I do not own these men, wish I did, but I don't. *sigh*
Brotherhood
Mike Stoker walked into to Station 51 an hour before his shift started. He knew he really wasn't supposed to be here this early but after the night he had with his wife, Ellie, he just wanted to get away. C-Shift was out on a run, so he was alone. He stopped by his locker to put his stuff away; he decided not to change just yet. Instead of starting a pot of coffee in the dayroom, he went out back. He saw the old basketball he had played games with many times with his co-workers and best friends, lying by the base of the hoop.
"Maybe if I got some shots in before my shift, I'll feel better." He said to himself.
He started making a couple of shots from different angles. He never missed. That was the one thing he could always count on, never missing a shot.
"I may not be able to play baseball, but I can sure play basketball." He said, remembering when Gage had tried to teach him to be a pitcher.
He smiled to himself. Gage was always doing something.
Getting caught up in his game, Mike lost track of time. Twenty minutes before his the shift started, Captain Stanley walked in, noting that C-Shift was still out on a run. He walked toward his office, but turned when he heard a noise from out back. It sounded like someone was playing ball. He walked outside to find the early morning intruder, and was surprised to find his engineer, still in street clothes, playing a lonely game off basketball. Worried about his quiet co-worker, Captain Stanley walked toward him.
"Stoker?"
Startled, Mike looked up. He was surprised to see his captain smiling at him from across the small makeshift court.
"Oh, um, yes Cap?" He stuttered.
"What are you doing?"
"Uh, I came in a little early and thought I would shoot some hoops."
"How long have you been here?" Captain Stanley asked, noting the sweat on the engineer's brow.
"Almost an hour…"
"Why?"
Mike's silence was all the answer the Captain needed.
"Mike, get dressed and come into my office, we need to have a talk."
"Yes, sir."
Roy DeSoto put his truck in park and watched his partner, John Gage, pull in next to him. They greeted each other and walked into the station.
"So, how was your day off?" John asked.
"It was good; me and Jo took the kids out and had a kind of family day." Roy replied.
"Sounds nice."
"How bout you Junior?"
"Oh nothing, I took that new nurse out, I think she really digs me."
Roy sighed, John and his nurses. The men got dressed and went in to the bay to line up for roll-call.
"Where is everyone?" Johnny asked.
They walked into the day room, where they found Marco sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.
"Hey Guys."
"Hey Marco"
"Hey Marco, Where is everybody?" Roy asked.
"Well, Cap and Mike are in the office, and Chet is well…late. Again."
Confused, Roy and Johnny walked toward the open office door. They heard Mike talking to Captain Stanley.
"Cap, listen, I know you wanna help me, but there is nothing to help. I just got here a bit early, that's all."
"Stoker, you've been working at this station for a little over five years now. You and the rest of the guys are more than coworkers, your more like family, brothers, and I know when something is wrong."
Roy and John looked at each other, they never heard the Cap talk about the rest of the men like that before. They knew that Mike would also be taken back by the Captains strong words, but he still persisted.
"I know, you guys feel like brothers to me to. I just can't talk about it."
"Well, if you ever want to just…"
"I know Cap, thanks"
Noting that the conversation was over Roy and John made a break for the day room before they were caught eavesdropping. Once safely in the dayroom, they thought about what Mike had said.
"I wonder what happened." John thought aloud.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's gonna eat Mike." Roy replied. He knew the engineer to never voice his problems, and they eventually ate away at him, making him irritable and depressed.
"Yeah…" John's train of thought was interrupted by Cap announcing that it was finally time for roll call.
As the men walked out of the day room, they saw Chet (who had amazingly made it on time), Marco, and Mike standing in line, awaiting orders.
Captain Stanley looked at his men from across the table, all of them were pretending that nothing was going on with Mike, but he knew that they knew something was up. Mike was sitting on the couch reading the paper, when he looked up at the table, five sets of eyes hurriedly focused off him and on to anything else.
John stretched. "You know what we never do?" He asked.
"What?" Chet replied.
"We never just all…I don't know, sit around and talk."
"What do you mean, Gage, we talk all the time." Marco said.
"No, I mean like talk, talk."
"You want us to talk, talk? Like at a sleepover?" Chet looked almost offended.
"NO! Not like a sleepover, but as a group of guys hanging out…talking."
Captain Stanley looked at the youngest member of his team and thought about what crazy plan was forming in that head of his.
"Come on! Just try it!"
Stanley looked at Roy, who just shrugged his shoulders, even the closest person to Gage didn't know what was going on.
They were murmurs of agreement and that was all Johnny needed.
"Alrighty! Every one takes a seat at the table."
Mike made a motion to leave the room, but John caught him.
"Oh, no you don't Mikey."
Mike looked at the others for moral support, but found none. Great, he thought, what was Gage up to now?
After everyone was situated at the table, Gage looked at everyone.
"Well, who wants to start?"
"Uh, Johnny start what?" Roy asked, afraid of the answer.
"The talking!" He exclaimed. John looked around, no one looked like they would talk, so he started himself.
"Ok will go around the table starting with me, and everyone has to say something that they think no one here knows about them." Some groans were issued from Chet. "Shut up, Chet."
"Well then let's start with me," Johnny thought for a moment, "Ah! I bet you didn't know that up until about 6 years ago, I was blonde."
Chet burst out laughing while the others tried to imagine Gage with blonde hair.
"I don't believe it." Roy said.
"Believe Pally." John smiled. "How bout you Roy?"
"Uh…well let's see, I didn't always want to be a Firemen, when I was growing up, I wanted to be a farmer."
"A farmer!?!?" John exclaimed. "You got to be kidding me!"
"Nope."
After the laughter died down, John looked up.
"Well, I think it's Mike's turn." He said.
Mike was about to refuse, but saw the look on the Cap's face. He gave in.
"Er…I guess you didn't know that I was adopted…"
He looked at the other guys, their eyes held sympathy.
"No, no it's fine. I got over it."
The others looked over at him to make sure and turned back to Johnny, who led the questions for another twenty minutes.
They were all laughing hysterically by the end of one of Chet's answers to who do you see your self with in the next twenty years. John had only asked Marco and Chet because the others were married. Chet went off on some model he had seen in a couple of magazines and said she was the perfect woman for him. The five other men laughed until tears started to flow.
Now Johnny took a more serious tone.
"This is the last question, and it will be the hardest to answer. You have to tell all of us, every single one of your problems or whatever may be stressing you out. No matter how bad it is. I'll pick someone at random and he will go first. Ok?"
Four heads nodded, but Mike crossed his arms. No way in hell was he talking.
"Let's see, who will go first….mmmm, I think it will be…Mike." John said.
"No thanks, Gage."
Every one looked up at Mike. Hoping he would share.
"Look, I trust you guys with my life, but I just…." He looked again, what was he saying? He could trust these men to pull him out of a burning building, but he couldn't trust them with his personal life? Something didn't add up.
"Ok, I really only have one thing. Ellie and I had a fight, a big one. She was upset about me working 24 hour shifts all the time and then coming home and sleeping most of the day. She said she wanted a husband, not a fireman. She said that if I didn't figure something out, she was gonna be gone by the time I got home tomorrow…" Mike lifted his head to see five concerned faces looking back.
"Mike…I had no idea…" The Captain began. The other men began to express their concern, when Mike stopped them.
"Guys, I'm ok, I think it was just a fight. She'll be there tomorrow. I know it." With a sullen grin, Mike got up and walked into the bay. He sat on the running board of his beloved fire engine. He knew the engine was nothing but a engine, but it was his engine. At least he could pretend it understood.
"What do I do? Do I quit the fire service, or quit my marriage?"
Silence was the only answer he got, but behind the squad where five men crouched down listening to the young engineer. They all exchanged looks of pure horror as Mike questioned himself.
Mike braced himself for what today might lead to. He was hoping to be called out to another structure fire that evening so he could spend some more time thinking. He knew that was a bad thought, because the more time he spent thinking about leaving the station the more he wanted to stay.
"This is where I belong." He said to himself.
The men got changed, and headed outside to their cars. They all said goodbye to one another, hopped in their cars, and left.
Roy was worried about Mike, when he left the station that morning the engineer had looked down right depressed. He wanted to call, but he knew Mike needed time to talk to his wife. If she was even there. So instead Roy called John.
"He…hello?" A sleepy Johnny answered.
"Oh, Hey sorry Junior didn't mean to wake you."
"It's ok Pally, I needed to wake up anyway. What did you need?"
"I'm worried about Mike. He doesn't handle things like this very well."
"You know, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe we should check on him."
"Yeah, but I'd hate to disturb him, if he is talking to his wife."
"Yeah…maybe a little later we could get the others and go over there? Around four? That way they might have gotten over this fight. Or…"
"Or he could be alone." Roy finished.
They called their other shift mates and all agreed to meet at Mike's house around four.
Roy hung up with Marco, and looked at his wife, Johann.
"What's going on?" His wife was concerned about Mike. She always felt that they guys of Station 51 were part of her family. Also, these were the men that made sure Roy came home after every shift, these men were her heroes, and she would do anything for them.
"Were going over to Mike's later to make sure he is ok." Roy said.
"Do you think Ellie really left?" She knew Ellie, and she also knew that she hated the fact that Mike was a fireman. Ellie was so scared that Mike wouldn't come home to her one day. Johann had always tried to help her see that the other men wouldn't let anything happen to him, but she never believed him.
"I don't know Jo. Hey…you never feel like that right?" He asked, the question had been burning through him all day and he needed to know.
"Me? Roy, I love you. That's all there is to it. I trust you to come home, but I also know that your job could take you away from me. I understand, plus, you're the only one who can fix the roof when it leaks." She smiled at her husband.
"Thanks Jo. I love you too."
At four o' clock that afternoon, Marco, Chet, Johnny, Roy, and Cap Stanley all pulled into the parking lot at Mike's apartment. They went up to apartment 4B and knocked. No answer.
"Mike? This is John. You there?"
No answer.
"Hey, I got a key, Mike told me to use it for emergencies. I guess this could be one." The Captain said. The others nodded in agreement. They opened the door to an empty apartment.
"MIKE?" Marco yelled, hoping for an answer.
"I don't think he's here Marco." Chet said.
"Where would he be?" John asked.
No one knew where Mike could have gone. They looked around. Roy found a note on the table, labeled Ellie.
"Hey, guys. Here's a note to Ellie. Should I read it?"
"Maybe it will tell us where he is." Marco said.
Roy opened the letter:
Ellie,
If you find this note, I'm hoping you came home to stay. When I got home to find you gone, I couldn't stay. I went for a drive; I hope I will be home tonight. I needed to think. I listened to you when you said you wanted a husband, not a fireman, but listen, being a fireman is all I have, the guys at the station are all I have for a family besides you. I love you, but I understand if you can't stay. Just please, think about it. If you do stay, I'll make a bigger effort to spend time with you. I'll be home soon, I love you. Mike.
Roy had tears in his eyes, Mike really loved his wife. The other men had finished reading and were deep in thought.
"What does he mean by 'I'll hopefully be home tonight'?" Chet asked.
"I don't know, but I really wish I knew where he was." Hank said.
"Yeah." Marco said.
"Well, I don't thin Ellie is coming back today, maybe we should stay and wait for him, so he doesn't come home to an empty apartment." Johnny suggested.
"Yeah, I'll call Jo and tell her I'm staying." Roy said.
Roy and Hank called their wives to tell them the situation, while the others sat on the couch to await the missing engineer.
It was six o' clock and Mike had still not arrived. The guys were getting antsy. They had asked Mike's neighbors if they had seen him leave, and none of them had seen him since that morning.
"Where the hell is he?" Chet asked. Just like the others, he had asked that question multiple times.
"He wouldn't miss a shift. Would he?" Roy asked.
"Mike? He would never. Unless he physically couldn't come." Johnny answered. He got more worried thinking about that possibility. What if something had happened?
"You don't think…" John said again.
"No, he wouldn't hurt himself on purpose. He just wouldn't" Hank said, defending his best friend.
"Yeah, your right."
"Well, what do we do? We can't all miss tomorrows shift." Roy said.
"Let's all go home, get some sleep, and go to work. If he doesn't show tomorrow, the squad can run by here, and see if he came back." Hank said, putting on his captain's voice.
"What if he isn't here?" Johnny asked.
"I don't know Pal…I just don't know."
The next day, they weren't surprised to see that Mike wasn't at work. The squad made their way to his apartment. With the key borrowed from Cap, they went into his apartment. The letter was still on the table. Neither Mike or Ellie had been home the night before.
"What do we do now?" John asked.
"I don't know Junior, but I think Mike is in trouble, he would never miss a shift unexplained."
They got back to the station and told the rest of the crew.
"We could tell the police, but the might not consider him missing just yet. We might have to wait a couple of days to get them to help." Cap said.
"Mike might not have a couple of days…." Marco said.
"What if…" Johnny started but was interrupted by the alarm going off.
"Station 51, in place of Station 110…Car over the hill…154 Angel Hill Road, 154 Angel Hill Road…Cross street Blaine...Time out 11:18."
"Station 51, KMG365" Captain Stanley said, acknowledging the call. He handed the slip to the squad and ran to the engine, where the replacement engineer sat. "This won't be the same…" Captain Stanley thought to himself.
Arriving at the scene, the men looked over a steep hill. About a quarter mile down was a car blowing smoke.
"Cap, were gonna have to repel down!" John yelled.
"Alright, we hold you up here, get ready."
John and Roy got ready to repel down to the car. They tied themselves off and hopped over the hill. About halfway down, John stopped.
"Hey, Roy?" he said.
"Yeah?" he had stopped beside his partner.
"Does that car look familiar to you?"
Roy looked at the car and gasped. It was Mike's car.
"CAP! IT'S MIKE!!" John yelled up to the rest of the crew.
The men up top froze, except for Captain Stanley. He ran over to the woman that had called it in.
"How long as the car been like this?" he asked her.
"I'm not sure, I was driving and saw the smoke, and when I looked and saw the car, I called you guys."
"Thanks" He ran back over to his crew to see how far along the rescue was.
Roy and John had reached that car. They looked in the window and saw Mike, unconscious, slouched over the steering wheel. They opened the door and John got in the seat next to Mike.
"Pulse is slow and weak, but he's alive." He said.
Roy grabbed his HT and called to the engine.
"Engine 51, this is DeSoto, we need a stokes down here, also set up our biophone and drug box."
"10-4 DeSoto." The replacement engineer said in to the mike. He called the instructions to the Cap, and the rest of the engine crew.
Down below, Mike was beginning to stir.
"Mike? Mike? Can you here me?" John asked.
"Johnny…?" Mike said, barely audible, to anyone but Johnny.
"Yeah Mike it's me, were trying to get you out of here, can you tell me what hurts?"
The question was no use since Mike had passed out again.
"Roy? He's out again. Where is the stokes?"
"It's here, are you ready to transport?"
"I can't tell if he has any spinal injuries, so were gonna have to keep him straight, but other than that, I'm ready."
The two men worked to get their friend out of the car. Finally, after about ten minutes of slowly moving Mike over to the stokes, they got him hooked up and on his way up the hill.
The ambulance had arrived, and they helped the engine crew get him over to where there paramedics would work on him.
As Roy and John got up over the hill, Marco suddenly screamed at them to get over there.
"JOHN, ROY, HE STOPPED BREATHING!!" He screamed.
John and Roy ran over, John started CPR, while Roy got the defibrillator ready.
"One, Two, Three, Four…Clear?" Roy asked.
"Clear!" John said.
With a big thump, Mike's body jolted as 400 watts of electricity ran through him.
"Alright, He's back." Roy said.
Johnny hooked him up to and EKG machine and contacted Rampart.
"Rampart, this is Squad 51, how do you read?" John said over the Biophone.
"10-4 Squad 51, we read you loud and clear." Dixie McCall said on the other end.
"Rampart, we have a 28 year old fireman, car was over the cliff, he stopped breathing but we defibrillated and is now in breathing will the help of O2. Stand by for vitals. Be advised the victim is Mike Stoker." Dixie gasped, wasn't Mike suppose to be on shift? What about the others?
Dixie called for Dr. Brackett. When he arrived, 51 was just giving the vitals.
"Rampart, BP 110/60, Pulse 78, Respirations are 12."
"What do we got Dix?"
"Mike Stoker, He was found in a car over the cliff, I don't think he's doing so well."
"Stoker? Did he take a shift off? What about the others?" he asked, equally worried about the engineer.
"There are no other victims." She replied.
"Rampart, go ahead with IV, Ringers Lactate. Are there any other injuries?"
"10-4 Rampart IV with Ringers Lactate. And affirmative Rampart, external injuries include, broken left leg, broken ribs, a gash on his forehead, broken right arm, and a gash on the left side of his stomach. We suspect internal bleeding." Johnny replied. He looked up at his shift mates who had over heard what he had said to Rampart. They new it wasn't looking good.
"Squad 51, is there any sign of concussion? And is there is any discharge from the ears?"
"Affirmative on the concussion, Negative on the discharge."
"Start another IV, D5W wide open in the other arm, stabilize and transport."
"10-4 Rampart."
Roy and Johnny splinted and got Mike ready for transport. They were almost ready when the EKG started to alarm them.
"B-VIB!" Roy said.
"Rampart, patient is in B-Vib." John said to Rampart.
"Defibrillate!"
"One…Two…Three…Clear?" Roy Counted.
"Clear!"
Roy gave him another jolt.
"Ok, normal heartbeat." He announced, all five men breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's get him to the hospital." John said.
They loaded Mike into the ambulance and made their way to Rampart.
Once at the hospital, Dixie sent them to treatment room 3. The doctors took control, and the paramedics were happy to have their friend in good hands. They went out into the waiting room to find the others waiting for news.
"We all took off, our replacements are coming to get the engine and squad." Captain Stanley said.
"Ok." Roy and Johnny said, they knew the guys wanted information on Mike, but they didn't have any.
"How…How is he?" Chet asked.
"He's badly shook up, Chet, I don't know, it's up to the doctors now." Roy replied.
Chet started to break down, the other men huddled up near him, they all needed each other right.
"What was he doing? He is the best driver I know, I trust him with life every shift, it's not like him to drive recklessly." Marco said.
"He was upset, Marco, he just wasn't thinking straight." Roy replied.
"Should some one call Ellie?" Chet asked.
"We wouldn't know where to find her." Johnny said sullenly.
Minutes passed and the group of him sat in a close huddle, leaning on a each other for support. They were all thanking god that they weren't alone through this. Suddenly Marco stood up.
"I can't just sit here. He could be dead right now and we wouldn't know! I need to know what's wrong!"
Johnny stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"We will know Marco. We have to stay calm though. The doctors are doing everything possible and probably more, they all want Mike to live as much as we do. We just have to stay calm."
Marco sat back down and let tears flow, Chet put his arm around him and they both cried together. Roy got up and started to leave.
"I…I have to call Jo." He was almost in tears himself. Hank got up and joined him, he needed to call his wife, Emily.
Ten minutes later they returned. The other men were still huddled and they joined them.
"Jo and Emily want to come here. Is that ok with everyone?" Hank asked.
"I think we need them." Johnny said. Jo and Emily were like older sisters to him, he needed them.
Doctor Brackett stepped out of treatment room 3. He braced himself and walked into the waiting room. There he saw five men sitting in a circle, some were crying and some were just staring off into the distance. He sighed.
Roy looked up.
"Is he…?" he asked. The others looked up, awaiting an answer.
"He is stable for now. He needs emergency surgery. Do you know where his wife is? She needs to sign consent forms."
"She's gone, but I'm his next of Kin." Hank said.
"Ok, come with me." Brackett said, not wanting to pry about the whereabouts of Ellie.
Hank got up and left to sign the papers. As he was gone Jo and Emily arrived.
"Where's Hank?" Emily asked.
"He's signing consent forms for Mike's surgery." Roy said. Emily rushed to the admissions desk to find her husband. Johann sat next to her husband and put her hands in his.
"How is he?" She asked.
"Not to good." Johnny replied.
Hank and Emily got back and joined the circle.
"Have you guys eaten anything?" She asked. The men shook their heads, none of them were really hungry, but this was the way Emily felt she could help.
"We'll go get you something." Jo said standing up.
The girls left and left the men to await more news.
This time Doctor Early came to see the distraught group of firemen.
"Hey guys, how are you holding up?" he asked, noting the tissues and puffy eyes.
"Not to good." Chet replied.
"Well, Mike is in surgery, but I thought I would come and explain what's going on."
"That would be nice." Marco said.
"Ok, well Mike went into B-Vib again after you guys left the room," he said motioning to Roy and Johnny, "we got him back, but he had to be put on a breathing machine. We took x-rays and he has a broken leg and arm and five broken ribs. He has a lot of internal bleeding. More than we first thought. We just rushed him up to surgery where they'll close the bleeds."
"Will he make it?" Hank asked.
"He lost a lot of blood; we don't know how long he was in the car before he was found. He might have lost too much. So far we have given to bags, and he will get another one after surgery. If he pulls through the surgery, he'll have a better chance."
Another two hours passed. Emily and Jo had gone home to take care of kids, the men hadn't moved since Doctor Early left.
"Shouldn't he be out by now?" Marco asked for the third time.
"It depends on how big the bleed is and if they have any…trouble. " Roy said.
"Shouldn't someone come out and tell us what is going on, the silence is killing me." Chet said.
"Sometimes no news is good news." Johnny said. He felt bad for the rest of the engine crew; John and Roy at least knew some of what the doctors were telling them, the rest of them didn't know as much.
"Sometimes?" Chet asked.
"Yeah…sometimes." Johnny said.
Minutes passed and there was still now news.
"You know, I remember when Mike saved my life." Johnny said, he needed to think about something else, and he knew the other guys were about to start pacing the floors, so he decided to tell a story about Mike.
"Really? When?" Roy said, catching on to what Johnny was doing."
"Well it was about a year ago, around the Fourth of July…" Johnny started his story.
"Hey Mike, What are you doing for the fourth?"Johnny asked.
"Nothing much, Gage, I think me and Ellie are going to go to the park and watch the fireworks. You?"
"I think I'm going to take that new nurse over at Rampart out." John said with one of his trademark Gage smiles.
Mike rolled his eye, Gage and his nurses. Mike's thought were interrupted by the alarm going off.
"Station 51, Structure Fire, 563 Eagle Street, 563 Eagle Street, Cross Street Bengal, Time out 16:04"
The engine and squad rolled out and made their way to the structure fire. As they arrived at the scene they found a house fully involved, Captain Stanley called for another alarm.
"I want two inch and a half's," He ordered, "Chet, Marco, take one to the south side. John, Roy take one to the west side."
A man ran up to the Captain he had ash all over his face.
"My wife! My wife! She's still in there!"He yelled.
"Where is she?" The Captain asked.
"The second floor."
"John! Roy! There's a woman up on the second floor! Conduct a search." He yelled to his paramedic team.
"All right Cap! Were gonna need a third man to be on a hose there is a lot of fire up there!" Roy yelled back.
"Take Stoker!" He said back.
Then to Mike he said, "Stoker go with John and Roy! I'll man the gages."
Stoker nodded and got ready to enter the blazing building. He took a hose with him and made his way to the entrance.
"Lead the way Mike." John said.
They made their way to the staircase that was covered in fire, Mike shot water on it and soon it was safe enough to walk on. Once on the second floor they decided to split up.
"Mike, go with John, I'll search down this hallway where there is less fire." Roy instructed.
"Be careful Roy." John said.
"Same to you."
Johnny and Mike walked down the hallway, opening doors and yelling for the missing woman. They came to the last door in the hallway when they heard Roy yelling that he had found the woman. Mike and John ran down the hall to assist Roy. The woman was unconscious and suffering from smoke inhalation.
"I got her, let's get out of here." Roy said. Mike and Roy walked down the staircaseand out of the building. Roy noted that the woman had stopped breathing.
"Johnny! Get the defibrillator! Johnny? Where is he?" Roy said.
"I think he's still in the building!" Mike said.
"Ok, Cap get me the defibrillator and the O2, Mike go and find Johnny." Roy instructed.
Mike ran back into the burning building, retracing his steps. He went up the staircase, hoping it would still be there when he got back.
"JOHNNY?!" Mike yelled.
"Mike?*Cough Cough* Mike?" Came a weak voice.
A beam had fallen in front of Johnny, trapping him a small place engrossed in flames. His SCBA gear was off, meaning he had run out of air.
"Hold on, Johnny!" Mike yelled back. He took the fire extinguisher he had brought with him and put the beam out. He moved the beam aside. Johnny had passed out. Mike put him over his shoulder and made his way back outside. Luckily, the staircase had held and he could get out. He ran out and put Johnny beside the other victim.
"Put him on O2, Mike." Roy said.
After about five minutes, Johnny came to.
"Roy…? Mike…?"
"It's ok Junior, Mikey here got you out on time." Roy smiled.
John looked up at Mike.
"Thanks Mike." He said.
"Well, Gage I couldn't let you miss your date." He laughed.
"I think Mike as saved all of our butts on one or more occasions"Hank said. Remembering when the engineer had saved him and Roy from burning to a crisp at a structure fire.
"The thing is, I don't think I ever really thanked him, you know. I hope I get the chance." Marco said. He had once repelled down a cliff to assist Roy and Johnny, when his line broke from where it was tied, Mike had almost thrown himself off the cliff to grab the line.
"I think you'll get the chance." Dixie said. She had overheard the last bit of Johnny's story and the other men's confessions. These men really cared about each other.
Startled, the five men stood.
"Is he? Is he ok?" Chet was almost afraid to ask.
"He's in the ICU recovering, but we think he has a good chance." She smiled, all the men slapped high fives and gave each grateful hugs.
"When can we see him?" Hank asked.
"Soon. There just getting him settled now."
"Thanks, Dix." Johnny said.
Thirty minutes later, Dixie returned.
"Ok, he is still in a coma, but you can. Do you want to go into together or apart?" She already knew the answer but she had to ask.
"Together." Roy said.
They walked into Mike's room. He was still hooked up to a ventilator, but he looked better. Captain Stanley walked right up to and put his hand on his, the other men lined the wall. Hank needed the space to be with his best friend.
"Hey there buddy. Listen, I know you feel like crap right now, but we're all here for you. We've been here all day and I doubt were gonna leave without you. So, don't feel alone, you never will be." The strong Captain had tried his hardest to stay calm all day, but seeing his best friend lying there looking helpless got to him, and got to him bad. He broke down. The others rushed to his side. They all looked at the fallen engineer. Chet was the first to speak.
"Hey, Mikey, It's Chet. Just thought I would make sure you know I'm here. Oh, and by the way, the phantom gives his condolences. The guys laughed, they all were very familiar with Chet's alter-ego, "The Phantom."
"Hey, Mike. It's Marco. Listen, I'm probably going to say this a million times, but thanks for always having my back."
"Hey, it's Roy. The Cap's right, we're not gonna leave with out you."
"Hey, it's Johnny. Remember that nurse I took out a couple of years ago, on the fourth? Well, she's your nurse. Man, you lucky."
Roy smirked at John's statement.
Throughout the night, there was always one man from Station 51 at Mike's side. The other's would go get some food, or fall asleep on an available cot. At 3 o' clock the next morning, Marco came running out of Mike's room. Most of the guy's had passed out in waiting room chairs.
"HE'S WAKING UP!!" He yelled in excitement.
The four other men, jumped five feet in the air at the rude awakening, but recovered quickly. They ran to Mike's room, everything was still.
"Are you sure Marco?" Chet asked.
Doctor Brackett was in the room, checking vitals and other things.
"He is Chet. Mike is beginning to wake up. He might not be aware of what's going on so give him some time. By the way, I'm going to remove the tube; he is breathing on his own now."
The men left the room, while Brackett took the tube out. They were invited back in. Captain Stanley went over to his side.
"Mike? Can you hear me? It's Hank Stanley."
Mike's eyes twittered, and he moved his fingers.
"Mike all the guy's are here. Can you open your eyes?"
Mike moved his eyes again, and then he opened them. He wasn't sure where he was or who was leaning over him, but the voice was familiar.
"Mike?" He looked over, another familiar voice, but it didn't match his face.
Then his eyes focused. Surrounding him were the familiar faces of his shift mates. They all had huge smiles on their faces.
"Hiya Mikey." Johnny said, with a Gage smile.
"H…Hi. What…Happened?" Mike's voice was weak and raspy, but at least he could talk.
"You were in a car accident. Do you remember?" Roy asked, putting on his paramedic voice.
"No…" Mike answered.
"You're going to be ok, though. Don't worry." John said noting Mike had started to breathe a little harder. His breathing softened.
Doctor Early came into the room.
"Well, Mike I see your back in the land of the living." He smiled.
"I guess so." Mike said.
Doctor Early checked him over and took vitals.
"Looking good Mike." He said.
"Hopefully better than I feel." He said, with an attempt of a smile. Then all of a sudden something dawned to Mike.
"Where's Ellie?" he asked.
No one answered him.
"Come on guys, where is she."
"We couldn't find her." Hank said sullenly.
"You mean she never came back?"
"I'm sorry Mike."
Mike went silent. Tears came to eyes.
Dixie entered the room; she went silently over to Roy.
"Hey Roy, the police called, they said they were looking for Mike. I told them he was here. It seems someone put him as missing. Do you know anyone who doesn't know what happened?" She whispered.
"No…wait…Ellie doesn't know."
"I think you should call Mike's apartment." She suggested.
Roy and Johnny went out and called Ellie.
"Hello?" A woman's voice answered.
"Hi, Ellie? This is Roy DeSoto."
"Oh! Roy, did you hear about Mike? He's missing; I don't know where he is."
"Ellie, it's ok, he's here at Rampart. He had an accident. He's doing better, He's asking for you."
"OH! Roy, I came home and saw the note, and then I called the station and they said that he had never showed for work. I was so worried."
"It's ok. He's fine. But he really needs to see you."
"Yes, I'll come right away." She said, hanging up before even saying goodbye.
"Well, she's on her way." Roy said after hanging up.
"Should we tell Mike?" John asked.
"Defiantly." Roy said.
They went back to Mike's room. He was still upset and the guy's were doing everything they could to keep him calm.
"Hey Mike. We have some good news." John said.
"What? Their going to release me to an empty apartment?" Mike replied in a nasty tone.
"Well, if that's what you want. I guess Ellie could stay with me." John said with a smile.
"What?"
"We just called her, she's on her way." Roy said to the dumbfounded engineer.
"She's coming?! How?"
"She went home and found the note. When she called the station and found out you weren't there, she filed a missing person's report. The police called Rampart, and they told them you were here. That's when we called Ellie. She was really worried."
Thirty minutes past, when the door flew open.
"Mike!" Ellie said.
"Ellie?" Mike had dozed off, and was a little groggy.
"Come on guys let's give these two some space." Hank said.
They filed out into the waiting room.
"Man, I hope everything is ok in there." Chet said after about an hour.
"I'm sure there're working everything out." Roy replied.
Two weeks later
"Hey Mike, ready to go home?" Dixie asked.
"You betcha." He replied.
"Well come on then, but remember no fighting fires until your normal doctor clears you."
"I promise." He sighed; he had already been given that lecture by Captain Stanley.
"I here you have a party waiting for you."
"Yeah, the guy's are giving me a "welcome home" party."
Ellie walked into the waiting area.
"Hey Sweetie, ready to go home?" she asked.
Mike nodded, gave Dixie the release papers and motioned to get from the wheelchair.
"Ah, No you don't Mike Stoker, you get wheeled out. Don't even try to tell me you don't know the rules around here." Dixie said.
"Yes, Ms. McCall." He said, dropping his head like a punished schoolboy.
Two Months Later
Mike Stoker walked into Station 51. He saw his beloved fire engine and the squad, waiting for whatever today might bring.
"It's good to be home." He said aloud.
"I missed you Mike." A voice came from behind the engine. Chet had put on his best impression of a girly voice to freak the engineer out. Mike walked around to find him crouched over trying to conceal his laughter.
"Chet, I thought you said I would never have to deal with the "Phantom?"" he asked.
"Ahhh, my friend, but you were in a coma when I said that. The Phantom tricked you again."
Mike smiled, some things never change. Chet and Mike walked into the dayroom and found the other shift mates already changed and awaiting roll call.
"Hey Mike, I thought you were gonna be late for your first day back." Johnny smirked.
"Not a chance, Gage."
"Well, go get changed before you have to run a call in your street clothes, you to Kelly." Captain Stanley said.
Mike went to his locker are put on his uniform. He paused looking at his badge.
"You alright pal?" Captain Stanley had come in to announce roll call.
"Yeah, just glad to be putting this thing on again." He said.
"We're glad to, now come on, roll call 2 minutes."
As Mike went in to the bay for roll call he thought about how lucky he was to have a crew like this, to have friends like this; friends that would do anything for him. He looked at the men standing in a line, they smiled at him as he got in to his place.
"Hey Guys? I just wanted to say thanks, for everything." Mike said.
"Anytime Mike, that's what families like us are for." Roy said.
Mike thought about what he said, these men were his family. They were his brothers, and that made him smile. He could always count on his brothers.
The End