A/N: This is my first Emergency! fanfic, so please be kind! I will do my best to get new chapters up quickly. I really enjoy getting reviews onmy stories, especially if they contain advice or suggestions.
Disclaimer: I do not own Emergency! or any of it's characters. I do, however, own this story, so please don't steal it!!
As Johnny pulled into the parking lot of Station 51, he glanced at his clock. He sighed with relief. For once, he was actually early. In fact, he had five minutes left before role call, plenty of time to get changed and talk with the guys. He looked around the parking lot. Mike, Marco, and Captain Stanley were already there. Chet wasn't there yet, which meant that Johnny could open his locker without having to worry about a water bomb.
As Johnny turned to go inside, Roy pulled up and parked beside Johnny's Rover. He got out and called, "Hey, Johnny!"
"Hey, Roy! How was your vacation?" Johnny asked. Today was Roy's first shift back after a week's vacation.
"It was pretty good. Joanne and I took the kids to the beach almost every day." Roy didn't sound too thrilled about the beach.
"Oh, yeah?" Johnny grinned. "I bet they loved that. I'm sure Joanne did, too. What about you, Pally? Did you have fun at the beach?" Johnny already knew what the answer would be.
"Well, if I had been able to just lie on the beach and relax, it would have been fine. Instead, Chris and Jenny made me go into the ocean with them. That wouldn't have been too bad except for the fact that they decided it would be fun to try to drown me. Chris swam under water, grabbed my legs, and pulled while Jenny came up behind me and pushed on my shoulders. They dunked me and I got soaked! Joanne just laughed when I told her to do something about her kids."
Johnny laughed. He knew that Roy secretly enjoyed playing with the kids in the ocean, but would never admit it. It would take away from Chris and Jen's fun. Johnny also knew that the kids wouldn't have been able to dunk Roy if he really hadn't wanted to be dunked.
Roy looked at Johnny with faked disgust. "Well, I'm glad you think it's funny. I sure didn't."
Johnny stopped laughing. "Sorry, Roy. I just thought it funny when I pictured Chris and Jenny dunking you in the ocean. Come on, let's go get changed before Chet gets here. I really don't feel like dealing with one of his water bombs this morning." Together, Johnny and Roy walked inside the station.
They had just finished getting changed and were getting ready to head out to the engine bay for role call when Chet came running into the locker room. "Oh, man, I'm going to be late!" Chet moaned.
Johnny cheered. "Yes! No latrine duty for me today!" With that, he bounded out the door and into the engine bay.
"The Phantom will here about this, Gage!" Chet yelled after him.
Mike peeked into the locker room. "Roy, Chet, time for role call."
"Oh, no!" Chet moaned. "I haven't even gotten changed yet! I'm going to be late for sure now!"
As Roy walked into the engine bay, he could still hear Chet in the locker room, slamming things around in an effort not to be late.
Chet slid into his place in line right as Cap started roll call. "Glad you join us, Kelly." Cap said.
"Sorry, Cap." Chet replied.
"Okay, Michael, you've got the engine bay. Roy, John, hang the hoses. Marco, you have the dorms, and Chet-"
Cap was cut off by Chet. "I know, I know, Cap. I've got latrine duty."
"You got it. I'm cooking today."
"What are you going to make, Cap?" Roy asked.
"Clam Chowder. Why?"
"Can you make extra? Dr. Early has been bugging us for some of your clam chowder. He loves that stuff, you know."
"You've got it, Pal. I'll set some aside in a thermos for you to take to him."
"Thanks, Cap."
Before any of them had time to begin their duties, the klaxons sounded. "Station 51, man trapped, 2154 Vista Avenue, 2-1-5-4 Vista Avenue, cross street Fairview, time out 635."
"Station 51, 10-4, KMG 365." Cap responded. He handed the address to Roy, and then ran around to get in the engine.
When they reached the scene, they were met by a young woman who couldn't have been older than 30. "I'm so glad you guys are here. It's my Dad; he's trapped in the living room."
"How is he trapped, Ma'am?" Captain Stanley wanted to know.
"Well, he was trying to reach something on the top shelf of our bookcase, so he climbed on one of the shelves and it fell on him. He's pinned pretty good. Mom and I tried to lift it, but it was too heavy." She led them into the house and showed them where her father was.
When her mother saw them, she jumped up from where she had been kneeling beside her husband. "Oh, thank goodness you're here! H's unconscious! Hurry, please get that bookcase of him!" She cried.
"We will, Ma'am, but we're going to need you to watch out of the way. We don't want you getting hurt, too, okay?" Captain Stanley led her to a place where he knew she would be out of the way and wouldn't interfere with the rescue. When he got back to his men, he quickly assessed the situation. There were books everywhere, and the bookcase, which was solid oak, had to way at least 200 pounds. The man was trapped from the chest down. The only part of him that was visible was his head. Roy and Johnny were kneeling next to him, trying to take his vitals as best they could.
"Roy, John. How's he doing?" Captain Stanley asked.
Roy stood up and walked over to Cap. "He's not doing so good, Cap. His pulse is weak and thready, and his respirations are shallow. I'm concerned that he might have a chest injury." Roy said softly.
Cap and Roy walked back over to the bookshelf. "Mike, Chet, why don't you get on the left side of the bookcase. Marco and I will take this side. Roy, John, pull him out as soon as we have the shelf lifted high enough."
The men got into position. "Okay, fellas, on the count of three, lift. One, two, three, lift!" They were able to lift the bookcase up just high enough to slide the man out, and then they set it back down.
As soon as their patient was safely away from the bookcase, Roy and Johnny went to work. While they got the vitals and assessed his condition, Captain Stanley set up the biophone. He then took the man's wife aside and questioned her about how the accident had happened. While he was doing that, Johnny called into Rampart. "Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?"
Dr. Kelly Brackett's voice came over the phone. "We read you loud and clear, 51. Go ahead."
"We have a male, approximate age 60 years old, trapped under a fallen bookshelf for approximately…"
"20 minutes." The man's daughter filled in.
"For approximately 20 minutes. His vitals are as follows: pulse 70, BP 90/60, respirations 10 and shallow, pupils equal and reactive. Diminished breath sounds in right lung; also, it appears that patient has multiple fractured ribs on both sides, as well as a fracture of his right arm. Patient is unconscious."
"10-4, 51. Administer IV D5W; immobilize right arm, spine, and neck. Transport as soon as possible."
"10-4, Rampart. IV D5W, immobilize right arm, spine, and neck, and transport. Ambulance has just arrived, approximate ETA 10 minutes."
Once their patient was loaded into the ambulance, Johnny got into the back with him. The patient's wife started to follow, but Roy stopped her. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but if you want to ride with him you're going to have to ride up front."
The wife agreed, and after she'd gotten in the front, Roy closed the ambulance doors and thumped on the back to let the driver know it was all clear. He then got in the squad and followed the ambulance to Rampart while Cap and the others stayed to clean up.
When the ambulance and squad reached Rampart, Roy jumped out of the squad and rushed to the back of the ambulance to help unload the patient. Once the patient was out of the ambulance, they pushed him into Rampart, where they were met by Dixie and Dr. Brackett, who directed them to Treatment Room 3.
"Has he regained consciousness at all?" Brackett wanted to know, as he checked the patient's pupils.
"He started to stir a little in the ambulance. That was right before he went into respiratory distress. He hasn't made any signs of regaining consciousness since I put in the airway like you ordered." Johnny replied.
"Dixie, get me X-Ray down here stat. Also, see if there's an operating room available. This arm is going to need surgery, and I suspect the he has a punctured lung." Brackett ordered.
Dixie hurried off to do as ordered. As Johnny and Roy stood watching Brackett work, a voice came over the handi-talkie. "Squad 51, what is your status?"
"DO you need us anymore, Doc?" Johnny asked.
"No, go ahead. I'll see you guys later."
Johnny raised the handi-talkie to his mouth. "Squad 51, available from Rampart."
As Roy and Johnny walked out of the treatment room and started for the squad, they heard the tones "Station 36, Station 51, Station 42, Station 110, Station 8, Battalion 14, Engine 18, Engine 26, Ladder 16...structure fire…214 Canyon Avenue…2-1-4 Canyon Avenue…Time out 820."
"Squad 51, 10-4." Johnny replied. He then turned to Roy. "Sounds like a big one." he said worriedly.
"Yeah, it does. Come on, let's get going." Roy replied. He and Johnny jogged toward the squad and got in. They turned on the siren, and Roy pulled out of the parking lot at Rampart. When they reached the scene, they saw that a warehouse was fully engulfed in flames. Engine 51 was already on the scene, along with most of the other stations toned out to the fire. Roy and Johnny jumped out of the squad, pulled on their fire coats and air tanks, and ran over to Captain Stanley for their orders.
'Roy, John, I'm glad you're here. There are still several people trapped inside the building." Captain Stanley said when Roy and Johnny reached him.
"How many, Cap?" Roy asked.
"That's the thing, pal. They're not sure. It seems that the fire broke out in the middle of a shift change, so they don't know who left before the fire started. They think that there's still about 20 people trapped inside. I'm sending Chet and Marco in to help you. Squad 36 is heading in as well, along with a couple of guys from their engine."
"Right, Cap. Come on, Junior let's go." Roy said, fastening his air mask over his face as he ran towards the building.
"Right behind you, Pally." Johnny responded, putting on his air mask as well.
When they reached the entrance to the building, they met up with Chet and Marco. Roy instructed, "Johnny, you and Chet go to the left and Marco and I will take the right. We'll meet on the other side."
"Okay." Johnny said. He and Roy went their separate directions. "Fire Department!" Johnny called out. "Anyone in here?"
Johnny heard a cough to his right. He and Chet made his way over to where it was coming from, and found three workers huddled together. "Are any of you injured?" Johnny asked.
One of the workers nodded. "I tripped over something and cut my leg pretty badly."
"Okay. Do you think you can walk?" The worker shook his head. "Okay. I'll carry you. Let's get out of here, and then we'll have a look at your leg. How about the rest of you? Can you walk?" The other two workers nodded. "Okay, let's get out of here." He called across the room to Roy. "Roy!" When Roy turned to look at him, he continued. "We're getting these guys out of here!" Roy signaled that he understood, so Johnny picked up the injured person and he and Chet led the others safely out of the building.
When they got outside, they took the victims over to where Squad 110 had set up triage. "This guy here cut his leg pretty bad and has some smoke inhalation." Johnny said, setting down the guy he'd carried. "The other two have smoke inhalation too, but other than that they're okay."
When he had finished filling the paramedics in, Johnny and Chet reentered the warehouse. "Man," coughed Chet. "I think it's gotten worse in here!"
Johnny started to respond, but then saw Roy and Marco heading toward them. Marco was carrying someone, and Roy was supporting someone else as they walked. Chet rushed to help Roy. "Here, I've got him. Why don't you and Johnny go search for other victims?"
Roy handed his victim over to Chet and then motioned to Johnny to follow him. As they worked their way back to where Roy and Marco had found the other victims, Captain Stanley's voice came over the handi-talkie. "Squad 51, this is Engine 51. We're keeping Chet and Marco out here. We need them on the lines."
"10-4, Engine 51." Roy responded. He then turned to Johnny. "DO you want to split up or stay together?" he asked.
"Let's stay together." Johnny replied. He looked up at the ceiling, from which periodic creaking noises had been coming from. "I don't think it'd be a good idea for us to go separate ways now."
Roy agreed. "I don't like the looks of this place. It looks and sounds like it could come down at any minute. Come on, let's get going. The sooner we find the missing people the sooner we can get out of here."
"Squad 51, this is Engine 51." Captain Stanley's voice came over the handi-talkie. "How's it going in there?"
"With the five guys that we found and the four guys that 36 found, we still have an estimated eleven people to find." Johnny replied.
"10-4, Squad 51."
Roy and Johnny had just resumed their search when Roy held up his hand. "Shh, did hear that?"
Johnny listened. After a minute or so, he heard what sounded like a groan, very faintly. "It sounds like it's coming from over there," Johnny replied. He and Roy made their way over to where they thought the sound was coming from, but there was no one there. "Maybe this isn't the right spot," said Johnny, confused. He was sure the sound had been coming from this spot."
Roy and Johnny listened again. This time it sounded like the groan was coming from a few feet away. They once again moved to where they thought it was coming from, and once again, they found nothing. Roy had just started to say, "Maybe something else is making that sound." when the building started to creak.
"Squad 51, this is Engine 51. Get out of there now! The building's coming down! Repeat, evacuate now!" Captain Stanley yelled over the handi-talkie.
Roy and Johnny had just started to head towards the exit when they heard a very loud creaking noise coming from right above them. They looked up just in time to see a huge beam fall from the ceiling, right towards them. "Roy! Johnny called, "Move!" Roy stood still, as if he were glued to the floor. Johnny pushed him down to the floor, covering Roy's body with his own, seconds before the beam fell.
Those outside the building could only watch in horror as the building collapsed. Chief McConikee ran over to Engine 51. "Did your paramedics make it out?" he asked. "Everyone else is accounted for."
Captain Stanley slowly shook his head. "No, Chief, I don't think they did." He raised the handi-talkie to his mouth. "Squad 51, this is engine 51. Where are you?" When he received no response, he tried again. "Squad 51, this is Engine 51. Roy, Johnny, answer me!" He practically screamed.
At Rampart, Nurse Dixie McCall had been sitting at the nurses' station doing paperwork, when she heard Captain Stanley's call to dispatch.
"This is Engine 51. We have two possible code I's at our location. Please send additional engine crews."
"10-4, Engine 51. The additional crews are on their way."
"10-4"
Dixie rushed over to the phone and called Dispatch. "This is Dixie McCall, from Rampart Emergency. Could you tell me who the two code Is are?"
"Firefighter Paramedic Roy DeSoto and Firefighter Paramedic John Gage." was the response.
"Thank you." Dixie managed to get out before tears started running down her face.
Kelly Brackett and Joe Early rounded the corner just as she hung up the phone. Since her back was to them, they couldn't see the tears running down her face. "Hey, Dix. Who were you calling?" Joe asked. "Some hot guy?"
Dixie turned around, and Kel and Joe saw the tears on her face. "Dix, what's wrong?" Kel asked, concerned.
"Roy and Johnny were at the warehouse fire. The building collapsed, and, as far as IK can tell, they were still inside. Captain Stanley made a call to dispatch saying there were two possible code 'Is, and when I called to find out who they were, they said it was Johnny and Roy."
Kel held Dixie in his arms, comforting her. He and Joe exchanged looks over Dixie's head. They had seen the warehouse fire on the news, and knew it was a bad one. They also knew that if Roy and Johnny were trapped inside they had little chance of making it, even if they weren't injured.
Inside the warehouse, the handi-talkie, lying on the floor beside where the beams had fallen, crackled to life with each try by Captain Stanley to reach his paramedics. It stayed unanswered.