Chapter three
By the time the procedure was completed, Johnny had talked to his captain and returned to the hall outside the room where Roy was being worked on. He hadn't been the least bit surprised that his captain sounded wide awake when he answered the phone, nor was he surprised to hear the sound of the rest of the crewmates in the back ground.
Cap's first question was, "Did they get him started on the shots in time?"
John told him what the expert from the CDC had said as close to word for word as he could remember. When he heard the captain sigh in relief, Johnny joined him again.
When the door to Roy's treatment room opened again Johnny felt as if hours had passed but in truth it had only been about an hour since they had entered the hospital. The procedure itself had taken less than thirty minutes.
Johnny walked in to find the head of his partner's bed was raised again and Roy was flexing and releasing both of his fists. Both sleeves on his hospital gown were rolled up into his armpits and the bite wound was left uncovered. There were three of the smallest Band-Aids around the scar on Roy's arm but the area between the Band-Aids was red and looked painful. On his other shoulder was a red mark about the size of a nickel on top of a lump the size of a small egg, where Roy had received his first dose of the rabies vaccine.
"We'll move you into an observation room for a few hours." Dr Brackett once again stepped up to the treatment table to talk with his patient. "If the side effects remain mild we'll let you go home sometime this afternoon."
"Just what kind of side effects am I in for, Doc?" Roy already knew there was no other choice than to go through with the series of shots but that didn't mean he was looking forward to the ordeal in the least.
"Aches and pains mostly, a general flu like feeling that should get less severe with each injection," Dr. Brackett answered. "It's not uncommon from what I've read for some nausea and a low grade fever. If that happens we'll keep you here where we can treat the symptoms and keep you as comfortable as possible."
Doctor and patient shared eye contact for a few moments. Roy could tell that Dr. Brackett was sugar coating things a little but that was okay with him, he really didn't want to know how bad things could get.
"Have you talked to your wife yet?" Dr. Brackett questioned. Before Roy even had a chance to answer, he added, "Would it help if I talk to her and let her know what's going on and what to expect?"
Roy explained that he didn't want to frighten his wife by calling her in the middle of the night but it was Dixie that convinced him that it would be better for all involved if he just called her and got it over with. "She'll be much more at ease if you talk to her and then I can tell her to just rest until she has the children off to school before she comes in to talk with the doctor and sit with you until you can go home."
Dixie actually had Roy thinking he would be going home and that there was really nothing to worry about so he did call.
"It's me, babe," Roy spoke quickly at the sleepy 'Hello' on the other end of the call, "I'm going to be alright so don't worry."
Even as half asleep as she was JoAnne didn't miss the 'I'm going to be' part of her husband's statement.
"Roy, what happened? How bad were you hurt?"
Dr. Brackett talked to JoAnne and so did Dixie, each trying to settle her down, it wasn't until she talked to Johnny that she actually felt she believed what she was being told and started to calm down.
Johnny stayed with Roy until he was wheeled into an observation room by which time he was already starting to experience some pain in his joints. Dr. Brackett ordered something to make him more comfortable and Roy was soon uncomfortably asleep.
When Johnny backed the squad into the bay he wasn't in the least surprised to find Cap waiting for him. It was just after six in the morning and the wake up tones were a good half hour away but the smell of fresh coffee floated from the day room. Cap was already dressed in his uniform and waiting for a full report.
"McGuire is coming in early to cover for Roy; he should be here in about half an hour. The coffee's fresh, or would you rather change into your uniform?"
John thought a minute about his options then let out a deep breath. "I guess I better go change. Here's some printed information Brackett gave me, you can be reading it and then we can talk when I'm back."
Hank accepted the papers John handed him and gave them a quick look. "How was Roy when you left?"
"He was starting to feel some aches and pains in his joints. Doc gave him something for it and he was able to fall asleep," Johnny answered but his answer sparked some concern in the captain's mind.
"Did he by any chance call his wife before he fell asleep?"
"Yeah, he didn't want to wake her up but Dixie talked him into it."
"That's good, that's good."
While Johnny was in the locker room changing the rest of the crew started to trickle in to do the same. It was clear that they hadn't really been able to go back to sleep either. They all wanted to know how Roy was doing and when they were dressed they all sat around the table talking over the information John brought back from the hospital.
"Over fifty-five thousand human deaths from Rabies a year!" Chet exclaimed just seconds after he was allowed to read one page of the information Cap was going through, "I had no idea things were that bad."
"Yeah." Johnny sighed, "I guess it's one of the leading causes of death in some of the countries in Africa."
"It says here that in North America, skunks and raccoons are the most likely wild animals to be infected. I wonder why that is?" Marco added his amazement at the information, "I mean I would have thought it would be the animals that ate other animals that were at the top of the list. I never even thought of bats having it, but I guess they are mammals, aren't they."
"The side effects to the vaccine look almost as bad as getting the disease," Mike added his insight.
"Well, not quite," Johnny spoke up. "They've never had anyone die from the vaccine, and if you'd seen that kid we took in you'd know there is no real comparison. Still it does look like Roy and all those other kids are in for some rough times ahead."
"So how many kids are they going to give the shots to?" Cap wondered. He thought about all the stray animals his kids brought home, any kid brought home during their life time. He was going to have to sit down with his family and explain the risks involved with that behavior.
"I have no idea," Johnny answered, "but I think they're going to have to vaccinate the kid's whole family. And anybody that came in contact with the other raccoons. I guess they're giving animal control officers the vaccine as part of their work immunizations now."
"Wow, do you think they're going to start making us take them?" Chet asked.
"I don't know the answer to that," Cap spoke up and then turned to John. "What about you John, are they talking about you taking the vaccine? It says here that rabies is a virus that's spread through saliva, you must have gotten some of that stuff on you when you were taking care of the kid, and when you were taking care of Roy for that matter."
"Yeah, but I didn't have any open wounds or any way for the stuff to get into my blood stream and I washed up real good when I got the kid to the hospital. I even used straight rubbing alcohol."
"I still think you should ask the doctor about it," Cap advised.
"Yeah, Gage, you didn't even get bit by that monkey a couple of years ago and look how sick you got then."
John leaned back in his chair thinking about what was being said, the last thing he wanted was to take a bunch of shots that might make him sick but he had to admit there was some wisdom in what was being said. "I'll talk to the doc about it when I go in to visit Roy after shift is over."
Little did he know that Cap planned to have a talk with the doctor before they got off shift.
It was a good thing McGuire arrived already in uniform because he had no sooner stepped inside the building when the tones went off.
"Engine 51, station 105, squad 36 in place of Squad 51, structure fire, South Alameda and Delores Street, South Alameda and Delores Street."
"Station 51, KMG365, also be advised squad 51 is now available," Cap said and because they knew they were going to be called and squad 36 canceled, Johnny and McGuire started discussing who was going to drive.
The fire was in an apartment building right on the corner giving the firemen the best situation to surround the building with equipment. The place had been under renovations and was being repainted from top to bottom leaving only three apartments with residents at the time. All of those occupants were accounted for and standing across the street when the fire department arrived on scene. One lady in her fifties was having a panic attack but all the others were just shook up a little. The cause of the flames was suspected to be spontaneous combustion and only took in four of the sixteen apartments. However one of those apartments was where they had stored all of the paint and painting supplies and there was a lot of fuel for the fire in that apartment. It took them nearly three hours to get the fire completely out and another hour after that to clean up and reload their hose.
When the trucks backed into the bay again the incoming crew had been there for an hour waiting to take over. They knew their paramedic McGuire was covering for one of A shift's paramedics and were quite surprised to see John Gage roll out of the squad when it came to a stop.
"What happened to Roy?" Several of the members of B shift asked.
Hank and John were the last two in the shower, choosing to answer the next crew's questions. They were even more shocked than the A shift crew had been to learn that Roy was exposed to rabies.
Hank then took a moment to hand over all the literature that John had brought from the hospital.
As soon as everyone was showered and changed they all headed for Rampart to check in on Roy. When they walked into the darkened room it was clear that not all was well.
Roy was asleep on his side with an IV started; he had cold compresses on his forehead and on the back of his neck. An emesis basin was close at hand and although it had been washed out there was still moisture as evidence that it had been used. Both injection sites looked painful and were red and swollen in an area larger than an adult hand and Roy had his knees brought up betraying the fact that he was suffering stomach cramps. His skin was all bumpy with a strange sort of hives that appeared to be under the skin rather than on the surface like they usually see. There were also telltale signs that he had been scratching his arms. All of these side effects of the vaccine had been detailed in the information John had taken back to the station.
John was quick to notice that the IV hanging was full of Benadryl and it was clear that other sedatives and probably some pain killers had been given also. JoAnne was sitting at the side of the bed reading some brochures by the light of a lamp and as soon as the men came in the room she held her fingers to her lips and whispered, "Shhh."
JoAnne understandingly allowed the men to look in on her husband for a few moments in silence and then motioned for them to go out into the hall. Once outside they all gathered in a quiet window bay where JoAnne felt she could talk without anyone overhearing.
"He's experiencing what the doctor's call moderate side effects to the vaccines he's been given. They've had to knock him out." JoAnne was being extremely brave but her emotions were very close to the surface. "The Doctor had hoped to send him home this afternoon but in light of all he is experiencing now their planning to keep him here until after his next shot or possibly the third depending on how he does. Dr. Brackett said things should be a lot easier on him after the first few shots but he was planning to recommend Roy be kept either off duty or on light duty until he's finished with all of the shots, at least twenty-eight days."
"Well if that's what the doctor thinks is best for him then I'm all for it," Captain Stanley spoke up quickly. "He's already been put on injured reserve so there will still be some income coming in through workman's comp to help you guys get by." Cap's main goal was to make everything as easy on Roy's family as he could.
"What can we do for you?" Hank then tried a take charge kind of approach. "Have you had anything to eat today?"
Jo hung her head and then shook it.
"All right then, Mike, why don't you stay with Roy. I think it's clear you'll just need to sit there quietly and let him sleep. Chet and Marco, will you please escort Roy's wife to the cafeteria and see to it that she gets something to eat and some pleasant," Cap emphasized the word pleasant, "conversation. John you and I need to find Dr. Brackett."
Mike quickly entered Roy's room and took just a second to replace the cold compress on the back of Roy's neck before he sat in the chair in total silence. Chet and Marco allowed JoAnne to see that her husband was being looked after and then each one of them took a hold of one of her arms and led her away.
John looked at his captain in sheer undeniable fear, he hadn't wanted to even think about getting the shots himself before but now that he saw how much trouble Roy was having with them he definitely didn't want to have to have the shots. Still, the risks of not having them were even more intimidating.
