Just a little Fruity
These good fellows don't belong to me but I promise when I'd done to pick um up, dust um off and with a kiss on the cheek return them safely home.
"True friends are those who, when you make a fool of yourself, Don't believe that this condition is permanent." Erin T. Randall.
Thank you for hanging in there with Johnny and his 'problem' and his 'problem chick'.
Chapter 9
Kanda didn't want to go home. She couldn't face being there by herself. With Johnny and Roy at work she felt lost and alone. Pulling out of the driveway from the apartments she thought of going to the station but knew that wouldn't be right either. She knew that Karen had done that on purpose but it still hurt down to her very soul. Johnny having nightmares wasn't new to her because he had told her about them when he was sick in the hospital and she had just come back. But why would he tell Karen? He had known her for such a short amount of time.
Without realizing it she was on the street of Roy's house. The kids were at school and then would be with Joanne since he was on duty and she knew the house would be empty. Not wanting to leave she tried the front door and of course it was locked. Johnny had a spare key but she didn't. Why would she? She chuckled to herself. Deciding to try the backdoor she worked her way into the back yard. But the sliding doors were locked too. She was wise, crafty, and pretty darn talented but she had no interest in breaking into his house. Still, she didn't want to go home. She climbed into one of the chaise lounge chairs on the patio and decided to wait for him.
Roy was the first one to reach her and his fingers immediately searched for a pulse. "She's alive," he called out to the group. They began moving dirt off of her, brushing it as fast as they could with an air of urgency that was as thick as the mustiness surrounding them.
Chet rolled away a medium sized rock that was right near her face and smiled at her when he was greeted by big brown eyes. "Hey there sweetheart," he said.
Roy heard him and moved over by his side to check on his patient. He saw the big smile on Chet's face and it made him smile until he looked down at the little girl at their knees. Her color was ashen, grey with even her lips no longer having any color. Brown eyes looked up at him but he could see they were full of pain. He took his glove off and brushed her hair from her face and out of the large cut on her cheek. Leaning in closely he spoke softly to her.
"Hi Beth. My name is Roy and I'm a fireman. We're gonna get you out of here okay?"
"It hurts," she whispered through shallow breaths.
Roy wanted to pick her up and hold her. "I know honey. We have to get all this stuff off of ya first alright." As he talked to her he reached around and took off his pack. Pulling out the stethoscope he put them in his ears as he listened to her heart and lungs. Next he took out the blood pressure cuff and putting it on her arm he continued to talk to her, describing what he was doing all along the way. He felt a hand grab his arm roughly and he turned to find Johnny pulling on him.
"Would you quit chit chatting with her and get over here and help me? Chet has enough brain cells to do that."
Roy quickly looked at Chet and did a rapid shake of his head telling him to not respond to that comment. Roy's fears about his partner were coming to the surface as he watched his bizarre behavior coming out again. "Johnny I'm doing my assessment. I'll be right there." He watched Johnny almost sneer at him then turn back to work on the rocks.
Ignoring him he turned to Mike, "Mike, tell cap we need a backboard, c-collar, stokes and trauma box. We'll need the porta power too," Roy said. He then turned back to Beth. He gently felt her head and neck for injury, shoulders and ribcage. Palpating her ribs and abdomen she cried out and it pierced the heart of all around her, except Johnny.
It seemed to anger him as he glared back at Roy, "What are you doing to her? Last thing we need is her yelling and bring down more rocks on us."
Roy just shook his head, "Johnny she's hurting."
Mike was at the back of the cave area on the radio, only Chet heard the exchange. He didn't say anything but only watched the young dark headed paramedic with worry in his eyes. Something was very wrong and he didn't know what was going on with his friend and shift mate.
The three men went back to their jobs staying focused on the task at hand, saving a little girl. Chet stayed beside Beth with Roy checking on her constantly as he and Johnny worked with their hands to pushed rock and dirt off of her. She was in and out of consciousness and whimpered from the pain that surged through her small body. Roy's primary concern was getting her out but he was also watching the rising water in the cave. It was ice cold and it was sucking the warmth from all of them quickly.
Mike worked his way back down the pathway to meet Marco. Knowing there wasn't enough room for another person he pushed the stokes in front of him, loaded with supplies. Inching it along the way he felt urgency as the farther he progressed the deeper the water got.
Back inside the cave they uncovered her chest and stomach and Chet saw her breaths became labored as she shook from the cold.
"Roy?" Chet called out.
Roy went beside her again and assessed her vitals knowing they were only getting worse. The icy water was now above her ears. "Chet, I need you to get behind her and raise her head up out of the water."
Chet acknowledged Roy's directions and together they raised her upper body up feeling her gasp with the agony of the movement. He then slid behind her and scooted up close to her so that her head rested on his chest. Shivering himself from the cold water he was sitting in he couldn't imagine that she had any warmth left to her.
Mike returned with the equipment and passed it off to Roy. He then went to help Johnny with the remainder of the larger rocks. Roy hooked up the bio-phone and began his transmission.
"Squad 51 to Rampart, do you read?"
The transmission was full of crackles, "Go ahead 51." Roy couldn't tell who it was because the reception was so poor.
"Rampart we have a 10 year old female, victim of a cave in and we are currently extricating her. She has a large laceration to her right cheek, multiple fractured ribs. Abdominal pain. Pelvis is fractured. Her lower extremities are still trapped at this time Rampart but I think her right leg is broken. Pulse is 60, respirations 30, BP 70/50."
Brackett shook his head. The assessment was terrible; her injuries were severe and more than likely beyond saving. Worst of all, they didn't even have her out yet. "51, begin bilateral IV's of LR. Spinal precautions and get her out as soon as possible."
Roy watched Chet holding her close, trying to warm her up with his own now chilled body. He had moved her before stabilizing her spine but the water was her first danger. It was now moving up Chet's waist and his own lips were turning blue.
"Negative on spinal precautions Rampart. We have water coming into the cave and had to move her up to keep her head out of the water. Her body temperature is very low."
Brackett knew that Roy would only have moved her if necessary, "Understood 51."
"10-4 Rampart."
Roy felt helpless with Beth. She was slipping away right before his eyes and they couldn't even get her out yet. He went back to see how Mike and Johnny were doing. "How much longer?" He asked.
"Well if you'd quit sitting around running your mouth with the victim and help us out some we'd be done by now," Johnny bit his head off.
"Johnny?" Mike said, completely confused over his reaction. He thought they were making good and quick progress considering how large some of the rocks were.
"What do you want me to do?" Roy chose to stay calm knowing it wasn't Johnny talking at this point.
"Can you help me with the porta power?" Mike asked.
There was one last large rock, the one pinning her right leg. Unable to move it with brute force they had positioned it under the rock. Roy cranked the handle of the small piece of equipment while Johnny and Mike put all their weight towards pushing it off. Together the men got the final large rock to move and felt relieved.
"ROY!"
He turned to find Chet holding Beth up from the water as much as possible. The last move on that boulder had uncorked the apparent connection to a natural stream through the rocks. Rushing over to her he heard her gasp and then she stopped breathing.
"Damn," he yelled.
"We gotta get out of here quick," Mike said as the water was now rushing in through a widening gap in the rocks. Johnny grabbed the boxes while Chet and Roy quickly strapped Beth in the stokes. Johnny put the boxes in it with her as he and Mike had to hold it up to keep her from being underwater.
"Hurry," Chet yelled as the tunnel before them was quickly filling with water. Roy knew that if they didn't find the end of this tunnel within a few seconds they would be holding their breath and they had no way to help Beth.
"Get her up!" Johnny yelled at them. The stokes was already scraping the top of the tunnel.
The arctic cold water was making it more and more difficult for their legs and arms to move. Roy could no longer feel his hands and fingers as he continued to work their way to the next opening. The seconds were ticking by and they were just about out of air to breathe when they crawled up into the Johnny's kitchen sized area. They all took a deep coughing breath as Roy immediately went to Beth's side and felt for a pulse. His hands were so cold he wasn't sure if he didn't feel it because of that or because she was now pulseless. Quickly he fumbled with his stethoscope and listened to her chest.
"Johnny, compressions," he said.
Without a word Johnny moved to her side and began compressions while Roy started the mouth to mouth. Her face was cold, her lips like ice under his own. His knees became colder again and he looked down to see the water was reaching them once again. He looked up to Johnny, "We gotta get moving again."
"We move her and we'll lose her Roy," Johnny said through his own huffing while doing compression.
Chet put his frozen hand in the rapidly rising water, "We have to get going now!"
Johnny continued the compressions as the water rose above his knees. It came through the stokes and was at Beth's cheeks.
Roy took Johnny's hands and stopped them, "Johnny! We have to move now!"
Johnny stopped but looked at Roy like he didn't know what to do and Roy saw the fear in his eyes. He spoke softly to him, "Johnny, pick up the other end and let's get her out of here."
He moved to the end of the stokes and picked it up with Chet having the other end. They again started crawling, moving awkwardly with Beth. The subtle rise in the slope was making the water level fall at a steady rate until the ground was again dry underneath them.
As they emerged into the main cavern Hank and Marco were waiting for them with all their equipment ready. Hank was shocked at the condition of his crew. They were soaking wet, shivering with freezing cold water and Johnny looked like he was about to fall over. He opened up the biophone as two police officers hurried to put blankets over Beth and the crew.
Johnny went back to compressions while Roy placed the esophageal airway. Marco then moved in and gave her ventilated breaths. Roy wrapped the blankets around her as the ambulance crew came down the pathway towards them. Hooking her up to the monitor they could actually pick up a slow heart rate that they couldn't feel through her ice cold skin. Knowing the temperature of the cave was lower than outside Roy wanted her out of there as soon as possible.
"Johnny, I'll go with her." Roy watched him stop the compressions and move to the side as they put the stokes up onto the stretcher. He followed the men out of the cave and into the ambulance.
Johnny didn't move. "Johnny?" Mike called his name but got no response.
"I'm okay," he said shakily then fell to his knees.
Mike jumped down to catch him and looked to Hank for some help as they both took Johnny by the arms to help him get up.
"Put him in that ambulance with Roy. Marco can bring the squad in," Hank said as he watched Johnny shiver in his cold wet clothes. He wanted Chet back to the station to get into dry clothes and warmed up himself.
Johnny and Roy stood in the room with Beth as they worked on stabilizing her for surgery then wheeled her stretcher out.
"Believe it or not Roy I think the hypothermia is what kept her from bleeding to death. They are keeping her core temperature down for right now. That water may be what saves her life." Brackett looked at the weary, filthy, wet men in front of him and wondered if they even heard what he said.
"Dix, I think these two need some coffee and dry clothes."
She nodded and gently pushed both men out of the treatment room and down the hall to the doctor's lounge. Giving them both a towel she directed the silent men to the showers and headed out to make some fresh coffee.
They both emerged cleaner and much warmer with Dixie greeting them with hot cups of coffee. Marco came down the hall to see if they were ready to head back to the station. He didn't know what happened down in that cave but the mood between the group of men had been tense all day, not like the family he was used to working with.
"You guys ready?"
Johnny just shrugged, he was too tired for anything much else. "Guess so. Back to the ranch pally?" Once again Johnny sounded like his old self and Roy had to admit that he seemed better after warming up and getting some coffee. He had already made an appointment to see Joe Early in the morning and Roy would make sure he there.
