when medics fall

get medevac'd, cut on, and work at healing

As I wheeled through the trauma center, 90 minutes from here, I wanted the medical staff to know that as a novelist I really cared about my two hands knowing that I had just shattered my two wrists by falling off of a construction site. I need my hands. I’ve been hurt before and I’ve even been rescued by my own crew before because I live a life of risk.

This is not one of my short stories but in fact the truth. I fell from 12 feet onto a new concrete floor for a new garage. Entirely my own fault. And I landed within 4 feet of my roofing harness, which only reinforces the blame for my injuries. I fell on 11 October spent 11 days in the hospital, underwent two procedures, suffered a pretty severe concussion, and since being home just trying to get used to life again. It is hard to go from a mildly gamy leg to full on disability. Many days I was able to celebrate small accomplishments: getting new glasses, brushing my hair, brushing my own teeth, and even tying my own PJs up. Some days were just shit, sitting in a dark room with the shades drawn in the TV playing quietly.

I had thought that this might be a funny little story, but it isn’t, is it? This former paramedic did not play the role of patient well. I refused a C -coller and cleared my own C-spine. And I shouldn’t have. And apparently I objected to a medevac flight until I confirmed that I met the trauma transport criteria, as if I could evaluate better than the crew supporting me. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.

I’m writing this on 18 November 2025, via Dragon speak dictation software (which doesn’t seem to like me swearing). Novel two came out nearly a month ago, on 21 October. I have been publishing short stories nearly monthly to keep you guys entertained and encourage you to buy my novels as they come out. So, at the moment book number two comes out, I was unable to communicate with my 10,000 followers. I have also been unable to sign books. I have a case behind me on the floor in my office. But with my hands I can’t even pick up the case. I can barely hold the book. In my signature is unrecognizable.

Thank you for your comments and follows during the last year and here is the announcement of novel number two. It is called “Stolen Mountain”. The tagline that the team at catalyst press came up with “nothing is as wicked or mean as massive small-town malfeasance.” You can find the novel as paperback, EPUB, and audiobook wherever you buy books. I of course encourage you to buy at your local bookshop, bookshop.org, and/or Libro.FM for Stolen Mountain.

Just do internet search for the title “Stolen Mountain” in my name “I.M.Aiken”. I started listening to the book last night and found myself chuckling. I have started to record the novel just about a year ago. Thank you

EMS Captain turned sleuth Brighid Doran suspects that all is not what it appears on the surface at The Branston Club—a swanky ski lodge being built in her rural Vermont town. While dodging danger and digging up dirt, Brighid faces the ire of small town politics, crooked cops, and an ever-deepening chasm of deceptions, all the while struggling to cope with the constant deployment of her wife Major Sarah (Sam) Ann Musgrave. With help from attorney Morgan Chadwick and a hovering FBI, Brighid must determine the truth of a scheme with the potential of defrauding her friends and neighbors of millions… but at what cost to her own relationships and where she calls home