What a Pain!—Chapter Three
Mike closed his front door and sighed. "Pain, that was the biggest acting job I've ever done. My shoulder is killing me, my head is killing me, and I wanna barf. I feel like dirt."
Pain let out a sad little "meep" and Mike gave an exhausted smile, "Yeah, c'mon buddy. I'm going to go lie down." As soon as his hand left the doorknob, Mike felt his world tilt. He managed to keep from falling by leaning against the door. "Okay, I'm not doing so good right now, Pain. I'm going to take a couple aspirin and maybe give Roy or John a call." Pain only "mrreeped" in response.
Mike's vision wavered as he walked with slow, deliberate steps to the kitchen. The kitchen was a step up from the living room and he concentrated on it, making every effort not to fall. He was becoming increasingly concerned with the way everything was spinning; it was making his stomach churn. "Man, I need to lie down. Being upright is the pits!" He made his way to the cabinet and took down the aspirin bottle. He removed two pills and gripped them in his fist as he reached for a glass. Sir Pain watched him with glinty green eyes and followed his favorite human through the kitchen.
As Mike turned toward the sink, he groaned loudly. Leaning over, he lost his stomach contents, little though there was. "Uuuuhhhh..." Mike moaned, "I gotta call Roy."
Keeping his hands on the counter top, he slowly went over to the phone. His dizziness was getting worse and the vomiting hadn't helped. Thankfully, he had the numbers for all the guys at 51 posted by the phone. He doubted he could have concentrated long enough to look them up. He leaned heavily on the wall as he dialed Roy's number. Two…three…four rings…finally Joanne picked up.
"Hello, DeSoto residence," Mike heard Joanne's lovely voice say.
"Uh…Jo? This is, um," Mike swallowed hard and licked his lips, willing away the urge to vomit, "it's Mike…Stoker."
Joanne could tell something was wrong. "Mike? Are you okay?"
"Um, is Roy there? I, uh, need to talk to him."
"I'm so sorry, Mike, he's not. He's picking Johnny up at the repair shop. His Rover needed new tires today. Can I have him call you when he gets back?" Joanne asked tentatively.
There was no reply at first, and Joanne began to panic a little inside. "Mike? Are you there?"
"Um, yeah, I'm here. It's no big deal, Jo, just...have him call me when he gets back." His voice was almost a whisper by now, and alarm bells were clanging in Joanne's brain.
"Mike, do you need help? You sound a little weak; are you sick?"
"I…I think I am, Jo. I was okay last night, but...it's been getting worse since I got up," he told her.
"Mike, does Roy have a key to your place?"
"No. I have one... under the big rock... by my back gate…why?"
"You go sit down, Mike, and I'll have Roy and John go over there when they get back. They'll let themselves in. Would that be okay?" she asked.
"Uh…yeah." Another long pause, and then, "Tha' sounds good. Thans, Jo."
Joanne really didn't want Mike to hang up; something told her to keep him talking. "Mike, did you hurt yourself?"
"It…it's jus' a bump, Joanne, I'm okay. I jus' feel a little... sick to my stomach," Mike admitted. "I... had…an acciden las nigh…"
Joanne could hear the sudden slurring of Mike's voice. "Oh, Mike, can I call a squad for you? Your voice sounds a little strange."
It took a bit for Joanne's words to sink in, and then Mike said, "No thans, Jo. Jus'... have Roy come over. I'm... gonna go si dow...n."
Hearing how Mike's voice was changing in just the time they had chatted on the phone, Joanne knew that hanging up was not the best thing right now, but she really needed to call someone to help him. Oh how she wished Roy and John would come back! "Mike, I'm going to call Marco or Chet. I don't think you should be alone. I'll tell them where the key is, okay?"
"Yeah…okay. Thass good...thans, Jo." Before Joanne could say anything else, she heard the click of Mike hanging up. Quickly, she found Marco's phone number.
"¡Hola! López de residencia," Marco answered.
"Marco? It's Joanne DeSoto," she nearly wailed, "Can you drive over to Mike Stoker's house? He needs help!"
"Jo? Sure, I can go over to Mike's. What's going on?"
"Oh, Marco, he called for Roy, but Roy and Johnny aren't here. He sounded weak, and kind of sleepy; his words were slurring, too! He said he had an accident last night, but he didn't say what sort. I tried to keep him talking for as long as I could, but he said he was going to go lie down, and then he hung up! I'm worried, Marco! He said there's a key under the big rock by his back gate. Can you go there now?" Joanne begged.
"Sure, Jo, I'm leaving right now. Tell Roy and Johnny to get there as soon as they can and I'll meet them there! Thanks, Joanne!" Marco stuffed his feet into his sneakers and shouted to his mama that he was leaving. As he was running to his car, Chet pulled up.
"Hey, Marco! I'm going to the ballgame at the pavilion. Wanna go with?" Chet called to him.
"We need to go to Mike's- NOW!" Marco yelled as he dove into Chet's van.
"Uh, okay, what's the occasion? The game starts in twenty minutes." Chet asked, bewildered.
"I'll tell you on the way- GO!" Chet acquiesced and peeled out of the driveway.
The two lineman raced to Stoker's, as Roy and Johnny returned to the DeSoto's house. Joanne had gotten Roy's extra medical bag from the hall closet and as soon as Jo saw them pull in, she ran out the front door. She stuffed the bag into Roy's arms and cried, "Roy! Get back in the car and go to Mike Stoker's place! Oh, Roy, I think he's very sick!"
Roy was stunned to see his wife so distraught, but didn't question what she told him. He and Johnny did as they were told and sped off to Mike's.
Meanwhile, Mike slowly made his way to the sink for a glass of water. His mouth still tasted vaguely of vomit and it was making him feel even more nauseous. He held the glass, staring at it for a minute, trying to remember what he was supposed to do with it. He wanted to sit down in the living room, but the world kept spinning and swaying and making his stomach churn. Sir Pain mewed plaintively; he knew his human was in trouble. Mike stumbled toward the living room, tripped over the step and crashed onto the floor, cutting his hand with the now shattered glass. He sat up, cradling his bleeding hand and felt sick again. "Ohhhh," he moaned, "I can't puke here!" He crawled on his hands and knees toward the bathroom, leaving a trail of blood along the way. He leaned over the side of the bathtub and heaved again. This action proved to be too much for the engineer, and he passed out on the floor.
Mike's scrawny, four-legged nurse had followed him into the bathroom. Sir Pain knew that his knew master needed help, and he sat there by his side, licking his friend's face and nipping at his nose, trying to wake him. His ears perked up at the sound of car doors slamming and he ran to the front windows. He placed his paws on the windowsill and nosed the drapes open to peer out.
Since Roy lived closer to Mike than Marco did, he and Johnny arrived first, but Marco and Chet pulled in swiftly after. The four of them looked at each other for a second, wondering how they all managed to show up at the same time. "Mike told Joanne his key is under the big rock by the back gate," Marco said. The guys ran to the gate, looked down at the landscaping in front of the entrance and noticed...several big rocks! There was not one rock that seemed obviously bigger than the others. Each man immediately busied himself turning over all the rocks, searching for the key.
Sir Pain frantically ran his paws up and down on the window, meowing as loudly as he could, trying to get the attention of all the men he saw digging around in the dirt. Finally, Chet raised his fist in victory and shouted, "I found it!" In his hand was a small plastic case with a keyring bearing two keys. Stoker's friends ran to the front door with Chet clutching the keys like they were solid gold. Johnny noticed the little cat crying at the window.
"When did Stoker get a cat?" he wondered out loud.
"A cat? Who cares when he got a cat? We gotta get inside!" Marco snarled.
In a matter of seconds, Chet had the door opened and all four firemen rushed inside.
"Stoker?!" Roy yelled, followed by Marco, Chet and Johnny, calling, "Mike! You okay?"
The cat ran up to Johnny and yowled. Johnny ignored the fuzzy alarm system and he and Chet ran to the kitchen, while Roy and Marco checked the garage and the backyard. Sir Pain jumped to the counter top and from there made a flying leap to Johnny's shoulder, yowling in the startled paramedic's ear.
"Yaaaaaah!" Johnny flung around in a tight circle, trying to dislodge the cat. Sir Pain jumped down and ran down the hall, stopping every few feet to yowl again. "That cat is crazy; what the heck is he doing?" But, being a little more "in tune" with animals than the average firefighter, Johnny followed the cat down the hall, checking for Mike in the rooms as he went. As he looked down, he noticed the bright red spots in the carpeting. He touched the spots and found they were wet—blood! Johnny peered around the bathroom door. "Stoker!" He yelled, "I found him! He's in the bathroom!"
Marco grabbed the hall phone and called for a squad and ambulance. Roy came in to help Johnny with Mike.
"Mike? Can you hear me?" Johnny asked. "Mike! Open your eyes!"
Mike's groaned slightly. "Mike?" Johnny asked again, "Can you open your eyes?" Mike blinked a few times and his lips moved slightly, but no sound was made.
Roy took Mike's vitals and reported, "Johnny, BP's 160/110, pulse is 55, respirations 22. Contusion on the left side of his head. He's vomited and it looks like he's cut his palm pretty badly, too." They bandaged the hand wound and waited for the squad to arrive.
Johnny wrote it all down and looked on in amazement as Sir Pain-in-the-butt squeezed in between the paramedics and began licking Mike's hand. Mike's eyes fluttered open again. "Pain..." he said, faintly.
"I know it hurts, Mike, it'll be okay. A squad's on the way," Roy told him.
"Noooo," Mike whispered. "Pain...good kitty." Then he blacked out again.
The men looked at each other in confusion. Suddenly, Captain Stanley burst into the hall, a wild look on his face. "What's going on? Is Mike okay?"
"Uh, he's got a head injury, Cap," Roy told him. "An ambulance is on the way. How did you know something was wrong?"
Sirens could be heard approaching as Hank explained how Officer Frank Belton had called him at his house, voicing his suspicions about Mike's injury. Cap had planned to just drive over and check on his engineer, but became alarmed when he saw the rest of his crew already there. Soon the rescue vehicles arrived, and the other paramedic team rushed Stoker off to Rampart.
Chet glanced around at his crew mates. "Anybody know what happened to him?"
"I do now," said Cap, "and you're not going to believe the story."