the medic to arch a brow before the sound of tires screeching on concrete hit his ears. The cat scurried away, but Hardesty wasn’t so lucky – he stood up to full form before the vehicle made contact sending him flying. The sky rotated with the street in his somersaults before he landed head flat on his chest on the pavement. Then everything went black.
---
Eyes slowly opened to the bright rays of sunshine that blazed through the leaves of the canopy of trees. He was laying on his back on the forest floor, still in his work clothes. He sat up slowly, even though the persistent feeling of exhaustion had seemed to dissipate completely. Five foot ten form made its full height when Toby stood up to examine his surroundings. The paramedic was seemed to be at the edge of a forest between a deep thickness of trees and a clearing. He was too puzzled to make much sense of anything before his blue orbs took hold of the vision of a palace in the middle of the treeless space.
It was spectacular to say the least and appeared to be constructed completely out of gold. He shook his head in attempt to shake the vision of the building away, but it proved useless. Am I dead? he thought, making his way slowly towards the steps that would lead to the entrance of the exquisite specimen of architecture.
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