Chester 9

The sound of sirens gathered everyone's attention as four crew members rested in the dorm with oxygen masks on and IV's running. Chet Kelly was still the worse off but even he was breathing well enough now that he was able to lean back on his doggy pillow and relax a little.

"I'll go get the doors," Roy volunteered and made sure the last IV was hung before he left his patients with his partner.

"Roy," Hank's improved but still raspy voice called out, "Bring back the leash from the crew compartment of the engine when you return."

"Okay Cap,

"John, get some pants on." Hank was sure the young man had been so wrapped up in taking care of his crew mates that he had forgotten that he just flew out of bed and hadn't pulled on his turn outs. The crimson hue of his face at the Captain's command confirmed it.

It took just a moment for John to step into his turn outs and he was back a Chet's side before he pulled the suspenders up.

"All right Chet we'll have you to the hospital in just a few minutes now just relax, slow your breathing down, that's it slow and deep." John coached then took just a quick pause to look at and watch the other two breathe; Mike's issues were not pulmonary.

Roy came back pausing at the door to the dorm just long enough to make sure the ambulance attendants were going to find their way.

"Both ambulances are here," Roy informed his captain as he slipped the leash into his hands.

The first gurney was directed to Chet, who was by far the worst off and John was forced to step out of the way to let them lift his patient onto it.

"John," Cap called as John stood to the side of him waiting.

"Yeah Cap,"

"You seem to be the most aware of the dog's treatment so far," Hank held the leash out toward his youngest paramedic, "I want you to take charge of him and see to it that he gets looked over good and treated."

"I'll do that Cap," John agreed and now that Chet was being strapped on to the gurney he slapped his leg with the leash and Chester B came off the end of the bed toward him.

"I'll take Mike with me," John informed Roy, not because he had any real preference toward Mike but because he knew the other gurney that would allow them to raise the head needed to be used for Cap and Mike needed to be moved out of the way first.

With that statement made John reached down and pulled Mike to his feet and then held on to him while Mike carried his own IV bag. John then picked up the drug box and biophone with his other arm and led the ambulance attendants out making sure the dog followed along.

Before John's group was loaded in the first ambulance Cap was being wheeled out and Roy was right behind him supporting Marco as they moved. Marco was following Mike's example and carrying his own IV Bag.

As soon as John sat his equipment down and Mike was helped by the ambulance attendant to lie down on the bench, John motioned for the dog to jump in and was pleased that he followed his commands.

John turned his attention back to Chet but watched as Chester B found an out of the way corner and sat down, taking up the least amount of space possible as the ambulance moved out toward the hospital.

"Good Boy," Johnny praised as he placed the stethoscope in his ears to listen to Chet's lungs again.

Chief McConnike rolled up just as Marco was being aided into the back of the ambulance. He raced around the ambulance to the open doors and peaked inside. "I'll lock the place up and meet you at the hospital," he called, "Where's the dog?"

"He's in the first Ambulance with his namesake," Roy answered, "He's the one that alerted us that there was a problem."

Chief McConnike let out a sigh and shook his head as he helped to shut the back doors of the ambulance and gave the double slap to send them on their way. He then shut the bay doors and gave headquarters a call telling them to get the next shift up and in early. Station 51 was out of service until they arrived.

00000

John had his work cut out for him trying to keep his friend Chet Kelly calm on the ride in. He understood that the difficulty breathing and the jittery feeling that was a side effect of the medication he had given him but he still had to keep Chet calm to keep the situation from getting worse. The four legged Chester B did his part by placing his nose on the fireman's leg and giving comforting quiet barks and sympathetic sighs and looks at the man who shared his name.

The ambulance was backed up to the receiving doors and John took the instant before the ambulance doors were open to clip the leach on his charges collar. The handle of the leash was handed to Mike while John helped to unload Chet and he was placed in the immediate care of Dr. Mike Morton, who hurried to the door when he heard the ambulance had arrived.

With two nurses at the Doctor's side John turned back to help Mike into the wheel chair that was being brought for his use and reclaimed the leash from Mike's hand.

"What's that doing here?" Mike Morton exclaimed his disapproval pointing to the four legged Chester B at Johnny's side.

"He's your fifth patient," Johnny spoke quickly and with out a single sign of apology, "Headquarters orders, he was working at the fire where these men got in trouble."

"But no body here knows anything about treating a dog, this is a people hospital." Morton exclaimed.

"Just following orders doc," Johnny responded, he had spent the ride in preparing himself for this moment and there wasn't a person there that didn't realize that he wasn't going to back down.

Thanks to the argument, before anyone was moved out of the receiving area the second ambulance backed in and Roy was quick to unload Captain Stanley. Morton turned to give him a quick evaluation only to find his next patient was still in a Captain frame of mind.

"Fire about seven hours ago, bleach and ammonia bottles in a storage room on fire the bottles melted and the chemicals mixed. I pulled the manager out and ordered masks but Chet was the last one to get his on, explosions knocked us to the ground before he got his on."

"Well that's why he's one of the worse off then, Chlorine gas is heaver than air and therefore will be thicker the closer to the ground you are." Mike Morton explained but mostly he was thinking out loud.

"The dog was there pulling us out of the blast cone during the explosions," Hank continued then started coughing, he was clearly agitated worrying about his men and the dog getting the care they needed and was taking a turn for the worse because of it. "Headquarters… in- in-structed, bring him here," Cap paused fighting to catch his breath, "they told me…told me… Vet on call,"

"Alright, alright," Dr. Morton showed a rare moment of, fair to moderate bedside manners. "Get him into a room and we'll get to him as soon as we can. I want this man on oxygen and get Dr Early, I think he's in room 6." The two gurneys were moved down the hall and Mike called out orders for medications to be administered before following with the command 'Stat' before he followed he turned back to Johnny holding the leash to keep the dog out of the way until the rest of the men were moved out.

"You can put these two men in the same room," Dr. Morton pointed to Mike and Marco who were now both seated in wheelchairs, "and, and, take the dog with them. Nurse, find the information on the Vet that's supposed to be on call and get him in here."

The Room the last three patients were led to was one in the far back of the emergency department and when they hadn't seen a medical person after 20 minutes they were feeling as if they were out of sight and out of mind.

Chester B was following John's commands as long as he was holding the leash and John was able to get him to settle down in a corner and stay there while he helped Marco up onto the treatment table and raised his head. When that wasn't enough to ease Marco's breathing John went ahead and placed him on oxygen.

He was double checking the IV flow when the door opened and Laura Stoker, Rampart's Medex and Mike Stoker's wife, stepped into the room her eyes locked on Mike as she entered.

"They tell me you guys were trying to clean up at a fire and started mixing cleaning fluids." Laura stated as she walked strait to her husband and grabbed a wrist to check his pulse as she looked him over.

"That pretty well sums it up but it was the fire that did the mixing we just added the water." Mike responded with the calmest smile he could produce for his wife in an attempt to put her at ease.

Marco let out a cough as Laura was pulling her stethoscope from her pocket and she turned her attention to him. "John, step into the hall and get me a nurse," Laura instructed as she moved over to the exam table to listen to Marco's lungs.

John did as he was told and a nurse stepped in by the time Laura was done listening to Marco's and Mike's lungs.

"I want chest x-rays and blood gases all the way around and let's get Marco here another dose of Epinephrine and a breathing treatment." Laura ordered then turned to John. "Alright Gage off with the shirt."

"What Me, I'm not a patient," John backed away with his hands up defending himself from the maniac Medex threatening to attack him with a stethoscope and blood gases.

"I was told there were three patients in here." Laura continued to back John against the wall as his two shift mates, especially Stoker, giggled.

"One, two," Laura pointed to Mike and then Marco making it clear who was number on in her life, and then she pointed at John, "Three."

"No, no, no, no," John continued to wave his hands in front of him. "One, two," he pointed at Mike and Marco then to he dog in the corner, "Three. Allow me to introduce you to Chester B."

Laura looked at the dog in the corner and then back at John before giving out an exasperated sigh.

"Look John, I know that I'm up in the night but there is no way on earth that you are going to convince me that the chemicals you guy's have been exposed to turned Chester B into a dog."

"NO, you don't understand," John continued leaning slightly toward Laura in an offensive move, "You're thinking of Chet Kelly this is Chester B they are two completely different peop—um, beings."

Marco was coughing from the laughter and Mike was laughing too.

"And they've been following each other's orders all day," Mike giggled and shook his head as he reached up with his hands and rubbed at his temples.

"Except Cap has yet to get our Chet to sit or lay down on command," Johnny added with a smirk.

Watching her husband she could tell he was in pain but she would need to consult with another Dr. before she could prescribe narcotics for him.

Laura did go to Marco's side and raise the head of his bed higher to help him catch his breath but still he kept giggling, "I guess the joke is on me. This must be the fire dog you guys are training with today."

"Yeah, It's been kinda crazy with two Chets in the station but he's, I mean the dog, is good to have around," Marco commented once Laura finally got him settles down.

"Are you saying the other one isn't good to have around?" Laura commented as she listened to Marco's lungs again.

"He's Okay, but this one's more fun," Marco nod his head toward the dog in the corner responding in a tone and with a look on his face that told Laura he was joking.

"Where's his handler?" Laura asked as she pulled Marco forward so she could listen to his lungs from the back.

"Um, well, since I've got the leash I guess I am, right now but mostly it's been Cap," John answered.

"You mean to tell me they dropped him off with out a handler?" Laura turned to John in surprise before looking to her husband for confirmation.

"His owner is at a convention and the guy's sister was watching the dog when there was a fire and the dog kind of just did what he was trained to do and the dog and the guy's sister sort of got separated." Mike explained to his wife, "He managed to stow away on the engine and road back to the station with us and then when the sister came to get him she was in an accident in front of the station. Anyway to make a long story short, the owner is a friend of Chief McConnike and it was decided that we'd watch him for the rest of the shift and the only way to do that was to let him go to work."

"So you've been working with a trained dog all day but you don't know what he's trained to do or what his commands are?" Laura rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"And he has the same name as another member of the team," Mike added knowing his wife understood the confusion of the day.

"He did come with an instruction manual," John offered up.

"That Uniform he has on, is he trained to behave depending on what he's wearing?" Laura asked.

"I think so," John answered, "they said he'd respond to a fire no matter what but the uniform has something to do with is training."

"Who's they?" Laura questioned.

"I'm not sure," John answered as the two looked back and forth from each other while the Nurse was gathering blood gases on Mike and Marco.

"I think then that it would be best if we got him out of uniform and since we want him to be a patient let's get him in a gown." Laura instructed before going to the closet and pulling out an appropriate sized hospital gown for the dog and handing it to Johnny. "You're not worried that he'll bite you are you? Most rescue dogs have a ball or stuffed animal they carry around when they're not in action to keep their mouth occupied."

"He didn't bite me earlier when I treated the burns on his feet." John responded with confidence before he knelt down next to he dog and started unfastening his uniform causing the dog to sulk as if he were being scolded or worse.

The Blood gases results came in the room in the hands of Dr. Morton as he read them over and ordered some medications based on the results before looking up.

"I know you were sent home several hours ago," Dr. Morton scolded Laura when he saw her starting to find the medications ordered for the patients.

"And I was sleeping like I was ordered to do when the Fire Department called to inform me that my Husband was being taken to the Emergency room for treatment," Laura explained.

"Oh that's right; one of these is yours isn't he." Dr. Morton looked up and noticed Mike rubbing his temples again. "That head ache getting any better?"

"Not yet," Mike admitted just as Dr. Morton noticed the dog dressed in a hospital gown and turned placing his hands on his hips.

"Aren't we pushing this patient thing a little too far?" Morton then turned to the nurse, "Have we been able to get a hold of that veterinarian that's on call?"

"Sorry doctor but we haven't been able to find any information about a veterinarian on call," The Nurse responded.

"It's in Brackett's office, taped to the inside of the door." Laura spoke up as she helped her husband over to a gurney where he could lay down before his pain meds knocked him out. "I heard Dr. Brackett tell Dr. Morrison about it when he came on."

"Morrison has been in surgery most of the night, an auto pedestrian accident that's a real mess." Morton was again thinking out loud more than anything, "GO find someone to get the information and then get back here." Dr Morton instructed the nurse before giving her a list of medications to give Mike and Marco.

Mike was sleeping off his pain meds and Marco was breathing easily when the nurse stuck her head in the treatment room with a message for Dr. Morton.

"The Veterinarian Dr Smith said that he agreed to consult on treatment of the fire dog not to come to the hospital and treat him."

"You've got to be kidding," Dr. Morton Exclaimed, "We don't know anything about treating animals."

In desperation Morton looked to Laura, "Do you any experience treating rescue dogs."

"Not much," Laura answered eyeing the dog in the corner, "I worked along side them by their handlers took care of their needs. I just watched, shared supplies when we had some to share and tucked them in with their handlers so they could sleep."

"You what?" Morton asked for clarification.

"There's a reason they call them cadaver dogs," Laura offered as an explanation, "The work is hard on the handlers more so than the dog."

"Yeah, yeah, I see what you're saying," Morton spoke while he looked at the dog in the corner wearing a hospital gown. "Either way you just left me in the dust as far as experience with dogs goes would you mind working on that patient while I go check on my other patients?"

Morton then left the room and Laura gave the dog a serious look. "You hadn't better bite me or I'll bill you double."

John was able to hold the dog's head still while Laura used her stethoscope to listen to the dog's heart and lungs only to hear similar to what she heard in Marco's lungs. "It sounds like he has just a little edema. Let's get a chest x-ray on him and a, John can you help the nurse get a weight on him. We'll need it to know for sure what dosage of medications to give to him."

The nurse led John and the dog down the hall where a scale was stationed and John wrapped his arms around Chester B's four legs and pulled him to his chest and lifted him off the floor before stepping on the scale himself. Once the nurse had a weight recorded. John stepped off the scale and set the dog down before stepping back on to get his weight alone to subtract from the total weight. From there they walked to x-ray turning heads as everyone watched the dog walking down the hall wearing a hospital gown.

While Marco and Mike were resting comfortably and expecting to go home in a few hours, Dr Morton had his hands full. He had finally gotten Chet Kelly breathing well enough with the help of a little oxygen but the side effects of the drugs it had taken to reach that goal had the young firemen jittery and jerky and nearly climbing the wall.

Morton was coaching him in remaining calm when Laura walked in to the treatment room. "There seems to be a mix up on the x-rays. These are decidedly of the human Chester B not the canine."

Laura sat the x-rays in her hands on the counter before looking for and retrieving the set that had been delivered earlier.

Captain Hank Stanley was doing well physically but not knowing the minute to minute details of his men had him climbing the walls.

Dr. Mike Morton entered treatment room 8 to talk with the two men and the dog trainer. "I'd like to move all these guys into an observation room. It seems there is one fire captain that is not allowing his meds to help him relax because he can't see that all of his men are all right."

"Knowing Captain Stanley I'm surprised he hasn't demanded that before now," Laura smiled at the thought of a close family friend as a nurse came in with the replacement IV for Marco. "I'll start moving them all into the largest of the rooms as soon as Chester B here get's his bronco dilators and steroids injections."

"I just gave it to him," the nurse informed Laura as she hung the next bag of IV fluid, "Just before I came in here."

Instantly everyone in the room except the nurse doing that talking knew what had happened.

"He already had the maximum amount of drugs administered," Dr. Morton exclaimed with wide eyes.

"GO!" Laura called out as she pushed Dr. Morton toward the door, "I'll take care of things here."