Name That Tune

These good fellows don't belong to me but I promise when I'm done to pick um up, dust um off and with a kiss on the cheek return them safely home.

"Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." John Wayne.

Chapter 3

"Chet exactly what are you doing to fix this dinner?" Johnny asked with a smile.

Chet moved over to the table with a cup of coffee in his hand, "Johnny, you just don't understand the complexities of Irish stew my boy. It takes layers of help to get it done just right."

Marco looked back, "And exactly what layer are you?" He asked.

Johnny leaned forward on the couch, "I'll tell ya exactly what layer he is…"

The tones sounded, "Squad 51, child down…………"

Johnny and Roy both jumped up and headed to the Squad. Hank was waiting for them as he wrote down the address and passed it over to Roy. He glanced in the squad to see Johnny putting on his helmet as usual then moved back out of the way.

Roy pulled out and Johnny was instantly absorbed in the racing music again, Bah ba ba, bah ba ba… He was concentrating on its mesmerizing rhythm, the repeating pattern of it calling for him to hurry. His heart beat was rising with each block they passed.

Suddenly he felt Roy pushing his shoulder, "Hey you! Are you listening to me at all?"

Johnny tried to shove the music down so he could hear Roy but it was almost deafening in his head now.

"What?"

"Do I make a right up here?" Roy relied on Johnny's almost picture memory of the streets around Carson.

"Right at North Main," Johnny said, seeing the frustration in Roy's face at him.

"Johnny, we've already passed North Main!"

"Ok, then take a right here, then another right that will put us at it." Johnny said, realizing he had screwed up.

"Sorry Roy."

"Just pay attention please," Roy barked at him. This was no time for him to daydream about something.

Johnny turned and focused on the road as they approached a storefront. Pulling up to the curb they moved out of the Squad to be greeted by a frantic older woman.

"What took you so long? Please hurry, he's not breathing," she said as she ran back into the laundry mat. They were hot on her trail with boxes and oxygen. Johnny's heart was racing with the change in music, the tune that told him to hurry to the victim.

Entering the business it took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the dark, poor quality lighting. The first thing that Roy focused on was a young woman holding onto her son. She looked to be around early 20's, crying and was rocking him back and forth on the floor.

Roy knelt down beside her, knowing the child was limp. He looked to be around 3 years old. "Mame, I'm with the Fire Department. Can we lay him down for a minute so I can check him?"

The older woman started yelling, "She won't put him down. The child isn't breathing and she won't let us do anything for him."

Johnny looked back and with a wave of his hand he tried to calm her, "Now calm down, we're here to help him, okay?" Then looking back to the mom he could see her tight hug on the child. Johnny was on the side near his face.

"He's cyanotic Roy," Johnny almost winced at the anxious music pounding in his head now. "Mame, please let us help him. You have to put him down." Johnny reached up to take the child but she screamed.

"NO! He'll be ok, he'll be ok."

Roy was feeling panicked at this point for the child, who obviously needed their help or he would die, "Look at me." He tried to get her to focus on him but she wouldn't even open her eyes up. She just kept rocking and crying.

The music screamed at him, save the child, save the child. Johnny reached up and started to pry her hands off the child making her scream louder.

"Johnny! Stop." But not only was the mother not listening; now Johnny seemed to not hear him either. He reached over and grabbed Johnny's hands, pulling them off the woman. "Johnny!" With the second yell, Johnny looked up and seemed to realize that Roy was talking to him.

Roy then moved back to the mother. "He's not breathing. If you don't give him to us he might die. Please," he was begging her, "let us help him, okay?"

The word die made her look up, for the first time, acknowledging that someone else was there. She released her grip on the child and Roy immediately pulled him out of her arms to the ground. He leaned down and listened for breaths, his hand on the child's abdomen feeling for movement. When none was detected he turned to Johnny.

"Respiratory arrest," he said while reaching for a pulse. Johnny was opening the bio-phone and getting a link to Rampart.

"Rampart this is Squad 51, do you read me?" Johnny realized that the music had gotten quieter now, although still there.

"Go ahead 51." He recognized Joe Earlys voice.

"Rampart, we have an approximately 3 year old male who is in respiratory arrest." He looked over to Roy for vital signs.

"Pulse is 40, hold for BP." He looked to the mother as he put the blood pressure cuff on his arm, "Can you tell me what happened?"

She looked at him, tears running down her face, "I didn't know." She sobbed, "I didn't know he was in there." Johnny's heart skipped a beat.

"In where?" But he knew what she was going to say.

"He was in the dryer when I turned it on," she almost fell over crying. The older women bent down to support her, holding her head as she cried.

"How long?" Johnny gently took her arm, "Mame, do you know for how long?"

"I went out looking for him, I thought he had gone next door to the little thrift store." She watched as Roy had placed the resuscitation mask on his face and was giving him breaths. "I don't know."

The older woman spoke up, "We were all looking for him. It was probably at least 15 minutes."

Roy reached over and felt around his head as he breathed for him, there were multiple bumps that could be felt. The child had been tossed around like a rag doll in the large commercial dryer. He heart went out to him.

"Rampart, BP is 80/40. Color has improved with ventilations. Apparently the child climbed into a commercial dryer and wasn't found for 15minutes. There are multiple bumps along the scalp. He is also very warm to touch. He remains unresponsive." He looked to Roy as he rechecked his pulse. "Heart rate is now up to 100."

"51, begin D5LR at KVO, continue ventilations. Use spinal precautions and transport as soon as possible."

Johnny repeated the instructions then replaced the phone in the box. They both looked up to see Vince enter the laundry.

"Fellows. What happened?" Roy quickly updated him then asked him to continue the breathing for the boy.

"I'll get the backboard and the C-collar," he said as Johnny was starting the IV. As he moved to the Squad he stole a quick glance back. Johnny seemed to be ok now, focused on doing his job. But something had happened on this run and he had every intention of finding out what it was.

The child was loaded onto the stretcher with Mark the ambulance attendant taking over the breathing for Vince. They loaded him into the vehicle and Johnny started to climb in. He was surprised to feel Roy's hand on his arm.

"I'll ride in with him, you bring the Squad in," he said then turned his back to Johnny climbing in beside the child.

Johnny wasn't really surprised, he had messed up this run, twice and he knew that Roy was upset with him. He simply handed him the boxes and closed the doors, banging twice on them to signal they could move out. Jogging back to the Squad he was thankful for the quiet in his head, save the pounding headache it had left behind. He pulled out onto the street and turned on the lights and sirens to follow the ambulance.

There it was again, the racing music, bah, ba da …bah da da…bah da da da…. The music, adding to his headache was almost bringing him to tears. It was too much, it was overwhelming. He took one hand off the wheel and rubbed his temple, trying to will the music down. Focusing on his head, he didn't see the car that ran the red light in front of him.