Author's Notes: First of all I apologize for my frequent spelling and grammar errors. I do have a spelling and grammar checker attached with my word processing program but some words just slip by it. I also suffer from self proof reading syndrome, (symptoms are; knowing what the document is supposed to say so thereby being unable to see what it does say.) I can usually catch the errors if I let the chapter sit for a week or so, then read it over again but I get multiple reviews that say, "hurry with the next update" So I try to do just that. So readers let me know if you want me to put the chapter in cold storage for a week before I submit it or if you would rather live with the errors.

Next, to all of those who commented about the euthanizing of the young skunks; it was not something I read but something I've learned from both of my sisters who work with Animal rescue associations and Animal control. The most honest answer I've heard as to why, is that some animals such as rats, skunks and Raccoons are such prolific reproducers, prone to diseases and don't contribute positively, they are considered nuisance animals and are automatically euthanized. Most agencies sight the high rate of rabies found in these species and the fact that it is too hard to tell a healthy animal from a diseased one until it is too late. Not all agencies do it on the scene but some do, most would rather not take the smell of skunks back to the office area. I don't always agree with this practice but I do know that it is a practice. Just as a form of what I call nickel knowledge, once a skunk sprays it takes ten days to manufacture enough more spray to fill their pouches. So the fear of getting sprayed again does not play into the decision to euthanize the skunks on sight.

As far as cleaning with tomato Juice I offer a copy of this piece of my research:

Why tomato juice is believed to eliminate skunk odor. Bathing an animal in tomato juice seems to work because at high doses of skunk spray the human nose quits smelling the odor (olfactory fatigue). When this happens, the odor of tomato juice can easily be detected. A person suffering olfactory fatigue to skunk spray will swear that the skunk odor is gone and was neutralized by the tomato juice. Another person coming on the scene at this point will readily confirm that the skunk spray has not been neutralized by the tomato juice.

The recommended way to deal with the skunk smell is:

Bathe in a mixture of 1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide (from drug store), 1/4 cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and a teaspoon of liquid detergent. After 5 minutes rinse with water, Repeat if necessary. The mixture must be used after mixing and will not work if it is stored for any length of time. DO NOT STORE IN A CLOSED CONTAINER - it releases oxygen gas so it could break the container. This mixture may bleach the pet's hair. I have heard of one black Labrador retriever that was chocolate colored after this treatment. (Paul Krebaum's Recipe from Chemical & Engineering News , October 18, 1993, p. 90).

Other research claims that although this is the best method it is still only moderately successful and does tend to lighten the hair, be it on man or beast.

I still welcome your reviews and don't mind at all when you point out my boo boo's, I will try to answer any questions sent to me but I don't guarantee to always be right.

I found a lot of this information very interesting myself which is why I started a story on it. I will note that most skunk attacks are in open air or sprayed around ankle level this would be a totally different scenario than getting sprayed directly in the face at point blank range and being sprayed by multiple animals. Which by the way, skunks stay together in litters until they're about a year in age and they love to find shelter in pipes and hollow logs. If you see a yellow mist or smoke like substance coming from a hole in the ground or cave it's best to stay clear, a visible mist is concentrated enough to cause problems.

Now on with the story:

Do You Still Love Me?

Once settled in the observation room One nurse kept constant vigil but others were in and out of the room on a regular basis and the one left behind was rotated out fairly regularly. Johnny and Cap were weak enough and on enough meds that made them groggy that they started to dose soon after being settled in their beds.

Roy, who felt so much better than the others tried to rest quietly so as not to wake his room mates. Watching his Captain and his partner and their improving but still labored breathing with frequent coughing, Roy was beginning to suffer from survivors guilt, If only he hadn't have raced off to be first in the shower. The answer was that he would have been as sick as the rest of them and wouldn't have been as much help at his was. But he still felt guilty for being in better shape.

The door to their room opened frequently as nurses came and went and supplies were delivered, Cap was started on a second pint of blood. Johnny had more IV's hung. Cap and Johnny were getting their vitals checked every 15 minutes and both men had their collection bags emptied. Roy found himself watching his IV's and counting the drips until he could be disconnected from all of his tubing.

Chief McConnike came in dressed in scrubs and sat with Cap for a while. Cap opened his eyes in response to his superior and the two spoke softly for a few moments. Roy sighed in relief when he over heard him telling Cap that the rest of the guys were stable now and that they were starting to scrub them down.

"Roy!"

"Hank!"

Was heard the next time the door opened and all eyes in the room turned to see JoAnne Desoto and Emily Stanley standing in the doorway each looking their husbands over from a distance.

As the two women moved toward the beds Chief McConnike stood and made an announcement. "I want you boys to know that your station has been put out of commission for the time being. We are currently consulting with a specialist on the best way to de-fumigate it. Mean while the other shifts are being temporarily reassigned to other stations. I'll be sure to keep you apprised of the situation but for now I expect you all to do just what the Doctors and nurses tell you to do and nothing more. I'll be checking in on you." Once he said his piece he left his men in the capable hands of their wives and nurses.

Emily slowly sat in the chair next to her husband's bed, Hank weakly offered her his hand telling her he was going to be all right and she took hold of his hand and sat their looking at him not able to say anything for a while.

JoAnne tentatively walked over to her husband who reached out to offer her a hug reassuring her that he was fine. But JoAnne was hesitant to accept the offered hug.

"That bad?" Roy cringed as he recognized the reason for his wife's hesitance.

JoAnne didn't say a word but the way she moved her head and shoulders told Roy he needed another bath or two or maybe ten.

The wives stayed long enough to make sure their husbands were being taken care of while Johnny slept, JoAnne was first to mention that she needed to get home to the children, but when she went to kiss Roy good-bye she stopped short of her mark and instead studied his hair. "Nice tint job, it makes you look years younger."

Johnny let out a scoff in the next bed and Roy realized he wasn't as asleep as he was pretending to be.

After dinner the men were offered another bath. They all jumped at the chance. Since Roy had been relieved of all of his tubing he was allowed to soak in a tub and given some baking soda to add to the water. While he was so soaking he was aware of Johnny being aided to a shower stall on the other side of the curtain where he was scrubbed down with the same fussy washing mixture that had been used before. After a good scrub down and a hosing off he was slipped into a clean gown and then back into bed freshly made with clean sheets. Cap was then given the same treatment before Roy was finished and he was offered a pair of hospital pajamas with bottoms.

Since both Cap and Johnny were feeling better they started talking amongst themselves. The topics wandered and when they thought they had nothing more to talk about the door opened and a wheelchair with another of their crewmates was pushed through the door.

Mike was wearing the same stylish hospital gown as Cap and Johnny With a warmed blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His eyes were severally blood shot with burst blisters all over his face but mostly around his mouth and eyes.

"Mike, good to see ya up and about," Johnny called as Cap sat up straighter and Roy got out of bed to help get Mike in his.

"How ya doin there Mike?" Cap inquired as Roy held his pillow up and helped him to lie back as the nurse pulled his blankets up and attached his Oxygen hose to the wall spout before transferring all of his IV's from the pole on the back of the chair to the hanging pole near the bed.

"Better than I did a few hours ago." Mike moved to get comfortable in the bed. "I can see again, and have been able to keep some juice down. Breathing doesn't hurt as much as it did, it's a whole lot easier too." "They're telling me that it was just a bunch of baby skunks that did this to us, I thought it had to be some kind of a terrorist attack with nerve gas."

"They're saying that they must have climbed inside the draft hoses while we were trying to figure out that new attachment." Cap filled his engineer in and it was clear that his friends were glad to see him. "We couldn't get water with it but it worked great as a skunk trap."

"Great, let's donate it to animal control then," Mike shifted in bed again still trying to get comfortable.

Just then a Nurse came through the door on a run, "Okay Mr. Stoker it's time for your eye drops again."

Mike obligingly tilted his head back and held still at the nurse pulled his eye lids up one at a time and quickly administered the drops before charting her work and leaving the room.

"I think she was holding her breath the whole time she was in here," Johnny commented looking at the door that had swung closed behind her. "We must smell worse that we realize."

"Hey Mike have you heard anything or seen Chet and Marco?"Cap asked, he still didn't know where all of his men were and that was not acceptable for a Captain.

"Yeah," Mike answered then took in a deep breath using the nasal cannula, "I was with them before they brought me here. They've been stable for a while now and their both breathing on their own now. They took the tube out of Marco's throat about half an hour ago and were getting ready to take Chet's out when they brought me in here." He paused to take in another deep breath. He was clearly still fighting a little harder than the rest of them with his breathing. "Their faces look about as bad as mine but their mustaches protected their lips a little."

"Is anyone with them?" Cap hoped all the family members had been notified.

"Yeah, Marco's mom has been with him since he was in ER. His sister came in about an hour ago. Chet's Mom left a message that she's on her way and his sister was in with him when I left."

"So they're going to be alright then?"Hank continued to quiz, "Do you have any idea what their prognosis is?"

"We all needed a couple of units of blood because our red cells sort of broke apart from the toxins, and all three of us have these ulcers on our eyes" Mike informed his Captain. "The eye specialist said that they should clear up in about a week but we have to be real careful not to get an infection before then. That's why we have to have eye drops every hour now through tomorrow then three times a day after that." Mike leaned back against the bed and took another deep breath in through his nose. "All this because of a bunch of baby skunks."

It was obvious that Mike was using energy that he didn't have to the group independently agreed to remain quiet. It wasn't long that Mike dozed off and so did Cap. Roy managed to get the TV on with out waking anyone and he and Johnny managed to watch the late news.

"Cap we're on the news," Johnny called out and Captain Stanley woke up and quickly turned on the TV he could see clearly. "Channel 6" Johnny added.

The four of them watched the news report about the incident with the skunks and saw footage of the foam truck being used to wash down big red and the squad.

"The fire department was set up to turn on large fans to help to clear some of the smell away and were stopped just before they turned the fans on. It seems there were still small pools of the liquid skunk spray in the apparatus bay that needed to be cleaned up and neutralized first. As you can see behind me a piece of fire equipment normally used for oil fires is being used to was down the engine and paramedic truck when that is done they will wash down the inside of the station." A news reporter informed her viewers.

A spokesman for the department was given a chance to speak, "As you can see we are getting the station back in shape, the clean up effort is being led by one of the best bio-chemists in the world. Some of the equipment will have to be replaced but as of yet we don't know for sure how much."

"The draft hoses for sure," Johnny interjected as the next person shown on camera was Officer Joe Strong of animal control.

"The skunks in question were about six to eight months old," He explained. "This was likely the first time they had ever sprayed. The biggest problem today was that they were at eye level when they sprayed and they were startled by three firemen looking into the ends of the hose they were hiding in. Unfortunately those firemen both inhaled and swallowed a fair amount of the skunk spray which when concentrated enough to be in liquid form is toxic and since there were eight of the critters hiding in the two hoses there was a significant amount of spray. The firemen also got the oily substance on their faces which can be extremely irritating."

"You can say that again," Mike interjected his two cents worth in as he rubbed at his face.

"We have a report from Rampart General Hospital where those men are being treated," the reporter again took control of the camera. "Four of the men have been upgraded to fair condition but two of them are still listed as serious at this time. Clearly Skunks are nothing to fool around with especially at face level."

The news story was closed out with shots of firemen in hazmat suits wearing SCBA gear were giving Big red a bubble bath followed with shots of them foaming up the bay. Johnny was sure there was more to come.

The night was a long one with constant Vitals checks and Mike's hourly eye drops. Roy tried to sleep but found it difficult with the amount of traffic in the room as well as Mike's frequent coughing spells and trips to the bathroom. He had a catheter in like the rest of the men so Roy knew he was suffering from diarrhea.

Roy knew his shift mate felt rotten so he didn't even let himself think about complaining. When it seemed as if he had finally gotten to sleep Roy was awaken by a lab tech there to collect blood for the morning lab tests. Once he was done the lights were turned on and breakfast was brought in. As Roy wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked around the room he noticed that each of his roommates was looking a bit jaundiced. Knowing that two of them had received blood transfusions Roy feared the worse that they had all contracted hepatitis. As he blinked the sleep out of his mind he realized that hepatitis was unlikely at this point because the incubation period was longer than a day. There yellow coloring must be a result of the hemolysis.

Once breakfast was finished each man was offered another bath and all accepted it. They noticed the way the hospital staff acted around them and knew it was needed.

Once the baths were finished Dr. Brackett made his rounds and Roy was given his walking papers. Now was the time for him to find out how real his worst fears were. 'Would JoAnne let him come home or should he be asking Johnny for directions to a good place to camp until he smelt better.'