Missing
Chapter 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Sully was done advising the Lieutenant about the situation, both he and Bosco immediately darted around to the back of the building to see if they could find a way in. Flames were now shooting out of the barred windows facing the alley and the rear of the building. Bosco and Sully could feel the intense heat as they tried to get close, but were pushed back.
It was obvious they wouldn't be able to get to anyone from that way so the two officers ran back around to the front of the building to see if Jimmy and DK had been able to make any progress. As they rounded the corner, they could see that EMS and numerous police units were arriving on the scene, but there still wasn't any additional fire units yet.
Bosco heard the Lieutenant Anderson yelling into his radio to expedite their help. "We believe we have at least two people - police officers - trapped in this fully involved building. We need help forthwith!" he finished.
The dispatcher heard the desperation in his voice and, trying to calm everyone down replied in as calm a tone as possible, "Message received Lieutenant. We have units in route and they should be arriving momentarily. Repeat, units ARE in route."
Bosco was looking for Jimmy, but didn't find him. "Where's Doherty?" he yelled to no one in particular.
"Over there!" Kim pointed and called to him as she and Doc retrieved equipment to have ready when the officers were brought out. Bosco followed her finger and saw that Jimmy was climbing onto a backhoe that was parked at a construction site a few buildings down. After a moment, Bosco watched as a belch of black smoke appeared from the machine's exhaust and began moving after Jimmy had figured out a way to get it started.
Jimmy maneuvered the machine over to the building that was on fire and Lieutenant Anderson jumped onto it and was talking with Jimmy. After a moment, the Lieutenant jumped down and personnel began moving themselves and their vehicles away from the building.
Sully and Bosco, along with the other police units on the scene, started clearing the entire block as Jimmy maneuvered the equipment into position. As everyone looked on, Jimmy moved closer with the machine and gently, as gently as you could with heavy equipment, struck the side of the building a few times. A whole began to open up and then he lifted the bucket so that he was able to stick the forked edge of it into the whole and pull the wall of the building out toward the sidewalk. Immediately, hot embers floated into the air as well as flames and smoke as they were supplied with a new route to travel. After the initial blast of the flames from the opening, the fire, not having much left to burn, seemed to ebb somewhat.
DK took advantage of the this and he and Billy worked their way into the building, hitting their knees and crawling around as other fire units appeared on the scene. The hoseline that Jimmy and DK had stretched was immediately grabbed by the new personnel, in addition to new hoses stretched, and the firefighters went about the task of trying to douse the flames.
After what seemed an eternity, but was really only a few minutes, DK and Billy came back out, each carrying an unconscious officer over their shoulder. As soon as they emerged, the Lieutenant gave the order for all personnel to vacate the building, fearing collapse.
Kim and Doc immediately began assessing the officers and they were soon on their way to the hospital.
The firefighters went about the task of putting out the fire and were ready to return to service at about daybreak. Jimmy and DK were sent over to Mercy to get some minor burns and scrapes checked out from their attempts to get into the building.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The ambulances rolled into the emergency entrance of Mercy Hospital with two teams of trauma staff standing by waiting for them. Now, Bosco, Sully and Davis sat in the waiting room as the NYPD officials began to arrive, as well as fellow officers of the 5-5. Davis had just been on his way out; the Chief of Patrol's girlfriend's surgery was finished and she was in recovery. He'd run into the two officers and now sat with them to await news.
"Any news?" D.K. asked as he and Jimmy approached Bosco when they got to the hospital.
"Nah. Nothin' yet," he answered. "Families are on their way in."
The firefighters nodded and somberly went to the triage desk to be taken care of. "We'll check back," Jimmy said quietly before they left.
"Jimmy," Bosco called to him and he turned. "Good thinking. That thing with the backhoe," he elaborated.
"Thanks. It was the only thing I could think of. I knew we couldn't wait for backup to get there," Jimmy said, giving a wave and turning back toward the desk.
"Bos?" came the quiet, concerned voice from off to the side. He turned to look and saw Faith standing there. She looked awful. Her hair was all disheveled and her eyes were still red from crying. He watched her look at him, Sully and Davis. He stood up slowly and walked toward her.
"God, please let Fred be okay," he thought to himself as he looked at how lost she seemed.
"Faith? How's Fred?" he asked concerned, but coolly, still stinging from her earlier words.
"Um, he's holding on. They're gonna have to do some heart surgery. It's pretty serious," she said, tears forming again as she thought about it.
"But, he was healthy otherwise," he encouraged. "The kids okay?" he asked.
"Um, yeah. Emily's more together than I am," she said with a half-laugh and Bosco smiled tiredly. He'd been up for almost two straight days now and he was starting to feel it.
"You're okay?" Faith asked, looking at the three of them again, but bringing her gaze back to meet his.
"Yeah," he said.
"I heard it on the news in the waiting room. They didn't say who it was and then I saw our unit on the news and I thought...," she said, not finishing the sentence.
"No. We're fine," he said, turning toward Sully. "It's Christopher and Gusler. They're pretty bad. They were trapped in there. Jimmy had to knock the wall down with a backhoe so they could get in. We're just waiting to hear," he finished.
"God. Christopher and Gusler?" Faith said, puzzled.
"Yeah, we don't really know how THAT happened," he said, rolling his eyes slightly and getting a smirk from Faith. She knew there was no love lost between Bosco and both Christopher and Gusler, although he'd never want anything like this to happen.
There was an awkward silence and then Faith tried again, "Bos. About before," she said, but he cut her off, not ready to deal with that issue. It was still too fresh.
"You better get back to Fred and the kids. Let me know how he's doing. We'll get word to you about them," he said, nodding toward the ER where the injured officers were being treated.
"Oh. Okay," she said, somewhat flustered. Looking him directly in the eyes, she again said, "Thanks, Bos."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Sully was done advising the Lieutenant about the situation, both he and Bosco immediately darted around to the back of the building to see if they could find a way in. Flames were now shooting out of the barred windows facing the alley and the rear of the building. Bosco and Sully could feel the intense heat as they tried to get close, but were pushed back.
It was obvious they wouldn't be able to get to anyone from that way so the two officers ran back around to the front of the building to see if Jimmy and DK had been able to make any progress. As they rounded the corner, they could see that EMS and numerous police units were arriving on the scene, but there still wasn't any additional fire units yet.
Bosco heard the Lieutenant Anderson yelling into his radio to expedite their help. "We believe we have at least two people - police officers - trapped in this fully involved building. We need help forthwith!" he finished.
The dispatcher heard the desperation in his voice and, trying to calm everyone down replied in as calm a tone as possible, "Message received Lieutenant. We have units in route and they should be arriving momentarily. Repeat, units ARE in route."
Bosco was looking for Jimmy, but didn't find him. "Where's Doherty?" he yelled to no one in particular.
"Over there!" Kim pointed and called to him as she and Doc retrieved equipment to have ready when the officers were brought out. Bosco followed her finger and saw that Jimmy was climbing onto a backhoe that was parked at a construction site a few buildings down. After a moment, Bosco watched as a belch of black smoke appeared from the machine's exhaust and began moving after Jimmy had figured out a way to get it started.
Jimmy maneuvered the machine over to the building that was on fire and Lieutenant Anderson jumped onto it and was talking with Jimmy. After a moment, the Lieutenant jumped down and personnel began moving themselves and their vehicles away from the building.
Sully and Bosco, along with the other police units on the scene, started clearing the entire block as Jimmy maneuvered the equipment into position. As everyone looked on, Jimmy moved closer with the machine and gently, as gently as you could with heavy equipment, struck the side of the building a few times. A whole began to open up and then he lifted the bucket so that he was able to stick the forked edge of it into the whole and pull the wall of the building out toward the sidewalk. Immediately, hot embers floated into the air as well as flames and smoke as they were supplied with a new route to travel. After the initial blast of the flames from the opening, the fire, not having much left to burn, seemed to ebb somewhat.
DK took advantage of the this and he and Billy worked their way into the building, hitting their knees and crawling around as other fire units appeared on the scene. The hoseline that Jimmy and DK had stretched was immediately grabbed by the new personnel, in addition to new hoses stretched, and the firefighters went about the task of trying to douse the flames.
After what seemed an eternity, but was really only a few minutes, DK and Billy came back out, each carrying an unconscious officer over their shoulder. As soon as they emerged, the Lieutenant gave the order for all personnel to vacate the building, fearing collapse.
Kim and Doc immediately began assessing the officers and they were soon on their way to the hospital.
The firefighters went about the task of putting out the fire and were ready to return to service at about daybreak. Jimmy and DK were sent over to Mercy to get some minor burns and scrapes checked out from their attempts to get into the building.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The ambulances rolled into the emergency entrance of Mercy Hospital with two teams of trauma staff standing by waiting for them. Now, Bosco, Sully and Davis sat in the waiting room as the NYPD officials began to arrive, as well as fellow officers of the 5-5. Davis had just been on his way out; the Chief of Patrol's girlfriend's surgery was finished and she was in recovery. He'd run into the two officers and now sat with them to await news.
"Any news?" D.K. asked as he and Jimmy approached Bosco when they got to the hospital.
"Nah. Nothin' yet," he answered. "Families are on their way in."
The firefighters nodded and somberly went to the triage desk to be taken care of. "We'll check back," Jimmy said quietly before they left.
"Jimmy," Bosco called to him and he turned. "Good thinking. That thing with the backhoe," he elaborated.
"Thanks. It was the only thing I could think of. I knew we couldn't wait for backup to get there," Jimmy said, giving a wave and turning back toward the desk.
"Bos?" came the quiet, concerned voice from off to the side. He turned to look and saw Faith standing there. She looked awful. Her hair was all disheveled and her eyes were still red from crying. He watched her look at him, Sully and Davis. He stood up slowly and walked toward her.
"God, please let Fred be okay," he thought to himself as he looked at how lost she seemed.
"Faith? How's Fred?" he asked concerned, but coolly, still stinging from her earlier words.
"Um, he's holding on. They're gonna have to do some heart surgery. It's pretty serious," she said, tears forming again as she thought about it.
"But, he was healthy otherwise," he encouraged. "The kids okay?" he asked.
"Um, yeah. Emily's more together than I am," she said with a half-laugh and Bosco smiled tiredly. He'd been up for almost two straight days now and he was starting to feel it.
"You're okay?" Faith asked, looking at the three of them again, but bringing her gaze back to meet his.
"Yeah," he said.
"I heard it on the news in the waiting room. They didn't say who it was and then I saw our unit on the news and I thought...," she said, not finishing the sentence.
"No. We're fine," he said, turning toward Sully. "It's Christopher and Gusler. They're pretty bad. They were trapped in there. Jimmy had to knock the wall down with a backhoe so they could get in. We're just waiting to hear," he finished.
"God. Christopher and Gusler?" Faith said, puzzled.
"Yeah, we don't really know how THAT happened," he said, rolling his eyes slightly and getting a smirk from Faith. She knew there was no love lost between Bosco and both Christopher and Gusler, although he'd never want anything like this to happen.
There was an awkward silence and then Faith tried again, "Bos. About before," she said, but he cut her off, not ready to deal with that issue. It was still too fresh.
"You better get back to Fred and the kids. Let me know how he's doing. We'll get word to you about them," he said, nodding toward the ER where the injured officers were being treated.
"Oh. Okay," she said, somewhat flustered. Looking him directly in the eyes, she again said, "Thanks, Bos."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...