Chapter Sixteen

Jane was slowly descended to what, to her, looked like a cherry picker. She watched as John and his partner lowered her hand over hand from the top of the roller coaster. When she was within arm's reach, the other firefighters reached out for her, grabbing onto her harness. They disconnected the massive clip from the rope line and secured it to the rails of the snorkel. Then they tugged on the rope once and it disappeared. Paul joined her moments later. One of the two firefighters reached for a radio. "Snorkel 110 to HT 51, we're loaded and ready to go."

"Copy 110, we've got two more victims and one of us left." Jane recognized her cousin's partner on the radio. She looked over to Paul, he was gripping the railing and was pale as a ghost.

"It's okay Paul, they're not going to let us fall." Paul looked over at her and nodded. Jane noticed they were slowly moving towards the ground. She looked out at the view over Los Angeles.

A firefighter saw her looking, "Pretty nice view huh?" he asked her.

"It's beautiful." Jane agreed. She looked at the top of the coaster again, John was easily identified as he had the light on his helmet. He seemed to be readjusting the ropes, again. Minutes passed and they made it to solid earth. Paul, the other man, and Jane were carefully assisted to the ground. Three firefighters with 51 on their helmets took their harnesses off and tossed them back up to the snorkel crew. Very quickly, the snorkel started lifting back into the air, they were a well-oiled team. The man who helped take her harness off, looked at her. He stopped in his tracks and gasped. "Thanks," she said awkwardly while the man's jaw brushed the ground.

The firefighter shook himself, "I'm sorry ma'am, you just look like Jo-"

"John Gage, yeah."

The man obviously looked shaken but recovered and said. "Don't go anywhere yet, our medics want to check everyone out before you leave." He walked towards Paul, who was sitting on the curb. She followed the mustached firefighter to sit next to her friend.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

"Cap," Chet said, getting the man's attention. Captain Stanley's gaze turned from the top of the roller coaster, "What's up Kelly?"

Chet bit back a witty response of "Johnny and Roy are." and replied seriously, "Look at that lady over there and tell me what you see." Chet pointed with his chin to the curb. Hank looked where his lineman was pointing. He saw the lady in question illuminated by a street lamp, his own jaw dropped. He recovered quicker than Chet.

"That's, that's uncanny." he said.

"They've got to be related, how come Gage has never mentioned her?"

"I don't know pal, but we're respecting his privacy, got it?" His request turning into an order at the last two words. Chet nodded and went back to help Marco watch over the freed riders. The frantic supervisor running around them, getting their names and information, and repeatedly apologizing.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Marco had his eye on one of the rescued men sitting on the curb. He looked pale, was breathing quickly, and sweating. Unfortunately, the man went to stand as Marco began making his way over to him. Shortly after standing, he passed out. The lady sitting next to him unable to catch him in time. He fell to the ground, his head hitting the pavement with an audible crack. Marco called out over his shoulder, "Cap!" he yelled, getting Stanley's attention.

Hank took one look at the unconscious man Marco was crouching next to and spoke into his radio, "Engine 51 to HT 51, someone's passed out down here, what's your ETA?" Captain Stanley asked.

"ETA for one of us is about five minutes. All the victims are loaded. One of us will repel to the snorkel, the other's gonna walk down with the rest of the equipment. Get some vitals, you can transmit them to Rampart if you want." Roy's voice came back through the radio.

"We copy, we'll transmit vitals to Rampart, you, an' call for an ambulance." Captain Stanley motioned Mike over, "Go grab the drugbox and the biophone." Stoker took one look at the man on the ground and jogged over, gathering the requested items.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Marco, at the man's side, asked "What's his name ma'am?" looking up at her for an answer. When he saw her face clearly, he sharply inhaled. "Ay dios mio." he whispered under his breath.

Her answer brought him back to the circumstances. "Paul." She added, "He was nervous to ride the roller coaster and freaked out when it got stuck. He was calm until we got on the ground a few minutes ago." Marco nodded, rolling the man onto his left side waiting for help. Inwardly, he wondered if the woman was related to Gage in anyway. "The only difference between the two is she's white." he thought while counting respirations. Mike soon showed up with the drugbox and biophone. He passed the biophone to Chet and opened up the drugbox, getting out a BP cuff and stethoscope. Chet set up the biophone and plugged in the antennae. When Mike had a complete set of vitals, Chet wrote them down on a slip of paper he found inside the orange case. He took a breath to concentrate and called Rampart.

"Rampart this is Engine 51." After hearing a slightly confused reply from the hospital, he continued, "Be advised, we have no access to a paramedic at this time. We have a male patient, approximate age of late twenties. He was rescued from a stuck roller coaster and passed out a few minutes ago. He's still unconscious." Chet rattled off the vitals and waited for Rampart's reply.

"When will you have access to a medic?" a man asked over the biophone, the voice no longer confused. Chet looked up at Mike, he shrugged. Chet rolled his eyes and gave a generic answer. "Search the man for any injuries and keep us updated." Rampart advised.

"10-4" Chet said, answering the orders and putting the phone back in the box. "Can you see how long Roy or Johnny'll be?" he asked. Mike got up from kneeling on the ground and went to find Hank.