strange situation..

A routine shift began like hundreds of others. A cardiac call, an elderly man, a standard heart attack patient—a well-established routine. You arrive ten minutes early, set up an IV, and load the stretcher into the van. The patient is groaning and clutching his chest, but his blood pressure seems to be holding. The driver pulls out of a narrow yard, turns on the siren, and you're already mentally filling out the call sheet. But ten minutes into the drive, the engine starts sputtering. The tachometer needle twitches, the car jerks once, twice, and then stalls. The driver tries to start the car, but the starter spins idly. There's no signal. You pull out the radio, but all you hear is a hiss—the factory towers are jamming the signal. You're in a remote industrial area, surrounded by abandoned workshops with broken windows, rusty containers, and humming transformers. The driver gets out, opens the hood, and curses—the battery's dead, needs replacing, no spare. It's a two-hour walk to town, and the nearest traffic police post is unknown. The dispatcher doesn't answer. You suggest waiting for a tow truck, but you know it's pointless. And then your patient, who'd been lying there with his eyes closed, suddenly sits up slowly on the stretcher. He doesn't clutch his heart. He doesn't groan. He simply looks at you with a strange, sober gaze, even though a minute ago his blood pressure was dropping. He speaks quietly but clearly: "Don't take me to the city hospital. If I go there, they'll kill me. Turn around as soon as you fix the car. I'll pay you whatever you say. I need to go to a private clinic on Severnaya Street, you know it." You remain silent, trying to figure out if this is delusional or something real. The nurse exchanges glances with you. The driver slams the hood and freezes—he glances in the rearview mirror. You turn your head and see a black SUV with no license plates parked about 30 meters behind you. It's been there for a long time. Its headlights aren't on, even though it's dark. It's just waiting. You didn't notice it until you stalled. The driver whispers, "They haven't moved since. "