The EMT named Bill stepped forward with a blood-pressure cuff, but the runner yelled at him and tried to pull away from Pia’s grasp.

“We’re trying to help,” Pia said to the man. “We have to take you to the hospital.”

Pia had been kneeling by the man’s side and now stood up. With Pia’s restraining hand gone, the runner tried to stand, but his knees gave way. Some of the fight went out of him.

“I’ll come with you,” said Pia to the man, indicating herself and pointing to the ambulance and making driving motions. She pointed to the Nano logo on her sweatshirt and then to the one on his. It was the best she could do. The man nodded, as if comprehending. The EMTs then tried to get him onto the collapsed gurney, but the man refused. Instead they helped him first to his feet, something he insisted on, and then into the back of the ambulance. Inside the ambulance they secured him to the gurney. At that point he was no longer resisting, but Pia could see that the fear remained in his eyes. When one of the EMTs jumped out to get in the driver’s seat, Pia climbed in the back.

As the ambulance started and headed back down the mountain, Pia could see that the patient, although calmer than earlier, was still agitated. She wondered what he was so afraid of. She also wondered, if he worked at Nano, which wasn’t a given, what department he worked for. He didn’t look much like a scientist, but what did she know? Since he apparently could only speak a couple of words of English, he seemed like a stranger in a strange land. To try to calm him, she grasped his hand. He seemed grateful. He squeezed hers in return.

13.

EN ROUTE TO BOULDER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, BOULDER, COLORADO

TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013, 12:55 P.M.

As the ambulance bumped its way down toward Boulder proper, Pia continued to try to communicate with the runner. While Pia distracted the man, the EMT riding with them in the back of the ambulance used the opportunity to take a blood-pressure reading, pulse, and body temperature.

“Do you work at Nano?” she asked the patient. She pointed to the logo on the man’s sweatshirt. “I work at Nano,” she continued, placing her hand flat on her chest. Unfortunately the charade got no verbal response whatsoever.

“Holy smokes,” the EMT said, looking down, raising his eyebrows in surprise at the gauge on the ear thermometer. “His temperature is almost a hundred five.” As if he didn’t believe the thermometer, he put his hand on the man’s forehead. “It must be right. He’s hotter than hell!”

“What about his blood pressure and pulse?” Pia asked. From feeling his skin earlier, she had assumed the man’s temperature was elevated.

“They are entirely normal,” the EMT technician said.

“What about heat stroke?” Pia said. “Maybe we should try to cool him down.”

The EMT communicated the vital signs to the driver, who in turn contacted the ER physicians. The EMT in the back got an ice pack and offered it to the runner. The man looked at it questioningly. The EMT put it on his own head as a demonstration, then handed it over. The runner held it to his head and seemed to appreciate it.