PART 2
I called 911 from the doorway of Unit 118.
“Three elderly people living in storage units at Lakeside Self Storage on Peach Street. One of them is barely conscious. I need ambulances. More than one.”
The old man’s name was Augie Novotny. He was 91. A Korean War veteran. His hands were like ice. He kept trying to sit up and salute when he saw my Coast Guard jacket.
“Easy, sir,” I said. “Easy. Help is coming.”
Unit 119 held a woman named Fern. Eighty-three. She had dementia. She thought it was 1985 and kept asking for her husband.
Mr. Haines stood in the hallway with his hand over his mouth.
“I swear I didn’t know,” he kept saying. “She paid in cash. She told me it was furniture.”
Three ambulances came. Then four police cars.
My mother, Augie, and Fern were all taken to the hospital. Augie had pneumonia and severe dehydration. The doctor said he wouldn’t have survived another week.
