Humanity Is Vulnerable Chapter 11, an emergency fanfic

Humanity Is Vulnerable-11e

The air around the DeSoto household still hadn't cleared more than three weeks later. Roy and Joanne were little more than cordial to each other and their once incredible sex life had come to an abrupt halt. Joanne found more and more reasons to be away from home when Roy was there and wept alone in their bed when he wasn't. She felt as though she were living in some alternate universe where she both loved him dearly and hated him at the same time. Her warring emotions were taking their toll on her. She'd tried making herself more attractive by paying more attention to her hair, make-up and nails but Roy hadn't seemed to notice her efforts. She then thought that if she initiated sex more often then maybe he wouldn't feel the need to seek fulfillment elsewhere. She'd tried to fake her way through it pretending she wanted it as badly as he did but her body knew she was living a lie. She knew that her orgasms were more between her ears than between her thighs and no matter how hard she tried to climax she just couldn't. After the second failed attempt to reach her climax she simply couldn't continue her efforts in the bedroom and she was more than a little exhausted from the stress and strain of their relationship. The rift between them was growing into a chasm and she felt powerless to stop it. His shirt from that fateful night remained hidden in the laundry room. She knew she needed to talk to him about it. Perhaps even suggest marriage counseling but she simply couldn't bring herself to admit that he had strayed and she had failed. And she didn't want to accept that what they'd once shared was over.

Roy continued to suffer in silence. He'd done everything he could think of to satisfy Joanne sexually but no matter what he did she didn't have an orgasm which left him feeling worthless as a lover and somehow not the man he'd once been. In his heart he knew that their marriage was more than just the sexual components but somehow it all seemed connected. He'd seen her fixing herself up more than usual and now she was gone more on his off days than ever before. His mind began to put the pieces together and it sickened his stomach.

He looked at himself in the mirror as he prepared for another shift. He smeared the shaving foam along his face and neck and began to pull the blade along his throat in a smooth upward stroke. He tried not to let his mind wander to the deep darkened corners where his relationship with Joanne seemed to be hiding. Instead, he focused on the positive aspects of his life - his son Chris and his daughter Jennifer. He pulled the razor across his cheeks as he pondered the conversation he'd had with Chris last night when they were alone on their back deck.

"Dad?"

"Yea, son," he answered Chris without looking up from his lap. The two of them had been sitting in their lawn chairs drinking ice cold bottles of coca cola watching the sun go down and discussing Chris's desire to play football in the fall. They'd found a comfortable silence before Chris called out to him.

"I…well, I thought about what you said the other day…about Uncle Johnny."

Roy held his breath hoping his experiment hadn't backfired on him. "And?"

Chris looked down in his lap searching for the words he needed. "Um…..is he?"

Roy closed his eyes as images of Johnny and one pretty young woman after another flashed in his mind. A broad smile stretched across his lips. "No, son. No, he isn't…..but I'll ask you again. What if he was? Would you hate him? Would you be the least bit upset if he caught this illness and died?"

Chris drew in a jagged breath trying desperately to hold his emotions in check. "No, Dad." Chris sniffed at the thought of his Uncle Johnny dying from the hideous illness afflicting gay men. "He'd still be my Uncle Johnny…wouldn't he?" His comment was more of a statement than a question.

Roy reached over grasping his son's neck in the crook of his elbow and pulling him into a manly sideways hug. "And these men who are now dying….they're someone's uncle, son, brother….." He let his cheek rest momentarily on Chris's head letting his words sink in.

The splash of water on his face brought his thoughts back to the present as he washed the remaining shaving foam from his face and finished getting ready for work.

"We gotta victim inside; kid's probably in his bedroom." Cap's voice boomed over the background noise of nervous chatter, honking horns in the distance and the crackling of a well involved structure fire. He waited only a moment then continued once he saw his paramedics were in gear and headed toward the structure. "Give 'em some fog, Marco."

Marco nodded his understanding while Chet backed him up with one hand on his shoulder. Marco switched the straight stream to a fog pattern sending steam mixed with smoke bellowing out of the open doorway while Roy and John made their way inside, lifelines dangling behind them.

Once inside the single story dwelling, Roy and Johnny began searching the three bedrooms. The master bedroom was empty so Roy made his way back out into the hallway.

Johnny had already searched the first smaller bedroom but found the second bedroom door locked. Roy stepped into the hallway just in time to see Johnny kick in the bedroom door. Flames were licking their way up three of the walls. The closet door was burning giving Johnny a sick feeling. If the kid was in there then he'd most certainly be dead.

Outside the burning building a young teenage girl with strawberry blonde hair was on all fours vomiting from the smoke she'd inhaled as well as being distraught. She'd been looking for her younger brother until she'd nearly collapsed inside somehow managing to crawl to the door where one of the policemen pulled her away just as the firefighters arrived.

Now she pulled up clumps of grass with her bare hands as she frantically fought the urge to return to the doomed structure to retrieve her younger brother. She had been babysitting while her mother was at work and knew that whatever had happened to cause the fire must have been her fault.

Hearing a screaming sound she recognized, she looked up wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as her hysterical mother charged towards the burning remains of what was once their home. Her stomach summersaulted again as her mother locked eyes with her, looking down on her in more ways than just their physical positions.

Mike had caught sight of the young girl and stepped over to offer her his assistance. She waved him off initially but then caught his arm as she faltered while trying to stand – her pain filled eyes never leaving the glare of her mother.

The older woman, chest heaving in anguish, was released by the officer after seeming to calm down a little. She walked over to the young girl and Mike released her fully expecting her mother to embrace her lavishing her with a grateful emotional display. He felt his blood boil when the older woman stood at arm's length from her daughter; her daughter who obviously was emotionally devastated and hurting. Then the stinging slap that landed the girl in a crumpled trembling heap made Mike almost coldcock the mother. He'd never hit a woman but if this had been the girl's father….well, Mike felt certain he would've been arrested for what he would've done to him.

Vince had witnessed the exchange and quickly came to the aid of the young girl from her abusive mother. He grabbed the woman from behind effectively pinning her arms at her sides so they could inflict no more damage; but what he didn't know was that the damage had already been done.

"Here!"

Johnny jerked his head around at the sound of Roy's yelling and saw his partner on all fours reaching underneath the small twin bed in the corner of the room. Just as Johnny got to him he pulled out an unconscious boy who appeared to be around six years old. Roy didn't take the time to check for a pulse; he cradled the still form into his arms and charged for the front door with Johnny close on his heels.

Once outside, the senior paramedic gently laid down the child and immediately began to strip out of his gear while Hank retrieved the needed equipment. Johnny also stripped himself of his gear and the two began quickly assessing their young victim.

Meanwhile, a woman who appeared to be the child's mother was struggling with Vince Howard, clawing at him in desperation trying to reach her son.

"Let me go, damn it….he's my baby. Ohmygod!" She screamed.

"Ma'am…ma'am, stay back and let them work. They're doing everything they can for him."

"Roy, pulse is weak and his respirations are 10 and shallow." Johnny immediately placed the oxygen mask over the child's mouth and nose hoping he would be able to inhale the clean air deeper into his already smoky lungs.

Roy pulled the stethoscope from his ears and immediately got on the biophone with Rampart for instructions.

Johnny looked up and saw the struggle Vince was in with the child's mother. "Hey Vince….mother?"

"Yea."

"Let her over….we need her permission to treat 'im." Johnny said as he began to assess the child for trauma.

"Ma'am…."

"He's….he's dead isn't he?" She trembled sinking to her knees beside her unconscious child.

"No ma'am….he's very much alive." Johnny assured her. "But, we need your permission to treat him."

"Ye..yes, do whatever you need to do." She mumbled never letting her eyes leave her son.

"Ok, does your son have any medical conditions? Allergies? Taking any medication?" Johnny asked in a rapid fire of questions.

"No..uh..yea..yes, he's got hemophilia." She stuttered.

Roy overheard her comment and immediately added that bit of information to the vitals he was already relaying to Rampart.

Mike kneeled down beside the young girl who was now dry heaving near the engine. "Hey….you okay, Miss?"

The strawberry blonde nodded in affirmation but didn't meet his gaze. He reached out a hand to her and felt her tense underneath his touch.

"Just take it easy. Your brother?" He asked looking over her small form to the place where the paramedics worked feverishly on their young victim.

"Y..yes."

"You did everything you could to get to him. He's alive or they wouldn't be working on him. So…."

"Doesn't matter." She croaked out interrupting him.

Mike knew where she was headed and he wanted to stop her negative stream of thoughts. "Listen, we need to get you breathing some clean air." He stood up pulling her up as well and leading her over to the tailboard of the engine. He pulled the oxygen out of its compartment and gently placed the mask over her mouth and nose. "Try not to talk alright? Just breathe." He softly reached for her hand and placed it on the mask indicating that she needed to hold it in place then returned to his control panel.

The structure was small with no other structures nearby so Hank keyed up the microphone. "LA…return other units responding to our incident."

"10-4, 51."

He stepped back around to speak to his engineer and noticed Mike's blue eyes staring in the direction of the rear of the engine. "Something wrong, Stoker?"

Mike's azure gaze met that of his superior. He knew that with the noise level no one would hear what he was about to say except for Hank. "Yea…child abuse."

"What?"

Mike grimaced. "The mother of our victims seems to have forgotten she has two children. She slapped that little girl back there." He indicated with a nod of his head. "Didn't even seem to care that the girl got out alive with just a little smoke inhalation but she's acting like mother of the year to her son." He mumbled turning back around to check the controls.

"Damn shame." Hank said. "She must blame the girl for the fire."

"No excuse, Cap."

"No…no it's no excuse. I can't imagine what must be going through that child's..….."

Hank stopped in mid-sentence as he caught sight of the young girl making her way through the throng of onlookers; she was inching her way toward the back of the structure and suddenly Hank's gut tightened.

"Oh no you don't, sweetheart!" He whispered brushing past his engineer and making a charge to the back of the property where the remaining fire continued to consume the older home.

"Rampart, our victim is beginning to regain consciousness." Roy reported as his partner looked on with a wide grin.

"Oh, thank you…thank you for saving him." His mother cried running a soothing hand over her son's soot covered forehead.

"10-4, 51. Transport as soon as possible and keep a check on any signs of bruising or bleeding."

"10-4." Roy looked over at the child's mother. "You want to ride in the ambulance or are you ok to drive?"

The weeping woman gulped trying to find her voice to answer. "I..I can drive. Thank you….thank you both." She looked down into the hazel eyes of her frightened son. "Mommy's going to be right behind you ok? You're gonna get to ride with the firemen, alright?"

The exhausted child wasn't able to answer but simply let his heavy eyelids droop closed again.

"Let's go, fellas." Roy called out to the ambulance attendants.

"Um, his doctor is at Children's Hospital…..that's where we usually go. Will you take him there?" She asked nervously.

"Yes Ma'am. We'll take him where ever you prefer but I'll need to notify Rampart since that's where my orders have been coming from." Roy answered.

"Hey Roy, I'll be on in a minute. Want to make sure the guys are alright." Johnny said waving towards the still smoldering structure.

"K." Roy said packing up the biophone after notifying the hospital of their new destination while Johnny held the IV bag up over the small boy.

"What's his name, Ma'am?" Roy asked his mother.

"Peter."

"Ok, Peter….lets you and I take a fast ride ok?" He said to the still child. He watched as the child nodded slightly and he knew he'd been heard.

Johnny closed the ambulance doors with the customary two slaps and watched as the ambulance drove away with lights and blaring siren. He then turned his attention to Mike to ask how the fire fight was going but noticed Mike tilting his head in an unusual stance straining to look at something in the distance. Johnny turned quickly in the direction of Mike's gaze just in time to see the young girl dashing towards the back of the unstable burning structure; their captain sprinting close behind.

"Shit!" Johnny spat out louder than he'd intended. He quickly threw on his turnout coat and gloves; foregoing his SCBA hoping he wouldn't need it.

Hank's eyes were burning as he chased the girl through a thick cloud of smoke. "Mi, uha….Miss!" He called amid coughs. A spray of water enveloped him and a pair of strong hands reached around his chest pulling him towards the door. "No..uha….no…girl." He called out trying to let whichever crew member held onto him know why he had returned.

"I know, Cap. I know….Marco saw her and he's goin' after her. Now, you're comin' with me." Chet had never spoken to his captain in that tone before but he knew what he was doing was right as he dragged the older man through a cloud of smoke and steam onto a clear spot on the back lawn.

Johnny reached the place where his captain lay still coughing just as Marco emerged from the steamy smoky entrance dragging the girl who seemed intent on resisting her rescue. "What the hell happened, Cap?"

Hank lay down on his back coughing while trying to breath in the air from Chet's mask. "Here." He said thrusting it back at the junior lineman. "Go back and finish this bastard off, will ya."

"Yea, sure Cap. We're almost done anyhow." He said accepting the proffered mask and returning to assist Marco in placing the kill shot to the blaze now in agonizing death throws.

Vince and Mike saw what was happening and made their way over to the scene, Mike carrying the oxygen from the engine. "Here, Cap. Deep breaths," he said pulling his captain's helmet off and placing the mask over his nose and mouth

"Go…uha…" Hank couldn't finish his thought as his body convulsed with another episode of coughing. He nodded his head to his left and Mike knew what he meant.

"Cut it out!" Johnny jerked his head back after feeling the stinging blow of the distraught girl now writhing on the ground beneath him. Vince Howard managed to restrain her flailing arms, albeit a few seconds too late to save the paramedics bleeding lip.

"Get off…uha….off me…uha ." She tried to scream as her struggling only seemed to entangle her more within the tight grasp of the two men who were working feverishly to subdue her.

"What'cha need, Gage?" Mike asked surveying his paramedic straddling the girl.

"Oxygen." He said through clenched teeth. "And maybe the backboard so we can restrain her."

Mike quickly retrieved the items, glancing at the engine's control panel before he returned. He dropped the requested items on the ground beside the still struggling paramedic. He placed his open palm on the forehead of the frightened girl serving to restrain her thrashing long enough for him to get the oxygen mask on her face pulling the rubber strap over her head.

Her eyes flew wide with panic as the mask covered the lower half of her face. Johnny could feel her arching her back in an adrenaline filled attempt to break free from her captors.

"Mike….go take…..care of the men." Cap was on his knees beside his struggling paramedic, trying to speak between deep inhalations of oxygen from the mask in his hand.

Mike nodded his understanding and returned to his post.

"Can you do a relay, Cap?"

"Sure, John."

"I need permission from her mother to treat her or else Vince will have to assume custody."

"Johnny, the mother took her own vehicle to the hospital so I'll assume custody and give you permission to treat her." Vince offered.

"Listen to me…..listen to me." Johnny gripped the girl's head between both his hands trying to establish eye contact with her. "You're gonna be a'right, ok? So's your brother. He and your mom are already headed to the hospital. Now calm down and we'll get you there too."

Her green eyes seemed to melt away as she closed them squeezing out tears onto her soot covered cheeks. "No…..no, please…uha." She coughed out the words.

"Ssshhhh…..just relax a'right and we'll let you go. If you don't then I'm gonna have to strap you down to this backboard to treat you." He hoped his threat would bring her to her senses.

"Please stop….uha….please don't…uha."

"Take it easy, sweetie." Johnny soothed.

Stop…uha…please le'go." She continued from behind the mask but she was losing her will to fight.

"Vince…how 'bout get us another ambulance rolling will ya, Pal? I got her now." Hank requested replacing Vince's handholds with his own.

"You ok, Cap?" John asked.

"Yea." Hank croaked out then turned his attention back to their young female patient.

Johnny wiped his bloody lip with his shirt sleeve then eased himself off of her. "Easy now. We're gonna help you…..we're not gonna hurt you."

She curled into a tight fetal position on the wet ground. "Leave me alone…uha….please?" She begged knowing her request would be denied.

"Can't do that…..now, what's your name?" Johnny asked his sobbing patient.

"Be..Bethany."

"A'right, Bethany. You're gonna be ok. I'm gonna take good care of you."

"So, what's with the young chick?" Chet asked Mike during overhaul.

"Not sure…..she knew we got her brother out." Mike answered. He didn't tell Chet what he'd seen happen between the girl and her mother.

"Anybody who runs back into a burning building is either trying to retrieve something really important…..or else really suicidal." Marco mused as he continued to search for hot spots.

Mike pondered over Marco's comment as he watched Johnny climb into the ambulance with the now subdued girl strapped onto a gurney. Vince handed Johnny the IV bag and then turned to look at Hank.

"I'm goin'." Hank responded begrudgingly climbing on board.

Mike smiled to himself. "Cap's getting a taste of his own medicine." He laughed as the other two firefighters looked in the same direction as their engineer.

"Haha….about damn time he had to make that run to Rampart." Chet quipped. "Uh….he is ok, right Mike?"

"Yea….just ate some smoke. He'll be fine." But Mike wasn't so sure about the young girl riding in the back of the ambulance between his captain and Johnny.

The following morning a very haggard Dr. Brackett dropped the phone back into its cradle and rested his forehead on his thumbs. After a few moments he reached for the handset again and paged Joe Early. He had predicted this day would come…he just hadn't predicted its arrival would happen quite so quickly.