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Missing and Presumed Dead
Chapter eight
"I'm losing him!" Rodger told the other EMT. "Give me the paddles."
Kent handed his partner the paddles and Rodger quickly charged the machine.
"Stand back!" He shouted to everyone as he applied the paddles to Neal's chest and pressed the button which sent an electrical charge through his body.
Neal's upper body jumped a few inches off the ground, but his lower body was held in place by the concrete over his leg.
"Neal stay with me!" Peter shouted into the microphone. "Don't you go leaving me!"
When Rodger shocked Neal again he went into convulsions, his arm flew out to the side and pushed the robot away from him. Peter watched as the image on the monitor spun around and now was focused on the firemen behind Neal. Peter no longer had a view of his "partner".
"Neal!….What's going on? What's happening in there?...Someone talk to me…..What's happening?" Peter was frantic as he shouted into the microphone, the last view he had of Neal he looked dead.
Becker tried to regain control of the robot but it was now stuck between two rocks and couldn't move.
"Someone turn the camera back to the victim!" Becker shouted to the men inside.
One of the firemen picked up the robot and turned it around so it was once more facing Neal.
Peter could see Neal's chest rising and falling.
"Thank God." He whispered under his breath then looked over at Diana. "He's alive." He told her, the relief clearly written all over his face.
Diana put her hand on Peter's arm.
"He's young, he's strong, and if anyone can pull through this it's him."
Neal was breathing but his eyes remained closed as Rodger attached an oxygen mask over his face.
"We need to get him out of here as soon as we can." Rodger told the firemen. "The longer he's trapped the more chance he'll go into shock and if that happens we could easily lose him again. We can't remove the pipe without taking the chance that he'll bleed to death before we can get him out of here, so we'll need to cut off the ends of the pipe to make it easier to move him. I'm going to hold it as steady as I can and I'll need someone to cut off the pipe and leave about four inches on each side."
"I'll do it." One of the firemen stepped forward holding a pipe cutter.
"Okay, but I need to give him something for the pain before we get started." Rodger knew that even moving the pipe slightly while the firemen cut off the ends could cause Neal agonizing pain. He reached into his medical bag and pulled out a syringe. He uncapped it then stuck it in Neal's arm.
"This will help a little with the pain." He told Neal. He knew it would be better to put him out completely but doing that in his weaken condition could lead to his death. He waited a few minutes for the medication to take affect then grabbed the pipe that was sticking out of Neal's back. He grabbed it as close as he could to Neal's body allowing the firemen plenty of room to work. "This is going to hurt." He told Neal, he wasn't about to lie to him now. He then nodded to the fireman.
The fireman crawled forward and positioned the pipe cutting tool four inches from Neal's back. Then when the EMT nodded again he pinched the tool shut and successfully cut the pipe off. Neal threw back his head in agony and squeezed his eyes shut.
Peter watched from outside as a tiny tear ran down Neal's face and left its track in his dust covered cheek. The fireman then cut the pipe sticking out of the front of Neal. This time Neal cried out when even the slightest movement of the pipe caused a sharp pain to shoot through his entire body.
"Oh God." Neal moaned. He then opened his eyes and looked at Rodger. "No more….please….just let me go….. just let me die." Neal was in a world of pain and right now he just wanted to die and get it over with.
Peter could hear Neal giving up, but he wasn't about to let him.
"Neal you're almost home free and I don't want to hear any of this giving up crap coming from you. The Neal Caffrey I know wouldn't give up, he'd fight. He'd fight till he couldn't fight anymore. We're getting you out of there and we're going to be a team again."
Neal looked into the camera, his only connection to Peter, and Peter could see his blue eyes glistening with tears. He could tell the young con man was exhausted.
"I'm sorry Peter….I can't do this anymore….I can't….."
"Yes you can, and you will!" Peter interrupted him. "We're getting you out of there soon and all you have to do is hang in there and let them do the work. You're my partner Neal and I'm not letting you die in there."
"Okay….okay I'll try…." Neal said as he leaned back against the step, he didn't want to let Peter down but he didn't know if he could hold on much longer. The pain was agonizing, even with the medication, and the only way he knew to be free of it was to give up and die.
Rodger leaned down next to Neal.
"We're going to free your leg." Rodger hoped that was true. He hoped they'd be freeing Neal's leg and not amputating it. If it came down to amputation he knew he'd have to put Neal out and in the condition he was in he hoped he wouldn't have to.
Rodger looked over at the firemen.
"I need someone in here who can cut through the cement around his leg. … Who has ever worked a jack-hammer?"
Mitchell quickly volunteered before anyone else could. He grabbed a jack hammer from the equipment the firemen had brought in with them and crawled toward Neal and the EMTs. If the man wasn't going to die on his own, he'd see to it that he did.
TBC
