Sue Jenkins was now struggling to stay awake as she sat on the window's ledge in Louella's I.C.U hospital room, looking out at the dark Toronto sky above, deeply lost in thought all the while listening to the sound of oxygen and various other monitors and machines in the room that were now keeping track of Louella's progress as she slept.
With blurry, bloodshot eyes, Sue checked her watch to see what time it was.
"Four Twenty AM..." she muttered as she let out a tired sigh, but she'd be damned to fall asleep just in case Louella's health took a sudden turn for the worst, which she prayed throughout the night wouldn't happen.
She decided to get up off the ledge and finally stretch out her tired, aching muscles before wandering out of the room to look around at her new surroundings, and to get some much needed fresh air.
Unlike many floors of St. Michael's Hospital, this floor was a nonstop bustle of activity as many doctors and nurses quickly rushed around like bees, going room to room checking on various patients who were either recovering from a rather intense surgery, had some dramatic, life changing event happen to them or were extremely ill and just barely clinging to life as they fought to get healthy again.
Some doctors and nurses were looking extremely tired...almost as tired as she was at the moment, but that was the life in the I.C.U for them.
Time here was simply just a matter of life...or death, and right now Louella was among them fighting for hers.
It still amazed her that Louella's life threatening condition baffled doctors, the exact same way as it baffled the paramedics who brought them there in the first place in Johnathan Richards and Joy Conner.
Just how was Louella still alive anyway?
That was the only thought that was giving Sue hope at the moment as she slowly walked down the hallway towards the elevators.
But her thoughts were quickly interrupted as one of the elevators beeped, followed by a flurry of activity as Doctors and Nurses frantically pulled a gurney out, one squeezing a resuscitator as they rushed down the hallway.
"Oh my gosh...that's Tessa Campanelli on that gurney!" Sue said out loud which was overheard by one of the doctors nearby.
"You know this girl?" he asked.
"Yeah...she's one of the students that attends our school, Degrassi Junior High. She's in the seventh grade...what happened to her?"
"She stopped breathing...were you by chance at the scene of the Degrassi Junior High School fire tonight?"
"No...thankfully I wasn't...I was at home the whole time, but my best friend and co-worker Louella Hawkins was. Unfortunately, you're not going to get any answers from her cause she's really sick right now herself...severe smoke inhalation. But I do recall her telling me that that girl there had discovered the fire in the basement along with a boy named Scott Webster. Is she going to be alright?"
"I'm afraid it's too soon to say exactly...but we're going to do everything we can. Excuse me!"
The doctor then quickly rushed down the hall and disappeared around the corner.
"God damn it...why did this tragedy have to happen? Why us? Why Degrassi?" Sue asked as she slammed up against the corner of the wall and slid down, burying her head in her hands as she finally cried in anguish.
"Mr. Lawrence?...Ms. Bell?" A nurse muttered as she tried to rouse both a sleeping Bruce Lawrence and Doris Bell from sleep in the waiting room. "Mr. Lawrence, Sir? Ms. Bell?"
Doris, hearing the nurse call out for Bruce and feeling a slight shake, arose from sleep first.
"Ms. Bell, I'm sorry to disturb you and Bruce at this hour but I have some very terrible news involving one of your students."
"What happened?" Doris asked, immediately sitting up in her chair.
"As of right now, a young girl named Tessa Campanelli has been rushed up to the I.C.U. She had just stopped breathing."
"Oh my gosh! Will she be alright?"
"I'm afraid it's too soon to say. We do have her breathing again, but her condition is very unstable at the moment. We may have reason to believe she's having a severe reaction to that toxic chemical, Hydrazine. Exposure to Hydrazine can cause irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat, nausea or vomiting, shortness of breath, fluid in the lungs, headaches and dizziness, your central nervous system can become depressed which means body functions could seriously slow down, you become very weak, have temporary blindness, seizures or even fall into a coma."
Doris was in absolute shock upon hearing about the dangerous and even fatal side effects being exposed to hydrazine could actually bring to a person.
"What about the other students and staff members? Are they alright? Has there been any more updates on them?"
"Not to my knowledge, Ms. Bell. So far, everyone is resting quite comfortably at the moment which is a good sign. We are right now keeping many people closely monitored and checking for any possible, sudden changes as the hours go on. We'll keep you informed as soon as we get any more notification, OK?"
"Thank you Nurse."
The nurse then left the waiting room just as Josh, Scott and Lou came back in from being outside.
"Doris...is something wrong?" Scott asked when he saw the look on Doris' face.
"We've just been informed that one of our students has been rushed to the I.C.U. She stopped breathing."
"Oh my, is she alright?" asked Lou.
"They're not sure, Lou. It's too soon to say...they got her breathing again, but it's very unstable at the moment...they suspect she's now having a severe reaction to that Hydrazine stuff."
"Who exactly was it that they sent up to the I.C.U?"
"Tessa Campanelli."
"Tessa Campanelli...she was one of those kids who discovered the fire down in the basement, right?" asked Josh.
"I'm afraid so..."
"Sergeant Steals...Sergeant Steals, do you read me, over? This is your Chief speaking...we just received a call from Hamilton Police. They had received a call from some clerk at a 24 hour convenience/gas bar just outside of Hamilton. He spotted Dan Thurman and Marianne Corr as they stopped for gas. Big mistake! He recognized the two from the news tonight and immediately called local police who are now intercepting as we speak! They're going to try and block their way into Hamilton and stall them while we make our way over to their location. They're on Highway 403. I repeat, they are now on Highway 403. Over."
"Ten-Four Chief...I'm on my way!" declared Sergeant Steals as he suddenly got up and quickly headed out the hospital doors.
"Hamilton Police are confirming all ramps leading into Hamilton are..."
"Well, looks like the end of the road for those two! How long does it take to get from Toronto to Hamilton anyway?" asked Tammy.
"No more than 58 minutes...but since there's barely anybody even on the roads at this hour other than your typical transport truck or two...probably even less than that! Either way, if they're caught just before Five Thirty, they should be able to make the Six o'clock morning news!" declared Kevin as he rubbed his hands together with delight. "It's Four Thirty now so they only got about barely a half an hour left to go! Wouldn't it be great to tune in to the Six o'clock morning news just to hear that they have been caught and arrested? I love to hear the long list of charges they're going to have permanently to their names! Needless to say, all the fires they had started since December...I say they're going to be put away for a very long, long time!"
"Kevin, that would be sweet! I'd love to see both of them get their just deserts!" declared Scott as he then sat down next to him on the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. "I've been meaning to ask you Kevin...just... how many fires were there exactly, and how many of them were...THEIR responsibility?"
"Oh gosh, Scott...I know it all started with the Liberman Junior High School this past December just before Christmas. That place went up quicker than a roman candle...after that, there were a few apartment buildings...two in January, one in February and at least four in the month of March alone!One of those fires was fatal as seventeen residents perished in that blaze, including a two month old child. Things suddenly began to die down for a little bit come April thought and that's only because Dan Thurman and Marianne Corr were arrested under the accusations of stealing licences from actual, real certified workers and given to the frauds whom we had working for us instead! When they finally got bailed out...the fires began once more come May as we had a job in some foundry outside of Toronto and then the second to last one before yours Degrassi took place just last week. An office went up in smoke, taking with it 29 employees who were having a late night meeting! All of them died of smoke inhalation...and yes, all of those fires were done personally by Dan and Marianne."
Fire Marshal William shook his head upon hearing the full extensive list of fires those two had done in the past seven months.
"Well, your former company certainly kept all of us very busy these past few months, Kevin. Did you personally work on any of these jobs yourself, or did you want no part of their sinister deeds?"
"I wanted no part...yeah, I was there on many calls and watched the botching unfold countless amounts of times...couldn't really say anything or do something to intervene through cause I valued my job way too much. Every time I saw on the news of another fire, it made me sick to my stomach knowing that I was a part of that...even through I didn't do anything but be a silent bystander..."
"Kevin, it's a good thing that you were there as a silent bystander cause now we have your word as solid evidence...you're now officially our prime witness to these crimes! Do you have any more evidence other than your word that we could possibly use?"
"Do I? Hell, I've got an entire folder full of evidence and written documents back home! Just say the word and I'll be more than happy to hand them over as proof!"
Sergeant Steals was full speed ahead on Highway 403 along with an entire squadron of officers behind him, driving in a V formation as they all rushed towards Hamilton, Ontario.
"This is Sergeant Steals reporting that we have just passed Oakville, still driving along Highway 403 towards Hamilton. Any new updates to report? Over."
"Roger that Serge, we have received new reports from Hamilton Police that they have stopped the couple and now got them trapped on the McQuesten High Level Bridge."
"Damn it! That's on York Boulevard and we still got quite a few yards away...about 18 minutes, tops! We're all doing about 90 to 100 kilometres an hour. I don't think they can stall them anymore longer than that! Do they have them completely blocked on both sides or just the one cause if that's the case, they can simply reverse and take another route!"
"Just the one side is blocked by officers... but I assure you Steals, they're not going anywhere! As they made their way onto the bridge, they ran over a couple of spike strips...their tires are now flatter than a potato pancake! We got them! Just get there as soon as you can so you can make the arrest!"
"Ten Four...I got a plan that will get us there faster...boys, get into a single's formation and follow me! We're going to make this exit onto Highway 6 and then turn off on Old York Road. From there, we'll turn onto Plains Road West which will take us straight to York Boulevard! Keep up cause I ain't slowing down!"
With lights now flashing, Steals hit the gas and sped towards the ramp leading onto Highway 6.
"WE'VE GOT THIS BABY, WE GOT THEM NOW!" he hollered as he quickly turned off right onto Old York Road and then left onto Plains Road West.
Before long, they finally reached York Boulevard and were quickly approaching the bridge where sure enough, an old, rusted lemon of a vehicle with the words "NARBO GAS BOILER REPAIR EMERGENCY SERVICE' painted in a sick orange colour on the side doors sat diagonally across both sides of the road where it was forced to stop...all four wheels pressed flat against the pavement and it's occupants inside were NONE too happy to see the Metro Toronto Police had arrived in a large abundance!
Sergeant Steals slammed on the brakes, quickly shift the gear into park and got out of his vehicle, pulling the gun from his holster and aiming it at the vehicle.
"THIS IS THE METRO TORONTO POLICE. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"
After a few minutes of no movement...Steals once again issued another order at the occupants inside the vehicle.
"Dan...what are we going to do now? We have no vehicle and we're now surrounded by a dozen or so cops. We got all of Hamilton on one side of the bridge...and now the Metro Toronto Police on the other! I TOLD YOU IT WAS A BAD IDEA TO STOP FOR GAS!" Marianne screamed as she throttled him in his seat.
"Ow...would you calm down, Marianne." Dan shouted as he tried to protect himself from Marianne's vicious blows to his arms and legs.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN? YOU. WANT. ME. TO. CALM. DOWN?! Sure, coming off getting arrested back in April for the accusation of stolen licences...now we're being accused of ARSON and you want ME TO CALM THE HELL DOWN? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU DAN? WE ARE RIGHT NOW PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED AT DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. 'OH, THEY WON'T SUSPECT A THING.' OH YEAH DAN? LOOK AT THE SITUATION WE'RE NOW IN. 'THEY WON'T SUSPECT A THING, HUH...?' THEY WON'T SUSPECT A THING! They won't suspect a thing!?"
"I WILL NOT REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN MR. THURMAN AND MS. CORR. CONSIDER THIS YOUR LAST AND FINAL WARNING. IF YOU DO NOT GET OUT OF THAT VEHICLE ON YOUR OWN ACCORD, WE MAY HAVE TO COME IN WITH FORCE! YOU HAVE UNTIL THE COUNT OF TEN TO STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS UP! ONE...TWO..." Sergeant Steals ordered again. "THREE...FOUR...FIVE..."
"It's time to face the music Marianne." Dan sighed as he opened the door and stepped out of the car, hands up above his head in defeat.
"Dan, you're simply going to give up...just like that?!"
"MARIANNE, YOU NOW HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO GET OUT ALONGSIDE DAN THURMAN OTHERWISE WE WILL COME IN AND FORCE YOU TO SURRENDER. SIX...SEVEN...EIGHT..."
"God damn it!" Marianne growled as she finally gave up, stepping out of the car with her hands up above her head.
"GET DOWN ON THE GROUND, NOW. KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM. ON THE GROUND NOW! GET ON THE GROUND!"
Once both suspects were on the ground with their hands still visible above them, Steals signals for his crew to step in and start putting them in handcuffs.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"
Dan simply remained quiet as he was being cuffed and lead towards Steals' cruiser.
Marianne on the other hand wasn't so civil as she struggled and fought with officers.
"You know, anything you do as of now will be held against you...you're only making things for yourself even worse Ms. Corr."
"Drop dead Serge!" Marianne barked as she was then put in the cruiser alongside Dan.
"Consider that another charge added to what may already be a very long list of offences!" Sergeant Steals sneered. "Good job boys! Way to go. And Hamilton Police, thanks a lot for holding down the fort while we got here!"
The Hamilton officers all saluted as the Metro Toronto boys all got back into their respective vehicles.
"This is Sergeant Steals reporting that we have successfully obtained in custody Dan Thurman and Marianne Corr. We are now making our way back to Toronto as we speak!"
"Ten Four Serge. Job well done! We will get in contact with the media to let them know and to schedule for an immediate press conference sometime around Eight AM to make the official confirmation. Chief, Over and out!"
"Steals, over and out. Sit back folks...we're in for a long ride back!"
"So, what exactly are we being charged for this time, Steals?" Marianne asked sarcastically.
"Marianne, we're still under oath to remain silent. Anything we say and do, even now will be used against us. Didn't you hear them give our Miranda Rights when they were cuffing you?" barked Dan.
"You're right, Mr. Thurman...at least between the two of you, one has a decent enough brain to know better! You will soon find out all of your charges when we get to the station, Ms. Corr!"
"So, you really believe that Dan and I did SOMETHING to Degrassi Junior High School, eh?! For the record, we did NOTHING to that school, you hear me? NOTHING!"
"Marianne?!"
"Oh no? Weren't you the ones responsible for the repair work of their boilers the past few days?"
"Yeah, we were...but in no way, shape or form did we BOTCH anything if that's what you're really implying. I declare my innocence. We did what was asked of us...it's not like we simply soaked their building in flammable liquid and then lit a torch on the place! We're not arsonists...we're certified, trained professionals in the HVAC repair field!"
"Sure you are Marianne...so explain to me why you folks were arrested back in April under the suspicion of stolen licences that were taken from actual, certified technicians and given to your employees who AREN'T TRUE, CERTIFIED TECHNICIANS?! We found that out through a now former employer of yours who felt the need to come clean to us earlier this morning!"
"KEVIN." Marianne sneered. "He's so going to get it!"
"MARIANNE!?" Dan barked again. "Seriously, SHUT UP!"
"Ah...is that a threat I hear back there? That'll be another criminal charge added to your record Ms. Corr! Remember, you're under oath to remain silent."
"Why don't you SHUT UP, DAN?"
"Hey...I'm actually following the Miranda Rights, unlike you. I don't care to get anymore charges to my name, and the more you run your mouth Marianne, the more those charges add up for the both of us so really...SHUT THE HELL UP!"
After a long and rather emotional night, the light of dawn finally began to break throughout the city of Toronto, ushering in a brand new day as people slowly filled the once vacant and quiet streets, either making their usual morning commute into work or simply rushing home from an exhausting all nighter shift.
If they lived anywhere near or on Degrassi Street however, those folks would soon learn that getting home to rest won't be happening anytime soon as the Metro Toronto Police and countless Fire Departments throughout still had the evacuation order in progress and nobody at that point and time really knew when or even if the order would be lifted as Mike and his crew were still on scene battling the raging, out of control flames of what was once known as Degrassi Junior High School.
Mike, now looking very exhausted and worn out leaned up against his truck and glanced at his watch to see what time it was for he had lost track of it hours ago...the last time he checked, it was probably around Two Thirty, maybe Three o'clock sharp...who knows?!
"Six Fifteen. We've now been on scene here for the past eleven hours and there's still no sign of this fire slowing down anytime soon! Better give William an update...I'm sure he's probably wondering what's going on. This is Mike to William, do you copy? Mike to William, do you hear me? Over."
"William to Mike, hearing you loud and clear! Good morning. How's the battle going?"
"Eleven hours and counting. The fire is still raging out of control at this hour but other than that, I just heard through the grapevine that they had caught those two arsonists, Dan Thurman and Marianne Corr just outside of Hamilton, eh?"
"That they have...we just heard it announced in the news here on CITY TV not too long ago ourselves. Needless to say, many couldn't help but cheer! I believe the Chief will be making an official statement sometime around Eight this morning."
"Man, wish I could watch it...I'd love to hear the long list of charges they got coming to them! I'm sure the list is rather huge with all the other offences they've been making nonstop since December! Look, I've been meaning to ask you William, do you have many of Louella's crew with you right now?"
"Um, not really...Sue Jenkins is still up in the I.C.U watching over Louella...oh wait a sec, I take that back...she just came out of the elevator and is now heading towards the waiting room."
"Alright, um...do you think you could bring the folks back down here on scene to make an official decision on Degrassi's fate? I'd love to go full blast on this fire and bring it somewhat under control...but that would mean using heavy water pressure that could further damage what remains of the structure. If by chance they feel this building could be saved, I don't want to cause anymore further damage than what we've probably already have...but if this place is unsalvageable, then we can go all out and ruthlessly attack it without any concern...I just need the official word from the head custodian. Since Louella Hawkins is officially out of commission...Sue will have to make the decision for her."
"Ten Four, Mike. I've now got everyone surrounding me...they've heard your request and yes, they want to go see the building. We'll be over as soon as possible. With the morning commute, it may take us a while just to get back on scene."
"Better do it now while Louella Hawkins is still sleeping." Sue suggested. "I want to be by her side when she wakes up!"
"How is Louella doing right now, anyway? Is she alright? How's about her vitals?" Josh began asking over a million or so questions.
"So far, she's thankfully stable...her vitals have improved since last night and I think she'll be OK, but I get the feeling she's not completely out of the woods just yet. Come on, let's head out and get this over with!"
"Who's vehicle are we taking?" Gregory asked as he followed the rest of his crew out the door and began towards Josh's truck which was looking quite worse for wear.
"Um...Josh, I don't think your vehicle is in proper shape to be driving anywhere's around the city...we'll take my truck instead. When we get back, I'll try to assign someone to take your truck in to the shop and get it repaired as soon as possible." William declared as he stood next to his vehicle. "At my expense."
"You sure about that, William? You don't have to do that."
"I want to...you're going to need it for when fall comes."
"That is...if we even still have a job by then."
"Alright, safety belts on? OK then, let's head out! Mike, see you shortly! We're on our way!"
"Ten Four William. Mike, Over and out!"
"Oh my...goodness. Look at all this destruction, and we haven't even reached Degrassi Street yet." gasped Gregory as William carefully turned onto Queen Street East from Parliament Street.
"I can't even believe the condition of my apartment complex...to think the furnace boiler did that?!" declared Sue. "Now that it's daylight out, you can really see just how much of a serious impact last night's events truly had on this and many other surrounding areas!"
"Speaking of which Sue, that reminds me...before I left Moss Park last night, your Superintendent Duncan had asked me to tell you that he would come by to see you sometime this morning somewhere around Nine Thirty or Ten o' clock...I haven't had the chance to tell you that until now cause you were up in the I.C.U all night with Louella Hawkins." said William.
"OK, thanks for letting me know...did Duncan mention the reason why, or?"
"Um...he just wants to inform you of where they'll be staying at for the time being until this whole evacuation order has been lifted which won't be for a while, I'm afraid."
"How long do you think this evacuation will hold out for, exactly?" inquired Josh.
"Could be weeks...could even be months I can assure you all of that! It all depends on the nature of this fire...how long it'll take us to get it all under control and extinguished for good, then having to test the air quality and water supply for any signs of contamination brought on by the chemicals that were a part of this, as you can see...many surrounding areas are practically littered with debris so that will require a massive cleanup... "
"Gosh sake all mighty!" Mary breathed as the truck slowly made it's way over the Don Valley Parkway overpass. "If it's looking worse now...what will await us when we finally arrive on Degrassi Street?"
"I think I'll take Broadview Avenue up towards First Avenue and then cut through there to get to Degrassi Junior High School faster. Either that or we go right up to Gerrard...that way we'll be right next to it...it's up to you guys?"
"Which ever way you feel is the best route, William..." said Tammy.
As soon as William reached the corner of Queen St East and Broadview, he quickly turned left and began making his way up towards and past Dundas Street East, then Allen Avenue until they finally reached First Avenue.
"Oh...I guess First Avenue is out of the question...it's completely closed off. Gerrard Street it is then."
"And no wonder...the street is blocked off by...IS THAT ONE OF OUR BOILERS?" boomed Scott. "William...could you back up again just for a minute, please...?"
William quickly stopped the truck and reversed it back towards First Avenue where sure enough, the street was completely blocked by a mangled up piece of metal, colored white with a dark turquoise and red top up front.
"I recognized those anywhere...that is indeed one of our boilers, Scott. Our second boiler to be exact...cause there's part of the pipe sitting perfectly on the corner with the number two on it." Gregory confirmed.
"Oh...this is bad...this is getting real bad. I'm not even sure if I'm ready for the absolute destruction we're about to face...I can almost give you an answer right here and now William without even giving one glance at Degrassi Junior High School...judging by the mess we're seeing, I say this building is no longer salvageable...Mike's right, it truly is gone." Sue muttered.
