Chapter 25

"Son, are you alright," Mike's Mom had her hands tenderly brushing the hair away from the side of his face when he woke with a start.

"Yeah, I just need to go to the bathroom." Mike thought quick and he hurried as fast as he could to get there and shut the door so he could think. He did need to go so that helped.

When he came out of the bathroom Mike took his mother by the hand and led her to the sofa. "Mom, I know you want to take me home with you and take care of me for a few days. And I know it's just what moms do. But I have some thing I need to take care of and I need to be here to do it." Mike just laid it out on the line. "See I said some things to a special person that were based on wrong assumptions that I jumped to. And I really need to make it up to her."

"Are we talking about the person down the hall who filled your fridge and did your laundry?" Mom asked studying her son's face very carefully.

"Yeah," Mike admitted.

"I'm guessing that you're really in love with this one." Mom reveled the results of her astute examination.

Mike just gave his mother a sheepish look and nod his head. "Hook, line and sinker, mom," he finally admitted.

"Do you think this one can handle being a fireman's wife?"

"I thought you said you could behave yourself," Mike exclaimed with a teasing smile to which his mother slapped his shoulder. "Well I think it's a little early for that but yeah, she can handle it, she's one of us."

"She's a firefighter?" Mike's mom was stunned.

"Among other things, she's worked the kinds of rescues I've only had night mares about," Mike admitted. "She knows how we think and what makes us tick."

The two sat silently sharing cheesy grins then Mike sobered and spoke again. "I really need to make up for the things I said. Do you understand Mom?"

Elaine's eyes were filling up and all she could do was nod her head. "Does she know you were married before?"

Mike nod his head, "She was too, her marriage didn't last as long as mine did."

"Did her's fall apart for the same reasons yours did?"

"I'm not exactly sure, I know she didn't trust him and that's why she left." Mike was enjoying this conversation with his mother and welcomed her insight. The two talked for the rest of the evening and Mike was able to tell his mother a lot about Laura with out reveling that she had met her once before. Then when she felt Mike needed to go to bed Elaine decided she could go home with out her son since he said it would be alright to call him every morning.

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At Rampart's emergency department things were hopping, an apartment fire, a multi car pile up and the victims of a concert brawl had them swamped with every room full and gurneys lining the hall. Laura's midnight end of shift came and went but she didn't.

Some where around four a.m. she had just spent an hour and a half in one treatment room filled with four patients all needing sutures and lots of them after being cut up by broken bottles. The police officers and orderlies from another floor were amazed at her style of suturing and so were the patients. She had just finished her abbreviated charting and stepped into the hall when an over dose patient who was hallucinating managed to get away from those holding him down and gain control of the syringe filled with the sedative they were trying to give him. Laura tried to talk to him and was moving slowly forward as others were trying to move in behind unnoticed. When the patient was tackled from behind the syringe in his hand was thrust forward into Laura's side and the plunger depressed.

"Man the strait jacket full restraints ahead," Laura shook her head as she leaned against the wall and eased herself to the floor feeling the effects of the sedative. Dr. Early managed to step up to the patient and inject him with a sedative and while the orderlies and nurses were getting him into restraints Dr. Early knelt at Laura's side and checked her pulse and the injection site.

"Get her into Dr. Brackett's office, she'll be alright she just needs to sleep it off." Dr. Early instructed and then moved on to the next patient. He had been out with the flu when Laura had displayed her reaction to sedatives on her last inpatient visit at Rampart so he didn't know any better.

Dr. Early followed the two orderlies who carried Laura in to the office and after placing a pillow under her head he covered her with a nice warm blanket then turned out the lights and shut the door.

When the night shift nurse heard the wake up tones on the scanner she followed Dr. Early's instructions and called station 51 to see if Laura's boyfriend, someone named Mike, could come take Laura home when he was off shift. It was Captain Stanley who answered the phone.

"I'm sorry Miss but Mike Stoker is out on sick leave for a couple of weeks, is there anything I can do to help you?" "Yes we all know Miss Elmer," "She what!" "Look Miss, Laura Elmer has sever and adverse reactions to sedatives, I don't know what kind exactly but she goes kind of crazy, you better call Dr. Brackett he can explain it to you better."

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At the hospital the nurse snagged Dr. Early as he stopped by to deliver some charts and told him what Captain Stanley had said. He quickly took the phone and asked. "What's this about an adverse reaction to sedatives?"

After talking with Hank for a moment and getting details about the incident where Laura climbed out on the ledge at Rampart Joe Early decided to go to Kell's office and check on his patient before giving his friend a call. When he reached the office he found the door half opened and once inside he saw blanket, pillow but no Laura. Security was quickly called and then Joe dialed Kelly Brackett.

Forty minutes later Dr. Brackett raced in to the emergency room followed moments later by John and Roy helping Mike along in his sweat pants and oversized t-shirt; Captain Stanley had sent them to get him from his apartment to see if he could be of help in locating Laura.

"Security is still checking every room we haven't found her yet," Joe Early reported. "Do you have any idea where she might have gone?"

"Have you checked all the ledges around the hospital?" Mike asked as John and Roy helped him ease into a chair while he held a hand over his incision.

"After talking to Captain Stanley that's the first thing we've checked they've also checked the upper levels of the parking structure. We found her car but no sign of her."

"When ever she's having trouble thinking things through she tries to get in high places. The more confused she is the higher she tries to get."

"Has she found some places in the area she likes to go?" Kell asked, he was aware that finding places and activities to unwind were on the top of Laura's to do list when she started at the hospital and that she wasn't finding it as easy to do as she had hoped.

"There are two trees in the park near our apartment building where she runs that she'll climb and she has permission to climb the radio tower at fire headquarters," Mike informed, "but I don't think she would walk to any of those if she's drugged and not able to think straight. She'd probably look for someplace closer."

"She's been to the top of that office building under construction about two blocks over a lot the last few weeks." Dixie walked up to the group pinning her hair up and her nurses hat in place as she walked, "has any one checked there?"

"We're on it," said Johnny as he slapped Roy on the arm and made a move toward the door.

Mike leaned forward to push himself up but Roy pushed him back down, "you mind keeping an eye on him for us."

Dixie placed her hand on Mike's shoulder in place of Roy's and gave Mike a look that got the message across that he wasn't going anywhere.

John and Roy managed to talk with the foreman and the construction crew was helping them search the construction sight focusing on the top floors. They found nothing. When the two paramedics returned to the squad it was past the time they were to be off shift so they decided to return to the station then drive their cars back to Rampart to help with the search. They were a block away from the office building under construction when they saw Laura's blue convertible parked at the side of the and Mike Stoker getting out of the driver's side. Roy just looked at Johnny and shook his head before pulling over and parking behind the car. The two men got out of the squad and walked toward Mike who was standing at the side of the car looking up.

"So you have a set of keys to her car hum?" Johnny started the conversation.

"I know where she keeps her spare." Mike answered with out turning his gaze in their direction, "She's up there," Mike pointed to the top of a construction crane towering high above the building John and Roy had just helped search. "The more confused she is the higher she needs to climb, its how she finds peace, how can you be more confused than when you're drugged?"

"I don't think so Mike," Roy questioned, "They have all kinds of security around those things."

"I can feel it Roy, she's up there," Mike held firm on his assumption.

Just then a police car drove up and rolled down the window. "Captain Stanley's wondering when you guys are going to bring the squad back."

"Hey Vince to you have any binoculars?" Roy stepped up to the police car.

"No why do you ask?"

"Mike here seems to think our missing Medex is on top of that crane," Roy explained.

"Not very likely but we have a helicopter involved in the search let's see if we can get them to do a fly over," Vince suggested. "I don't think there's much of a chance she's up there though. Let me go see if the foreman's in the office."

Moments later Vince came back with a man in construction clothing and a hard hat at his side. "Men there ain't not chance there's any one up on that crane. We have a security guard that works nights and we always lock the lift in the top position when the workers go home for the night and I'm the only one that has a key."

Mike never wavered in his belief that that's were Laura would have gone.

The five men watched as the helicopter flew over and listened to the radio for their report. "There is a woman on top of the lift basket she appears to be unconscious; she's laying face down with one arm dangling off the side of the basket. You're not going to be able to just lower the basket or her arm will get cot in the frame work going down."

"10-4 copter 3" Vince acknowledged as John ran for the squad to get his safety belt on while Roy ran for the radio to call in to dispatch for an engine to join them at the sight knowing the crane was far too high to use the ladder truck or the snorkel. The response that came back over the radio informed them that engine 51 was already on the way to their location and they were able to hear the sirens start up in the distance.

Mike did some calculating in his head and stepped up to the police car, "could you let me talk to her over the copter's PA system?"

"Are you sure you want to do that? If she rolls the wrong way she could fall off of that thing and I don't think I need to tell you that she won't survive the fall," Vince cautioned the off duty fireman leaning on his car.

Mike thought about what he was being told, he had figured out that the drugs in her system should be wearing off and was thinking about talking to her and trying to get her to move her arm so they could lower the lift basket but what Vince said made sense, she could just as easily roll in the wrong direction and fall to her death.

"What I want to know," Vince got Mike's attention, "Is how she got up there."

"She probably climbed up the outside structure," Mike answered with out hesitation.

"In a drugged stupor?" Vince questioned.

"It's like sleep walking," Mike explained, "once we get her down and wake her up she probably won't remember anything about it."

"If you say so."

When the engine arrived on scene there were three men hanging on the back grab bar, John and Roy's replacements and Captain Stanley. Mike looked over at John pointing to the top of the crane and the two captain's eyes following his finger.

Mike turned his attention back to the top of the crane and could now see her hand hanging down the side of the basket, It lay motionless but swaying slightly in the breeze. As long as there was no sudden movement he knew she was asleep and as long as she stayed asleep she would be alright.

"Come on Mike let's set you down," He heard and felt a hand take hold of his arm. He turned to see Captain Stanley pulling him toward the engine.

"Can we use the copter to get up there?" Mike asked as he followed his leader but kept his eyes fixed on the top of the crane.

"That's an idea," Hank responded, "As soon as your sitting down we'll get together and talk about it."

As Hank and the other captain talked with the four paramedics, Vince and the foreman, a car pulled up and Chet and Marco climbed out still in uniform and hurried to their captain's side. While they were talking Mike moved from the fire engine to the hood of Laura's car where he could see her hand and soon found Chet and Marco on either side of him trying to distract him.

Mike noticed the police helicopter landing in a nearby parking lot and Johnny was running in a bent over fashion with a length of rope around his shoulders and an extra safety belt hooked to his own. Mike watched as the helicopter took off and felt hands on both of his shoulders as he watched it come close to the top of the crane. As the copter was hovering close enough for John to step out and onto the top of the structure he saw Laura's hand disappear and lurched in the direction of the police car. "I've got to talk to her she's waking up!"

Hank Stanley gave a nod on his head and Vince reached through his open window grabbing the microphone and handing it to Mike.

"Laura, don't move," Mike called out in the most calming voice he could manufacture, "Just stay still Laura someone's coming to get you." Mike then stretched the cord of the mic as far as he could and then stretched his head a little farther as he strained his eyes to see the outline of Laura's body through the steel grids. Everyone else was watching Johnny climb down from the top of the crane to where Laura was.

Hank was relieved by the fact that John had slowed in his decent feeling that Laura must be holding still and John didn't feel the need to hurry.

John had been surprised by Mike's voice over the intercom and looked down to see Laura had pulled her hand up from it's dangling position, she was now feeling the texture of the metal grating she was lying on but otherwise not moving.

When John had reached her side the first thing he did was check a pulse at the same time he hooked his safety belt on to a solid support. He then carefully rolled Laura over on her back and found that she was able to help him.

"Hi there," he responded to the greenish brown eyes that looked back at him. She had pressure marks on one side of her face matching the grid of the lift cage and a few scraps and blisters on her hands that he could see but he was sure she would be fine.

"I take it they didn't follow my instructions for restraints," Laura spoke to him.

"Not this time but I promise they will next time" John gave one of his crocked smiles. After making sure there were no fractures John lifted Laura down through the maintenance hatch of the cage and before he could drop down himself Laura had pulled herself into the corner her knees up against her chest and her arms around her legs her head resting on her knees.

As soon as the copter confirmed that John and Laura were in the cage the foreman inserted the key and started the cage traveling down. Before it reached the ground Laura's hands loosened around her legs and fell gently to the floor of the cage, her head remained resting on her knees. When the cage reached the ground and the door opened, Captain Stanley and Roy were standing there watching John holding Laura's wrist.

"Pulse is good she just went back to sleep." John shook his head then started shaking Laura's shoulder. "Come on Laura it's time to wake up and smell the coffee."

"Don drin coffee," Laura mumbled and adjusted her head.

John and Roy smiled and shook their heads together as Roy stepped up to Laura's other side. "Upsy daisy let's get you back to the hospital."

"Kay, don wan a be late for work," Laura mumbled again as Roy and Johnny pulled her to her feet and held on to her as she half opened her eyes and walked in the direction they were guiding her. They were trying to decide weather to load her on the back of the fire engine of set her up in the middle seat of the squad when Mike pushed two firemen out of his way and stepped forward taking Laura in his arms.

After a quick hug Laura groggily pushed back away form Mike, Roy and John still holding on to each of her arms. "Not so fast there bucko you just had your appendix out," She touched his chest with her outstretched finger.

Roy and John continued to guide Laura as Hank took a good hold of Mike's arm and led him to Laura's car. Both Mike and Laura were put in the back seat and Hank drove to the hospital while Roy radioed ahead to let them know they were coming.

At the hospital orderlies and nurses were waiting and worked together to lift Laura onto a stretcher and rolled her into a treatment room to be checked out. Mike jumped out of the car and tried to follow her but Hank took him by the arm and nearly drug him toward the nearest pay phone.

"Call your mother, you weren't home when she called to check on you this morning and she's worried." Hank instructed as he dropped a dime in his friends hand.

Author's notes: believe it or not things are going to start wrapping up you all still have more chances to guess who Laura's daughter is. But remember Laura's not old enough for it to be one of the nurses at Rampart.