It's Not My Job

These good fellows don't belong to me but I promise when I'm done to pick um up, dust um off and with a kiss on the cheek send them home.

"When friendship is understood to the depths of our souls then the giving of our life is no longer impossible."

Chapter 3

Johnny stopped, focusing on the sound he knew perfectly well he had heard. It was soft but it had been there. Johnny's heartbeat quickened as he yelled, "Roy, yell if you hear me." He stood quietly and waited, listening for the call of help he needed to hear.

I have to stay awake, have to wait for Johnny. Have to make him hear me, "Johnny, please." Can't ….breathe…

There, he heard it again, faint but it was there. He reached for his HT, "Gage to engine 51." He needed help and the painful grip on his stomach told him he needed the help right now.

Hank, Marco, Mike and Chet had just opened the warehouse door when the radio startled them. "51"

"Cap, I think I've found Roy but need help getting to him."

"We're in the warehouse are you?" Hank asked, grateful that DeSoto had been found but a little annoyed that apparently Gage had not listened to his orders, again.

"Southeast corner, there's a large yellow sign above me."

"10-4." Hank and the others looked across the room but there was no yellow sign to be seen. The many stacks of boxes were blocking the view. "Let's move towards the southeast corner. Watch out, these boxes they are wet and they're ready to come down on us." The others nodded in agreement.

Johnny began working feverously moving the saturated cardboard. Layer after layer and still there was no sign of Roy. What if he was in the wrong spot? What if he was wasting time, precious time that Roy might not have? He kept digging and prayed that his fellow crew would find him fast.

Chet, Marco, Mike and Hank moved throughout the boxes, staying together, heading towards the correct corner. "There, a yellow sign Cap," Marco called out. They all moved at a steady jog now with their goal in site. They came around the last corner of the maze and found a large area of downed boxes. A virtual sea of soaked cardboard stretched before them with Johnny standing in the middle of it throwing chunks from one particular spot as fast as he could. Marco broke out into a run towards him but was sharply stopped by Johnny's shout, "Stop!"

Johnny looked like he was terrified and in reality he was, more than most would realize. "Marco, don't move," Johnny was holding his hands up. "I think Roy is right here somewhere, we need to step carefully."

Hank waved his hand, "Mike and Chet swing that way to Johnny's right. Mike, over here with me." The men moved to circle around Johnny and began moving the many layers that entrapped their friend.

Johnny…can't….wait….much ….longer. Jo, will I ever see you again? Chris….Jenn….love you….so …much. "Johnny." Roy cried out with the last of the air his lungs held. He had tried but couldn't stay awake any longer. The little space around his face no longer had any oxygen left for him to breathe in, his tank long since empty. His eyes closed in a silent peace and he could not hear the movement around him.

"Wait!" Johnny listened, "Did you hear that?"

"Where John, where do you think it came from?" Mike asked.

He closed his eyes and turned his head slowly, trying to recreate the sound in his mind. "Chet just to the left of you." He pointed and opened his eyes, "There." Without question the men converged on that spot and moved faster than before. Chet looked at Johnny. He hadn't heard anything; how did Johnny hear something from way over there? He was sure, no not just sure, but with absolute certainty. Hank had also taken in the unusual method that Johnny had used to pinpoint where Roy was. Well, where he thought Roy was. With all the sound this building was making by now how could anyone hear a faint cry? But with nothing else to go on they continued to dig.

"Here! I see his foot!" It was Mike and his enthusiasm echoed through the room. Silently they all noted that Roy was exactly where Johnny said he would be. Hank called in a Code I and requested the squads medical boxes and a stokes to be brought to them. The work moved quicker when they all had one spot to concentrate on with both of Roy's legs being uncovered first. Johnny reached and pulled down his sock feeling for a pulse. He looked at Hank, "Slow and weak but here."

Piece by piece was removed and finally the downed paramedic was visible, lying on his side, motionless. Johnny was the one who removed the last piece of material off Roy to reveal his face. He was visibly shaken by Roy's appearance. His color was ashen with cyanosis shadowing his lips. Johnny felt for any breathing but found that his body was still. "He's not breathing." He spoke to no one in particular, maybe even just to himself. He and Mike worked quickly to get the tank off his back. Roy's mask was half on and half off where he had tried to remove it. They all realized that going down with his mask on was the only thing that had saved him but no one was exactly sure how long the tank had been empty. Mike began mouth to mouth rescue breathing while Johnny next felt again for a pulse. It was slow with a steady rise due to Mike's help.

"He was suffocating under here," Hank spoke in the quiet, thinking what a terrible way to go that would be.

Up behind them came the men from engine 110 with the stokes loaded up with the medic's supplies. Johnny reached for the resuscitator first and handed it to Mike. After Johnny adjusted the flow, Mike resumed the breaths with oxygen enriched air now reaching Roy's lungs. Chet started gathering IV supplies and Johnny set up the biophone followed by a blood pressure.

They were all relieved to see Roy beginning to swat at Mike as his own breathing returned. "Roy, can you hear me?" Johnny spoke softly to him.

"Roy." He called him with a little more forcefulness. Johnny needed him to come around a little bit more.

With that Roy worked at opening his eyes and did manage to give Johnny an affirmative head nod. He was just too worn out to do anything more right now. Johnny checked Roy's pupils, palpated for a head injury and looked for fluid in his ears. Next he ran his hands down his partner's arms and legs with great care but found no broken bones. With Roy on his back, Johnny opened up this turnout coat and palpated his ribs and abdomen with no tenderness noted. He sighed with relief to find Roy's exam almost normal.

Roy couldn't see everyone around him but he felt their presence, especially Johnny's. He desperately wanted to show them he was ok and tried to sit up.

"Easy Roy, we got ya. You're gonna be ok now," Mike spoke softly to his friend while he gently pushed his shoulders back down. Roy immediately settled back down into a quiet sleep as Mike switched his oxygen from the resuscitator to a nasal cannula.

"Rampart this is Squad 51, how do you read me?" Johnny began.

"Go ahead 51, we read you." It was the voice of Kelly Brackett. They had heard the Code I called from station 51 and were anxiously waiting for the squad to call in.

"Rampart, we have a fireman down, trapped under fallen boxes. He was found in respiratory arrest. Initial pulse of 60, now up to 110. Blood pressure 80/50, pupils are equal but sluggish. Patient was cyanotic upon finding him but color improved with oxygen. He is now breathing on his own, respirations are 28. There are no apparent injuries Rampart other than a small bump at the right temple. He seems to have been nearly suffocated from the confined space."

"10-4 51. Continue the oxygen at 10 liters. Begin an IV of LR TKO and transport."

"10-4 Rampart, oxygen at 10 liters, IV LR TKO. Also, be advised that the patient is Roy DeSoto."

Brackett swore to himself and looked over to see Dixie become several shades paler, "Understood Johnny. Get him in here fast."

Hank sat back and watched the men work on Roy with a sense of pride in them. He didn't really know all these men very well yet but he could already tell that this was a special team. Looking over at Johnny he let some anxiety play across his features thinking about what would have to happen when this settled down. The young paramedic might not like what Hank would have to say.

"Rampart. Pulse is 100, respirations are 24, BP is 110/70. Color has markedly improved also."

"10-4 51." Brackett took a deep breath and looked at Dixie, "He's gonna be fine Dix." She shook her head but she wouldn't be convinced until she saw him for herself.

Chet put on the EKG leads and hooked Roy up to the monitor. Marco worked at getting the stokes ready for transporting him. Johnny got the IV started without difficulty and the fluids running. Within a short amount of time they had Roy ready to move out. Covering him up with a blanket Johnny saw Roy looking at him.

"Heya there partner, bout time you decided to re-join us. How ya feeling?"

Roy looked at Johnny and smiled. The look made Johnny's heart flood with relief knowing that sparkle meant that Roy was ok. "Thanks for moving the elephant Junior," he said faintly.

Johnny furrowed his brow, "Uh, what elephant would that be Roy?"

"The elephant on…….remind me to tell you about it later," Roy chuckled at the memory while questioning if he should really share all the memories.

With Mike, Marco and Hank on one side and Johnny and Chet on the other they raised the stokes and negotiated their way back to the door. As they moved through the final hallway they felt Hank pause and look along the walls.

"MOVE!" Hank yelled and started running with the stokes. The men didn't even question the sudden change in pace as they escaped out the door just as the building decided to crumble around them.

They loaded Roy into the ambulance and Chet pounded on the back of it. Hank turned to Marco, "Take the squad in and we'll be behind you." Turning to Mike, "Let's get this mess cleaned up so we can get to the hospital." Mike and Chet watched for a moment as the ambulance sped off.

"I think Johnny might be in deep on this one Mike." Chet shook his head.

"Hopefully Cap will see that Johnny was only try to help Roy." Mike had never questioned the uniquely close friendship that Roy and Johnny had. He had seen it at work many times before, how they could almost read each other's minds. "You know how Johnny is, he's not gonna sit by when he knows that Roy needs him."

Chet knew exactly what Mike meant, "I know Mike but he needs to be careful with a new Captain. He doesn't understand those two yet." They both looked to the new Captain over by the engine. Work was waiting and they were anxious to get to Rampart so they moved forward and got busy.

They had moved Roy into the ambulance still in the stokes. Johnny knew that if he let Roy up he wouldn't get him back on the stretcher. He was protesting the whole time. "Johnny, I'm fine now. Let me out of this contraption." He wasn't exactly pleased with the look of pure satisfaction on his partners face. Johnny sat back and enjoyed every minute of his confinement. Roy could protest all he wanted, he was at least alive.

"Now Roy, you know Brackett would have my head if I let you up. You have a concussion," Johnny smiled.

"Concussion? But I'm alert and oriented, I'm fine. I just needed air and I was fine."

"Oriented huh? Seems to me like I heard something about elephants back there."

There it was. He knew he should have kept his mouth shut. "It was just a metaphor for ….well… you know the weight on me." Roy got flustered over the explanation. Now he knew he could never let Johnny know about the thoughts that ran through his head.

"Ok, ok, calm down. You're gonna be just fine." Johnny chuckled, patting his patient on the shoulder as he looked into the face of exasperation lying before him.

Upon arrival to the ER Brackett had the whole trauma team ready for his possibly critical patient and instead had a grumpy, protesting and quite fully mobile patient wanting up. Brackett was a little more forgiving and told Johnny to get Roy out of the stokes and on the exam table.

"Doc, I told Johnny I was fine. Air, all I needed was some air." He waved his hands over his body, "See, nothings broken. I'm fine."

Johnny looked at him, "Me thinks he protests too much Doc."

Brackett couldn't decide right off hand if Roy was protesting too much or Johnny was just enjoying seeing someone else be the patient for a change.

"Ok, let me at least get the chance to do an exam before you think about darting out the door." Roy just sighed and conceded to the exam knowing that he wasn't gonna get out of it anyway.

Johnny just smiled as he excused himself from the room and wandered to the doctor's lounge with Dixie while he waited to hear about Roy. Pouring himself a cup of coffee he leaned back on the counter, head held down and let out a deep breath. Dixie came up beside him and saw the exhaustion in his eyes, "Close?"

He looked up at her, "Close." His eyes shared part of that horrible hour digging for Roy. "Dix he was buried. I didn't think we weren't gonna find him in time."

"But you did Johnny and that's all that matters." She looked at him with concern in her eyes for her worried friend, "Look's like he's gonna be fine."

"Yea." Johnny didn't want to go into what had happened with the new Captain. He knew he was going to have to return to the station eventually and face the Captain for his actions. How could he explain what happened? How could he make this new man understand that he did what he had to do. That he would give his life to save his best friend.

"So Roy, tell me what happened?" Bracket had reviewed the skull series and completed his exam.

"Not much doc. A stack of wet cardboard boxes fell on me. I tried to get out from under them but they were soaking wet and weighed too much for me to move them. I still had my mask partly on and was pretty ok until my tank ran out. Johnny got me out just in the nick of time."

"Nick of time huh? Sounds like you were almost past the nick of time. He said you were cyanotic and in respiratory arrest." Brackett knew that Roy's exam looked good now; his concern was the amount of time he was down.

"That's what I hear doc. But didn't he just have to give me a few breaths?" Roy still wasn't exactly clear on how long he had been out but he had just assumed it hadn't been too long. He never required an airway.

Kelly shook his head, "Yea, just a few breaths." Roy was one of his best paramedics and had become a good friend. He was worried that he was missing something here. "I'm not worried about the bump on your head; it's just a mild concussion at most. I still want to keep you overnight and watch you." Kelly saw the instant rebellion flare up in Roy's tensing muscles, which was unusual for him. Johnny of course, but not Roy.

"Admit me?" Roy's expression was more of concern than surprise.

"Roy, I'm not exactly sure what happened but you required resuscitation to come back. That's nothing to play around with."

"I know doc. But please don't admit me. I have this feeling…..I can't shake it."

"What's wrong Roy?" Kelly furrowed his eyebrows, growing concerned again.

"I don't know but I have a strong gut feeling I need to be at the station tonight. I can't explain it but I promise I will come back if anything happens ok? Just please let me go back with Johnny." Roy's eyes were darkened with a pensive worry that he couldn't release. He only hoped that Kelly would catch a glimpse of it too.

He saw it. It was something that would only be picked up by someone who knew the close bond that Johnny and Roy had. Kelly was worried about Roy but realized that if he felt a reason that strong to stay close to Johnny then maybe he shouldn't interfere.

Brackett entered the lounge shaking his head. Johnny stood up straight and began to worry thinking he may have missed something, "Doc?"

"Oh I think he's fine Johnny, just stubborn. He has a mild concussion, shouldn't cause him anything but a headache for the next 24hrs. I'm sure he'll be sore and bruised by tomorrow. He wouldn't have had any problems if he had more air space but I think you guys got to him just at the right time."

Johnny's shoulders relaxed with relief, "So does he go or stay?"

"I'd like him to stay but he's insisting he needs to go. I'm not exactly sure why he's so insistent but I will release him back to you. Just keep a close eye on him and send him back here if he develops any other symptoms ok?"

"Sure doc." Johnny wanted Roy to get admitted if the doc thought it was needed but he was very glad to hear that he was taking him home. Johnny really needed Roy with him when he faced Cap. Kelly moved back out to the nurse's station.

Thinking of Cap, Johnny looked up to see him with Marco, Mike and Chet enter the doctor's lounge.

"Gage, how's DeSoto doing?" Hank was genuinely concerned for his man.

"Doc says he has a mild concussion and beaten up some but he's releasing him back to work. Just wants me to keep a close eye on him." Johnny hoped that him needing to keep a close on his partner meant that Cap couldn't suspend him right away.

"Guess Roy's head is as hard as yours huh Johnny?" Chet threw in.

Johnny just glared back.

"Then we'll head back to the station. Don't put yourselves back in service until you have checked in with me," Hank said.

Johnny's stomach knotted in response, "Ok, Cap."

Roy slide off the exam table, stood up and groaned. His muscles were already beginning to protest the mistreatment they had received just a few hours before. He twisted slightly to reach for his turn out coat but gasped at the pain that shot through his right side with the movement. Instinctively he looked up to see if anyone had heard him. He hadn't lied to Brackett. He didn't actually ask about my back. No big deal that I didn't tell um about landing on my tank. I'll come back tomorrow after shift and let doc look at it. Tonight I need to be at the station. He knew he would be back soon, the pain was telling him that much. But for now he needed to stay with Johnny for a reason he couldn't get off the tip of his tongue.

Johnny and Dixie moved back into Roy's room to find that he had already put his shoes and coat back on. "Well, you're not wasting anytime are you pally?"

"Just ready to get back is all," Roy said as he headed towards the door.

"Ok, but the elephant has to ride in the back of the Squad," Johnny said very straight faced and left back out the door leaving Roy trying to avoid Dixie's obvious look of 'what?'