Summary: A new recruit to Pacific Blue creates havoc for Chris and Cory's friendship.

Friendly Affair

Victor's bike started to skid out from under him on the way down the hill. He struggled to keep balance.
He counted his blessings as the bike righted itself. Coming off on a hill this steep would means some serious gravel rash that he'd rather not think about.
Tc drew up beside him and gave him a confused glance. It wasn't like Victor to lose control of his bike even for a second.
Not that they had time to do anything about it. Some stupid brat had made off with about $5000 worth of mobile phones. Apparently no one thought it was suspicious that a 12-year-old boy was loading merchandise from a delivery truck into his backpack. It was when one of the truck drivers had offered to take the bag inside for the lad that he'd run off and they'd been alerted of the theft.
They also knew this kid didn't need the money. The motorised scooter he was riding would have cost a cold fortune.
Victor's bike started to wobble again. 'Shit!' He exclaimed and purposely skid the bike sidewards to stop the motion before slamming down on the pedals to catch up to the chase.
He was starting to make up ground when Tc crossed an intersection not five meters in front of him. Thinking it was safe for him to cross as well he proceeded into the intersection about the same time that the screw holding his front wheel in place came off along with the wheel. And it was the same time that a bloody huge truck entered the intersection as well.
With the front of the bike collapsed under him Victor flew over the handlebars and through the air. He wasn't quite sure who hit who first but he ended up smashing into the front corner of the truck with a sickening crunch and fell to the ground.
The truck that'd barely had time to respond slammed on its breaks hurriedly and stopped further up the road with its back tire resting on Victor's already bruised knee.
Tc was still coasting from the hill quickly turned his head to see what the fuss was about. He stopped in an instant when he saw the mangled steel of Victor's bike strung around the wheels of the truck.
He quickly tossed his bike in the opposite direction and pedaled hard. In fact, he couldn't remember pedaling so hard. The thirty meters or so to the crash site seems like an eternity and he was holding his breath as he rounded the front of the truck.
Victor was lying on his back with blood streaming from a cut on his temple from where he'd hit his head. His leg that was under the truck tire was at an awful angle and Tc could barely recognise that his shoulder was indeed a shoulder.
'This is 1PB6.' Tc spoke into the radio, his voice shaking. 'Officer down on the corner of 7th and Montana. Send the paramedics.'
Tc grabbed the first aid pack from his bike and dumped it down next to Victor. Already a sizeable crown had formed.
'Victor, are you okay? Can you hear me?' Using the back of his hand he tapped Victor on his good shoulder.
Victor moaned. 'I think I'm going to need a bandage.' He mumbled.
'You're going to need a bit more than that.' Tc said pulling out a pad and pressing it to the wound on Victor's head. 'What's hurts?'
'Everything.' He swallowed hard. 'If I'm not in tomorrow tell Palermo I'm off sick.'
'Yes mate.' Tc said. If Palermo doesn't know by the end of the day that Victor won't be in tomorrow then the man has slipped a cog, he thought.
A lady ran over to them. 'I'm a nurse, can I help?' She said.
'Yeah.' Tc answered. 'You can tell me what I need to do.' He pushed the first aid kit in her direction.
The woman grabbed a bandage and started wrapped the pad securely on Victor's head. 'Do you think you can do something about the truck?' She asked and nodded towards the tire on Victor's leg.
Tc nodded. He jumped to his feet and ran to the cab. The driver had already been taken from the truck and was sitting on the pavement looking like a stunned mullet. Obviously shaken from the event, he'd neglected to turn off the engine.
Tc hopped in the cab and eased off the handbrake letting the truck roll slowly forwards until he was sure that it would have cleared Victor's knee before putting the handbrake back on and shutting off the engine.
He jumped out of the cab when dispatch returned his 'call'.
'1PB6, the paramedics are on their way.'
Tc went back over to Victor and the nurse. Victor's knee was dislocated badly.
'There doesn't seem to be any major fractures though.' The nurse said.
Tc just nodded.
She went on. 'His shoulder is another story though.'
'Will he be back to work any time soon?' He asked.
She gave him a 'you've-got-to-be-kidding' look.
'Is there anything I can do?' Tc looked at his friend. Victor has passed out, most probably from pain or shock, or both.
'Could you check on the driver? He's probably in shock and will need to lie down. Make sure no one gives him any water.'
Tc stood up but didn't move away from his friend.
'Please Officer Callaway.' She said reading his shirt. 'There isn't much you can do for him at the moment.'
Tc reluctantly went to treat the truck driver.
A few minutes, which felt likes hours, later the paramedics arrived, followed by Palermo.
The nurse filled in the paramedics on what she'd done to stabilize Victor and also gave them a generalized idea of what had happened. Palermo listened in before going to question Tc.
'What happened?' He asked.
Tc shrugged. 'I'm not sure. His bike skidded a bit at the top of the hill. He got control but had to catch up after that. I never saw the accident.'
Palermo frowned. 'And the kid you were chasing?'
Tc shrugged again. 'We didn't catch him.'
The lieutenant nodded slowly. 'Okay. Go back to the station. I'll talk to you later about this.' He strode away to talk to some witnesses.
Tc picked up his bike and wheeled it through the crowd feeling their curious eyes watching him. This sucks, he thought. First some brat outruns them, and then Victor gets taken out, now Palermo is pissed at HIM!
He purposely took his time getting back to the station. He didn't want to be going there. He wanted to be at the hospital. He wanted to know what was going on.