As Cap had expected, the rest of 51-A was at Rampart's Emergency Room when he and Marco followed the ambulance and the squad into the Emergency Entrance. They parked in the employee's lot, knowing Cap's LACoFD sticker would keep them from being towed from the lot. Marco barreled out of the car almost before Cap had gotten the car stopped.

The two men rushed inside, and joined their men in the familiar waiting game. Dixie McCall, the indomitable Head Nurse, and a good friend of theirs came to them, concern in her lovely eyes.

She looked at Hank. "Joe is with him. I'm not sure what's going to happen. I would imagine they'll call in whoever they need…" she broke off painfully, not wanting to say the words, the thing everyone was thinking, so Marco said it for her.

"They'll call in a psychiatrist." He said it almost like a four-letter word. His eyes were flat and bitter. "And if they're not careful, they'll send him farther over the edge than he already is!"

He turned away from his friends, his shoulders slumping in despair. Dixie flashed a knowing glance at the others and went to her friend, taking him gently by the arm. "Look, Marc, I haven't had my break. Why don't you come and buy a girl a cup of coffee, hmm?"

Marco shot a frown at the pretty blonde and started to shake his head, but Dixie was having none of it. She had too many years practice with "her boys" to be put off that easily. She took his arm and guided him down the hall to the staff breakroom, telling him "They know where to find us."

~51~

The others crowded into the Emergency Waiting Room. They managed to be able to take over one corner of the room, where they found Bil Kelly waiting morosely. Introductions were made all around by Captain Stanley, who had found himself very impressed with the way the tall flame-haired Army doctor had handled the situation at the bar. She had gone into her brother, and talked quietly with him, and held him, keeping him calm while the paramedics had checked him out and gotten him ready to transport.

There was definitely a connection between the two, although it was surprised they were related, since they really didn't look much alike. All the men were shocked when Billie Jo, or Bil, as she preferred to be called, referred to Chet as her twin. Chet had dark reddish-brown, riotously curly hair, greenish-grey eyes, and was short and stocky. Bil was tall, and slender, with a nice figure. She had flame red hair, so bright it nearly glowed. Judging by the severely pinned up military hairstyle, it was also straight and quite long. Her eyes were so green they almost had an icy tinge to them. She was also beautiful and apparently single. It was a testament to the worry they all were feeling for Chet, that Johnny had not even spoken to her once, beyond acknowledging their introduction.

Roy was intrigued by her statement about them being twins and he asked about it. She smiled and simply said, "Did Chet ever mention he was adopted? I know he doesn't keep it a secret."

Roy and the others shook their heads. "Well, sometime, get him to tell the story. It's pretty interesting. We were born within the same 24 hours, and as far as our whole family is concerned, we are twins." She smiled, but in a way that made them realize the subject was closed.

By this time, Dixie had brought Marco out to join the others, and he seemed like he was feeling a bit better. Dixie left to go check on Chet.

Marco looked at them briefly before sprawling into one of the uncomfortable orange vinyl seats. "Hey, guys."

Cap glanced at him. "Better?"

"Si." His weary smile flashed momentarily. "Nurse Dixie worked her magic."

Hank smiled back. "Good." He said no more, because he knew there was nothing more he could say.

~51~

About an hour later, Dr. Joe Early came out to the group. They all got to their feet, and Cap introduced Joe to Bil. She then quickly gave Joe permission to speak to everyone regarding her brother's condition. That Joe had asked came as a bit of a shock to the others, until they realized that their friend had not been injured on the job. What he was facing was a very different set of circumstances. And Bil was listed as his next of kin.

Joe unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, a sure sign he was uncomfortable with the information he was sharing. "The good news he has been fairly cooperative. I did have to lightly sedate him when he was first admitted, due to his level of agitation. Basically, I think he is heartbroken and mortified over what happened. From what I can gather of his story, these flashbacks have happened to him a couple of times before, but never to this degree, never this severe. This time, I believe the trauma he suffered at the office building disaster has been eating at him, and eventually it internalized to the point that he suffered an episode of delusions of being back in Vietnam under enemy fire. Essentially, he was not in that bar with other patrons. He was protecting a group of civilians whom he was responsible for keeping safe from the enemy.

"His memory of the delusion itself is extremely disjointed and sketchy. He doesn't remember most of it, nor does he remember leaving his house or taking the gun to the bar. That isn't good; but not really surprising at this point. I do not believe he is a danger to anyone, nor do I believe he will hurt anyone else, as long as he gets some intensive therapy…"

There were heavy sighs of relief and smiles all around until Dr. Early raised a cautionary hand and continued.

"However, I am not a psychiatrist, nor am I an expert in this area of medicine. I am calling in experts in this field, and together we will see he gets the best care possible."

Joe watched as faces fell all around except for Billie Jo's. She seemed to have known what to expect. Joe continued with his assessment.

"Make no mistake. Legally, since no charges were filed against Chet, that area seems to be not so much a concern at this point. But our young friend is definitely not out of the woods. Not by a long shot. This is definitely a one day at a time situation. And I'm afraid I have no real answers right now."

~TBC~