I just wanted to have a drink... and maybe meet a pretty girl.

Today I though I would share with you a strange tale. A series of happenstances that led to me carrying a young 20 something female into an emergency room in Bakersfield, Ca.

So, I wanted a drink, and maybe to meet a pretty girl or two or three. I was 24, single, just hired as a squad leader on a Kern County Fire Dept. Initial Attack Crew, and I was in tip top shape- like out push up, pull up, and mile everyone in a 30 mile radius kind of shape. I had some overtime on my check, and my days off were here.

I drove to Bakersfield to meet with a good friend who had just moved there from our mountain town of Tehachapi. We wound up in a REALLY weird bar called "The Alley Cat", located in an alley of course, in downtown Bakersfield. Yes, now that I'm writing it down I admit it- I should have known something was going to happen. After having a few drinks my friend and his new wife wanted to have a cigarette, so I joined them in the small enclosed outdoor area the "Cat" had for smokers.

Just across from me sat a pretty cute young girl in a goth type skirt enseamble. We happened to make eye contact, and she gave me a big smile. So, of course, I smiled back and asked how she was doing. "Do you really want to know?" was the reply... my heart sank a bit. All of a sudden I was in size-up mode and something seemed wrong. I noticed she was holding a napkin on her leg. "Sure" I said, "why not". There was no turning back now.

She looked down at the napkin, the smile became a nervous one, and she lifted it up... there it was; a penetrating stab wound about an inch and a half across. I say penetrating because when a knife penetrates deeply it can produce a suction when pulled out- this causes the outside of the wound to resemble a pair of puffy lips-for lack of a better example. You can see subcutaneous tissue- the fat layer and such- sticking out.
They are not very kissable lips ;)

The was no bleeding, so cool. I asked what happened- boyfriend, argument, methamphetamines, that old tale. I told her she had to go to the hospital. There was no way she was sticking around for an ambulance. I offered to take her myself, and convinced her to let me. I promised I would stay with her. She told me she couldn't walk well, I suppose the adrenaline was down and the pain was now up. So, of course, I had to pick her up in my arms and carried her to my car. It was only around 9:30pm so the bar patrons were laughing and jeering "it's too early for that!"  "wasted!"... ya, they had no idea.

I took her to the emergency room about 10 minutes away and stayed with her. She kept talking about leaving- she surely feared law enforcement- so I stayed until she was seen- over half an hour- and kept her talking... not about anything serious- small talk, to comfort her.

Once she was seen my night was pretty much over. My friends were ready to be picked up and taken home, and I was in no mood for midnight bar hopping solo... So yeah, I had A drink, and met A girl... just not the one I had in mind...

Thanks for viewing.