Chapter Seven

Cap ran over to Johnny, he looked down at his friend who now had a bluish tint around his mouth. Johnny had started CPR and had another Paramedic prepare the paddles. They put the paddles to Roy's now bare chest to get a reading.

"V-Fib!" Johnny said after studying the monitor for mere seconds.

"Charging to four hundred," The other paramedic said, "1…2…3…4 Clear?"

"Clear!" Johnny said as he pushed the buttons, sending an electric shock straight through Roy's heart.

Johnny looked at the monitor and sighed in relief, Roy was in a regular slow rhythm.

"Let's go! Get him in the ambulance, I'll contact Rampart." Johnny ordered.

Captain Stanley stood over the entire scene as it played through, he felt useless because he had no medical knowledge and was glad Johnny had been able to take over the scene. He also felt scared, scared that he could lose a part of his team, a team that had grown so close over the last five years that they considered each other family.

As he watched Johnny climb in the ambulance behind the stretcher, he couldn't help but think about the men he worked with. He thought of their good sides, bad sides, and little quirks that made each of them unique. Losing one of them just wasn't comprehendible to Captain Stanley; he had worked too hard to lose them now.

Johnny rolled over in his bed and looked at his clock.

"2:30? What the hell!?" He said to himself.

He reached for the phone that was ringing beside his bed. He was angry for the rude disruption, but also worried, no one would call him this late unless something was wrong.

" 'ello?" Johnny said into the receiver.

"John? It's Roy." Roy said on the other end of the line.

Johnny sat straight up when he heard the worried tone in Roy's voice.

"Roy? What's the matter?" Johnny asked; he was now fully awake.

"It's Cap, his…his wife…his wife left him." Roy said; his voice full with emotion.

"Where are you?" Johnny asked.

"His house, I called the rest of the guys and they are on their way."

"I'm on my way." Johnny said and then hung up the phone.

Twenty minutes later, Johnny pulled up behind Mike Stoker's truck and hopped out. Behind him, Marco Lopez pulled up beside the curb, Johnny waited and they walked to the porch together.

They knocked on the door. Roy opened it and let the men in; they stood in the foyer and greeted each other.

"How is he?" Marco asked.

"Not too well, this was a huge surprise; I think he is still in shock." Roy replied.

"What about the kids?" Johnny asked, his heart sinking because he felt like he already knew the answer.

Roy just shook his head.

"Mike's in there now, we're trying to get him to tell us what happened, but all he has said is that she left and took the kids." Roy added.

They heard a knock on the door. Johnny opened it to show Chet, he looked like he had rolled out of bed and came straight here. They caught him up on the news and headed in to the living room as a group.

When they entered, they saw Mike with his arm around Captain Stanley. They had never seen anyone look as defeated as he did now. Once a strong confident leader, he now looked like a ghostly corpse. He looked down at his feet and barely acknowledged the men when they entered.

"Cap?" Johnny said.

Captain Stanley looked up and seemed to realize, for the first time, who was there. He mustered up whatever voice he had.

"Boys, what are you doing here?" He asked in a small uncharacteristic voice.

"Roy called us, we are here to help." Chet said.

"I'm fine, just fine. Look at the time, its 3:00 in the morning! Go home!" He said.

"Sorry, we can't do that amigo." Marco said.

Captain Stanley looked defeated, he put his eyes back on his feet and said, "Well, if you are gonna stay, at least grab a beer."

The men smiled at each other, it might not be so bad after all. They all grabbed a beer and sat down, surrounding their Captain.

"Now listen, I don't want to talk about it. So if you're gonna stay, let's talk about something else." Stanley said.

"Okay, well…the weather today was…" Chet began.

"NO!" Five men said in union.

"Sorry, just trying to start a conversation." Chet said.

Johnny stood and turned on the small radio that stood near the wall in the room.

"Well, music can't hurt." He smiled a patented Gage Grin.

They listened for a few moments and then heard an advertisement for the fire department.

"Have you ever wanted to help people and the community? Ever wanted to know what it felt like to ride a fire engine responding to a call? Now is your chance, the Los Angeles County Fire Department needs brave young men and woman to join, become a firefighter or a firefighter-paramedic for the LA County Fire Department. Applications are now being accepted."

The men looked at each other and grinned.

What a corny advertisement. They all thought.

"Hey Roy. Why'd you become a firefighter?" Johnny asked.

"Gee…I don't know, I like to help people and I feel great doing it. No one in my family ever thought of doing something as "hands on" as firefighting, they all work in offices 9-5. I guess I heard an ad just like that one and decided to give it a try." Roy said.

"What about you?" He asked Johnny.

"I guess I kind of always knew I wanted to be one. When I first got off the reservation I was staying in a tiny apartment building when the building across the street caught fire. I remember watching the men put it out and thinking, "Hey I could do something like that," soon after, I moved to LA and put my application in." He said.

After a moment, Johnny looked around.

"Marco? What's your story?" Johnny asked.

"Me Amigo? Well, my story is a lot like yours, but not so happy. See, my house caught fire when I was seven. My Brother and I made it out okay, but my mom was stuck in the back room. The firefighters tried there hardest to get to her, but by the time they did…it was too late. After that, I hated firefighters, I blamed them for her death, but one day about six months after the fire one of the crews that was first on scene visited me and my brother. They told us about the fire and why they couldn't reach her, and they answered all of our questions. When they left, they gave us a card with all of their numbers on it, they said we could call of we ever needed anything. That's when I stopped hating firefighters and started wanting to become one." Marco's eyes became watery as he told his story, but smiled at the end.

"I'm sorry man, I never knew." Johnny said.

Five minutes passed as they all took in Marco's heartbreaking story.

"Chet?" Marco asked, breaking the ice.

"Yeah? Oh…well, me and a bunch of friends decided to go in on it together. We thought of it as an adventure. I never planned on making it my career. I was the only one that made it through the academy, most of them dropped out because they hated PT. The day I got my badge was a day like no other. I was proud of myself and I knew my parents were too. They were in the audience when I graduated; my dad had tears in his eyes. I think they were happy I made something out of myself."

"That's good that your family supports, my sure don't." Mike said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah? Why's that?" Chet asked.

"I don't know, when I told them I wanted to be a firefighter they laughed because they thought I was joking. When I told them I was serious they got angry. They said I was a disgrace to the family and that no Stoker should do a "blue collar" job. They also told me that I would be dead within a year. I joined anyways; I got through the academy alright, but never had their support. They didn't even show up for graduation. They barely even talk to me anymore…but you know what? Let them be ignorant. I love my job, I get to help people and it makes me feel good. If they don't see that, then forget them." Mike said, finishing strongly.

"Wow, I'm sorry they don't support you man, that's rough." Johnny said.

The rest of the men apologized, but Mike shook his head.

"I've made peace with it; life in fire department is a lot better than life with my parents." He said.

They looked around; all of them had shared their story except for Captain Stanley, who was now staring intently at the lamp on the table beside him.

"Cap?" Roy asked.

"Yes?"

"What about you?"

The Captain sighed deeply.

"Well, I come from a long line of firefighters. My Dad, My Uncle, My Grandfather and his father all were firefighters. I guess you could say it was in the cards for me. I remember the first day of the academy, I was so awkward around the equipment, and when we had a real fire I ended up getting burned. I was about to drop out when one of my Captain's pulled me aside and told me to relax and stop acting like I had something to live up too. When I did that, I got a lot better; I even graduated third in my class. I'm glad I stick with it, I love my job and I can't picture myself doing anything else." He smiled, a small, barely unrecognizable smile, but it was there.

For the rest of the evening, the men talked and Cap finally opened up about his wife. They all listened intently, and gave him advice and comfort.

After that night there was a definite change in the men of Station 51, they seemed closer and they talked more on a personal level. They became more of a family then coworkers, even Chet and Johnny seemed to act more like brothers.

Captain Stanley divorced his wife, but with the added support of his friends he got through the whole ordeal a lot better than he would have without them.

Cap watched as the ambulance started to drive away from the scene.

"Kelly! Drive the squad in! We'll follow you once we get this mess cleaned up. I'll call headquarters and tell them we will be out of service at the hospital." Cap didn't care that he was putting them out of service for such a long time, his friends needed him more.

Kelly turned around and almost sprinted to the squad, he had never wanted to get to the hospital as fast as he did now.

Meanwhile, in the ambulance, Johnny looked down at his best friend. Beads of sweat were shining on Roy's forehead. Johnny took the time to look over Roy's body.

He frowned slightly at what he found; A broken arm, probable broken ribs, broken clavicle, broken femur, and a broken ankle. He had numerous lacerations, bruising almost covering his entire torso, and a huge hematoma on his head. His BP had started to fall and his pulse began to rise. It wasn't looking good at all.

Roy hadn't regained consciousness at all, but Johnny didn't care. He leaned down and started to talk softly.

"Roy, I know you can hear me so listen up. Don't give up just yet, I know it hurts and I know you're scared but I know you can make it through. You're the strongest person I know, and to tell you the truth, I don't know if I could last that long without you. You keep me grounded and safe, I need you to come back. I don't think you're done with life just yet, so come back….Please." Johnny pleaded.

He looked outside the window of the moving ambulance.

"Five minutes until we're at the hospital Pally, I know you can make it." Johnny announced.

Authors Note: Happy Thanksgiving!