The Dream Puzzle-9
The vibrations sent dust and debris pouring through the door Chet had just exited.
"Holy shit!" Chet said pulling himself up from the floor of the hallway and dusting himself off. He groped around for the flashlight he'd dropped from the impact. Clicking it on, he whistled long and slow. The doorway was now completely blocked. If there wasn't another exit to the outside from down here then he was trapped.
"Gage, pal are you alright?" Cap had watched as his engineer had grabbed the paramedic's proffered hand just as the beam broke and crashed down.
"Yea….Yea Cap, I think so." He was pulling his pant leg loose from one of the jagged boards. Blood was running down his calf but it wasn't bad enough to cause either of them alarm. He looked over at Mike who was breathing hard; partly from exertion but mainly from fear. "Thanks, Stoker."
Mike gave him a grin and a slap on the back.
"Gage, you and Roy get the boy out and do what you can for him. I've already called for an air ambulance so it ought to be here any minute. The rest of us will get Chet out." Cap looked around at the carnage. "Where's Marco, Mike?
"I don't know, Cap. He was here one minute and then he was gone."
"Well this is going to hell in a hand-basket," Cap said to no one in particular. "He must be outside. Hey, fellas, tell Marco to get back in here and help us find Chet."
The two paramedics spoke their acknowledgement as they carried the unconscious Calvin, surrounded by their equipment, out the doors and headed toward the squad. Overhead they heard the distinct sound of a chopper flying in low. Roy sighed with relief knowing that in less than 15 minutes their young victim would be in a treatment room at Rampart.
"Roy, you ride in with him and I'll stay here for the other kid…..and maybe Chet too."
Roy knew that when it came to child victims, Johnny preferred for Roy to handle them. He seemed to have a more gentle spirit with kids; especially since he was a father himself. He also knew that even though Gage and Kelly had a unique and outwardly hostile relationship that deep down they really were good friends.
"You take care of that leg soon as you can too, alright?" Roy spoke as though he was asking but they both knew that the senior paramedic was actually ordering him to get it cleaned and bandaged before going back into the old building.
The chopper landed and they headed toward it with their patient. Whatever treatment the emergency room doctors at Rampart ordered could be started with them in the air. "Here, Junior, you keep the biophone. I can communicate with Rampart by relay once we're airborne."
Gage nodded as he took the biophone out of the stokes after the child was loaded.
"CALVIN! Nooooo!"
Johnny jerked his head around to see a young woman with a tear-stained face running toward them. He put the biophone on the ground and reached out to intercept the woman.
"Hey, hey…it's ok, he's alive a'right? But he needs medical care right away. He's being flown to Rampart and my partner will be right there with him all the way."
"But, he's…he's my baby!" She cried.
Roy sensed that she needed to at least touch her son and he knew that it might do Calvin some good too. "Ma'am, please tell him you'll be meeting him at Rampart. He can probably hear you even though he can't respond."
She gingerly pulled away from Johnny as he lowered his arms; but stayed nearby in case she fainted. He'd been a paramedic long enough to know what intense emotions could do to a person.
"Calvin, sweetie, it's Momma" she crooned as she rubbed his arm and squeezed his hand. You're gonna ride in a helicopter with this nice fireman and he's gonna take good care of you. I'll see you in a few minutes, baby, ok?" Her voice was filled with emotion and more tears flowed as she let go of his hand. Gage stood behind her giving her some space but also there in case her knees buckled.
As the chopper door was slammed shut, a deep baritone voice came from behind Johnny.
"Ma'am, I can give you a ride to the hospital if you'd like." Johnny and the woman both turned to see a deputy standing there with his hand reaching towards her. She nodded her acceptance and mouthed a 'Thank You' to both the deputy and to Johnny as the helicopter began warming up again to make a quick trip to Rampart.
Johnny suddenly remembered that he was to send Marco back in to help with the search for Jacob and Chet. He spun around looking in all directions. He didn't see Marco so he assumed he had already gone back into the building but he did see a young couple kneeling near the patrol cars. His heart broke for them. He knew they were the parents of the only child who remained in the building. The mother was on her knees clutching a child's jacket while her husband was kneeling behind her seemingly holding her up by the shoulders. The wind blew her auburn hair blew away from her face and Johnny had to look away. He knew the chances of Jacob being found safe were dwindling with each passing minute and he could already see the pain and grief etching lines all over her young face.
Marco had made it to the bottom of the stairwell when he heard the terrible crash. He surmised that the beam had given way and was terrified of who may now be trapped underneath it. He grabbed his flashlight while he coughed from the dust floating around in the damp and dark basement; the result of the destruction at the other end of the hall. He stepped around the corner of the stairwell and yelled as he came face to face with a brilliant beam of white light.
"AARRGH!"
Chet gave up trying to find a way back into the room the large beam had just crushed. "Damn it!" He turned around and began shining his flashlight on the floor of the hallway in the other direction. He had only taken a few steps when he jerked his flashlight upwards towards a shadow of movement that caught his attention. Suddenly another beam of light was thrust into his face and he heard a man's yell.
"Hey, what the..?"
"Chet? Chet is that you?" The voice belonged to Marco but was still a little higher pitched from the yelp he had just shouted out.
"Geez, what the hell are you doing down here?"
"Chet, it's a long story…..what about the boys?" Marco knew that one of the boys had been found. He was not aware that Calvin had been rescued in very serious condition. Chet filled him in on how Gage had found Calvin and explained why Chet was now in the hallway looking for Jacob.
"Well, we can get out by going back up this stairway," Marco said pointing his flashlight back up the stairs he had just come down.
"That's good to know but we still need to find Jacob. Brandon said he walked this way so he's got to be here somewhere."
The two of them continued down the darkened hallway with only their flashlights to illuminate the way.
Johnny limped back into the building with his freshly bandaged shin. "Cap, Marco back yet? He ain't outside."
Johnny immediately knew the answer by the look on his Captain's face. "No, no he didn't."
Now Captain Stanley had three reasons to worry as he, Mike and Johnny began discussing ways to get down into the basement without causing further damage.
As the helicopter set down on the helipad outside Rampart, Roy was breathing a little easier for his patient. His vitals had improved after his mother spoke to him and Roy had a warm feeling that Calvin would be alright.
"Ok, Buddy, now just a quick ride in an ambulance and we'll be there." He hoped Calvin could hear him. He patted his patient on the shoulder as he was loaded into the ambulance. Roy's touch elicited some slight movement in Calvin's closed eyes and it did not go unnoticed by the paramedic. He smiled down at the boy and whispered "atta boy" into his ear.
"Over here!"
"Chet, did you hear that?" Marco stood motionless in the hallway.
"Jacob? Jake can you hear me?" Chet shouted down the corridor.
"I'm here but I'm stuck."
"Jake, keep talking and we'll find you ok?" Marco made a sweeping motion with his flashlight. On the second sweep he caught a glimpse of something orange….the same color orange as the background in his dream from several months ago.
"Jake, is that you Jake?" Marco called out as he hurried over to the corner at the end of the long hallway. What he found was the torso of a young boy with bright orange hair. He appeared to be trapped in the wall; his upper half was in the hallway and his lower half was hidden inside the wall.
"How'd you get stuck in there?" Chet asked as he and Marco began assessing the predicament the child was in.
"I saw this hole and I thought maybe I could get out of it. But when I went in, well, there was no way out – it's just a hole in the wall or somethin'. I tried to crawl out but I got hung." He was sniffling a little but the two firefighters couldn't tell if it was from tears or dust.
Marco and Chet felt around inside the hole and realized that the boy's belt had gotten looped over an old nail effectively pinning him to the interior side of the opening. He wasn't strong enough to pull himself loose. Chet reached down his back until he could grab the belt where it was attached to the nail. With an upward motion, he lifted the boy's rear end up just enough to pull the belt off the nail.
"Aw, thanks, Mister!"
"Now, watch yourself as you ease out – ok son? Don't want to get cut on an old rusty nail." Marco held the light on the boy's back as he spoke to him.
Jake crawled out and stood up brushing himself off. His clothing had a few tears and was dirty but other than a few bruises; he seemed in remarkably good shape for a child who had fallen from the upper level down into the dungeon-like basement.
"Jake, are you hurt anywhere we can't see?" Chet asked. He feared the child may have gone into shock based on his strangely calm demeanor.
"Nah, I feel ok. Kinda achy like but that's all."
"Well, you are one lucky kid," Marco said as they made their way up the stairway Marco had found earlier. "In fact, all you boys are."
The floor creaked as they walked across it and Marco did a double-take. The chalk diagram of the floor plans for the old school was no longer on the chalkboard. The chalkboard had not been cleaned; it was still covered with dust and debris. He was even more dumbfounded when he saw the old teacher's bell sitting upright on the desk; still covered in a thick layer of dust. He carefully swept his flashlight beam across the floor beneath the chalkboard and saw nothing but layer upon layer of dust and dirt – no outline to prove that the bell had been moved. He knew that he should have been mortified by the strange turn of events but instead he felt at total peace. Everything was exactly as it should be.
Chet and Jake continued talking about his experiences in the basement. He never asked about the condition of his friends. For that, the firefighters were thankful. They had very little information to give him. The trio walked across the large room and out into the hallway. Instead of turning right to go to the back of the building – the way they had entered – they turned left toward the front of the building; not a single one of them had any idea why.
Station 10, respond to Station 51's location to assist with extrication from a collapsed building.
Hank and Mike began pulling out equipment they'd need to begin the search for Jake and their missing crewmates. Just as they turned to head back toward the decaying building, they saw the front door open – and Chet, Marco and Jake all walked out under their own power.
"Jacob…..oh thank God!" The auburn haired woman quickly jumped to her feet and began running; closing the distance between herself and her son in a matter of seconds. She lavished his filthy face with kisses and squeezed him tight.
Hank had tears in his eyes as he keyed up the engine's microphone to cancel the call out of Station 10.
"Oh thank you…..thank you both." Mrs. O'Leary looked up at the two firefighters standing on either side of her son.
Neither man knew how to respond. They couldn't explain how they found Jake so they both just stood there smiling at the happy reunion playing out before them. Mr. O'Leary shook the hands of both men and then gave Jake a loving pat on the head.
"Son, we were so worried about you. We love you!" He spoke with a broken voice as tears hovered along the rims of his eyes.
"Oh Jake, you must have been so frightened." His mother looked him in the eyes as she again ran her hands across his forehead wiping the orange curls away from his face.
"Mom, don't cry. I wasn't afraid. The man in the white shirt caught me when I fell and carried me down the hall. He said that we were all gonna be alright and I should just wait for the firemen there."
The adults stared at each other speechless. Hank, Mike and Johnny tried to make sense of what Jacob had just said but there were two men standing there to whom the child's words made perfect sense. The puzzle was finally complete.
Johnny limped back to the squad. He was much more tired than he realized; his adrenaline rush from earlier was fading. He couldn't explain what he'd just witnessed but he couldn't wait to talk to Roy about it. Normally, he'd be concerned about their young victim but after hearing Jake's story he knew that Calvin would recover completely. He backed the squad away from the scene and headed to Rampart. He needed to pick up his partner – and probably get a tetanus shot while he was there. He hated needles but this rescue had gone so well he couldn't help but grin. In fact, he was still smiling an hour later when Dixie injected him.
The rest of the crew of Station 51 headed back to quarters for much needed showers and rest; they hoped. They made the drive in complete silence; each man dealing with the events of the day in his own way.
Marco showered first and made his way to the dorm. He needed a few minutes of down time before starting dinner. Momentarily, he was joined by Chet who sat on his bunk facing his older crewmate.
"Marco, you never did tell me how you found that stairway."
"It was the weirdest thing, Chet. I kept hearing this ringing sound. It was so soft that I really wasn't even sure I heard it; I'm still not. So, I went down the hallway to the place where I thought I heard it and I actually found a small bell tipped on its side on the floor beneath the chalkboard."
"Huh, who do you think rang it?"
"Well, that's just it, Chet. No one had. It was covered in dust and when I moved it I could see the clean spot where it had been laying." He looked up and into Chet's blue eyes. "It hadn't been moved in years. That bell did NOT make the ringing sound I heard."
"Ok, so it was from somewhere else; you know how sound travels and….." Chet stopped in mid-sentence as Marco began shaking his head negatively.
"No way, man. See, when we came back up the stairs that same bell was sitting on the teacher's desk….and it was covered with dust there too except the one place on the handle where I had picked it up before I went downstairs. Nobody moved it, Chet. Nobody. There wasn't even a clean spot on the floor where I had just seen the bell earlier." Marco leaned over with his elbows on his knees. "And that isn't all either."
Chet's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose up closer to his hairline as he waited with baited breath to hear the rest of Marco's story.
"When I picked up the bell I was standing in front of the chalkboard and, Chet….I know this sounds crazy but…" he ran his hands through his dark hair before he continued, "the dust or chalk or something on the board formed a perfect diagram of the room…..and there was a drawing of a stairway inside the storage closet…and when I opened the door, there it was!"
"Marco….are you shittin' me?"
"No man…..and we came back up the stairs, it was gone…..not erased…the chalkboard was still dusty. But that diagram wasn't there." He stared into the air between them momentarily before he continued. "Then Jake saying that the man in the white shirt caught him and told him we were coming….well, I'm still shaky from all that."
Chet, for perhaps the first time ever, sat on his bunk speechless.
"Come on, Chet. I need some help in the kitchen." Marco slapped his friend on the back as they headed toward the kitchen to prepare dinner for the crew.
Roy backed the squad into the bay and he and John walked towards the dayroom. Well, Roy walked while Johnny limped. John sat down on the sofa and propped his bandaged leg up on a chair.
"How's the boy?" Hank as well as the others figured the report they got from Jacob was accurate and they were right.
"Oh, Brackett says he'll be fine. He's concussed but he should be out of the hospital in time for Christmas." Roy said while pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Wow, today's the 23rd so that's pretty quick." Mike mused to himself.
John coughed and adjusted his leg on the chair.
"Oh, yea, yea…..how's the leg, John?" Cap asked somewhat sarcastically with a grin.
"Oh it's gonna be fine…just fine, Cap." Johnny said with an exaggerated expression of pain; he was milking it for all it was worth.
The television was on playing an old Christmas classic while the men continued talking about the boys and the old school building. Meanwhile, Marco and Chet were busy chopping vegetables preparing Marco's famous chili.
"Ooh, hey, turn it up, turn it up." Johnny shouted, momentarily forgetting his injuries. "This is my favorite part."
"Teacher says… every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings"
Chet coughed as he set down his knife and stepped outside for some fresh air. Marco stood motionless with tears streaming down his face. They had both heard the well-known phrase from "It's A Wonderful Life" and both knew, without a doubt, that little ZuZu was right.
The End