Slowly Jon got out of bed and tried to stand, only to fall. Grabbing hold of the chair beside him, Jon pulled himself up. He realized the chair was a wheelchair, the bed was a hospital bed, and his legs had no feeling in them. Unable to remember what happened, Jon yelled for help, hoping that someone could tell him what was going on.
Jon sat straight up in bed, sweat pouring off his forehead. He looked around the room, realized it was his own bed and his own apartment, and began to slow his breathing. He whispered to himself that it was just a dream. He got out of bed slowly, trying to shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. He walked into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face to help him wake up. Looking in the mirror, he saw the face of his best friend, Jayson, who was killed in Vietnam. Shaking his head, he once again looked in the mirror, now seeing his own pale face looking back at him. He turned on the shower and stepped in, still shaking his head.
"Well, that's it for you, Baker. No more spicy foods before bed."
Feeling better after a shower, Jon began to dress for work, still unable to forget the nightmare he'd had. Standing in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hands, Jon looked over at the calendar, noticing the date. Jon set the cup down. It was not too many years ago that very day that Jayson was killed.
"That must be why I had the dream," Jon said as he headed out the door.
Sitting on the overpass, Jon watched the traffic go by. His mind was many miles away, in a different time and place.
"Jon? Hey, Jon! Come back to Earth, would ya?" Ponch had been watching Jon all morning. His partner of five years was not at all like his normal self. "Jon, why don't you just talk about it? Maybe I can help."
Jon shook his head. "It's nothing, Ponch. I'm OK. Forget it, will ya?" Suddenly a truck went by, weaving in and out of traffic and speeding as if to going to a fire.
"Hey Jon, we got one!" Ponch took off after the speeding semi. Jon soon joined Ponch in the chase.
"Pull over! Pull over now!" Ponch yelled at he driver of the truck. After giving Ponch the finger, the driver tried to jack knife the truck in an attempt to get away from the officer, causing the load of pipes to fall from the flat bed of the truck. Ponch skidded across the highway. A blue car, not able to stop in time, crashed into the pipes lying across the road, and a red van hit the side of the blue car as it tried to stop. A delivery truck hit the flat bed truck, sending the remaining pipes down on a little black sports car with a crash.
Jon quickly ran to the van, seeing only one person lying inside, unconscious. Looking into the blue car, Jon could see the driver with possible head injuries and a young lady trying to get out of the vehicle.
"Here, let me help you. Are you OK? Please don't try to move any more than you have. Help will be here soon." Taking the lady by the arm, Jon helped her to the side of the road where Ponch lay motionless. "Ponch, can you hear me? Are you OK?"
Ponch slowly moved. "I'm OK, Jon, just a little scratched up on my leg and arm, but I'm OK." Sitting up slowly, Ponch looked over the accident. "How many are hurt?"
"Five. Three are moving around and two are unconscious." Jon said before he started to walk off to the bike "I'll call this in." He looked back at Ponch. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine, Jon."
"LA, Seven Mary Three, we have a multiple vehicle accident. Roll 11-41, ambulance needed. 11-85, request tow truck, Code 8, request backup."
Suddenly Ponch yelled out, "Jon! The driver of the truck is trying to run!" Running after the driver Jon took little time to catch up with him. He was so intent on catching the man, Jon never noticed the man running behind him. After tackling the man to the ground, Jon began to put the cuffs on him when he heard a noise behind him.
"Put the knife down! Drop it or I'll shoot!" Ponch had his gun aimed at the truck's passenger, ready to shoot if he had to. The man quickly dropped the knife. Jon got the driver up and turned around to see Ponch limp over to the passenger. He knew Ponch was too far away to have tackled the man, but was close enough to shoot. Jon knew something was wrong but knew Ponch would not let any one see that he was hurt.
"That must be it – the warning this morning was to watch Ponch," Jon thought. "I'll have to keep an eye on him. If he shows any more signs of being hurt, I'll make him go to the hospital." He walked over to Ponch. "Hey, let's go back to Central to do the paperwork on this, then we'll go get something to eat."
Ponch watched as Jon just halfway ate his hot dog. "I'm glad you chose to eat here, Jon. It's just too nice a morning to be inside." Ponch had a feeling that something was wrong with Jon but still could not get Jon to talk to him about it.
Jon tried to eat but the hot dog seemed to be getting bigger and bigger the more he tried. He set it down and looked over at his worried-looking partner. "It's no use, Ponch. I just don't feel like eating."
"Why don't you tell me what's wrong, Jon? Maybe I can help. If nothing else, maybe just talking about it will help."
"I just can't get the dream I had last night out of my head." He played with the straw to his drink as he began to tell Ponch his dream. "I kept dreaming of Jayson."
Ponch suddenly felt as if someone was watching them. Feeling uneasy, he began to question Jon about the dreams. Ponch knew Jayson was Jon's best friend as a child. When they were both in Vietnam, Jon had watched Jayson die. It was years later before Jon was able to say good bye to his friend. Ponch remembered the day Jon buried Jayson's dogtags.
"You mean you keep seeing him die like before? I thought those dreams had stopped. When did they start back?"
"No, Ponch, it wasn't like that this time. It was different. I had the feeling Jayson was really there. It seemed so real! I was in this field. At first things were dark, then I saw Jayson. He kept saying, 'You are never alone, and you have the strength it will take. Remember that, Jon.' "
Suddenly Ponch felt cold chills. "Maybe you should take the rest of the day off. We're off the next two days. You could take it easy and rest, or you could go to the lake and fish some."
Jon laughed as he thought of the look on Sgt. Getraer's face if he were to ask for the rest of the day off. "No, Ponch, I'm OK. Really. It's just a dream. Don't make anything out of it."
Ponch shook his head. "I'm telling you, Jon. It's a warning. You need to be careful. It was more than just a dream." At that moment a red van passed the hot dog stand, going fast and all over the road. Jon and Ponch looked at each other, then without a word quickly got on their bikes. It didn't take them long to catch up with the van. Jon pulled up to the side of the van to tell the driver to pull over when suddenly the driver turned, ramming into Jon and causing him to lose control of his motor. Jon skidded across the road into the path of an oncoming car.
"Oh my God!" the lady in the white Ford LTD yelled as she hit the fallen officer.
"Jon!" Ponch screamed. "LA, 7 Mary 4, 11-00 officer down! I repeat, 7 Mary 3 is down!" he yelled into the mic. "Send ambulance to this location!"
Sergeant Getraer sat at his desk doing some paperwork when he heard the 11-99 call come over the intercom. His worst nightmare was coming true. The sergeant was at times hard on his men, but he thought of each one as his friend, knowing they looked to him for leadership. He couldn't be anything less than hard when it came to safety.
Joe ran into the dispatcher's room. Teresa was at the first desk, tears running down her cheeks as she listened for any more calls from Ponch. Joe walked over to her desk.
"Have you heard any more from them? Have they said what happened?'
"No, Sergeant. Ponch made the 11-99 call Jon is down. He hasn't said any more." The tears started again as she looked up at him.
Joe ran his hand over his face. "Where were they?"
"They were at the corner West Market and Pine," Teresa said through the tears, her voice barely more than a whisper. "He has to be OK, Joe. He has to."
Joe put his hand on Teresa's shoulder. "I hope so Teresa. That's close to Rampart, isn't it?"
"Yes, Sergeant. My guess is that's where they'll take him." Joe knew Teresa liked Jon more than any one really knew, but so far Jon hadn't seemed to notice the looks Teresa gave him.
Ponch pulled up to where Jon lay motionless on his back. "Jon, can you hear me? Jon, it's me, Ponch." Noticing no response from Jon, Ponch quickly checked for a pulse. It was weak, but at least he was alive.
Having heard Ponch's 11-99 call, Bear ran up to Ponch. "Is he alive?" Bear asked, almost whispering. He was scared of the answer. Ponch looked up at him.
"Well, it looks like Jon has both legs broken and maybe the left arm and he has a nasty burn on his right leg. Where is that ambulance?"
"It's on its way," Bear said, "dispatch has sent one. Ponch, what happened?"
"I don't know. The van we were chasing swerved and hit Jon then the car ran over him. He has to be OK, Bear!" Ponch said as tears showed in his eyes, his voice cracking as he spoke. "Come on, I need you, Partner! Fight, Jon. Please fight!" He paused for a moment looking for a reaction, then looked back up at Bear. "I knew it was more then a dream. Why didn't I take the lead? Why didn't I stop Jon from taking the lead?" he asked his friend. Bear wasn't sure what Ponch was talking about, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Ponch, I'm sure you had nothing to do with Jon getting hurt. You could not have stopped this from happening."
The young lady sat in her car, shaking with fear as tears rolled down her face. Slowly she got out of her car and walked over to Jon. She spoke as she knelt beside Jon.
"I didn't mean to do it, officers. Please believe me! It all happened so fast, I couldn't stop in time." Taking hold of Jon's hand and looking at the fallen officer, she spoke directly to him. "Please forgive me for the pain I have put you in. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Ma'am, I know you're not at fault for this. It was the van we were chasing that caused this to happen. Don't blame yourself." Ponch said as he looked at the frightened lady. Suddenly there was a soft voice beside them.
"Ma'am, please come with me. My name is Officer Bonnie Clark. I need you to come to the station to answer some questions." Bonnie took the lady by the arm and started to walk to her patrol car. "Is there some one you can call to pick up your car? I don't think you're in any shape to drive right now."
"Yes, my husband. My name is Angel Johnson. Can I call him from the station?"
"Sure. You can call him there." Bonnie said as she got into the car. On the way to the station, Angel kept repeating "I didn't mean to hit him."
"I know," Bonnie said, "and the other officers there also know it." Bonnie smiled. "I think even Jon knows."
Meanwhile, at Station 51:
Sitting at the table, the guys at station 51 were listening to Johnny talk about the upcoming basketball game between CHP central and Station 51.
"I'm telling you guys, we can beat the CHP team! Ponch isn't as good as he thinks he is."
Setting his coffee cup down on the table, Roy looked over to Johnny.
"Have you seen them play, Johnny? Do you know just how good a team they are?"
"As a matter of fact yes, Roy, I have," Johnny said with his crooked smile "and that's why I'm telling you we can beat the pants off those guys."
Just then the bells sounded
"Station 51- squad 51- motor officer down at the corner of West Market, cross street Pine."
Roy and Johnny ran to the squad as Captain Stanley acknowledged the call. As they pulled out of the station, Johnny looked at Roy.
"Do you think its Jon and Ponch?"
"I don't know, Johnny. It is part of their beat," was all Roy could say. Both guys racing towards the accident both afraid of what they will find there. It wasn't long until they saw who the fallen officer was.
"Oh God, Roy. It's Jon!" Johnny took the med. box and ran to Jon's side. Ponch stood there talking to Jon, not even noticing Roy and Johnny were there.
"Why didn't you listen to me? Why just this once didn't you believe me? Why didn't I take the lead?" Ponch kept asking over and over.
Johnny looked over at Bear, "Umm, Bear? Could you help Ponch?"
"Sure Johnny." As Bear walked over to Ponch, he told Johnny, "I'm not sure what he's talking about, but it has me worried. Maybe Ponch should go to the hospital too." Taking Ponch by the arm Bear looked down at Jon. "Come on, Ponch. You can't help him now. Let Roy and Johnny help him. They know what they're doing."
Ponch watched as the paramedics worked on Jon, putting splints on his legs and arms a neck brace around his neck, then placing him on a back board. Roy called rampart as Johnny took Jon's vitals.
"Rampart we have a male CHP officer, age 28, hit by two vehicles. Victim has been unconscious since the accident. Vitals are BP 80 over 50, pulse weak, resps 16. Victim seems to have fractures of both legs and one arm, and there is a burn to the right leg as well as possible broken ribs. We have victim in splints and an neck brace."
Doctor Joe Early took the call. "Squad 51, Start an IV with D5W and transport as soon as possible."
"10-4 Rampart," Roy looked over at Johnny "Start an IV D5W."
While they loaded Jon into the ambulance, Ponch walked over. "Johnny I want to ride with him."
"Yeah, sure Ponch." Johnny knew how Ponch was feeling. Ponch sat in the back of the ambulance, not saying a word and never taking his eyes off Jon. For Johnny, Ponch's silence spoke louder then any words could.
"Ponch, I know how you feel, man. I've been there. You did nothing to cause this to happen, and you couldn't have stopped it."
At first, Jon felt pain, then suddenly he could feel nothing. Going in and out of consciousness, he could hear the voices, but they seem so far away. Jon welcomed the darkness. There was no pain, and no far away voices from the darkness. He couldn't help but feel someone was with him.
"Who's there? Where am I?" Jon asked the person standing in front of him.
"Oh, you know me. We were great friends once."
"Jayson? Is that you? Am I dead?"
The person in front of him turned around so Jon could see his face, "Yes Jon it's me, and I'm here to help you."
"Jayson, if it's you, then I must be dead," Jon said, trying to understand what was happening to him.
"No, Jon, you're not dead, but at the same time you're not far from it." Jayson looked at Jon wishing he didn't have to do what he was to do. Seeing his best friend so close to death, knowing if he chose life he would be in great pain and would need much strength to overcome what lay ahead of him. "I'm here to help you, Jon. It isn't your time yet. You have a choice. Remember, you're not alone in the darkness. It must be your choice, though. Only you can make that choice. If you choose to live, remember that you have the strength to overcome all that happens."
For a few seconds Jon came to while in the ambulance. Every breath gave him severe pain. Jon looked at Ponch and Johnny, then, as if seeing something the others couldn't, Jon's only words were "Help me, Jayson."
Ponch put his hand on Jon's shoulder trying to get to him one more time. "Jon it's me, Ponch. Come on, Jon. Fight this! I need you. The CHP needs you. Your sister needs you. You can't go with Jayson. Not yet! Come on, Jon! Fight!"
Johnny looked over at Ponch. "Don't worry. We're coming up to the hospital now." Once they arrived at Rampart, they wasted no time in getting Jon into the Emergency Room.
The darkness gave way to a mountain stream. Jon stood beside the big oak tree, watching the water flow, and Jayson stood beside him.
"Do you remember this place, Jon? We had lots of fun here; swimming, fishing, camping out. You brought your first love here on a Sunday picnic."
Jon smiled as he remembered the carefree days of his youth. "Yeah, and it would have been a great picnic if you had stayed away."
Jayson laughed. "I did you a favor, you know. Lisa only loved you because you were the captain of the football team and she was the head cheerleader."
Jon suddenly became sad. His eyed showed the great sorrow and pain that was inside him. "I--I said goodbye to you at a place much like this, Jayson. I buried your dogtags by a big oak tree up in the hills of LA."
"I know, Jon, and I think it was unfair of you to tell your partner and new best friend that I always got you in trouble. I can remember a few times when it was YOU that caused the trouble."
Laughing at the thought of telling Ponch about his bad boy days, Jon looked at Jayson. "You don't really think I would want to tell Ponch that, do you? Besides, he would never believe it."
"Of course not, Jon, but I bet he would believe it. You know, I think Ponch and I would have been great friends too. Jon, you can't stay here long. You have to decide soon," Jason said as he sat down by the bank of the stream.
Jon ran his hands through his thick blonde hair, "I don't even want to think about the two of you together," Jon said with his sweet smile on his face. Remembering Ponch made Jon uneasy. 'I wonder what Ponch is doing now?'
"He blames himself for what has happened to you, knowing the dream was a warning and not taking the lead. He would trade places with you now if he could."
"Yeah, well that sounds like Ponch. He's a good cop. He had a good head on his shoulders. He doesn't need me. He'd be OK without me around."
"And your sister, Jon. Does she need you? Would she be OK without you? Think about it." Jayson stood by the tree, looking out towards the river "Jon, I've done all I can here for you. But remember, I'm always here for you." With that said, Jon stood alone. The darkness came upon him once again.
Ponch joined Joe in the ER waiting room as the hours went slowly by. Dr. Early came into the waiting room, looking around. He found Sergeant Getraer and walked over to greet him. "Are you Officer Baker's Sergeant?"
Joe stood up. "Yes I am, Dr. Early. This is Frank, Jon's partner." Ponch listened closely as the doctor continued.
"Officer Baker has a broken arm, a broken leg and two broken ribs. As of right now he's in a coma. We don't know why. I wish I could tell you more."
"I want to see him." Ponch stated, leaving no room for a "No" as a response.
Dr Early looked over at Ponch. "Sure. He's in room 115. Talk to him as much as you can. Maybe it will bring him out of the coma."
Standing beside the bed, Ponch started to talk to Jon, hoping in some way Jon could hear him. "Hey, Partner. It's supposed to be me in the hospital room, not you!… Man, you really need to wake up! You have a very pretty nurse. If you don't wake up soon, I'll just have to ask her out myself, you know." He limped the few steps to the chair and sat down. "I'll stay here with you, OK?" He stretched his legs out, glad to have a comfortable place to sit down, and was soon sound asleep.
Standing beside a tree by the riverbank, Ponch could sense someone else around.
"Do I know you?" Ponch asked the man standing behind him.
"No, Ponch, you don't, but I know you and in many ways we are a lot alike. We do have the same best friend."
"You're Jayson?" Ponch said as he turned around. Is Jon with you? Is he OK?"
"Jon is here, Ponch. He's OK. I want to thank you for helping him. You've been a great friend to Jon, and he'd rather have you watching his back than anyone else. Ponch, it's not your fault Jon is here. This is for him. You couldn't have stopped what happened."
"Are you saying Jon will be OK? Is he going to wake up?"
"Yes, Ponch, and I can bet you he will ask the nurse out long before you get a chance," Jayson said, laughing.
Suddenly Ponch could hear some one calling his name. Listening closely, he could tell it was Jon's voice. "Hey, Ponch, wake up." Slowly Ponch awoke, realizing Jon was awake and calling him. Ponch stood a little too fast and stood rubbing his leg before walking over to Jon.
"Hey, partner! You're awake! I just had the strangest dream about Jayson."
Jon smiled "It was just a dream, Ponch. That's all. Just a dream."
Joe walked into the room. Seeing Joe enter, Ponch started to walk back to the chair, doing is best not to limp on the painful leg.
"Joe, you talk to him. Ponch was hurt this morning. The pain seems to be worse and his limp is worse. Tell him to see a doctor. He won't listen to me."
"Frank, were you hurt this morning?" Joe asked, using his best Sergeant Voice.
"I'm fine, Joe."
"Oh really? Then when did you start walking with that limp? Frank, you will not leave this hospital until you get checked out by a doctor. Do you hear me?"
"Yeah, Sarge." Looking at Jon and trying to change the subject, Ponch said "Hey, Partner, let me know if you need anything."
Jon smiled. "Just go home, Ponch. I'm OK. Get some help for your leg and arm, will ya?"
As Ponch walked out of the room, Jon laid his head back on the pillow, smiling. "Maybe he does need me to watch over him after all", Jon thought to himself.