Chapter 2

Captain Stanley watched as Dr. Joe Early and Dr. Mike Morton supervised moving the car's occupants away from the wreckage. The woman, now in a wheelchair was keening and moaning while her companion stumbled after her. The space around them was oddly quiet except for the steam hissing from the destroyed radiator and the quiet spray of the fire hose on the floor and car. Stanley mentally shook himself to action as Gage positioned himself once again by his partner's outstretched hand.

"Kelly! Lopez! Put that hose down and get the Jaws and the other equipment we need to get this car off of Roy!" Chet and Marco stood stunned for a moment. This was the first they had heard that Roy was under the car. The hose was dropped as they ran out to gather the needed equipment.

"Johnny! Over here." Johnny jumped up and ran around to the driver's side of the car to join Dr. Brackett. Before he could bend over, Kel held Johnny back with a shaky hand.

"I can see him here. There's a lot of blood from a head wound and he's unconscious. But from what I can tell, he's parallel with the car." Brackett paused to wipe blood that was dripping into his left eye. During that moment, Johnny threw himself down on the floor for a better view. "I mean, he's stretched out with his legs pointing out this way…I think he's…"

Johnny reached up just in time to keep the doctor from collapsing onto him. "Hey, hey, hey, Doc. We need to get you out of here." Kelly started to protest, but Johnny pulled him up and motioned to his Captain. "You're not going to do Roy any good if you don't get your own head looked at."

"I got him, John." Hank put an arm around the doctor and guided him towards an empty gurney. Just then, Dixie McCall stepped out of the closest exam room. "I'll take it from here, Captain Stanley." She glanced back at the chaos and then managed a quick nod to the fireman. "Now you guys take care of Roy." Stanley turned back as the head nurse called for an orderly to help her get Brackett to an exam room. Johnny met the Captain at the end of the station wagon.

"Cap, I think if we can just move this car straight out, Roy will be okay. I don't know how he did it, but he's lying under the car, straight out…you know, with his legs out towards the back."

Stanley took in a deep breath. "Are you sure, John? We won't cause more damage when we move the car?"

Johnny hesitated. This was his partner and best friend. Was he moving too quickly and had he assessed the situation correctly? Or was he getting ahead of himself. Less than 3 minutes ago, he thought his friend was dead. In his hurry to get to him, he didn't want to be wrong.

"Come look, Cap."

Together the two firemen got down on the floor and began to look at every angle. The wreckage hid a major portion of the victim's body but it appeared that Johnny's assessment was accurate. They both stood up and went to talk to the rest of the crew. Marco got the chain from the Engine while Mike went to move the Ward into place. While everything was getting set up, Johnny was back down, looking at his friend. Watching him breathe. Praying he would open his eyes. Checking his pulse. Reassuring himself that Roy was alive.

Chet slid under the car with the chain to attach it to the axle. "Hey, Cap! I can touch Roy's boots under here. He's straight out, like John said." Stanley gave the lineman a hand as he slid back out. Meanwhile, Marco and Mike had secured the chain to the engine.

"John. We're ready."

Johnny looked up at his Captain and nodded. "I'll keep an eye on him and if I think he's in trouble, I'll holler."

Without another word, Stanley signaled to Mike. "Take it real slow, Mike! Be ready to stop if I tell you to!"

From his perch on the front seat, Mike waved a hand in acknowledgement. Taking in a deep breath, he placed the engine in reverse and began to ease back. It took a few moments before the chain was taut. And then he felt the tension as the car began to move. He nodded at Chet and Marco who then looked back towards the hospital. "Hope you guys are saying your prayers," he thought.

Johnny watched intently as he saw the car beginning to move away from the wall. Debris started to shift, including parts of what use to be the drinking fountain. Realizing that Roy might become the victim of falling debris, Johnny scrambled up from his position, wanting desperately to put himself in the space between the wall and the now moving station wagon. "Hold up, hold up!"

Stanley signaled to Mike, who stopped immediately. "Chet, Marco! Come here and help us get this stuff out of the way before it lands on Roy!"

With careful and methodical movements, the four men removed as much of the debris as they could in the six inches of space. Stanley, satisfied with what little they had done, signaled Mike again to start moving back. Almost immediately, John yelled, seeing that there was going to be more falling down as the car was removed.

"Cap, I'm getting under there and covering Roy up as much as I can."

"No you're not. I'm not having both of you in trouble."

Johnny got that familiar look of determination on his face. "Cap, I can do this. You know I can. Now there's just about a foot of space here, I can squeeze down in there, cover myself and Roy up, and Mike can get that heap the rest of the way out of here. And then Roy will be safe."

Stanley sighed. He was obligated not to put another man in danger but he knew this was the best thing to do. Johnny could wriggle his way down there. He might get injured in the process but Roy needed help. Who knew how bad his injuries were and having debris cause more damage just wasn't going to happen. Not on his watch.

"Okay, John."

Johnny nodded and moved to take off his turnout.

"If you can't get down there without that thing on, you're not going." Stanley's mouth was set firmly and his eyebrows were slightly arched. Johnny started to protest that it was going to be in the way but knew this was the compromise he was getting for taking a risk. He nodded.

Most of the LA County Fire department knew that John Gage had a habit of getting into tight spaces for the most difficult of rescues. His slim physique was an asset when getting children out of wells, teenagers out of car wrecks, hapless parachute divers out of trees. This was going to be one of the tightest spaces yet. But it wouldn't stop Gage from doing all he could to protect his partner. Johnny twisted and stretched and turned, finally sliding his legs smoothly on the floor, placing his body next to his unconscious partner. He quickly checked Roy's wrist once more, before carefully wrapping his right arm over Roy's body and sheltering his partner's head with his left arm. "Okay, Cap!"

Stanley stood up from his position of watching Gage's progress and signaled again to Mike. The car started moving again. The debris began to fall, with Chet and Marco doing the best they could to redirect it from falling on their comrades. Keeping a careful eye on them, Stanley was ready to signal Mike any moment to stop if he heard any complaint from Gage. There came none. In less than 2 minutes, the car was clear, and the inert bodies of his two men were visible. Neither one was moving.

"John, you're clear."

So intent on the scene, Stanley had failed to notice, Dr. Early and Dixie McCall standing next to him. Before he could say anything, they were by the two firemen's sides.

Johnny rolled over with tears in his eyes and desperation in his voice. "Doc, he stopped breathing. Roy's not breathing."