Chapter Three
Thursday Afternoon - 1550 C Shift
Marco didn't think he'd ever been so happy to see Brush Fire Command. He and his crew were finally released for a much deserved break. Marco drove up to Command while his rookies slept in the back. Marco himself was tired, but he'd only been at it for 12 hours, his boots had been at it for 15. With a yawn, Marco parked. "Hey," he said to Clay and David, waking them up. "Go get something to eat, I'll check us in." Clay got out of the car and shrugged his turnout coat off.
"I'll grab some for you too, meet back here in five?" Clay offered. Both he and David were worried about their commander. The two of them were able to sleep while Marco drove, and they took breaks, something Marco didn't do. To their knowledge, Marco hadn't stopped, other than to drive, since he'd gotten there 12 hours ago.
Marco nodded, "Gracias." he replied, shrugging off his own turnout gear. "No peanut butter please!" he hollered to their retreating backs. Marco waited to pull his gloves off after they left. He had kept them on while driving because his blisters had broken open, making his hands sore to the touch. "Ay." he said, looking at the irritated and torn skin. Shoving his gloves in his back pocket, he made his way to report in. He walked up to the tent next to the mobile command unit. "Sir." he said, seeing a man in a white shirt behind the table filled with clipboards. When he was closer, Marco recognized Battalion Chief McConnikie and stood at rest, attempting to hide the wince from clasping his hands behind his back.
"Lopez, as you were. How are you doing?" McConnikie asked, scrutinizing the oddly formal A shift lineman, this was Hank's man after all.
"We're getting something to eat, then waiting for new orders." Marco dutifully replied, hoping the observant Chief wouldn't notice his hands.
"What's wrong with your hands?" McConnikie ordered, not missing the wince Marco made.
"Just a couple blisters sir." Marco said, signing his crew in on the clipboards. He was thankful his hands weren't bleeding, that would be difficult to hide.
"Go to the first aid tent, eat, then rest for a couple hours. When you're done, come see me, not Rable." McConnikie ordered. Marco nodded and slumped off to the first aid tent.
"At least we can nap." Marco said, yawning again. He reached the first aid tent, identifiable by the red cross painted on the side. Opening the flap, he stepped inside. "Johnny?" Marco said questioningly. There was a familiar, clean, and fresh looking medic squatting with his back to the door. The man deflated the BP cuff he was holding and turned around.
"Marco," Johnny stood, a smile on his face. "Good to see you." he paused, realizing Marco was in the first aid tent. "You alright?" he asked. Marco held up his hands and Johnny winced. "Ouch, sit over here." he said, pointing to a chair. "Let me get Joe's pressure here and I'll be right there." Marco nodded and sat down. He rested his chin on his chest and closed his eyes.
"-arco. Marco!" Marco woke with a start, someone was calling his name.
"What?" he said, jumping up and almost hitting Johnny.
"Sit back down, it's alright." Johnny said, easing Marco back into the chair. "I was just about to clean and wrap your hands is all." Marco nodded and closed his eyes again, letting the skilled medic work.
Johnny hated this. He was not used to being wide awake while his shiftmates were exhausted, he should've been there as long as they had. The tent flap opened again and in came two nervous looking young men.
"Lopez?" one of them asked. Marco's eyes popped open again. "When you didn't come back we came looking for you. What happened to your hands?"
Johnny looked from the two men to Marco, asking permission to tell the two strangers. "His blisters popped." Johnny explained once Marco nodded. They looked surprised. Johnny quickly came to the conclusion Marco suffered in silence. "But I'm guessing he didn't tell you about them." They shook their heads. Johnny looked the two up and down, they looked tired, but not anything like Chet's men, who were still oblivious to the world. "And I bet he hasn't taken a break at all, and he lets you sleep while he drives?" Marco was scowling at Johnny, but Johnny ignored him. The two men who had rushed in looked guilty and nodded their heads. "Figured." Clay and David were slightly surprised at this medic's lack of bedside manner, not knowing the harsh sounding words were actually fear and concern. Johnny turned back to Marco, "You're an idiot." he said, pouring saline solution over the dirty and painful hands. Marco hissed. At Marco's hiss, Johnny looked up, apologies in his eyes, a gentler touch in his hands.
"Go back to the utility truck and eat, I'll be right out." Marco instructed his two men. "McConnikie stood us down for two hours."
"Good thinking." Johnny muttered under his breath. He didn't like how this new Brush Fire Chief was handling things. When the two left Johnny said, "Seriously man, if you'd told someone about this, they wouldn't have opened." Marco huffed.
"I wasn't about to complain, they'd been here longer."
"Yeah, but they've actually taken breaks you probably ordered." Johnny said again. Marco was silent, and Gage presumed he guessed correctly. He gently applied an ointment to Marco's hands before bandaging them up. "This you don't get a say in, I'm taking your vitals and talking to Rampart." Marco nodded, letting Johnny mother over him.
Vitals taken, Johnny walked over to the biophone while Marco closed his eyes again. They were only closed a half second when there was a polite knock on the tent pole and a feminine and hesitant "Johnny?" Marco looked at the door, honestly thinking he was imagining things, it sounded like Joann. He stood from his chair and opened the tent flap, which got Johnny's attention, who hadn't heard the voice. Johnny continued talking to Rampart, but looked over in case he was needed. In the flap was Joann DeSoto. Johnny stopped mid-report, only starting again when Rampart keyed him up.
"Joann?" Marco said, looking at her in shock. Joann glanced around the room, her eyes resting on the two men in cots, and Marco's hands.
"You okay Marco?" she asked quietly, knowing Johnny was talking on the radio. She tried not to be too interested, she never saw him or Roy at work like this.
Marco shrugged, "Just some blisters." he said nonchalantly. "How are you here?" he asked.
"Beth, Em, and I are working in the canteen, Chet told us Johnny was over here." Marco nodded, sitting back down and closed his eyes again, not caring if he seemed rude, he was tired. Joann eyed Marco, "I haven't seen you yet." she said, almost accusingly
"I sent my rookies over." he said with a yawn. Joann nodded and put her hand on his shoulder. With a click, Johnny hung up the biophone.
"You don't need an IV, but you have to drink, rest, and come back here for another eval before I can clear you. And if you want some, I can give you some tylenol." Johnny said, ignoring Joann for the moment, Marco was more important. Marco nodded and Johnny bent over to pull the medication out of his drugbox. "Have you eaten anything?" Johnny asked before he handed it over. Marco shook his head, explaining why. "Alright, take this and go eat and sleep, but Marco," Johnny implored, "Let them drive every once in a while, and actually take breaks." Johnny ordered. "I don't want to see you back here." he nearly pleaded.
Marco nodded, recognizing the feeling behind the orders. "Prometo a mi amigo." He promised his friend in Spanish. "Good to see you Joann." Marco said, getting to his feet and shuffling out of the tent. Johnny sighed. He really hated this.
"Sorry I interrupted." Joann said, breaking the silence. Johnny pulled his gaze from the tent flap to Joann.
"Surprised to see you is all, Morton only thought I was losing my mind." Johnny added, a dull smile gracing his face. "Seen anyone else?" Johnny asked.
"Chet stopped by a while ago." she said, "Ate a turkey sandwich." Johnny nodded and looked at the IV closest to him. It was empty. Johnny clamped the IV tubing shut. "What time did you get here?" she asked while he worked. She watched with interest the way he easily handled the complicated looking equipment. She knew he could, but never really saw it.
"About 1400." he replied in military time. Joann mentally calculated it to 'civilian time' as he disconnected the other empty IV. "Can you toss me the BP cuff?" he asked, leaning over the cot further from her. Joann looked around and spotted it underneath Marco's chair.
"They look so young.' she murmured, taking the cuff to him.
"They are, right outta academy." Johnny said softly. Joann remained silent as the BP cuff hissed. Johnny walked over and took the second man's pressure. "I gotta talk to Rampart." he said, "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it, I'm in your way." she said, standing by the door. "When you get a chance, come get some food." she said. She waited until he nodded before slipping out of the tent.
Thursday Evening - 1745 C Shift
"HT Klondike Engine 5 to Engineer Stoker, send the water to line 2." Hank commanded into his radio, rolling his eyes at his long call sign. There was no verbal response, but the line charged. "Okay pal!" Hank said, backing the junior lineman up as they walked towards the fire threatening to take the house. Hank and Mike had been thankfully assigned to the same engine, call sign specific to the fire. Klondike Engine 5 was currently in a neighborhood, charged with keeping cul de sac houses from catching. Hank's two linemen were spread thin. The more experienced firefighter had his own line affixed on a completely different house, whereas he and the newer man were working together. "Good job Steve!" Hank praised. After several minutes, they backed up. "That's good enough for now." Hank said, wiping the sweat out of his face with his sooty gloves. "I'm gonna check over with Sam." Captain Stanley said, referring to his other lineman. "You stay here, put her out if she goes up again." Steve nodded and Hank jogged to cul de sac where the engine was currently parked. "Stokes, how we looking?" he asked, resting his hand on Mike's shoulder, looking at the pump panel.
"Sam's pulling a lotta water, but the hydrants holding." Mike updated, adjusting a gauge. He looked up at Hank and smirked. "You have a line of soot across your forehead." he said.
Stanley shrugged, "Whatever." he muttered, jogging to the other house.
Mike watched with amusement as Hank wiped his forehead with the back of his glove. He checked his watch, it read 1750. He, Roy, and Stanley had been there almost 9 hours, but they had yet to see any of their fellow shiftmates. He supposed he was lucky to be assigned with Stanley at all. "Wonder where everyone is." Mike wondered, absentmindedly peering at the panel. He turned around in his spot, looking at the cul de sac they were parked in. The main fire line was close by, the heat and smoke that hovered around the area was palpable. Mike was thankful there were real roads to drive on. A light lit up and Mike looked down, Sam had shut down his line. The channel they were on sounded evacuation tones, but their location wasn't listed. Another light lit up, Steve had reopened his nozzle. "Cap!" he yelled, not urgently, but enough to get the man's attention. Hank ran over and looked expectantly. "Steve opened his line up again." Mike explained.
"Damn it, I thought we had it." he said, cursing and running for the other house.
"This is ridiculous." Mike muttered, balancing the two lines. "I would kill for a second engine." The way they were going, Hank would have to pull his own line or they would need to leave. "The Army would've been here by now." Mike said, thinking of past fires run by different people. He didn't like how Rable was handling things so far. They needed outside help, LA County didn't have anymore personnel to pull.
Thursday Evening - 1930 C Shift
"Hey," Beth said, tapping Emily on the shoulder, "Is that Hank?" The three of them were finished for the day and were waiting for a ride back to the LA County headquarters. As much as they wanted to stay, they had to go. The sun had set and they had been there for almost six hours. They all had children to worry about. Emily squinted, looking at the illuminated engine, assuming they were on 51's La France.
"It's not 51." Joann said, but still studied the men in turnout gear.
"That is Hank." Emily said, standing. She made to run over, but stopped when Joann grabbed her arm, they needed to make sure.
"Wait," Joann advised, she wanted to make sure. The man they were studying took off his coat and helmet and the unmistakable figure of Hank Stanley appeared. Emily gave Joann a look and Joann let go. "There's Mike too." Jo said to Beth, seeing another man not in turnout gear walk around the engine. Beth ran off without another word. Joann sighed. She watched from a distance as both Hank and Mike were surprised to see them and hesitant to accept hugs. Chuckled when Beth and Emily didn't care and hugged them anyway. She wondered where Roy was, she hadn't seen him, and Johnny had never come over to the canteen. "Where are my boys." she thought, hoping they were together at least. The transport bus had come, so she reluctantly called Emily and Beth back. She watched with a pang of jealousy as the four parted.