Brackett started ordering the people in the treatment room around, "Dixie get an OR on standby. We also need a portable X-ray down here so we know what we're dealing with. Also, can you get me a set of vitals?" Carol was also in the room, but she was gently washing the blood off from around the wound, so Brackett could get a better look.
Dixie confirmed the thought of internal bleeding when she called out the B/P, "Kel, B/P is 90/60, pulse is 95, and respirations are 30."
"Dix, tell X-rays to meet us in the OR. I also went 6 units of blood on standby. If we don't find that bleeding fast we might lose him." Two orderlies entered the treatment room and lifted Johnny onto the waiting gurney then wheeled him out of the room.
"Carol, why don't you go up and assist the doctors so I can talk to Roy?"
"Right away Miss McCall." Carol answered as she walked out the door so she could catch up with the gurney.
With Johnny off to surgery, Dixie's next task was to find Roy and break the news to him. Roy would need to call his captain and probably his wife too. As she headed towards the base station, where Johnny and Roy waited for the other one, she spotted Roy coming through the automatic doors.
"Hey Dix, have you seen Johnny?" Roy asked.
Dixie avoided that question, saying instead, "Why don't we go get a cup of coffee?"
Roy knew that was more of a command that a question, so he followed Dix into the doctor's lounge. The look on Dixie's face was very serious. Something was really bothering her. The girl they brought in had serious injuries, but none of them were life threatening. So that only left…
Dixie took a deep breath then began, "Roy, on that last call Johnny was shot."
"What!?" Roy nearly screamed in disbelief. Johnny had never said anything about being hurt, although that was nothing new, and he certainly didn't say anything about a gun. **Dang it Junior, you should of told me that you were hurt. You really need to start telling me these things.** Roy thought. Pushing all thoughts aside, he asked, "Is he going to be okay?"
"Well, Dr. Brackett was worried about how much blood he lost and the amount of bruising around the wound. He suspects that something, possibly the liver or a kidney, was hit by the bullet. Kel took him up to surgery about five minutes ago, so it's going to be a while before we know anything. Why don't you call your captain before you head back to the station? And I will make sure someone calls you with updates, good or bad." This was the hardest part of Dixie's job. It was one thing telling someone with no medical knowledge, but to tell someone who did.
"Ok see you later Dixie." Roy mumbled, still in disbelief. Dixie was right, as usual. He might as well go back to the station. He wouldn't be able to do anything more here at the hospital than he would at the station. Fumbling around in his pocket for some change, he thought about how much he hated making these types of phone calls. They happened often with Johnny, but they never got any easier.
It was Chet that picked up the phone at the station, "Fire station 51, Fireman Chet Kelly speaking."
"Chet its Roy. I need to speak to Cap right away."
"Sure thing Roy," Chet tried to keep his voice even. The only time Roy called the station after a call was when Johnny was hurt. But the engine had been at the call, and nothing happened to him, right? Chet stepped into Cap's office, the phone on hold, "Cap, phone call for. It's Roy."
Captain Stanley waited for Chet to hang up the phone in the kitchen before addressing Roy, "What's going on Roy?"
"Cap at that last call, Johnny was shot somehow. He apparently took a bullet in his side. Dr. Brackett thinks that it hit either the liver or the kidney. He was taken up to surgery shortly after I got to Rampart so I don't know anything about his condition besides the fact that there was internal bleeding. Dix said that he used his turnout coat to help control the bleeding, but there was enough bleeding that once the adrenaline rush was gone he collapsed.
Cap was truly surprised. He expected Johnny was hurt by the tone of Roy's voice and the fact that Roy was calling, but this? Johnny had gotten himself into bad situations before, like that time he was hit by that car, or when he got bitten by that rattlesnake, and that time that he got that monkey virus. "He's going to be okay, isn't he?"
"Well Cap, Dixie doesn't know. His B/P was low, which was why they took him to surgery so fast. But Johnny has survived serious situations before with no lasting effects, so I think he will pull through."
"Are you going to be okay to work Roy?" Hank was very relieved that Johnny was probably going to pull through. He knew that his two paramedics were close, like brothers. When one of them was hurt, the other couldn't rest until he knew that the other was okay.
"Yeah Cap. I know that you need to get a replacement for Johnny and stand the squad down until the replacement comes in. I need to call Joanne and get a few supplies, but after that I will be heading back to the station."
"Okay Roy. See l you when you get back. I will let the guys know." Cap then hung up the phone so he could make the call to HQ to stand the squad down and get a replacement called in. How was he going to explain this one?
After the call to HQ was out of the way, Hank walked to the kitchen to find his crew. Chet was on one side of the couch, watching some TV program, with Marco on the other end reading a newspaper. Mike was fixing lunch. "Okay guys, listen up." Hank said in his best captain voice.
Heads turned immediately his way. The TV was turned off so all attention was on him. "Guys that was Roy calling. Apparently on that last call Johnny was shot. HQ is going to call the police so I could talk to you guys.
Marco was the first to respond to this stunning news, "Madre de Dios. Is he going to be okay?"
"Yes Marco, Roy thinks that Johnny is going to be okay. Brackett is leading the surgery, but we will know more when someone calls with an update. Johnny was just taken up to surgery when Roy was told, so he doesn't know anything. Roy should be heading back to the station now, so you can ask him more when he gets here."
Hank could hear a sigh of relief from each crew member. Slowly, one by one, they went back to what they had been doing before Hank interrupted.
Charlie was happy with his work. His plan to kill firefighters one at a time, picking random stations and shifts was going perfectly. Soon, he hoped, all firemen in LA county would fear him.