The group arrived back at the front of the school when Ralph realized he needed to talk to Knight and the students to let them know he was all right.
He then went back over to where Knight and his students were. "Mr. Hinkley, took you long enough to make your appearance," started Knight, only to frown when he took a closer look at Ralph. "Are you all right, Mr. Hinkley? I heard that your wife and friend were also in the school, and you look..."
"I'm all right Mr. Knight," said Ralph. "But we found Bill and Pam. The paramedics are..."
The conversation stopped when the firefighters and two paramedics were carrying the stokes that Pam was in. Bill was close to Pam's side, just to keep an eye on her as well. "Ralph," said Bill, knowing that he'd have to pretend the two didn't talk much prior and during the rescue as to keep the suit a secret from Knight. "You really need to quit running off."
"Sorry Bill. How are you feeling Pam?"
"Fine hun, but don't run off again huh? We could've lost each other today..."
"I know," said Ralph, grabbing the hand without an IV in it.
The paramedic who wasn't helping carry the stokes apprised Ralph on the situation. "We're going to take her to Mercy General for treatment," said the paramedic.
"We'll follow you in our car," said Ralph, realizing he'd be in the way of the paramedics if he rode in with them.
The paramedics nodded and headed toward an ambulance, where the firefighters had transferred Pam to a gurney. Before they loaded Pam in the ambulance, Ralph saw Rhonda run up to the gurney. "Miss Davidson can..." she started.
"Don't worry Rhonda. If they know, I'll see how Tony's doing too," said Pam. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything."
Rhonda nodded and backed away so Pam could get into the ambulance. Ralph could close the door of the ambulance, and as it sped off to the hospital, Ralph finally realized that this was the start of life returning to normal.
Once the ambulance was safely on its way, Ralph nodded to Bill and the two walked over to the wagon. The younger man got in the back seat and started changing out of the suit, only to shake his head and blink a couple of times. "Kid, you sure you're all right?" asked Bill, frowning in concern.
"Yeah, feel fine," said Ralph taking off the tights and putting his pants back on.
"I'm going to drive, to be on the safe side," said Bill. "Ya'd think that after all this, you'd be exhausted."
Ralph got out of the car, taking off the tunic of the suit and replacing it with his normal shirt top. "I don't know, but it has been odd. During the quake, I got hit by a piece of debris and was dazed. A little while later, though, I felt fine."
"Felt fine?" said Bill, frowning more. 'It doesn't make sense,' he thought.
"Yeah, and with everything that happened along with it, the punch to the jaw, the quake, the long day, seems a bit odd..."
Hearing the list of the day's events, Bill's frown deepened as he walked over to Ralph, noticing a change in the younger man's complexion. He started to put things together, and the conclusion he came up with however, wasn't good. "Kid, sit down..."
"Huh?"
"Sit down NOW..." ordered Bill, nearing Ralph.
"Bill I..." started Ralph, only to feel the tell-tale sings of pre-passing out, increasing rapidly. "Sh..." Ralph fell toward the ground but felt strong arms catch him just as he lost consciousness...
"Ralph!" Bill said as he lowered the man the rest of the way.
A couple of paramedics saw Ralph's collapse and rushed over. "What happened," said one of the men.
"I'm hoping he just passed out, but you guys would know better," said Bill, as one of the medics lifted one of Ralph's eyelids. "I think it was the stress of everything and seeing his girlfriend be injured..."
"My guess is it's also from that head injury of his. He might have a concussion among other things. We'll need to talk to the hospital, but it looks like he'll be a patient too."
Bill could only nod as the paramedics did a brief examination. After Ralph was given an IV and placed on a gurney for his trip to the hospital, Bill turned to the medics. "Listen, can I ride with you guys? I can order ya to because I'm a federal agent, but I thought given everything that's happened..."
"I understand, you can ride with us," said the paramedic. Bill jumped in, and the group sped off toward the hospital. Bill sat silently as the medics worked at trying to bring Ralph around, calling out vitals over a phone connected to the hospital. Bill prayed that Ralph and Pam would be all right, as he didn't want to have them take a trip to Palmdale to visit the greenguys... forever.
