DISPATCH #9

It had been a slow night. It was cold outside.

Around 8 PM, I was sitting at about seventy bucks and honestly thinking about calling it.

I had just fueled up at QT, was hanging up the nozzle, and the app pinged.

TMC Hospital pickup.

I glanced at the screen, saw the pay, and accepted without thinking.

In my head:

“Alright, thirty-one bucks… one more ride.”

🧠 The Double Take

I got back in the car, actually looked at it…

…and just sat there.

“Wait…”

👉 That wasn’t $31.
That was $321.79

Suddenly, I wasn’t going home.

🏥 The Pickup

Now here’s the thing about hospital pickups…

Nine times out of ten?
👉 Your rider is not where the app says they are.

So, I pull up, scanning the entrance like I’m on a mission.

Called twice. Voicemail.

I’m not losing this one.

So, I step out to go inside…

…and that’s when I saw her.

Two nurses wheeling a woman out, plastic bags with her belongings.

One of them smiles:

“Are you looking for Nancy?”

I said:

“I sure am.”

🚗 On the Road

They helped her into the car, said their goodbyes.

As I buckled in, she said softly:

“They told me you wouldn’t stop so I could use the restroom.”

I smiled:

“Hey, I found you. We can stop for dinner if you want.”

⛽ The Stop

We pulled into a QT before the freeway.

I helped her with the walker, got her up the curb, and told her I’d be right there waiting.

After a while… I started to worry.

“Man… what if something happened in there?”

Just as I was about to ask for help…

she came back out.

“Don’t scare me like that,” I said.

She smiled,

“Oh, I’m sorry dear.”

🌙 The Drive

Somewhere along the way, she told me her story.

Thirty days in rehab.
Released at 2 AM.

Nowhere to go.

Spent the night outside in the cold…
ended up with pneumonia…
five days in the hospital.

She said her boyfriend was waiting at home. In Buckeye, Arizona.

That’s where we were headed.

🌵 The Arrival

We pulled up to the house.

No lights.

No movement.

Just quiet.

I checked the address.

Right place.

I looked at her:

“Isn’t he expecting you?”

She nodded, confused. “Jim should be here.”

I stepped out.

Cold hit me like a slap.

Somewhere in the distance…

a goat bleated.

“Yeah… we’re out there.” 148 miles from where I’d picked her up.

I rang the doorbell.

Nothing.

Then a voice from the darkness:

“Hey! What do you want?!”

I said:

“Looking for Jim. Is he here?”

“No. He don’t live here anymore.
And if you see him, tell him to change his address. We keep getting his mail.”

🧠 The Decision

I walked back to the car.

She was crying now.

“I don’t understand… he said he’d be here.”

I handed her a Kleenex.

“Hey… don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out.”

“Is there somewhere else I can take you?”

She shook her head no.

Then she said:

“There’s a hospital… off Hudson Road.”

I looked it up.

Four miles away.

🚗 The Ride That Mattered

So, we went.

At that point, I didn’t care about the app, the fare, any of it. I knew the app would re-calculate the ride pay anyways.

I just wanted to make sure she was somewhere warm… somewhere safe.

🏥 The Goodbye

I pulled up to the ER.

Helped her out.

She looked at me and said:

“Thank you so much for caring… I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

I told her:

“No problemo, they’ll take care of you in there. You’ll be alright.”

I watched her shuffle inside with her bags.

And I couldn’t help but wonder…

if she ever heard from that “boyfriend.”

If you ask me, she deserved better.

Well… see you next time.

— Steve
The Wayward Trucker

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