Chapter 6- Deceptive Peace
Sam's head and heart were racing. No one knew how bad it was. Tom had gone to get the helicopter in case a trip to the hospital was needed. "Sam to Penny. Come in Penny" he called on his radio. "Penny here," she answered. "How bad is it?" He heard Penny sigh, "I'm not sure. Ellie said he's unconscious. He's also bleeding pretty badly. She's stabilized him but he's going to have to get to the hospital as soon as possible," she told Sam. The rest of them heard this as well on their radios. "We have Tom on his way as we speak" Station Officer Steele told her. "Don't worry guys, we're almost there." Elvis reassured Penny and Ellie. True to their word they were there in five minutes. 'Thank goodness for GPS!' Sam thought as he spotted Penny. Elvis was a lot quicker getting to her though. "Hey Penny. Where is he?" he asked? 3 feet to the left, and way down. Ellie's with him now." He nodded grimly. Elvis and Arnold had become good friends even though Arnold's tech jargon annoyed him. He wondered how Ellie was holding up. After all, they had gone to the academy together. Ellie still deeply cared for her classmate/ teammate. Although she did tease him regularly for being a little nerdy. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Station Officer and Nurse Flood. She looked at her friends and quickly formulated a plan. "OK everyone, I need to be hooked up to get down there. Station Officer Steele, I need you to anchor me. Penny, I'll need you to guide me. Ellie and I will get him onto the stretcher. Once he's up I want Sam and Elvis to rush him to the helicopter as fast and safely as possible." "Yes Nurse Flood!" they said in unison. The team worked smoothly together to get Arnold up onto the stretcher and out of the cave. "Come on Elvis! Let's get Arnold out of here," Sam said. Elvis nodded silently. The whole team watched Tom fly Arnold to the hospital. "I hope he's alright," Ben said quietly. Charlie put a comforting hand on his shoulder. They hears a heavy sigh next to them. "So do I." Station Officer Steele said sadly. "Let's get back to the station. Ellie, Elvis why don't you two go to the hospital and keep Arnold company. I know how close you all are." "Thank you sir," Elvis said gently. "Come on Ell, I'll drive." "Thanks Elvis. Ellie was nearly in tears at this point. "Penny, why don't you ride back with Sam? I'll drive Jupiter back and have Moose drive Mercury back. They gave each other a questioning look. "Are you sure, Sir?" Sam asked concerned. Station Officer Steele cleared his throat and said, "Uh yes. Quite sure. I'll see you back at the station." They had no choice but to do as he said. When he had finished making sure everything was taken care of, and everyone was gone, he hopped into Venus and drove towards the station. But he stopped halfway there. He pulled over to the side of the road, turned Venus off and went deep into thought. He needed to calm himself before going back.
He and his wife, Doris had never been able to have children of their own. They had desperately wanted to. Instead they became content with taking fledgling firefighters under their wings. Not many stayed for long. But the team he had now, they were here to stay. When Doris had passed away a few years ago he had considered retiring and becoming a hermit. His heart had been shattered that day. But then he realized that he couldn't just up and disappear. His team of younger firefighters were his reason for going. In a way, they became his children. Doris would have adored Arnold and Ellie. She adored Sam, Elvis and Penny. He took one more deep breath to calm himself and started driving.
It was a very quiet night in that night. Pontypandy. Even though the weather was nice a dark cloud hung over the small village. It was silent. The only sound was the clock on the wall ticking. The silence was shattered when the phone rang. Everyone jumped. Station Officer Steele answered in his usual professional voice. "Pontypandy Fire Brigade. How may I help you?" Neither Sam or Penny were paying attention to the conversation. They were worrying about their youngest member. "Ah, I see. Thank you Doctor. I'll let them know." "Fantastic news! Arnold is going to be fine! His arm is broken and he has a concussion. He had to have a lot of stitches from the wounds he recently from hitting those jagged rocks." "Then why did he become unconscious, sir?" Penny asked. "Ah that. Apparently Arnold can't stand the sight of blood. Even his own. Upon seeing it, he fainted." The two other looked at their senior officer surprised, then burst out laughing. Ellie and Elvis returned from the hospital a few hours later, both smiling. Sam, Penny and Station Officer Steele had called everyone to let them know Arnold would be ok. The dark cloud had dissipated.
A few days later Arnold was back. He was on light duty, but the family was back together. Ellie teased him about fainting at the sight of his own blood. It felt like the sun had come out after a rain storm. Penny and Sam did get quite the butt chewing about their lack of professionalism on the job. They expected that. They also expected the rest of the team to tease them about that said kiss too. Boy were they right. None of them would have it any other way. After that particular incident, Penny and Sam started offically dating. There were a few calls that week, mostly rescuing Norman who was up to his normal mischief . It seemed like they had forgotten all about Buck Douglas. But he was there. Watching, waiting and planning.
It was a nice Saturday afternoon. Sam was having a nice cup of tea. While Penny read a book. Elvis and Arnold were playing tiddlywinks… sort of. They were more like flicking things at each other like small children and cackling at their antics. Ellie was watching the boys, shaking her head in amusement. Despite still having his arm in a cast he was flicking the pieces pretty well. Station Officer Steele looked out his office window and watched with a smile. He was so proud of his kids. All of them. Sadness came over him for a minute as he thought of his late wife, Doris. "Ah my beloved cwningen, how I miss you. I think you would have loved the team. Things simply haven't been the same since you were called Home. Be patient, my love. I'm sure we'll see each other soon enough." His nostalgia was interrupted by the alarm going off. His eyes went wide when hear the computer announced the emergency. Station Officer Steele came out to tell him the emergency. "It's your brother Sam, his boat has crashed into a rocky outcrop off of Pontypandy Island. You need to hurry though his boat us on fire." Sam felt a small knot in his throat start to form. "Right, Penny Elvis you're with me. I need you to call Ben, Penny. Ellie, I need you to call Bronwyn. "Roger that, Sam," they said. They jumped into Jupiter and hit the gas. "Ellie to Sam," her voice came in through the radio. "Go ahead Ellie," "I can't get a hold of Bronwyn." She said. Sam's brow furrowed in confusion. "That's odd..." he said quietly. "OK, thanks Ellie. I'll try to get a hold of her later." That small knot in his throat was getting bigger.
They skidded to a stop in front of the Ocean Rescue Center, got out of Jupiter and ran inside. Before Sam went in though he quickly looked towards the 'Wholefish Cafe' to see if he could see any signs of life. But it looked closed. Sam wasn't a religious man but he offered up a quick prayer. 'Please, God, please let it be that Bronwyn and the twins are out on a picnic. Please, PLEASE let them be ok'. They quickly got their uniforms on and into their respective boats. It was a race to get to Charlie. It didn't take long to find Charlie either. GPS to the rescue again! When they got there, they gasped in horror. A fire was consuming the back of his boat! No one could see Charlie. "Charlie! Charlie!" Sam called. There wasn't an answer from him but instead a different and more terrifying sound came. Screaming! A lot of screaming! It was coming from below deck. "Oh my God!" came the horrified voice of Penny.
Hello All! So I may be slowing down on chapter turn outs. Things are getting pretty busy here. But do not fear! This fanfiction WILL be completed. Thanks for your support! As always reviews are welcome!