A special thank you to Jerseybelle for her wonderful services and abilities as my Beta, I'm sure those who follow my work can tell the story and chapter she took over as my main beta. There is none better, maybe a few as good, but none better.

Firemen are taught to expect the unexpected and keep an eye out for anything that can cause a complication in their work, but there are some things that even a seasoned rescue man can't be expected to anticipate.

Punctuated

The men of LA County Fire Station 51 were lounging around the day room late in the evening. Dinner was over and the dishes were done and put away. The lights in the front of the room were turned off to make it more enjoyable for Roy, Chet and Marco to watch the movie that was on TV, while the lights in the back of the room remained on so that Mike could read his mystery novel and Captain Stanley could study for his Chief's exam. John Gage was lounging on the sofa under the window, a lazy basset hound on his lap. The young paramedic looked to be asleep but he could have just been resting his eyes, no one knew for sure. His wrists still held the bandages from where blood was drawn from the artery to test the oxygen levels of his blood earlier that day, but at least he had finally stopped coughing.

John had every right to be asleep, if indeed he was. Hank had considered sending him to bed several times over the last hour, but the truth of the matter was that the rest of the crew needed him right where he was. Hank himself needed to be able to look over and see that he was still breathing and he'd watched Roy stand just a few feet away on several occasions watching his breathing and taking in everything there was about him to assess his health status without actually touching him. It hadn't gone unnoticed that the rest of the crew turned to look at him from time to time. They all needed to see him and know that he was right where they could get to him quickly if he showed any signs of trouble.

Hank even found himself counting the glasses of water his youngest crew member had consumed in an effort to rehydrate himself; still he was concerned by the lack of a trip to the latrine. Today had been one of those shifts from Hell for John Gage.

-0-

Their first run this morning was for a woman who had slipped on her newly polished floor. Her injuries included a probable broken arm and dislocated shoulder, for which the doctor prescribed pain meds, so one of the paramedics had to go in with her. Roy rode in with the patient and Johnny was locking up the house and preparing to follow Roy to the hospital when a girl in her mid teens came up to Johnny telling him that her grandmother wasn't feeling all that well.

Of course John called it in and carried what supplies he still had to the house next door. Roy had the biophone and the drug box with him but there were a few back up supplies and he could use the handy talkie or the person's phone to contact Rampart if needed. It was also a good thing that the police officer who was assigned to the previous call was still there. It turned out that the woman was having a heart attack and John was really hopping for a while. He really could have used some of the drugs that Roy had with him but John managed to keep the woman alive and going until the ambulance arrived. He rode in with her, leaving the squad on site. Engine 51 was dispatched to go pick it up and Captain Stanley assigned Marco to drive the squad to the hospital to pick up his two paramedics.

The talk all the way back to the station had been about the need for two drug boxes on the squad.

Their third run this shift was a relatively simple auto accident. Two cars, both still on their wheels, doors easily opened, and one person in each car, suffering only minor injuries. They took both patients to the hospital more for precaution than any real concern. Roy rode in the ambulance and John made quick work of gathering up the rest of the equipment in preparation to follow in the squad.

He had just closed up the last of the compartments on the squad when a car ran the red light at the very intersection they were in and t-boned a car with a woman driver and two kids in the back. The force of the crash put the car on its side and the offending car ended up against a power pole putting a dent in the driver's side door and knocking power lines down over the top of the car. There were three passengers in addition to the driver in that car, all of them about eighteen years of age. Fortunately the engine company was still on site to help with the accident, unfortunately the next two squads they called out to assist were out of the area and took fifteen and twenty minutes respectively to arrive.

John once again had his hands beyond full being the only paramedic to take care of all seven victims. The next squad arrived just in time to ride in with the patients that were being loaded into the two ambulances. John sent each of the newly arrived paramedics in an ambulance holding two patients each while he stayed at the accident scene taking care of the last three patients himself, using supplies from the squad that had just arrived. He had to wait until the next two ambulances and the last of the squads got there.

Marco and Chet each drove a squad to the hospital. There wasn't room for both of them to ride back to the station in the squad so the engine followed them to the hospital to pick up the two linemen and take them back to the station.

John and Roy did some serious restocking of supplies while they were there.

The two paramedics were late for lunch and only managed to eat half of their meal before they were called out again. John made a point to be the one riding in with the patients for the next several runs and all seemed to go much more normally. Still, they were busy.

There was the call just before dinner. It was to an apartment complex that catered to retired people. One of the residents had been ill for several days and a neighbor finally called for help; the patient was so dehydrated from a fever and not eating or even drinking well that she was delusional. She thought Roy was her daughter and became agitated when she thought Roy wasn't going to stay with her so of course John helped his partner into the back of the ambulance with a smirk.

"Now you be sure to take good care of your mother there, Agnes." John and Roy exchanged smiles as John shut the ambulance door and gave the double slaps to let the driver know it was good to go.

John was actually pulling out of the parking lot of the complex when he noticed smoke coming from around the building. Instead of turning left to follow the ambulance, John turned right to get a better look and saw the drapes at two of the apartments in active flames. John called it in, pulled on his turn out coat and air mask and proceeded to evacuate the area on his own until help arrived.

There were thirty eight apartments in that wing of the complex, and in one of the two apartments that were actively burning they were throwing a party with eight guests, all of them old people that had a hard time moving without help. John managed to herd twenty three people out of the building before the first fire engine arrived. By the time help arrived John was left with the residents that needed more help to get out. Even then, he was pretty well able to walk the residents out, usually two at a time to the nearest exit and hand them off to either a police officer or another firemen before turning back to get someone else. Even though he had his air tank on, his mask spent more time on the faces of those he was helping than on his own.

Engine 51 pulled in behind the squad. It was the second engine on site and the two linemen were already pulling hose while Mike jumped in to get the water flowing and the engine hooked up to the hydrant. While his crew was jumping into action and following his commands, Hank stepped over to two victims that were lying still on the lawn next to the curb. The rest of those who had been evacuated were mulling about and talking to each other. The staff from the doctor's office across the street was starting to move in to offer their assistance.

Hank checked long and hard but there was no pulse or sign of life in either of the two that were not moving. The doctor from across the street moved in to confirm his findings while Hank made his way to the engine to retrieve a couple of blankets to cover the victims.

As he moved about, Hank kept his eyes out on his men and was looking hard for Johnny. The fire was mostly under control when he saw him for the first time.

John was being walked out between two other firemen; one of the firemen at his side was holding his air mask over John's face. It was no surprise when he announced the John's tank was empty as he eased John down onto the bumper of the engine.

Mike was quickly at his side with the oxygen from the engine and John readily accepted the oxygen mask pulling it to his face. He had been coughing too hard to say anything and he had obviously spent way too long inside that burning building for his own good. John's uniform was completely saturated with sweat when they helped him out of his turnout gear.

"How long were you in there, John?" Hank asked as he sat next to his crewman and supported him in a sitting position.

John pulled the mask away from his face and got out, "Never…left," before replacing it and taking several deep breaths of fresh pure oxygen. "Too many people in there; some of them had oxygen tanks that had to be turned off before I could lead them out. All of them needed help. For the longest time the only people out here were cops and other bystanders that didn't have the gear. I was able to get one of the police officers to bring a replacement air tank to the door for me at one point and I just kept helping people out, then one of the oxygen tanks blew and I got trapped in the stair well with three other people. We passed my mask around while the door was being pried open. The alarm on the tank went off just as the guys got us out of there. Not sure I'm going to be able to go back in for a few minutes."

"As far as I'm concerned, John, you can take the rest of the fire off," Hank assured his paramedic.

For the next several minutes fluids were provided to John as he was repeatedly pushed back into a seated position on the fire engine where he could be kept an eye on. With three doctors and all of their nurses and assistants on hand treating most of the victims John wasn't needed as much as he was needing help.

John was placed in the cab of the next ambulance headed for Rampart and found his partner had been put to work helping with all of the victims, "Well, hello, Agnes," John greeted his partner who looked all clean and pressed to his sweat soaked and smoke permeated self. "How's your mother doing?" Johnny followed his jibe with a round of coughing and Roy just pulled John's arm around his shoulder and guided him to a treatment room.

It was a good hour before Hank sent Chet in with the squad to pick up his paramedics. In that time he had heard more than a few stories about John's heroics.

As they were all resting in the day room prior to turning in for the night, Hank's thoughts turned to the paperwork he had filled out before his paramedics returned from the hospital. John was being nominated for more than one of those above and beyond commendations after today's shift.

Another thing John didn't know was that, while he was showering upon return to the station, Cap had pulled Roy into the office. John had been given a couple of breathing treatments to help with all the smoke he took in and checked over good before he had been allowed to finish his shift.

After Roy had given Cap a full report of what the doctors had done and said, Roy was given the command to see to it that John was not left alone at a scene for the rest of the shift.

"I'm not saying he's doing anything wrong or that I put any stock in horoscopes or anything like that, but one thing is clear, some kind of forces somewhere seem to have it in for John this shift."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with you, Cap. When I saw him being brought into the hospital, there I was in my clean and orderly uniform and he looked like he had been drug through the mire. I mean I helped with all the patients that were brought into the hospital, but it was nothing compared to what Johnny had been through. I almost feel like I've been gold bricking this shift."

"I know what you mean," Hank acknowledged his paramedic's feelings. "But I assure you no one here thinks you've been shirking your partner, it just hasn't been his day."

"You can say that again."

-0-

The movie was nearing its end when Cap checked the time on his watch and walked over to John. Placing a fatherly hand on John's shoulder and giving it a little shake, Cap suggested he go get ready for bed. It took John a minute to get up but when he did he was moving well and made his way to the locker room. Hank followed behind a couple of minutes later and was glad to hear the toilet flush.

"All those fluids you've been drinking finely going through you?" Cap questioned and Johnny realized even more how much his captain had been watching him.

"Yeah," Johnny answered, his captain had been handing him a glass of something else to drink the second he finished the previous one all night long, water, juice, soda, water, water, and more water. John knew he needed it but there was a point where he felt that if he took one more sip he was going to throw up. As much as he appreciated his captain's concern and position of responsibility for him, John wasn't about to let him know that his urine was still dark enough to indicate he needed to keep up on his hydration activities.

John had just sat down on his bunk wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and his boxers when the tones went off.

Station 51, assist police at . . .

Everybody sprang into action as the address was given to an area on the outskirts of their response area. While Roy drove, John was, as usual, an excellent navigator pointing out the fastest way to get where they were needed. As John talked to Roy of when and where to turn, he pulled the bandages off his wrists. It had been long enough and they were starting to annoy him.

They pulled up and stopped in a pull out area alongside the road that accommodated several police cars and the fire department trucks. Hank jumped down from his seat in the engine and the two paramedics quickly exited the squad, meeting the police officer in charge of the scene for instructions.

"What have we got here?" Hank asked, needing to know what kind of orders to give to his men.

"Thanks for coming," the police officer started out as he led the three firemen closer to their trucks before explaining.

"We have a missing ten year old boy. The thing of it is, we're finding out that he's been missing for close to two days now. It was a neighbor who called it in to us, not the parents. The parents wanted to take care of it themselves without bringing us in. In asking questions some of the neighbors have said that the step father has a tendency to knock the kid around a little. One of my men is bringing one of the boy's friends here now. We're told that the boy is hiding out somewhere near here to get away from his parents. I thought we should have the paramedics on hand when we find him."

Hank lowered his head and shook it in disgust for just a second before turning to his paramedics. "Alright, get your gear ready."

John and Roy started pulling the supplies they thought they would need from the compartments of the squad as a police car pulled up next to them and a boy and his father were let out of the back seat.

"That boy is responsible for all of this," a man on the other side of the gathered crowd started screaming. The boy quickly took up a position behind his father while police officers contained the screaming man. "My son has been told to stay away from him," the man continued to yell.

As the yelling man was pulled to the other side of the command vehicle the boy continued to hold tight to his father's side.

"Can you show us where you think your friend is hiding, son?" one of the police officers questioned. The boy shook his head negatively then buried his face in his father's back.

The father knelt down to face his son and spoke with him quietly as another man walked up with his hands in his coat pockets. The father looked up and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks for coming, Dad."

With that greeting the police officer turned to address the man who had just walked up. "Captain Wells, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you out of uniform."

"That's okay, man, I'm just a civilian here anyway; that young man there is my grandson." The off duty police captain made his involvement clear. "I wonder if you would allow me to have a private word with him."

The police officer simply nodded his head in approval and Captain Stanley wondered if that was something he should have done. Father, son and grandfather walked to the back of the fire engine and whatever was said was completely drowned out by the sound of the engine.

Darkness had long fallen and concern for the missing boy, who they now knew was going into his second night away from home, increased. There was the added suspicion that he was hurt which was why the fire department with a paramedic crew was on hand.

It was only a few minutes later when the grandfather returned to the police officer's side. The sergeant in charge of the operation joined them. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"The boy doesn't seem to be willing to tell us where his friend may be hiding," the police officer informed his superior.

"It's not us he's worried about," Captain Wells said making his presence known to the ranking officer.

"I'm sorry, Captain Wells; I didn't recognize you without your uniform."

"That's alright. As I told this young man earlier, I'm a civilian here; your informant is my grandson." Captain Wells then carried on. "He's willing to show us where he thinks the boy's hiding but he doesn't want to show the step father. He's afraid that if he does that his friend will no longer have a place to go to get away from the man when he's beating him. Is there by any chance enough reason to keep the man here while we go looking? That place is about half a mile from here and can only be gotten to by foot."

"I think we have more than enough grounds to hold him here while the search party goes after him."

"Alright, men." Captain Stanley had heard enough to know he needed to make some commands. "We better get a Stokes and some high powered flashlights."

Before the police officers were gathered to follow the lead of the boy, his father and grandfather at his side, the crew of Station 51 was carrying the equipment they thought they would need.

It was a short hike by everyone's standards, down a gully washed out by a flash flood a few years previous. The area had been destined for a housing subdivision before the flash flood but afterwards it was deemed unsafe for such use. The boy stopped at a concrete pipe that was sticking out of the side of the wash. The firemen knew at first glance that it was what was left of a sewer system but they were all comforted by the knowledge that this one had never been used.

"There's a cement cave like thing at the end of that pipe. It's too small for his step dad to get in after him so he's safe there. He has his sleeping bag and some food stored in there."

The boy then knelt down and yelled into the pipe, "Ryan! I brought the police and firemen. My grandpa's here too and we just want to make sure you're okay."

The older man knelt down next to his grandson and called into the pipe. "We just need to see you and see if you're hurt, son. No one out here is going to hurt you. Can you come on out?"

There was a sound that came back through the pipe but no one could understand what was being said.

"Sounds like he's in there alright," the man reported to those gathered behind him. "I didn't understand what he was trying to say but it doesn't sound like he's coming out."

With that statement the police turned to the fire department personnel who had joined them, and the crew of Station 51 was looking at John Gage.

From what the boy said I'm betting there's a manhole cover up on top of here, but it looks like it might be covered up some. "John, do you think you can fit through that pipe?"

"Yeah, Cap, I'll fit." John removed his turn out coat to take some of the bulk out. In his t-shirt, bunker pants and boots John looked in with a flash light to evaluate the area before crawling in. "It only looks to be about ten to twelve feet back there, Cap. I can make it." With that John got down on his belly and began to scoot into the pipe holding a high powered flashlight ahead of him. He had just made it in as far as his knees when Cap had other orders to give out.

"Alright, Chet, Marco, Mike, you three go up top here and see if you can find that man hole cover. John says it's about ten feet back and it just might be the best way to get the boy out of there. The three men took a few minutes with flashlights to determine the best way out of the wash before they took the two shovels they had brought with them and headed out to follow orders. Mike took along a Handy Talkie and three police officers joined them to offer their assistance.

Hank remained crouched near the open end of the pipe shining a flashlight so that he could not only watch John's progress but hopefully light his way since things were tight enough that he had to push his flashlight ahead of him and then pull himself up to it.

From Hank's vantage point it looked like John had just reached the larger chamber, "ARGGG" was heard echoing back down the pipe and John was seen ducking back into the pipe.

"John, John, Are you all right?" Cap questioned and then listened for an answer. The only response was what sounded like heavy breathing. "Gage, are you all right in there?"