"Sarah, Jessica, thanks for agreeing to babysit," Ainsley opened the door to Beth Stanley and her two daughters.
"No problem, we're gonna have lots of fun, right kids," Sarah, the oldest, said to Chris and Jennifer, but it was Hunter that came running across the floor and grabbed her legs. "You too, buddy," Sarah said, picking him up.
"Grace usually goes down for the night about 7:30 PM," Ainsley said, pulling a sheet of paper off the table and walking over to show it to Sarah and Jessica. "She has shredded chicken, peas and apple sauce in the fridge for dinner. If you feed her about 6:30 PM and then give her a bottle around 7:15 PM, she should be sound asleep by 7:30. There's pizza scheduled to be delivered at 6:30 PM, and the money is there on the counter," Ainsley pointed out the cash she had left to pay for pizza and tip.
"No problem," Sarah said.
"Hunter usually goes to bed right after Grace, but with Chris and Jennifer here, he can stay up until 8:30 PM. Once you get him down, if one of you wants to stay here and the other go to the DeSoto's so Chris and Jennifer don't have to worry about being quiet, Joanne left her key by the pizza money."
"Chris and Jennifer, you guys can stay up until 10:00 PM…"
"Woohoo!" Chris shouted, interrupting his mom.
"Woohoo!" Hunter repeated.
"Oooooh," Grace mimicked the sound, causing the room to laugh.
"But, if we're not home by 10:00 PM, you go to bed," Joanne said, firming up her voice.
"Yes, mom," Chris and Jennifer said in unison.
"We should be home by 10, 11, at the latest," Joanne told the girls.
"No worries, mom won't be worried about us," Jessica said, looking over at Beth.
"That's cause mom is getting a girl's night out," Beth said. "Woohoo!" She copied Chris's earlier declaration.
"Woohoo!" Ainsley and Joanne repeated. Meg laughed.
"Ready, ladies, we've got to get the guest of honor to her bridal shower," Ainsley said.
"Second bridal shower," Joanne said. "Which we all know is a lot more fun!"
"Well, the first one is for mom's and grandma's," Ainsley said. "The second is more like the female version of the guys' bachelor party."
Meg just laughed. "How embarrassed am I gonna be?"
"It's just drinks, and gifts you wouldn't want to open in front of Mike's mom," Joanne laughed, climbing into the back seat of the Rover.
"Is Mike's sister coming?" Beth asked.
"No," Ainsley said. "I invited her, but she said she really didn't want the image in her head of her big brother enjoying some of the gifts she knew would be given."
"Again, how embarrassed am I gonna be?" Meg asked.
The ladies laughed as Ainsley pulled out of the driveway. She had arranged to use the back room of a bar the guys liked to go to on days off. The owner knew all the guys and was happy to give the ladies a private area to celebrate the upcoming nuptials.
"Who else is joining us?" Joanne asked.
"A bunch of the teachers from school," Ainsley said, "and some friends Meg knows from the marathon her and Mike ran last month".
A few minutes later Ainsley parked the car and the ladies got out and opened the back of Johnny's Rover.
"It's a good thing Johnny traded you cars," Meg joked, as the ladies grabbed several gifts and a cake.
"You'd think he'd enjoy driving the Camaro, but it really took some begging," Ainsley laughed.
The ladies headed straight to the back room where several other ladies were already congregated, drinks in hand. A TV hung in the corner playing a TV show that barely caught Ainsley's attention. She went to work making sure that everything was ready to go. The restaurant would be serving dinner at 6:30 PM. They were going to eat, then play a few games, open gifts and then have dessert and more drinks.
E
Mike sniffed the meat on his plate and eyed Chet with a look of disgust. "Seriously?"
"Liver is good for you," Chet defended himself.
"I wish I was at the bridal shower," Johnny said, pushing the plate away from him. Even starving there was no way he was eating this. They had been on a long run and dinner was already later than usual, but liver was just disgusting.
"I saw what Joanne bought Meg; be glad you're not there, you'd die of embarrassment," Roy said.
"What'd she buy her?" Mike looked over at Roy.
"Let's just say, I wish it was for Joanne and leave it at that," Roy said, remembering the slinky black nightgown and feather boa he saw Joanne wrapping when he got home from their last shift. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he remembered that Joanne hadn't forgotten him entirely, she'd picked up a little something for herself while shopping.
"Wanna explain the smile?" Marco asked.
Everyone looked at Roy.
"No, no I don't," Roy said, popping a bite of liver in his mouth. "UGH!" Roy grabbed a napkin and spit the bite back into it. "Chet, that's just gross!"
The klaxons sounded, saving the guys from having to face any more of Chet's Liver Surprise. "Station 51, house fire, 945 Silverwood Lane, cross street Maple. Time out 19:12."
"Station 51, KMG-365," the Captain said, writing down the information and tearing off a sheet of paper that he handed to Roy on his way to the engine. Chet and Marco were already in their spots. Mike pulled out, followed closely by Roy.
They arrived at the scene in under 12 minutes. The house had smoke pouring out of the windows, but no flames were visible. Chet dropped to the ground and grabbed a line, hooking it up to the fire hydrant. Mike inched forward, positioning the engine into the prime location for battling the blaze.
Johnny and Roy jumped out of the squad. Johnny opened the side compartment and grabbed his turnout, quickly slipping it on and starting to fasten it, as Roy reached for his. They moved to join the Captain at the side of Engine 51.
"Neighbors report that the family is gone on vacation, but they've had a friend staying with them the last couple weeks and they're not sure if he's there or not. We're gonna have to check the house."
Roy and Johnny moved back toward the squad to grab their air tanks. They quickly slipped them on and moved toward the house.
"Try going in the back door. It looks like most of the fire is concentrated near the front."
"Sure thing, Cap," Johnny said, moving toward the side of the house to head to the back door.
Chet and Marco moved toward the front of the house, breaking in the front door so they could start focusing on knocking down the flames. A large group of people were starting to congregate watching the fire and the men working.
"Hey, Cap," Mike nodded toward the group of boys that were starting to edge too close to where the engine stood. He then turned his attention back to the gauges, watching the scene as the Captain was busy managing the crowd. That was his job, to make sure the men going into the flames were safe and be his Captain's right hand. Mike had been thinking about it a lot lately. He loved his role at Station 51, but he was about to be a married man, and hopefully in a year or two he'd add dad to his list of responsibilities. Perhaps it was time to take the Captain's exam, Mike thought.
"Hey, Fellas, I need you to step back and let us do our jobs."
"Are you the Captain?"
"Yes, and it's my job to make sure my men and all of you stay safe, so I need you to step back and stay on that side of the street, okay?"
The boys nodded and started moving back. As he moved toward the house, he leaned his left arm against the hood of the squad, letting his weight rest against the front of the of it, his well-trained gaze sweeping over the house and then taking in the adjacent structures. With the sound of water hitting hot wood, as Chet and Marco finally seemed to be knocking out the flames, and the voices coming from so many bystanders, no one heard the sizzling sound above their heads until it was too late.
Mike's attention was diverted from the gauges of the engine as a bright spark caught is attention high and to his left. Mike looked up as the electrical line sparked and began to fall right toward the squad and engine.
Mike jumped back from the engine. "Cap!" He yelled, trying to alert his Captain to the impending danger. Mike watched in horror as the electrical line struck the squad causing volts of electricity to flow through the engine and the Captain, in an attempt to reach the ground. The Captain's body jerked as over a thousand volts flowed through him, keeping him connected to the squad and the electricity continuing to flow through his body. Mike reached for a wooden poll to try and get the line off the squad, but the line slipped off the squad and fell to the ground, stretching across the street.
"Chet, get Johnny and Roy!" Mike called out. Moving forward and the Captain's body fell to the ground. "Stay back!" Mike ordered, as people moved toward the electrical line.
He knelt down near the Captain, feeling for a pulse. The Captain's body convulsed and jerked up and to the side as his face contorted in pain. "Johnny, Roy, hurry!"
As Johnny and Roy exited the house, Mike stood and moved toward the engine.
He looked at the electrical line and made sure none of it was touching the engine. Determining it was safe, Mike opened the door and grabbed the mic. "LA, we have a Code-I at this location, also notify the power company the lines are down."
"10-4, Engine 51."
Mike watched as Johnny and Roy rushed over to the Captain. Mike watched helplessly as his body convulsed again.
Roy bent down and began undoing the Captain's turnout, and then opening his shirt. Johnny sat the defibrillator next to him, then sat down the biophone, but before connecting to the hospital he ran back to the squad to grab the oxygen and drug kit. Roy pulled up the Captain's white t-shirt. Roy placed the EKG pads on the Captain's chest and watched the irregular pattern move across the small monitor. He felt the Captain convulse again under his hands, the line monitoring his heart activity spiking and dropping widely.
Johnny quickly hooked up the biophone. "Rampart, this is Squad 51, how do you read?"
"Go ahead, 51," Dr. Brackett said.
"Rampart, we have an electrocution victim, bp is 90/60, respirations are 25."
"51, start an IV D5W, TKO and send me a strip." Roy was prepared, knowing what was going to be ordered.
"10-4 Rampart, sending you an EKG now."
Johnny flipped the switch and started transmitting the readings.
Dr. Brackett frowned at the erratic readings coming over the machine.
"51, we're gonna have to try shocking him to get him back into sinus rhythm. Charge to 200."
"10-4, Rampart," Johnny said, as Roy charged the defibrillator to 200. He placed the paddles on the Captain's chest, "Clear."
The Captain convulsed again from the electrical shock.
Roy moved back as the machine began to read the Captain's heart rhythm following the electrical shock. Roy was reaching for the drug box, and Johnny lifted the receiver as the monitor started to register a flat line.
"Rampart, patient has flat lined."
Dr. Brackett watched the line on the strip for a few seconds before responding. He was hoping the heart would restart.
"51, administer 2 amps sodium bicarb, and give him 10 cc's 1/1000 epinephrine and try defibrillating again, this time at 400."
Johnny quickly adjusted the defibrillator to 400, while Roy drew up the medications and added them to the IV line.
Mike moved to sit near the head of the Captain, as the fire was completely extinguished. Chet and Marco stood not far away, watching the paramedics in action.
No one noticed a man with video camera recording them. He moved closer zooming up on the worried expression of the fireman seated near the head of the Captain laying on the ground. He stepped back so he could capture the men putting some kind of medicine into the IV and then shocking the Captain again. He zoomed in on the body of the Captain as the electrical current flowed through him, jerking his body up.
He stepped back as a police cruiser and ambulance approached. The police officer jumped out and quickly began moving back the crowd of people that had started to move forward watching the scene. The man continued to film as the ambulance pulled up and the ambulance attendants jumped out.
He continued to film as the men shocked the Captain again, he continued filming them as both Johnny and Roy climbed into the ambulance with their Captain.
"Let's get this scene cleaned up and get to the hospital," Mike ordered. While Marco and Chet worked on the scene, Mike called for a tow truck for the squad since the electrical shock had disabled it.
E
"Wear that one on the wedding night," Ainsley said, as Meg lifted a short, lacy, white negligee from the box and a pair of matching sheer panties.
"It looks completely uncomfortable," Tammy, one of the teachers that worked with Meg and Ainsley said.
"She won't be wearing it that long," Joanne said, and the women began to giggle. Meg blushed.
A flash of color on the TV caught Ainsley's attention. She froze as she watched a reporter appear on the screen. Behind her engine 51 stood, it's flashing in a slow revolving motion, but it was the squad, with no lights and a charred mark that held Ainsley's attention. She stood up and walked over to the TV, turning up the volume.
"I'm speaking with Cheryl Jones, who witnessed the incident. Mrs. Jones, can you tell me what happened," the reporter moved the microphone toward the middle aged woman standing next to her.
"The house was on fire, but as they got the fire out the power line fell and struck the truck. One of the firemen was against the truck. He felt to the ground and was shaking. It was really awful."
Ainsley turned back to look at Joanne, Beth and Meg, who all now stood directly behind her staring at the TV.
"Go, we got this," Tammy said, knowing the gravity of the situation.
Ainsley grabbed her purse and pulled the keys out as the women rushed out of the bar and toward Johnny's Rover. Ainsley and Joanne both scanned traffic as Ainsley rushed them toward Rampart. She was hoping they would pass a police officer; she could use an escort. Ainsley pressed down on the gas to make it through a light that turned yellow. Joanne said nothing as the light turned red before they had made it even halfway through the intersection, she felt that same sense of dread in her chest that she knew Ainsley was feeling.
The women noted an ambulance backed into the ambulance bay as Ainsley quickly pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. The woman jumped out rushing toward the entrance.
Johnny turned at the sound of high heels on the floor. He watched as Ainsley, Joanne, Meg and Beth rounded the corner.
Ainsley saw Johnny and Roy standing in the hallway and felt relief flood her body. She ran forward into Johnny's arms and let herself lean into him. Joanne followed her lead and wrapped her arms around Roy, squeezing him tight.
Johnny dropped a kiss on Ainsley's head and looked up to see the panic in Meg's eyes.
"Mike's still on scene, Meg. He's fine."
Roy separated himself from Joanne and moved toward Beth Stanley. "It's the Captain."
Beth paled as she looked at Roy. "Is he…?"
"It's touch and go," Johnny said, still holding Ainsley in his arms.
"I should go call…," Beth stopped as Dr. Brackett stepped out of the room.
Dr. Brackett took in the scene in front of him. Roy had moved back to put his arm around Joanne, Johnny held Ainsley in his arms, Meg was leaning against the wall watching Beth Stanley.
Dr. Brackett looked at Beth. She stood there facing him. "How is he?" Beth asked, taking a step toward him.
Dr. Brackett shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice grave. "We couldn't save him."
Beth's head dropped forward.
Joanne tightened her grip around Roy's waist, resting her head against his shoulder. Johnny moved to lean against the wall, letting the wall take his weight. Ainsley pressed herself tightly against him, resting her head against his chest so she could hear his heartbeat.
Meg looked down at the floor, not sure what to say.
"I need to go make a phone call," Beth said, her voice without any emotion.
"I'll show you to Kel's office," Dixie said, moving along side of Beth.
The gang stood there quietly for several seconds.
They looked up at the sound of footsteps in the hall. Mike, Marco and Chet rounded the corner with Chief McConnike directly behind them.
Mike went straight to Meg and pulled her into his arms. She leaned into him. Hearing Johnny say he was okay, and actually getting to see him and hold him were two very different things.
"How is he?" Chief McConnike asked.
Roy shook his head.
"Sorry," Mike said to Meg, when a curse escaped his lips.
Marco clenched his jaw and Chet just turned around, his fist clenched. He desperately wanted to hit something; but he forced himself to remain stoic.
Mike moved away from Meg toward Beth, as she began to walk back down the hall. He wrapped her into a hug. Beth hugged him back.
"It was my job to protect him," Mike said, the sense of loss starting to press down on him.
"This is not your fault, Mike," Beth said, giving the young engineer a big squeeze before she stepped back.
"Did you call him?" Mike asked.
Beth nodded.
"How's he doing?" Roy asked, the group of men had closed in around her.
Beth shook her head. "You know, Hank. He said very little. Simply that he'd be on the road in the next 20 minutes. But, he's gonna take this hard."
"Captain Hammer getting killed covering a shift for him, so he can go water skiing on his brother's new boat," Marco shook his head. "I'd say it's gonna be just as hard on him as if it'd been one of us," Marco said, stating the obvious.
Beth looked over at Joanne and then Ainsley. She knew they understood exactly what she was feeling. They were heartbroken at the death of Captain Hammer, but a small part of them was relieved, grateful and even happy that their husbands were alive and unharmed.
"I'd like to go with you when you go tell Betty," Beth said, looking at Chief McConnike.
"I was going to head over there now. Then I'll drive her up here."
Beth nodded.
"I can drive Meg and Joanne home and then come back up to be with you," Ainsley offered.
Beth shook her head. "We've known Dick and Betty for years. I think it's best if it's just me."
Ainsley and Joanne nodded. "The girls can stay at our house," Joanne offered. "I'll bring them home tomorrow."
"Thank you," Beth said, knowing it would be good if they weren't there when Hank first got home. He had barely said ten words when she'd told him Captain Hammer had been killed on a run. He'd have a couple hours driving by himself to let it eat at him before she was able to help him get his perspective.
"The squad is out of commission," Chief McConnike said. "We'll try to get a replacement by the morning, but I'm taking Station 51 out of service for the evening. Why don't you men go home and try to get some sleep."
Chief McConnike walked out of the hospital with Beth. The others just looked around at each other, not sure what to say. They all looked back toward the treatment room where they knew Captain Hammer still lay. It seemed almost disrespectful to leave him.
Mike took the lead. "Come on, we need to go home and get some rest. Betty will need help planning the funeral, notifying family, we need to be ready to go first thing in the morning. Joanne, I'm gonna ask you to be in charge of arranging for wives to bring food over the next couple of weeks, and planning food for immediately following the funeral," Mike looked over at Joanne.
She nodded. "I'll take care of it."
Mike looked back toward the treatment room. He was grateful it wasn't Captain Stanley laying behind that door, but he'd worked with Dick Hammer for almost a year and had pulled some over-time shifts with him over the last few years. He liked the man, respected him. Mike looked at the ground, and he failed him, he couldn't help thinking.