The Search For Marco-12
It had been twenty minutes since Tucker Brennen had walked out of Heather's room. She continued to weep silently; fear of the impending loss of her twin sons hovering around her like a thick layer of smoke choking the life from her aching body. She didn't know if their plan had worked and she desperately needed some emotional relief. Had Marco been found? If so, was he still alive? Had Tucker been arrested and had the consent form she signed been destroyed? Once again, she curled onto her side – hugging herself as her tears burned streaks into her tender flesh. She thought of Ms. Lopez and wondered if the other mother involved in this case was weeping for her son too.
E!
Roy pulled the squad into the cluttered and over grown back parking lot of the old church building. The ambulance pulled in directly behind it and five members of Station 51 leapt from their respective emergency vehicles; hope and adrenaline spurring them on to find their missing comrade.
Each man entered the old church in a different location. They wanted to cover as much of the building as possible; time was critical and they knew it. Amid the multiple sounds of moving debris and hoarse voices calling out Marco's name came the sound each man had waited to hear.
"Over here. He's…over.. here. Hurry!" The cries came from the back of the building; from the man who had carried the burden of guilt on his shoulders.
The other four men rushed in the direction of the voice calling out to them where they found Captain Hank Stanley kneeling down on the floor cradling Marco's upper body in his arms. He was hugging him close to his chest and crying convulsively.
"Hold on, pal. Just hold on. Help's here. We've got you. It's over. Just..please…." Hank's voice broke and he could no longer control his emotions. He caressed his unconscious lineman's bruised and bloody face as he fought to catch his breath."
Roy arrived first and gasped at the scene. He kneeled down opposite his Captain and quickly checked for a pulse at Marco's neck. Finding one, he looked up into Hanks' eyes.
"Cap, easy now. Lay him down so we can work on him alright." He began pulling Marco's limp form from the fierce grip of their superior.
In a blur, John was there with Mike close on his heels.
"Cap, step back ok? Give them room to work." Mike held his Captain's shoulders firmly and began pulling him away from Marco's side.
Johnny quickly moved into the space Hank had vacated and he and Roy worked in tandem assessing their crewmate. "Somebody get the equipment."
Chet was just stumbling through the debris into the back room as Johnny shouted his request. He never slowed down to check on Marco. He knew that if Johnny was requesting equipment then there was a reason for it; his best friend was still alive.
The ambulance attendants saw Chet opening compartments and removing the trauma box, drug box, backboard, oxygen and biophone and quickly rushed to his aid. Mike wanted to help his shift mate but he was terrified to leave Hank's side. The man was trembling so hard he was shaking Mike in the process and Mike feared for his health as well as Marco's.
By the time Chet and the ambulance crew returned, the initial assessment of Marco's condition was nearly complete. He wasn't responding to repeated calls of his name but he did respond, albeit minimally, to the pain of a sternal rub.
As Johnny began taking his blood pressure, Roy screwed the antenna in place on the biophone and made the call that so many had been waiting for.
"Rampart, this is squad 36. How do you read?"
At the base station, Dr. Brackett stood with a nurse on either side. All three had heard Roy's voice and they had moved in unison to the base station to answer the call.
"Loud and clear 36." Kel managed to say with a faltering voice.
"Rampart, we have a code I. Repeat –code I. It's Marco and he's alive. Stand by for vitals."
Johnny released the bulb on the blood pressure cuff and began removing it from Marco's uninjured arm.
"BP's 82/56, Roy."
"Victim is 34 year old male. He's unconscious and responsive only to pain. Pulse is 120, respirations are 24 and shallow, BP's 82/56. Pupils reactive but left pupil sluggish. We have him on O2. He has a laceration near the left temple, severe bruising of ribs on the left side and a possible fracture of the left ulna. He appears to be dehydrated. Request permission to start IV."
Dixie and Teela hugged each other as both shed tears. Dr. Brackett, ever the professional, authorized the paramedics to start an IV with Lactated Ringer's, full spinal precautions and a splint of the left forearm.
"Transport as soon as possible." Then he pressed the button again. "Nice work fellas."
He turned then to the two nurses standing behind him. "Nice work on this end too."
"I'll get treatment 4 ready for them." Dixie said wiping her cheeks with the backs of her hands.
"Teela, will you call L.A. County and ask them to relay the word to Benjamin and Phil. If they've still got Tucker within their sites, they need to take him down now. We've got what we wanted." He gave her a broad smile before continuing. "I'm going to go share the good news with the Lopez family."
E!
Dr. Brackett knocked rather forcefully on Ms. Lopez's hospital room door; his adrenaline was pumping causing his knock to be harder than he'd intended. Inside the room, Ms. Lopez jumped; nearly dropping her rosary as she and the other members of Marco's extended family turned to face the quickly opening door. Although he didn't smile, Kel's eyes gave him away with their sparkle.
"They found him – alive." He said while locking his azure eyes with Ms. Lopez's onyx ones. "He's unconscious but he's alive and on his way in now."
He watched as Ms. Lopez hesitated and made the sign of the cross before holding out her arms to her family. Juanita joined Kel at the foot of her bed and gave him a huge hug.
"Gracious." She said with a raspy voice cracking with emotion.
Kel smiled turning again to Ms. Lopez. "You're welcome. I'll notify you when he arrives and hopefully you may visit with him a little later." Dr. Brackett exited then in a hurry to return to the ER to await the arrival of the injured fireman.
E!
A silver unmarked police car tailed Tucker Brennen through six traffic lights while Benjamin and Phil followed a block behind. They were in constant contact as he made his way back toward his place of business. By the time he had driven into the seedier neighborhood where his place of business was located a call came in from dispatch alerting all officers that Marco had indeed been found alive.
Now that they no longer needed to follow him in the hopes of rescuing the firefighter, the officers were ready to do what they did best; they were ready to take down the bad guy.
"What was it Dr. Brackett said Ms. McCall had referred to Brennen as?" Phil asked his partner with a grin.
"Well Phil, I do believe the good nurse insulted Neanderthal man by calling him a 'damn yellow-bellied Neanderthal brained asshole from Hell." Benjamin couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of the sophisticated Dixie McCall spouting off such words.
"Right on, Ms. McCall." Phil laughed loudly. "It's time to make him an incarcerated damn yellow-bellied Neanderthal brained asshole from Hell."
"Woo, let's do it!" Benjamin keyed his microphone alerting the other responding officers that it was time to put their plan into place.
Within minutes, a black and white patrol car had been positioned between Tucker and the first unmarked car while the second unmarked car pulled into the third spot. Anticipating a run on the four lane road, the first unmarked car pulled into the inside lane and passed Tucker who was still oblivious to what was happening. The driver pulled his vehicle in front of Brennen's while the second unmarked car driven by Benjamin pulled up alongside Brennen and began matching his pace; effectively blocking him in while the black and white patrol car pulled up closely behind him and flipped on his blue lights. Once the lights began to flash the two unmarked cars began slowing down thus surrounding Tucker leaving him no means of escape.
By the time Tucker realized he was being trapped it was too late. There were six guns aimed at him and he no longer felt strong and powerful. As he was commanded to step out of the car with his hands raised he felt the familiar pangs of rage growing. He stepped out of his car and with his hands still raised he fixed a glare on the uniformed officers behind him.
"What's the problem officer?" He asked as if he had done nothing wrong.
"Tucker Brennen, you're under arrest for the kidnapping and assault of Marco Lopez." The officer was about to continue the list of charges when something inside Tucker's head snapped.
"Oh yea? Fuck you, pig!"
He dropped his hands to his sides and charged the officer now standing with his weapon drawn behind the door of his patrol car. The officer ordered him to stop and when he didn't the officer squeezed his trigger finger. The entire scene played out in mere seconds but to the officer it all happened in slow motion. He felt his trigger finger squeeze twice and watched the barrel of his gun rise as the firing created recoil in his hands and wrists. Near the hood of his car he watched as Tucker's body convulsed with two bullets ripping through his abdomen and chest. The smirk on his face morphed into grimace and finally evolved into horror as the realization of what was happening made its way from his brain to his facial features. His eyes slowly closed tightly as his knees buckled and his body began the slow descent to the pavement. The officer continued to watch as Tucker rolled over slowly and his white dress shirt began to ooze crimson in two locations. His breathing came in rapid gasps as the others approached him with weapons drawn while Benjamin keyed up his microphone to request a squad and ambulance.
By the time the squad and ambulance arrived, Tucker Brennen was barely alive. Life-saving measures were taken but all efforts were in vain. Tucker Brennen was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Saint Francis Hospital.
E!
A/N: Might be a day or two before I am able to get back to this story but I'll finish it as soon as I can. Work takes priority, unfortunately. But I promise not to leave Marco unconscious. There's still more to tell of this story. Thanks for sticking with me on this and I really appreciate all the reviews. You guys are the heart that keeps my creative blood moving!