4.) Mike heard the commotion before he saw anything. There was a small explosion, normal for the type of run they were on, but suddenly everyone was shouting and scrambling. Cap issued hurried orders over the H/T. Roy and John were giving rapid replies, and Mike realized with a jolt they were talking about Chet. He'd been in the basement of the house when water heater apparently blew up in his face. Roy and John rushed in after Marco to pull Chet out and begin treatment. Mike finished his work at the pumps and hurried over to see if he could help, and he did not particularly like what he saw.

Marco and John were holding Chet's arms to his sides as the lineman howled and swore, trying desperately to claw at his eyes. Roy dashed ahead to the squad to get the medical supplies.

"I'm gonna need your help, Mike," Roy told him, his voice tight, "You can either help me with treatment or switch places with John to keep Chet from touching his face."

"I'll relieve John," Mike replied.

He turned and rushed to his injured friend's side, taking John's place pinning Chet's left arm to the ground; it was no easy task. He was swearing and yelling in pain, bucking against Mike and Marco's grip. Marco was apologizing to his partner, alternating between English and rapid Spanish. Mike cast his gaze up to Chet's face; it was an angry red, his eyes squeezed shut, his moustache badly singed.

"Dammit, will someone keep him still!" John demanded.

Cap jumped into the fray, putting all his body weight across Chet's legs to minimize his movement. Roy relayed information and vitals to Rampart while John tried to calm Chet enough for treatment. When they started to apply saline to his face, Chet loosed a scream that turned Mike's stomach, but he didn't lessen his hold on the lineman's arm. Marco's voice cracked as he continued his bilingual stream of apologies. Chet was still struggling against the firemen holding him down, and Mike racked his brain for something, anything, that would help Chet. Mike used a leg to keep Chet's arm pinned, pulled off a glove with his teeth, and pressed his hand into Chet's, feeling him squeeze back tightly. It seemed to calm Chet somewhat, so Mike quickly told Marco to do the same, pleased to note it reduced the volume of Chet's swearing and the amount of yelling.

When the ambulance finally arrived, Roy told John and Marco to go in the ambulance to Rampart, and it was with reluctance that Mike released Chet's hand, though he pleased to note that John offered his own in its stead. Roy quickly packed up the remaining gear, put it in the squad, and tore off after the ambulance. That left Cap and Mike to pack up all the hose and take the engine to Rampart to check on their lineman.

Marco was pacing outside Three, so that meant that both Roy and John were inside, helping with treatment. As Cap and Mike approached, Marco once again started up his rapid apologies, mixing English and Spanish.

"…y yo no se what happened, Cap! It's my fault! Estoy estupido, muy estupido! I'm sorry, I'm such un pendejo estupido-"

"Marco, calm down," Cap told him.

"But, Cap-"

"Stop. It's not your fault. This isn't anyone's fault," Cap soothed, "It was just a freak accident and coulda happened to any one of us. Let's not go blamin' ourselves or we'll go nuts…"

Nearly half an hour after Cap and Mike arrived, the two paramedics emerged with Dr. Early and Dixie. Cap immediately asked, "How is he, Doc?"

"In a fair amount of pain," Early told them honestly, "Looks like he sustained some first-degree and partial thickness second-degree burns to his face and eyes. He'll probably be in some pain for a few days to a week, and the areas of partial thickness burns will probably blister some. As for his eyes, we're going to keep them patched and covered to make sure they don't sustain any more damage. I'm afraid Mr. Kelly will be spending at least two weeks with us while he heals."

"But his eyes-" Marco started.

"The prognosis is very good for the types of flash burns he sustained. The eyes are very good at protecting themselves, so the damage wasn't severe. We should be able to remove the bandaging in five to seven days."

All the men breathed a sigh of relief. It's not great news, but it's the best we could get in this situation, I guess. Early had Chet moved to a recovery room and allowed everyone in after Chet was settled, though they had to leave soon after checking on him. They all went back the next day after their shift ended but not for too long. Chet claimed he was tired from the pain meds and just wanted to sleep; Mike knew better. He went back alone the day after. There was shouting coming from Chet's room, what sounded like him and a woman. When Mike reached the door, he was almost taken out by a young woman with dark hair who was grumbling and swearing under her breath. Mike had no idea who she was. He watched her stomp around the corner and went inside.

Chet was propped up, a bandage wrapped around his head and eyes. His forehead looked as if it had been badly sunburnt and was starting to peel, while the rest of his face was pink and wet-looking, dotted with blisters. Mike's stomach gave an uncomfortable flop.

"Hey, it's Mike," he greeted, "You alright, Chet?"

"All things considered, I guess I am."

"Who was that that was just in here?"

"None of your damn business," Chet snapped.

That's fair. Mike took up a chair at Chet's bedside. An awkward silence hung over them for a few minutes before Mike cleared his throat and told him, "We've all been really worried about you, especially Marco. Y'know that thing he does when he gets real excited? Where he starts switching back and forth between English and Spanish, like he can't make up his mind on which one to use? Well… he does it when he's scared, too. He was pretty freaked out."

"Yeah… yeah, I heard him," Chet replied quietly, "I could kinda hear him through all my own yelling. It's all kind of a blur, really. I was wondering who else-… nevermind."

"What is it?"

"Well… I know Marco and John were in the ambulance with me, and obviously it was Johnny and Roy treatin' me on scene… I'm pretty sure it was Cap layin' across my legs… so it musta been you on my other arm… and you were the one that… that was holdin' my hand."

"So was Marco."

"Yeah, but it was you that did it first," Chet said, his voice low, "It was-… it was… comforting… much better than pinning my arm down. Let me know my friends were there, since I couldn't really hear, and I sure as hell couldn't see."

"I could tell. I felt you calm down when I did it, so I told Marco to do it, too."

"I appreciate it, Mike. I really do."

Mike smiled, saying, "You're welcome, Chet," and resting his hand atop Chet's wrist. The injured lineman moved under the hand, flipping his wrist so his hand was palm up. Mike moved his hand to cover it, and Chet gripped it like Mike would disappear at any moment. Mike squeezed back reassuringly. I'm here, Chet… you're gonna be alright.