Just a little Fruity
These good fellows don't belong to me but I promise when I'd done to pick um up, dust um off and with a kiss on the cheek return them safely home.
"The human heart has hidden dark possibilities, in secret kept, in silence sealed." Charlotte Bronte.
Chapter 2
Johnny opened the door and a smile spread across his face, "Karen, come on in."
"Thanks Johnny. Here, I brought you some goodies to nibble on," she said as she put the plate down on the table.
"You're spoiling me Karen," he replied as he reached down and grabbed a couple of cookies. "I've had to add another two miles to my daily run." He laughed as he shoved a cookie in his mouth. It had been two weeks now that they had been spending all their free time together. He loved her company. She listened to anything he had to say no matter how much he rambled on about it. And for him that was pretty often. But he felt comfortable with her. They never did anything big or fancy or special. Just dinners at home, evening jogs together, lunch on the weekends. Simply being companionship to each other.
"What shall we do today?" She nuzzled up next to him on the couch as he watched TV.
"I'm going to see my sister today. If I don't then she's going to come and hunt me down," he laughed knowing she was very capable of doing it too.
"Oh, okay. That will give me a chance to run out and check on my brother. He wouldn't even talk to me on the phone yesterday because I've been neglecting him too," she giggled.
"I work tomorrow but I'm off again on Monday. I thought we might go do some hiking. I know this great trail that's not far away."
She nodded eagerly, "It's a date then." She watched him rub his head, "You okay?"
"Yea, just a headache. I've had it for a couple of days now, just can't shake it," he said as he rubbed his throbbing temples.
"Let me get you some aspirin for it." She stood up to go to the kitchen.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to the couch, "You're not going anywhere missy. I've already taken something now let me tell you what my prescription says." He pushed her hair back from her face and leaned in to kiss her until they both had to come up for air.
"Johnny, will you take out Casper today? He's been rather cranky and I think he's tired of being in the barn with all this rain we've been getting," Kanda said as she brushed down her own mare, Chai.
"Sure." In a few minutes he returned with the ancy stallion and began grooming him also.
She studied her little brother. Something wasn't sitting well with her but she couldn't put her finger on it today. "You been feeling okay?"
He just rolled his eyes, "How do you do that?"
She giggled. Her gut instinct had always driven him nuts. "Do what?"
He laughed, "I'm going to start wearing a lead shield when I'm around you or something." He looked under the belly of Casper to see her staring intently at him. "I'm fine. I have a headache, no big deal. I think the constant change in the weather with all this rain we've been having has wreaked havoc with my sinuses.
She knew he wasn't lying to her but she also felt that it wasn't the right answer, "Okay."
They spent the afternoon riding through her property and working on fences along the way. Nothing major needed to be done but the little repairs took the entire day. Mostly they worked together in silence but occasionally she would get a question in sideways about his new interest, Karen. She hadn't met her yet but she sure did seem to make her TeeTonka happy.
Even though she was only three years older than him she felt very protective of him. It had taken her years to re-find him after they both ran away from home at different times so she had no plans to lose him now.
By the time they finished dinner she could tell he was exhausted. She was still concerned but knew that if she kept on asking him he would clam up all together. "Do you want to just crash here tonight?"
"Nah thanks though. I gotta work tomorrow. And if I'm late another day this month Cap is gonna give me latrine duty for a month."
She laughed. She knew Hank a little better now and knew he ran a tight ship…err shift. Kissing him goodbye on the cheek she closed the door as he drove off. She could call Roy. But she knew that Roy was gone tonight with the kids because Chris had a baseball game and they would get home late.
She made a mental note to call Johnny at work tomorrow and check on him.
"Alright. What's wrong with you today? Did you and Karen breakup?" Roy asked his partner who seemed to live on the couch in between calls today. Even Henry was getting tired of sharing.
Johnny had his arm over his eyes, blocking out the light. It took a lot of energy to pretend that you didn't have a pounding headache. He looked over to Roy and pulled up a smile. "No, nothing is wrong between me and Karen thank you very much. I'm just tired today."
Marco chuckled, "Is she wearing ya out Johnny?"
He grinned under his arm. If only they knew. "Never too much for me Marco, don't you know that by now?"
"Squad 51…...injured child………….time out 1542."
They both hit the ground running and jumped into the squad. Johnny almost winced as his helmet hit his head putting it on. He caught the ever watchful eye of his partner targeting him.
"You okay?" Roy asked concerned.
"Just a little headache. I'm fine." Johnny didn't want to go into the 4 days of headache that wasn't fine. "It would help if we could go 5 minutes without getting a call."
Roy understood what he meant; this day had been one call after another. "Maybe it will slow down by tonight."
Johnny just muttered under his breath as they pulled down the street. Grabbing their boxes they headed to the front door and knocked. A woman came running around the back of the house yelling for them to hurry up. With boxes in hand they followed her and stopped cold in their tracks when they saw what the problem was.
"My Jason, please get him down from there!" The poor woman was frantic and they understood why.
Roy whispered to Johnny, "Get the engine, we're gonna need help."
Johnny dropped boxes and ran back to the squad to issue the assistance call. Roy moved close to the woman and put his boxes down. Taking her by the arms he tried to calm her down, "Do you have a ladder?"
She was too frantic to hear him. He tried again, a little louder, "Mame, you have to listen to me. Do you have a ladder we can use?"
She nodded. Roy knew it wouldn't really help them but it would give her something to do. As she headed to the garage Johnny came up beside Roy. "Do you think he's still alive?"
"I don't know Junior."
They both looked up a young boy, about age 10 who was precariously dangling from a rope about 15 feet in the air, from a tree. The rope was tangled around several branches but didn't seem to be tied off at any particular place. The other end held the boy who appeared to be unconscious as it twisted around his waist, chest and neck.
"What in the world was he doing up there anyway," Johnny asked to no one in particular.
"He wanted to get to the squirrels nest, there are babies in it."
They both looked down to see a little girl, about 6 years old. These kids reminded Roy too much of Jenny and Chris and the incredible power of children to find trouble. As they moved closer they watched him intently for any signs of movement.
"Jason!" His mom screamed from behind them.
"Roy!" Johnny said and pointed as the child moved some, but so did the rope as it slipped a little from the tree. "We don't have time to wait for the engine. That rope is slipping."
Roy quickly assessed the risk of them climbing up on their own.
Johnny had already grabbed rope and now dropped it at his feet. "I'll go up, you secure me from here. I just have to get out on that branch a little to get my hands on his rope to secure it. If he falls he won't fall far."
"Johnny, the way that rope is wrapped around his neck, if he falls any it will snap it."
"Then I have to get to him." It was simple to Johnny. Don't wait; get to the kid before it was too late.
Roy knew they didn't have much choice or much time as the rope slipped again, this time the child made a noise that sounded like he was being strangled. "Jason, don't move son. We're with the Fire Department and we're gonna get you down from there okay?"
Roy waited but got no response. The mother was now beyond frantic and on the verge of hyperventilating as she sank to her knees looking all glassy eyed. Roy caught her arm and helped her lower to the ground. He checked her pulse and respirations and found that she was okay just overwhelmed, "I need you to stay right here and calm down. Right now Jason needs us okay?"
She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths trying to relax some for him but the tears continued down her cheeks. As he stood up he reinforced his directions, "Don't move."
Before he knew it Johnny was heading up the nailed in skinny boards that scaled the trunk of the tree. He took the steps carefully but quickly reached the limb that the boy was dangling from. Straddling it he found his balance on it and began the steady scooting effort to inch his way closer. Jason was actually hanging a little tilted with his head forced backwards. Johnny cringed at the rope that was so tight around his neck he could see the pressure marks in his skin. His eyes were opened but not really focusing on anything at the time. The only noise was a gurgling sound.
Suddenly Johnny saw two Jason's and they swirled together in front of him. What the crap? He thought. The jackhammer in his head was almost overwhelming now but he closed his eyes and willed the dizziness to go away. He reopened them to hearing Roy's voice yelling at him.
"JOHNNY?!"
"I'm okay," he waved down to his friend. He began inching forward again. A little at a time. As soon as he reached the rope at his knees he tried to follow its path in hopes of figuring out how to untangle it. "Roy," he called down. "This rope is a mess. It looks like the weight of it is around his chest and neck. If I try to untangle it at all it will only tighten on him."
"Can we somehow come up below him and push him up?" Roy was trying to reason this out to save this child's life.
"We're gonna have to. No pressure down on him, too risky." Johnny then tossed down the other end of his rope to Roy. In a belay fashion Johnny began to swing his legs over and lower himself below the tree branch. He heard the engines sirens but didn't dare turn to look. His own head was swimming enough right now. Distraction wouldn't help at all.
Roy wrapped the other end around his waist and planted his feet in the ground as much as possible. As Johnny lowered himself he grunted with the weight and struggled to keep him from dropping to fast. The sound of the engine sirens was the most wonderful sound he had heard all day. As the men came around the corner he heard Hank cuss at the site of now two swinging bodies from the high up tree limb.
"Marco and Mike, help Roy with that rope. Chet get the ladder," he directed them. Marco and Mike helping with the weight made Johnny's descent to Jason much smoother and controlled.
"What's wrong with Johnny," Mike asked as he watched him grab his head and tightly close his eyes.
Roy saw it too and his heart panicked just a little more, something was wrong. "Johnny? You okay?" He yelled up.
But Johnny couldn't hear them, his head hurt too badly now. He tried to focus on the child. He continued the descent until he was face to face with him. Johnny reached for a pulse and was never so grateful to find one, "He's still alive." He called down.
Hank was opening the biophone and setting it up, then moved over to help Chet. They put the ladder right under Johnny but he was still about 6 feet from reaching it.
"Roy," he called out as he pulled his pocket knife out. "I'm gonna cut the rope and take his weight, be ready." The men tightened their grips in preparation for the sudden shift in weight.
Johnny wrapped his arm around the child and put the belt on him then clipped them together. He then took his knife and opened it with his teeth as he only had one free hand at this point. With a few slices the rope cut into two pieces and Johnny grabbed the weight of the boy. Down below they had such a good grip on him that he only slipped about a couple of inches. However it was enough to make Johnny see stars and fight to not pass out. He tightened his grip on his young charge. Next he worked to unwrap the rope from his neck and waved to them to get them down. Within a few seconds he felt his feet touch the top of the ladder. Chet was then placing his feet on the right rungs and when he was down a little more he grabbed the belt around Johnny's waist and guided them down.
With their end of the rope no longer needed to hold the pair they let go and rushed over to help them down the ladder. Roy grabbed the boy from Johnny's arms while Mike and Hank wound up grabbing Johnny as he almost fell down the last 5 steps.
Roy laid the little boy down and finished untangling him from the rope and just prayed that his injuries weren't severe. Cutting open his shirt he could see the deep bruising already showing around his abdomen, across his chest and around his neck.
Johnny was lowered down beside him, on his bottom. He pulled his knees up placing his head in his hands. Roy watched him but the child was his first priority. "Mike can you get some vitals on him?" He said as he motioned to his pale looking partner.
"Sure Roy," he said as he grabbed the adult cuff and reached for a pulse.
Johnny reflexively jerked back from him and looked up, "Mike? What are you doing here?"
Now Roy was really worried but he had to deal with one patient at a time.
"Rampart, this is Squad 51, do you read?"
"Go ahead 51," Dixie said.
"Rampart we have a male child, aged 10 who is the victim of a fall from a tree where he got tangled up in a rope. There is bruising and contusions where it wrapped around his abdomen, upper chest and axilla and around his neck. He is responsive but groggy. Vitals are pulse 110, respirations 30 and BP 98/60."
"51, place in spinal precautions, begin IV of D5LR at 50 drops a minute and transport."
"Spinal precautions and IV of D5LR at 60 and transport. 10-4 Rampart."
"Roy," Mike said. "Pulse 120, respirations 26, BP 160/80."
Roy nodded. He got the IV started on the child and completed the spinal precautions. He then moved to Johnny. Taking out his penlight he raised Johnny's head and opened his eyes. Johnny batted him away.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to check your pupils, now be still." Roy was serious and Johnny heard the tone in his voice but he was confused as to why Roy was making such a big deal. He got the kid down didn't he? It was just a headache.
Roy picked up the radio, "Rampart we have a second victim at this scene."
Johnny looked up, "Roy, don't to it. I'm fine."
Roy ignored him, "Male, 27 year old with severe headache, dizziness and confusion, pupils equal and reactive." He relayed the latest set of vital signs to the doctor.
He looked up at Mike, "Who's confused?"
"51, has he had a blow to the head recently?"
Johnny shook his head no. "Negative Rampart."
"51, transport when possible."
"10-4 Rampart." He looked over to the junior paramedic, "You heard um partner, you get to ride in the big white ambulance."
Johnny just rolled his eyes and gave in knowing that the fight wasn't worth it at this point. He wouldn't win.