Taylor cried out in pain. Something had just gone wrong, very wrong. It wasn't
supposed to be like this. She wasn't supposed to even be there. Taylor hadn't even
realized what had just happened. She went in to search and rescue trapped workers.
Now she had an intense pain in her right side. It was too dark in the building for her to see what exactly had happened. All she knew was that she was down on a metal deck. There was heavy smoke and flames approaching her. She took her glove off to check her side, pulling her hand back to find it covered in blood. With her training as a paramedic, she knew she was in trouble and she knew she needed help.
"Alex!" Jimmy called out attempting to find Taylor.
Walsh, DK, and Lombardo followed suit. Taylor hadn't made her way back out of the building with Jimmy. They had split up to finish a search of the 3rd floor. Jimmy had found a woman and Taylor told him to get her out, she'd keep looking. Jimmy thought that he should have never left her to search alone. They went in together, they should come out together. But this was a warehouse with varying platforms. It was a metal maze that they needed to search.
On the outside of the building Lt. Johnson was monitoring all radio traffic. He continued to call into his radio.
"Taylor come in." he would say, all he got back in return was static.
Taylor was inside feeling around on the platform. She was laying half on her side. Her air bottle was keeping her from being fully on her back. She tried to control her breathing to conserve her oxygen supply. She tried to find the cause of her pain, but her bunker gear was bulky and she could reach it.
"Alex!" Walsh called out, "Alex!"
Jimmy led Lombardo up the stairs to the 4th level. He thought that maybe Alex had gone up without letting him know. Walsh and DK worked their way through a maze of metal platforms on the 3rd floor.
"Alex! Where are you? Alex!" Walsh called out again
Taylor looked around and could see the orange glow around her.
"Alright, don't panic. They'll be here to get me any minute." She told herself. She tried to sit up but the pain got worse. She felt nauseous and she fought back the urge to throw up. She was also beginning to feel lightheaded. She continued to control her breathing. She looked at the gauge on her air pack- she still had about 10 minutes of air left. Her PAS alarm began to chirp. She hadn't even thought about activating it before now. "Good now they'll hear me."
She reached for her radio mic, "Taylor to Squad 55." She said, but she got static in return. "Taylor to Squad 55" she called again with the same result.
She lowered her head onto the metal deck and stared out at the orange glow. She was alone in a fire, and that was the last place a firefighter wanted to be. She thought for a moment. Then she unlatched the buckles that held her air pack on her back. It relieved some of the pain when it was loosened.
"So this is what it's like to die." She said, "Not even a chance to say goodbye to anyone. I can't believe this. I'm going to die here, alone, for nothing." She was angry. "Not today. I am not going to die here and now! Daddy help me, please." She cried. "Daddy, help me get out of here."
"Anything?" Kim asked Lt. Johnson
He shook his head. Carlos stood watching the building. Watching the exits, hoping that Taylor would just walk out. But he knew that if Taylor was able to, she would have already done it.
Walsh and DK continued towards the area where the fire was. The walkway sounded different in this area. Walsh noted the problem.
"Feel that?" He asked
"Yeah." DK acknowledged
"There's a hole in the flooring." Walsh picked up his pace and found what he suspected.
"Hear that?" He asked DK
"Yeah." DK responded, "Taylor's PAS alarm."
"Taylor!" Walsh yelled out, "Taylor!"
Taylor was starting to fade out of consciousness. She knew that she needed to stay awake and she fought it, but it seemed like she was distant. The sound of her PAS alarm was fading to her. She closed her eyes and faded off.
"Alexandra." A voice said to her
"Daddy?" She asked
"Yes, I'm here honey." He said
"I'm sorry Daddy." She replied
"For what?" He asked
"For everything. I've let you down." She said
"Don't be foolish. You haven't let me down at all. I'm proud of you." He responded
"Am I okay?" She asked him
"Yes honey, you're okay." He smiled
"Am I?" She asked
"No, it's not your time yet. Not now." He replied to her
"So I'm not?" She asked
He laughed; she had always been like that. Always double checking the answer. Made her a good medic, and a good firefighter.
"I see you still wear the St. Florian medal I gave you the day you graduated." He smiled
"Always." She returned
"And you're making sure your mother is okay?" He asked
"Mom's fine." She replied, "Misses you a lot though."
"I know." He smiled
"Daddy?" She asked noticing him looking off to the distance
"It's time for you to go." He smiled
"I love you." She replied
"I know. I love you and your mother very much. I'm proud of you." He smiled again
Lt. Johnson was worried. He hadn't heard any reports from the interior. Hope was slipping that they would find Taylor. He didn't want to make the trip to Beth Taylor's house to tell her that the same love and devotion to firefighting had claimed her daughter too.
Kim paced around nervously. Carlos watched.
"She'll be okay." He said, he desperately wanted to believe that himself.
Carlos continued to scan the exits of the building. Maybe they had gotten out and no one noticed. But that wasn't the case. Everyone would notice. He fiddled with the portable oxygen that was sitting on the stretcher. Everything they would need was on the stretcher, waiting for them to bring her out.
"This is morbid." He thought to himself. "I'm sitting here waiting for them to bring her out. Waiting for her to be severely hurt or worse. This is morbid!"
The radios squelched again and Lt. Johnson listened intently, hoping to hear the news that they had found Taylor. All he heard was static. He checked his watch. It had been too long he thought.
Taylor still lay motionless on the deck. Her eyes were now closed and there was another alarm beginning to sound. Her air pack was starting to run low.
Suddenly everything got brighter. She was surrounded by white light. She looked around and saw Bobby standing there. Taylor looked at Bobby; he was wearing all white. She had missed his smile. She looked down at herself and saw that she too was in white. She couldn't feel sad though, not in this place. It was comforting
"What are you doing here?" She asked him
"Came to say hello I guess." He smiled
"I'm really not right?" She was confused
"What, dead?" He laughed a moment, "No, no you're not."
"I don't feel any pain anymore." She responded
"There's no pain here." He smiled
"It's so… bright." She added
"Yeah, you sorta get used to it you know?" He laughed again. "How's Kim holding up?"
"She took your death hard. She misses you a lot. We all do." She replied
"It's time for me to go now." Bobby said
"Aren't you going to stay with me?" Taylor asked
"Nope, you gotta do this part on your own." He frowned; he really didn't want to leave her.
"I'm scared Bobby." She admitted
"I know." He smiled, "But you gotta do this on your own."
He walked away.
"Come back." She cried, "Please, come back."
She was now crying. The room dimmed.
"I guess this is it." She told herself
She thought back on everything that she had done.
She remembered playing practical jokes on everyone in the firehouse and how Billy had hung her up on the wall. She remembered passing the young girl down the stairs to get her to the hospital to receive a heart transplant. She thought about when she went down the airshaft to save the little boy who had gone into a diabetic coma. She remembered when she and Kim stood up to Dr. Peterson and how they saved lives doing it.
She wished she could be back there right now. Helping save lives. She sat and cried.
"I can't die. This can't be happening." She sobbed
The flames were approaching quickly. Walsh and DK stepped up their pace a little. They looked up and down, so they could see where the break was in the platform above them, and also to hope to find Taylor.
"Taylor?" Walsh said as he saw something ahead of him on the platform.
"We got her!" DK radioed
Walsh knelt down to check her. "Taylor, come on. Wake up Taylor." He looked up at DK; the look he gave was one of fear. He quickly disconnected his oxygen line and plugged Taylor's in. She took a couple very weak breaths before he disconnected it and plugged his own back in.
"We got to get her out of here now." He said
"Okay, let's go." DK said
He could feel the metal below them getting weaker. Probably from the stress of the heat.
"We gotta go fast." DK added
Walsh looked and saw a piece of metal sticking out of Taylor's side. That complicated matters a little. The platform wasn't wide enough for DK and him to pass carrying Taylor between them. They would have to go sideways.
"What's your location DK?" Jimmy radioed
"We're on the second floor, about 100 feet from the stairs." He returned
"Okay, we'll be waiting for you." Jimmy responded
Lt. Johnson about jumped out of his skin when he heard that they had found her. He began pacing around watching the exit. He called to Kim and Carlos.
"They're on their way out now!" He exclaimed
A rush of adrenaline went through Carlos. Everything seemed like slow motion as he double-checked the stretcher to make sure everything he needed was there.
Walsh and DK picked Taylor up carefully. DK had her feet and Walsh had her shoulders- they could move faster that way. They quickly worked their way to the stairs. Jimmy and Lombardo were waiting for them. They paused briefly and Jimmy connected Taylor into his airline so that she could get a couple more breaths of oxygen- if it wasn't too late. The four firefighters knew that Taylor was a fighter and they were going to get her out of there. Just 24 stairs and then they were in the clear.
They continued on their way down the stairs and through the gauntlet of flames and debris for the door.
Taylor felt herself floating. She looked up and she saw more of her life. Her dad shaking her hand and then hugging her when she graduated from the academy. She saw her first rescue. Then saw her first day at the 55- it wasn't memorable then, but she was glad that she had transferred there. She saw how they all gathered around her in support after her father had been found. Then she saw all of them in the hospital after she had been hit by the car. She was reliving her life
"Well, I guess that they were right when they say your life flashes before your eyes." She cried, "I can't believe that this is where it ends."
She felt herself suddenly drop and hit something hard.
"Oh God, Alex! Stay with us." Kim cried out as they worked quickly to free her from her bunker coat. They cut around the piece of metal.
Carlos quickly checked Alex's pupils and her lung sounds.
"She's gurgling on the right. That metal must have hit her lung." He announced
The firefighters all stood around and watched helplessly. Lt. Johnson's gaze was fixed on the piece of metal in Taylor's side. It didn't look good. She was bleeding through the dressings that Kim had placed to help keep the metal from moving around.
"Her pulse is weak and thready." Kim said. "I can't get a blood pressure."
Kim had been at the job long enough to get a good blood pressure, but she couldn't get one on Taylor. It was looking worse every second they stayed on scene. Taylor's body was compensating for the blood loss. Kim established an IV in Taylor's left arm. She ran it wide open hoping to help make up some of the volume.
"Come on Taylor!" Carlos said almost in anger, "Wake up!"
Taylor's lips were turning blue and her normally vibrant face was an ashen tone. Carlos's stomach was turning. He was extremely nervous to be working on Taylor.
"Don't you do this to me." He muttered as he worked on getting an ET tube in place.
"We're gonna need a driver." Kim said as they began to move the stretcher to the ambulance. There was so much to be done for just one of them to ride in the back.
"I'll do it." Davis chimed up
Lt. Johnson nodded; he needed all the firefighters he had left. And since this fire was suspicious in nature any injury had to be added to the police report.
As he walked to the driver's door Sully asked, "You ever driven a bus before?"
Davis shook his head, "No."
Davis and Taylor had dated for a little while and he was still good friends with her. This was the only thing he felt that he could do to help her. He hoped in the seat and started off towards the hospital. He flipped on the sirens and was heading down the streets. He felt like he was in overdrive.
Kim and Carlos were busy in the back. Carlos was squeezing the bag to deliver air to Taylor but Kim noticed something.
"This isn't good." She said as she pointed out the air bubbles that were coming out in the blood around the metal. "How far out are we?" She called up to Davis
"About 6 blocks." He replied
"Okay, we need to be there NOW!" Carlos called out to his friend
"Hang on!" Davis grinned as he stepped it up
Soon they were arriving at the ER of Mercy Hospital. Dr. Fields, Dana, and Mary were all standing at the doors awaiting the arrival of the medic unit.
"Okay, give me the run down." Dr. Fields asks
"30 year old female. Fell 1 story onto a metal deck. Piece of metal in her right side. Gurgling in the right lung. 2 liters of saline already in, pulse weak and thready, couldn't obtain a BP, pupils are non reactive." Kim gave the run down.
Davis stood back and watched at the entrance to the trauma room. They carefully moved
Taylor onto the ER gurney. Carlos moved the stretcher out of the way and he and Kim
took up positions next to Davis. They watched as a surgeon entered to assess the
wound. They quickly wheel Taylor away to the elevator and up towards the OR.
"How is she?" Carlos is quick to ask Dr. Fields
"Honestly, it doesn't look good." Dr. Fields says as he walks to the desk
"She's going to be okay right?" Davis asks a little panicked.
Carlos looked at Davis and shook his head. It was wishful thinking that Taylor was just
going to be fine. Kim went in the lounge to call Lt. Johnson and let him know what was
going on. She hung up from him and then took a deep breath. She had to call Beth
Taylor, that was going to be hard to do.
It was nearly 11 PM and the phone rang at Beth Taylor's house.
"Hello?" She asked, "No Kim, it's not too late."
Beth could hear the pain in Kim's voice. "Has something happened to Alex? Okay, I'll
be right down."
She hung up the phone and quickly got dressed to head to the hospital.
Davis walked over to Kim with a cup of coffee. It seemed like they spent way too many
hours in the surgical waiting area. They sat nervously waiting. Beth came rushing in.
Kim stood up to meet her.
"Anything?" Beth asked
"Not yet." Kim replied
The waiting room was starting to fill with members of the FDNY. The Squad was still
busy fighting the fire. It seemed like hours they were sitting there. Carlos fell asleep in
his chair. Davis tapped his fingers nervously against his coffee cup. Sully sat nearby
reading a magazine. Beth watched the doors to the OR intently. Kim shifted restlessly
in her chair. Shortly after midnight the Squad arrived. They were covered in soot but that didn't matter to them. They only cared about Taylor. Walsh paced a little around the back of the waiting room, DK was tapping his foot against the floor. Lt. Johnson sat with his hands on his face. They were tired but they needed to know how Taylor was doing.
It took hours for them to get any word. It was close to 4 AM when the doors finally opened. A surgeon in blue scrubs and sneakers took off the skullcap he had on. He looked around the room.
"Mrs. Taylor?" He asked
She stood up and expected the worst. Lt. Johnson stood up with her.
"My name's Dr. Haines. I operated on your daughter." He began.
Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, waiting to hear the news.
The surgeon looked around the room hesitant to resume.
"It's okay." Beth urged him to continue
"It was touch and go during the surgery. There was damage to her lung. We got it repaired and she is resting comfortably in the ICU. She's on a ventilator to help her breathe, but she should make a full recovery." He smiled
A huge weight had been lifted off of everyone's shoulders. Beth Taylor let a tear fall from her eyes as she thanked the doctor. She hugged Lt. Johnson and looked around the room at everyone gathered.
"Thank you for getting my daughter out of that building." She said
DK patted Walsh on the shoulder.
"Don't thank us. It was Kim and Carlos that did the real work." Walsh said.
"Thank you all!" Beth replied.
The congratulations went around the room as everyone was relieved at the news. Taylor was going to be okay, and that was all that mattered to them.