I've taken him more times than I can count. I've taken his mom the same number of times and I have taken his dad once.
When he is sober, he is kind and helpful. The family has spent a lot of time in my shelter and they always clean the large room and take all the trash out, every day. When he is drunk, more often than not, he is clumsy and apologetic. He's had his share of fights with the cops but he know me and knows that he won't have anyplace to go in the next flood if he makes me mad.
We've responded for 3 of his brothers, all of which are dead, suicide or accidental.
Every time I take him, he tells me how he needs to stop drinking, he knows how screwed up he is but he can't seem to help himself. Each time I take him I tell him that one of these days he is going to die and that it's not fair to his parents and it's not fair to me.
I've taken him drunk just to get him out of the house and I've taken him when he was so drunk he crashed his bike and was actually really hurt.
It strikes me that he is a waste of a nice guy.
And apparently it is starting to catch up with him. Drunk, he fell down the stairs causing a massive head injury that required major surgery.
He has regained his speech but he is not normal. Today he didn't know who I was. And as bad as his head injury was, he didn't lose his ability to drink.
One of the toughest parts about being an EMT is getting to know your frequent flyers, and waiting for the inevitable call as you watch them spiral.
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