Caught In a Riot

by Rescue45

Johnny and Roy are called to a prison to treat an injured inmate. A riot breaks out and they are caught in the middle.

I would like to thank Sandybeliever for her help with this story. I hope you enjoy this adventure with our favorite paramedics. Johnny and Roy respond to a prison to treat an injured inmate when a riot breaks out.

Caught In a Riot

Chapter 1

The Call

It was about 10:30 and very dark outside and the guard at the gate shined a light on the squad as Roy pulled up. The guard told Roy to park in the front of the building and someone would meet them there. Roy drove around to the front of the well-lit building. Johnny pointed when he saw another guard standing outside waving at them.

As Roy and Johnny got out of the squad, Johnny started to open the side compartment containing the supplies they would need to treat the injured man inside.

"You can't take anything inside with you, sorry guys but that's the rules."

Johnny removed his hand from the latch, "What?"

"How are we supposed to treat the man if we can't take in our supplies?" Roy asked as he gave Johnny a 'what the heck' look. Johnny shrugged his shoulders at Roy. He didn't know either.

"We can't let you bring in anything."

Roy opened the compartment and asked, "What about the radio link to the hospital? We have to be able to talk to the doctors at Rampart."

"The injured man, Terry Reynolds, is in the infirmary. You can use the supplies and phone in there."

"That's all well and good, but we know what we have in here. We don't know anything about your infirmary and dispatch said your doctor isn't here." Johnny said, protesting not having access to his own equipment.

"What can I say, guys, that's the rules."

Roy put his hand on Johnny's shoulder, "Come on, partner, let's check it out."

The guard led them through a hallway of what appeared to be closed office doors. Johnny was expecting to see inmates behind closed cell doors but he just saw an empty hallway with closed wooden doors.

The guard led them to about the middle of the hallway and unlocked the door that opened to the infirmary. When they entered the room they saw a man who looked to be about twenty-five years old with a stab wound in the abdomen. He was still bleeding and in a lot of pain.

Johnny looked around the room for bandages and finally found some in a locked cabinet. "I need to get in this cabinet, where's the key?"

"I don't know," was the reply he received from the guard. He didn't seem to care either.

The patient was moaning in pain and he was curled up in the fetal position. Johnny was at his patient's side applying pressure on the patient's wound using his bare hands. His voice sounded angry as he said, "We need to get this bleeding under control or this man's going to die. Now, open that cabinet or let us get our own supplies!"

The guard took his night stick out of its holder on his belt and used it to break the glass. Roy opened the cabinet the rest of the way and retrieved the needed dressings and bandages. He handed the supplies to Johnny who used them to control the bleeding. He looked at his patient and said, "Now, you just relax. You're going to be just fine."

Roy found a sphygmomanometer and took the patient's blood pressure, "Johnny, it's 90/60 and irregular, pulse is 140." Roy looked at the guard, "We need to contact the doctors at Rampart. He's going to need an IV and some pain medication." Johnny elevated the man's feet using a pillow.

"Sure, use that phone over there. You'll need to dial an eight to get an outside line."

Roy looked at the guard, "Where are the IV supplies and what about pain medication?"

"I don't know. I don't work in here."

"You called us to treat this man and to do that, we need supplies." Roy said sounding as angry as Johnny had been. Their patient could die in front of him without proper treatment and he knew it.

Roy called Rampart on the phone and it was Dixie who answered. He told her about the predicament they were in and that they did not have access to their own supplies. Dixie told Roy to hold and she would get Dr. Brackett on the phone. She knew Kelly Brackett could be quite persuasive when he needed to be, and she had the feeling he could convince the guard to let Roy and Johnny use their own supplies.

When Dr. Brackett got on the phone he requested to speak to the guard. Roy gladly handed the phone over to the guard. He knew the good doctor was going to give the man an earful. Johnny clenched his teeth as he tried not to grin when he heard the guard say, "Yes, sir, Doctor Brackett." The guard handed the phone back to Roy and said "Okay, you two win. If one of you will come with me I'll help you bring in your stuff."

Dr. Brackett told Roy to start an IV with ringers and give the patient 10 mg of MS for the pain and to transport as soon as possible.

"I'll go get our supplies." Roy said and Johnny gave him a very satisfied 'we won' look.

Chapter 2

The Takeover

Jose Ortiz is a twenty-three-year-old inmate who is in prison for killing a man in a gang related grocery store hold up. He has been a gang member since he was twelve and is a very violent, angry young man. He doesn't seem to care about anyone or anything. He has been in prison for two years now and made friends with Dominic Castillo on his first day. The two men had been planning to start a riot in the prison for several months now. Their plan was to escape during the chaos after the start of the riot. They had enlisted and trusted only three other inmates, Manny Risko, Fernando Cruz and his brother Leandro. All five of these men were on the same ward and all their hard work and planning was about to pay off tonight. The five men had all earned the privilege of being allowed time in the library. They were allowed three hours a week and tonight they were all in the library at the same time. This was the chance they were waiting for. At 10:30 the guard came to escort them to their cells, Jose and Dominic overpowered him and Jose grabbed his gun and keys. The guard had a master key to every cell in the prison. Jose handed the keys to Manny who proceeded to free a couple of inmates. Fernando hit the guard on the back of the head with the butt end of his gun, knocking him out. He then put the guard in a cell. Manny locked the cell door and handed the master key to one of the other inmates.

With the other prisoners now on the loose, the five knew all they had to do was make it to the laundry room. They had the key to the laundry room which was at the far back corner of the building. It had its own exit door that led outside. Once they made it that far, all they had to do was climb the fence and run the short distance to the woods. A member of Jose's old gang would have a car waiting for them and they would be home free.

The rest of the freed inmates were running through the prison releasing the others from their cells. Some of the inmates were starting fires with lighters they stole from the guards. Many of the guards were beaten and thrown into cells; others were shot and killed or left for dead. Some of the guards were able to shoot some of the inmates. Alarms were starting to sound throughout the whole prison to let all the guards know there was an uprising in progress.

Roy opened the door that led to the hall to retrieve the supplies from the squad and to see if the ambulance was there yet. He could hear an alarm sounding and he heard gunshots. The guard tried to close the door quickly but Roy was shot and was thrown against the wall. Roy yelled grabbing his right thigh with both hands as he slid to the ground.

Johnny yelled, "Roy!" and jumped up to help him. He was met by one of four inmates pointing a gun right at his head. Johnny noticed that there were several prisoners running down the hallway breaking into the offices, yelling and screaming obscenities. He saw a couple of prisoners carrying or dragging desks and file cabinets from some of the offices and blocking the door to the main entrance of the prison. He saw a couple of guards lying on the ground that were obviously dead. He thought that's where the prisoner got the gun that was now being pointed at him. The whole scene was a lot for Johnny to take in. He took a deep breath and looked at his partner, his best friend, lying on the floor bleeding to death. Johnny barely noticed the sound of the alarm that was blaring throughout the prison. His focus was on his partner and the amount of blood he was losing every second that he was delayed getting to him. He looked desperately at the guard that brought them here and the prisoner that held the gun on him.

The guard held his hands up and calmly said, "Bull, they're here to help Terry. They don't have anything to do with the prison."

Bull took the guard's gun belt and nodded. Johnny bent down to check on Roy. He had been shot in the right leg and from the amount of bleeding he could tell the bullet hit the femoral artery. Johnny yelled for the guard to get him a trauma dressing as he put his hand on Roy's leg in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The guard grabbed the requested supplies from the cabinet and handed them to Johnny. Johnny quickly applied the dressing and bandage to Roy's wound. The bleeding slowed down after the second dressing had been applied.

The guard helped Johnny pick Roy up and put him on one of the beds inside the infirmary. Bull and the inmates that were with him followed Johnny and the guard into the infirmary. Once inside they closed the door.

Johnny knew Terry and Roy both needed IVs and they needed them now. He looked at the guard and told him to watch Roy's leg and let him know if it started bleeding worse, "Roy, they've got to have some IV supplies here someplace. I'll find them." Johnny looked around the room and although the cabinets were locked, he was able to see their contents and all he could see was basic first aid supplies. Then he noticed a door that he hadn't seen before. It was locked. Johnny looked at Bull with a pleading look on his face, "Please, get this opened. I think the supplies I need are in there."

Bull stood there for a minute debating. He wasn't the one who started this riot but he wasn't sure if he wanted to help the 'other side' either. He glanced at Terry who was lying on one of the beds and he was in a lot of pain. Terry was an inmate and Bull wondered if Johnny was just going to help his partner or would he be willing to help an inmate too. "Will you help him too?"

"Of course I will. I'm certainly not going to just watch him die. He's the reason we're here to begin with."

Bull used the gun he had taken from the guard, shot the door knob and the door swung opened. Johnny walked in the small room and saw what looked like a small operating room. There was a big oxygen tank in the corner of the room, an operating bed, a big light above the bed, and he saw another cabinet. This cabinet was different. It was about five feet tall, made out of metal and there was a Master lock on it. He saw a key hanging on a wall. He grabbed the key, "Please, please let the supplies be in there." He said as he used the key to open the cabinet. The key worked on the lock and Johnny opened the cabinet. He grinned as he saw all the supplies he had been looking for. He grabbed two bags of IV solution containing ringers and the rest of the supplies he would need to start IVs on Terry and Roy. He noticed there were a couple of vials of MS that he would need too.

By the time he was at Roy's side, he was unconscious. Johnny knew Roy lost a lot of blood and he took his vital signs quickly. Roy's blood pressure was dangerously low at 90/60 and his pulse was 50. Roy was already showing signs of shock. Johnny had permission from Rampart to start an IV and administer 10 mg of MS on Terry and he knew Dr. Brackett would approve the same for Roy. He started Roy's IV first because his condition was more critical than Terry's. He gave Roy 10 mg of MS then he started an IV on Terry and gave him 10 mg of MS.

Chapter 3

I'll Treat Everybody or No One

After Johnny finished working on Roy and Terry he heard more shots being fired outside the infirmary. After the noise stopped, Johnny slowly opened the door a crack and saw a guard and an inmate lying in the hallway, each in a puddle of blood. He looked up and down the rest of the hallway and didn't see anyone. He started moving toward the men lying on the ground but Bull grabbed his arm and said, "Only the inmate."

Johnny jerked his arm back and said, "Look, I'll treat everyone or I won't treat anyone." He knew he was taking a chance that he would not be allowed to continue to treat Roy but he also knew that Bull wanted the injured inmate treated. Bull nodded and Johnny cautiously walked to the first man looking up and down the hallway as he approached him. He knelt down, felt for a pulse on the guard and not finding one he took a deep breath and went onto his next patient. The inmate had a good strong pulse and Johnny said, "He's alive! Get me a gurney." As if they were used to taking orders, two of the inmates went in the infirmary and wheeled out one of gurneys. Johnny directed two of the inmates to put this patient on the gurney.

The guard started to help him wheel the gurney inside the infirmary when Johnny noticed for the first time that there were now ten inmates standing around him. Some of them had weapons, including, guns, and prison shanks. He pretended not to notice them. As they moved the inmate into the infirmary Johnny said to the guard, "I never introduced myself. I'm Johnny and my partner is Roy."

"I'm Steve Milner and that there is Bill Jenkins, better known as Bull."

Johnny grabbed another trauma dressing, grabbed the nearby inmate's hand and put in on the injured man's arm, "Hold this right here. I want you to apply pressure on it until I tell you to stop." Johnny went to the cabinet and grabbed a couple of trauma dressings and two triangular bandages. When he checked the wound, Johnny notice it was just a graze but it was bleeding pretty badly so he used one of trauma dressings and a two inch roll of gauze to hold it in place. Then he used one of the triangular bandages to make a sling and tied the other around him to hold it all in place. The less the arm was moved, the less chance there was of it bleeding again.

Johnny was now starting to sweat. He had two critical patients and one that was not too serious. He had the feeling that he would have more patients soon.

Johnny started to pick up the phone and Bull yelled, "Now who the hell do you think you're calling?"

Johnny, still holding onto the phone said, "I need to call Rampart. I need to talk to a doctor so I can treat them."

As the inmates kept running down the halls letting others out, the guards were trying to hold them back. Shots were being fired from both sides. A lot of the inmates were taking the captured guards to the cafeteria where other inmates were holding them to use later as bargaining chips.

A group of inmates were taking some of the guards to the cafeteria and they saw a couple of injured inmates lying on the floor. One of the inmates recognized one of the men and said, "Hey, Mike what happened to you two?"

"I fell down the stairs running from one of the guards that was shooting at me. It's broken, I know it is. Jason here was shot in the arm. Help us Jackson, please."

"I saw a paramedic in the infirmary helping some injured guys, we can take them there."

Jackson got Jason on his feet then bent down to help Mike up with the assistance of another inmate, Paul Gomez. "Okay, let's get you two the infirmary." Jackson said as they headed down the hall.

Mike said, "I was going to just stay in my cell until someone set the mattress on fire."

It was slow going and took them about fifteen minutes to make their way to the infirmary. Along the way, they stepped over the bodies of two inmates and three guards that had been killed in the riot.

Johnny was still arguing with Bull about contacting the hospital when the door opened and four inmates came in and two of them were injured. One had a gunshot wound to his left shoulder and the other had a broken leg. Johnny told them to put the shoulder wound in the empty bed next to Roy and the broken leg in one of the other beds. Johnny wanted to keep the patients with the most serious injuries close together. It would make it easier for him to have them close.

Johnny looked at Jason's gunshot wound first. He had Steve hold pressure on it with the dressing and after the bleeding was stopped, Johnny put his arm in a sling and swath to immobilize it.

Johnny looked around the room and then at Bull, "I have five patients. I have to call and talk to a doctor or these men are not going to make it!"

Steve said, "Bull, let him call. You know the police are already on the way. I know you. You don't want any of these men to die."

"Go ahead; I'll give you five minutes."

"Five minutes, that's not long enough to…"

"Now you have four."

Johnny didn't say anything else to Bull. He quickly called Rampart and when Dixie answered he told her he needed to speak to Dr. Brackett immediately. By now, news of the prison riot was on the news and Dixie knew that Roy and Johnny were in the middle of it. She turned around and saw Dr. Brackett walking down the hall. She called to him and told him that Johnny was on the phone and it sounded urgent. Dr. Brackett picked up the phone and said "This is Dr. Brackett go ahead, Johnny."

Johnny quickly explained that he had five patients and Roy was one of them. He told Dr. Brackett what everyone's injuries were and that he was expecting more wounded. "The inmate that's in charge is only giving me five minutes to get permission to treat everyone. What I want…"

Dr. Brackett cut Johnny off, "Johnny, listen to me. You have my permission to perform any procedure that's within your scope of practice. Do what you need to and have been trained to do. I know that you know your protocols and will do anything you can to treat your patients to the best of your ability."

"Doc, I don't know when I can get them transported but I'll get them out of here as soon as possible and I will try to call back and give you an update when I can."

"Your five minutes is past up. Hang up the phone." Bull said and from the tone in his voice, Johnny knew he meant it. Johnny looked at the receiver and hung up. "Did you get your permission?"

"Yes."

"Good treat him first." Bull pointed at the inmate with the broken leg.

"No. I have to treat the more serious injuries first. A broken leg is not life threatening."

"I said him first."

Johnny was putting another dressing on the man with the gunshot wound to his left shoulder, "If I take the time to treat him, this man will probably die. I have to control his bleeding and start an IV on him. If you want to help him, put a pillow under his leg and tie a belt around it to hold it in place." Johnny looked at Steve, "How's Roy doing?"

"He's still bleeding but it's slowed down."

"Okay, thanks. Just keep pressure on it. I'll have to check him next." Johnny started an IV on the patient. "What's your name?" He asked giving the patient a reassuring smile.

"Jason Brooks."

"Well, Jason Brooks, you my friend are going to be just fine. I'm giving you some fluids to replace the blood you lost and some morphine to help with the pain. Now, I want you to just relax and take it easy." Johnny took his vital signs and wrote them down in the notebook he had been using.

"Why would you care about me? I'm just an inmate in a prison. You don't know what I've done to be in here."

"I'm not here to judge anyone. I just treat their injuries." Johnny patted his shoulder and gave him 5 mg of morphine. Johnny knew the usual dose of morphine was 10 mg but he didn't know exactly how much morphine he had on hand or how long it would have to last now that he had more patients.

Johnny went back to Roy to see if he was improving at all. Steve had let go of Roy's leg and the bleeding had slowed down but he was still bleeding. "Roy, hey, Roy, can you hear me, pal." Roy didn't move. Johnny applied another dressing on top of the two that were already in place. He found an Ace bandage in the cabinet and wrapped it around Roy's leg. That did the trick and the bleeding stopped. Johnny took Roy's vital signs and was glad to see his blood pressure and pulse were now almost normal.

Johnny's last patient was the man with the broken leg. The man said his name was Mike Markham. He said he fell running down some stairs and twisted his leg. Johnny looked at Mike's disfigured left leg and knew it was probably a broken tibia. Mike had good pulse, movement and sensation below the break but was in a lot of pain. Johnny readjusted the pillow splint carefully and used triangular bandages to stabilize it more and Mike said it felt better. Johnny told him not to move it at all. He gave him 5 mg of MS to help with the pain.

It had been a while since Johnny checked on Terry and with everyone else taken care of for the moment; he was able to go back to him. Terry's vitals were checked and his blood pressure was stable and he was feeling better. Johnny slowed Terry's IV to conserve what he had. It was now midnight. Johnny was getting very tired. He had not stopped since the whole thing began and he knew he was in for a long night. He went to the sink and washed his hands and face then he sat in a chair next to Roy's bed to rest a few minutes.

Chapter 4

Outside The Infirmary

As Johnny was checking his patients again, things were beginning to happen outside of the prison. There were about twenty-five people crammed in the small infirmary but so far everyone seemed pretty calm. Bull seemed to be in charge and he had been able to keep the rest of the inmates under control.

Within minutes of the start of the riot, the state and county police were on the way. Helicopters were circling over the prison looking for any prisoners that may have escaped. A command post was set up just outside the prison walls. A negotiator, Sam Morgan, had been called in. He was considered by everyone to be the best in his field. Sam knew from a call he had received from Dr. Brackett that there were at least five injured but he knew there would be more than that by the time it was over with. He had seen prison riots before and usually there are several injuries and fatalities. Sam tried calling the infirmary first because he knew people were in there. He wanted to know what the inmates wanted. He wanted to know what was needed to end this but no one answered. Bull refused to let anyone near the phone.

Johnny was mad that Bull wouldn't let him answer the phone. He thought it might be Dr. Brackett calling him with more orders. "Well that's just great! What if that's the doctor calling back with more orders. Maybe there's something else he wants me to do that he didn't tell me before." He was letting his temper get the best of him. He knew better than that but it was late and he had been working pretty much non-stop all day.

Bull got right in Johnny's face and said, "You said you had permission to treat them, so treat them."

"But I'm not a doctor. I need the doctor to tell me what he wants me to do."

"Well that's just too bad now ain't it, Johnny Boy? You'll just have to do the best you can do."

Johnny knew he wasn't getting anywhere with this argument so he went back to Roy's side. He looked at Roy as he sat back down in the chair, "I wish you could help me, buddy," he whispered.

Another group of inmates were in the cafeteria and they were holding some guards as hostages. They had beaten some of guards and two of the guards had been stabbed but their injuries were minor.

It had been hours since the riot began and the six guards that were left were trying to regroup and take back their prison. They were counting on help from the police outside and headed toward a secured area that had to be opened from inside with a key. It was near the laundry room. If they could make it there, they would be able to let other law enforcement personnel in. They could hear the yelling and screaming of the inmates running through the halls. They decided that it would be best if they split up into three teams of two and head for the laundry room using different routes. The teams went their separate ways after wishing each other good luck.

James Wilson and his partner, David Martinez, were going past the cafeteria when they heard a group of inmates coming toward them. They were able to get away by running down the hall and turning the corner before they were seen. They stepped over two inmates and a guard that had been shot and killed. When the group had passed, they went back and continued their way down the hallway past the cafeteria. They heard the noise inside the cafeteria and were very quiet as they snuck by the door. Just as they rounded the next corner, they were caught by a small group of inmates. James and David put their hands up and surrendered. James noticed that one of the inmates, Mason Stevenson, was holding his left arm. He knew Mason and had always been nice to him so he was hoping Mason wouldn't hurt him or David.

"Mason, you're hurt. I have keys to the infirmary, let me take you there and I'll help you." Mason just looked at James. James talked in a low-key even voice, "Mason, I've always been fair to you guys you know that. Let me help you now."

Mason looked at the other three inmates that were with him and said, "He's right guys. Wilson and Martinez have always been pretty decent to us." He looked at James Wilson, "We didn't start this. We don't want any part of it. You know we're not violent."

David said, "You guys want to help us end this mess before more people are killed?"

"You're trying to get to the laundry room aren't you?" Mason asked.

"Yes. If you help us you know we will help you when this is all over." James said looking at the four men.

Mason handed James his gun and said, "Okay, it's going to be over eventually anyway and you know we'll never win guys. I'm no killer." The other three, Jake Burns, Raymond Coates, and Gerald Adams handed their weapons to James and David.

"We took those from guards that were already dead. I swear we didn't shoot anyone."

"I believe you." David said as he took the guns from them. "Mason, let me see that arm."

Mason showed David his arm and said that it wasn't too bad. "What do you want us to do?" Mason asked David as he held his arm.

"For now just stick with us and hope we can make it to the laundry room," James said as they headed down the hall. Luck was not with them and they were caught. All of them were taken to the cafeteria where most of the other guards were now being held. Nothing was said about Mason and others helping them. James and David knew that keeping that a secret may work to their advantage. Mason and the others may be able to help them later.

In the cafeteria, there were now several inmates holding about fifteen guards hostage. None of the inmates knew who had started this riot and none of them had any idea how they were going to end it. But they were in charge of the prison and they enjoyed being in charge. One inmate, a big heavy set man who looked like a poster child for the meanest biker gang known to man, appeared to have taken charge of the cafeteria. His name was Lonnie Austin, but everyone called him Bullet. Bullet ordered the other inmates to handcuff the guards and make them sit on the floor farthest from the wall. He allowed a couple of the inmates to help those guards that had been injured.

When Mason, his friends, and the guards were brought to the cafeteria, David Martinez and James Wilson were handcuffed and made to sit with the other guards. David and James knew there was little hope that Mason and the others would be able to help them now.

After he had no luck reaching in the infirmary, Sam called the cafeteria. He knew eventually someone would go there in search of food. As luck would have it, Bullet finally answered the phone, "I assume this is the police?"

"I'm Sam Morgan and I am a negotiator. Tell me, what do you want me to call you?"

"Bullet. Just call me Bullet. And before this goes any further, I didn't start this whole mess."

"Okay, Bullet. That's good to know. Let's not worry about who started it or why, just yet. What can we do to end it? Is anyone hurt?"

"A couple guards have been stabbed and there are some other injuries. Ain't no one hurt bad in here, but I was told there is someone in the infirmary treating some pretty serious injuries."

Sam asked if Bullet would allow the injured to leave. Bullet told him that they were more than welcome to come in and get them but he knew the entrances had been blocked and he couldn't guarantee anyone's safety. He didn't know what the rest of the inmates were doing. Sam told Bullet that this riot was not going to end well for the inmates that didn't cooperate to put an end to it.

Chapter 5

More Injuries

As Sam and Bullet were negotiating, one of the other guard teams, Bob Maddox and Tom Rhodes, were going by the infirmary when they were spotted. An inmate threw a shank and hit Bob in the back hitting his right flank area. Tom was able to shoot one of the inmates in the lower leg. He gave up when a gun was pulled on him by another man. The inmates all knew there are drugs and supplies in the infirmary and the inmate that had been shot told Tom to open the door. Tom helped Bob to stand up and he unlocked the door to the infirmary. Tom was surprised to see all the people already there.

Johnny saw the shank in Bob's lower back area and said, "Put him here." He pointed to the last empty bed he had. Tom help Bob get on the bed. The six inmates followed Tom inside and Johnny saw blood dripping down the leg of the inmate that Tom had shot. He said, "Lean him against that wall." He pointed to the wall on his left. Johnny went to Bob and stabilized the shank that was sticking out of his right lower back. He took a deep breath. He now has seven patients and some of them were critical. He took Bob's vital signs and he was pretty stable. Johnny looked at the man who had been shot in the leg. He used a trauma dressing and bandage that easily controlled the bleeding. The man said his name was Bill Williams.

Bull noticed how Johnny seemed to care for each patient with same genuine concern and professionalism. Whether they were a guard or an inmate, the care they received was the same.

Roy was starting to wake up and Johnny went to his bedside. "Hey, Roy, it's gonna be okay. You're gonna be fine."

"Johnny, are you okay? What happened?" Roy as he tried to sit up. He had a horrified look on his face.

"Me? I'm fine." Johnny realized why the panicked looked on his partner's face. He had a lot of blood on his hands, arms and clothes.

"What happened, Johnny?"

"Relax, Roy. This isn't my blood."

"It's not? Then who's is it?"

"Well." Johnny was stumbling over his words not wanting to tell Roy most of it was his blood. "We kind of walked into a prison riot and you were shot."

"I was shot? Is all that mine?" He suddenly remembered vaguely feeling a pain in his leg and slowing falling to the floor. He reached his hand toward his thigh and realized it still hurt.

"No, not all of it."

"It hurts, Johnny."

Johnny put his hand on Roy's forehead and he was burning up. Johnny estimated that Roy's fever was about 102.

"I know it does, Roy. I gave you 10 mg of MS earlier to help. I can't give you any more just yet."

"Johnny, that bullet's got to come out. The infection's going to kill me if it doesn't."

All of the other patients were doing pretty well except for Roy. He was the worst by far. Johnny begged Bull to let the injured people go but Bull wasn't about to let anyone leave. Johnny had no way of knowing just how long this stand-off was going to last. It had already been about four hours since the whole thing began.

Roy tried to sit up when he heard others in the room moaning from pain. Johnny held him down, "Roy, you have to stay still. Listen to me, okay?" Roy nodded and saw the worried look in his partner's face. "You were shot in the right leg and I think it nicked an artery. If you move around it's going to start bleeding all over again. The bleeding is controlled, but it's not stopped completely. I've given you a bag of IV fluids already."

"How many injured?" Roy asked weakly.

"Seven. Two stabbings, one broken tibia, one gunshot in the lower leg, one in left shoulder, your gunshot in right leg, and one that's just a graze on the left arm."

"You got a link with Rampart?"

"No. I was able to talk to Dr. Brackett earlier but no contact now. Bull, the man in charge, won't let me call Rampart back. Dr. Brackett gave me permission to treat and do whatever I deemed necessary within my scope of practice."

"How are the supplies holding out?" He whispered so only Johnny would hear them.

"Not too good. I'm running low on normal saline and MS. Some of these people are really hurting." Johnny whispered back.

"I have an idea. Instead of MS use namasaline."

"Namasaline?"

"Think for a minute it will come to you." Roy grinned.

It dawned on Johnny what Roy was referring to. He nodded and grinned, "Okay, but you get the real stuff."

"Hey, think about taking this bullet out, will you. I'm serious, Johnny."

Johnny took the Ace bandage and dressings off Roy's leg and looked at the wound and he knew Roy was right. It was starting to get infected.

Roy held up his hand and Johnny took it, "Please, Johnny. I'll lose my leg or worse if you don't. You can dope me up so it won't hurt too much."

"That's not in my scope of practice, Roy, you know that." Johnny looked at Bull and asked him again if he would call the police and let at least some of the injured go before anyone else died, including Roy. Bull was not about to let anyone go.

"What about letting me call the hospital back? My partner needs that bullet out. That I need special permission to do."

As Bull was thinking about letting Johnny making another call, Johnny looked through the cabinet and took out the last vial of MS. He remembered what Roy had said about using namasaline. Terry was due for more MS and so were some of the others. He drew up some normal saline in a syringe. He bent down next to Terry and said, "Terry, I know you're hurting and I just found something better than the morphine I've been giving you. It's pretty strong so I'm only giving you a little bit. It's called namasaline." Johnny injected the normal saline into Terry's IV and asked, "This takes affect pretty quick. How do you feel now?"
Terry looked pretty calm and relaxed, "Hey, that does feel better thanks, Johnny."

Johnny shook his head and said, "See, I told ya. I wish I would have found this sooner."

Johnny made his rounds and gave everyone needing pain medication the namasaline. It worked on everyone except for Mike Markham, who had the broken leg. He gave him 5 mg of MS.

"Okay, I'll let you call the hospital back on one condition." Bull said as he watched Johnny care for the injured.

"What's that?" Johnny asked sounding unimpressed but glad for the chance.

"You only talk to the doctor about the patients. No cops and don't talk about anything else."

Johnny nodded as he picked up the phone and called Rampart. Dr. Brackett picked up the phone and Johnny told him about all of the patients then he told him about how Roy's leg looked and about him having a fever.

"Johnny, it sounds like it's infected."

"Yeah, I know. Doc, Roy wants me to take the bullet out."

Dixie saw the worried look he had on his face as she was walking by and stopped. "What is it, Kel?"

Doctor Brackett put his hand over the mouthpiece, "Johnny's on the phone. Roy's leg is infected and Roy wants him to remove that bullet."

"What do you think? Can Johnny do it?"

"Oh, he's quite capable. There's so many things that could go wrong if he does and so much at risk if he doesn't. I hate making these decisions."

Dixie smiled at him and said, "Somebody has to and that's why they pay you the big bucks."

Dr. Brackett nodded and uncovered the mouthpiece, "Johnny, how do you feel about this? Do you think you can do it?"

"I think I wish I was someplace else right now, that's how I feel. But I don't think the bullet is too deep, I think I can get it."

Dr. Brackett sighed and replied, "Okay, you have my permission to do what you can. Call me back when you're done, if you can."

Johnny hung up the phone and found a scalpel and the other supplies he would need to remove the bullet from Roy's leg in the small operating room.

Dr. Brackett hung up the phone and raised his eyebrows at Dixie. She knew what he was thinking and said, "Yeah, I'm that crazy, count me in."

"Okay, give me five minutes to get some supplies together."

"I'll let Joe know."

"Joe?"

"Are you kidding, if you leave him out of this he'll never speak to either of us again."

"I see your point." He reached out his hand and patted her shoulder, "I'll meet you and Joe at my car in five minutes."

Chapter 6

The Rescue

The five men, who started the whole riot and let the prisoners out of their cells were just about to reach the laundry room. They had taken the long way around to avoid running into any guards. They hid for a couple of hours to let the riot get really going so they would have a better chance of escaping. They thought that the police would be so distracted by the inmates actually rioting that they could just simply sneak out the back door. Four and a half hours had now passed and they decided it was time to make their move.

What these inmates did not know, was that another team of two guards, Joe Simmons and Ben Gomez, had just made it to the laundry room. They had to hide out for a long time to avoid the prisoners and gunfire but they managed to make it and they opened the secured room that led to the outside. Joe and Ben were met at the door by a SWAT team and they let them in.

It did not take the SWAT team long to find and capture Ortiz and the other four that had started the whole riot and turn them over to other officers so they could continue searching the building for all the inmates.

As soon as they had a way in the building, several officers entered. The SWAT team had made it to the front door and others that had been blocked earlier and unblocked them all.

The police moved swiftly and quietly throughout the entire building searching every room. They located several injured men. Some were inmates and some were guards. They also saw a lot of men on both sides that had been killed.

The building was now under control of the police, except for the infirmary and the cafeteria. Sam knew inmates in the cafeteria were holding most of the guards as hostages.

After Dr. Brackett talked to Johnny, he called the police so Sam knew the inmates were in charge of the infirmary too. If the police just charged in, there would be several more causalities and Sam wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

One of the uniformed officers had an idea. He thought a couple of them could pose as inmates and go into the infirmary pretending to need medical care. Once inside, they would take over and get the injured out.

Three of them put went into the inmate supply room and put on the blue jeans and long sleeved denim shirts the inmates wore. They used some of the guard's guns so the inmates wouldn't recognize the difference. The inmates were on different wards and not all inmates knew each other, but they would know what kind of guns the guards carry.

Johnny had a couple of inmates help him move Roy into the back room where the operating table was. Johnny checked on his other six patients and the namasaline seemed to be helping with their pain, although he had no idea why. Their vital signs were all normal and they were all stable. Johnny was worried about Bob and knew if the stand-off lasted much longer he may have to remove the shank from his lower back.

Johnny asked everyone to leave the room. He wanted to talk to Roy alone a few minutes before he removed the bullet. He took a wet cloth and put it on Roy's forehead, "Is that better."

"Johnny, whatever happens I know you did your best. Tell Joanne and the kids…"

"Hey, don't talk like that. I'm not going to let anything happen. You're going to be just fine." Roy reached his hand up and Johnny grabbed it and squeezed it, "You're sure you want me to do this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I trust you, Johnny. You'll do fine. Just do me a favor, will ya?" Roy's voice was getting weaker.

"Sure, pal. What is it?"

"Give me the real stuff." He managed a weak grin.

"No namasaline for you, pal. I promise you get the real stuff." Johnny held up the vial of morphine. He drew up 10 mg and put it in Roy's IV. There wasn't much left, but it was enough for what he was about to do. They both knew that Roy could not be put fully under with morphine. Too much morphine would decrease Roy's respiratory rate he may have to be intubated or it could kill him. Roy would be drowsy, but awake. Neither of them knew just how much of the procedure Roy would actually feel. Johnny laid out all of the equipment he thought he might need then he asked Bull if he would allow Steve to help him.

Bull actually felt bad for the injured paramedic. He felt sorry that Johnny and Roy had gotten caught up in all this. He didn't know how it was all going to end but knew it wasn't going to end well for the inmates. Johnny and Steve both promised Bull that they weren't going to try anything stupid. They wanted to help Roy and Johnny wasn't about to leave the rest of his patients.

No one ever had ever given Bull a break in his life. No one had ever given him anything and he had to work for everything he got and most of that he stole or fought for. Somehow watching Johnny caring for everyone the past few hours made him think about his life and where he was headed. He was in jail for armed robbery and had two more years to serve on his sentence. He knew he wanted something better for himself when he got out. Bull looked at the other inmates and calmly said, "You know, what we're doing is wrong. Right now we haven't done anything really bad. What do you say we turn ourselves over to Steve here? We need to let these men go and get to a real hospital."

One of the other inmates said, "Bull, we don't know what's going on out there. It was crazy earlier. If they try to leave now they'll be killed you know that."

"Steve, I'm going to keep a gun on me just in case another prisoner comes in, but here." Bull handed Steve one of the other guns he had. Bull looked at the other inmates, "Keep your weapons just in case, but we need to turn ourselves in when the police come in. You guys know we're not going to win this."

"Why, Bull?" Steve took the gun Bull handed him and put it in his sock. He wanted to keep it hidden in case more inmates came in.

"I've been watching Johnny Boy here and watching him care for everyone, not just the guards or his partner, but everyone made me realize something."

"What's that?" Steve asked

Steve looked at the rest of the inmates and they all seemed to be in agreement. They knew Bull was right, they would never win. They all knew that when all is said and done they would be going back to their cells. Most of the men had less than five years left on their sentences and they didn't want more time added.

Bull looked around and said, "I want more than this for my life. I want people to care about what happens to me and I want to care about others." He glanced from Steve to Johnny, "Do you think it's too late to change?"

Johnny smiled, "It's never too late, Bull."

"I won't forget this, Bull. You're doing the right thing. You all are. I promise, when this is over I'll do what I can to help you, all of you. I'm going to call police and tell them you're helping us. We'll see what's going on in the rest of the prison. With any luck, Johnny won't have to remove that bullet after all." Steve picked up the phone and called the police. He was connected to Sam Morgan. Steve told Sam that Bull and the others in the infirmary were cooperating now.

Dr. Brackett, Dr. Early and Dixie were standing next to Sam when he received the phone call. "Can we go in now?" Dr. Brackett said sounding rather impatiently. There were several ambulances on standby to take the injured to area hospitals.

"No. Not yet. Let me send a couple of men in there to make sure it's safe and we still don't have control over the cafeteria yet."

"Okay, but we're going in as soon as we can. I don't know how long those patients will last." Dr. Brackett said as he looked through his bag again.

"Agreed."

Sam got on his walkie-talkie and said, "All units at the infirmary standby. I repeat standby." Sam told Steve that the SWAT team was on the way there now and that the rest of prison except for the cafeteria was now under control. Steve opened the door to the infirmary and saw the three undercover officers standing outside with the SWAT team and he let them in. The SWAT team leader got on his walkie-talkie and let Sam know the infirmary was under control and the doctors and ambulances that were standing by could come in. If they came through the front door they would avoid the cafeteria and they should be safe.

Chapter 7

What Happens Next

Johnny looked very relieved and he walked into the operating room. He put his hand on Roy's shoulder, "Well, partner, looks like I won't be removing that bullet after all. It's over, Roy. The police are here now and I'm gonna take you to Rampart. You're gonna be fine, you're gonna be just fine." Johnny had a big smile on his face.

Roy, reached his hand up and Johnny held it, "You were great, Johnny. You held it together. I'm proud of you, partner."

Johnny turned and faced the door when he heard it being opened and saw Dr. Brackett and gave a big smile, "You're a sight for sore eyes, Doc."

"I don't know, Johnny, from what I hear you did just fine on your own."

An ambulance crew came in with a stretcher, "What do you say we get that partner of yours to Rampart and fix him up." Dr. Early said as he followed the ambulance crew into the room. "I just checked on the rest of your patients and they seem to be holding their own. We're taking them all to Rampart now."

Johnny helped the crew put Roy on the stretcher. Johnny looked as Roy was being taken out. "Go ahead, Johnny. Go with Roy. I'll ride in with the others and meet you there." Dr. Brackett said with a reassuring smile that let Johnny know that it would be alright.

Bullet gave up easily after Sam told him the cafeteria was surrounded. Sam suspected all along that Bullet wasn't the one who started the whole thing. Bullet was the one who convinced the other inmates in the cafeteria to give up. None of the guards had been seriously hurt and that was because Bullet wouldn't allow it. Sam promised Bullet that he would see what he could do when it came time for his parole hearing next year.

In the days following the riot, Steve had talked to the warden about everything Bull did to help toward the end. Bull could have killed them all but he didn't and he allowed Johnny to treat everyone that was injured. Steve told the warden that Bull even gave up a gun and persuaded the other inmates to give up. Bull decided that he wanted to turn his life around that day and he meant it. He admired Johnny for the way he was able to take care of everybody with all the chaos around him. He remembered Johnny telling him it was never too late to change. Bull decided that he wanted to be a paramedic and Steve promised to help him. Bull was reading as many anatomy and first aid books as he could get his hands on. It was going to take a lot of hard work to change his life around but he was determined to make it and he had people like Steve to help him. Johnny said that he would talk to the department for him when he got out if he continued on his current course.

The inmates that caused the riot and those that killed the guards were identified and would be facing a lot charges.

Dr. Brackett told Johnny that Terry and Bob probably would have died if it hadn't been for the immediate care they were given and the others would have been a lot worse if he hadn't been there.

"So there I was ready to operate on my partner. I was scared sure, but I knew his life depended on me. I didn't know what the inmates were going to do." Johnny said as he leaned casually back in the chair that was in a hospital room recounting the experience.

"Wow. That must have been hard for you with all those guns pointed at you." A beautiful young nurse said sounding very impressed as she seemed to hang on every word Johnny said.

"Yeah, that's my partner for you." Roy said as he was being brought back into his room.

"Well, Johnny that was a nice story. I'll see you later." The nurse said as she walked out of the room.

"Story. Story, but it was real. Tell her Roy, it's all true." Johnny pointed at her as he got up and started walking toward the door.

"Hey, Johnny?"

Johnny turned around, "Yeah."

"I know it was real. You were really there for me this time, pal. I won't forget it."

Johnny looked from his partner to the door. "Yeah, but…" He stopped without finishing his sentence and sat down in the chair and looked pleased with himself, "I wouldn't have it any other way, partner."