Johnny woke to the sound of running water. He opened his eyes and it took some time for his vision to clear. His head was pounding and his left ankle was sending searing pain up his leg. He tried to remember what happened; he was searching an old house with Roy. He had gone into a large room, the floor caved in. He looked up, there was no opening. That's strange if the floor caved in where's the hole? He looked around, the area was light, but he couldn't see its source. Where was he? It was another room but it only had three walls and the no floor. I'm under the house, but where's the water coming from? The hoses he guessed or maybe a pipe had burst with all the heat.
He realised just how hot it was. He was sweating and the air was really thick, humid and smoky. My mask, he remembered he was wearing it. He still had his SCBA gear on but his mask was missing. He felt around for the hose from the tank it was sliced through, air was escaping from it. He put the tube near his mouth and breathed in the escaping oxygen. He took off the SCBA and switched it off. He might need that air later, the smoke might become too much so he'd save it for then.
His ankle reminded him that it was broken and needed attention. He could hear Roy's voice, 'you need to focus on your injuries. Stop any bleeding, calm down your breathing. Take that boot off and find something to splint your ankle. Focus Junior, stay awake!' Johnny started, he had dozed off or had he passed out. He couldn't remember. What was it Roy said, oh that's right taking his boot off. He reached down to undo the laces. There was no way he'd be able to slip the boot off normally. He grabbed for his scissors but the pack that had all his necessary items like scissors and tweezers etc. was missing. It must have come off when I fell. He looked around him and caught a glimpse of some silver in the moist dirt. It was his smaller scissors that would have to do.
Wait, the ground was now wet. It wasn't before. The running water, it was spreading across the ground, soon he'd be sitting in mud. He needed to move, to either get higher or on top of something to keep dry. He couldn't decide what to do first, take off his boot or move.
'Stop John, assess your situation. Focus on one thing at a time.' He's Captain's commanding voice rang out. 'Gage, move your butt to a safer place then get that ankle splinted.' Johnny opened his eyes. He looked up and realised he had fallen asleep again. I've got to stop doing that he said to himself. He looked around; across from him was a concrete slab, at least a foot thick. That would give him the much needed reprieve to avoid the water. He knew this was going to hurt but he needed to move.
He reached forward and slowly dragged himself and his SCBA gear across the ground. His head swam, his ears were throbbing and his leg was sending knife like pain up his left side. He could feel his whole body shaking as he dragged himself up over the cement. He was panting, sweating and his head was swimming. 'Slow down your breathing Junior', he heard Roy's calming voice. Everything swam back into focus and he slowly turned himself over. He pulled himself back and slowly sat up and leant against a wall.
'Come on Gage stop slacking off. Get on with the job. I'm not doing it for you Gage, get started on your leg. I haven't got all day.' Ok, ok geeze Chet you're a grouch. Johnny raised his hand and rubbed the sweat from his eyes. He looked around, he was on the cement, must have fallen asleep again he thought. At least he would stay dry for a while. What was it Chet said, oh yeah, his leg. He pulled out the small scissors from his pocket and started to cut. It was slow going but he finally got to the bottom of his boot. He cut around the sole to open it up more and then slowly slipped his foot out.
Johnny rubbed his hand across his forehead and eyes. The sweat was dripping down his face stinging his eyes. He didn't realise that most of it was blood from a cut near his hairline. He needed to splint his ankle. 'Sometimes you have to be resourceful, use what you have in front of you. There's always a way.' Mike's engineering mind could come up with the most innovative ideas. Johnny opened his eyes, fell asleep again, and got to stop doing that he chided himself.
What was it Mike said, oh yeah use what's around you. He searched around him. His boot, scissors and his SCBA gear. The sole of his boot was probably solid enough to use as a splint he thought. If only he could slice it in half, he'd be able to splint it both sides. He cut away the rest of the boot from the sole. He used the lace to tie it to his ankle. He then cut away his SCBA straps and tied them around his ankle. It hurt like hell but securing it and stopping the joint from moving helped.
Johnny got himself comfortable and looked around. The water was still seeping across the floor but not at an alarming rate. The heat was stifling which made him sweat more. He found himself constantly wiping the sweat from his eyes, they stung badly. He wished he had some water. His throat burned and his stomach churned. 'You know what would be good right now chilly.' Marco smiled and rubbed his stomach, 'chilly and eggs' Marco said excitedly.
Johnny woke and suddenly retched. He just had enough time to turn and lean over the side of the cement and lose the contents of his stomach. Chilly will rot your gut Marco he said to himself. I must have fallen asleep again. His head was throbbing and his vision wasn't clearing. Everything looked distorted. He rubbed his eyes but the sweat stung them. He pulled his shirt out, undid a few buttons at the bottom and pulled it up to wipe his eyes.
His hands were shaking and he started to breathe fast. 'Slow down your breathing Junior' Roy calmly told him. 'Stay calm John, we'll find you', Cap said with the utmost confidence.
"Johnny where are you, can you hear me?" Chet yelled. Johnny smiled, Chet always seemed to be the one to find him if he was in trouble. Johnny sighed; all he could really do was wait.
"Come on answer me Gage, I know you're down here somewhere ?" admonished Chet.
"Shut up Chet I'm trying to sleep here" Johnny croaked out.
"No you don't Junior, stay awake. You hear me stay awake" called Roy.
"John, listen to your partner pal. We'll be with you in a minute" ordered Cap.
"Yeah right Cap. I'll just wait here" Johnny answered, his head was pounding, his leg was throbbing and to top things off his butt was going to sleep from sitting on the cement. He laughed if everyone could see him now he'd tell them his butt was going numb. 'Move your butt Gage' Mike would say; he would often sit next to him when they ate outside.
"Johnny stay awake!" he heard Roy yell at him. He frowned, had he fallen asleep again. He felt a hand on his neck.
Johnny opened his eyes; Roy's face swam into focus. "Trust me to dream of Roy taking my vitals" he mumbled.
"Would you rather Brice be doing it?" Roy asked.
Johnny opened his eyes wider and blinked trying to focus. Roy, Chet and Cap were kneeling around him. "Are you really here or am I dreaming?"
"You're not dreaming John" said his Cap.
"We've been searching for you for hours Gage. Trust you to find the most remote place to fall into" chided Chet, which was more out of relief for finding his friend.
"Just stay still, here's some oxygen, but let me wipe your face first." said Roy.
"The sweat stung my eyes" reported Johnny "My ankles broken Roy and my head really hurts".
"That's not sweat Johnny, its blood. Nice splint though, very resilient" said Roy, as he continued to wipe the blood from Johnny's eyes.
"Mike helped me, told me to look around and use what I had" replied Johnny, as he started to swallow and felt his stomach begin to churn. "Marco and his chilli" whispered Johnny as he suddenly turned and lost what was left in his stomach.
Everyone looked at each other confused. "What did he say?" asked Marco as he lay the stokes next to Johnny.
"Don't worry about it Marco, Johnny's lost it" replied Chet. Roy shook his head and placed the oxygen on Johnny's face.
Mike handed Roy the splint for Johnny's ankle. "Like my splint Mike?" asked Johnny, Mike looked at him then at Roy, a little confused. Roy just shook his head.
Splinting Johnny's ankle left him panting and grimacing. His teeth were clenched so hard he thought they'd break. He tried not to yell out, but the pain was too excruciating and loud groans left his mouth. His friends tried to sooth him by rubbing his shoulder and someone was holding his hand. He squeezed it drawing strength from it. He looked up to see whose hand it was, it was Cap's. He just smiled at John, his eyes telling him not to be embarrassed. He wasn't, he had been drawing strength from his friends throughout the ordeal.
"Ok, let's lift him into the stokes" instructed Roy.
"Careful, my butts numb" stated Johnny. It caused everyone to freeze, not believing what Johnny just said.
"Twit" replied Cap and they continued to put Johnny in the stokes.
All four crew members lifted Johnny while Roy carried his gear and they slowly made their way out from under the house. When they got to the surface, it was dark. Johnny wondered just how much time had passed.
As if reading his mind Roy said "You were trapped for six hours".
They made their way to the ambulance, and placed Johnny on the gurney. Roy climbed into the ambulance and immediately contacted Rampart. Brackett, Early and Dixie had been waiting for word. IVs were quickly established and Roy cleaned and dressed Johnny's head wound.
Johnny looked at his partner "I tried to stay calm like you told me Roy and I assessed my surroundings and moved to the concrete to stay dry like Cap told me. Although, the cement wasn't such a great idea, my butt's numb Roy" Johnny looked at his partner frowning.
"So you keep telling me Johnny, soon you'll be on a soft bed at Rampart." Roy patted Johnny's arm and wondered what Johnny had gone through while waiting for them to find him.
The ambulance backed into the hospital, doors swung open before it even stopped and Johnny was quickly transported to a treatment room. They carefully undid all the straps and lifted Johnny onto the bed. "Careful of his butt, its numb" stated Roy casually. Everyone looked at him a little shocked and then looked down at Johnny.
Johnny smiled "well it is" he confirmed.
Brackett shook his head, only Johnny would be more worried about a numb butt than a broken ankle or a head injury. "Whatever it takes to cope with the pain" Brackett stated.
After x-rays Johnny was taken up to surgery. Dr Early and Dixie found Roy in the doctor's lounge. "He's gone to surgery Roy; they need to do a bit of work on the ankle. He has a moderate concussion, no skull fracture. He was lucky, things could have been a lot worse considering how long it took to get to him" said Dr Early as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"It's funny, he said he followed instructions from all of us." said Roy rubbing his finger over the corner of his eye. "He didn't realise he was bleeding, thought it was sweat stinging his eyes."
"The head injury probably caused him to hallucinate" Early informed Roy.
"What was that about his butt?" asked Dixie.
"When we lifted him to put him in the stokes, he said his butt was numb" Roy shrugged his shoulders. Dixie smiled and shook her head. "I told him he'd have a nice soft bed to lie on here at Rampart" finished Roy.
"Well he'll certainly be lying on a soft bed for a while, with that concussion and ankle" Dr Early confirmed and shook his head. "His butt was numb, what was he lying on?"
"He had crawled over to a cement slab, cause water was gradually seeping through, and we found him sitting up on it" Roy rubbed the back of his neck smiling. "When we found him, he thought we were a hallucination" Roy smiled "I'm just glad he's going to be alright"
"We all are Roy" Dr Brackett's deep voice rang through the room. "I just left him; they're setting his ankle now. No complications, he should make a full recovery, numb butt and all" said Brackett smiling.
"I'll be sure to give him a butt massage when he's in his room" said Dixie, everyone laughed and relief swept over them.