"A Work In Progress"
Chapter Twenty-Five
Just six minutes later, the crew of Station 51 arrived—quietly—at the call site.
"Thanks for not using your sirens, fellahs!" Officer Howard greeted the men, as they scrambled from their fire trucks.
It was threatening rain, upon their arrival. So, prior to pulling the compartment containing their security belts—and coiled ropes—open, Gage and DeSoto took a moment or two to toss their turnout coats on.
"Ke—Stoker, Lopez! Grab an extension ladder!" Stanley ordered. "What do we got, Vince?" the fire officer inquired, as he and his paramedics were escorted around the two-storied home and into a fenced in backyard.
"We can handle it, Chet!" Mike informed their friend, when he tried to help with the ladder.
Chet frowned and hurried off, to catch up with his Captain.
Kelly reached the rear of the house and found his fearless leader.
All four men were standing on the back patio, staring up at the two-storied home's shingled roof.
A little four or five-year-old boy was perched upon the roof, precariously close to its rain-guttered edge.
DeSoto's attention was suddenly diverted, as his partner took off, bolting through the back door and into the house. Roy finished fastening his security belt and went running in after him.
"The sitter was changing his baby sister's 'poopy' diaper," Vince informed the two remaining firemen. "She opened the window, to 'air out' the room. She ran out of 'wipes' and went to get some more. Claims she was only gone for a minute or two." The policeman pointed to the thirty-foot TV tower that ran up the back of the building—and alongside of the open window. "He apparently used the antenna to get to the roof."
The three men watched Gage climb out the same open window and then begin to scale the TV tower, too. Suddenly, water droplets began pelting their upturned faces.
The little boy started to squirm.
They were running out of time!
Stanley went racing back around the east end of the building, and began barking out orders.
Chet slipped away, to the opposite side of the house. He scanned the area, carefully, to make sure nobody was watching. Then he crouched down and jumped up—with all of his bionic ability.
Kelly landed right at the peak of the roof and grabbed onto it, to keep from sliding off—backwards. He dropped below the peak and peered out over the rooftop.
Gage had clipped himself to the TV antenna, and was currently talking to the kid. "No, Joey!" John pleaded. "Just stay still! It's only a little rain. You must be a pretty brave boy, to come up here all by yourself. No-ow…you're not gonna let a few little raindrops scare you, are you…"
The child obediently stopped squirming about.
However, before his paramedic friend could even exhale a sigh of relief, the clouds opened up, and it really started pouring!
Joey might not have been afraid of a few raindrops, but a torrential downpour was an entirely different matter! The kid started to cry and began crawling towards the antenna.
"No, Joey!" the paramedic continued to plead. "You mustn't move! We're gonna come and get you!"
The kid might've stopped moving around again, if a bolt of lightning hadn't flashed overhead just then—closely followed by a positively ear-drum-shattering 'CLA-AP!' of crashing thunder!
"Johnny, wait!" Roy called out, as his partner suddenly unclipped himself from the antenna. "You're not tied off!"
"Can't!" Johnny shouted back. "The kid's freakin' out! He's gonna fall!"
Chet watched John scramble along the slippery roof.
Just as Joey was about to slide over the edge, Gage made a frantic grab for the falling boy's wrist. The fireman's fingers tightened around it—and held. Unfortunately, the shingles were too slick with rain, and the rescuer felt himself sliding toward the edge of the roof, too. John's left hand caught the copper eave trough and he hung onto it—for dear life!
Kelly scrambled up over the peak and then slid down to the dangling pair's position. He grabbed a hold of the collar of Gage's turnout coat—just as the rain gutter was about to give way. The combined weight of his burdens threatened to pull Chet over the edge, as well. So he stomped the heel of his right foot down, in an attempt to 'dig in', and stop his slide. The fireman's eyes widened with surprise, as the sole of his boot broke right through the roof. 'This whole 'bionic' business is definitely going to take some getting used to!' he mused. Then he leaned back and carefully braced himself. "Quit jerkin' around! Will yah?" he requested of his squirming captive.
John was being strangled by his turnout coat. "Che-et!" he croaked, through a crushed windpipe. "Let go! Or you'll go over, too!"
Chet just sat there, in the pouring rain, holding onto his chum's collar with one hand. "Don't worry about me, Gage," he advised, sounding a bit bored. "Just pray the snaps don't crap out on your coat!" Kelly heard a commotion and glanced back over his shoulder.
Captain Stanley and Mike Stoker were crawling along the peak of the roof. The two men fastened some lifelines to the home's chimney and then started sliding down to where Chet sat…calmly—and effortlessly—keeping a tight grip on Gage's coat collar.
John could feel himself growing light-headed, from a lack of oxygen. His bruised right hand was still locked around the squirming kid's wrist. He felt his grip begin to slip. The child's wrist was wet, and his hand was still extremely sore, from Kelly's bruising handshake. He grew even dizzier and started reaching for his crushed windpipe with his free left hand. Someone latched onto his left wrist and the stranglehold on his throat was released. Gage grimaced and gasped as he was spun around and pulled up onto the roof again.
The sobbing boy was hoisted up and the paramedic's vice-like grip on the kid's wrist was pried free.
John clutched his aching right hand to his chest and leaned back against the steeply sloping roof, to exhale a lo-ong, loud sigh of relief.
Kelly crawled over to his collapsed coworker. "You okay, Johnny?"
Johnny forced his eyes open and squinted up through the falling rain. Chet was staring down at him, looking rather worried. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm okay. Thanks to you!" the paramedic replied, with a grateful grin.
Chet smiled back and gave his chum a playful slug in the arm.
"Ou-ouch!" Gage cried out in agony, and made a frantic grab for his pained appendage. "What'd yah do that for?" he demanded, and continued to rub his latest bruise.
Kelly cringed and looked extremely apologetic. "Sorry, man."
Stoker started down the ladder, with the little boy.
Stanley saw his Engineer off—er, down and then carefully made his way back across the rain-slick roof.
John just lay there, in the pouring rain, shaking his head. "I'm glad I was wrong about your medical condition, Chet. I really am! I just don't understand how I could've be so-o-o terribly wrong," the paramedic concluded, sounding even more unsure of himself.
"You two all right?" their Captain asked, and saved Kelly from having to comment.
Kelly nodded, glumly.
"Yeah, Cap. I'm okay." Gage gave his mustached rescuer another grateful grin. "But it's a good thing ole Chet got here, when he did!"
Stanley was staring down at the foot-shaped hole in the soggy roof. "Ye-es," he dazedly admitted. "It certainly i-is…" His gaze gradually shifted to good 'ole Chet'.
Kelly avoided his Captain's eyes. He and Gage latched onto the lifelines and started to climb up toward the chimney.
"Hold it!" Hank called after the departing pair.
The duo obediently halted.
The Captain aimed his shrewd gaze at his mustached crewmember, once again. "We could probably get down a lot faster, if we follow 'ole Chet', here…"
'You have no idea,' Kelly silently concurred.
Their Captain cocked one of his bushy eyebrows. "How 'bout it, Chester? You wanna take us down—the same way you came up?"
Kelly could just picture himself, placing one man under each of his bionic arms, and jumping effortlessly to the ground. Then again, on account of his sworn promise to keep the government's TOP SECRET program a secret, he couldn't picture it. "I want to," he truthfully replied. "But I can't." That said, he started pulling himself back up to the peak of the slippery, steeply sloped roof.
John turned to his Captain, for an explanation.
Stanley looked completely stumped…and shrugged.
Marco watched, incredulously, as Chet Kelly came down the ladder. A truly remarkable feat—considering he never went up it!
John and the Cap' climbed down, too.
Stanley started strolling over to their Engine.
Gage stepped up to his partner, who was busy examining the boy they'd just rescued from the roof.
Lopez released the ladder he'd been bracing and crossed over to Kelly. "How'd you do that?"
Stoker directed his attention to Chet, and stood there, looking equally curious.
Kelly saw that his comrades were waiting, patiently, for an explanation. "I…uh-uh…went around to the other side of the house…"
"—A-and?" Lopez prompted.
"A-and I jumped!"
Kelly's crewmates had been expecting to hear a believable explanation. When they failed to get one, they gave their BS'ing buddy a pair of annoyed glares. The duo got the ladder down and then began carting it back over to their truck, all the while looking like they felt—completely disgusted.
Kelly spotted Gage and DeSoto and started heading their way. At least they were still talking to him.
Joey's mother had returned home. The lady was currently cradling her crying child in her arms. "Do you think I should take him to our pediatrician?"
John removed the ped's cuff from the kid's arm and tussled the sobbing boy's sopping wet hair. "I think you should take him in out of the rain," he teased and flashed the concerned young woman a reassuring smile. "I don't think Joey really needs to see a doctor—" the paramedic stopped speaking and his smile did a vanishing act, as something suddenly occurred to him. "Bu-ut you should probably get a doctor's opinion on that, Mrs. Wittinger. I've been wrong before…" he confessed, his quiet words filled with sadness.
DeSoto watched, in dismay, as his dejected partner began walking off, in the direction of their rescue squad. He and Kelly exchanged a couple of concerned glances. The paramedic then picked up their remaining equipment cases and followed after his discouraged friend.
Chet gasped—in complete and utter exasperation. 'I didn't ask them to tell me about their precious 'secret' program! I don't care what THEY say! I've GOTTA tell Gage!' he silently resolved, and began heading for the Squad, himself. "Hey! John! Wait up!"
Gage closed one of their truck's side compartments and turned to face him.
Just then, the Squad's dash-mounted radio sounded an alarm. "Station 51…"
Apparently, their Captain had cleared them.
Speaking of their Captain…
"Kelly!" Stanley shouted. "C'mon! We just got another call!"
Chet gave John a slight shrug and went trotting over to his fire truck.
Kelly climbed up into the Engine and plunked his soggy self down beside Lopez.
Marco gave him a grumpy glare and turned to stare out his window.
Chet managed a weary sigh and turned to gaze out his window, as well. 'Oh, this is just great!' he sarcastically—and silently—realized. 'First, Gage loses all his confidence! And now, these guys don't trust me anymore!' Well, now, that just wouldn't do. That would never do!
TBC