Thank you to all who read and reviewed. I hope you are liking my story so far. Sorry it has taken a little while for Chapter 3. Again thanks to my beta reader Soldier Heart for helping me. So sit back and enjoy. And please review!
The ambulance backed up to the emergency doors of Rampart. Marco backed the squad in next to the ambulance. As the driver opened the door to the ambulance, Dix ran out to meet the paramedics.
She was greeted to a horrible sight.
Blood was covering the young paramedic, her uniform no longer blue, but red. The two senior paramedics didn't look much better, as Johnny and Roy's pants and shirts were soaked with their junior partner's blood.
As soon as the stretcher came off the ambulance, Johnny jumped on the lower rails and began CPR.
"She crashed again just as we backed up," Roy said, still bagging Karen.
Dix ran ahead and yelled, "Kel! Kel!"
Kelly Brackett had been on the phone finalizing the OR and briefing the team of doctors. He looked up to see Karen's stretcher, Johnny on it doing chest compressions.
"What the hell?! Treatment 2, NOW!" he yelled, running for the room. The two attendants followed Dix to Room 2.
They moved Karen off the stretcher to the exam table in one fluid motion. Johnny continued chest compressions and Roy bagging as the two attendants left the room. Dix had already pulled the crash cart up to the table. Kel charged the machine as Roy was connecting Karen to the ventilator.
"1...2...3...400! Clear!" he yelled, shocking the young paramedic for the third time in twenty minutes. Johnny and Roy both jumped back at once as Kel checked the scope.
"No conversion! Again!" he said, hitting the charge button again. Johnny had resumed CPR and Roy was hooking up her IV's.
"1...2...3...400! Clear!" he yelled, John and Roy both jumping back again as he shocked Karen's heart a second time. Kel glanced at the scope.
"Sinus rhythm," he said, putting the paddles back and pushing the crash cart out of the way. John and Roy both visibly relaxed, knowing their partner was still with them.
As Kel started examining Karen before her trip to the OR, Dix ushered the two visibly exhausted paramedics out the door, silently pointing to the doctor's lounge down the hall. She knew that the engine company was already in there. The two paramedics needed to be with their co-workers. They smiled their thanks before Dix re-entered the room and the two men headed for the lounge.
Five pairs of eyes looked up as the door to the lounge opened. Johnny and Roy walked in, their appearance startling the four firefighters in the lounge. They had cleaned up as best as they could, but Johnny and Roy's uniform shirts were still stained with Karen's blood. Cap spoke first. "How's she doing?" Roy looked at his co-workers before saying, "Not good. She crashed on us as we got here. They got her back, though. They're taking her up to surgery now". Roy sat at the table, Johnny slumped next to him.
All the guys were silent for a few minutes before Vince asked, "Captain, I need to ask you a few questions."
"Go ahead, Vince," Cap replied. Cap was slumped in a chair next to the window.
"What exactly happened out there?"
Captain Stanley was silent for a moment.
His eyes never left the ground as he said, "She was getting the backboards off the squad for the two victims when she dropped one of them. As she was picking it up, a car raced around the corner about a block away, swerving all over the road. I was too far away to help her. I watched as one of my paramedics was thrown 300 feet away by a drunken maniac who thought he owned the road".
"What color was the car?" Vince asked.
"Red, uh, Mustang, I think. Defiantly red. It, uh, headed on Alameda Street. East, I think." Cap said, his words slow.
All his crew was watching their captain carefully. Cap was very pale and all 5 men in the room were worried about him.
"That's good information, Cap. Thank you so much for your help," Vince said, putting his notebook away and quietly leaving the room.
Marco, who was sitting in a corner, watched his captain closely. He noticed that Cap was shaking slightly. He realized that his captain may have witnessed the death of one their co-workers. Marco knew that if Karen died, Cap would take it harder than all of them. All six men sat in their own silence and thoughts, waiting for news of their friend.
