Captain Stanley exited the cab of the engine and visually assessed the horrific scene he had been forced to witness. The squad had been 't-boned' by the Cadillac, the majority of the impact focused on the driver's side door. The Cadillac had pinned the mangled squad against the enormous tree which would make rescuing the vehicle occupants much more difficult.
Smoke began billowing from beneath the Cadillac's hood, the smoke increasing in thickness and darkness.
"Chet, Marco! Get the lines ready, the 'Caddy' is smoking!" With his 'captain' mode kicking in Stanley managed to set aside his personal concern for Johnny and Roy until the unseen fire was doused.
Inside the squad Johnny slowly became aware of an intense pounding in his head. Muffled, familiar voices in the distance helped pull his thoughts back into the real world. Opening his eyes Johnny squinted, his blurry vision slowly clearing. Looking around the cab he focused on Roy, unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel.
"Roy...?" Johnny asked in a quiet voice. "Roy!"
As he reached for his partner a sharp, burning pain shot down his right shoulder and down into his hand. His arm was undeniably broken. Johnny shifted as much of his own weight as he could away from his right side to keep the pain at a minimum. Using his undamaged left hand Johnny pressed his two forefingers against the side of Roy's neck to check for a pulse. It was there, slow and shallow.
"Roy?" Johnny tried to rouse Roy from his state of unconsciousness. "Roy can you hear me?"
Roy remained completely still. A small trickle of blood ran down his forehead and dripped down onto the steering wheel. A large spider web crack in the windshield seemed like the culprit, but the interior was littered with broken shards of glass of all sizes. Any one piece of glass could've caused the injury.
Johnny braced himself for impending pain as he positioned himself uncomfortably inside the crumpled cab so he could continue to assess Roy. Still using his only good hand Johnny carefully checked Roy's chest for any sign of damage to his ribs that could inhibit his breathing or caused secondary damage to his heart. Roy was breathing unnaturally slow and labored. Two of Roy's ribs were clearly broken, the bones shifting beneath Johnny's touch.
"Damn..." Johnny said aloud to himself. "Hang on Roy, just hang on."
Continuing to check Roy's condition Johnny was relieved to find that there was no evidence of internal bleeding in Roy's abdomen.
"That's good, that's good Roy! You're a little busted up but not completely broken." Speaking to Roy helped steady his own nerves.
Next Johnny checked Roy's neck for injury. As his fingers carefully ran the length of Roy's neck and down his back Johnny let out the nervous breath he had been holding. Roy's neck and spine seemed to have escaped severe injury, just a few bruises.
"I'm sorry Roy, but I have to do this..."
Johnny put his arm across Roy's chest, mindful of the broken ribs, and slowly lifted Roy's limp body up and away from the steering wheel until Roy was sitting up straight in his seat again. The process was slow and painful, for both men. Johnny gritted his teeth as the pressure from Roy's dead weight strained his entire body sending the pain shooting down his broken arm all over again.
Once Roy was sitting back upright Johnny put his hand over Roy's bloodied forehead to hold his head and neck steady. In this position Roy was able to breathe easier, his airway unobstructed and straightened.
"Just hang on a little longer Roy, we'll be okay."
After opening the hood of the burning Cadillac Chet and Marco easily extinguished the flames and slammed the hood back down to smother any potential remaining hot spots.
Captain Stanley and Mike pulled away the broken driver's side window from the Cadillac to check on the single occupant behind the wheel. The unknown man was covered in his own blood and not moving. A broken liquor bottle was sitting on the floor near his feet.
Mike pressed his fingers against the man's neck and felt nothing. He looked toward Captain Stanley and shook his head.
"We can't do anything for him, but we can still do something for them." Captain Stanley had been silently watching the squad for any sign of life. He had seen Johnny moving around through the cracked windshield of the cab and felt a twinge of relief. "Let's move."
Unable to get to the passenger's side door, it was pinned shut against the trunk of the tree, Captain Stanley focused on the driver's side door. The Cadillac kept the door from being accessed but the window had been broken out during the crash.
"Roy? John?" Captain Stanley focused on keeping his voice steady and cool. "Can you hear me?"
"Cap?" Johnny managed to answer, his pounding headache made every sound and every movement an excruciating experience. "I can hear you..."
"How bad?" There was no point in asking if they were hurt, there was not denying it. "Can you move?"
"My arm's broken and Roy's in real rough shape. Broken ribs and probable concussion. I can move a little, but not enough to help him."
"Alright, just relax. We'll get the jaws and get you out of there in no time."
Johnny took in a deep breath and winced in pain. His ears were starting to ring and vision began to tunnel. "You'll need to get Rampart on the line..."
"John?"
"I think... I'm think I'm going to pass out... on you." His hand went limp and fell away from Roy's forehead.
Captain Stanley could only watch helplessly as Johnny lost consciousness and fell silent.
...to be continued...