Hit and Run
Chapter 26
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jimmy and D.K. continued to work their way toward Carlos. There had been no form of communication from the medic for the last hour. Suddenly, Jimmy could see the top of Carlos' head and he called back to D.K., "I see him. We're almost there. I need the tools in here and some air bags."
"Hang on Carlos. I've got you," Jimmy said as he reached out and touched Carlos' shoulder. If he couldn't hear him then maybe he could feel that someone was there.
Word spread to the outside of the demolished diner that Jimmy had reached Carlos. Doc and Alex immediately took a few steps toward the doorway. Doc called out to D.K. who had just got done telling Billy what they needed from the truck. Billy had finished getting his arm stitched up and, as expected, had returned to the scene to continue in the search.
"D.K.! How is he? Can you find out how he is?" called Doc.
D.K. just shook his head no and said, "We can see the top of his head, but we can't get to him yet. We're almost there." D.K. knew that minutes counted and he turned to return and help Jimmy.
"How much further?" D.K. asked Jimmy as he approached him.
"Just a couple of more feet," answered Jimmy. "I got my hand along side his neck and I felt a pulse. It's weak, but it's there. Tell Doc and Alex to get a stretcher down here. I think if I can just move this beam without shifting anything we should have a clear shot at sliding him out," Jimmy told D.K.
D.K. sent Billy back out to have Doc bring in the backboard and stretcher. As Doc and Alex approached with just a backboard because the stretcher wouldn't fit amongst the debris, Jimmy finished shoring up the area around the beam he needed to move.
"Jimmy, see if you can get this collar around his neck before you start to move him," said Doc, handing the cervical collar to him. Jimmy took the collar and crawled back toward Carlos. He secured the collar and then began using the airbags to gently lift the beam. After a few moments of loud creaks and falling dust particles, there was enough room to slide Carlos out.
As carefully as possible, Jimmy, D.K. and Billy slowly pulled Carlos free. The kept him as immobile as possible to avoid any further injuries to his spine and slid him onto the waiting backboard being held by Doc and Alex. The additional weight of Carlos on the backboard made Doc wince in pain as it pulled on the injured joint of his shoulder.
Sully and Ty, who had managed to get inside behind Doc and Alex saw the look of pain cross over Doc's face. Sully touched him gently on the back and said, "We got him," as Ty and Sully each grabbed a side of the backboard to relieve Doc.
"I'll go set up outside," said Doc as he turned to prepare to treat Carlos when they brought him to the ambulance.
Doc was in the ambulance setting up IVs and oxygen and getting an open channel to the doctor at Mercy when a roar of cheers sounded. He looked over to see Sully, Ty, D.K. and Alex walking toward him with the backboard bearing an unconscious Carlos.
As they placed Carlos onto the stretcher in the ambulance and Alex jumped in to help Doc, Ty said, "I'll drive. Just let me know when you're ready to take off." Doc nodded and then they all turned back toward the diner when they heard Jimmy's voice over the portable clipped to D.K.'s turnout coat.
"D.K., Walsh. I need you back down here. This airbag gave way and the beam came down. I can't get out," came Jimmy's voice calmly over the radio.
"We're on the way," replied D.K. into the radio as both he and Billy joined the ranks of their brother firefighters to get to Jimmy. After a few moments, Jimmy emerged from the debris, unscathed; each of the firefighters slapping each other on the back in thanks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doc and Alex got Carlos stabilized at the scene and had just got done bringing him into the trauma room. Davis had parked the ambulance outside and met up with Sully who had followed them in with the RMP. The two officers walked into the ER and looked around for Doc and Alex. They found them standing outside of the trauma room looking through the window.
"How is he?" asked Sully as they joined the two medics.
"We're not sure. He's still unconscious. There's definitely a head wound, but I don't know how bad it is. He has some neuro deficit to his legs and we found a wound to his lower back near the spine. Hopefully, it's nothing permanent. That's all we know for right now," said Doc as he watched his partner lying on the stretcher being worked on by the ER staff.
Another ambulance came through the ER doors and the medics and officers turned to see the body of Samuel Benson, covered with a blanket, being wheeled into the ER. A doctor came over to the gurney in the hallway and checked on the man. The doctor pronounced the man dead and the medics were instructed to bring the body straight to the hospital morgue.
"Good riddens," Alex replied with disgust in her voice. Doc put a hand on her back. "Amen to that," he said quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been about 2 hours since Jimmy had left with the police officer and Kim was anxiously awaiting word on the rescue efforts. She looked up and saw a dusty and scraped Jimmy standing in the doorway.
"Jimmy. Are you okay?" she said through her teeth. He nodded and walked over to the bed and bent over to kiss her. "Carlos is in the ER. He's pretty banged up, but I think he's gonna make it. He's got a concussion and he's in and out right now. He has an injury to his spinal cord, but they did a CT of the spine and think that it's just a bad bruise and that he'll recover," he finished, sitting down heavily in the chair, exhausted.
"Thanks Jimmy," Kim said.
"For what?" Jimmy asked, a puzzled expression on his face.
"For getting Carlos out," she wrote on her board.
"I just helped. It's no big thing," he said, shrugging.
Kim nodded her head and smiled as Kim's mother brought Joey into the room.
"Mom! Dad!" he yelled with delight as he jumped onto Jimmy's lap without warning. Jimmy let out a loud groan and everyone laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lieutenant Swersky was in the room with Bosco and Faith. He'd filled them in on everything that had happened, including the reason that Benson went on his rampage. He'd had his clerk research it and found out that it just so happened that all of those police officers and medics that were injured or killed during Benson's attacks happened to be working the night his wife and daughter died in the accident.
"I remember that one," Bosco said solemnly. It was pouring that night and the river was really swollen. The current was so strong that no one could get to them in time. I'll never forget the screams from that little girl as the water rose and took her. Benson had been put in the ambulance but I know he must have heard her screams. That'd be enough to drive me over the edge too," Bosco finished. Faith gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
The Lieutenant noticed and said, "So, I hear there's some happy news from all this. Congratulations Faith, Bosco. It's been a long time coming," he said as he turned and walked out of their room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doc, Alex, Sully and Ty were outside of Carlos' room waiting for him to wake up. He'd been in and out due to the concussion and hadn't yet heard the results from his CT scan of his spine.
Doc had just returned from checking on Dr. Jamison and informed Alex, Ty and Sully that he was making a good recovery and would be back to work in no time.
The nurse peeked out and advised Doc that he was coming around again. Doc stood up and walked into the room. Carlos opened his eyes, sensing someone's presence and looked up to see Doc standing above him.
"Hey," he said groggily.
"Hey yourself. You're one lucky son of a bitch," Doc said with a smile. "The CT of your spine shows it's just a bruise. You should make a complete recovery and be back driving me craze in no time," he said to his friend.
"Looking forward to it," said Carlos, drifting off to sleep again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex, Sully and Ty were sitting outside of Carlos' room. Alex and Ty were leaning against each other and Sully sensed that they wanted to be alone. Ty had Sully pull the RMP over the other day and ran into a store and he knew what Ty wanted to do.
"Well, I'm gonna go grab a cup of coffee," he said. "Anyone want some?"
"Yeah, thanks, Sul," said Alex and Ty in unison.
"Okay, I'll be back in a little while. Pretty quiet around here," he said looking at Ty and tapping Ty's shirt pocket. Ty knew what he was hinting at and looked at the floor in embarrassment.
Sully walked down the hallway, leaving Alex and Ty sitting in the deserted hallway.
"What was that all about?" asked Alex, as she watched Sully round the corner and looked at Ty.
"Well. I've been thinking a lot these past few days. What with everything happening and seeing how quickly things can change," Ty began. He reached into his pocket and removed a small, velvet-covered box. He slid off the edge of his chair and went down onto one knee. He took Alex's hands and looked at her face. She got a confused look on her face momentarily and then realized what was about to happen.
Sully peeked out from around the corner quietly, making sure not to disturb them.
"Alex. There's one thing that I don't want to change. And that's me being able to be with you always. I love you, Alex. Will you marry me?" asked Ty as he opened the small box to reveal a beautiful engagement ring.
Alex took a deep breath, not letting her gaze leave Ty's face. "Yes, Ty. I will marry you. I love you," she said as she leaned forward to give her fiancée a kiss. Ty placed the ring on her finger and they embraced just as Doc came out of Carlos' room.
"What's up, guys?" asked Doc, noticing Ty getting off the floor and returning to his seat.
Alex held up her left hand to show Doc her ring and a smile came over Doc's face as he shook Ty's hand and kissed Alex on the cheek. Sully came around the corner with a big smile and no coffee, shook hands with his partner and kissed Alex as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End.
Chapter 26
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jimmy and D.K. continued to work their way toward Carlos. There had been no form of communication from the medic for the last hour. Suddenly, Jimmy could see the top of Carlos' head and he called back to D.K., "I see him. We're almost there. I need the tools in here and some air bags."
"Hang on Carlos. I've got you," Jimmy said as he reached out and touched Carlos' shoulder. If he couldn't hear him then maybe he could feel that someone was there.
Word spread to the outside of the demolished diner that Jimmy had reached Carlos. Doc and Alex immediately took a few steps toward the doorway. Doc called out to D.K. who had just got done telling Billy what they needed from the truck. Billy had finished getting his arm stitched up and, as expected, had returned to the scene to continue in the search.
"D.K.! How is he? Can you find out how he is?" called Doc.
D.K. just shook his head no and said, "We can see the top of his head, but we can't get to him yet. We're almost there." D.K. knew that minutes counted and he turned to return and help Jimmy.
"How much further?" D.K. asked Jimmy as he approached him.
"Just a couple of more feet," answered Jimmy. "I got my hand along side his neck and I felt a pulse. It's weak, but it's there. Tell Doc and Alex to get a stretcher down here. I think if I can just move this beam without shifting anything we should have a clear shot at sliding him out," Jimmy told D.K.
D.K. sent Billy back out to have Doc bring in the backboard and stretcher. As Doc and Alex approached with just a backboard because the stretcher wouldn't fit amongst the debris, Jimmy finished shoring up the area around the beam he needed to move.
"Jimmy, see if you can get this collar around his neck before you start to move him," said Doc, handing the cervical collar to him. Jimmy took the collar and crawled back toward Carlos. He secured the collar and then began using the airbags to gently lift the beam. After a few moments of loud creaks and falling dust particles, there was enough room to slide Carlos out.
As carefully as possible, Jimmy, D.K. and Billy slowly pulled Carlos free. The kept him as immobile as possible to avoid any further injuries to his spine and slid him onto the waiting backboard being held by Doc and Alex. The additional weight of Carlos on the backboard made Doc wince in pain as it pulled on the injured joint of his shoulder.
Sully and Ty, who had managed to get inside behind Doc and Alex saw the look of pain cross over Doc's face. Sully touched him gently on the back and said, "We got him," as Ty and Sully each grabbed a side of the backboard to relieve Doc.
"I'll go set up outside," said Doc as he turned to prepare to treat Carlos when they brought him to the ambulance.
Doc was in the ambulance setting up IVs and oxygen and getting an open channel to the doctor at Mercy when a roar of cheers sounded. He looked over to see Sully, Ty, D.K. and Alex walking toward him with the backboard bearing an unconscious Carlos.
As they placed Carlos onto the stretcher in the ambulance and Alex jumped in to help Doc, Ty said, "I'll drive. Just let me know when you're ready to take off." Doc nodded and then they all turned back toward the diner when they heard Jimmy's voice over the portable clipped to D.K.'s turnout coat.
"D.K., Walsh. I need you back down here. This airbag gave way and the beam came down. I can't get out," came Jimmy's voice calmly over the radio.
"We're on the way," replied D.K. into the radio as both he and Billy joined the ranks of their brother firefighters to get to Jimmy. After a few moments, Jimmy emerged from the debris, unscathed; each of the firefighters slapping each other on the back in thanks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doc and Alex got Carlos stabilized at the scene and had just got done bringing him into the trauma room. Davis had parked the ambulance outside and met up with Sully who had followed them in with the RMP. The two officers walked into the ER and looked around for Doc and Alex. They found them standing outside of the trauma room looking through the window.
"How is he?" asked Sully as they joined the two medics.
"We're not sure. He's still unconscious. There's definitely a head wound, but I don't know how bad it is. He has some neuro deficit to his legs and we found a wound to his lower back near the spine. Hopefully, it's nothing permanent. That's all we know for right now," said Doc as he watched his partner lying on the stretcher being worked on by the ER staff.
Another ambulance came through the ER doors and the medics and officers turned to see the body of Samuel Benson, covered with a blanket, being wheeled into the ER. A doctor came over to the gurney in the hallway and checked on the man. The doctor pronounced the man dead and the medics were instructed to bring the body straight to the hospital morgue.
"Good riddens," Alex replied with disgust in her voice. Doc put a hand on her back. "Amen to that," he said quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been about 2 hours since Jimmy had left with the police officer and Kim was anxiously awaiting word on the rescue efforts. She looked up and saw a dusty and scraped Jimmy standing in the doorway.
"Jimmy. Are you okay?" she said through her teeth. He nodded and walked over to the bed and bent over to kiss her. "Carlos is in the ER. He's pretty banged up, but I think he's gonna make it. He's got a concussion and he's in and out right now. He has an injury to his spinal cord, but they did a CT of the spine and think that it's just a bad bruise and that he'll recover," he finished, sitting down heavily in the chair, exhausted.
"Thanks Jimmy," Kim said.
"For what?" Jimmy asked, a puzzled expression on his face.
"For getting Carlos out," she wrote on her board.
"I just helped. It's no big thing," he said, shrugging.
Kim nodded her head and smiled as Kim's mother brought Joey into the room.
"Mom! Dad!" he yelled with delight as he jumped onto Jimmy's lap without warning. Jimmy let out a loud groan and everyone laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lieutenant Swersky was in the room with Bosco and Faith. He'd filled them in on everything that had happened, including the reason that Benson went on his rampage. He'd had his clerk research it and found out that it just so happened that all of those police officers and medics that were injured or killed during Benson's attacks happened to be working the night his wife and daughter died in the accident.
"I remember that one," Bosco said solemnly. It was pouring that night and the river was really swollen. The current was so strong that no one could get to them in time. I'll never forget the screams from that little girl as the water rose and took her. Benson had been put in the ambulance but I know he must have heard her screams. That'd be enough to drive me over the edge too," Bosco finished. Faith gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
The Lieutenant noticed and said, "So, I hear there's some happy news from all this. Congratulations Faith, Bosco. It's been a long time coming," he said as he turned and walked out of their room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doc, Alex, Sully and Ty were outside of Carlos' room waiting for him to wake up. He'd been in and out due to the concussion and hadn't yet heard the results from his CT scan of his spine.
Doc had just returned from checking on Dr. Jamison and informed Alex, Ty and Sully that he was making a good recovery and would be back to work in no time.
The nurse peeked out and advised Doc that he was coming around again. Doc stood up and walked into the room. Carlos opened his eyes, sensing someone's presence and looked up to see Doc standing above him.
"Hey," he said groggily.
"Hey yourself. You're one lucky son of a bitch," Doc said with a smile. "The CT of your spine shows it's just a bruise. You should make a complete recovery and be back driving me craze in no time," he said to his friend.
"Looking forward to it," said Carlos, drifting off to sleep again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex, Sully and Ty were sitting outside of Carlos' room. Alex and Ty were leaning against each other and Sully sensed that they wanted to be alone. Ty had Sully pull the RMP over the other day and ran into a store and he knew what Ty wanted to do.
"Well, I'm gonna go grab a cup of coffee," he said. "Anyone want some?"
"Yeah, thanks, Sul," said Alex and Ty in unison.
"Okay, I'll be back in a little while. Pretty quiet around here," he said looking at Ty and tapping Ty's shirt pocket. Ty knew what he was hinting at and looked at the floor in embarrassment.
Sully walked down the hallway, leaving Alex and Ty sitting in the deserted hallway.
"What was that all about?" asked Alex, as she watched Sully round the corner and looked at Ty.
"Well. I've been thinking a lot these past few days. What with everything happening and seeing how quickly things can change," Ty began. He reached into his pocket and removed a small, velvet-covered box. He slid off the edge of his chair and went down onto one knee. He took Alex's hands and looked at her face. She got a confused look on her face momentarily and then realized what was about to happen.
Sully peeked out from around the corner quietly, making sure not to disturb them.
"Alex. There's one thing that I don't want to change. And that's me being able to be with you always. I love you, Alex. Will you marry me?" asked Ty as he opened the small box to reveal a beautiful engagement ring.
Alex took a deep breath, not letting her gaze leave Ty's face. "Yes, Ty. I will marry you. I love you," she said as she leaned forward to give her fiancée a kiss. Ty placed the ring on her finger and they embraced just as Doc came out of Carlos' room.
"What's up, guys?" asked Doc, noticing Ty getting off the floor and returning to his seat.
Alex held up her left hand to show Doc her ring and a smile came over Doc's face as he shook Ty's hand and kissed Alex on the cheek. Sully came around the corner with a big smile and no coffee, shook hands with his partner and kissed Alex as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End.