CHAPTER TWO!
ROY lay on his back in the parking lot of the apartment complex with little more than a thin blanket between himself and the asphalt. But the uncomfortable gravel digging into his back was nothing compared to the pain in his ankle. Was a muscle only pulled? Or was it sprained? Broken? No one could tell him at the moment, and he certainly couldn't tell for himself.
A few feet away, Johnny and Chet were performing CPR on the young man that had been trapped in the burning apartment. Captain Stanley was on the bio-phone with the hospital.
After CPR had been performed for several moments, the young man suddenly started coughing and then appeared to be breathing again.
"He's breathing and conscious!" Johnny shouted.
"Rampart," Captain Stanley said into the bio-phone, "the patient is now conscious and breathing on his own."
"New set of vitals, 51?" the voice of Dr. Kelly Brackett came over the radio.
Johnny rushed to take a pulse and respiration while Chet fumbled to take the blood pressure, and Roy started trying to get up so he could help. Captain Stanley noticed him, however, and told him to stay where he was. "You're injured, DeSoto," he said. "You need to lie back down."
Roy sighed, but did just as the captain said.
"Pulse is 110 and respiration is 25," Johnny said after several moments.
"BP is back to normal," Chet said. "120 over 80."
"Tell Rampart the patient is suffering from first and second degree burns and smoke inhalation," Johnny added.
Captain Stanley then repeated all this information for the hospital.
"51," Dr. Brackett replied through the radio, "administer oxygen and an IV of Ringer's lactate and transport as soon as possible."
"10-4, Rampart," the captain acknowledged.
After the IV and oxygen were administered, a pair of white-suited ambulance attendants then lifted the young man out of the Stokes basket, onto a gurney, and into an ambulance.
"Are you riding with us?" One of them asked Johnny.
"Just a moment," he replied. "I've got a second patient to tend to. The young lady over there would probably like to ride along." Johnny gestured to the young man's girlfriend who was standing several feet away with a cluster of other onlookers. "I'll be along as soon as I can."
The attendant nodded and was then on his way.
"It's all right, Johnny!" Roy blurted. "I don't need to go along—"
"What's the status of the second patient, 51?" Dr. Brackett's voice suddenly asked, interrupting Roy's protest.
Johnny took the bio-phone from the captain and spoke into it. "Rampart, the patient complains of a pain in his ankle. It is unapparent whether or not the injury is a fracture. I will be splinting it just in case."
Roy rolled his eyes slightly, and then began coughing uncontrollably.
Johnny looked at him for a second. "The patient also appears to suffer from some smoke inhalation."
"Are there any external burns present, 51?"
"Negative, Rampart."
"Put on that splint and transport as soon as possible."
Johnny nodded. "10-4."
Johnny finished splinting up Roy's ankle and the ambulance attendants returned to help Johnny put Roy on a gurney. "Doctor's orders," he said to Roy with a smirk as they rolled him into the back of the ambulance and Johnny jumped in to sit along for the ride.
"I'll drive the squad to the hospital for you," Chet said, closing the door and patting the back of the ambulance to see them off.
Rampart General Hospital
Torrance, California
When they arrived at the hospital Roy was taken inside in a wheelchair just behind the young man rescued from the fire. Upon their entering the emergency room, Dr. Brackett swooped swiftly down the hall towards them, his large white doctor's coat fanning out behind him. First he took a few moments to look over the young man.
"Take him to treatment two," he said, his default expression of sternness overtaking his features. "I'll be there in a moment."
Orderlies took the young man away, and Dr. Brackett moved onto the next. Surprise replaced his default look when he noticed it was Roy.
"Roy," he began. "Are you all right? What happened?"
"He hurt his ankle during the rescue," Johnny offered.
"So you were the second patient, huh?" Dr. Brackett asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," Roy mumbled. "Unfortunately."
Just then, Dr. Joe Early walked over casually and Dr. Brackett stopped him. "Joe," he said, "could you take our paramedic friend here to treatment three? I got a patient in treatment two I've got to go tend to."
"Sure," the older doctor said.
"Thanks." And then Dr. Brackett was off to go treat the young man rescued from the fire.
"What happened, Roy?" Dr. Early asked cordially as he led them to treatment three with Johnny pushing Roy's wheelchair.
"Did something to my left ankle," he said.
Once in treatment three, Dr. Early and Johnny helped him up onto the table. Dr. Early then took off the splint to examine his ankle. It hurt as the doctor applied pressure to the injury, but Roy noticed it didn't pain him nearly as bad as it did before.
"So, what do you think, Doc?"
Dr. Early scratched his grey head. "Not sure yet, Roy. I'd like to take an X-ray just to make sure nothing is broken or sprained."
"That's really necessary?" Roy asked, trying to sit up. Dr. Early gently stopped him and set him back down.
"Yes, I think so," Dr. Early said. "You can never be too careful with an ankle injury. Just relax and we'll get the x-ray machine in here as soon as we can."
Roy sighed and tried to relax, but it all seemed like too much fuss over a little ankle injury. But then, when he thought about it for a minute, he supposed that it wouldn't hurt one way or another. If it was sprained or broken, he'd need to know about it. He realised he probably wasn't the best patient—and as it was said that doctor's made the worst patients, perhaps the same thing could be said of paramedics.
"Johnny?" Roy asked softly as Dr. Early stepped aside to make a call.
"Huh?"
"What time is it?"
Johnny took a glance at his watch. "Er—it's about a quarter to four. Why? What's so important about the time?"
"We're supposed to get off at five today and Joanne was planning a nice dinner. I'd really hate to be late for it, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like it either."
Johnny shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure Joanne'll be just fine. She's been married to you long enough to know that unexpected things happen when your husband's a fireman, and ya just learn how to deal with it."
Roy fought the urge to roll his eyes. That statement just proved that Johnny Gage really didn't know anything about marriage (let alone a serious relationship). Roy thought about saying something back, but it was no use. Johnny wouldn't have understood it anyways. Instead, Roy directed his attention to Dr. Early, who was still standing in the corner talking on the phone.
"What do you mean 'not working'?" the doctor was asking the person on the other end of the line. "Well, what about the other two? In use right now? How long do you suppose that'll take?...All right...Yes...Just get one here to treatment three as soon as you can...Thanks." Dr. Early then hung up the phone and looked over to Roy and Johnny.
"What's the story, Doc?" Johnny asked.
Dr. Early sighed. "Well," he began, "that was Radiology. Apparently one X-ray machine is being repaired and the other two are in use, so we'll have to wait until one is available."
"And how long do you think that'll be?" Roy asked, trying not to sound too over-eager about it.
"Shouldn't be too long," Dr. Early said with a reassuring smile. Roy wanted to feel hopeful about that, but something told him he'd be waiting more than just a few minutes.
Just then, the door swung gently open and head nurse Dixie McCall looked in. "Dr. Early..." she began, but trailed off after noticing Roy and Johnny. "Roy!" She walked in and up to the table. "What happened to you?"
"Probably twisted my ankle," he replied, shifting uncomfortably on the pad beneath him.
"I've ordered X-rays," Dr. Early added. "Hopefully someone from Radiology will be down here soon enough."
"Well, I sure hope that it's not twisted," Dixie said. "That could have you off your feet for a month or two."
Roy gulped. That thought hadn't yet crossed his mind, and he certainly didn't want to think about that. "I hope not too...hey, Dix, are you busy right now?"
Dixie shook her head with a smile. "Not at the moment. Why, what do you need?"
"Could you do me a favour and call Joanne for me? I just want her to know what happened and that I'm probably going to be late for dinner."
"I'll go call her right now." And with that, Dixie left the room and the wait for the X-ray machine began.
It was nearly another hour and a half before the X-rays were finally finished. Now, Dixie and Dr. Early were examining the radiographs and Roy fidgeted in his wheelchair, waiting for the diagnosis.
"Well," Dr. Early finally said, adjusting his glasses as he looked the X-rays over. "It doesn't look like there are any broken bones. And there appears to be no torn ligaments either." He took his glasses off and looked to Roy. "I believe what you're suffering from is a pulled muscle."
Roy blinked. "All this for a pulled muscle?"
"So what's the treatment, Doc," Johnny asked, somewhat facetious.
"I recommend that the patient ice the injury periodically, take some ibuprofen, and avoid any unnecessary movement for the next few days." Dr. Early smiled and gave Roy a pat on the shoulder. "See you guys later."
"See ya!" Johnny said, wheeling Roy out of the room.
"Thanks, Dr. Early," Roy said over his shoulder just before the door swung closed. They then made their way out the emergency room door and Johnny wheeled Roy up to the squad and helped him into the passenger's seat.
Once they were both in the truck and ready to go, Roy asked Johnny: "Do you think a shower at the station counts as unnecessary movement?"
Johnny sniffed the air around Roy and made a face. "Nah. I think it's very necessary..."