Chapter 13

John pulled himself up in through the side sleeper door just seconds before Jack pulled himself behind the wheel.

"How're James and Susan doing?" Julie asked as Jack was buckling his seatbelt.

"Susan said she's got lead butt and the kids are getting bored, James seems relieved that something has been worked out so that Doc can be there for the delivery of this one. He just wants to get there," Jack reported before turning on the ignition and allowing the truck the moment it needed to warm up. "Did you work out a way to contact your people once we're past the county line?" he questioned John.

"It would be best if we can tie into fire dispatch and get them to relay for us but if we can't then we'll need to stop at a phone and call them," John answered.

"What about stopping at a fire station on the way and borrowing their biophone and drug box," Chet suggested.

"We can't very well take them out of service while we drive clear across the county," John said, vetoing that idea.

Once the truck was back on the road and moving at highway speeds John quietly got Julie's attention.

"What's the story with the pregnant lady coming behind us?"

"James and Susan work for Jack, James is also one of the EMT's that service the farming area so he's got some training. He's also worked some mean farming accidents so he knows what he's doing. He doesn't have as much training as me or you but he'd never be able to maintain his certification so why get the training.

"A few years ago James was driving the truck while Jack was down with pneumonia. Since he was going to be away from home for a week and a half and Susan was due soon with their fourth child he took her to his sister's place in the county over from us. Of course he talked to doc before he did and got a copy of her records just in case. Well the day he got back and went to pick her up she was just starting into labor. James knew something wasn't right, he checked her vitals and her blood pressure was too high so he hurried her into the local hospital there. The nurse didn't take him seriously and was heard telling the doctor that she was sure Susan's blood pressure was just high because her husband was a nervous wreck. They put her in a room and watched her for a long time before the doctor there checked her out. He told James that she was a long ways off from delivering and that they didn't have room for her to stay there until she was closer to delivery. They sent her home and recommended that James just drive her back to our little hospital and have Doc Frick deliver. He assured him that there was plenty of time and that there was nothing really wrong.

James reportedly argued with the other doctor for a while and then gave up and put his wife in the car and headed for home. Before he got there she went into seizures and then into a coma just five miles away from the hospital. Doc was called in and did an emergency C section but it was too late. The baby died. His wife was in a coma for five days. They determined that she had some kind of an infection that probably killed the baby and caused her blood pressure to go up and had the other doctor taken James seriously he should have done a little more testing. Had they taken the baby at the first hospital or even as much as pushed the labor along with drugs, James and Susan believe their baby could have been saved. Now, especially with Doc Frick being down and out they're really worried about having another doctor step in and to make things worse as Susan is expecting twins this time. Whenever Doc even hints at sending her to another doctor she nearly has a panic attack. She's staying calm now and alright with things because Doc is going with her. The best part of the deal is that Susan's mother lives in the LA area so they can stay with her and she can help with the kids."

"How close is she to her due date?" John asked, there was a part of him that thought maybe they should put Chet in that car to help drive just in case they needed to pull over and deliver.

"She's actually a month and a half away," Julie reported."They say Doc's sure they won't go full term but he's been checking her good once a week now for a couple of months and James has been seeing to it that she gets her rest, so far so good."

John let out a sigh of relief and moved to where he could see the car behind them in one of the side rear view mirrors. He had to admit to himself that no one in the car looked panicked in the least.

They were about half way between the state line and the county line when Johnny noticed Julie checking her watch frequently. Then he noticed that she was checking Doc Frick's pulse and blood pressure almost as frequently. John also noticed the fading color on Doc's face and the sweat beading on his forehead and his respirations were faster.

"Is his blood pressure dropping?" Johnny asked Julie when she next took the stethoscope out of her ears.

"Just a little, I was worried about this section of road, his pain meds have worn off and he clearly needs some more."

"But neither one of us is certified to give him any in this no man's land." Johnny filled in the blanks he knew Julie was referring to. "Maybe we should stop at a hospital to get him a shot," John suggested.

"It won't work that way. They won't give him pain meds without keeping him and he won't agree to stay or even get pain meds until you can take over under the direction of your doctors. He also won't leave Susan back there short of where they agreed to go." Julie nearly whispered in John's ear. "He is also the only one certified to take care of Roy before we get to the county line."

With that understanding John made one more check on his partner to find him fairing as well as he had on the trip and his meds wearing off also. He then stuck his head into the cab and inquired of the driver, "How far to the county line?"

John instantly felt the speed of the truck increasing as Jack looked first in the rear view mirror and then at his watch. "At least thirty minutes."

John just gave him a nod of understanding and tucked back into the sleeper section trying to think of something to help lessen the good doctor's pain.

-0-

Hank Stanley was sitting in a patrol car with deputy sheriff Vince Howard. They were just outside the county line by about five miles where they could find a good place to park and watch the road they were told to expect their friends to arrive on. There was a lot of traffic zipping by them only slowing when they saw the patrol car and feared they were on radar.

"What are we looking for again?" Vince asked his passenger.

"According to Dr. Early, they'll be in a royal blue Peterbilt hauling some kind of livestock," Hank repeated once again. "They called in from the state line and reportedly should be this way within the next half hour to an hour."

"I gotta admit, this is a first." Vince gave the road behind them one more good look. "Those two medics of yours sure do get themselves into the thick of things."

"Yeah," Hank agreed then added with a hint of pride in his voice. "But they never fail to figure out a way out again. I must admit though, I'd sure like to be able to outlaw their fishing trips," Hank added as he also turned to look at the traffic headed in their direction. Even from where he sat there were more than a few big trucks. He only hoped they would be able to see the right one when it drove by. He was also just a little worried that the driver might change his mind as to which road to take.

"This could be a long wait," Hank offered. "I have to ask why you wanted to be here so early when we have an idea when to expect them?"

Vince just pulled out his ticket book and held it up as a visual aid. "They told us when they should be here if they were driving the speed limit. Do you have any idea what percentage of big trucks I see that drive the speed limit?"

"Half?" Hank ventured a guess.

"Not even close." Vince spoke with emphasis and gave the Captain not only an explanation to his question but also the urgency to start looking a little harder at all the big trucks going by.

-0-

Back in the sleeper of the moving semi, Roy was growing anxious. When Julie asked if he was alright he claimed to be just fine. One look at his eyes and she knew better so she concerned herself with Doc Frick and sent John to talk with him.

"Hey, Roy, how ya doing?" John stepped on the edge of the lower bunk to be face to face with his partner.

"I'm going to be alright; are we there yet?"

"We're getting close to the county line, another half hour or so," Johnny told his partner. "Now I can tell something's wrong, Roy, what is it?"

Roy took a hold of the hand John was offering him and gave it a squeeze for security as he took in and let out a couple of breaths. "I can feel pressure building up on the left side of my head. I can feel it down the side of my face clear into my jaw area."

John's mouth quickly formed a straight line as he carefully rolled Roy's head to check his ear. There was no further drainage since the earlier drainage had dried up and sealed off the opening to the ear.

John got down from his stand on the lower bed then went straight to where Julie's jump kit lay open on the floor between the lower bunk and the cab. Grabbing her pen light John climbed back up on the lower bunk and carefully examined his partner and best friend's pupils.

The light hurt his eyes but Roy endured it at John checked each eye out twice and very carefully.

"How bad is it?" Roy questioned when Johnny pulled the pen light away from his eyes.

John held his breath. In most cases he would lie through his teeth and tell the patient that there was nothing wrong, but this was Roy, his fellow paramedic as well as his best friend. Roy would read between his lies and think things were worse than they really were.

"The left is a little sluggish but both pupils are equal and they are reactive. Just how bad is the pain?" Johnny confessed then questioned.

"Nothing I can't stand," Roy tried to macho through. "It's not like you can give me anything for the pain anyway, even after you do get a hold of Rampart, not till they get his head injury completely evaluated."

John lowered his head, what his partner had said was true, it was a part of his work that he didn't like.

John made sure Roy was as comfortable as possible before climbing down off the lower bunk and giving his current partner a report. Julie listened and then consulted with Doc Frick on one aspect. Should they try and open up Roy's ear so that it could drain and what about stopping to pick up some ice for Roy to help with the pain?"

Doc Frick agreed with Julie's thoughts and John was assigned to guide Jack to a place where they could get some ice without detouring too far off their planned course while Julie pulled a few tools out of her jump kit and climbed up to see about removing the clotted material from Roy's ear and allow it to drain in hopes of reducing the pressure and pain.

John moved into the middle of the cab section and gave a good long look through the windshield. They were now in heavy rush hour traffic and Jack had had to slow down to below the speed limit because of it. They were in an area that John didn't know well and there was no sign of a gas station close to the freeway where they could stop and get ice. What he did know was that the county line and his ability to do more to help the two patients that were taking turns for the worse was getting close. He chose to see if it was close enough to make contact.

"Chet, see if you can get a hold of fire dispatch and when you make contact get them to relay information to Rampart," John ordered and then ducked back into the sleeper area to see what he could do to help Julie with his regular partner.

Chet picked up the CB Mic and started adjusting the CB to the proper frequency, Jack didn't have the exact frequency but he did have one that was used by some of the fire phones found on the side of the freeway. He'd give that a try.

"Lazy J patient transport calling LA county fire dispatch," Chet spoke into the mic and then listened. "LA county fire dispatch this is Lazy J patient transport we need your assistance. Do you read?"

-0-

On the side of the road Vince felt the need to have a drink of coffee so he turned the set of binoculars he was using over to Hank for a few moments.

"I see three dark colored Semis coming but they're still too far off to know for sure what color they are." Vince directed Hank's gaze as he poured a cup of warm coffee from his thermos and offered to do the same for Hank.

"No thanks, I need to go find a bush as it is." Hank declined any more liquid of any kind. "I don't think any of those are carrying any kind of livestock," Hank reported keeping the glasses to his eyes. "Just how far do these glasses see?"

"This is a good clear spot, should be able to see as far as twenty miles, not real clear but clear enough to tell a semi from a regular truck."

Hank gave the three semis another good looking over. "NO, those clearly are closed up trailers, if they were carrying livestock they'd have to have ventilation."

Hank then turned the binoculars further down the road. "There are a few big tucks on this road. I sure hope we can pick my guys out of this mess."

"Me too, Hank, me too," Vince echoed.

"I never realized just how many Royal Blue semi trailers there are on the roads."

"Welcome to my world." Vince showed his understanding. "Welcome to my world."