An Act of Friendship

Chapter 4

Cap looked back over at Roy, giving him his undivided attention.

Roy hesitantly said, "Johnny's not doing as well. He has hypothermia from the cold water. It's made his heartbeat irregular. Brackett's certain he has a collapsed lung and needs to operate, but he wants to wait until Johnny's heart rate is closer to normal. He put a chest tube in to help his breathing some…so right now it's just a waiting game."

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Cap absently rubbed the back of his neck. Chet sat with one leg bouncing up and down, looking at the floor. Marco closed his eyes and bowed his head, saying a prayer for his friend. Mike stood up and turned to the coffee pot, dumped the contents and started a new pot. Roy sighed and looked at his hands.

Into the uneasy silence walked Brice. He looked around at the group of men who were known throughout the department for their closeness and loyalty and knew that Gage was not doing well. "How is he?" he questioned.

Roy stood up as he said, "Cap, can you fill Craig in? I need to get back to Joanne."

"Roy, before you go, headquarters is sending a replacement for you. We'll stay available from here as long as we can."

"Thanks Cap." He said as he nodded then left. When he walked into the treatment room, Joe was standing at the light box looking at x-rays. He walked up to Joanne, who looked like she was sleeping, and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. She opened her eyes and smiled.

Joe walked over and said, "Good news Joanne. You're ribs are just bruised. We'll tape them up to give you some extra support. You do have a mild concussion…nothing to worry about, but you'll be our guest for a couple days. Also, you do have a fractured wrist. Ortho will be down shortly to cast it. I'm also going to start you an antibiotic, as a preventative." Joe smiled kindly at her. "All things considered, you were really very lucky."

Joanne smiled back, "Ohhh, a mini-vacation…no kids…no housework…no cooking. Thanks Dr. Early….uh…" she hesitated. "Dr. Early, how's Johnny?"

"Kel's in with him now Joanne. You know he's getting the best of care."

Roy squeezed her shoulder. "How's the pain honey?"

Joanne rolled her eyes. "Roy William DeSoto, I have given birth to two children…naturally. I think I can manage a little headache."

Roy desperately wanted to tease Joanne that she sounded just like Johnny, but didn't dare.

Joe laughed and shook his head. "Well that may be true Joanne, but I think I should give you a little something. When Ortho gets here to set your wrist, I'm sure you'll be glad I did." He said as he drew up a syringe.

"I didn't think of that." Joanne admitted sheepishly. She felt something cold enter her IV line and then she felt like she was floating.

Kel walked over to Johnny and stood over him, looking. 'What have you done to yourself now hose jockey?' He shook his head then asked, "What's his core temperature now?"

"93.8 Doctor," replied one of the nurses.

'C'mon Johnny, you need to warm up.' He thought, sighing as he looked over Johnny's chart. He set the chart down and looked at his most recent EKG. 'Damn, you're still not stable enough. I know you like to be stubborn, but give us poor doctors a break.' He frowned as his frustration grew.

Dixie took one glance at Kel and said, "Not good?"

Kel shook his head as he replied, "His core temp hasn't risen as quickly as I'd have liked it to; and he's still showing V-tach, but not as frequently. Nurse?" He looked over at the other nurse. "Has he shown any signs of consciousness?"

"He groaned once, about a minute ago but other than that, no doctor."

As if on cue, Johnny groaned.

"Johnny. Johnny can you hear me?" Kel prodded.

He thought he heard voices…then…

Pain...

No, he couldn't get away from it. His chest felt like it had been ripped apart, but at the same time had a fire burning in it. 'Oh Spirits…stop!' he thought. He tried to scream, but something was jammed down his throat. He felt tears trickle down into his hair. With great effort he managed to open his eyes. Someone was standing over him. He knew he should know who it was, but he just couldn't figure it out. He saw their mouth move, but couldn't seem to understand what they were saying.

"Kel, his heart rate is increasing." Dixie said warningly.

"15 mgs. Diazepam, STAT." Kel barked. He considered his next directive. He really didn't want to depress Johnny's breathing further, but he had to manage the pain. "Also, give him another 10 mgs. MS."

He felt an icy coldness travel up his arm…then…

nothing.

Dixie and Kel watched the heart monitor with baited breath. When it finally started to settle down, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"He sure is giving us a run for our money." Kel stated as he checked the chest tube. A technician opened the door and handed Dixie a packet of x-rays. Dixie followed Kel over to the light box and handed them to him. He pulled out the first film and started studying them.

"Doesn't he always?" Dixie teased as she walked over to Johnny. She knew she wasn't supposed to have favorites, but she did; and one of them was right in front of her. She gently wiped the tears off his face then stroked his cheek before she set about taking a new set of vitals. "Kel his temp is up to 94.2," she reported.

"A little bit more and we'll be able to take him up."

Joanne had finally fallen asleep, and for that Roy was glad. She needed her rest. He stood stroking her cheek as he looked at the woman who meant more to him than his own life. He knew he could have easily lost her today. How quickly things could change. He truly could not imagine his life without Joanne. He shivered as emotions coursed through him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over through watery eyes at Joe.

"Roy, why don't you go take a break. Joanne's fine and Ortho will be here soon. Go on." Joe said gently. He felt bad for his friend as he couldn't imagine what he was going through.

Roy hesitated but Joe gave him a friendly nudge. He gave Joanne a kiss on the forehead then reluctantly left. He went to the payphones to let Mrs. Harrison know what was going on. She told him not to worry; she would take care of Jenny and Chris. After that, he wanted some coffee but knew that Cap and the guys would be there. He was feeling a little too raw, so he decided to go wash his face and pull himself together first.

As he was washing his face he started thinking about Johnny, replaying the accident in his head. Suddenly, he realized that he really needed to see his friend, he didn't care what anyone said. That decided, he quickly dried off and headed for Johnny's room. He quietly slipped into the room.

Kel was looking over Johnny's x-rays. He crossed his arms and tsked as he looked at the one of Johnny's leg. He heard a gasp and whipped around. "Roy…I didn't realize you were here."

"Sorry, I snuck in." Roy replied unabashedly.

"Don't be. I was just going over Johnny's x-rays," he was going to go over some of his findings, but he could see that Roy couldn't take his eyes off his partner. "He should be ready for surgery within the next 30 minutes," he said as Roy's head snapped up with a pained look on his face. "Why don't you visit for a few minutes and then I'll be back to go over his x-rays," he offered. At Roy's grateful nod, he motioned to Dixie and the other nurse and they left the treatment room.

Roy stood there stunned. He couldn't believe how bad Johnny looked. He had seen his partner too many times to count, injured, but this was somehow different. He looked so small and insubstantial lying there, even with the half a dozen blankets on him. The myriad tubes and hoses that snaked out from underneath the blankets were daunting. He glanced at all the monitors, reading them with ease.

When he was satisfied, he turned and focused on his friend. Johnny's hair was wild looking, standing up in tufts all over his head. His skin was pale and waxen looking, except for the bruise that was blossoming near his temple; his eyes looked sunken and bruised. 'Oh Junior, I am so sorry. I wish you had waited for us,' he thought as he snaked his hand under the blanket. He found Johnny's hand, it was icy cold. His other hand he rested on the top of Johnny's head. "Hey you, what are you doing getting yourself all banged up again. If you wanted to stay longer at my house, all you had to do was ask…but seriously Johnny, Joanne is fine…thanks to you. I don't know what I would've done if something happened to her. I owe you one. You made sure I didn't have to find out. I know we don't usually talk like this. And, quite honestly, if you weren't unconscious, we probably wouldn't be talking like this. I just needed you to know how thankful I am."

Roy felt a little lighter after their conversation. He leaned down close to Johnny's ear and whispered, "You keep fighting Junior," as he gave a pat to Johnny's head. He straightened back up just as Kel opened the door.

"Roy, why don't we go to my office to review the x-rays? They have to start getting Johnny prepped."

"Okay Doc." Roy responded. He glanced back once at his friend, then followed Kel to his office. "Doc, do you know if Cap and the guys are still here?"

Kel shook his head. "No, they got called to a house fire awhile ago. He said they'd try to stop again when they get a chance." Kel said as he ushered Roy into his office. "Coffee?" he asked even though he'd already started pouring Roy a cup. He handed it to Roy and then perched on the corner of his desk.

Roy took a sip and let the warm liquid soothe him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Before we start talking about Johnny, I wanted to let you know that I checked in on Joanne. She looks good. She's one lucky lady."

"Yeah, that's what Dr. Early said and thanks for checking on her."

"Anytime, Roy. Now, on to your wayward partner." Kel smiled kindly at Roy as he crossed his arms. "The x-rays confirm there is no skull fracture." Roy gave a relieved sigh. "His right arm is still healing nicely. All we'll need to do is recast it." Kel looked down and pursed his lips. "The chests x-rays showed hairline fractures of two of his ribs, and complete fractures of two more. One of these I believe has punctured the lung."

Roy sat up straighter in his chair. "Will you have any trouble repairing them?"

"No, repairing the ribs should be pretty straightforward. As you know, we'll have to wait to see how much damage the lung has received. The leg, unfortunately, is a bit of a mess. His fibula has a linear fracture and the previous fracture to his tibia—has now comminuted. We're going to have to do an open reduction to repair it."

A brow puckered as Roy asked, "Could this be career-ending, Doc?"

"I can't say for certain, but I don't believe so." Kel rubbed his chin, absently. "What it will mean, is extended physical therapy to rehabilitate it. I'm sorry, Roy."

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to assimilate this information. Kel quietly waited. He knew how close Roy and Johnny were and realized what a blow this was to Roy. He started to stand as Dixie opened the door and said, "Kel, we're taking Johnny up now."

Dixie gave Roy a sympathetic smile then left.

Kel walked over and put a hand on Roy's shoulder. "Don't worry Roy. We'll do our best. I'll come find you when we're done." He squeezed his shoulder once and walked out the door.

Roy walked out of Brackett's office and saw Johnny's gurney being wheeled into the elevator surrounded by a host of medical professionals. He rubbed his hand through his hair and headed for the treatment room.