Chapter One

The fire was spreading as the wind blew embers and debris to other buildings. What had started as a middle-of-the-night call to one of the oldest churches in the city had grown into a blaze covering four blocks. Not every building was on fire, but several were. As far as they could tell, there were no casualties, so far, leaving Roy and John to help with beating the fire back. Wind swept in from nearly every direction, making it difficult to control the growing blaze. Johnny followed Marco into the building, hoping to beat back the flames. He stopped, the hair on the back of his neck standing up, even above the noises of the fire and the water, the distinct sound of creaking reached his ears.

"We need to get out of here, this place is going to go any minute."

They started backing out, Johnny heard Captain Stanley's voice on their HT's, voicing the same warning he had just given. Before they reached the exit, there was a crash and Johnny felt himself falling backwards. The momentary shock of hitting the ground hard and landing on top of his air bottle wore off quickly enough. Finding that he could move, he sat up.

"Roy, Marco, Chet?" His voice was muffled by his airmask and he strained to hear his friends, he certainly couldn't see them in the inky darkness.

"Here Johnny." Roy's disembodied voice responded to his right, exactly where he should have been.

"Are you all right?"

"My leg's pinned down by something. A beam maybe."

"All right, hold on." Johnny stood carefully, trying the strength of the floor beneath him as he moved. "Marco, Chet." He called out again, feeling for his friends as he did.

"Here John."

He moved to his left and found Marco, pinned beneath some debris and wet from the hose. Johnny pulled out his HT. "Engine 51, this is Gage, do you read me?"

"John, this is Stanley, where are you?"

"Near the entrance to the building, but I've got a Code I times three." Johnny sincerely hoped Chet was just unconscious. He did not want to call in a Code F.

"Stay put Gage, we're sending men into your location now."

"10-4." Johnny put the HT back on his belt and turned his attention to Marco. "Are you in pain?"

"Not that bad, don't bother with me, just find Chet."

He was not comfortable with leaving a patient and friend, but Marco was right. He had no equipment with him, he needed to locate Chet. Roy and Marco were conscious and would be fine for a few minutes. "CHET."

Johnny closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds around him. He could hear the fire, the sounds of his fellow firefighters outside, Roy and Marco breathing. Then there was a hitch, a definite hiss of unprotected inhalation. John focused on the sound and moved slowly to his right. He knelt down when his foot encountered something soft and yielding. It was Chet, he seemed to be pinned by debris across his chest and legs, his air mask was off and cracked, leading John to believe that the hose had hit him when they lost it in the collapse. He removed his air mask and gave Chet a few breaths of clean air, hoping the Irishman would wake up. Replacing his mask, he checked the parts of Chet's body that were accessible. He was unconscious, his breathing shallow, but he was alive.

Help arrived with Captain Stanley in the lead. John stayed with Chet and went out with him, trusting the other men to get Marco and Roy. They had to move fast, the fire was still burning and there was not only fire danger, but danger of further collapse.

Kneeling on the pavement, Johnny carefully cut away Chet's turnout coat, focusing on assessing his injuries rather than his friends still in the building. He put oxygen on Chet and got his vitals. Taking his radio in hand, he called Rampart.

"Rampart, Squad 51, how do you read me?"

There was a pause before he heard the familiar voice of Dr. Brackett. "51, Rampart, we read you. Go ahead."

Johnny relayed Chet's vitals and injuries, knowing it was not good. Chet had been pinned beneath a large piece of fallen debris, his air mask damaged, allowing smoke into his lungs, and his right leg was broken. The only good news was that Chet was conscious and there were no apparent signs of head injury.

"51, start IV, Ringer's TKO and administer 5 mg MS IV."

"10-4 Rampart, Ringer's TKO and 5 mg MS IV."

"Are the other victims freed yet?"

Johnny turned around and saw paramedic's from 36 taking two men that had just been brought out, he made eye contact with Captain Stanley who nodded grimly.

"Roger that Rampart, Squad 36 is treating them."

"10-4 51, bring your victim in."

"10-4 Rampart."

Johnny arrived at Rampart with Chet, glad Stanley had called in to have the squad stood down for the remainder of the shift. Following the gurney while holding onto the IV bottle, he saw Dr. Brackett outside of treatment 3. He started talking as soon as they entered the room. "His bp's still too low, but stabile. Fractured right ribs, tibia, and while he was awake he complained of pain in his right shoulder, but I couldn't find any indication of fracture, internal bleeding is a possibility from the way he was pinned."

Brackett nodded as they got Chet transferred off the ambulance gurney and started his examination. Johnny answered his questions as he hung the IV on the pole and looked at his crewmate. Chet irritated him more often than not, but he still hated seeing the other man laying there in such bad shape. Brackett turned to him. "John, go get some coffee, I'll let you know."

Gage just nodded and left the room, heading towards the ER entrance just as Dwyer and Russo came in with Roy and Marco. They passed him, but as they did, Dwyer threw him a half-smile and a nod. Roy and Marco would be fine then. He could get the details in a bit. Turning around, he headed for the lounge and a cup of coffee.

"Johnny?"

He turned around, his hand on the door. "Gayle, what is it?"

The nurse smiled. "I'm sorry to bother you, I know you've had a rough night, but I wanted to catch you. My roommate is new to the area, she has a horse she wants to bring out here, but is looking for a place a graduate student can afford."

Johnny nodded. "I've got a stall available, and I'll be reasonable, it's not like I'm trying to make a living on horses." He pulled out his pen and grabbed his pad of paper, scribbling down his phone number and handing it to the dark haired nurse. "Here, have her call me if she wants to have a look, I'll be off for the next four days."

"Thanks." Gayle went back to her duties and Johnny went into the lounge and sat down, for the moment not caring that he needed to clean up and change clothes, he could do that later. Raking his hands through his hair, he stood back up, took a mug from the shelf and poured a cup of coffee. Just as he leaned back against the counter, the door opened and Dixie stepped into the room.

"There you are."

"Any news?" John straightened as the head ER nurse approached him.

"Dr. Brackett's still working on Chet, but Roy and Marco are all right. Roy had some bad bruising to his knee that will keep him off it for a few days, but nothing serious. Marco's leg was broken, but that's all other than some bruises and cuts for them both. They were lucky."

Johnny nodded. "Thanks Dix."

"Have you called Joanne?"

He winced. He'd thought about it, but didn't want to worry her if it was only a minor injury and so he had been waiting to hear. "No. I didn't want her to have to find a babysitter and come down here in the middle of the night for a minor injury. She can rake me over the coals later for not telling her sooner, but I think Roy would agree with me."

Dixie smiled and nodded. "You're probably right, Roy's in 1 if you want to see him."

"Thanks Dix." Johnny spoke and set his mug down, heading out of the lounge.

Johnny swung up into the saddle of his chestnut Quarter Horse and took a deep breath. Roy would be back at work on their regular day under the provision that he only do paramedic duty, no fires until his knee was fully healed. Marco would be out until his leg healed. He had stayed at the hospital until Chet was stable and in recovery. His ribs had been broken by the weight of the debris on his chest, the broken ribs had pierced his lung and caused internal bleeding on top of the bad air he'd inhaled from the broken air mask. He would recover, but it would take time.

Kicking the stallion into motion, he moved with the trot until he was in the field and then he gave the animal the signal to run. He was sure he'd been out at least an hour when he headed back to the ranch. The friend of Gayle's was supposed to come out today. Johnny thought she sounded nice on the phone, her accent was soft, almost nonexistent. She certainly did not possess the nasal sound of someone from the Midwest or the harshness of New England. He wondered where she was from. All he knew was that she was in graduate school at UCLA. Not that he was interested. He didn't need someone that was hung up on degrees. If she was friends with Gayle, she was probably a nurse, and what kind of a nurse needed a graduate degree? Nurses didn't need more paper, they needed to be able to help people.

Shrugging off that unwanted line of thought, he sighed and turned his attention to his ranch that was coming into view. The house was almost too big for a bachelor, but he hoped that status would change someday. The barn was well made although old, he had two horses, one for him and the small horse that Roy's kids rode when they came over, and he had two empty stalls.

Pulling the horse to a halt before the barn, he dismounted and heard the sound of a car coming up the gravel drive. Johnny watched as an older model station wagon pulled up in front of the barn and the door opened. A young woman got out, her dark hair pulled back into a braid that was flipped over her shoulder, she smiled and approached him.

"You must be John Gage, Gayle described you well."

Johnny smiled and took her proffered hand. "I'm John. You're Charlana..." He paused, trying to recall her last name.

"Davis." She supplied with a smile and that accent he could not place. "Pleased to meet you Mr. Gage."

He shook his head. "Just John, please. Mr. Gage is my father." He smiled again. "Come on, let me show you around."

He led her into the barn, cleaning and putting his horse away before he showed her the two empty stalls, the room he'd fashioned for storing tack, grooming supplies, feed, and hay. Returning outside, he pointed out the pasture as well as the ring.

Charlana turned to him as they stood at the fence surrounding the practise arena. "I like it. There are trails?"

"Yes, some on my land and some on public land behind my property, everything is clearly marked."

"Well, I like it and I do want to bring Beowulf out here, but there is one thing."

"What? I'm cheap, I promise."

"Well, that is a concern, but the other thing is I ride English, I jump."

"Tell me what you want, I'm sure I can build it or find someone who can."

She nodded. "Ok, I'm sold. My brother's bringing him out, I just need to give him a date."

"Right, well, I'm off for the next three days, and then for four days starting next Sunday."

"All right, thank you…John." Charlana smiled and shook hands with him again.

Johnny walked her to her car, a part of him wanting to ask her out, but something held him back, there was just something different about her.