The ambulance, followed by the engine and squad, backed into the parking lot of Rampart, where it was greeted by three orderlies and Dr. Early. Opening the ambulance doors the orderlies lowered Johnny's gurney to the ground. Dr. Early took his pulse and carefully checked his broken arm. "Take him into two."

The two orderlies wheeled Johnny inside and out of sight.

Brice assisted the third orderly with Roy's gurney, while Bob continued to breathe for Roy. Dr. Early motioned for the orderly to wheel the gurney inside the hospital while he walked alongside monitoring Roy's pulse the whole trek. Brice followed closely carrying the I.V. bag so Bob could focus on pumping the ambu-bag.

The engine crew climbed out of the rig and exchanged nervous glances before they walked into the waiting room of the hospital. The familiar faces of the hospital staff were nowhere to be seen and the waiting room itself was uncharacteristically quiet, empty.

Dr. Brackett and Dr. Morton worked in perfect synchronization as they assessed Roy's overall condition. Dr. Brackett slid the bell of stethoscope over Roy's heart and checked both lungs. "Mike, no breath sounds on the left."

Brice assisted in transferring the leads from the portable cardiac monitor to the one already in place in the exam room. "He never regained consciousness or attempted to breathe on his own."

Dixie, who had been assisting the two doctors, began making notes on Roy's current and past condition.

Bob stopped working the ambu-bag as Dr. Morton hooked the ventilator to the tracheal tube already inserted down Roy's throat. "Brice, shouldn't we check in with Captain Stanley and the rest of the crew?"

Brice adjusted his glasses and gave Bob a completely unemotional, blank look. "I'm sure Captain Stanley would appreciate an update."

The two paramedics left the room together, Bob looked back at Roy with empathy before following his partner into the waiting room.

"Brice." Captain Stanley had been waiting for the two paramedics. "Can you tell us what's going on?"

"Captain Stanley both John and Roy are stable. But it appears Roy has suffered a punctured lung. Probably caused by a broken rib."

"What about Johnny's arm?"

"The severity of the break, or possibly multiple breaks are significant. I can't say for sure since I'm not a doctor and don't have an x-ray to examine."

Captain Stanley could decide if he wanted to punch Brice for being so cold or shake his hand for saving his crew members. Instead he just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks."

Bob, though usually not the quickest wit in the county, was far more empathetic than Brice. "Captain Stanley, if you want I can check in on Johnny for you?"

"Thanks Bob, I appreciate it."

Bob nodded and made his way back to treatment room two.

Brice looked at his watch. "Captain Stanley, did you bring in our squad?"

"Yes, Chet drove it in for you."

"Thank you Chet. May I have the keys?" Without a word Chet took the keys from his pocket and tossed them to Brice, who clumsily caught them. "I'll restock the supplies while I wait for Bob."

Bob was silently watching as Dr. Early and nurse Sharon Walters were assessing Johnny's condition. "Doc?"

Dr. Early looked over his shoulder at the heavy-set paramedic in the doorway. "Come on in Bob."

"Hey Johnny, how're you doing?"

"Well, aside from the broken arm and the skull shattering headache, I guess I'm okay. How's Roy?"

Bob looked down at his feet. "Still not responding."

Johnny closed his eyes and fought back his anger at how stupid and pointless the entire accident had been. Despite his frustration he still managed to find some words of gratitude "Thanks for everything Bob."

"Yeah. No problem. I'm going to let your Captain know you're awake and holding on."

"Yeah..."

Bob forced himself to smile as he left the room.

Dr. Early checked Johnny's eyes with his penlight. "Don't do that Johnny."

"Do what?"

"I know your angry and I know you keeping going over in your mind any way you could've done something different, but you can't. What's done is done. What's important is focusing on you and Roy's recovering."

"Oh man..."

Johnny covered his face with his free hand, which Dr. Early gently pulled away. He didn't want Johnny touching the small cuts on his forehead. "What's wrong?"

"Did anyone tell... Has anyone called JoAnne?"

"Yes. Dixie called her."

"How am I going to explain to her-"

"Stop! Johnny, you did nothing wrong. You have to accept the fact that you were both injured and there was nothing that you could do."

"I may have to accept it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"No you don't. No one does." He put his hand sympathetically on Johnny's shoulder. "Do me a favor."

"What's that."

"Tell me everything you remember about the accident. Everything that happened just before you were hit, what you remember after you woke up, how Roy was faring before you two were taken from the squad... Everything that you can think of!"

Dr. Brackett, Dr. Morton and Dixie stepped out of treatment room one while the x-ray technician took the much needed x-rays of Roy's chest and skull.

From the waiting room the four crew members from Station 51 were standing together and watching impatiently as Dr. Brackett walked toward them.

"Captain Stanley," Dr. Brackett chose to address him as an official rather than a first name basis out of respect for him and his position. "Roy has almost certainly suffered from a collapsed lung. We can't be one-hundred percent sure without an x-ray, but Dr. Morton and I believe he will require surgery to repair the damage."

The news failed to give any comfort or reassurance to the worried crew members.

"And Johnny? His arm looked like it was in pretty rough shape."

"Dr. Early is examining him right now. I'm sorry, I wish I could've given you more direct confirmation on their conditions."

"No, it's alright. Having them here and getting treatment is the best possible moment we could've hoped for."

JoAnne DeSoto walked into the hospital and looked right at Captain Stanley. "Captain?"

"JoAnne." He didn't know what to say that could possible ease her concern.

Fortunately Dixie had been waiting for JoAnne to arrive and intervened. "JoAnne, why don't you come with me? We can talk in private."

Dixie escorted the trembling wife and mother to the doctor's lounge, much to the appreciation of the crew.

"Doc, what do I tell her? Roy was hit by a drunk and needs surgery."

"Well, I think you should start off with 'Roy's alive'."

"Yeah, I just hate having to tell family members..."

"I know. Believe me, I know. It has never gotten easier and it never will." The x-ray tech left treatment room one and entered treatment room two. Dr. Morton returned to the room to check on Roy. "That's my cue. I'll update you as soon as we know anything more."

"Thanks."

"Hey Cap," Marco spoke up. "I would like to go sit with JoAnne, if that's okay."

Captain Stanley smiled a little. "That would be just great, thanks Marco."

While Johnny's arm was being x-rayed Dr. Early decided to check in on Roy's condition next door. Seeing the red-headed paramedic hooked to a ventilator and cardiac monitor was enough to make him pause in his tracks momentarily.

Dr. Brackett was carefully listening to Roy's chest while Dr. Morton was checking his blood pressure.

"Kel, how's it looking?"

Dr. Brackett straightened up and draped his stethoscope around his neck. "Not great, listen for yourself."

Dr. Early took the moment to listen to Roy's chest himself. He grimaced as he looked to his colleague. "Punctured lung?"

"Most likely."

"Damn. Johnny said that Roy was unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel. When he checked Roy's chest he felt at least two broken ribs which shifted under his touch."

"Roy must've impacted the steering column with his chest during the collision." Dr. Brackett carefully examined the bruises still forming on Roy's chest. "Did Johnny say anything else?"

"He was able to push Roy into an upright position in the squad before he passed out himself."

"What about after?"

"After that the engine crew had taken over Roy's care. He couldn't do much and Captain Stanley wouldn't let him get up."

Dr. Brackett couldn't help but smile at Johnny's stubbornness. "Remind me to ask Captain Stanley how he managed to keep Johnny still, would ya'?"

...to be continued...