Thank you all so much for the continued activity on this story. You are all gems! Please review, though! They are the lifeblood of the writer! Thank you to all the guests who read and those who review! You are amazing! Please please please review.
Ok, in this chapter, like I said, still struggling with writer's block. Took me four days to write this. Sorry for the shorter chapter! I will do better next chapter. Promise!
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"Roy!" Hank waved urgently to the paramedic and jogged over to where Roy was standing in the lobby of the police station. "Come on, Roy, I borrowed a Bronco from a guy at the car shop down the street. Let's get out of here!"
Roy hunched his shoulders and gazed calmly at his Captain. "Cap?"
Hank zipped his ski jacket up to his chin. "Yeah, what's up, Roy?"
Roy, standing with his hands resting lightly on the white top of the lobby front desk, motioned to the lieutenant behind the desk. "He's got news."
Hank hurried to the desk, and leaned next to Roy. "What's new? Did you find them?"
The lieutenant shook his head, much to Hank's dismay. "No, sir, I am sorry. But we have been able to determine that they have gone straight through Aspen and headed south toward Highway 24 and Granite City. We have sent a squad to set up roadblocks at highway 24, but they are having trouble with the snowfall. Our concern is Independence Pass. Usually the road is closed because it is terrible to travel in the winter. A lot of snow falls up there. The problem is there was vandalism up there a couple nights ago and the road is not blocked off. If they made it that far, it as not likely that they will make it to 24 in one piece." The lieutenant's face held such concern that Roy shifted uncomfortably to gaze at his hands. This wasn't good news at all.
Hank slammed his fists on the table. "Then we go up there. Come on, Roy."
Roy hurried quickly after his captain. "Cap, Johnny's head. He's going to pass out. They are going to go over a cliff."
Hank turned abruptly to glare at his friend. "Roy, what are you saying?"
Roy gazed helplessly back at him. "Cap, they've got to make it."
Hank stopped walking for a moment, and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. Then he walked on, not looking back once to the lieutenant that kept calling for them to wait. He wasn't waiting for backup. It was now or never.
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The escaped convict stirred, grimacing as pain flooded into his consciousness. He opened his eyes to see Ash standing over him. "Hey, hey - you - idiot." He tried to sit up, but his head would not allow it. Dizziness kept him in his position on the bottom of the wrecked car. He reached up and wiped the blood from his nose and winced.
"Did you break it?"
He looked up at the concerned girl, confusion on his face. "What?"
"Your nose, dummy." She shook her head. He really rubbed her the wrong way.
The man snarled, then gingerly touched his nose. "No. No I think not."
"Okay." She kicked the gun toward him. "Here's your stupid gun. If you hadn't been such a jerk, we wouldn't be in this mess."
Ash tried to climb from the car but her right leg would no longer support her weight. She sank down to a sitting position again and studied their situation. In the silence, she realized that the convict was gazing calmly at her. "You happy?" she shouted at him, angry tears threatening to fall. "Are you really happy now? I hope they do find us. I hope they find you and lock you up for good. And throw away the key."
The convict snarled, and reached for the gun. "Well, they won't." He sneered at her and then climbed, staggering, from the car and began scaling up the snowy incline.
"You're just going to leave us down here?!" Ash gazed up the embankment at him in angry surprise.
He smiled smugly back down at her. "Yes. And if I meet anyone on the road, I will send them the other way."
Ash frowned down at her injured leg and then at Johnny, who was still unconscious in the front seat. There was no way either one could climb out of here. She leaned her head back on the roof of the car and let the tears come. No one could see them from the road. There was no way Hank was going to find them. And a light snow was beginning to fall. It would hide them to all rescuers, if they even made it this far south. She gritted her teeth and shoved herself up from the floor. She had to at least save Johnny. Roy needed his partner. Reaching back over the seat, she unsnapped the seatbelt and felt for a pulse again. Johnny stirred. "A-Ash?" His eyes remained closed, but he reached blindly for her, eventually letting his hand fall back down to his side.
"Yeah, yeah it's me, Johnny. Mr. Wise Guy bailed on us. It's just about a half mile back to the start of this stretch. He is hoping to catch a ride back to town and just gonna leave us high and dry. My leg is injured and I can't climb. So don't be a hero and tell me to leave you and go for help. I am going to have to get you out of this wreck and see how badly you are injured. Can you open your eyes for me?"
Johnny squinted at her, and then closed them again. "Yeah, I can see you."
"Does anything hurt?"
Johnny hesitated. "My left shoulder, where it landed on the door. And my head. Ribs hurt but I think this massive jacket protected them some, nothing feels internally damaged. Minor scrapes. Bumped my nose but doesn't feel broken. I think I will live. Let me try to climb out of this thing."
"No. Not yet. I have to support your neck. You've been out for a bit here, and with a previous concussion in your history, I am not sure if you have damaged anything or not, because you're already having problems. Oh, yeah. Left the cervical collar at the station. I have an idea, though."
"No, no don't bother-" Johnny tried to pull himself upright.
"Stay." She ignored his protesting and pulled herself out of the car, tumbling over the edge to land in the snow with a grunt as the wind got knocked out of her.
"You okay?" Johnny called out, desperation in his voice at being unable to move.
Ash squeezed her eyes shut from the combination of pain surging through her leg and the icy biting of the snow and forced her voice to sound calm and even. "Yeah, I'm okay. Don't move alright? I will be right back." She needed Hank. She needed encouragement. Closing her eyes, she tried to catch her breath. What was it Johnny had said to her back at the station? 'Remember why you fought in the first place.'
She crawled over to the trunk and shoved aside the crumpled metal, then rummaged around among the luggage until she found a turquoise jacket from her backpack and a shoe lace. Making her way back inside the car, she tumbled in again.
Johnny reached a hand up as if to find her, asking again if she was okay. She paused a moment to catch her breath. "Yeah, I am fine. Let me brace your neck and we will get you out." She carefully wrapped the jacket around his neck and tied it in place. Not the best, but better than nothing.
It took them a good half hour to get Johnny out of the cab of the vehicle. Once they were both on the outside, Johnny turned to Ash, his blood streaked face weary. "Let me get a good look at you?" Ever thoughtful paramedic.
Ash sighed and waved her uninjured hand at him. "It's nothing. You should be lying down and keeping that neck still." He looked comical with his turquoise lavender collar.
Johnny frowned at her through concussion hazed eyes, and shook his head. "No arguments."
Ash rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to win this one. If she felt better, she would have argued, but she was hot and slightly dizzy after extricating Johnny. During his quick examination, Ash studied Johnny's face. Some minor bruising. Favoring the left shoulder. Bruised. Still sluggish from the previous concussion. They were just lucky to be alive.
"You need stitches on that," Johnny said, concernedly, pointing toward the gash on her head. "It is gonna be cold but I need you to take off that coat sleeve for me and let me make sure your arm isn't broken." He stumbled to his feet and rummaged through the luggage that had been thrown from the smashed trunk during Ash's search for neck brace material. He scrambled back to her with sleeping bags and his backpack which he unzipped and rummaged through. He came up with a first aid kit. "Wish we had a link to Rampart," he laughed vaguely, trying to lighten the mood.
"Fine, let's pretend." Ash chuckled dryly, slipping her arm out of the puffer jacket she wore. Johnny shook his head.
"Not in the mood for it. Let me see that?" He motioned to her arm, rubbing his blurry eyes with his free hand.
He carefully examined the rapidly bruising arm, and then sat back on his heels, chewing his lower lip. "Definitely broken. Going to have to splint that." He reached for his backpack again, and then nearly doubled over when dizziness hit him like a brick wall.
"Johnny?" Ash grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, hey Johnny, I need you to stay awake for me, okay? Lay down, stay still."
He shook his head, and, as if in slow motion, slumped sideways into the icy snow. He drifted into unconsciousness.
Sitting in the snow, light flakes falling all around them, Ash realized they were in serious trouble. In the pit of her stomach, Ash felt the gravity of the situation weighing like a brick. She and Johnny were both hurt and there was no way to get help. It was an impossibility that she could climb up that mountain.
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Joanne hung up the phone, knees weak. Why did things always go so wrong? She picked up the phone again once she felt composed and dialed the number for Marco Lopez.
"Hello, Marco?"
Marco set down his coffee. "Joanne? Is something wrong?"
Joanne hesitated. "Ohm, well, I just got a call from Roy a little bit ago, and another one from the Aspen Colorado police, and - there - oh, Marco, there's a problem."
Marco felt his blood run cold. This always happened. "Roy?"
"No, Roy is okay. It's just - some convict escaped up there last night and they thought he was a hitchhiker and picked him up, and he ended up hijacking Hank and Roy, and stranding them outside of Carbondale and took Johnny and Ash hostage, and they drove into a bad area, and the road should be closed, and they can't find them and Johnny was still bad off with his concussion because he didn't rest on the flight down and - Marco! What are we going to do?"
Marco, a skiing man himself, squared back his shoulders. "Never fear, ma'am. I will find a replacement and book a flight down there this very minute. Marco will help them. You know I would anything for Roy and Hank. You know they are both very capable, though, and probably don't need help?"
Joanne smiled. "Thanks Marco, I appreciate it. I know that, but Hank is so stressed, and Roy - he is almost to his wits end right now. They were going to go out there and try to find them on their own. I am so worried about them. I know you are familiar with the area around there."
Marco nodded, although Joanne couldn't see him. "Don't worry, Mrs. Desoto. Marco is on it."
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Roy held onto the seat as the yellow and white Bronco bounced down the snowy trail that was a road in the summer time. Hank was driving as fast as road conditions allowed, and then some extra. His face was set in grim determination. "Roy," he spoke, suddenly, making Roy jump.
"Yeah, Cap."
"If he hurts either one of those kids, I may not be responsible for what happens to him."
Roy smiled at his captain, face taught and drawn with worry. "Don't worry, Cap. I will take my turn after you."
Hank nodded, and returned his eyes to the road. "Roy, I can't believe this is happening. A simple vacation. That's all I wanted. A ski trip with a nice lodge, some snow, some cross-country with my best friends, some bonding time with my little sister, time to relax, de-stress. Instead, I have two paramedics with concussions, a deranged convict that just happens to escape jail this week and take one of my men and my sister hostage, drives off with our rental car, enters a no-drive zone that just happens to not be blocked off due to vandalism that just happened to have occurred just recently. Roy, I am really ticked off right now, and it's not going to get any better until I get my family back."
Roy glanced at his captain. He said family. A gentle warmth grew in Roy's heart. "Hey, you know we would do the same for you, Cap. We are all family."
Hank shot a wan smile back to his senior paramedic. "Thanks, Roy." His eyes returned to the road, only to slam on his breaks. "Look, Roy, there is our man!"
