Chapter 19

Now came the time of waiting, a period in which time itself seemed to stand still. The rest of the rescuers had arrived at Rampart. The Engine 51 and Ladder 110 were listed as available. Captain Stanley had already called the Battalion Chief and explained the situation, so he was arranging for Dwyer and Stevens to come in a few hours early and pick up the squad.

In the brotherhood, there are a few simple rules. One of which is that they were all family, and what a huge extended family it was. Each man there had their own personal experiences with the two fallen members.

Dr. Joe came in and informed everyone that Brice was going to make a full recovery; he was getting fitted for his two casts. This was a relief; of course none of them could really stand Craig Brice. No one could really figure the guy out, he never seemed to warm up to any human being, except for one. A.J. had some how formed this bond with him. Once and a great while they would even catch him smiling! Then of course was the time where he actually helped her, Gage, DeSoto and Davidson pulled one over on the 'Phantom'. In that shinning moment, he laughed so hard, he was crying! None of them could believe it.

Johnny literally cried on Roy's shoulder for several minutes. They were alone in the nurse's lounge, away from the others. No one else would have thought less of Gage for releasing the flood of emotions he had levied inside of himself. Gage in his heart did not allow anyone to see his true self. He loved the men he served with and would die to save any of them. However he couldn't bring himself to be vulnerable, raw in front of them. Roy was truly the only man that fit that bill. Neither one of them could explain it, their connect was far beyond partners or even friends. In fact there was only one woman who gave him that security and any moment he could lose her forever.

Roy said nothing for the longest time, instead he allowed Gage to drain his soul's anguish. He knew that his best friend was terrified of losing not just a girlfriend but a soul mate. He had known long ago that it was Johnny's secret desire to find that one woman he could give himself too. Most people saw him as only a womanizer, a serial dater. Roy had always known better than that. His wished he could promise him that everything would be alright but his training and experience told him that the only thing that would save his good friend was yet another miracle.

Pushing himself away from Roy he met his eyes, "I'm sorry Roy...."

"For what? You needed to do that; you need to take care of yourself."

"What happened out there? How on earth did they go off the road like that?"

"Brice kept mumbling something about a car that was in their lane and was swerving back and forth. I think he did his best to avoid him and they ran out of road....it wasn't his fault Johnny." Roy wasn't sure if that was what Gage was getting at or not.

"I already figured that, the guy can be a real jackass but he's no maniac behind the wheel." How A.J. had managed to befriend a man like him, he never quite figured it out.

Chet had left the room where everyone had converged to wait for news to find Gage and DeSoto. He had almost walked in the nurse's lounge, when he heard what sounded like sobbing. He stopped and peered around to see Gage clinging to Roy as if he were his life line. Roy was simply hugging him tight; rocking him back and forth, like a parent would do to comfort a child. He had never witnessed Gage so devastated before. He leaned against the wall in the hallway, and allowed some of his own tears to fall. She was the most unique woman he had ever met in his life. He was forcing himself not to wonder what life would be like with out her in it. Instead of intruding he simply walked away, giving Johnny time to regroup before joining everyone else.

Brackett and the surgical team used their training to distance themselves emotionally. Otherwise their fears would kill her. Normally, none of them would ever participate in an operation, on someone they loved and cared about. However when it came to one their paramedics, there was no one on staff who wouldn't have that issue.

The scans had shown no significant brain injury. Beyond the breaks to the upper section of the sternum and her lower ribs, her right hip was also fractured. All of those were the least of their worries; the massive internal bleeding was going to end her life, if they couldn't stop it.

"Doctor, her BP is dropping." Nurse Carol was monitoring the patient's vitals, assisting the anesthesiologist.

"Hang another unit of plasma; get some more units of B+!" He had already removed part of the liver and was now deciding on whether or not the spleen could be saved.

He finished going over each organ looking for any additional bleeders, when bells started sounding off. "Dr. Brackett her BP is still falling!!"

"I don't understand......" He then saw what was causing the trouble; a large hema toma was forming on one of the arteries.