Where's Lewis? Where's Spike?

SRU was used to seeing Spike and Lewis together. They were like Abbott and Costello, Batman and Robin, Starsky and Hutch, Thelma and Louise. They were always together. In the gym, in the basement, in the Truck, in the cafeteria, one time they were seen out on the town on a double date.

Out of curiosity, Jules asked why they don't just move in together, Spike said in response to her query, "No way. Do you how much he eats? Plus he doesn't like playing Warcraft."

When Jules asked Lewis, he replied, "No way. Do you know how much he eats? Please he doesn't ever stop playing that damn game."

"You mean Warcraft?"

"Yeah that. The Boss should make him Sierra One, he'd fulfil his infantile obsession with shooting bad guys." Jules smiled, there was a modicum of truth in it.

But there was a terrible downside to always being seen together because Lewis noticed that people didn't ask the right and proper question anymore. People should be asking, "Have you seen Spike?" Not "Where's Spike?" How the hell would I know? But Lewis being Lewis was always laconic, like talking would make him choke, so he would merely shrug.

One day, after being asked ten times "Where's Spike?" Lewis stopped, put his hands in his pockets and turned them inside out. He said, "Um, he's not in my pocket." He patted his back pocket, "He's not there either." Then he stated the obvious, "I don't know where he is."

One day, Spike came into the locker room and dropped his gym bag at the foot of his locker and complained. Lewis was changing into his uniform, "What's with these people?" Spike said, "Every time they see me they asked, 'Where's Lou?' How the hell should I know where you are half the time?"

Lewis shook his head and said, "Well, that makes two of us."

"Where's Spike?'" He said, mimicking Winnie, the duty despatcher. Spike tossed him an old sock, Lewis just had time to move out of the way, stared at the offending article and said, "Somebody call HAZMAT, that's a bio-hazard."

But there was also so much upside to being together a lot. On "Hot calls," they knew their part well. They each knew they have got each other's back. But for Spike there was another upside, his friend was happy to be in the foreground; happy to let the limelight fall on other people and the beneficiary of that was mostly him.

One dark night, Spike was getting ready for bed when he got a call from Cecilia, "Spiky, do you know where Lewis is? He didn't make it home this morning. We're worried. He's not answering his phone." He listened with alarm. "Mum, don't worry, I'll find him. I'll let you know the minute I find out something."

She calmed down a little, "Cheryl's home from Somaliland. He couldn't have missed this occasion for anything." Cherry aka Cheryl was Lewis beloved older sister, she had been with the Red Cross overseas for one and half years and being close siblings Spike knew something was wrong if his friend wasn't home for her homecoming.

"Ok, Mum, I'm on it."

Spike decided technology would do the job. If his friend was missing but his cell phone was still functioning, he could find him. He had a device that could locate cell signals. On a hunch, he followed the route Lewis would have taken. The two of them had taken this path many times and he could navigate this it blind-folded. As soon as he was out of the City limits, he turned on the gadget, he also plugged it in the car to recharge so he didn't risk losing power.

When he got to the bushy part of Yonge Road, a faint light came on. He felt icy fear in this veins, he suddenly felt as cold as the weather outside. If Lewis was in a motor accident on the main road, people would have already reported finding wreckage but the fact nothing had been reported made him feel ill. It could only mean that Lewis was down a cliff somewhere, concealed in the bushes.

The darkness aided him, plus the fact he was actually looking. He saw a faint light among the trees as he made for a soft curve. His heart jumped. The signal in the device was stronger, Lewis was down there. He was sure, but where? He couldn't risk going down alone without protection and climbing equipment. He called emergency services and reported the accident. He also called their Boss, Sargent Greg Parker. They spoke briefly.

Greg called the rest of his team to let them know Lewis was in a vehicular accident on his way to Barrie where his parents lived, "Somewhere along the length of Yonge St."

Spike debated with himself whether he should call Cecilia, but what was he going to say? 'Yes, I found his car but not him.' No, he decided he couldn't do that to her. He would wait until he knew more.

He parked his car on the side of the road and pulled three orange cones from the back of his car. He was nervous as hell, Where are they? He dialled 911 again. He was told EMS scrambled to get there as soon as possible. He looked at the time, it had only been 5 minutes since he reported it but it felt like an hour. "Hang in there, Lou," he heard himself say.

Lewis was conscious, he didn't know what happened. One minute he was happily driving down the road, suddenly he heard a loud impact! A semi-trailer hit him from behind, pushing his small car on a skid towards the unguarded cliff. He had the presence of mind to brace himself against the steering wheel, tried to go limp so his body could take the impact much better than if he was very rigid. He remembered his car smashing into the trees head long, the window screen shattering into a million pieces.

He was in severe pain, something somewhere… were broken bones. Despite the pain, he mentally checked that he could move his fingers. They moved. He saw them move. He tried to feel his toes. He could feel his toes. He hoped that the driver of the other vehicle had the decency to call EMS but after an hour he knew the bastard was going to leave him for dead. He prayed.

He could hear his phone ringing, it was under his seat but he couldn't reach it without rocking the vehicle off its perch. It was dangling precariously, he could feel it rock when the wind whip up in a frenzy. The physical, emotional and mental pain was excruciating.

Lewis was in and out consciousness. He couldn't recall how long since the accident happened. He was glad to still be feeling the pain though because it meant he was alive. He always had a foreboding he would die young. But not today. Not tonight. I have to speak to my Mum. Whenever it might happen I have to tell my folks I love them. I have to tell my friend a word of wisdom. Not tonight, Lord, not tonight.

Due to the great distance from the closest City with appropriate emergency equipment it took a good 20 minutes before fire truck and EMS arrived. By this time, Spike had gone nearly out of his mind with worry. "What took so long?" he asked the EMS abruptly and angrily. "My friend's been there since this morning, we've got to get him out."

It was getting dark, but rescue personnel had to think through their strategy, not plunge in head long into danger and that took time. Planning took time. Spike wasn't helping. Finally, the EMS Boss had had enough, "You're getting in the way! Sit in your car and cool your ass!" He did as he was told but was out of the car again in five minutes.

"Lou, hang it there, buddy!" He said repeatedly. He grabbed his head in a vice grip and yelled out, "Ahhh!" EMS stopped to watch him verbalise his frustration.

Lewis felt peace. He felt an assurance. He was not going tonight… not anywhere. 'Where's Spike?' he asked himself amusedly. I hope he's looking for me. If anyone can find me in this hell hole, it's him.

Another 30 minutes before Greg Parker arrived with another police officer, Sam Braddock. Greg went straight to the chief of the emergency crew, "Hi, I'm Sargent Parker. Who's in charge?" Meanwhile, Sam homed in on Spike who was struggling to stay calm.

A man the size of Jules fronted up to Greg, "Officer David Winney." They shook hands. Winney briefed Parker about the strategy they were going to put into play. The Sargent listened and thanked him, he turned around to each member of the rescue squad and thanked them, too.

Winney then said, "Parker, is that your boy there?" He turned in the direction of Winney's pointed finger, "Yes, why?"

"Tell your boy to wind his head in, we're doing our best. God, he was a pain in the butt," Winney followed this with a loud groan. Parker smiled, "Sorry, that's his best friend down there, in fact, they're more like brothers. We'll leave you to do what you do best."

Spike's phone jiggled, he looked at the screen, Mum Y. Dear God, what will I say to her? He saw the Boss approaching, he handed the phone to him and said, "Please." Parker took the phone and in his usually unflappable manner explained they had found Lewis' car in the bushes. He added that he would call every hour, on the hour to update them.

It had been an hour since the crew arrived and nothing seemed to happen. Spike went over to Winney, "What are you guys doing? What are you waiting for?"

Sam hurried over and dragged Spike away, "Calm down, Scarlatti. They're doing their best, ok?"

Five minutes passed, finally something seemed to happen, a chopper flew overhead, hovered over the trees, a man hanging on a rope. It caused a lump to form in their throats. This was such a tricky thing to do. A matter of life and down for the chopper pilot and the rescuer. Any missed cues and they were all going to die trying to get to Lewis.

Lewis Young opened his eyes, he felt the car moving back and forth due to the wind generated by the chopper's rotors, he gripped the sides of the car seat, certain that any minute now, he was going to get plunged head long into the foot of the forest. But he wasn't. A friendly face peered into the broken wind screen and was glad to have found him alive. The radio crackled to life, "He's alive." A whoop went up among the rescue crew. One of them hurried to Greg, Sam and Spike, "He's alive!"

The specialist rescue crew secured the car as best he could with a rope. That done, he spoke to Lewis through the window, "I'm going to open the car door. Unclip you from your seat. I will take you around the waist, with your injuries, it will hurt like hell."

Lewis nodded. But it was tricky. All of it. The looming darkness. The wind. The precarious setting of his car. Lewis' multiple injuries. If it was going to end with a successful outcome, it would be on a wing and a prayer. Everyone prayed.

They watched with bated breath. Watched through binoculars, saw the car rocked backwards and forward. The specialist rescuer managed to open the door, unclip Lewis out of the car seat. He had just gotten a grip of Lewis' hand when the car tilted backwards, and slid down the branches to the forest below. They all gasped at the unfolding drama.

Now Lewis was in the rescuer's grip but it wasn't ideal. He had Lewis' one hand, not his waist as they planned. There was no time to waste. The chopper pilot started to move. The rescuer and Lewis desperately held on to each other, hoping against hope neither would let go. Both of them were thinking, Don't let go. Dear God, don't let go.

"Give me your other hand," the rescuer shouted, Lewis tried to lift his other arm but couldn't, the bone had detached from the muscles. "I can't move it." They were lip-reading each other in the wind and the rotor's blade was generating too much noise.

The distance to the roadside wasn't far, thank God, within one minute the chopper was hovering over the highway. Slowly lowering Lewis and the rescuer down. It was a testament to both their training and fitness that they managed to hang on to each other in that time whilst buffeted by wind and dangling crazily in space.

Spike hugged Sam tightly, "Thank God."

They rushed to see their friend, Spike said, "You shouldn't go home without me."

Lewis smiled and whispered, "If you were with me, who'd have found us?" Good question.

Spike called Mum Y and told her the good news. They celebrated Cheryl's homecoming in the hospital critical care.

From then on, they didn't mind answering to "Where's Lewis?" and "Where's Spike?"